Here come the Astros AGAIN, Phillies take care of the Braves, Yankees struggle | Baseball Bar-B-Cast

Introduction [Music] hello and welcome to baseball Barber cast the only baseball podcast in the world that knows Aaron judge really isn't that tall it's all in your head an optical illusion I'm Jake MZ that's Jordan Schusterman you know who's really tall Jose Altuve tall of heart interesting yeah I don't know I I feel like if you want to have a conversation about Aaron judge and whether he's actually man yeah is it is it easier to argue that he's overrated in terms of Talent OR overrated in terms of height probably overrated in terms of height Yeahs I think that's actually a fair assessment but we are not going to talk about Aaron judge's height too much on this podcast although I think we will talk about the Yankees he hasn't Homer in seven games at the time of this Tuesday Morning recording which is nearing a season High homerless drought so are we worried about him uh I guess we can talk about that we have a lot to get to Jake it's Tuesday it's Tuesday we're recording on a Tuesday his homeless drought is seven games what's yours more wait I mean so much more you know I tried to end it during that softball game that we played during during your bachelor party although granted I haven't played very many games really at all so that's like I guess three games during that that softball uh Extravaganza so that's three games so I guess it's maybe not I don't remember the game I played before that but I also probably didn't Homer during that one either the listeners are starting to get worried baseball Barber kiss gmail.com if you're concerned about Jordan's lack of Home Run production uh on this episode of baseball barcast we're GNA talk a little bit about the weekend spin it a little bit more forward than usual because we did not record on Labor Day because it is a holiday and we observe those um sometimes sometimes so let's let's start with the American League because we're Americans who true Real red-blooded Americans that's us and we will talk about a mop that happened over the weekend because its relevance continues the Kansas City Royals who were like seven to eight outs away from mopping the Guardians last week there were articles abound including one from yours TR not yours truly is me but you mine truly I don't know truly you could say Jordan truly about how the Royals were here they were formidable since that day they have lost The Astros are in full control six games in a row they were mopped by the Astros they lost last night to Cleveland and even worse than that was they lost Vinnie pasquantino in one of those games over the weekend against Houston to a broken thumb on a freak play Bang Bang at first base the Houston Astros just carved the Royals up um and all four games Houston pitchers allowed starters allowed one run one earn run yeah in the series that is tough to now obviously any mop is gonna feel a lot better or worse for one team than the other do you want to start with Kansas City or do you want to start with Houston because I have some some strong feelings about about both let's do Houston okay so let's start with that that nugget that you just dropped there right now I know they lost yesterday in Cincinnati we'll fold in the Monday results to our our general weekend recap that's how we're going to do this episode we'll do the AL first then we'll take a break do the NL and then we we'll hit some quick hits at the end the Astros pitching becoming a legitimate strength after how much of a mess it was in the first not just the first month right like even when they started winning in May and into June we were still looking at this rotation like what in like besides ryel Blanco who was you know throwing no hitters every 5 days it was just like framber was not very good Verlander was out the rookies Hunter Brown was an atrocity erag Getti was getting blasted like all of these guys I mean at that point they'd still they'd called up Jake Bloss like they' had they calling up all these guys that and it was just like what is and the bullpen wasn't good right like hater and Presley was injured in a mess and a br was given up run it was just like okay even if this offense starts playing like the Astros this this is they will have to be overcoming their own pitching staff you know maybe the bullpen we would expect to regress back to being being good and that's generally happened but now I mean now it's like they feel great about all these guys to the point where partially because of workload but partially because of how well everyone else is throwing they're like yeah ronell Blanco yeah probably not going to start a postseason game that's that's an astonishing turnaround because ronell blco was all we could count on for the first two months and now he's borderline expend for them which is which is really a credit to the development of guys like brown the turnaround guys like brown who we've seen over in the big leagues you know kind of be able to make those adjustments and then arag Getti who's who's been spectacular and then Verlander obviously fits into that in a very interesting way as well and they've needed it because the offense is freaking banged up dude like Alex bregman hasn't played it in a couple days he's got an elbow issue Kyle Tucker still doesn't come back that's hopefully coming soon for them but they ran out of Outfield yesterday in Cincinnati of Ben gaml Chaz McCormick and Center who they sent down like three days before that and then Jason Hayward in right field so this Astros lineup when they play the team that you care about you're gonna look at it you're gonna be like that's really not that good and then you're gonna see Spencer edti who you've never heard of before and then it's the seventh inning and there are no runs for your team yes however one other name that I forgot to