0:07

This is baseball tonight, the

0:09

podcast.

0:11

This is the baseball tonight podcast for

0:14

Monday, March twentieth two thousand

0:16

twenty three, and day will be better

0:18

than yesterday. Sarah Abbott Taylor's Wayne Bruce

0:20

Baldwin are all back in Bristol and Luster

0:22

Olney. I'm in Montana. But

0:25

today, all eyes were beyond Miami

0:27

with the second semi final of the WBC

0:30

will be played. Roki Suzuki

0:32

will pitch for Japan against Mexico

0:35

Jefferson talked last week on the podcast

0:37

about his dominance as a great piece on

0:39

ESPN dot com today. And

0:42

the winner in that game will

0:44

base the team from the US, which

0:46

blew out Cuba last night with

0:48

help from Trey Turner.

0:50

And he swings and down loads to

0:53

left field back to the safe

0:55

spotty as the grand slam.

1:01

The final score on Sunday was

1:03

fourteen to two, and that

1:05

game was made possible for the US by what

1:07

happened on Saturday night. When the United

1:09

States played Venezuela in a

1:12

wild and crazy game of

1:14

lead

1:14

changes, the US trailed

1:16

when Turner came to the plate with the bases

1:18

loaded. Here's the o two.

1:21

Swinging a five ball. Let's feel,

1:23

Dave. Jimmy Dewey, drag,

1:26

slide.

1:36

Yeah. So the US won that game nine to

1:38

seven in Taylor, Sarah, that

1:40

was so much fun to see the emotion

1:43

in the US players. A lot of times in the

1:45

WBC through the years, We've seen

1:47

it with players from Puerto Rico. We've seen it

1:49

with players in the d

1:50

r. To see it from the

1:52

US players, it's pretty cool. What do you think?

1:54

Oh my god. Absolutely incredible.

1:57

I mean, what a spot? What an atmosphere?

2:00

And these guys love playing playing with each

2:02

other. I think Noel and Aronato said that he loves playing

2:04

with Trey Turner. I mean, that's it's cool to

2:06

see these guys, you know, slap together even for just

2:08

a couple games and and really enjoying it. And I

2:10

I think we've hit like a turning point with the WBC.

2:12

Like, everyone is enthralled including

2:14

this podcast.

2:16

Yeah. Sarah? Yeah. It's been

2:18

so much fun to watch. And, you

2:20

know, USA baby all day every

2:22

day. Patriot, let's go.

2:26

So I'm I'm really fascinated

2:28

by Trey Turner now. Going into this year, joining

2:30

the Philly's being part of this incredible lineup.

2:32

You know, I had my idea about who would be the

2:35

nationally MVP pick, but now I'm kinda

2:37

I'm kinda wondering trade Turner with

2:39

four home runs in the WBC.

2:42

Hot ticket is brought to you by vivid seats

2:44

where you earn rewards with every purchase.

2:46

Vivint seats rewards is your ticket

2:48

to more tickets. Vivint seats,

2:51

life, happens live. And look,

2:53

the WBC has been a ton of fun. But,

2:55

obviously, after what happened to Edwin

2:57

Diaz last week and after what happened with

2:59

Jose Altubio over the weekend, There's

3:01

also a separate conversation about

3:04

how teams feel about this. Here's José

3:06

Tube, facing Daniel Bard

3:08

on Saturday night. For one

3:10

two,

3:12

Jermaine, hits the dirt. After

3:15

he was hit by the pitch, Venezuela

3:19

has one of the bases. Not

3:21

what you wanna see. It's

3:23

just not knowing where the ball's going right

3:25

now. Fernando Barr and they're tracking

3:28

to see if their their lever's gonna be ready.

3:31

Al Tube, adds it to the

3:33

dugout. Yeah. Al Tube told me quarters

3:35

on Sunday that he knew right away

3:37

that he had suffered a broken thumb.

3:40

He's gonna have surgery later this week

3:42

after swelling goes down, but it looks like he's

3:44

gonna be about about eight

3:46

to ten weeks. Since

3:48

the last podcast, Chuck Showalter spoke

3:50

with reporters about the Diaz

3:52

injury, which completely changes his

3:54

bull pen. Would you prefer to have

3:56

one guy or or could you

3:58

go committing? We'll check that out as we go.

4:00

Okay. We've got some good options and

4:05

we'll let the game kind of dictate the and,

4:07

you know, what the rest of the spring has

4:10

a store for us, get a better grip

4:12

with it. But like I said, most

4:14

of our thoughts right now

4:16

for that one. I know it's been tough on him and his

4:18

family. You

4:20

have them. Sperry. Things are very

4:22

excited about

4:24

being with us this year. They'll be

4:26

around as we've talked about every

4:28

day, as the WBC is going on, you've got

4:30

the regular exhibition games progressing,

4:33

and Jacob to Grammy is first spring

4:35

appearance for the Rangers and

4:36

man, he look great. One, two.

4:39

Swinging him as he gets Raleigh on a curveball.

4:42

One, two. Swing into

4:43

this, basketball in ninety nine,

4:45

thrown right by him. And into Grom's

4:47

first inning as a ranger in cactus

4:49

league play, he collects couple of

4:51

strike outs, puts up a zero. Robbie

4:53

Ray of the

4:54

mariners also had an excellent day

4:56

facing the Chicago White Sox. Cut

5:00

on a miss, dropping down to a knee

5:02

out of vicious slider.

5:05

Right through ninety five mile

5:07

an hour heat. Robbie Rae

5:09

struck out nine members of the Chicago

5:11

White Sox lineup over four scoreless

5:14

innings. Now in addition to that injury,

5:16

to Edwin and Diaz, the Metz had a scar over

5:19

the weekend with Brandon Nimbo. Their center feeler

5:21

kinda went to the ground awkwardly. He

5:24

has a right knee

5:25

injury. He talked with the reporters

5:27

about that. Well, that's good. Yeah.

5:29

Just like we

5:31

like we said yesterday, low spring

5:34

an ankle and knee, which is honestly

5:36

best case scenario with

5:39

what happened. So you

5:41

know, pretty glad about that. And then, you

5:43

know, right now, we're just taking a day by day. I

5:45

feel lot better today than I did yesterday.

5:48

And once we get

5:50

all that inflammation out there, I feel a lot

5:52

better with

5:52

it. So, you know, I'm not ruling

5:54

anything out right now. Kayla,

5:56

doesn't it feel like that with Brandon Nemo,

5:59

I mean, his like, the building

6:01

could be blown up, and he would tell you how great

6:03

everything is. It's one of the great things about

6:05

him. I believe about the injury. I I don't think

6:07

he would deceive reporters about

6:08

that, but that's it feels like his smile,

6:11

that's that's part of his personality. I

6:13

feel like and Buck isn't quite like this,

6:15

but I I was watching Buck talk about it eat

6:17

too. And so his reassurance

6:19

they're like, whatever, you know, we'll see how

6:21

it goes. If you're a Metz fan,

6:23

I'd feel okay, but we talk about that brand new mouthing

6:26

all the

6:26

time. He's he's an interesting cat. It's

6:28

gotta be good for locker room that calming presence.

6:31

Yeah. He's the happiest guy in the world. And by the way,

6:33

he and I have a lot in common now because he grew up

6:35

in Wyoming and I got to tell him in the fall that

6:37

I drove through

6:39

drove through his home state to come here to Montana,

6:41

so I I always look forward to talking with

6:43

him. What else you got?

6:45

Buster, we just wrapped up recording an

6:47

episode of the College Game Day podcast with Reese

6:49

Davis and America's coach Seth

6:52

Greenberg, a fairly dickensian

6:54

guy. It was a lot of fun. Beat

6:56

them on, unfortunately, around business. And so

6:58

I'm gonna put that podcast out after we're

7:00

done with this show. We're gonna do another show preview

7:02

in the Suite sixteen this week. And I have to shout

7:04

out Sarah Abbott for absolutely

7:07

killing it this weekend. She did two

7:09

late night podcasts with the guys.

