Can Francisco Lindor edge out Ohtani for MVP? | Baseball Today

INTRO it is Thursday September 12th 2024 this is another edition of baseball today presented to you by 5H Hour Energy that is my man Trevor plof I am Chris Rose producer Dan along for the ride as well um boy we got a little uh shaking in the early going in Southern California on this Thursday everybody good everyone's good um we were sitting having breakfast and all of a sudden the whole house starts shaking so we did what you're supposed to do we got underneath a door frame the kids were a little shaking up so I had to take him to school everything is good um yeah I believe they said 5.1 Malibu which is we're pretty close that I mean it shook our house I I always look at the pool afterwards the pool water was yeah a little bit all over the place everybody take a deep breath if you're in Southern California and if you've never been through an earthquake don't still I've done it for 25 years and they still suck uh once again today's episode brought to you by 5H Hour Energy those are shots that help you feel alert and energized each shot is packed with vitamins and nutrients about as much caffeine as the leading premium coffee and here's the great thing it contains zero sugar so you're going to drink it in seconds you'll feel it in minutes it'll last for hours it's available in a wide range of great flavors across regular strength and extra strength varieties so head on over to 5our energy.com and use the code johnboy to save 20% on your first order once again this is the number 5our energy.com code johnboy save 20% uh tip of the cap I'm going to let you Tip of the cap take us through this one yes tip of the cap to our good buddy uh coach ball game who you know we've known for a long time one of the best baseball content creators out there um he has a movie that he's in called rally caps we're showing screenshot there of him on the screen which is awesome I watched it with my kids it's available on Amazon and apple and we are not getting paid to talk about this I just love coach ball Gam much and he was phenomenal in it and there's some good actors in it Jud H Amy SM some of the names you'll probably recognize uh but but coach ball game steals the movie and he's just being himself I'm like this is the easiest acting job of all time you're just you're just being you dude which is awesome because he's great um Tim kirchen is also in it but coach ball game you know I love this is what you know I love this I love mentors that are good husbands good Fathers want to have a positive impact on people in coach ball game uh is one of those people that's my secret I just get around good people and just try to steal their what they do good for the world that's my secret Chris coach ball gamees definitely one of those guys so check out the movie because it's really good for for um all all kids doesn't have you don't have to be a baseball you know fan to like this movie um it's really good I was surprised how good it was so kirkin was also in hey I got to hang out with ball game he is UN believable I'll tell you he can play the Bongos better than anybody I've ever seen I've seen some Bongo players in my time it's it's a little it's it's little Sandlot esque if that does it for people that perfect I love it I'm gonna have to go check it out very very good all right let's get on to the baseball today a couple of old friends are going to tango Yankees about to end Boston's season? and maybe Bongo for the next four days in the boogie down uh each carrying a little Mojo of the walk-off variety the two1 ground ball diving stop by wit the throw home is wide birdie scores Yankees win a walkoff for Chism and the Yankees win 43 and 11 home run swing a high drive way up there way back way gone the Red Sox walk it off at Fenway courtesy of Tyler O'Neal if you're a left-handed pitcher and you got to see him in the Batters box run and hide that's my word of advice uh so you're looking at the standings yank still fighting it out with the Orioles for AL East Supremacy um they're one and a half up meanwhile Boston forb of Minnesota for the final playoff spot is this the weekend that New York kills its good friends chances for the season I mean they have the POS there's a possibility that happens Chris but it has to come you know with uh a Minnesota Twins uh victory series Victory against the Reds the Tigers have to do things which none of these teams have been have shown the ability to separate themselves whatsoever so could they lose a series to the Yanks and get down a little bit more yes but I'm not ready to say they're going to get buried or any team for that matter is going to get buried I don't think that they can be they certainly can't lose any ground let's put it that way okay they cannot lose any ground uh the twins I believe are off today so are off today the the Red Sox could make up a half game tonight they also still have a three- game set with the Minnesota Twins ahead of them the big worry is the other teams that are involved in this thing right Seattle Detroit especially who has played great great baseball over the last six weeks or so um but with the Red Sox you have got to keep it in check like the worst that they could do this weekend is two and two in my opinion and agreed yeah the thing that would scare the hell out of me is that Aaron judge has not been good lately he has not I mean that it always feels like man so you're saying he's going to come back for this series no I'm just saying that well yeah I guess I am like I think you are saying that the hell out of me he's he's hit very well against Boston this year Boston actually leads the season series five to four against New York so they've done they've done their job uh in the head-to-head but Aaron judge did you know this month I think he's hitting under 200 and an Ops under 600 in September we're only a week and a half in but I I knew that he'd been struggling I didn't know the exact numbers but that's you know and uh has not homered since August 25th I know Red Sox fans are like rose shut up they're probably usually like that anyway but they're really like that like don't tell the guy that I think he knows exactly how he's doing as of late so that that's the thing that would scare the you know what out of me but if they go worse than two and two then it is over you think so you think if they lose if they okay I do I mean look it's it's to that point Chris you know we're we're getting towards the end of the season where you know a three or four game lead seems like you know doesn't seem insurmountable but when you start factoring in