Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Backflips and Nerds, the Baseball podcast
Speaker 1: with a British twist. Playoffs, talking about playoffs. We're talking
Speaker 1: about playoffs and joining me the pleasure of talking playoffs
Speaker 1: is Darius Austin. It's a two man point today, Darius.
Speaker 1: Are you excited for the playoffs?
Speaker 2: I'm very excited. I've been consuming playoffs. I'm delighted that
Speaker 2: you've brought that out after having to wait all season
Speaker 2: to unleash it. Obviously that was the highlight of your
Speaker 2: year just getting to use that phrase. So, yeah, it's
Speaker 2: been good so far. It's rare, not every day you
Speaker 2: get to bring that one out. And yeah, looking forward
Speaker 2: to what is feels like a open playoff field this year.
Speaker 1: It does. Yeah, it's fun that. Yeah, this I always
Speaker 1: feel like these first few games in the in the
Speaker 1: World Card Round, the vision around the best for us, right,
Speaker 1: because you get so much more viewable baseball at a
Speaker 1: polite hour that we can watch, which is fun. And yeah,
Speaker 1: well I always forget, well not always, but it's easy
Speaker 1: to forget how much fun the World Card Round is. Well,
Speaker 1: every game has so much jeopardy involved in it, you know,
Speaker 1: I understand that the best form of baseballs across seven
Speaker 1: or preferably one hundred and sixty two games. But there
Speaker 1: is something about a three game series where like you
Speaker 1: lose and your immediately on the brink of elimination that
Speaker 1: makes it quite fun, isn't there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, it's sort of every every moment laden with tension.
Speaker 2: We've had really really close games. Both the games I
Speaker 2: watched yesterday, the Tigers Guards and the Cubs Padres were
Speaker 2: really tight games through to the end, so high tension,
Speaker 2: you know, ninth inning. I didn't watch the Red Sox
Speaker 2: Yankees live, but you know, Chapman really had to dig
Speaker 2: himself out of a whole in that as well. So yeah,
Speaker 2: really really high leverage stuff all the way through, and
Speaker 2: some really excellent starting pitcher performances. I'm sure we'll get
Speaker 2: on to some of that in a bit, but good
Speaker 2: to see sort of after the trends in baseball lately
Speaker 2: towards you know, let's go to the ballpend early. It's
Speaker 2: been great to see some big game starts from some
Speaker 2: of the aces in the game.
Speaker 1: A turn of the workhorse. Yeah, we can get into that,
Speaker 1: but that was that was fun to see. A good
Speaker 1: day to kick off the playoffs. We're going to get
Speaker 1: into some of the teams that are involved, some of
Speaker 1: the teams we are excited to see. Some teams we're
Speaker 1: routing four, maybe someon we're rooting against. I don't think
Speaker 1: we're going to do our usual playoff preview, partly because
Speaker 1: we're ready two days in. As I speak now, the
Speaker 1: Guardians and Tigers are playing Game two, So in a
Speaker 1: matter of hours, the Guardians may well be eliminated from
Speaker 1: baseball to get from the playoffs all together. So we
Speaker 1: won't do that, but we will talk a little bit about, Yeah,
Speaker 1: some of the key protagonists who were excited to see
Speaker 1: it take part in the playoffs this year. But obviously
Speaker 1: we have to start with the big news of the week,
Speaker 1: which is the Rocky getting rid of Bill Schmidt, their
Speaker 1: general manager at a jaking We're not going to talk
Speaker 1: about that, but a good move from the Rockies to
Speaker 1: finally move on from their pungent general manager who's not
Speaker 1: been doing a great job there, Bull Shmidt. Anyway, let's
Speaker 1: talk playoffs. Let's start off. I guess with the teams
Speaker 1: that didn't make it, in a couple notable ones. I
Speaker 1: think we're going to cover to kick off. Maybe we'll
Speaker 1: start with the Astros and then we can dive into
Speaker 1: the poor old New York Mets. But I personally didn't
Speaker 1: see the Astros missing playoffs this year. I think in
Speaker 1: our pre season preview, both the A team and B
Speaker 1: team had the Astros, you know, cruising back into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: if not back to another division title. And it felt
Speaker 1: like for most of the year they very much had
Speaker 1: that under control. But it just started to drift away
Speaker 1: from them in August and that sort of expected bounce
Speaker 1: back in September neferent materialized and they ended up on
Speaker 1: the outside looking in. Were you surprised, Darius? Was this
Speaker 1: team simply not good enough? Or is this a massive
Speaker 1: missed opportunity for a team that we've become so accustomed
Speaker 1: to seeing an tay.
Speaker 2: That I obviously was on record saying that the Astros
Speaker 2: were not going to win the division this year, So
Speaker 2: I wasn't hugely surprised that the Mariners did it. I mean,
Speaker 2: I was surprised that the Mariners sort of actually did
Speaker 2: something at the trade deadline, and you know, they did
Speaker 2: push them chips in, and to be fair to them,
Speaker 2: they played very good baseball downe the stretch. I think
Speaker 2: that was a big factor. This wasn't like some of
Speaker 2: the other collapses that will talk about in a minute.
Speaker 2: I think this was heavily on. Yeah, seat, I played
Speaker 2: really good baseball in September and they won the matchups
Speaker 2: they had to win. And also I think you just
Speaker 2: have to look at the injuries the Astros had. You know,
Speaker 2: you're done being down for quite a big chunk of
Speaker 2: the year. Jeremy Pena, a couple of ile stones that
Speaker 2: really hurt them. The injuries and the rotation they had
Speaker 2: as well. It was you know, Valdez and Brown and
Speaker 2: then who is starting this game now, Jason Alexander. I mean,
Speaker 2: what is happening here? So it was not the Astros
Speaker 2: we've seen in the past. This team is aging a bit.
Speaker 2: Al Tuvey had the weird outfield experiment and bounced around.
Speaker 2: You know, he had a decent season, but with them
Speaker 2: trading awa attacker as well, this was not the strength
Speaker 2: that we've seen in the past. So a bit surprising
Speaker 2: to see them completely drop it all together. But I
Speaker 2: think when you look at their underlying numbers, when you
Speaker 2: look at what that roster looked like at the end
Speaker 2: of the season. I don't think we should necessarily be
Speaker 2: saying this is a massive shot that this team isn't
Speaker 2: the playoffs. I think they were pretty fringy to begin with,
Speaker 2: and yeah, I think probably we got better teams in
Speaker 2: in the aggregate once you look at the big.
Speaker 1: Picture, Yeah, it feels like it just never really felt
Speaker 1: like the Houston Astros evolved this season. I think injuries
Speaker 1: had a big part to play in it, and I
Speaker 1: think they probably will bounce back next year, assuming better health.
Speaker 1: But the Christian Walker sign didn't really pan out. Did.
Speaker 1: I don't think he had a very good first season
Speaker 1: in Houston. We sort of talked a lot about the
Speaker 1: depth of that rotation at the start of the year,
Speaker 1: but it actually bottomed out pretty quickly. And yeah, some
Speaker 1: of the guys you'd expect to be dominant, like Frownber,
Speaker 1: was strugling towards the end of the year. So yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe not a huge shock that they weren't able to
Speaker 1: get in there, although I do think, you know, eighty
Speaker 1: seven wins in a three wild card league feels like
Speaker 1: it would usually be enough to at least grab you
Speaker 1: one of those spots. I mean, you know, in the
Speaker 1: National League, Reds made it in with eighty three, so
Speaker 1: maybe there was also an element of bad luck that
Speaker 1: it was just a pretty strong AL World Card field
Speaker 1: in the end obviously ended up with the same number
Speaker 1: of wins to Tigers, but missed out on the tiebreaker.
