Ep. 159 : Judge Just Keeps Hitting Bombs, Can Jackson Merrill Win NL ROTY?

Intro greetings ladies and gentlemen today is August 26th Aaron judge has had a crazy week of hitting home runs and could Jackson Mar will be making a case for Rookie of the Year let's talk about it hello everybody my name is Stephen this is the middle of the order how are we doing today it is Monday the start of a new week started the last week of August um it is the 26th so happy birthday to my brother uh 25 years old for him and um yeah we're in the last week of August here the dog days of summer pretty much coming to an end here as we really start to look into the postseason chase the playoff hunt uh teams will slowly start to get eliminated and eventually we'll have our first couple of teams clinching tickets into the postseason um but yeah we're going to be talking about all that and a lot more here today so with that being said let's get on into our series recap all righty leading us off we've Series Recap got the Rockies in New York to take on the Yankees who open up this series with a 3 nothing win the Rockies would battle back in the second game leading up to a 92 Victory but then the Yankees with the Bronx bombers come back in the third game stto judge and Stanton go back to backto back in this game judge hits two home runs for his 50th and 51st home runs on the season they win it 10 to3 and take two of three against the Rockies Dbacks in Boston to take on the Red Sox and this series was onesided and it was for your Arizona Diamondbacks they are hot right now 12 and 122 in the first game 4 to1 in the second game and they complete The Sweep with a 7 to5 Victory Red Sox get swept at home not good for their playoff chances angels in Toronto to take on the Blue Jays and this was a fun series if you were a Toronto fan they opened it up with a 53 Victory on a Thursday this is a 4 game series here then the baby Jays ler fedo and Addison bar go back to back home runs in the ninth that ties it and walks it off barers walkoff home run a five4 blue jays Victory then in the third game Bowen Francis takes a no hitter into the ninth before losing it blue jay still win this one 3 to one and they look for the 4 game sweep and would have no issue finding it they win it 8 to2 and a 4 game sweep against the Angels very special stuff there for the Blue Jays Astros and oers now for a 4 game series and this was the series to watch Astros open it up a 6 nothing Victory very commanding Victory to open the series up but then things get dicey into the second game by dicey I mean exciting Baltimore down five not down five but they score five runs in the eighth Anthony santand there the go-ahead Grand Slam a comeback win for Baltimore as they take it 7 to5 and it wouldn't be their only comeback win because in the third game they call up on Jackson holiday to pinch hit with the bases loaded down two nothing and a bases clearing double for the kid three run score Baltimore takes it 3 to2 in that game uh they look to get the 3-1 Series win but they could not find it Astros win it 6 to3 on the Sunday game they split the four game set to each but what a series this was to watch Cardinals and twins little sandwich here Cardinals win it 6 won in the Friday game then twins shut out the Red Birds on Saturday 6 nothing to get that game back and even up the series Cardinals though with the r match win it 3 to2 they take the lead in the ninth with two run single from Lars Nar that helps them get the win and take two of three from the twins Phillies and Royals now the Royals open up this series strong against the Phillies with a 7 to4 win but then Philly comes back in the next two games 11-2 on Saturday and they had so much fun scoring 11 runs that they did it again on Sunday 113 this time the rolls were able to add an extra run more so than they did on Saturday and the Philadelphia Phillies take two of three from the Kansas City Royals we now look to the Tigers and the white socks one team is bad one team is disgustingly bad and uh the Tigers the bad team uh they win it they sweep the white socks 52 on Friday 13-4 on the Saturday and then a 9-4 victory for the Tigers on Sunday and that is the white socks 100th loss of the Season already and we're not even in September the white sock have lost 100 games it has been an ugly season for them Rangers and Guardians now well hey good news for the Guardians twins lost two of three Royals lost two of three a good chance for the Guardians to up their lead but they lose out on the first game 53 Texas in that one they come back strong on Saturday with a 13 to5 win and they look for the series win on Sunday and get the chance to find it as they beat the Rangers 4 to2 Guardians take two of three against Texas and gain a game back up on their division Rivals Giants and Mariners now the Mariners with some magic in the first game they score four runs in the eighth to tie it and that takes us to the 10th inning where Leo rarus singles in the walk-off