mentioned which is very important to this well two two other names that have to be mentioned we talking about Houston one is you say Kikuchi they give up three prospects who are all close or at the major league level to Toronto for us say Kikuchi the rental and we say what are you doing you know okay it's good you went and got a pitcher that you clearly needed I mean no one doubted that the like the Astros needed a starting pitcher so in that sense and we even said at the time like okay this is a pretty hefty price to pay for Kikuchi but I mean man like how good is you say kuch Well turns out pretty freaking good especially once he starts throwing a slider 35% of the time instead of 20% of the time he has been fantastic and now you have a lot of confidence in a guy like him to start a postseason game but then the other one which hello duh is yordon Alvarez who has once again quietly I believe has the second highest OPS in baseball over the last two months behind Aaron judge and it's just it's just been ho hum I mean he's he settled into just that like so so because what he's doing is never quite like historic he's just been at this exact level basically now for four four years that it's just like yeah that's yordon of course um and because no one wants to like go out of their way to like be excited about the Astros which is totally fair yordon just kind of ends up being collateral damage and not getting the love that he absolutely deserves and he's yeah I mean he's one of he's still one of the best hitters on Earth and while the rest of this offense has been either injured or struggling he just keeps on keeping on I was in the Press Box last week when he hit three homers in that game against Philly and he I'm like midc conversation with someone and he hits the third home run and everyone just starts laughing right it's just his home runs you just they're just that is a ridiculous thing for a human being to accomplish but the Astros look better on the mound than they have all year they have six players that you could legitimately start in a postseason game the real interesting conversation I actually want to save this for tomorrow is should Justin Verlander start a postseason game my opinion the answer right now is no he was shaky again yesterday in his third start off the I don't want to dig into it too deep let's table that for tomorrow the Kansas City Royals yeah however they are riding The Struggle Bus we have six losses in a row for them they right before the waiver wire deadline were incredibly active bringing in Robbie grman tomm fam and Julie guel who's already hurt because 40 yeah so like respectfully like the the random hamstring tightness in your first game like yeah kind of the thing that that happens sometimes when you're trying to to to play 40y Old players but that was a last ditch effort to you know backfill this devastating injury to Vinnie pastino the broken thumb that at the very least is going to keep Vinnie out for the for the remainder of the regular season I appreciate Vinnie very understandably being like my season's not over I'm going to try to come back I mean the timeline they give this 68 weeks that pushes it to you know the middle of October are the world still playing then who knows the point is right we hope so but you know it's good to I'm not surprised that they went I mean it's probably likely they were going to claim at least one of these guys anyway um but because there are clearly still some holes in this offense but that's the thing I mean the it they could afford to have a bad weekend in Houston they I not sure they can afford to lose Vinnie at this stage so here's the deal with the Royals there's still four and a half games up on that last Wild Card yeah the bottom has fallen out here for them but the worst case scenario is them just falling ass backwards into October I can't really see the Red Sox chasing them down to get into the playoffs and then once you're in you're in and that if you're the six seed right and you're still only at game back of the twins if you're the six seed your first game is either going to be against the Astros or the Guardians right almost certainly and like you have Cole Reagan and Seth Lugo have been really good and Bobby with J just like win a game for you so it's the to me the sky is not falling in Kansas City even though they have lost six games in a row so that was that big series that happened over the weekend between those two teams I don't want to linger on the Mariners they lost the Series to the angels and just embarrassing fashion Mickey moniac friend of the show walkoff home run on Sunday Mayers lose again yesterday in Oakland in their final series ever the also a walk-off I think that let's bury the Mariners tomorrow uh they are I'm wearing my I'm wearing my aquaox had for a reason all right focus on the fut the Mariners are six games back in the division time is slipping away I have zero faith that this group can pull themselves out of this rut they created for the El uh it's also more reason for Kansas City to feel fine about the teams that are quote unquote chasing them no one's chasing you dude like you don't be paranoid there's you're you're not playing well Kansas City but there's no one behind you let's zip over to the American League East for a second where the Yankees dropped two consecutive series last week against subpar National League teams losing two out of three in DC before losing two out of three at home to the Cardinals messy games on Saturday and Sunday for the Yankees they were down 7 to2 to St Louis came back tied seven and then lost 14 to7 the bullpen has not been good bad starts from will Warren on Saturday and Nester Cortez on Sunday thankfully for Yankees struggle against the NL the Yankees it does appear that Clark Schmidt and Luis Hill are coming back soon that will give them six starters which is