Speaker 1: But yeah, a shock not to see them in the
Speaker 1: playoffs because I don't know how many years in a
Speaker 1: row it would have been, but it feels like seven
Speaker 1: or eight at this point that they've been playing postseason baseball,
Speaker 1: so that's yeah, somewhat surprising.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think after they came out of that rebuild,
Speaker 2: I think they've made the playoffs every year since until now.
Speaker 2: I can't remember exactly how many years that was, but yeah,
Speaker 2: it must have been about about eight. I think it was.
Speaker 1: Four straight Alcyes appearances at one point too, like they
Speaker 1: could just pencil them in for a while to be
Speaker 1: in there in the ALCS playing someone. So yeah, changing
Speaker 1: of the guard in the AL West. And I think
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the Mariners a little bit
Speaker 1: later on what we definitely are, but an amazing season
Speaker 1: for them that we'll get onto in a well deserved
Speaker 1: division title. Now then the other big collapse and this
Speaker 1: one really was a collapse the New York Mets. Where
Speaker 1: did it all go wrong for them? I mean a
Speaker 1: litany of issues that besieged this team, But at one point,
Speaker 1: fairly far into the season, in May, I think the
Speaker 1: Mets had the best record in baseball right, and they
Speaker 1: were looking like being World Series contenders. You know, you
Speaker 1: always had question marks about that rotation when Clay Holmes
Speaker 1: was the ace, but it felt like the lineup was
Speaker 1: really strong. They had enough pitching depth, the bullpen was solid.
Speaker 1: This was going to be a team that would compete
Speaker 1: with a Phillies for that division title. Instead, they just
Speaker 1: slowly but surely crumbled. And yeah, getting picked to the
Speaker 1: post and last year of the season, losing to the Marlins,
Speaker 1: of all teams must have been pretty hard to swallow.
Speaker 1: I mean, I say the Marlins of all teams. The
Speaker 1: Marlins ended up four games back of the Mets, which
Speaker 1: is remarkable in itself. But yeah, this is an utter
Speaker 1: catastrophe for the Mets, isn't it? What happened?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny that it's the miners. I think I
Speaker 2: heard un effectively wild that the Mets have lost a
Speaker 2: playoff spot on the last day of the season. Four
Speaker 2: times in the last twenty eight years, and three of
Speaker 2: those four times it's been because of the Marlins. There's
Speaker 2: something about this. The Marlins are just like, we are
Speaker 2: up for this. Now we're eliminating the Mets from the playoffs.
Speaker 2: That is our jam. So I guess you might have thought, oh,
Speaker 2: this is all right for the Mets. What they've got
Speaker 2: to do is beat the Marlins. But maybe not the
Speaker 2: best opponent for them to have. I think we talked
Speaker 2: about the pitching and how that fell apart. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's not ideal when the guy who was supposed to
Speaker 2: be your ace ends up getting demoted to triple A
Speaker 2: because he's pitching so badly. You know. Noman McLain or
Speaker 2: credit to him, came up and formed fantastically, and I'm
Speaker 2: sure the Mets would have been looking at him as,
Speaker 2: you know, maybe their ace if they had made it
Speaker 2: into the playoffs. But when you have to say, let's
Speaker 2: give the ball to three completely unproven rookies down the
Speaker 2: last couple of months of the season, I think that
Speaker 2: really speaks to what went wrong on the pitching side.
Speaker 2: They also did really try at the deadline, I think,
Speaker 2: to strengthen that ballpen and it just went horribly horribly wrong.
Speaker 2: You know, Ryan healed, he had the worst stretch of
Speaker 2: his career probably as soon as he puts on a
Speaker 2: Mets uniform. So you can't say that they didn't try
Speaker 2: to strengthen that side of things. It just didn't work
Speaker 2: out real well for them. They were also spectacularly on clutch.
Speaker 2: I think the lineup was good from a you know,
Speaker 2: if you look at everybody's individual stats, but they didn't
Speaker 2: really score the number of runs you would expect from
Speaker 2: that collection of talent. So yeah, I don't think you
Speaker 2: can blame Juan Soto had an unbelievable season, especially in
Speaker 2: the second half. You can't blame Francisco Lindor, you know,
Speaker 2: thirty thirty year, I believe doing Lindor things, Pete Alonso
Speaker 2: bringing the homers. You know, they were all there. They're
Speaker 2: all hitting. It just didn't quite come together on the
Speaker 2: pitching side. They're getting a bit old, not the best defensively,
Speaker 2: And I think you just have to say that even
Speaker 2: through all that, it was right there for them. You know,
Speaker 2: it's not like they had to win a lot of games.
Speaker 2: Eighty four wins was all it took. The bar was
Speaker 2: pretty low and they couldn't manage it. So fair play
Speaker 2: to the Reds for hanging around in there. But I
Speaker 2: think if you were the Mets and somebody had said
Speaker 2: to you at the start of the year, you need
Speaker 2: eighty four wins to get into the playoffs, they would
Speaker 2: have been like, yeah, one hundred, no problem, We're doing that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, most people were penciling them for ninety four, right,
Speaker 1: and a fight for the title. I mean, yeah, it
Speaker 1: just constantly felt like the Reds are going to fade away,
Speaker 1: the Mets will pull away, and always so close to
Speaker 1: the end of the season. It got the more confident
Speaker 1: you were, like that, it's just going to take a
Speaker 1: few wins here or there, they'll pull away, going to
Speaker 1: it's going to happen. And maybe the Mets themselves fell
Speaker 1: into that trap of like just assuming that that World
Speaker 1: card spot was there for them and it wasn't. And yeah,
Speaker 1: those those couple of losses tots the end of the
Speaker 1: season obviously proved massively important, but I mean any win
Speaker 1: across the course of the season would have got them in.
Speaker 1: So that's that's the painful part of it. Did they
Speaker 1: leave it too late to call up those young pictures.
Speaker 1: That's what I wondered, obviously, that they had so many
Speaker 1: issues with the rotation, but it did seem they were
Speaker 1: hesitant to call up some of those top guys who
Speaker 1: actually looked really good. Mclaimed Tom even Sproke. I think
Speaker 1: that decent in his short time in the major leagues.
Speaker 1: You know, should they have brought those guys up earlier
Speaker 1: and have more faith or you know, was it very
Speaker 1: much it's an emergency, let's just see what they've got.
Speaker 1: And actually they were more ready than the Mets anticipated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they might have been a bit of
Speaker 2: a victim of that start. As you said, I think
Speaker 2: they might have just been set out so far ahead,
Speaker 2: and there was perhaps a little bit of temptation to say,
Speaker 2: you know, we don't want to start the clock on
Speaker 2: these guys. Maybe we think they're leading a little more time.