run the Mariners come back back they score five runs in the last three Innings to win it 6 to5 and beat the Giants Giants they come back on Saturday with the win to make it a even up the series 4 to three there uh but the Mariners on Sunday would say would take the same score four to three but make them the winners uh seatt takes two of three against the Giants um so yeah they needed that series for sure Brewers and A's now the Brewers looking to continue to grow a division lead against the N Central teams and they have a easier opponent in the oak A's they win it 11 to3 in the Friday game 9 to5 on Saturday but they do lose out on the sweep as Oakland avoids it with a 4-3 win on Sunday but still the Brewers take two of three from the A's Nationals and Braves a walk-off starts this series the Braves win it 3 to2 in the 10th inning on a throwing error from CJ Abrams not how you want to start off a series this would carry over into Saturday as the Braves took another game 4 to2 but the Nationals avoided The Sweep with a 51 win against the Braves who end up taking two of three against the knots anyways Cubs and Marlins a little battle here between uh teams that met in the postseason a few years back ago 63 Cubs open up the series followed by a 14-2 win and absolute Slaughter there marins though come back on a Sunday game Win It 7-2 to avoid the sweep there Reds and Pirates played four and this series kind of surprised me because the Pirates Came Out Swinging in this series a 7 nothing Pirates win to open up the series followed by a 65 win then the Reds blow it open on Saturday a 10 to2 victory for them and then with the lead on Sunday they're looking to even the series but they would not get that opportunity as yasmani grandal hits the walk-off home run Pirates win it 4 to3 and they take three or four against the Reds Mets and Padre's also played a four game series and this was the second best series in my opinion Mets started it strong on the Thursday at 83 victory for them Padre's came back though shut down the Mets a 7 nothing victory for them then the Mets on Saturday little pesky here Francisco Lindor homers twice from both sides of the plate 71 Mets win that one they look for the 3-1 win of the series but they don't find it the Padre's come back they score all three of their runs in this game in the last two innings capped off by Mr Jackson Merill another clutch walk-off home run for him the kids on fire he's amazing the Padre's win it 3 to2 and split the four game set with the Mets to each which brings us to our last series the raisin Dodgers another great series here the Dodgers wined the first game 7 to three it was 33 into the ninth but Shi Otani who else but sh a walk-off Grand Slam and that makes his 40th home run of the Season completing a 4040 season for Otani a special win there for the Dodgers then in the second game the Rays hold off the Dodgers in extras as in the ninth Junior cero gets the game tying home run to tie the game up and bring us into the 10th where Jose cabalero hits the two-run Home Run for the Rays Dodgers can only get one run back and the Rays win it 9 to8 and for the rber match in this series the Dodgers hold off Rays they win it 3 to one your final and that is your series recap all right now for the game of the weekend and let me tell you there are so Game Of The Weekend many great games uh I just want to mention them quickly here of course the first game uh the Blue Jays the backtack W uh home runs from their kids Joey lero and Addison Barger for the walk-off that's a great one sh sh otani's Grand Slam walkoff 4040 season another good one the other game of the ray Dodger series Camero cabalero the two homers late sparked the ray win of course Baltimore's second comeback Victory holiday in the clutch there the the pinch hit breaks his clearing double to put them ahead of course Jackson Merill hit another clutch late inning home run this one was a walk-off to beat the Mets and then of course the Mariners did score five runs in the last three Innings to beat the Giants 6 to5 but the game of the week we're taking you to Baltimore between Houston and the O's here bottom of the second Ramon uas reaches on a fielders choice that means a run will get to score one- nothing Baltimore top of the third it's Jose Altuve hitting a two-run shot he made a deal with a kid to give him a bat after if he hit a home run number 17 fer Altuve 2-1 Houston and the inning didn't stopped there Jeremy Peña then doubled in a run and Jake Meyers singled in a run so Astros score four in the third to make it four to one bottom of the third Colton cower home run number 19 what a season he's had 4 to2 Astros still in the lead top of the sixth it's Jeremy Pena who hits a home run his third 14th of the Season makes it 5-2 and that brings you to the bottom of the eighth Ash a three-run lead feeling good about themselves wrong Anthony santand there what a season santand there is having Grand Slam gamechanging home run 38th home