7:12

Her and Bruce Baldwin, quality

7:14

content much needed and so applause

7:16

for Sarah

7:17

here. I'm just offering that Oh, I thought that was

7:19

gonna be all about brackets because I gotta

7:21

tell you Like, I'm involved in this bracket

7:23

that started by my son, Sarah. His

7:26

percentage okay. Where he ranks that

7:28

ESPN is ninety nine point seventh

7:31

percent all eight of his final

7:33

eight teams are still in the still alive.

7:35

Life. So I I cut him off. Like, I'm

7:37

just telling you can pay for rest of your college.

7:42

Business travel can be stressful

7:44

between the flights, ride shares, and figuring

7:47

out where to stay It's enough to make

7:49

you want to not travel at all. But

7:51

here's a tip to get your trip

7:53

started on the right foot. Wake up

7:55

on the bright side with La Quinta. By

7:57

Wyndham. Starts your day with your free

8:00

bright side breakfast, featuring delicious

8:02

baked goods, fruit, eggs, yogurt, and

8:04

waffles. That knock out those critical

8:06

work emails and join your online meetings

8:09

using their free high speed WiFi.

8:11

And if all that has you dragging a bit,

8:14

burned some cows at their well equipped fitness

8:16

center. Tonight, La Quinta.

8:18

Tomorrow, You Triumph. Book

8:21

to read at l q dot

8:23

com Baseball season is right around

8:25

the corner, and there's truly nothing like

8:27

opening day with every team featuring

8:29

refreshed rosters and big aspirations of

8:32

making a run at the world series in October.

8:34

In baseball tonight, we know that your fandom

8:37

is not limited to just daily stat

8:39

lines and box scores. Our listeners

8:41

want the latest insider news about their

8:43

favorite teams, players and coaches throughout

8:45

the regular season, and off season

8:47

as well. Baseball is on our

8:50

radar year round, thanks to social

8:52

media and digital journalism. St.

8:54

Bonnet Venture University's online

8:56

Mastercard and sports journalism prepares

8:59

host writers and reporters for the

9:01

modern sports landscape. Courses

9:03

on interviewing skills, podcasting and

9:05

multimedia production help future

9:07

journalists tell compelling stories. These

9:10

skills are rooted in lessons on journalistic

9:12

ethics and social responsibility that

9:15

emphasize fairness in reporting. This

9:17

entirely online program was

9:19

shaped by an alumni advisory board,

9:21

including ESPN's Adrian Woch

9:24

Noroski and Tim BonTempts. Every

9:26

course includes a master class

9:29

from an experienced journalist facilitated

9:31

by an experienced faculty member.

9:34

Graduates join a growing network

9:36

of accomplished bondies working

9:38

in sports media. Get in touch

9:40

with an enrollment adviser today at

9:43

SBU journalism dot com

9:45

and learn how you can become a sports

9:47

journalist. That's SBU

9:49

journalism dot com. 009.

9:57

This is the numbers game with Sarah

9:59

Lanes.

10:00

Sarah Lang's reporter producer for M0B

10:03

dot com. Sarah, you're down in Miami.

10:05

How are you doing? I'm doing great,

10:07

and I'm role person

10:09

around Taylor because you can

10:11

hear me right now. I'm not

10:14

in the noisy ballpark. I

10:16

missed the How many

10:18

straight? Five straight? I

10:21

believe it was five straight day

10:23

nine double hedders that I covered,

10:25

but You know, one game a day

10:27

also has those perks. So

10:29

great to be speaking to you from

10:31

somewhere a little

10:32

quieter. Yeah. But, Sarah, we could always

10:35

hear you. Like, we tried to assure you all

10:37

the time. Like, your your audio was good. You're holding

10:39

the microphone near your mouth, so it wasn't a big

10:41

deal. You know, and

10:43

you could just see the joy in your face, by the

10:45

way, about the WBC. Tell

10:48

me about your experience turner

10:50

hit that grand slam the other

10:52

night. What was it like? Oh my

10:54

gosh. I mean, you're splitting,

10:56

like, loud. I mean, The most

10:58

amazing thing has been

11:01

just a level, decimal level

11:03

of all of the cheers from every

11:06

country, all of the fans. But

11:08

I think back to being in the world's

11:10

area in Philadelphia this

11:13

past November, October and

11:15

November. And those games

11:18

were some of the loudest I'd ever

11:20

been to. Then you add in

11:22

Kalvals and Trumpid and

11:24

noise makers and all of these

11:27

things that we have in the San

11:30

WVC. And it was one

11:32

of those kind of moments, and I will

11:34

say as a researcher, I'm always

11:36

thinking ahead. I have the list of

11:38

transplants ready, and you

11:41

just kind of get that feeling

11:43

that moment as he's absolutely

11:46

so I did have the list ready to

11:48

go. I knew what the note was.

11:50

So Not saying I called in

11:52

not taking that credit. That's just

11:55

planning ahead, but it was

11:57

quite the moment. And I mean, that

11:59

was an amazing back and forth

12:01

game.

12:02

Yeah. It really was. It was so much fun,

12:04

you know, seeing Saki

12:06

Piss night. That's gonna be so much fun.

12:09

The idea that potentially you'd have Japan

12:11

against United States and the championship

12:13

game that that'll be really

12:14

cool. Let's play the numbers game. Number

12:17

three. Number three is

12:19

four. So speaking of trade turns,

12:21

I thought it was all wild. Trade

12:23

turned their notes after he hit that grand

12:25

slam. Then he comes back the

12:27

next day, still the number nine

12:30

hitter because that's how good

12:32

that US lineup is me

12:34

it's two home runs. So we now

12:36

has four overall in

12:38

the tournament, which are the most by

12:40

any team USA player in

12:42

a single WBC and

12:45

tied for the second most overall.

12:47

By anyone in a single WBC,

12:51

behind only two thousand six,

12:54

Sung Ji of Korea

12:56

who had five. So we

12:58

know now a trade changer gets one

13:00

more game. We'll see if he's able

13:03

to add to that or maybe even

13:05

break it. Who knows? He also

13:07

has ten Orbiats which

13:09

are tied with twenty thirteen David

13:12

Wright and two of them, six

13:14

King Grippy Junior for the most

13:16

by anyone on the GBSA. In

13:18

a single WBC tied

13:21

with them and others for a third most

13:23

overall, but very

13:25

important to know the record,

13:27

there was twelve. In

13:30

twenty seventeen, by Vladimir

13:33

Banton, of the

13:35

Netherlands, he had twelve. There's

13:37

also been two thousand nine

13:39

with eleven, but this thing were

13:42

not just for a trade trimmer. Officer

13:44

for Masunaki,

13:46

you, Shida, who enters tonight's game

13:49

also with him.

13:51

Number two,

13:53

Number two is a hundred and twelve.

13:55

So this kind of got buildings

13:57

last night because of the game

14:00

that trade Turner had. Paul

14:02

Korchman, the person, hit

14:04

a hundred twelve mile an hour

14:07

run. I watched every game

14:09

he played last year. One

14:11

MBB great player. Getting

14:14

the ball hard is not really

14:16

his thing. He's obviously

14:18

in out sending it or I

14:20

see that one wall one base

14:23

basement, and I was, like, I

14:25

wonder if there's anything there.

14:28

So last year, en route

14:30

to winning, again, the national league

14:32

NBA war. You only have

14:34

one bathe ball hit harder

14:36

than that. The entire season

14:39

was one twelve point three, a

14:42

single on May thirteenth, and

14:44

only three of his major

14:47

league home runs tracked by SATCOM

14:49

back to twenty fifteen have

14:51

been hit a harder than hundred

14:53

twelve. So, again, I was standing

14:56

Claire

14:57

hitting the ball hard, not his thing,

14:59

but he did it last night.