Speaker 2: Maybe we just you know, want to wait and yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll use them next season and you know, get an
Speaker 2: extra year of control. I guess there probably was that
Speaker 2: temptation with where they were in the standings. I'm sure
Speaker 2: if you'd said to David Stearns in June, do you
Speaker 2: need these guys? He would have said no, And yeah,
Speaker 2: so at the point they did need them, I think,
Speaker 2: you know, they made that move, and they made that
Speaker 2: move on all three of them as well, which is
Speaker 2: probably a lot more aggressive than a lot of teams
Speaker 2: would be. But yeah, you could you could easily argue that,
Speaker 2: certainly if they'd had another two or three starts from
Speaker 2: McLain and then they would have got that that win
Speaker 2: they needed that. The margins are easy to see when
Speaker 2: it's the end of the season and the full picture
Speaker 2: is then.
Speaker 1: It is. Yeah. Well, unfortunately for the Mets Masters, that's
Speaker 1: the last we're going to talk about them this season. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: that's that's Curtains. But let's talk about some of the
Speaker 1: teams that did make it in then. And as mentioned,
Speaker 1: we're not necessarily going to go series by series here,
Speaker 1: but we'll try and touch on on a few of
Speaker 1: these teams. Let's let's start, I guess with a team
Speaker 1: that you're not necessarily rooting for. We can get to
Speaker 1: that later, but so a team that you're excited to
Speaker 1: watch or have got question marks about or keeping a
Speaker 1: close eye on, whether that be in this World card
Speaker 1: round or lurking in that divisional round waiting for them.
Speaker 2: I'm very interested in in the Cubs. I think the
Speaker 2: lineup has been excellent at points in the season, and
Speaker 2: then you know, we've seen the PCA collapse. Saya Suki
Speaker 2: had a real swoon before sort of coming around late
Speaker 2: in the year and then hit a home run in
Speaker 2: the first game against the Padres, so maybe he's coming around.
Speaker 2: You know. I think this lineup could be really, really
Speaker 2: dangerous if they can sort of all get clicking again
Speaker 2: at the right time, and then it's just a case of, yeah,
Speaker 2: can they string enough pitching together to keep the runs
Speaker 2: off the board, Because it would not shock me at
Speaker 2: all if the Cubs lineup made a run in this
Speaker 2: playoffs and they ended up being the most fearsome unit.
Speaker 2: I think they're right up there with the Yankees and
Speaker 2: the Dodgers as the most dangerous. So yeah, there's definitely
Speaker 2: some concerns there. We've seen the vulnerabilities that Cramstrong in
Speaker 2: particular has, and maybe other teams will find that easy
Speaker 2: to exploit. But they're a very good team defensively. Love
Speaker 2: a lot of the bats in that lineup, and it's
Speaker 2: just a case of, you know, can they do maybe
Speaker 2: like what the Rangers did a couple of years ago
Speaker 2: when you look at the stuff, you look at the
Speaker 2: ballpen especially and say, well, this is not going to
Speaker 2: cut it. And sometimes in the playoffs it just happens.
Speaker 2: You know, everybody gets hot at the right time and
Speaker 2: you end up putting it together. And I think another
Speaker 2: comp with that range of team was that they did
Speaker 2: have a really fantastic lineup that season. So I'm interested
Speaker 2: in the Cubs. They've got a lead on the Padres
Speaker 2: already by the time people hear this, but they may
Speaker 2: well already be in the next round, so I think
Speaker 2: there definitely wants to watch for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that first game felt big for them to get
Speaker 1: that win. It was their first playoff win I think
Speaker 1: since twenty seventeen, which is crazy to say because it
Speaker 1: feels like they've never you know, tanked in that period
Speaker 1: of been terrible, but they just, you know, constantly have
Speaker 1: been hovering with the playoffs and when they have gotten
Speaker 1: in have been unlucky or bad in the World Card round.
Speaker 1: And so good to see them get that win on
Speaker 1: the board. I think that was big and hopefully they
Speaker 1: can convert it against I mean a Padres team that
Speaker 1: is also very fun. I wouldn't hate seeing them progress
Speaker 1: through the playoffs. But something about I think playf it's
Speaker 1: what A really feeled. It just feels quite right. So
Speaker 1: I'll be interested to see, yeah, how far the clubs
Speaker 1: can go. I mean, they never really had a chance
Speaker 1: of catching the Brewers in the end, but that if
Speaker 1: those two teams meet, that feels like it would be
Speaker 1: a good series to keep an eye on as well.
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see another team in the World Cals
Speaker 1: Series wh've got a one noer leading and maybe you
Speaker 1: can close it up today. The Detroit Tigers. I think
Speaker 1: we probably should have talked about them in our section
Speaker 1: on teams that missed the playoffs, and Tigers obviously did
Speaker 1: make it in, but my god, did they make it hard?
Speaker 1: Didn't for themselves? Didn't they? They blew a fifteen and
Speaker 1: a half game division league, which feels almost impossible, and
Speaker 1: it just felt like all the momentum was failing from them,
Speaker 1: and I honestly, I think to just get into the
Speaker 1: playoffs must have felt like such a relief, because it
Speaker 1: would have gone down as one of the all time
Speaker 1: great collapses if they missed out on the postseason altogether.
Speaker 1: But they sneak in, and of course the way that
Speaker 1: it ends up working out. They play the Guardians in
Speaker 1: the first round, the team that snuck up and pit
Speaker 1: them to first place in the end, as the Guardians
Speaker 1: just always do negative run differential ale sex title. That's
Speaker 1: just the Cleveland Guardian's way, isn't it. In that series,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's Jesus going to be a low scoring
Speaker 1: series and the look of things, and these are two
Speaker 1: teams that have both struggled to score runs at different
Speaker 1: times this year. But if the Tigers, I feel like,
Speaker 1: can get through this, they maybe have the ingredients of
Speaker 1: a team that can go on a bit of a run.
Speaker 1: We saw that last year in October right where they
Speaker 1: suddenly started clicking with Scooba and the mound last night
Speaker 1: was at fourteen punch outs over seven and something innings.
Speaker 1: He is good enough to win any game for them,
Speaker 1: and that counts for a lot in the playoffs. And
Speaker 1: I think that bullpen looks good. The lineup has scuffled
Speaker 1: for a long time, but there's enough guys in there
Speaker 1: that you can maybe squint and see production. But yeah,
Speaker 1: some of the guys who started the year so hot
Speaker 1: have tailed off. But again, another team that just feels
Speaker 1: like now that they've got in. It's a huge sigh
Speaker 1: of relief. Can they convert that into a reasonable October
Speaker 1: run and takes momentum into into the next round. We'll see.
Speaker 1: I think you were going to talk about the Guardians
Speaker 1: and their pitiful run scoring, won't you. But yeah, they
Speaker 1: need to get their bat together quite quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, how is it the Guardians again? Like
Speaker 2: this team just will not go away. It doesn't seem
Speaker 2: to matter what the roster looks like. And not that
Speaker 2: long ago, you know, you sort of thought, oh, finally,
Speaker 2: the Guardians are just going to have like a seventy
Speaker 2: seven win season and they're not going to be any
Speaker 2: win in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: This is the year.
Speaker 2: We don't have to deal with this. And then they
Speaker 2: put off the most improbable comeback in MLB history, and
Speaker 2: without seemingly actually getting any better at scoring runs, just
Speaker 2: by conjuring up this impossible pitching stretch. I think they
Speaker 2: were one short of the all time record for most
Speaker 2: consecutive starts with two or fewer runs allowed. Of nineteen
Speaker 2: they put together in September, I think it was like
Speaker 2: the nineteen fifteen White Sox with the last team to
Speaker 2: be that they got twenty. They missed that well exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 2: dead ball times we have to roll back to to
Speaker 2: limit runs like this Guardians team did in September. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, fair play to them. They've done it again.