too many six starters in in name I mean they are at the situation I know Cole left with like a leg cramp uh last night he has yeah not worried but but the point is Cole is generally started to look more like himself recently I mean we haven't really had any like vintage like oh my God that's one of the best pictures on Earth performances but like he's throwing hard and he's going deep into games and he's generally not allowing a lot of runs Beyond him I feel like we're just rolling the dice with all of these guys every time they go out there and so how again we'll talk more about you know playoff rotations later this week but that's I I sure they have six starters but I I don't really know what I'm getting from any of them right now let's trick in on Aaron judge home run watch so you mentioned earlier that he has not homered at seven games and we joke that that is a concerning dip in production however if you are trying to break your own record of boast home runs in a season in the American League you kind of have to just keep on hitting him all the time he is currently at 51 we have a month left to go less than a month and he needs 12 more home runs um yeah it's going to be close now yeah yeah now again I think the interesting thing with judge and this push for some kind of history is different than two years ago because two years ago the Yankees were cruising the Yankees were up by multiple games certainly by the second half of the month I know the Rays made it sort of interesting at one point but it was like only the only thing we were talking about was can Aaron judge home hit home run tonight you know the Yankees were going to win the division they weren worried about that whereas now when he hits a home run in a big spot it's like oh my God he just hit his 50th home run and also the Yankees just took a one game lead in the division that's even more carries more weight and then when he goes over five with three strikeouts you're like oh God he didn't Homer Homer and also the Orioles just passed us and so that Dynamic I think is going to create a very interesting last few weeks regardless of whether he ends up with 52 or 62 or 72 home runs I think that he is going to take his walks yeah always will right he has never player to press yeah especially now they got some guys behind him right I still don't really know what to count on with Rizzo like whatsoever I know he had an RBI double last night which was good to see but even just Stanton and the way jazz is swinging it and our and our guy Austin Wells who you know we've been high on All Season like there's enough now going on behind him I understand Yankees fans are are Furious about this fugo situation but I think that'll get resolved one way or another in the next couple weeks and that he's B at Ninth right so that's it is what it is and I think otherwise I I feel really good about the Yankees offense which I guess is maybe not a hot take but I think that part of it is because judge shouldn't feel as much pressure now let's briefly talk about the Verdugo thing so for those of you who are not completely immersed in Yankee land Alex Verdugo has been their left fielder all year he has been very bad and disappointing he is maybe a fine Defender but bad base runner bad hitter and he's playing Left Field almost every day Jason Dominguez is one of the top prospects in baseball certainly in their system and he is in Triple A playing very well uh he debuted last year and then had Thomas Johnson surgery and then the question just becomes why are you not having him play in the big leagues every day I think it's a weird move for the Yankees to just not go give him the Reigns I guess the issue is if he's bad and you have to go back to Verdugo you just kicked Verdugo under the curb and like you can't you can't like pivot again but in my mind it's it's weird it's very weird I get that they want to give Dominguez every day at bats in that maybe come October the fact that he has spent everyday play might benefit him they can always pivot to Dominguez on September 14th right yeah I guess I mean to me it's like yeah I totally get the point where it's like they're not Fielding their best team right now I think that's probably true I don't think I I feel this way about basically every Prospect callup which is that none of them are guaranteed to just be awesome now I know the the floor for Verdugo is so low right now that it seems easy to think that Dominguez can clear it and I I I I think I believe that too but at the same time it's it's not as it's you don't just press the button and get whatever numbers Dominguez is putting up a triaa like that's just not how it works so but it is bizarre it really still smells more like loyalty to Verdugo more than not believing in DZ which that is stunning to me I would say at this point considering verdugo's a free agent at the end of this year yanes remain a half game up over the Baltimore Orioles who thankfully took two out of three against the Rockies in Colorado and then smooshed the white socks yesterday on Labor Day I want to talk a little bit more about that later when we do nuclear overreaction but this thing stays close and compelling and the Orioles getting to play Chicago this week will benefit them the white socks have lost 11 in a row quickly let's swing back to the NL Central Guardians took two out of three over the weekend against Pittsburgh you were at some of those games you met our friend sax boy in person Pirates fan yes former guest and our favorite Pirates fan sax boy Billy one of the great social media additions to our lives met him sitting up in the cheap seats in Cleveland for Pittsburgh's win on Saturday where Luis Ortiz looked awesome but the Guardians offense is starting to kind of come to life they they've got the veteran help in the rotation with Boyd and Cobb I know you can roll your eyes at that but