15:01

Number one.

15:04

Number one is we'll go with

15:06

fifty six. So

15:08

I want to talk about rookies since

15:11

I you you mentioned earlier. He's

15:13

twenty one years old. Hopefully,

15:16

you've heard of him. By now,

15:18

I know David Koon picked him

15:20

and says, What

15:22

was it? Best thing that I

15:24

saw this week at

15:26

some point during some new baseball

15:28

last year. In

15:31

through a perfect game and then

15:33

followed up that perfect

15:35

game with another eight ending

15:38

perfect outing where we got removed

15:40

to do little pitch count. He was

15:42

twenty, then now he's twenty one.

15:44

And he is a joy to

15:47

watch. I'm so excited for

15:49

MOB plans to get to see

15:51

a niche. So that fifty six

15:55

was the WIF rate that he got

15:57

against the Czech Republic when

16:00

he lost pitch in this tournament.

16:03

Thirty nine swings, one

16:06

each two of those were missed. Wow.

16:09

Only one picture. So it's

16:11

fifty six point four if

16:13

remains specific. Olney

16:16

one pitcher has a no

16:18

sweat rate. That high, hitting

16:21

at least thirty five swings in

16:23

an MLB game. Since

16:25

the start of twenty twenty, and

16:27

the fourth, it was Jacob to come

16:30

-- Yeah. -- in August of

16:32

last year, a fifty nine point,

16:34

but And the other thing that's

16:36

very, of course, Jacob Jacob with

16:38

him, he

16:41

threw twenty one pitches

16:44

at Alisa Hungren Mall and now

16:46

we're in that game. He efforts

16:48

a hundred point one on

16:50

his finger. So here's

16:53

the full list of starting

16:55

pitchers with at least

16:57

twenty one hundred milner

17:00

pitches in the MLB game. Thin's

17:03

way of tracking, which goes back

17:05

to two thousand eight. Hundred

17:07

rained seven times, of course,

17:10

Jake of Jurong twice, Noah's

17:13

in regard twice, and then Nathan

17:16

Walde, Jordan Hicks,

17:18

and James Maxim. So

17:20

get ready for wing the

17:22

myth and an amazing velocity.

17:25

Alright. So I'm gonna give you the power you

17:28

know, as you know, a lot of coming out

17:30

that everyone that I think WPDC has been

17:32

very popular and there's also conversation about

17:34

these injuries, which are gonna have impact

17:36

on on two major contenders. Jose

17:38

Altuve, out of the lineup, and so

17:40

I'm gonna give you the power to overrule two,

17:43

you know, Hall of Famer's Dusty Baker, Buck

17:45

Show Walter. And so

17:48

I'm gonna ask you how you would arrange

17:50

the Astros lineup. I think it's pretty

17:52

easy for Dusty. It's an easy solution.

17:55

I think you put Jeremy Payne in lead off spot.

17:57

Then you go Michael Brantley, then you

17:59

go Gregman, Alvarez,

18:02

Abreu, and then Tucker for the first

18:05

six. You cosign on that?

18:07

Absolutely. I was going to

18:09

say, paying a weed off, you know.

18:12

He had a good rookie

18:14

season, but we saw the sword.

18:16

He in May and October and

18:18

into November. I'm expecting

18:21

a huge year from now. And

18:23

I think getting that experience will

18:25

be really, really good. I think

18:27

that I mean, even without

18:29

Okturbay, That is a really

18:32

deep lineup. And it's I mean,

18:34

dusky bigger and not.

18:36

That's not that bad idea to have a whole

18:38

family and

18:40

really, really good player soft to

18:42

bond. Plus, you shared the day after

18:44

Jeremy Payne into baseball writers' dinner

18:46

So he's your good friend. And

18:48

then buckshow Walter, he, of course,

18:50

you there's no way you can replace Edwin

18:53

Diaz. And how

18:55

dominant he was. How would you handle

18:57

the closer based on the players

18:59

they have now? And let's I mean, let's face

19:01

Billy Appler will be looking for relief

19:04

pictures all year.

19:05

Yeah. I mean, it seems like right

19:07

now the best case

19:10

scenario for them. Instacle

19:12

with Adam and Rubino to serve.

19:14

He has that experience. He

19:16

can certainly be that guy.

19:19

They've had other angry lately.

19:21

I mean, I think if it was two

19:23

weeks ago, you might have said,

19:25

hey, Grace Montes tooka, whose

19:28

throat's really hard. Maybe

19:30

he could be a guy who could work

19:32

because he has that marsenal,

19:35

that repertoire. Of course, he had

19:37

a stress reaction in his elbow,

19:39

which came out just a couple of days

19:41

before the death and injury. But

19:44

as you said, it's very

19:46

hard to look at that bull pen and

19:48

not think there will be some move

19:51

at some point if they need not

19:53

just because of the death injury,

19:55

but also works really. And

19:58

if I said Montesdoke, I

20:00

think there are odd people. Oh,

20:03

there's a very vocal Twitter

20:05

families for Taiwan McGill.

20:08

And I think a lot of them

20:11

Not that that is an official or

20:13

anything, but there are a lot of people

20:16

would like to see what he could do

20:18

in that kind of political role. With

20:20

his repertoire, so that could be

20:23

an option as well. But from

20:25

now, I think you'd go without bother

20:27

me now.

20:28

Sarah always great to talk with you. Thanks for doing

20:30

this. Thanks so much for having

20:32

me, Vaster.

20:40

Sandia Gopadres. The

20:42

PODres reached the nationally championship

20:44

series last season. Along the way they

20:46

knocked out the bets and then the Dodgers.

20:49

And after winter of big spending, the

20:51

expectations for two thousand twenty three

20:53

are even higher. San Diego

20:55

was not won the National West since two

20:58

thousand six. Newcomers.

21:00

San Diego Chase trade Turner. An Aaron

21:02

Judge without success and then turned to

21:04

Xandr Bogarts, landing a longtime

21:07

Boston player with an offer that exceeded

21:09

the Red Sox proposal by seventy

21:11

five percent, a total of two hundred and

21:13

eighty million dollars. He'll apparently bat

21:15

cleanup behind Fernando Tati's Junior,

21:17

Juan Sotto, and Manny Machado. PODRAY's

21:20

also signed Matt Carpenter that were surgeons

21:22

with the yankees last year. And Nelson Cruise

21:25

hoping they can squeeze a little bit more production

21:27

out of the forty two year old who had a three thirty

21:29

seven slugging percentage last year. San

21:31

Diego added Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha

21:34

to its pitching staff. Did we mention the

21:36

padres spin big? San Diego's payroll

21:38

is expected to be the third highest the nationally

21:40

behind that of the MedS and Philly's and their financial

21:43

commitments after the two thousand twenty four

21:45

season after two thousand twenty

21:47

four are one point o one

21:49

billion. Gone but not forgotten.

21:51

Juricsson Profar, a good player for the Pod Dray's

21:54

moved on via free agency signing with

21:56

the Rockies over the weekend for seven and a half

21:58

million dollars. Sean and I and Mike Plevinger

22:00

Wil Myers also moved on via

22:02

free agency. The x factor.

22:05

By the time Fernando Tati's Junior finishes

22:07

his PED suspension and returns to San

22:09

Diego lineup on April twentieth, presumably

22:12

he will be five hundred and sixty four days

22:14

since his last parents in the big leagues. The

22:16

padres are preparing to play him

22:18

in the outfield and given that Tattie's junior

22:20

is an insanely per liter of athlete

22:23

and just twenty four years Olney, there's every

22:25

reason to believe he'll go back to being a dynamic

22:27

performer, but he may need some time for

22:29

that full rebound. Full lines.