Speaker 2: With the old pitching factory over there. It seems you
Speaker 2: still don't feel like they've quite got you know, some
Speaker 2: of those rotations of old But Gavin Williams has really
Speaker 2: come around. Tanner Biby's pitch really well lately. I believe
Speaker 2: he's pitching really well again right now. And then I
Speaker 2: almost thought last night that they were going to Guardians
Speaker 2: their way past Scooball, who looked absolutely dominant. You know,
Speaker 2: they could barely get a ball out of the infield.
Speaker 2: I think Kyle Manzade was the only to hit the
Speaker 2: ball out of the infield, and the run they did
Speaker 2: score was just ludicrous. I think it was like a
Speaker 2: forty eight mile per hour slow chopper that you know,
Speaker 2: the second baseman couldn't make a play on in time.
Speaker 2: And then a little blue hit that sort of just
Speaker 2: looped over Scooball's head to get the run to come in,
Speaker 2: and I was just like, the how are they doing this?
Speaker 2: Like this is the most guardian thing I've ever seen. Fortunately,
Speaker 2: the Tigers did eventually manage to close it out despite
Speaker 2: a little scare in the ninth. But they are I
Speaker 2: don't think this is hyperbole. I believe they are the
Speaker 2: worst offense in the playoffs in baseball history by OBP.
Speaker 2: They've got a two ninety six OBP, and I just
Speaker 2: don't I don't. I don't want to continue to see this.
Speaker 2: It's not particularly entertainty. They don't score runs. I'll give
Speaker 2: them credit. They did hit home run today, Well done,
Speaker 2: George Valeria. But they called Chase in Water up for
Speaker 2: it like he's making his MLB debut in center field today,
Speaker 2: because they're like that desperate to get some offense to
Speaker 2: the team that they've got. This guy who's never never
Speaker 2: actually played a major league game in his life. I
Speaker 2: think he's only played about thirty games in center field
Speaker 2: and the miners, and they're just like, please, or somebody
Speaker 2: give us some offense. No offense to hose Ara Mirus,
Speaker 2: who is obviously a very good player. But the rest
Speaker 2: of this lineup is absolutely god awful. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think you only have to go about four hitters deep
Speaker 2: to get to sub seven hundred ops. It's dreadful. So
Speaker 2: all credit to them for the unbelievable comeback, but I
Speaker 2: do not want to be seeing through playoff games later
Speaker 2: in this postseason. Just watching the Guardians like small ball
Speaker 2: their way to one nil victories without ever hitting a
Speaker 2: ball out of the infield, It's it's not entertaining to me,
Speaker 2: do you.
Speaker 1: Know what, I'll play Devil's advocate. Not because I think
Speaker 1: the Guardians, you know, offense is good or entertaining, God, no,
Speaker 1: are not insane. But I just feel like this team
Speaker 1: has a way of playing really entertaining playoff games. Like
Speaker 1: last year we saw it in their series with the
Speaker 1: Yankees that like every game was crazy back and forth
Speaker 1: and you had the big Christmas home run, And I
Speaker 1: feel like they've got the energy of a team that
Speaker 1: could do that again this year. You know, they as
Speaker 1: we speak, they've just got to have a first and
Speaker 1: third and no one out jam in the seventh to
Speaker 1: keep their playoff hopes alive. And I just feel like
Speaker 1: those teams that don't score many runs but have good
Speaker 1: pitching create entertaining or at least close playoff games, right
Speaker 1: because you end up getting to the seventh eighth nightth
Speaker 1: it's like every run is so important, you know. Don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong, I love a good slug fest as
Speaker 1: much as anyone, but I do feel it. There's something
Speaker 1: about an October game that's two to one, one nail,
Speaker 1: three to two going into the late innings that they
Speaker 1: and maybe that makes me sad. In fact, it definitely does,
Speaker 1: but I feel like, you know, the Guardians are that team.
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to sit here and say, like, God,
Speaker 1: I hope they make it all the way to the
Speaker 1: World Series, because I don't. But I will say that
Speaker 1: almost painful brand of small ball, low scoring baseball can
Speaker 1: sometimes actually be quite a fun watch when October comes around.
Speaker 1: And look, I mean, maybe it is the guy they've
Speaker 1: called up today who turns into the spark plug they need.
Speaker 1: But all it takes is for someone to have a
Speaker 1: decent month and give Ramirez In quite a little bit
Speaker 1: of support, and I guess you can squint and see
Speaker 1: some run production or at least enough to carry that
Speaker 1: rotation through that that is October for you. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it also feels like they could go out today with
Speaker 1: a whimper and with the same old issues as every year,
Speaker 1: where they can't score any runs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they feel a bit like the Brewers have for
Speaker 2: like quite a lot of years, where you know they'd
Speaker 2: be good in the regular season and they get to
Speaker 2: the playoffs and they just get shut out because there
Speaker 2: wasn't that actually, you know, it's Christian Yelich and then
Speaker 2: a bunch of people can't hit the Jose Ramirez being
Speaker 2: the Christian Yelich on this team. I don't suppose you're
Speaker 2: wrong in the sense that the sort of percentage of
Speaker 2: high leverage moments in these Guardian games is probably pretty
Speaker 2: high because they almost never blow anybody out. So if
Speaker 2: you're sort of looking for a game with high volume,
Speaker 2: you know, I want to spend as much time as
Speaker 2: possible not knowing who's going to win this game, then
Speaker 2: I guess they're pretty good for that. I think it's
Speaker 2: the sort of the sheer, fluky feeling of all of it,
Speaker 2: Like that run they scored against Scuball yesterday, you know,
Speaker 2: it didn't feel like they did anything right and they
Speaker 2: still got a run across sort of felt perverse against
Speaker 2: the rules of the universe. And maybe that's how all
Speaker 2: those scoring games are really. You know, you just need
Speaker 2: a bit of luck to get over. But it seems
Speaker 2: disproportionately weighted towards Cleveland somehow.
Speaker 1: They can be infuriating as well, especially if you have
Speaker 1: a rooting interest in the team going against Cleveland.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure the Tigers fans are yeah.
Speaker 1: On a wild pitch or you know, just this stuff.