like they needed something and those guys have been exactly what you wanted more importantly Josh Naylor is starting to look more like himself his first half self they call up Kyle manzardo who hit two home runs in his first game back as part of the September call up again I'm not asking for this for this Guardians lineup to start you know leading League in home runs we just need a little bit more spice Jose Ramirez going 4040 can't do it by himself but he sure is trying and so the fact that they were able to take that series bounce back on Sunday with a big win and then go into Kansas City on Monday and and start to exact some of the revenge for what happened last week in Cleveland was a really encouraging sign I know Minnesota won a series over weekend and they beat Tampa Bay last night so maybe this is when Minnesota surges with Kansas City faltering but I feel pretty good about where Cleveland's at right now let's talk about the twins a little bit more tomorrow I think they're uh lying in the grass a little bit I'm pretty interested and if I would be if I was an American League team I'd be a little worried about the twins let's take a break and when we come back we will do the national league and welcome back to baseball Barber cast the Phillies they played the Braves over the weekend and these are games they're all they just they're so good dude the Phillies Brave games are so entertaining it's crazy yeah these have been pretty much consistently the again just regular season of course the postseason is is part of the context but at the same time I mean these just the the characters involved and especially now that we're we're adding new characters to the mix that's that's one of the most fun things about kind of the ongoing rivalries like this is being being able to insert new ones which now especially with how injured the Braves have been we're seemingly getting them every time they play there's like another new Brave Phillies-Braves rivalry that's either on the mound or somehow in the starting lineup and either making horrible mistakes or making huge plays and getting five hits like there's so many interesting just rotating pieces with the Braves whereas the Phillies I mean they haven't changed an ounce for over the last three years so two things two things one is Whit marfield becoming a main character in the Phillies Braves rivalry is hilarious yes um and then the other is Carlos Estes who this is his first time pitching in this type of atmosphere after remember remember he was on the angels and the Rockies okay now I think he may have been on a competitive Rockies team back in the year 25 ad but still I think yeah but point this not someone who he pitched in again it's wild that like the Rockies made the postseason more recently than multiple other major league teams okay he pitched in the 2017 wildcard uh game against the Archie Bradley triple game the Archie Bradley triple game he pitched and allowed a run in that did he allow the triple to Archie Bradley sorry I'm gon to look at this anyway sorry continue my point is this is not somebody who's pitched in like legitimate High leverage situations and for him to go out there on Sunday uh in that 11 inning game and get two scoreless innings in relief in extras right throwing a scoreless top of the 10th and top of the 11th with the runner starting on second is very hard to do and it was cool to see him feed off that energy but the Phillies take three out of four from the Braves I would say the three main characters in this edition of the Rivalry was Nick castios who is absurdly locked in right now he is swinging to get everything still and for whatever reason Grant Holmes bra reliever just kept throwing him fast balls hits a go-ahead two-run home run in the first game on Thursday and then in the biggest spot Sunday night Braves have a chance to take it to 12 and even the series up onew fast ball up in the zone castiano single up the middle game over Cy when he's going good is just an utter delight and the Phillies certainly hope he can carry it into October second main character that's worth introducing Spencer schwellenbach please talk about him this is someone that I feel like we really did not again there are a lot of Cups now that we just don't have enough time to like spend 20 minutes on but this is clearly proving to be one we should have spent more on because listen we're 16 starts into the Spencer schwell and boach experience and while the erra is you know 369 doesn't necessarily jump off the page you know the FIP is closer to three he's got you know more than a strike uper inning he's throwing a ton of strikes and if you like you know bright red baseball Savant Pages holy crap like you take a look at his underlying metrics and you realize how much Spencer schwellenbach a former two-way player at Nebraska uh is doing well and this is just one of those great examples and I mean the Braves have obviously had a lot of success you know developing pitching but this is someone who was the short stop and the and closer in college and you know they didn't it was one of those ones where it's like man he could probably he could probably do both he could probably develop as like a third or fourth round infielder but they saw the upside on the mound because you hadn't seen that much of it on the mound and while he did I believe get TJ pretty much right after he signed once he came back and was a full-time pitcher and developing as a starting pitcher it just came together really really really quickly but what's so amazing is is the strikeouts that are coming right now I mean he was not striking out that many guys in the miners and he's just dominating what he has done is legit remarkable because of how he's doing it let me explain so gets drafted gets Tommy John does not throw a pitch in the minor leagues until 2023 okay he is not racking up outs with