22:32

Hugh Darvish is coming off of one of his best

22:34

seasons. Joe Musgrove showed in the post

22:36

season how dominant he can be. Blake

22:38

Snell's best days, he control any

22:41

lineup because of his raw stuff. But the

22:43

pad race had scrambled to fill the back of the

22:45

rotation. And if San Diego was hit with

22:47

injuries, not much organizational

22:49

depth in this area. The baseball tonight

22:52

podcast win projection. HEMBO

22:54

has the padres at ninety two wins.

22:56

Sierra Lanx is ninety five, the

22:58

code of ninety three point two,

23:00

odds on him at ninety five, and

23:02

winning the working series.

23:08

Seamheads rejoice. This

23:10

is Timmy Time. Baseball is the

23:12

greatest game. With Tim Kirk it

23:15

never disappoints you. On

23:17

baseball tonight. And Tim Kirchin

23:19

covers baseball free ESPN. And Tim,

23:22

since you and I last talked, The

23:25

Nets lost the best reliever in baseball,

23:27

Edwin Diaz for

23:29

the season. And, you know, we

23:31

we both know buck showalter we both know

23:34

that he'll adjust. If you're

23:36

gonna have a problem areas, we talked about

23:38

the podcast the other day, it's best have

23:40

it pan because you could fix and midstream

23:42

the best example that being the two thousand Washington

23:45

Nationals. But I also feel

23:47

like like there's no way around it. This

23:49

is devastating for

23:50

demands. Yeah. Now look,

23:52

I still think they're gonna make the playoffs. I

23:55

still think they're really good, but you're

23:57

right, Buster. He was the best closer

23:59

in baseball last year. He

24:01

was arguably the most dominant pitcher

24:03

in baseball last year. He had eighteen

24:05

Hawks and a hundred and eighteen strike

24:08

outs. It's impossible almost or

24:10

closer to have a hundred more strike

24:12

outs than walks in

24:14

a season. And he personified everything

24:17

that is great about the game. With

24:19

the trumpets and everything else.

24:22

The passion that he shows,

24:24

that his teammates show around him. This

24:26

is a terrible loss, but There's

24:29

no buts. I thought they might be the

24:31

best team in the national league. Maybe even the best

24:33

team in baseball. And now I don't think that anymore,

24:35

more that's how good that guy

24:37

is. However, Buck will find a

24:40

way people will step in and

24:42

they'll find a way to make the

24:43

playoffs. And I'm certain of that. What's

24:46

your guess as to what's what they're gonna

24:48

do? Because my guess is you get David Robertson

24:50

who's so good against left handed hitters

24:52

and you have Adam Modovino so

24:55

so good against right handed hitters. I could

24:57

see Buck going in, you know, day by day

24:59

as he enters the sixth inning saying, you know

25:01

what? We just got that string of right

25:03

handed hitters. Looks like it's coming up in the ninth.

25:05

I'm gonna save it for Rodovino. One

25:07

day. The next day maybe saves it for

25:09

David Robertson. What's your guess about how he's gonna

25:12

handle that? Yeah. I think they're gonna do it

25:14

mostly from within. Buck is

25:16

a great mix and match guy, and let's face

25:18

it, Buster. This is the way the game

25:20

is trending now. You don't

25:22

need an everyday closer. Also,

25:25

it's great to have Olney dominant

25:28

as Edward Diaz. But teams are now

25:30

mixing and matching. The Dodgers are gonna

25:32

do it. Philly's gonna do it. A lot of really

25:35

good teams don't have that one guy

25:37

at the end of game now. And they're looking

25:39

at, well, you know, we're gonna let Clay Holmes

25:41

pitch the eighth inning. If those three

25:43

big right handed hitters from the blue j's are coming

25:45

up. Though that's what the bets are gonna do.

25:47

Adevino Olney day, and

25:50

others, other day other days. Maybe they'll

25:52

sign Zach Britton and get him ready, and and

25:54

he'll help out at some point this year. All

25:56

sorts of options for the Mats,

25:58

but it's a tremendous loss

26:01

given how great that guy was last

26:03

year. And given the context

26:06

they gotta play their season within, which

26:08

is in the National East. The

26:10

nationals will be a little bit better than they

26:12

were last year start at the bottom of the division. Nashville

26:14

is gonna be a little bit better than they were last year.

26:17

The Marlin's are not gonna make the playoffs.

26:19

Let's face it But that pitching staff,

26:22

Tim, is unbelievable. And so

26:24

in a given series, you know, if you told

26:26

me that the marlins went into New York

26:28

or Atlanta or Philadelphia and swept,

26:30

wouldn't be a shock. Like, that's a good team.

26:34

And then you've got the Atlanta Braves,

26:36

you know, world series champions from two thousand

26:38

twenty Olney, last year, and

26:40

Division winners ran down the meds, overcame

26:42

a ten and half game deficit. And

26:45

Tim, I walked away from the time

26:47

I was down in Florida saying the team that

26:49

I absolutely underrated

26:51

the most with the Philly's. Like,

26:53

I I just look around and and then you see

26:55

what trade turners doing in WBC, and

26:58

you know that collection of players

27:00

that they'll have especially

27:03

when we get to mid season when Bryce already comes

27:05

back. And I talked to him yesterday, Bryce, and

27:07

he told me how, you know, how well

27:09

he's doing that team, by

27:11

the time we get to the end of the year, like

27:14

last season, could be really

27:16

dangerous. And that's you know, if let's

27:18

say that The Nets lose an extra

27:20

three games in the standings

27:22

because they're in the same divisions, the Braves and

27:24

the Philly. That could be difference making.

27:27

Absolutely. And look, I've been wrong

27:29

so many times on preseason predictions,

27:31

but I never underestimated the Philly's,

27:34

especially since I spent

27:36

so much time around them in the playoffs

27:38

last year. The the vibe in the room

27:40

was unlike anything I felt in a

27:42

long time, not just in Philadelphia, but

27:44

anywhere. That's how good it is

27:47

inside that clubhouse. The way with

27:49

with born leaders like Kyle Torber and

27:51

the rest, they're gonna get Harper back at the

27:53

All Star break. The Andrew Painter injury did

27:55

not help things. That's for sure, but

27:57

they are still loaded. They they uploaded

28:00

that bullpin in the in the off season.

28:02

Rob Thompson's got a great handle

28:04

on that team that players love him.

28:07

Look, I'm pretty sure the Braves,

28:09

Mets, and Philly's are all gonna make play out.

28:11

So,

28:11

yeah, it's impossible to make that prediction here

28:13

in March, but I feel very strongly that

28:15

all three of those teams are gonna be playing

28:17

in October. So tell me what

28:20

you've loved about the WBC this year.

28:22

Well, I'm sorry, Buster, but I've loved

28:25

all of it. Look, I understand how

28:27

many bad things have

28:28

happened. Edwin Diaz, Jose

28:30

Al Tube, but aren't

28:32

we here, Buster, to show a little passion,

28:34

to show little energy and to

28:37

really care about something

28:39

these players really care

28:42

about playing in the WBC.

28:44

And anyone who tells you they don't

28:46

care hasn't been watching

28:48

or hasn't been to any games. Well, I went to

28:50

three games buster. It is

28:53

a completely different atmosphere

28:55

than you see at some big league

28:57

ballparks. I saw the USA

28:59

play Great Britain they expected

29:02

fifteen thousand people to show up.

29:04

Thirty nine thousand people came

29:06

to that game in in Phoenix,

29:09

I walked through the streets right

29:11

near Chasefield, and

29:13

it was like Mardi Gras there,

29:15

when Mexico and Columbia had

29:17

just finished their game. The the passion,

29:20

the energy, was fantastic. So

29:22

look, there's no good time to

29:24

play the WBC. Okay? But

29:27

this is the only time that

29:29

you can do this. You can't do it after the season.

29:31

You can't do it at the All Star Break. This

29:33

is it. We have to deal with this.