run of the year he's got 38 home runs that's crazy four runs come in from 52 Houston lead to a 65 Baltimore lead they added one more for insurance as rone R tripled in a run to make it 7 to5 Baltimore that was your final they win this one 7 to5 and that was your game of the weekend a lot of great baseball was had Judge's Historic Weekend this weekend and a lot of great moments from this weekend uh starting things off here of things I would like to talk about Aaron judge is setting some history um he hit three home runs in the series against The Rock two of which came in the third game home run number 49 50 and 51 he's on Pace to break the AL home run uh single season record um once again he broke this record two years ago in 2022 and uh with a crazy week here Aaron Jud has hit seven home runs in the last seven games um he is on some sort of tear right now uh I would not Pitch to him if I was any other team but they keep making that mistake and they are getting burnt from it uh Baltimore is sure not enjoying judges surge here but he is on a hot one right now and um it's very likely that he will end up hitting 60 home runs again um Aaron judge I believe became the second Yankee ever uh and the fifth player ever from my numbers are correct um to have hit three 50 home run seasons ever um the other the other Yankee being Babe Ruth and I believe he joins the likes of Sammy Sosa Mark Maguire and uh I forget the other guy at the top of my head Samy sza Mark Maguire and somebody bab Ruth and him uh but still very special stuff from Judge here and it's helping the Yankees out in a big way the Gap to Baltimore is slowly going to start building up um but of course they need to keep on winning and of course try to keep Baltimore from winning as many games as they can as well but regardless judge is on a heater right now uh not only that but his Paw Patrol episode debuts today so um if you got kids at home or if you just want to see Aaron judge on in cartoonish form on PAW Patrol I'm sure you can find it for yourself um but yeah that's kind of fun for him and a little exciting stuff there uh moving on here I want to talk Could Merrill Win ROTY about Jackson Merill because I am starting to love this kid each and every single day more and more in this season alone and let's be honest when I say in this season I mean realistically in the last like two three weeks he has had six game tying or goahead home runs in the eighth inning or later this season that is way more than anyone else the kid is super clutch he's having fun and his Padres are doing pretty good right now um they've had a little bit of a bump since uh their historic start to the month of August really uh they're now 4 and a half back of the Dodgers and third place in the division they're game and a half back of the Diamondbacks but um the pitching's been solid the hitting is there and when you have Jack Sam Maro kind of hitting those clutch home runs you got to feel really good about yourself the thing I want to bring up here today is could Jackson marel if he keeps hitting you know the way he's been hitting if he keeps having his moments could he win the Rookie of the Year I don't think so unfortunately I think he deserves it I kind of want him to see him win it but at the same time you have a guy like Paul skes who is way more getting highlevel media coverage um the social media presence is there and um his stuff has been electric like there's no doubt that Paul isn't deserving of the rookie of the year but it is also upsetting for uh I guess if you're a Padre's fan or if you just you know like to see some of the young guys you know have these kinds of breakout Seasons Jackson Maro is having a wonderful season and honestly should be you know considered for the Rookie of the Year voting I wish I would like to say that I don't I could see him winning uh but I think Paul skins is going to be somewhat unanimous winning the uh rookie of the year I think the Rookie of the Year should do separate rookie of the years like I know they have one for the AL one for the NL but they should have one for pitcher and one for hitter because that would make it a little bit better because you could have a hitter having this amazing season but there's a pitcher and you know it can get complicated for some of the baseball writers who do end up voting on these Awards I think having a rookie of the year for a hitter and rookie of the year for the pitcher would help things out a little bit of course remember the beginning of the season when sha eminaga was on a complete tear in the league uh that has since changed a little bit but honestly I think these three guys will be your top three vote Getters in the finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year and I think all three of them are very strong and deserving to win the award but I think when it comes down to it uh it will end up going to Paul skin however Jackson Merl's amazing uh moments throughout the season and and and great hitting