Speaker 1: It's like, how they're not good? How are they managed
Speaker 1: to do this? So I can see how, Yeah, that
Speaker 1: could be frustrating to watch and to know in your
Speaker 1: heart that you're a better team than them, but you
Speaker 1: just can't. You just can't prove it. Let's maybe talk
Speaker 1: World Series favorites things. I was saying to my mind,
Speaker 1: this feels like one of the most open postseasons where
Speaker 1: there's no real obvious World Seils favorite, and that maybe
Speaker 1: we say it every year right when it comes around
Speaker 1: to playoff baseball, you can't really have a favorite. It's
Speaker 1: never a predetermined outcome because of the fact that in
Speaker 1: a five game series, three game series, seven game series,
Speaker 1: anything can happen and any team can get hot. But
Speaker 1: it feels like, whereas in the past it's been like, oh,
Speaker 1: the Dodgers are the favorite, or oh the Yankees or whoever,
Speaker 1: this year it is very open, and maybe I'll kick
Speaker 1: off just talking about the Milwaukee Brewers team you just mentioned,
Speaker 1: because they ended baseball with the best record, which somewhat shocking,
Speaker 1: especially because I still have that opinion of them that
Speaker 1: you just spoke about, where yeah, okay, out a way
Speaker 1: to get some good pitching out there, but they just
Speaker 1: never ever are able to get done with their lineup
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. So I just have that same thought
Speaker 1: in the back of my mind. But is this year's
Speaker 1: Brewers team different? Should we be thinking of them as
Speaker 1: a World Series favorite? Does the record reflect how good
Speaker 1: they are or is it again a bit of a
Speaker 1: mirage they had obviously that crazy hot run in the
Speaker 1: middle of the season that pushed them up to this
Speaker 1: great record. Or is there a reason to think that
Speaker 1: some of these guys that they haven't had previously, whether
Speaker 1: that be Reese Hoskins or a Jackson Turio or other
Speaker 1: guys who've had breakout years, are going to carry on
Speaker 1: through through October. What's your view on the Brewers.
Speaker 2: I think it's it's a better lineup. It's a deep
Speaker 2: line up. Now, you know, there's not a lot of
Speaker 2: weakness here. If you look at the performance, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of guys who have had above average seasons. I
Speaker 2: still think they're very light on guys who are like,
Speaker 2: this is the game changer. You know, there isn't there
Speaker 2: an Aaron Judge. There isn't the Jose Ramirez of Vladger Junior.
Speaker 2: I think Al West, every other team and then the
Speaker 2: playoffs has got probably multiple guys in their lineups and
Speaker 2: you're kind of like, yeah, it's Yelich and then not
Speaker 2: sure really, but you know, maybe I'm not giving enough
Speaker 2: credit to some of the guys who've come out of
Speaker 2: nowhere this year. We've had guys like Isaac Collins for example,
Speaker 2: you know, getting on base pretty high clips. We've had
Speaker 2: the the Andrew Vaughan renaissance coming out of nowhere. They
Speaker 2: are very good defensively. I think William Contreros has had
Speaker 2: a bit of a down year, but we've seen him
Speaker 2: be very high end defensive player. So I think they've
Speaker 2: got more than they've had in the past. This is
Speaker 2: definitely not Guardian's level, you know, terrible line up. They're
Speaker 2: definitely an above average line up. I still I'm not
Speaker 2: sure that it's going to be the best for them
Speaker 2: in the playoffs when there's a bit more time to
Speaker 2: game plan when it is a bit more of a yeah,
Speaker 2: now we've got an opportunity to put our best guys
Speaker 2: out there really focus in. We've got extra off days.
Speaker 2: Is that going to play into their hands? I don't
Speaker 2: think so because of that lack of high end talent.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to say I'm still not a big
Speaker 2: Brewers believer, but I think maybe they'll be less of
Speaker 2: those sort of very frustrating We've gotten too the playoffs
Speaker 2: and we've immediately been bounced without scoring any runs type
Speaker 2: series for them. I don't think that's going to happen
Speaker 2: to them this year, but I still do think they
Speaker 2: lack that the top end of the roster to be
Speaker 2: a true world series.
Speaker 1: Who do you think is a favorite?
Speaker 2: Then?
Speaker 1: If you had to call it right now, who who's a.
Speaker 2: Team to be It's difficult. I want to say the
Speaker 2: Mariners because they've actually made it finally. They've got the rotation,
Speaker 2: which is great, and you know they do they do
Speaker 2: have they have a megastar. You know, they have Julio
Speaker 2: who's the absolute elite centerfielder and has done his usual
Speaker 2: doesn't really hit in the first half. I wait actually
Speaker 2: he's elite in the second half of move which if
Speaker 2: you could just fix that for the whole season would
Speaker 2: be incredible. I think he was still worth nearly seven
Speaker 2: war despite another slow start this year. So I'd love
Speaker 2: to see them do it. I still, you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's not a great lineup. There's there's concerns in there.
Speaker 2: They've got some pretty weak spots. Maybe cal Ready can
Speaker 2: keep doing this for another month fingers crossed. So I
Speaker 2: don't know that I have the level of confidence in
Speaker 2: them to say, yeah, they're the favorites. But I think
Speaker 2: they've got a lot of components that you look for.
Speaker 2: They've got great pitching, they've got offensive threads. They feel
Speaker 2: they feel like the you know, team of Destiny a
Speaker 2: bit this year with the way Raley's season went, don't they.
Speaker 2: I think if we're looking for the playoff team of
Speaker 2: Destiny this year, it kind of feels like the Mariners.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to say that's what I want. And
Speaker 2: you know, then the obvious answer for who is the
Speaker 2: actual favorites is the Dodgers, clearly. But I don't know
Speaker 2: if anybody needs to hear us say that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with you with it. On the Mariner. It's
Speaker 1: not that I think they're going to get to the
Speaker 1: World Series, just they just feel like a team cursed
Speaker 1: to have their season ending heartbreak. Even if this year
Speaker 1: they did win a division, which is which is amazing,
Speaker 1: and like Marion's fans should be delighted with that. It
Speaker 1: was such a long wait it they became the butt
Speaker 1: of the joke for so long. And it's not just
Speaker 1: obviously they made it this year, but they earned it.
Speaker 1: I think they were the best team in that division.
Speaker 1: I think they are one of the best teams in baseball,
Speaker 1: and so it is great that they are going to
Speaker 1: be in the playoffs and I'm excited to see them play.
Speaker 1: And I think how Rally maybe is the player I'm
Speaker 1: most excited to watch as well, because like, look, everyone
Speaker 1: knows how great he's been this year, but I think
Speaker 1: there is still that slight like tasting everyone's mouth of
Speaker 1: one year one the when's the magic going to run out? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he hits bombs, but he doesn't do X, Y and Z,
Speaker 1: and I just think, like who cares, Like even if
Speaker 1: this is the only year he has that is even
Speaker 1: close to this level, Like what an unbelievable season and
Speaker 1: how amazing would it be if he can cap it
Speaker 1: off with just a not Hober leading that that team
Speaker 1: to the World Series and that whole crowd there, Like,
Speaker 1: it's just a really fun team to root for. So
Speaker 1: I'm definitely cheering for the Mariners favorites. Wise, I agree
Speaker 1: with you. I think it's hard to look beyond the
Speaker 1: Dodgers boring, but their lineups so good. They showed it
Speaker 1: last night in Game one against the Reds. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: rotation show Hey suddenly looks like he is back to
Speaker 1: ace form. I mean, we never should have doubted him,
Speaker 1: but having en obviously a healthy pitching show Hey makes
Speaker 1: a massive difference. Maybe Snell's finally going to pitch more
Speaker 1: than six innings in the playoffs. You know, all this
Speaker 1: stuff seems to be converging nicely for them. But I
Speaker 1: think the two teams I point out as my favorites
Speaker 1: would be the Phillies in the n Now. I just
Speaker 1: think it seems like things went wrong for them a
Speaker 1: little bit this year at certain times, and they just
Speaker 1: found ways to continue to win games. You know, Nola
Speaker 1: had a really poor year. Zack Wheeler obviously injured at
Speaker 1: the end. I don't know what his prognosis is he
Speaker 1: going to return in the playoffs, didn't know if he is.