29:35

And problems will come out of it. But

29:37

if you haven't enjoyed watching these

29:40

games, then you simply don't

29:42

care about baseball as much as

29:44

You should because I have been enthralled

29:46

by

29:47

it. I can't wait for tonight. Rokey

29:49

Suzuki, I I get out twenty

29:51

one years old, one of the best starting pictures

29:53

in in the world. He's gonna be so

29:55

much fun. And Tim, here's my fun fact for

29:57

you. The manager of

30:00

the WBC team from Mexico,

30:02

Benjie Gill, I covered

30:04

him as a high school player. He's in Castle

30:06

Park High School in San Diego.

30:08

You remember Jose Silva who was a high traffic

30:11

for the Pittsburgh Pirates? I covered a

30:13

game that the two of them pitched against

30:15

each other. And so much in Benjie

30:18

and who's a great baseball mind.

30:20

And seeing what here's

30:21

doing. Team Mexico, I'm fired up for this

30:23

tonight. Yeah. Tonight's gonna be

30:26

great. And I don't care

30:28

wins. I'm not rooting for anything, but

30:30

Imagine if Japan wins tonight and

30:32

tomorrow night they play the United

30:34

States. I mean, come on, please.

30:36

Let let's understand how great

30:39

a moment that will be because just

30:41

look at Mike trout play these games.

30:43

Just look at the the look on

30:46

his face when they win a game. I

30:49

I know that Mike trout texted someone

30:51

on the first day spring training and said, this

30:53

feels like the first day of school. That's how

30:56

excited he was. Not just

30:58

about the angels and where they might

31:00

be going, but he also knew

31:02

he's playing center field for the USA, and

31:05

that really mattered to him.

31:07

Yeah. So I've tried to and and I

31:09

talked to Jeff about this the other day. I tried

31:11

to give this as right in the aftermath of Diaz

31:13

injury. I think this is a case where you can

31:15

understand all Perspecta you know, this sort

31:17

of reflexive I I was

31:19

shocked at sort of the wave when initially

31:21

the people are saying the WBC is stupid.

31:23

You have to stop it. I'm like, No.

31:25

I don't agree with that at all. And I also

31:27

don't agree with the people who are like, get

31:30

over it. It's not a big deal. If

31:32

players get hurt players get hurt all the

31:34

time, because I don't think that's respectful,

31:36

the team's perspective in this Tim, where

31:39

they have in with each of the thirty major

31:41

league teams who contribute to this,

31:44

They have jobs on the line. This

31:46

is a big deal, and I've been trying to figure

31:48

out a a way to describe the perspective

31:51

of you know, a general manager,

31:53

a manager of one of these major league teams who,

31:55

you know, has it sees a player go down.

31:57

Like, at Edwin Diaz, And I and

31:59

I the the you know, one of the ways I

32:01

thought about is imagine, you know, if you had

32:04

a car, you really liked. And

32:06

your neighbor's like, can I borrow your car?

32:09

And you're like, okay. And he

32:11

wrecked the car. It doesn't

32:13

mean that the neighbor did anything wrong and it doesn't

32:15

mean he he he but You can

32:17

understand the angst of the owner.

32:19

You can under understand the angst of the general

32:21

manager. The manager, like, great.

32:23

The car was wrecked. Like, you

32:25

know, the player was injured when

32:27

I wasn't in control and that hurts.

32:30

Like, it hurts these, you know, teams

32:33

And that's why while I the

32:35

WBC will absolutely go on and you love

32:37

the enthusiasm about

32:38

it. You also, I think, got a feel for the teams

32:41

in this case. Yeah.

32:43

It's completely different subject buster, but

32:45

I loaned my leather basketball in

32:48

college to a guy on the other

32:50

side of the dorm because he wanted to go

32:52

play as we know a leather basketball is

32:54

the greatest feel in the world if you

32:56

love the game. So he takes

32:59

my leather basketball and

33:01

takes it outside and plays

33:03

on the outdoor court with my

33:05

leather basketball, which at the time

33:08

was pretty darn expensive for a

33:10

college student, and he just had

33:12

no idea that you cannot use

33:14

this ball outside. Now that's

33:17

the most ridiculous analogy ever.

33:19

I understand, but it's your car analogy.

33:21

It's the same idea. If I'm a med fan,

33:24

I am crushed. I am furious.

33:26

That a hundred million dollars

33:28

that they gave to Edwin Diaz was

33:31

supposed to be for us to win

33:34

with the met. If I'm a member of

33:36

the met, I am devastated that

33:38

our leader in the bullpen is

33:40

not gonna be running out to those trumpets

33:42

this year. So there is another side

33:45

to all of these, but you can say,

33:47

I hate what happened to Edwin Diaz. We have

33:49

to cancel the WBC that that's

33:51

not the way to go. I'm sorry. I just I'm

33:53

not going in that direction.

33:55

Yeah. And you're also, at the same

33:57

time, you're you're feeling

33:59

for, you know, Dusty Baker and

34:02

the Astros, because Jose l Tubi is gonna

34:04

be out. You're feeling for Bucks showalter, so there

34:06

can be You can have both

34:07

perspectives. So did you beat up the kid

34:10

who took your basketball out under the

34:12

under the concrete? First off,

34:14

I can't beat up anyone. That's

34:16

a fact. And he was much bigger than

34:18

me, and I just tried to politely explain

34:21

to him You can't take this ball outside

34:23

and play it's ruined, of course. You can you you

34:25

can now play with it outside because

34:27

you ruined it. But, no, I didn't yell

34:29

at him because he didn't

34:31

know. I guess, I should have told

34:33

him. And

34:34

boy, that's still sticking with you more than forty years

34:36

later, one of your He came out basketball. Forty

34:40

seven years ago.

34:41

Empathetic. Right? So Jose l

34:43

Tubi, I think, is a is gonna turn

34:45

out to be you know, he's a hall of famer. He's certainly

34:47

on that trajectory. And

34:50

yet if one team can weather a

34:52

significant injury to a superstar player

34:55

early in the year, it's the Astros with

34:57

Jose L2 Bay. I was thinking about what dusty

35:00

how dusty baker might line up as, you

35:02

know, his batting on or without L2 Bay.

35:04

And I'm like, it's easy. You're gonna go pain

35:06

you leading off, which you did yesterday in the

35:08

diastra's exhibition. You go brantly. You

35:11

go brakeman. You go You're

35:13

Don Alvarez. You got Jose

35:15

Abreio? You got Kyle Tucker deck?

35:17

That's a great team, Tim.

35:20

Yeah. Look. Altuve is going to the

35:22

hall of fame. And he's a

35:24

great player. And I think he

35:26

will be missed a little more than you think he will

35:28

be, but that lineup's great buster. And let's

35:30

not forget if Alvarez is healthy

35:32

and Bradley is completely healthy

35:34

and they're ready. That offense is

35:36

going to be significantly better

35:39

than it was at the end of last year.

35:41

When they won the world series. They won

35:43

the world series with their starting pitching,

35:45

but even more important with their bullpen.

35:47

And now they're gonna have a tremendous

35:51

offensive team when L2B gets

35:53

back. But before he gets back, they're gonna

35:55

have a way above average offensive

35:57

team with the people they added and the

35:59

return to health of Brantley and

36:01

Alvarez. And if those guys get

36:04

healthy, I want no part of trying

36:06

pitch to that lineup.

36:07

Yeah. You just got back from Arizona where

36:09

you saw the Dodgers and the Philly's. We're

36:12

gonna be talking all year as we talked

36:14

about so far early in spring training about

36:16

who's gonna win that division. I'm picking the padres

36:18

to beat the Dodgers who won a hundred and

36:20

eleven games, as I've been reminded, not a

36:22

hundred and

36:23

seven. Tell me about your perspective

36:25

on the Dodgers and PODRAYs after seeing them?