abilities and great Fielding catches as well he's a great Fielder out there in the Outfield as well uh should be noted and should be talked about when they eventually do start voting for The Rookie of the Year rewards because Jack samiro um yeah having a hell of a season I think he is well more deserving than people are realizing and uh definitely needs to be talked a lot more um going on now Otani hit his 4040 Siri Sparks Interesting Debate home run Grand Slam walk-off Grand Slam uh the first game against the Rays in that series and um this was caught by some fans I believe and it became a bigger deal once it was more known about on social media but um the ball that Otani had hit was kind of a wall scraper it hit off a Fan's hand and went back into the field of play uh Jose Siri the center fielder at the time for the Rays was trying to make a read on the ball and trying to catch it obviously did not um crashed into the wall fell on the ground whatever he saw the ball on the ground there picked it up and just chucked it back into the field into the fans and let them have a go at it and people were hating on Jose Siri for this because uh it was otani's 4040 ball he had hit he had gotten his 40th steal uh I think either the game before or earlier in that game and then hit the walk-off Grand Slam for his 40th and uh only so many players have gotten 40 40 Seasons I believe atani is the fifth to do so and um people were not happy with Jose Siri and I'm going to defend Siri here because this is the mindset that I would have if I was a major leager if I'm a major leager I'm going to I'm with my team I'm with my um you know my teammates and my fans in my stadium and we're doing training every day we got games and and all this stuff and your mindset is trying to be better trying to be the best hitter you can try to be the best Fielder you want to be the best guy on the field at all times that's every guy's mindset and there are some guys we know who are baseball Fanatics who you know when they're not practicing or playing the game they want to watch you know other people's games they want to watch tape and they want to see how they can get better like the baseball's always on their mind but then you have other guys who have families have other things to do outside of baseball this is a different part of the game it's different part of their life I don't think Jose Siri knew that Otani was 4040 I don't know if he believed that you know I don't think it was malicious like oh you know 4040 yeah no like like he didn't do it on purpose people were saying like oh he did it on purpose and like just because he hates onani no you probably just don't realize it because not everyone is keeping track of every Milestone ever you know and and I saw one comment in the in an Instagram post I was just like they get briefed on like Milestones no they don't that does not happen in an ml Dugout the hardest ball to keep track of his like MLB players like first career hits because realistically you don't know if a guy is making his MLB debut or not unless it's like on the Jumbotron or if it's like a top prospect that's why a lot of the times when a player gets their first major league hit the whole dugouts at the top step waving their arms like give us the ball please we'd like to keep this one for our guy because they obviously know because it's their teammate their guy got his first MJ hit they're all on the top step waving down at the field like hey guys like can I have the ball we want the ball over here and that's when players throw the ball back into the dogout for obviously you know to keep it on players are not like remembering oh certain Milestones you know oh those pitchers about to get career strikeout number 2,000 like no like you don't know that if you're the other team maybe a couple players do here or there maybe if they're uh former teammates and you keep track of things like that sure but uh Siri you know T never been teammates they are in completely different teams and different divisions never been on the same division Siri with the Rays Otani with the angels now Dodgers it just doesn't make sense I guarantee you Siri did not know that Otani had hit uh his 40th home run in 40th stolen Bay like it was a 40 40 home run ball and walk-off Grand Slam he was just trying to give the fans a souvenir a very special souvenir with that a walk-off home run from Otani a grand slam that's pretty cool but again at the same time his team also got walked off on like he's also upset because he was winning the the Rays were winning this or 33 uh before the Grand Slam but still you know he's not in the mood to be like like it was not out of spite people who are making this bigger than it was uh I wanted to talk about it because I was seeing it get made bigger than it was and it really was nothing and um yeah I mean like what what more could you do you're just trying to be a good guy and then you end up being the most Jansen Making Unusual History hated anyways