Speaker 2: No, he's got thoracic outlet, the good kind of thoracic
Speaker 2: outlet syndrome, but still it's going to knock him out
Speaker 2: and they're hoping that he'll be back for next season,
Speaker 2: but there's no chance he'll be in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So chance well then yeah, So that's obviously a huge loss.
Speaker 1: But they still just seem to pick up pitching another
Speaker 1: places obvious Christopher Sanchez has a great year. The Sardo
Speaker 1: seems to be somewhat of ice size that they just
Speaker 1: find ways to put it all together. And that line
Speaker 1: up is so legit and it is so battle tested
Speaker 1: and experienced that I just trust it so much. And
Speaker 1: getting Duran at closer, like that's a guy who, as
Speaker 1: I'm saying, is so I'm realizing he's going to melt
Speaker 1: down now at some point in a massive, high leverage situation.
Speaker 1: But in theory a guy that you trust to close
Speaker 1: out games, which has always been their achilles heel. So
Speaker 1: I like them, and I'm excited to see what the
Speaker 1: Blue Deards can do in October. Like fair play, they
Speaker 1: have not been a good team in a long time,
Speaker 1: and they've come out this year and proven everyone wrong
Speaker 1: to an extent. And like you say, they've got the
Speaker 1: superstar and Vlad, they've got a rotation that's really fun.
Speaker 1: They've got other stars in the lineup that probably don't
Speaker 1: get the national acclaim they should, so that I think
Speaker 1: would be a very fun bold series matchup. You can
Speaker 1: get those two teams together, but yeah, plenty of other
Speaker 1: teams that will be interested in watching and excited to
Speaker 1: see who who is your vote for world series you
Speaker 1: want to see.
Speaker 2: I could go for a Mariner's Phillies world series, actually,
Speaker 2: I think that would be a lot of fun. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I could be on board with that. I definitely think,
Speaker 2: you know, for never having one reasons, the Mariners would
Speaker 2: be great. I think there'd be a lot of people
Speaker 2: rooting for them to do it. And I think the
Speaker 2: Phillies feel like they've sort of been here, don't they
Speaker 2: the last few years. It's they've been really close to
Speaker 2: getting it done and they've just not quite got over
Speaker 2: the hump. But this feels like the most open postseason
Speaker 2: that we've had in the last few and yeah, the
Speaker 2: opportunity is definitely there for them as long as they
Speaker 2: can sort of hold it together. That that pitching does
Speaker 2: look a lot less intimidating Without Wheeler, I think, so
Speaker 2: it's a real shame he's not going to be there,
Speaker 2: But I still think, yeah, they've they've got that formidable
Speaker 2: lineup and you definitely Trusts and Sanchez and Brenda soire
Speaker 2: Is at the top of their rotation. So I think
Speaker 2: I think for these Mariners would go over pretty well.
Speaker 1: It'll be fun. Yeah, and that let's go on to TV.
Speaker 1: You don't want to see in the word series he'll
Speaker 1: we hate watching in October. I mean, obvious team is
Speaker 1: the New York Yankees, right, I don't want to be
Speaker 1: controversial here. I quite like the Yankees. I think they're
Speaker 1: fun to watch. Judge is awesome, Max Breeds and Ace
Speaker 1: like that. I've been impressed with how they've been able
Speaker 1: to get over some of the issues they've had this
Speaker 1: year with injuries obviously, you know, losing cold for the
Speaker 1: whole year before the season even started, and various players
Speaker 1: not forming up to standards. I guess he's been the
Speaker 1: brunt of a lot of jokes, hasn't he And it
Speaker 1: feels like they could have very easily gone through a
Speaker 1: Mets style collapse and just fallen out of it. But
Speaker 1: they kept finding ways to win. Some guys got healthy.
Speaker 1: The lineup looks pretty strong. It's been a great year
Speaker 1: for a friend of the podcast, Toby bell Ringer. He
Speaker 1: looked back to top four. So, I actually, I don't think
Speaker 1: the Yankees are the team I would least like to
Speaker 1: win the World Series. Isn't it like it's been a
Speaker 1: while for them, right, So I'm not going to say them.
Speaker 1: I think we're at that point now where I'm hate
Speaker 1: watching the Dodgers. I'm sorry, I don't want them winning
Speaker 1: the World Series. I get it, they're awesome. I love
Speaker 1: show Hey, I love Bets, I love all these players,
Speaker 1: like the whole cursh Or narrative. I get it. That
Speaker 1: would be so cool. But it's enough like they are
Speaker 1: the modern day Yankees from the perspective of just being
Speaker 1: too good all the time that I want someone else
Speaker 1: to win the World Series. I want someone else to
Speaker 1: be in the World Series this year. So look, Dodgers bands,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but you've had a bit too much. I'm
Speaker 1: openly rooting for your downfall this year. I do not
Speaker 1: want you to win another World Series. But Darius, who
Speaker 1: who do you least want to win the World Series?
Speaker 1: And why?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the Yankees is a good shout in
Speaker 2: sort of like you. I do quite like a lot
Speaker 2: of the Yankees. I was quite hardened to see Volpi
Speaker 2: hit a home run last night, have a good game,
Speaker 2: you know, because I just think he's twenty three. Then
Speaker 2: the amount of abuse is pretty horrendous. I know it's
Speaker 2: been a tough year for him, but yeah, he's like
Speaker 2: he's bat's eighth in the lineup. Like, don't worry about it, guys.
Speaker 2: The lineup is great. It's fantastic lineup. You know. Hopefully
Speaker 2: we get playoff Stanton. I love a bit of playoff Stanton.
Speaker 2: Always fun to see. So I don't think that I
Speaker 2: would necessarily object to a Yankees run, but I think
Speaker 2: I would object to the discourse. I cannot take the
Speaker 2: discourse a level of analysis. We get the level of
Speaker 2: griping from the Yankees fans. You know, it's it's just painful.
Speaker 2: And yes, I know it's been since two thousand and nine,
Speaker 2: and then I'll know, terrible a long time since you
Speaker 2: have won the World Series. So I just think for
Speaker 2: that reason, alone that that is high on the list
Speaker 2: of maybe just get them bounced early and then we
Speaker 2: don't have to deal with this anymore.
Speaker 1: We saw them get to the World Series last year.
Speaker 1: That was enough, wasn't it. We only to see them
Speaker 1: win it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then we had to hear about their lack
Speaker 2: of Well, we've still been hearing about their lack of
Speaker 2: fundamentals all the way throughout this season. After that Game
Speaker 2: five performance, like that story did not go away. So
Speaker 2: that's that's what we've got to look forward to. I'm
Speaker 2: sure if anybody makes a big error in any spot
Speaker 2: at any point in this postseason for the Yankees, I
Speaker 2: don't know that I want the Red Sox much more necessarily.
Speaker 2: You know, they've had a lot of success in recent years.
Speaker 2: Probably the discourse will be just as bad if the
Speaker 2: Red Sox go deep into this postseason. So yeah, they're
Speaker 2: both probably towards the bottom of the list of teams
Speaker 2: I'm rooting for. And then I you know, I dunked
Speaker 2: on the Guardian already, I guess, so that way. I
Speaker 2: know it's been a really long time since they've won it,
Speaker 2: and I feel kind of mean for saying it, but yeah,
Speaker 2: I just I don't think I would get a great
Speaker 2: deal of joy out of watching this caliber of lineup
Speaker 2: go deep into the postseason, especially, I mean, can you
Speaker 2: imagine them against the Mariner's rotation, Like, what is the
Speaker 2: pain going to be of that? There's just going to
Speaker 2: be nothing, And they'd still find a way to win
Speaker 2: one thill they probably, and that would be the thing.