36:28

Well, this is the first time in

36:30

ten years, Buster, that I walked through the

36:32

Dodgers Clubhouse and I said, wow,

36:34

there are some issues in here because

36:36

they're at when I walked in, they're platooning

36:38

in left field. They're platooning in

36:41

center field. They weren't sure

36:43

about a few things in the infield, and

36:45

their starting rotation looked little

36:47

thin, and I wasn't positive who

36:49

their closer was when I left. Those

36:52

are all significant issues

36:55

for the Dodgers. And I was

36:57

just not ready to see

36:59

how thin that team is right

37:01

now. Now they're gonna win. They're

37:03

gonna go to the playoffs. I'll bet my house

37:05

on that. And they can win the division

37:07

again. You don't win a hundred eleven games

37:09

and then suddenly drop to eighty wins.

37:11

That's not happening. But I think

37:14

Pottery's are better than they are right

37:16

now. I looked at that Pottery lineup

37:18

I look to Joe Musgrove if he comes back

37:20

and he's healthy, their starting pitching is

37:23

really good. Their bullpen is

37:26

really good, and Bob Melvin's got

37:28

a come complete control over that

37:30

team. The key, of course, is gonna

37:32

be what does Fernando Teites

37:34

do when he comes back? How is he going

37:36

to adjust to playing? Brightfield.

37:38

Where is his head gonna be after

37:41

all of this? If he's a

37:43

hundred percent ready to go offensively

37:45

and can find a way to play

37:47

Brightfield, look at the first five

37:49

in that order and tell me how you stop

37:51

that. That's how good the padres could

37:53

be. So what I'm hearing from

37:55

you is that In

37:58

some respects, after what we talked about with the

38:00

National East, in some respects, I think you and I

38:02

would both agree on all six teams that who that

38:04

are gonna make the playoffs national league I

38:06

can't remember it being that clear

38:08

cut, including the wildcards were

38:11

Braves, Mats, Philly's, Dodgers,

38:14

pod rays, and I think you and I would agree.

38:16

We'd both be shocked if the cardinals don't win

38:18

the National

38:19

Express. Yeah. And again, Buster, this is

38:21

a very dangerous territory where Tim

38:23

and Buster talked about March the nineteenth

38:26

that we knew who the sixteenth were gonna

38:28

be. And this is counterproductive in

38:30

so many ways, but This is one of

38:32

the first times that I can say I am confident

38:35

in mid March that these six teams

38:37

are going to the playoffs, but I am. I'm

38:39

not sure there's a seventh team in

38:42

the nationally that I see coming up

38:44

and winning a division or winning a wild

38:46

card. And it's not that different

38:48

in the American League. But it's certainly

38:51

I got six teams and unless

38:53

something major

38:54

happens, I'm not budging on those

38:56

six. Are you cosigning after

38:58

being out in Arizona that the Cubs

39:00

and the Angels might be two of the most improved

39:02

teams in baseball? Yeah. I saw them

39:04

both And again, the Cubs have,

39:06

you know, they're really counting on

39:09

Cody Bellinger making a comeback, and there's

39:11

no guarantee of that. I was told his swing

39:13

is still a tick off.

39:15

And when you're a kick off in the big

39:17

leagues, that's a big difference. They

39:20

have to have air cosmer be good.

39:22

They have to have a few other guys really

39:25

have a comeback season, but Dan's response

39:27

is gonna help upgrade their pitching. They're

39:29

not making the playoffs for me, but they're gonna

39:31

be a better team and they're on

39:33

the way up. The Angels are different buster.

39:35

I'm sorry. I've told you a million

39:37

times, I get caught up in the optimism

39:40

of spring training. I think it's just by

39:42

nature, but I left the angels

39:44

thinking if crowd can play

39:46

a hundred forty five games, and so can

39:48

Anthony Rendon, and I watched his BP

39:51

the other day, and those hands are

39:53

magical. If those guys play hundred

39:55

and forty five games, I think

39:57

that I think the angels can make the playoffs.

40:00

And I didn't think that before I

40:02

visited camp, maybe it's typical

40:04

me. I get caught up in the hype. But

40:06

that's a pretty darn good offensive

40:08

team when all those guys

40:10

are arrested, healthy, and planned every

40:12

day. And there's no restrictions right now

40:14

on Randone.

40:15

Man, if he has a great year, I think that

40:17

team can make the playoffs. And I didn't think that

40:20

three weeks ago. Yeah. You're right.

40:23

Know, when we did an Angel's preview, I should have

40:25

mentioned been more prominent about Rendon

40:27

because he really is sort of a if

40:29

he's right in and can play

40:31

a hundred and thirty games. How different will that

40:33

team look especially with it? It looks like Shoy O'Tany

40:36

is the best player we've seen in our lifetime.

40:39

Yeah. And he looks He

40:41

was scared how good he is. And I just

40:43

I can I can come up with a scenario

40:46

where the angels can make the

40:47

playoffs, and I didn't have that a month

40:49

ago? Alright. Here's a Bleacher tweet

40:51

before you go. Scott, it's

40:53

at Scott m Gower. It says,

40:56

I know it's been said to take

40:58

spring training stats with the grain of salt.

41:00

But what do we take from stellarWC performances?

41:03

Basically, what I mean is should I be encouraged

41:05

by Johan McCada's WBC stats?

41:08

Tim? Take a shot. Yeah.

41:11

I put much more

41:14

credence in the WBC

41:16

stats because those guys are planned

41:19

to win on every single

41:21

pitch. Okay? That's not the case in

41:23

exhibition games nor should it

41:25

be. The goal of an exhibition game

41:27

and an exhibition season is to get people

41:30

ready not to show your best stuff

41:32

or to hit four hundred like Jared Zelnick's

41:35

doing. By the way, how good is that guy

41:37

been in spring trading? That is not a Mirage

41:39

buster. I saw him I saw him

41:41

play twice. He hit about six line

41:43

drives and back to back games. Very

41:45

impressive. Everything going up the middle. So,

41:47

yes, I would be encouraged by any

41:49

numbers that you see in the WBC because

41:52

that is a serious competition.

41:55

And I think those guys are gonna be

41:57

even more ready than their

42:00

teammates who didn't go to the WBC when

42:03

they go back to start playing exhibition

42:04

games, to start to get to the regular

42:07

season. So that's interesting about Jared Kelnick.

42:10

Because I gotta tell you, like, he to me would

42:12

be the classic example of a

42:15

guy who would dominate spring training

42:17

where you might see more fastballs and

42:19

then you get into the regular season, you see

42:21

a lot more breaking balls. I know you

42:23

well enough to know you probably dug into

42:25

some of that

42:26

question. Yeah, I did. And

42:28

he's changed his swing. They worked

42:30

with him. You know, he has a very flat swing.

42:33

They've got a little bit more lift to

42:35

it, not to necessarily hit home runs,

42:37

but to make him more to

42:39

make him a better hitter. Plus, he

42:42

seems to be past the Oh

42:44

my gosh. I'm I'm one for,

42:46

you know, for my last fifteen. That stuff

42:48

gets in his head and was also told, Buster,

42:51

And you can appreciate this now. He

42:53

rolled over on a on a, you know, ball

42:55

inside the other day and hit a ground

42:57

ball between the second basement and the

42:59

first basement and got a hit.

43:02

And he ran a first base like this.

43:04

Oh my god. That's a doubt. Every

43:07

time last year, Max Muncy, I was told

43:09

with the Dodgers This was a week

43:11

ago, has five hits this spring

43:13

that were clearly outs

43:15

last year. And that's what we're

43:17

hoping for is that guys are running the first

43:20

phase saying, hey, I got a heads.

43:22

I didn't get that last year. And they go home

43:24

saying, I got two knocks today.