fastball slider fastball slider two- pitch pitcher whatever opposite right he has a legitimate six pitch mix he's throwing six different pitches and he has gotten to that point with less than a year of minor League development okay I don't know how many pitches he was throwing at college but I can't imagine as a closer more than you don't have time you don't have time to throw six pitches I know like I guess Ry glacius throws like four or five but in general yeah no that's that's exactly it it's amazing that he's been able to develop so many pitches that he feels good about because normally when you're taking like the raw project type guy it takes a while for it all to come together and instead it's like it's the opposite I mean I I don't even really know what I guess you could look at what his best pitch by run value but the fact that he feels comfortable throwing all these is is astounding and that is part of why the Braves should be so frustrated and disappointed leaving Philadelphia because they had a chance to frankly win all four of these games they were up four to zero in the first one they win the second one friend of the show Orlando Aria two home run game in Philadelphia dominant performance from him s uh Saturday it's just Zack Wheeler shoving it but Max freed was very good just allowed a couple solo shots and then on Sunday schellenbach makes one mistake he's like literally just one mistake to Nick castios on a on a curveball that kind of backs up on the inside half big swing from from Cassie and that's that's really the game like the Braves I feel comfortable saying D and dusted this division is going to be long to the Phillies and the Braves are now only a half game up on a playoff spot above the Mets that's wild yes um maybe we should just do the Mets right now especially after they won last night um I so they beat the Red Sox last night the Mets Red Sox I've been comparing them all season this is already an opportunity for the Mets to start separating themselves um from that conversation as they are obviously much closer to a postseason spot Boston has work to do before we take them seriously again but here come the mets and you know I saw some Mets fans like Jolly Olive you know tweeting like oh you know I can't believe the Mets actually you know took care of business this weekend well it's like guess what you're facing probably the worst team of all time so you better sweep them there's really no excuse not to sweep the white sock at this point I I truly believe that and so they did it and now here they are like that's what you have to do if you want to be in real position to and they absolutely took that Beyond to care business they look great they dominated and now they continue that momentum taking the game against Boston and when you look at what's going right with the Mets recently I mean the offense has been good the whole season right we know Francisco Lindor is an MVP candidate but now that you have Pete swinging it well you have Winker swinging it well you have McNeil has been hitting really well recently um I know you know Martinez J martinz just went on the paternity list so he'll be out for a little bit they're getting nothing from Francisco Alvarez he had that massive home run against the Orioles other than that he has done basically nothing for the last six weeks and this offense is still really good but they've settled into three starters that are that are generally performing manah Peterson and srino have been again I'm not like amped to be like these guys are going to carry Us in October but they might be enough to get them there if the teams in front of them start to falter so I'm I'm excited to see what this Mets push looks like although I'm a little bit worried it's going to end in and some frustrating uh heartbreak at on in the final week it's setting up as a neutral this is win-win stuff dude for sure for sure the Mets being in it is whether they succeed or fail is is just better for the sport yep because you get to watch Mets fans watch the Mets which is my favorite team is watching Mets fans other stuff in the National League and then we'll take a break Dodgers three out of four over the Diamondbacks we theorized hypothesized could the Padres or Diamondbacks you know Chase the Dodgers down and win the division I was kind of in on that and now I look like an idiot almost right away uh Dodgers are going to run away with this I think yeah less to me it's a lot less about Arizona and San Diego I think I still feel pretty good about the fact that Arizona should get Christian Walker and catel Marte back soon the fact that their pitching is as healthy as it's been all season the fact that the Padres just got tatis back all those things are good uh the problem is that the Dodgers are also healthy now and getting healthier and we're going to get Yamamoto back and maybe you're gonna get Glau back although I won't believe that until I see it um the lineup right now is just it's ridiculous I mean it's it's I think it's the best in the league I I don't feel like that's a hot take and I think that's what we expected so that's what they're going to be able to do it is an absolute nightmare to deal with 1 through n or certainly one through seven and that is going to be enough to I think power them to another division title the Dodgers have SI simultaneously underwhelmed and have the best record in the league yeah that's that should sum it up and we'll see if the Brewers and we'll talk about Brewers here quickly uh can make a push for the one seed Philly's also going to be right there I think the Dodgers are going to end up really really pushing this to maybe another 100 win season which it I again I know it didn't look like that we were gonna have 100 win season it's still it would still take a pretty strong finish but I think I think there's a shot but it's probably unlikely