Speaker 2: They just have, like three four one nill victories. Yeah, dreadful.
Speaker 2: I guess they don't need three in the DS. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I just I'm not sure I could bring myself to
Speaker 2: watch a series of Guardians one nill victories on a
Speaker 2: you know, an error and a stolen base and a
Speaker 2: you know, sack fly or something not what I'm looking
Speaker 2: for from entertainment as a genuine concept. I guess this
Speaker 2: is not not why I come to watch baseball. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I guess they're They're my bottom three.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not. I'm not too worried about the Guardians
Speaker 1: making the World Series, as much as I feel like
Speaker 1: I'm now destined to have had the Colder is tagether,
Speaker 1: I don't see them putting that run to together. Although
Speaker 1: I guess after last year's World Series being you know,
Speaker 1: the major networks dream we're probably due for a for
Speaker 1: a Guardian's Brewers World series to help even it all out,
Speaker 1: So maybe we should bear that in mind. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, I would would not be too excited about
Speaker 1: seeing them seeing.
Speaker 2: Them made after the early home run. Today they still
Speaker 2: only have two hits and it's now the bottom of
Speaker 2: the eighth, so that tells you how that's going.
Speaker 1: Miserable. Yeah, before we wrap, maybe we can just have
Speaker 1: a quick look at, rather than teams, but a player
Speaker 1: that you are excited to see in this year's postseason,
Speaker 1: whether it be one of those big stars like caw
Speaker 1: Rally who I mentioned, or whether it be more of
Speaker 1: an under the radar guy who you're just excited to
Speaker 1: see playing in October baseball. Who's who's got your attention?
Speaker 2: I got a couple of names, one one more of
Speaker 2: a veteran, one more of a young guy, George Springer.
Speaker 2: I think we'd just have to mention the season that
Speaker 2: George Springer has had probably his best offensive season at
Speaker 2: a point in his career when I think a lot
Speaker 2: of people I certainly had written him off as yeah,
Speaker 2: he's on the downswing. Now we're not going to see
Speaker 2: peak George Springer back, and you know, he had one
Speaker 2: sixty six WRC plus this season, hit three oh nine
Speaker 2: thirty two home It's like, really really good. Big reason
Speaker 2: why the Budjos won the division this year is George
Speaker 2: Springer making that bounce back. And he's always been a guy,
Speaker 2: you know, when the Astros have been making all those runs,
Speaker 2: he was always there, you know, being the hype guy
Speaker 2: in the dugout, being excited. He's a fun guy. You know,
Speaker 2: if you've got one of those classic postseason games, he's
Speaker 2: getting hyped up. He's a fun player to watch. So
Speaker 2: great see him back. Great that he had such a season,
Speaker 2: and I'm hoping that we get some more classic Springer
Speaker 2: playoff moments. And then on the other side of the
Speaker 2: pitching side, I'm going to say Brian because I think
Speaker 2: you know, he was sort of seen as third, maybe
Speaker 2: fourth on that Mariners pitching depth chart, you know, on
Speaker 2: that pecking order, and Logan Gilbert had some injury struggles
Speaker 2: and didn't quite pitch up to his previous levels, and
Speaker 2: George Kirby didn't have his best year, and Brian Rude
Speaker 2: just stepped up and was really the rock in that staff.
Speaker 2: Pitched unbelievably while this season really cemented himself as an ace,
Speaker 2: and I think it's always great when we get these
Speaker 2: players that maybe people aren't necessarily paying attention to if
Speaker 2: they're not on their own teams until it gets to
Speaker 2: the playoffs. So I'm really hoping that we kind of
Speaker 2: shows out on the national stage and people get to
Speaker 2: recognize what outstanding picture he is because he had a
Speaker 2: really excellent season.
Speaker 1: Two good picks. Yeah, we have always thought it's really
Speaker 1: fun to watch pitch. I know he went through issues
Speaker 1: with various like shoulder swallers and stuff at one point,
Speaker 1: but yeah, to see the way he's loss of this
Speaker 1: year has been has been fun. It's really really exciting
Speaker 1: to watch who finally, I guess is getting his slows
Speaker 1: Like you said, rotation for a long time, but was
Speaker 1: always really good and getting getting those points. I think
Speaker 1: my obvious pick would be would be Kyle Schwarber. It's
Speaker 1: just something about the way that man hits home runs
Speaker 1: and something about the way he does it in October
Speaker 1: particularly that is just really fun. I think a playoffs
Speaker 1: are better when Carl Shauber's in them, and fortunately he
Speaker 1: has been a lot recently partly off his own back.
Speaker 1: He's just a very good player. But yeah, been really
Speaker 1: excited to see to see him and that hopefully he
Speaker 1: is aren't really a bit especially Shawber back out there
Speaker 1: in October. And then the other pick, I think it
Speaker 1: has to be one of these, you know, starting pitchers
Speaker 1: who put the ability to telling the games. He talked
Speaker 1: about scooball already, but less mention Garrett Crochet. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was outstanding in Game one for the Red Sox.
Speaker 1: You know, certainly not under the radar pick, but he,
Speaker 1: you know, has all the makings of a kind of
Speaker 1: guy who can just take over a game and a
Speaker 1: postseason and be just on and carry that team. And
Speaker 1: I think that is super important October to have a
Speaker 1: guy you can rely on, even if it isn't you know,
Speaker 1: the Sy Young Winner. I think it's important to have
Speaker 1: that kind of guy. But yeah, big your pardon, Croche
Speaker 1: is a sy Young Winner or sy Young contender at least,
Speaker 1: and I think he could take that team a long way. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: he is brilliant in Game one. I think he'll be
Speaker 1: a big part of the Red Sox making a run
Speaker 1: if they do. So very excited to see him in action.
Speaker 2: That was a real old school I think they let
Speaker 2: him go one hundred and seventeen pictures as well. The
Speaker 2: game from ten ten years ago. It's like, you do
Speaker 2: not see this number anymore. Ever, you never see anybody
Speaker 2: get but he was. He was just dealing and yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: Cora was like, let the man roll. Fair play for him.
Speaker 2: So great to see. I will just note that since
Speaker 2: we ragged on the Guardians a bit more, they have
Speaker 2: now scored two runs, so obviously that obviously they're going
Speaker 2: to make the World Series.
Speaker 1: Are they wasting all of their runs in one game? Though? Three? Goodness? Three?
Speaker 1: Well there you go. Well maybe that series is going
Speaker 1: to a decide of them, which is exciting. We will see.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm starting pictures. Obviously, it's a banner night
Speaker 1: for them in that first night. Is there do you
Speaker 1: think a trend towards pictures or managers, sorry, trusting their
Speaker 1: races a bit more and letting them throw maybe not
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty pictures, but certainly go deeper into
Speaker 1: games and let the aces eat or is it just
Speaker 1: a matter of Look, we saw a few of the
Speaker 1: best starting pictures in the game last night. Go deep.