43:26

I'm going back to the park tomorrow to get two

43:28

more. That's what the change in the

43:30

shift I think has done, and I don't

43:32

think we can underestimate that. Boneless

43:35

question before go. Sorry, I lied. Because

43:37

you you, you know, when you mentioned the rule

43:39

change and the defensive shift, you you,

43:42

you know, it seemed reinvigorated his thought,

43:44

his conversations that I had over the weekend,

43:46

The concern that I'm hearing about the

43:48

pitch clock, the the biggest concerns

43:50

I'm hearing about the pitch clock in the last week

43:52

is the varying enforcement from

43:55

umpire to umpire. And I'm hearing

43:57

that a lot where there's a growing

43:59

feeling you know,

44:01

umpire a, Tim Kurchin, will

44:04

absolutely enforce the pitch clock down

44:06

to the second when the buzzer hits his

44:08

wrist, and then there's another umpire who

44:11

would say, bitch. Okay. He was close enough.

44:13

Yeah. That that's gonna be a problem,

44:15

Buster. Look, the the pitch clock has

44:17

been a a real

44:20

success so far. I'm not sure there's any

44:22

way around that. But we still haven't played

44:24

a game that really matters yet. And the

44:26

umpires who have been

44:29

it's a really hard job anyway. And now they

44:31

have to do way more with their job.

44:33

They're gonna have to be the policeman here, and

44:35

you're right, that rookie umpire. And

44:38

remember, there are ten of them busier

44:40

this year. Seven crew chiefs

44:42

retired, ten veteran umpers,

44:44

umpires retired, and maybe

44:46

those young guys come up and say, I've worked

44:48

with this in the minor leagues. I'm pressing that

44:50

button at That's it. Whereas the

44:52

veteran major league umpire might use

44:54

a little bit more discretion and say,

44:57

Well, that ball went off his foot. I'm gonna give

44:59

him an extra three seconds. Sure. That's

45:01

gonna be a problem. This is this is gonna

45:03

be a problem when the season begins. But

45:06

it is worth a try because every

45:08

almost every person I've talked to now

45:10

thinks they think this is

45:12

worth a try during the regular

45:14

season. Let's hope it works. I'm not positive,

45:16

but I like where it's gone so far.

45:19

Tim, thanks for doing this. Always great to talk with

45:21

you. Okay, Buster. See you soon.

45:23

Pittsburgh

45:29

pirates. The pirates went sixty

45:31

two and a hundred last season. You're finishing

45:33

fourth place in one of baseball's worst

45:36

divisions. Given Brian Reynolds' trade

45:38

request, made during the winter, it's

45:40

likely that the most discussed topic of

45:42

the upcoming season will be whether Pittsburgh

45:44

will deal with centerfielder. Newcomers.

45:47

The pirate signed forty three year old Rich Hill,

45:49

branded the podcast, and baseball's oldest

45:51

player, to augment their rotation. Pittsburgh

45:53

also added veteran catcher Austin Hedges

45:55

in first baseman Carla Santana. But

45:58

the big move was the signing of Andrew

46:00

McCutcheting, who won the MVP award for

46:02

the pirates a decade ago. This would

46:04

be a nice bookend to McCutche's

46:06

career. Breakout star. O'Neil Cruz

46:08

is set to begin his first full season the

46:10

big leagues with work to do. He can hit for

46:13

power. He can run, and he might have the best

46:15

arm of any short stop in the big leagues. But his

46:17

on base percentage last year was two ninety

46:19

four. In eighty seven games, Cruise

46:21

had a hundred and twenty six strikeouts

46:23

in twenty eight walks. Cruise is twenty

46:25

four years old, and can just be a little

46:27

bit more patient at the plate, you could realize

46:30

the extraordinary potential that evaluators

46:32

have seen in them. The x factor Turner.

46:34

Reynolds has rejected the Pirates overtures

46:37

to sign a big deal. He could blame him after

46:39

the big money that was thrown around during the most

46:41

recent winter, but it'll be crucial for

46:43

him. For Pittsburgh for that matter

46:45

that he gets off to a strong start to enhance

46:48

his marketability. After June ninth

46:50

of last season, Lennell's slash

46:52

land was two eighty

46:53

seven, three sixty 9503.

46:56

The baseball tonight podcast win projection.

46:59

The expectations are for the pirates

47:01

to take a big jump. Dakota projects

47:03

seventy two point two wins. Kimball says

47:05

seventy one, Sarah Lanes, and I agree

47:07

seventy.

47:15

Bleacher Tweets. Alrighty, Buster,

47:18

Bleacher tweets for a Monday. Amy

47:20

Chapman is up first. She writes, and you mentioned

47:22

Reggie Barnes last week. And at a spring

47:25

at a met Spring Training Game in Houston

47:27

on Saturday, they handed out Reggie Bars and then

47:29

Jackson threw out the first pitch, she

47:31

attached a picture of the

47:33

Reggie Bar and asks what would Buster

47:35

Taylor, Sarah Bar, b like,

47:38

Buster. We saw that real camp Drew

47:40

weighed in on

47:41

this. Bad producing

47:43

here. I don't have it right in front of my eyeballs, but I

47:45

do. I've got it. I've got it related.

47:47

This is the the tweet from Drew Campbell

47:49

in response that he said because Buster mostly

47:52

does the bulk of speaking. I'd say buster is the

47:54

nougat or gooey center of the candy.

47:56

Sarah would be the chocolatey or sweet

47:59

part of the candy. That would be Sarah Abbott, by

48:01

the way. And Taylor would definitely

48:03

be the salty

48:05

part. Let's say you guys.

48:07

I think that's accurate, Sarah?

48:09

I think he nailed it. I'm just flattered. He called

48:12

me the sweet part. So thank you so much,

48:14

Real Camping.

48:14

Here come on. Sweet. Like,

48:15

it would be anything else, you know. It's

48:18

just my goodness. Sarah, off, Mike is vicious.

48:20

You gotta be

48:21

careful. Yeah. I can be I can be like a sour

48:23

patch kid, you know, first, they're sour, then they're

48:25

sweet. So, like, I have We have never

48:27

seen the sour part of you on this

48:29

podcast. Let me just get that on the record. Okay.

48:32

You and Sarah Langs are the same. Like, every

48:34

day, you're super happy. You

48:38

know, you know, I always like to if

48:40

I like if I was a dog, I'd be a border collie,

48:42

then you guys would definitely be

48:44

lab. Like happy labs like Winnie

48:46

here. Right? You and Winnie are the

48:48

same. That is the biggest compliment

48:50

I have ever received. Okay.

48:54

Mitchell at Tigers of Detroit is up next. He

48:56

writes in the outrage by the WBC

48:59

injury surprise me. I guess games are

49:01

are under games are more high leverage and

49:03

not for the teams paying them, but the excitement

49:05

and growth of the BBC produces globally

49:07

has to outweigh the small injury

49:09

risk. Yeah. So I'll let you guys, you

49:11

know, weigh in. I I've made my feelings known about this.

49:13

You agree with what Tim and I were saying? Like, hit Tim with

49:16

a basketball. Like, It

49:18

stinks. You know, when when you have

49:20

a player, you can understand the team perspective,

49:22

and you can understand why when

49:24

a player comes to them, hey, I'm thinking about doing

49:26

the WBC that the team wouldn't greet that

49:28

with the total enthusiasm.

49:30

Yeah, of course. I I just think the, you know,

49:33

like everyone keeps saying the growth, the excitement,

49:35

It just makes the sport healthier overall

49:38

to have this event and and have it be

49:40

something that the players are into, that the fans are

49:42

into. So I just I don't think it's

49:44

a big deal. I mean, obviously, the the teams are, you

49:46

know, gonna be bombed if their players get

49:48

hurt. But, I mean, overall, it's whatever. I

49:50

mean, this this has been awesome and it's indisputable.

49:52

So

49:53

Yeah. I agree. I agree. And I think

49:55

too, like we kinda talked about earlier,

49:57

the players are excited about it. And if

49:59

the players wanna do it, then let

50:02

them represent their country and bring

50:04

more fans to the sport.