they're they're running out of games uh NL let's do NL Central before we take a break Brewers are cruising I mean this is about as safe of a a division pick as we have in the whole league and that's been true for a while now they win again last night against the Cardinals after taking three of four in Cincinnati almost mopping they losing extras on Sunday and listen they are remarkable I think it is the most impressive season compared to expectations that I mean them versus Kansas City is is close is close for that for that discussion but for to be this dominate the whole season to be this good at so many different things is is both shocking but also let's not underrate the talent that that is playing ridiculously well right now they have one of the two to three best catchers in the league they have an ascended superstar in Jackson Trio who's been playing like one of the best Brewers in cruise control players in baseball for three months they have a short stop at willly Damas who's going to make $200 million this winter or you know at least 150 I mean you compare him to what Dansby did leading up to his free agency and I'm taking Willie all day long so I just think that they have Elite Talent how they're doing it on the mound is a little bit perplexing and yet the starting pitching ra over the last couple weeks has been excellent and they have just enough they're doing enough else well that they are one of the best teams in baseball I don't feel bad saying that uh quick rant Tom verduchi you're a legend my die my my my my uh my good man uh Sports Illustrated time for du you're familiar if you're listening to this Tom wrote a good piece about the Brewers and how they've gotten here and how they have the third best record in baseball uh if you control F uh the piece and you type in adamus you'll it'll come up once uh and then if you control fio it'll come up twice barely and it has Big Money Ball not mentioning the or Miguel tahada energy and 100% right it's like the Brews what they're doing on the margins is amazing right but like yeah it's easy to just be like dude Willie Damas is like one of the best shorts UPS in baseball and Jackson cherio has been like the best hitter not named air judge for like three months but but to that point though we should also give them credit for that yeah dude give give this front office credit for believe for being like yes we need to give this child $80 million before he even plays a major league game yes we need to trade for willamis when they did yes we need to somehow sneak in and get William contarus in this trade who's even better than Shawn Murphy like all those things are incredible achievements but but let's not just use them as throwaway lines because they are they are driving this bus I mean they are they are the stars that are the reason why they are able to win so much without Christian yeled so there are a lot of things on the margins that are happening and we love Pat Murphy all those things are true but yeah we should not be overlooking the Star level talent that they have as well adamus cherio contras is very real yeah yeah it is it is very very very real did you see the willly adamus fun fact that that blew my mind yesterday yes the Home Run King dude tied Ken Griffey Jr in 1996 for most three run homers in a single season um with 13 and griffy in that year had I think 49 total home runs and Willie has 29 so that efficiency for three run home runs is astonishing if I'm the Brewers here's a real question if you're the Brewers and you got Bases Loaded nobody out Willie damis is up do you Auto uh get picked off first base on purpose to set up a three-run homer because you know he's better that way that's something A-Rod would believe or do you yeah no that's a good point that's that's that's aod would believe that I'm just playing I'm playing 3D chess that's all last thing on the NL Central before we take a break is here come the Cubbies oh and then you blow it against the Pirates on Monday I was going to be really excited to do a lot more Cubs chat on this episode and then J Lopez gives up uh two homers late in the game on Monday and we're a little bit less excited now listen the reason the Cubs are in this conversation now are because they have beat up on bad teams which what is what you need to do um they beat up on the Rockies they beat up on the Marlins they beat up on the Nats and now they should be beating up on the Pirates at home they dropped the series opener they are still in the mix now and as we mentioned I think at the end of last week they have still have a very favorable schedule the rest of the way they do have the Dodgers and Yankees coming up over the next week if they can just hold steady in that one they too can be relevant at the end of the season like the Mets the key players to know for them Ian haps Suzuki have been awesome they're really not getting much from Cody Bellinger they're not getting much from the guy they traded for when they weirdly bought at the deadline with the St paradus that's not happening but enough else is going right offensively I know Justin steel got scratched today with elbow soreness that's a little bit scary and kind of putting the damper on damper on The Vibes but the Cubs have a path here to be relevant again over the last few weeks third best record in baseball since the tread deadline now behind only the Padres and the Diamondbacks let's take a break and when we return we'll laugh and welcome back to baseball Barber cast Jake minz Jordan Schusterman bit of a shorter episode today because I need to go get my marriage license no big deal congrats on the matrimony bro uh I would like to begin with a nuclear overreaction oh sure yeah okay the Baltimore Orioles are the team I think the most about okay natural and yesterday I was watching the Orioles play the Chicago White sock in the experience of watching