uh want to talk about this because this is some fun little quirky ml be stats and history coming for you today Danny Jansen is making some weird history today uh the Blue Jays and the Red Sox are beginning a 4 game series this weekend in Boston or this week uh but it is actually going to be five games played because the Jays and Red Sox have a suspended game uh that they're making up today which is coming from June 26 this is way back uh before the All-Star game before the trade deadline what makes this weird and historical and all this fun kind of quirky stuff is because the trade deadline has passed and a lot of moves were made from both teams if you look at the lineup right now as the game was suspended uh the Blue Jays have Bo bashet leading off this game Bo bash's on the iil he is not going to be in this game they have Justin Turner in the lineup Isaiah K of falfa in the lineup Kevin km in the lineup all three of which got traded during the deadline so it's going to be a really weird like substitution substitution substitution etc etc the Red Sox on the same side Emanuel Valdez no longer with the team right now Dom Smith ree Maguire both those two guys were DFA they were in the starting lineup they will have to be replaced as well what makes this one really weird and even more like just crazy uh Danny Jansen was on the Toronto Blue Jays he was catching this game he was batting seventh Not only was he's batting seventh but he was up to the dish he uh he fouled off the first pitch uh uh cutter up in the zone uh and that's when the game was called so he is at bat right now at an 01 count with a runner on first in the top of the second he got traded to the Boston Red Sox um so yeah so basically on the when the game happens and when this game you know finishes and goes down we're going to have this section in the top of the second where Danny Jansen gets replaced as a pinch hitter by whoever and then Rees Maguire is going to get replaced by Danny Jansen so Danny Jansen is going to catch his own at bat that he started as a catcher for a different team and that like I'm sure you've heard about this because this is something that uh was noticed in first talked about way before when the deadline first happened when Danny Jensen got traded to the Red Sox Someone caught on it kind of right away and it became blowing up and then it blew up more this weekend because Alex Cory did announce that Danny Jansen would definitely be coming in to catch the rest of this first game here um and there's so many other weird like Tibbits and records and and stuff that will be happening with a suspended game like this um the Blue Jays have so many players that they have called up since uh June 20th here guys like uh Leo Jimenez and uh you know will Wagner and everything the way MLB tracks games and all this stuff is based off of the day it starts so this game despite being finished today on August 26th was started June 26th and it would go down as June 26th so for example now a guy like Le Jimenez who made his debut in you know later on in the season if he ends up let's say replacing B bashet in this game and and gets you know used as a Fielder pinch hitter SL defensive replacement his MLB debut then is technically June 26th even though at that time he wasn't on the roster at all he would be considered eligible like he would you know that would count and it's just really weird to say that that's the way it would work you know if if a guy hits a home run here in this game um that's coming that like that's going to be a different home run than it actually was you know if that makes sense to you um for example rapael Des he hit a home run um let me see I'm going to try to figure this out yeah he hit his 28th home run yesterday um for against Diamondbacks here if he hits a home run in this game it wouldn't be his 29th home run it would be his let's say 17th home run or wherever it was during this time in between June 25th June 27th whatever number he had of home runs and the Home Run he hit yesterday which was his 28th would then be his 29th home run it's really weird when they do the suspended games a lot of fun stuff's going to happen with this game here uh it should be coming starting up soon because of course it's a suspended game double header so they still have to play another game in the night but uh the real headline is with Danny Jansen being the first player in MLB history to play for both teams in a single game but not only is he playing for both teams he is catching his at bat that he started uh it's going to be some weird baseball for sure so uh definitely tune in and check that out if you get the Other News (Crews Debut, Biggio Signs) opportunity all right now and lastly the last couple things I wanted to mention here for some other news uh cin bigio of course was DFA by the Dodgers second time he got DFA this season uh this is when they need to bring Freddy Freeman back but he did sign a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants this weekend so uh he will be in their farm system for now hopefully he can make his way back to the majors at some point this year and potentially help the Giants out as they try to chase down a playoff spot uh and the other big news for today specifically Dylan Cruz the number two pick in last year draft right after Paul skem for the Nationals he will be making his major league debut today very excited uh for this kid one of the top outfielder prospects in the game right now the Nationals I believe number one number two Prospect in their farm system um and he's got it all we've seen it in some games of his uh the contacts there the power is there the speed is outstanding the defense is great he honestly looks like he could be uh a five to a player an absolute star out there and uh this is just continuing on this Nationals wave of like kids you know at the right time and like I don't know man could the Nats really go for something next next season you know start clicking a little bit CJ Abrams James Wood now you got Dylan Cruz some of these prospects are going to start calling them up if they have an off season where they go you know spend some money get a couple players the Nationals could be a little bit more interesting next season you know maybe maybe not exactly 2025 you know give you know Dylan Cruz and and James W like a full season under their belts and you know maybe call up another one of their kids or something but uh 2026 is really looking like a good year for the Washington Nationals especially if they can get their pitching going of course DJ Hearst has been really good this year Mitchell Parker's had some up and down starts and of course Patrick Corbin is almost not a national and that will help them out uh in terms of of getting a lot of money back in their payroll that they can spend elsewhere and also a guy who's not going to give up so many home runs and have a high ra and not a lot of wins in their records but uh yeah Dylan Cruz making his MLB de debut today very excited uh for the kid to uh hopefully get his first career hit maybe first career home run as well so there you go Hot n' Colds all right now let's dive into our hot and colds for the week here and of course has mentioned talking about Aaron judge he is leading things off in the hot section because he is hotter than ever right now eight for 21 this week with a double and seven home runs all eight of his hits extra base hits 11 RB eight runs four walks and how about no strikeouts for the big man a 1. n480 PS very good stuff here now um I spent a lot of time looking at the pronunciations here jenzie Noel I believe is the pronunciation his nickname big Christmas for the Guardians eight for 20 two doubles three home runs six RBIs eight runs a 1. 1405 Ops for him J jazi jonzi yeah jonzi Noel big Christmas himself on The Hot List here then we got a couple of blue jays Joey ler fedo having himself a week eight for 20 three doubles two triples a home home run three RBIs four runs a 1355 Ops six of his eight hits extra base hits and followed by him is the veteran now Vladimir Guerrero Jr also 8 for 20 two doubles two home runs five rbii six runs five walks and a 1338 Ops and lastly join these guys on the hot list is Francisco Lindor from your New York Mets 10 for 29 with four doubles three home runs six RB six runs and a 1.1 180 Ops for him if your last name is LA or low you are cold that's what I learned doing this Josh Lao from the Rays three for 24 with 11 strikeouts Brandon Lao four for 29 with 12 strikeouts Nathaniel low 3 for 21 with four strikeouts take up low low and Lao take the three of them and combine them this week they were 10 for 74 with 27 strikeouts ugly stuff from the LA brothers and Brandon low uh Jackson holiday of course he had the clutch game um basis clearing double to give Baltimore a win that was his only hit this week he was one for 20 with nine strikeouts otherwise and then for the Angels Nico kavadas one for 19 with 10ks that is your hot and cold uh as we look now to injury updates uh not the biggest Injury Updates list here only two updates for you uh William contras I believe I hope I didn't read it as William and it was Wilson I think it was Wilson actually I'm going to do a double check here uh so before I type about contris Javier Bas he is landing on the ilil with hip inflammation and it is Wilson Contreras I wrot the wrong brother down Wilson Contreras from your Cardinals he has a fractured finger and he is on the iil as well so those two guys uh will spend a little bit of time on the ilil we'll look now at our outstanding performances Outstanding Performances we got a nice list here Le leted off by the Pirates Rookie of the Year soon to be uh potentially Paul skes six Innings pitch two hits no earned runs one walk and nine K when you having starts like this each and every time you're you have an outing uh it'd be very hard to lose the Rookie of the Year uh Spencer Eric Getti keeps on delivering for the Astros six