Speaker 1: But the general trend is still going to be giving
Speaker 1: four or five in inches. I'm turning it over to
Speaker 1: the pen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think maybe there's a little bit
Speaker 2: more on the If you have got one of those
Speaker 2: no doubt high end aces, we will let you roll.
Speaker 2: But we've seen some exceptionally quick cook so far already.
Speaker 2: I mean, is in this Tiger's game, you know, I
Speaker 2: think he walked a guy to start the fourth and
Speaker 2: Jahine was out there like, you're done, mate, Like that
Speaker 2: was that was it? So the kind of thing you
Speaker 2: would not see in the regular season. I think he'd
Speaker 2: thrown sixty odd pitchers at that point, so definitely wasn't
Speaker 2: a pitch count thing. It was just a this is
Speaker 2: a playoff game and I'm not messing around.
Speaker 1: I think that kind of thing is you've walked to
Speaker 1: Guardian's hitter, You're done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's you know, that's it. We can't tolerate this
Speaker 2: kind of thing. So I think we'll still continue to
Speaker 2: see that with the guys lower down the pecking order
Speaker 2: in the rotations. I think, yes, your scooballs, your crochets,
Speaker 2: your woos, then we'll see those guys allowed to go
Speaker 2: a bit deeper. I think, especially if you've got them
Speaker 2: like lined up that first game of the series, you
Speaker 2: don't necessarily want to say, yeah, I want to get
Speaker 2: five innings out of the bullpen already. You know, you
Speaker 2: don't know how the series is going to go. That
Speaker 2: can have an effect, obviously, if you're going to get
Speaker 2: through a series, you're going to need that bullpen probably
Speaker 2: multiple times. And yeah, to sort of cut somebody out
Speaker 2: of the game, especially when they're pitching the ways that
Speaker 2: Scooble and Crashet were in those game ones. I think,
Speaker 2: you know, if they're rolling, then I think we're going
Speaker 2: to see managers just say I'm going to keep keep
Speaker 2: letting them roll. But I think we're still going to
Speaker 2: see forty fifty to sixty pitch starts from a lot
Speaker 2: of the guys pitching in these playoffs, and maybe even
Speaker 2: you know, we'll probably there's going to be how long
Speaker 2: do we get a Dave Roberts bullpen complaint? I mean,
Speaker 2: it's it's coming, isn't it. They're going to they're going
Speaker 2: to yank one of those Dodgers start as early and
Speaker 2: they get somebody who relieves them is going to give
Speaker 2: up runs. That's that's going to be very interesting storyline
Speaker 2: to watch how the Dodgers ballpen plays out, because they
Speaker 2: do not have anybody that Dave Roberts trust right now.
Speaker 1: It will be interesting. I mean, yeah, I do not,
Speaker 1: you know, something, one of those old heads, but I
Speaker 1: do miss the days of pitchers being given longer leashes.
Speaker 1: And I think it's great that, even if it's a
Speaker 1: few guys that are being given the chance to go
Speaker 1: deep in games and put the game on their back.
Speaker 1: But there's also, like you said that, there's a strategy
Speaker 1: piece of if you want to burn your bullpen arms
Speaker 1: early in a series, you can, but that may have
Speaker 1: knock on effects. I do feel like we saw their
Speaker 1: little bit of that last year where teams that have
Speaker 1: been so heavily aligned on bullpen games and believers going
Speaker 1: out there two three days in a row or four
Speaker 1: or five times in a series were starting to flag
Speaker 1: towards towards the end of October. So maybe we'll see
Speaker 1: a slight shift the other way, especially when it comes
Speaker 1: to those top hand guys. And yeah, the bullpen chat,
Speaker 1: I mean, it wouldn't be a postseason without you know,
Speaker 1: what was he thinking when a previously excellent reliever just
Speaker 1: happened to give up a home run or a series
Speaker 1: of unfortunate hits. But you know, that's what we do
Speaker 1: it for. Is the discourse.
Speaker 2: Is Clayton kersh You're going to be out there for
Speaker 2: the save in Game seven of the World Series. I
Speaker 2: guess that's that's what I'm asking, is that is that
Speaker 2: the thing we most want to see for the narrative.
Speaker 2: It would be cool until he blew it, and then
Speaker 2: we'd be like, oh no, now, now his career is
Speaker 2: over and he's one more blemish on the postseason leg just.
Speaker 1: To blow it in October one more time.
Speaker 2: The floor is yours, one more for the road. I
Speaker 2: wish I hadn't put that out there into the world now,
Speaker 2: but I have, so there it is.
Speaker 1: You hate to see it. The content would be tremendous,
Speaker 1: can you imagine? Yeah, right, let's leave at that, and
Speaker 1: we've done now. Who we do want to see any
Speaker 1: World Series? Who we don't want to see in the
Speaker 1: World Series? With your prediction is who is going to
Speaker 1: be in the World Series? If you if you have
Speaker 1: to choose me, give me.
Speaker 2: Give me the Mariners, Give the Mariners and the Dodgers,
Speaker 2: because you know it's the Dodgers, but Mariners and my
Speaker 2: team of destiny this year. I believe if Cady can
Speaker 2: hit sixty home runs, anything can happen.
Speaker 1: God, I love that. I mean, not the Dodger's bit,
Speaker 1: but I love the Mariners. But give me the Yankees
Speaker 1: and the Phillies. Give me an O nine World Series rematch.
Speaker 1: But I really, I really do hope the Mariners at
Speaker 1: least gone a good run here. That would be that
Speaker 1: would be so much fun. Right, well, we'll be back,
Speaker 1: I have no doubt between now and the World Series
Speaker 1: to talk more about baseball's happening. I'm actually going to
Speaker 1: be in Boston in a couple of weeks time, So
Speaker 1: if the Red Soots could extend their run until I
Speaker 1: get there, that would be fun for me on a
Speaker 1: very personal level, even though I'm not particularly fussbut seeing
Speaker 1: them when the World Series.
Speaker 2: But yeah, no pressure on Garrett Krache, but he needs
Speaker 2: to get the job done.
Speaker 1: Kind of has to win a couple of series here yet.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we will be back to discuss. I think
Speaker 1: we're going to try and get the rarely sighted gav
Speaker 1: On to talk about his travails in Rotterdam. We didn't
Speaker 1: do a very good job mentioning it at the top
Speaker 1: of the podcast, but he was out there to watch
Speaker 1: TMGB in the European Championships. Unfortunately, TMGB did get knocked
Speaker 1: out in the quarterfinals by Spain in the Euros that
Speaker 1: were eventually won by the Netherlands, who did have a
Speaker 1: lot of extremely good major league talent on their roster,
Speaker 1: so not a massive shock. But I believe I've had
Speaker 1: a wonderful time out there. I think there was a
Speaker 1: lot of very good baseball played by GB and others.
Speaker 1: So I look forward to hearing his recap of the tournament.
Speaker 1: Wants we're able to get him back on the show,
Speaker 1: and yeah, we'll do some more, some more playoff chat,
Speaker 1: hopefully with a few more of us available in very
Speaker 1: due course. That's all for me, Thanks Darius for for
Speaker 1: joining me and and talking to baseball, and yeah, enjoy
Speaker 1: it wherever you're watching. And let's see if the Guardians
Speaker 1: can score more than three runs again. H m hm
Speaker 1: hm m m
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