the team you care the most about play the Chicago white sock at 2024 is a fascinating experience it is a lose lose because it is probably going to end in a win I'm talking about the experience playing the white sock is good watching your team play the white socks at least in the beginning is bad and here's why the Orioles go down two runs in the first in the top of the first okay and you can't believe it the incredulousness what are we doing this is the white sock you can't be losing to Nuclear Overreaction them it's a lose lose if you beat them well you're supposed to and if you lose the sky sky falling now look did the Orioles win 13 to3 yes but the nuclear overreaction here is me in the first inning watching the Orioles struggle against the Chicago White Soxs yeah and respectfully I mean it's Corbin not just oral against the White Sox it's Corbin Burns against Chris flexon who God bless what Chris flexon did did for the Mariners during his stint there and his his esteemed stint in Korea he has an argument for being the worst starting pitcher in baseball this year and that you were losing that game for like 20 minutes and that's a bad feeling right ultimately the Oriol score a bunch of runs because that's what they should do the white socks run differential drops toga 301 wow 108th loss of the season I've already said it before at this point I will be astonished if they do not uh break the record for worst record break the record for worst record in major league history again 120 losses 962 Mets if they don't lose 120 games I will be floored floored if they don't gets to they honestly 125 seems pretty standard uh or expected at this point they are the worst team I've ever seen I think they might be the worst team any of us ever see I hope for baseball sake that is true um but I do obviously feel for White Sox and the guys on the white sock who are trying their best but the Orioles should feel fine and they should continue to beat the white sock this week and hopefully gain some ground in the American League East any nuclear overreactions out there in Ohio yeah uh Mariners just lose out um uh you're done it's done I I'll say this can you announce it you gotta announce it done announce it done well it's more it's it's very it's the real reaction nuclear reaction is yeah just l lose out tank for a top pick you know try to keep restocking this awesome farm system you know take some more you know and listen what are the Mariners are doing well lately draft and develop right or at least draft you know get some prospects I'm looking forward to the I want I want to look forward to the draft even more than I already am so the Mariners you know getting some good Lottery luck would be nice but it's really this you went from 10 win lead in the division to Lottery luck in two months this is this is nuclear overreaction um but really what it is the genuine part of this uh as someone who who cares about this team is I have no interest in them being eliminated on the final weekend for I believe what would be the fifth time in the last decade no interest in that like negative interest in that so I'd much prefer that they are mathematically toast like 10 days before the end of the season that would be f with me it is better to have never loved at all than to have loved and lost correct famous that is how I feel about particularly the Mariners playing in September yeah that makes a lot of sense anyway uh let's move to warm fuzzy feeling let's say a little happier come on let's let's let's brighten the mood here as we round round out this show a couple options couple options where do you want to begin uh Anthony vulpi faced Jack lighter yesterday adorable I don't know if you know this but they're friends from high school I one of my favorite baseball things is when high school teammates face off or play together in the major leagues the sheer number of high school baseball players Across America is staggering and the I it's similar to when two siblings make the big leagues it is both mind-blowingly impossible that the talent can be concentrated in the same household yet it also makes sense considering they have the same upbringing in genetics and the same is true for high schoolers right where not genetics but you are coming up through the same system you the same coaches yeah you know there's a natural selection element to that but for Warm Fuzzy Feeling Anthony vpy and Jack later who have really been linked since their High School draft days to get to face off against each other in the big leagues was very cool and vulpi took lighter very close to the wall and they had one of those cute moments where they laugh at one another that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling and made me hope that you know one day me and my college or sorry me and my high school catcher Michael prety will one day you know in the major leagues together or against what another yeah um vulp a little bit longer of a homerless streak than Aaron judge I think is not Homer since August 3rd the other good thing about the vulp lighter thing is like they still look like they're in high school still yeah both of them baby faed so it feels like they Flash the picture and normally it's like oh look how long ago it's like no that was like two weeks ago that is a great transition to our next topic which is Junior Camero who is the oldest looking baseball child we have seen it some time yeah he yeah is 21 but he looks 26 like if you saw him you're like yeah that's an four time Allstar he just carries himself with a confidence and a Charisma and a presence that is beyond his ears however there was an interview that went viral over the weekend in which we saw the childlike side of Mr Camero he was sharing a field with with Manny Machado for the first time his childhood hero which you know makes us feel old that Manny Machado could be some much