Innings pitch three hits no earn runs a walk and six KS Joe Musgrove what a game he had against the Mets he looked fantastic fantastic out there seven Innings pitched one hit no earned runs no walks and nine K Bowen Francis from your blue jays what a start for him as well eight no hit innings went back out there for the ninth before giving up the home run to Taylor Ward eight Innings pitched one hit one earned run three walks and a career-high 12 strikeouts for him uh Zach Gallen six Innings pitch two hits no earned runs four walks and nine KS against the Red Sox Pablo Lopez I've been uh missing out on Pablo Lopez I haven't seen him much this year seven Innings pitched four hits no earn runs one walk and nine KS that's the kind of Pablo Lopez the twins need going for the rest of the season uh we mentioned this from the Nationals DJ HS is here five innings pitched only one hit Allowed no earned runs three walks and eight strikeouts for him Ronaldo Lopez keeps on doing his thing for the Braves six Innings pitch three hits and earned run three walks and seven strikeouts Kevin gsman this is the kind of Kevin gsman we saw last year this is the Kevin Gosman we expected to see this year seven Innings pitched two hits an earned run no walks and 10 strikeouts for him and lastly Gavin Stone from your Dodgers seven Innings pitched three hits an earned run two walks and seven k for your outstanding performances all righty now still Standings Check slightly early for the magic number segment but just want to throw a couple teams out there uh in the AL the magic number for the Yankees the best team in the AL right now is 22 on the NL side of things the magic number for the Dodgers right now is 20 so we're getting pretty close to some teams clenching uh Al the losing number right now for the leading team is the Angels they're losing number is 15 and on the other side it's the Rockies and Marlins who are both tied right now uh with a losing number of eight and uh funny enough these two teams face each other this week so they're essentially competing for to be not the second team eliminated from the year but both of them uh following suit here taking a look at the standings now Yankees now have a game and a half lead over Baltimore for the first time we're doing this and they're not tied uh it feels like all month we've been saying they've been tied right now the Yankees have a game and a half lead up on the Baltimore Oilers they are looking good there 77 and 54 for the Yankees 76 and 56 for the O's in the a central the Guardians a little bit of a skid this week they're four and six in the last 10 they're 20 games above 500 75 and 55 and hold a three-game lead over both the Royals and the twins who are tied at 72 and 58 and um just a little FYI the Guardians and the Royals play this week so if Kansas City plays well we can be talking about the Royals being in first place in the division what a amazing thing that could be for Friday's episode there uh big week for the Royals and the Guardians there uh a sweep would be crazy in the AL West the Mariners continue to struggle in the last 12 games they are three and n and they're four and a half back of the Astros um if they want the postseason it's going to come through the vision they need to start chasing down the Astros they only have one more series against them so they need to start playing good baseball winning their games that they can control and hoping the Astros will lose out the Asos play Philly this week so a good chance for Seattle to hopefully gain a game up or two um but yeah four and a half back the Asos 70 and 60 10 games above 500 where was this two months ago the ash was on a surge the past month here uh the NL East kind of got a little closer than you think Philly's at 76 and 54 the Braves 70 and 60 six games back which I mean still seems like a lot but I think it could also be doable depending on the Braves injuries that's something that I'd still want to look at a little bit more in depth here uh Philly over the Braves there in the NL Central the Brewers are high hilling it 75 and 55 20 games over 500 and 10 games up on the Cardinals uh they're going to be the first team to clinch division they're the only team I don't think will lose their division I think think you know the Dodgers could the Phillies could Astros Guardians Yankees all of them could switch the division to still closest matchups but a 10 game lead with a month and a bit to go in the season I think the Brewers are feeling very confident and should start looking at uh preparing for October baseball there uh and in the NL West the Dodgers have been much better as of late 78 and 53 they're finally the best team in baseball that took them a while to get but they are the best team in baseball for sure they have the most wins and the least amount of losses they're looking good uh the Diamond Backs we talked about a little skid they had a week or two ago that is no longer the case they're on a six-game winning streak