50:07

Let's go to Michael Mahon at eater

50:09

of cheeses e writes in with all the people complaining

50:11

about how players should not compete in the world baseball

50:13

classic due to injury concerns, why do we

50:15

never hear complaints about players playing

50:18

in winter leagues. In fact, players are often lauded

50:20

for the

50:20

dedication. Great point, Michael.

50:22

Well, I would say this that there are players

50:24

who wanna play in the w b alright. Excuse me.

50:26

In the winter leagues and the teams say, no, you're not allowed.

50:29

Like, they will restrict that or they'll limit

50:31

the time, and they'll also want them to

50:33

do it early in the winter league schedule because they

50:35

want to have them if they do suffer

50:37

an injury, they want time

50:39

for the player to heal, Like if Al Tobey

50:41

was playing in a winner league in Venezuela and he

50:43

got hitman and the and the answer

50:45

said, look, you can play, but only in

50:47

November, he would have time to heal

50:49

a broken thumb. And I think that's

50:51

a major difference. Trevor

50:54

dunning at Montana met rights. And could

50:56

you explain some of the financial issues surrounding

50:58

the Diaz injury Is their insurance for

51:00

Major League Baseball contracts or players in the

51:02

NBC? Do the Nets have to pay

51:04

Diaz this year? Does Diaz' contract

51:07

count toward payroll this

51:08

year? You answered this on Twitter, but it would

51:10

be worth repeating on here? Yes.

51:12

There is a bent insurance that covers

51:14

at least some of Diaz's deal, and I, you know,

51:16

I haven't tracked down specifics. Is it typically

51:19

is about seventy percent. know,

51:21

the so, yes, insurance covers

51:24

some of DS' contract. The

51:26

Nets still have to pay Diaz, not

51:28

the WBC, with the team recouping

51:30

at at least some of that money through insurance, as I

51:32

mentioned. And this is the part,

51:34

if you're the mayor, it's annoying. His

51:37

salary does count within the luxury

51:39

tax system. I saw reported

51:41

the other day say the Metz payroll has been reduced

51:44

in three sixty, three

51:45

forty. That's not true. For luxury

51:47

tax purposes, they still get hit with

51:49

a luxury tax bill they're responsible

51:51

for his contract. Ouch. John

51:54

Tollender writes in there

51:56

might be something obvious I can't think of here,

51:58

but why is the WBC played in March instead

52:00

of November after the season

52:01

ends? Yeah. There's no perfect time for

52:03

this. If you do it November, what that would mean

52:05

is that the players you know, all the players

52:08

whose teams are eliminated the end of

52:10

the regular season, they would have to continue

52:12

to train. You know, throughout October,

52:15

they wouldn't have the downtime And

52:18

then you'd have potentially players going right

52:20

from the world series to the WBC.

52:22

That would make everybody kinda crazy. The

52:24

teams you know, there's been talk

52:27

about maybe and this

52:29

to me would be the best solution to play the

52:31

finals of the WBC, the all star week.

52:33

But you also you'd have to get

52:36

thirty owners to agree to basically

52:38

write off one July weekend

52:40

of selling tickets. And I just

52:42

don't think think teams will ever do that.

52:44

Yeah. Yeah. We've talked about that before.

52:47

T alexander at SDS

52:49

see you too. This is a tweet buster. I think

52:51

you saw as you -- Yes. I

52:53

did. you you alluded to

52:55

it when you're talking to Tim. He writes in buster. Please

52:58

stop saying the Dodgers won hundred seven games.

53:00

It was a hundred and eleven a hundred

53:02

and eleven get it right. Alright.

53:04

I got popped on the nose. I fully accept that.

53:07

Jeremy Avise Russe writes in Hey

53:09

Buster. I'd love to hear about opening day traditions

53:11

from you and other listeners. I do a

53:13

Stanza Day countdown of Casey

53:16

at the bat on Facebook, and

53:18

then we do an OD opening

53:20

day Eve with my daughters who are five and two.

53:22

We do opening day presence in the morning and

53:24

I buy Chicago dogs as

53:26

well. That's a that's a very elaborate tradition

53:29

there, Jeremiah. Yeah. So we need to III

53:31

think we're gonna put our thinking caps on here and come

53:33

up with a tradition for the podcast. You know,

53:35

we've got the the the season ending tradition

53:37

of Barti Amati. You know, the meeting

53:39

that he does, we've we've done that. So

53:41

let's come up something early. It feels like it should

53:43

be something from Sarah Lang's, by the way. Oh,

53:46

I like it. I like it now. Maybe

53:48

she does some sort of reading. Yeah.

53:50

Or

53:51

something? That would be think that would be cool.

53:53

Yeah. We'll But

53:53

don't tell Sarah that we said that.

53:55

No. Absolutely not. We'll we'll have it be a surprise

53:57

to her. We got slate

53:59

up next, slate writes in. What's more likely

54:01

to happen this year? Joe Adele's talent finally

54:03

clicks and he plays like the all star that the Angels

54:06

thought he would be or His output

54:08

remains the same and the angels move on from him and

54:10

look to trade him. But my biggest issue with SLAIT is

54:12

he tagged Josh Macri in this this

54:14

tweet and sleeps written in a

54:15

bunch. I'm a little offended. I thought we were close from

54:17

that sleep. Yeah. Josh Macri, who

54:19

was the producer of this podcast before

54:22

Taylor Kim on board. And I've always sensed

54:24

there's a little competition between you and

54:26

Josh. No. Josh is a great guy. No competition

54:28

at all. He he paved you know,

54:30

he plays the trail for me

54:31

to, you know, pick up on the podcast and do a

54:33

great job. So nothing but respect there. Okay.

54:36

Okay. It is a pivot

54:38

year for Joe Adele, he's gotta show more

54:40

than what he's

54:41

shown. Last one for today, Bleacher

54:43

Tweezers, bringing the heat, Teddy Wilson at

54:45

report by Wilson writes, and the Astros

54:47

roster has featured several native

54:49

Spanish speakers and players like Alex Breggman

54:52

have learned Spanish to better communicate with their

54:54

teammates. How common is this among players

54:56

and what kind of impact does it have in

54:58

the clubhouse?

54:59

It's not very common at all. Like, if Alex

55:01

break them in a ton of credit, other players have done

55:03

it. I've, you know, managers who understand Spanish

55:06

who've done it. And I gotta say, like, my

55:08

tougher time covering baseball, the refrain

55:10

that I hear, and I'm just, like, covering my eyes

55:12

when when I hear it, players that go,

55:15

you know, older white players, you know, thirty

55:17

thirty they'll be like, hey, how come

55:19

Jose doesn't know English yet? Maybe

55:22

you're late. Dude, how

55:24

come you don't know Spanish? You

55:26

know? And I say that as someone who got a deep lesson

55:29

Spanish, which is why, you know, like

55:31

I had that conversation, Rafael Devers this

55:33

spring, where he was speaking to me in English,

55:35

and I was like, man, that and I told him I was like, I'm

55:37

so impressed. People can use a super

55:39

light. Stinking one sotto,

55:42

Sarah Lange's favorite player. In

55:44

two years, learn English well enough to

55:46

do interviews on national

55:48

television. How impressive is that?

55:50

Very, very impressive. Of do do better

55:52

everyone. We we gotta learn a new language.

55:55

It really expands your

55:55

brain, honestly. I speak a little Spanish, so and I I

55:58

can speak from experience there. Yeah.

56:00

Maybe that's what I'll do. I'll have Sarah Lange do

56:02

like a opening day mantra in Spanish

56:04

this way.

56:05

Oh, she's gonna love that when she hears the podcast.

56:08

Hash I believe your tweets on Twitter will be back Wednesday

56:10

and Friday this week. That's it for

56:12

today. My thanks to Tim, Sarah. Bruce,

56:14

Sarah, and Taylor have great day everybody. Thanks

56:17

for listening. Stay safe and remember. Hate and inequality

56:19

based on skin color is something we need to

56:21

fight against every single day.