childhood hero and he was moved to tears just talking about being next to Manny Machado right because uh it's the reason he were 13 and for a kid born in 2003 you know in the Dominican um and you're looking at I mean a lot of great players to choose from obviously but Machado is not not a bad one to pick as someone to you know model your game after when you're a kid and to already be sharing the field with him and you know Machado homers against one day cero smokes one the next day uh we get we get the Jersey Swap and everything I mean listen it's it's easy uh but it's it's delightful it's it's fantastic and the fact that you know we have versions of this where it's like okay well it's his favorite player but he's never going to be anything like him well Junior C I mean this guy could be charting a Manny Machado path very realistically and I think I'm sure Machado recognized that as well and I think that that is that is very very very cool to see uh what these two guys can can kind of be now and and certainly in the future let's do a quick game before we get out of here sure in prepping for the show I often you know read a lot go to Fan graphs and the athletic and Yahoo sports and mlb.com you know just to see what's going around around around going on around the world of baseball and on the sidebar for mlb.com you will often get some goofy things and that is no exception today uh one of the headlines is Dodgers Super Fan Brian cranston's pick for MLB's best player it's not who you think now Brian Cranston obviously most famous for portraying Walter White and Breaking Bad he's been around baseball quite a bit you know he's a Dodgers fan uh Jordan His pick for Em's best player it's not we think who do we think it is producer uh Andrew Harts could you please go to mlb.com pull up this article and have the answer ready for us Jord and I are gonna take turns trying to guess who Brian cranston's favorite A game with Bryan Cranston baseball player is yeah so hars just don't don't put it in the chat we'll have you put it in the chat when we when we say so but let's talk through this okay because is the fact that they're mentioning that he's a Dodgers fan is that like a is that do we think that that's like a like a red hair is it try is it trying to trick us into thinking he's not picking a Dodger or is it trying to thinking into thinking that he is not picking Otani I think yes I think the answer is yes to both of those things are there any baseball players famous for secretly dealing meth okay you think we're leaning into something like that I mean I don't like what would be the answer that would that would surprise us I just don't let's go back and forth let's go go ahead I mean I guess like I guess I would I would say I would say mookie but like that wouldn't surp that that is who I would think that would be in the list of who I would think or be in agreement that it's not going to be Otani because that's like the whole it can't be Otani it can't be right it can't be Otani yeah okay it's not who you think I think it's Otani no uh so it's not mooki I'm I think it's like a down ballot Dodger I'm gonna say Kik her Herz I'm going to say his favorite major league baseball player is Kik Hernandez says pick pick for MLB's best player not his favorite player oh it says best yeah that's the headline super Brian cranston's pick for MLB's best player is it ke it's not ke best okay so best oh it's not mooki Hart said it's not mooki it's not Kik okay I'm gonna no I'm gonna say I'm gonna say Freddy best player not Freddy not fredd told not Freddy it's not is a Dodger wait hars can you confirm that it's a Dodger it can't be a Dodger we just guessed all the Dodgers not do could it be a dback they're playing they're playing the Dbacks nlb's best player and you have to remember Brian Cranston seems like somewhat of a baller but there's no way he's saying jiren Duran right then he's probably then then is it just as simple as he's saying judge and it's not a Dodger that's prob could be judge could be Bobby Bobby Bobby junor is a fun answer no it's it's judge according to HS it is Jud it's judge come on come on that's clickbait clickbait yeah come on but we click clickbait uh wow so I guess does he explain he has to like to defend it dude I don't know that's and a great headline be like be like uh Oriol Super Fan Mike Rose pick for MLB's best player it's not who you think you click on it and it's like Jorge Mato or something like that's what I want this is an interview I'm now seeing that I clicked on it with our dear friend Michael CLA so I'm gonna go read this uh read Brian cranston's Ball knowing thoughts uh but until tomorrow we will say goodbye we will be back with our regular Wednesday edition of baseball barcast hopefully you enjoyed this Tuesday week weekend recap Edition we'll talk more about tatis we'll talk more about twins talk more about playoff rotations all that and more on tomorrow's episode any final thoughts Before We Say Goodbye I don't know if I gave Brian Cranston enough credit uh Michael CLA asked to wrap up who are the other players you love to watch Cranston I think Ellie is so fun to watch in Cincinnati and jazz is fun to watch but I love Louis arise I love to watch the players that are hungry for that extra base that's not Lis arise he's he's very okay with the one base that he get he's totally fine with that Bas yeah honestly Jaron Duran loves that second base yeah yeah but Ellie and Jazz and Louisa rise yeah that's interesting that's a good answer all right Brian cron nose ball what a surprise uh thank you all for listening you can email us at baseball barcast gmail.com that's bcast thank you to producer Andrew Harts for producing and providing us with that very boring answer for Brian Cranston and we'll be back tomorrow with another episode of baseball Barber Brian Cranston can email us at B [Music]