and they're looking good they got a series against the Mets coming up 75 and 56 three games back of the Dodgers Padres is a little bit slower as of late 74 and 58 they're four and a half back of the Dodgers but there is still a wide open door for the taking taking a look at the Wild Card Baltimore three games up on the line here and of course the rose and twins are tied for it Boston 4 and a half back of the wild card they have lost three straights of course they got swept by the Dbacks but they have an opportunity here with five games against the Blue Jays they really need to take four of those five if not sweep the Blue Jays that would be crazy of course the Blue Jays coming off a sweep of their own four against the Angels uh and then Seattle six and a half back of the wild card so easier for them to go through the division but uh the Boston they're the team right now if they start slumping here I mean we're pretty much going to have a postseason picture with the six teams it's just a matter of which seating they'll all get uh in the NL side of things the Diamondbacks on their six game winning streak are now the first NL Wild Card they would host the Padres if the postseason started today they're four and a half up on the line Padre's in the five seed three and a half up on the line Braves still in the postseason hunt and postseason picture which is good uh the Mets uh a little squandering but did split the Padre series that was good for them uh they're two and a half back of the wild card and right behind them is the Giants and by right behind I mean double the lead because the Mets are two and a half back Giants and Cardinals are five and a half back so a little bit uh not where those two teams want to be and the Cubs five and a half so you know for this whole time we were talking about this dog race between uh the Nationals Pirates Reds Cubs Cardinal Giants Mets Braves like who's going to win the PO like who's going to get the Wild Card seats um now here sitting in September it's looking like the Mets will be the only team competing against the Braves and on the AL side it'll be just the Red Sox competing with the twins Royals SLG Guardians even um but yeah it looks like the rest of the NL chams are starting to wear out and the Giants have been pretty mediocre as well if they need to go they need to go now and they need to have like a nice five six game winning streak like the Diamondbacks are having because that is what's going to propel them into the NL Wild Card and that is your standing standing check I'm running out of voice here a lot of talking here but um we're almost wrapped up here we just got to go through our upcoming series I gave you guys a little bit of a teaser Upcoming Series during the standings check here but as mentioned the Blue Jays and the Red Sox uh they've got five games to be played one of which suspended to be starting in the top of the second of course Danny Johnson's historic game that's all coming up there uh Braves and twins that's a fun little series there of course Royals and Guardians that's the big series if you are a Royals fan you're heading to Cleveland do your best to get those games Guardians hold off those Royals that's a big series to watch definitely the series to watch Rangers at White Socks how many more games can the white sock lose that's the question that's the narrative there Angels at tigers in a series that probably no one cares about uh Rays at Mariners Mariners get those wins man because the Asos are in Philly taking on the Philadelphia Phillies obviously uh Yankees at Nationals that's a fun one for Dylan Cruz to make his MLB debut against the Yankees A's at Reds Cubs at Pirates giant at Brewers Padres at Cardinals Marlins at Rockies for which team is going to be the worst team in the NL Mets at Dbacks that's a fun series as well and we round things off with a really fun series Oilers at Dodgers so there's there's about three good series to watch here the O's and Dodgers the Mets and Dbacks and of course the Royals and Guardians those are my three series to watch I should start doing that I should start picking out like one or two series of like the oh if you're going to watch a baseball game it should be these ones I think that'd be uh a little fun and crooky maybe I'll start doing that uh for the rest of this season here and potentially uh next season as well but that is going to do it for us here today thank you Outro ladies and gentlemen so much for listening and being a part of another episode here on the middle of the order I appreciate you all if you're new and you liked how uh the podcast format here and all the news we talked about uh feel free to like subscribe helps me out a ton and um yeah I'm really excited to keep things going here and I'm excited for the rest of the baseball season as we get inching closer and closer to September and the post season ladies and gentlemen that is that thank you everybody so so so much and I will see you on [Music] Friday so