percentages you know I'm not good with percentages but that's what the math people tell me that when it gets to this time of the year it gets much more difficult to do it how about that for Matt that's good enough good enough for me um I'll be paying attention to this series you know what I'm like right now Chris like how you've been with the Guardians this entire year just scared yeah just scared of your team I terrified for the twins right now terrified for them yeah that ninth inning you know they had a three-run lead going into it and all of a sudden before you know it the Angels had the goahead run at the dish the N they did Chris yes they did and hit a ball to our rookie shortstop and you know nope all right let's focus on New York's other team up one on Atlanta for the Can Lindor win NL MVP over Ohtani? final Wild Card birth in the National League the Mets Wednesday was amazing for them they were getting shut out and no hit in the ninth inning when this happened that's driven to deep right field and a home run ends this no Hit Bit Lin sanity Francisco Lindor ties the game with a ninth inning home run how long has he been sitting on Lin sanity that is so good that is so so good that brings me back a little bit uh we will focus on the side of Bowen Francis momentarily but let's look at this from the Mets angle because that jump started a six spot in the ninth Mets ended up winning six to2 I know a few weeks ago we we talked about this and we were like listen Francisco Lindor had a great season but this is otani's MVP now what did what did Francisco Lindor tell our good buddy Jeff passon that that MVPs are one in August and September well he's doing his J how much has he closed the Gap is this is this realistic um I'm going to stay with my take here Chris I I think Francisco Lindor is having a f a fantastic season obviously the Mets would not be where they're at without him I think there are one of the surprise there's many surprise teams in baseball this year the Mets are one of those teams and again I'll reiterate they wouldn't be here without the season that Francisco lindor's had and he's been phenomenal on both sides of the ball don't want to take anything away from him but I he's just he's not going to surpass sh Otani for the NL MVP he's just not I mean sh I believe now is 47 homers 48 home run or 487 homers 48 steals he's gonna get to 5050 and he's gonna win the MVP um so he's gotten it closer than I thought he would get you know that anyone would get uh but I just don't think it's it's enough right now even if we're looking at you know I always have baseball reference up so I have bwar right in front of me shohi even has a DH 7.4 uh and Lindor 6.4 so a full run ahead I don't know man I get how people can make the Argent for Lor in fact I probably have given this argument before where I feel like an everyday player needs to you know be catapulted ahead of a DH or a starting pitcher I'm sure I've said that before but I think otani's just done a little bit too much you know the 50-50 thing is hard to ignore that's just it for me I I I I hold 3030 at such a high level I hold 4040 at an impossibly high level and 5050 has never been done before and it's because of that I just think Otani is gonna do it yeah he's actually 47 homers 48 steals now so he's very close but does that make it seem like we're a bunch of trained dogs that because because these numbers have no I mean shouldn't we be able though to figure it out like on our own that numbers don't tell us exactly because they reached something that buzzards and buzzers and Sirens go off and well hey well that's it that means he's got I mean wouldn't you vote for him the MVP if he didn't get another steel and another home run this year would he's already done something that's never been done before I mean I think it was 4343 is the highest that anyone's ever gone he surpassed that 50/50 is just a beautiful round number and it sounds great it starts a whole new category uh but he's already had a season that no one's ever had before Chris so no I wouldn't have to see another one to do it I'm just saying he's gonna plant that 50-50 flag and you know it's a great story okay um yeah listen if I had a vote I would vote Otani 1 and Lindor 2 and yeah I didn't even know until the day that Matt Chapman's war was as high as it was but it is 67 yeah I mean it's it's better than Lindor correct yes okay he's three yeah um listen Francisco Lindor and we've mentioned this he balls every day he's a great defender he's popped from both sides of the dish he can run yeah what do he got I do want to say that there are different there's two different types of war that people use and and teams have their own independent War so F4 Lindor is ahead of Otani 74 to otani's 70 right now the leaders of f4 are Aaron judge and Bobby wit and then Juan SoDo 9696 for Bobby Wht and Aaron judge how about that Holy sikies yeah so you can you can spin those numbers any way you want um I think there is part of it also that I'm a human being and I am amazed every time Sho Otani gets to the plate and I just you know our Logan Webb episode is out and he's this is an arch rival of his right this is a guy that the Giants are supposed to hate and he's like I am so thankful that I am competing against him like so thankful he also gives us a bunch of other great little tidbits about his time with Otani at the All-Star Game an interaction they had recently where web um came up with a cutter and never had it and shoh came up to him was like when did you start throwing a cut like it was great all nerdy Insight really fun but yeah it just gets us back to the fact that he is he is unlike anything we've ever seen before and he's doing this all in a year where he's just supposed to be rehabbing from major Army you know like think about that for a second it's it's different Chris and um you know again I want to give OT Lindor his flowers and and how he's been incredible this season absolutely incredible Mets fans you're lucky to have that guy Chris Rose you know first H firsthand how lucky they are to have him um I just think that it's sh is going to win the MVP in the National League for the foreseeable future I'm just it's just how it's going to be people I don't know what else to say yeah I hear you all right more of the show is coming your way but 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starts he took a no hitter in the ninth only to have it interrupted by a solo home run Taylor W of the Angels got him a little while ago go so he loses another no hitter yeah you okay buddy I don't know I I didn't feel that one coming I felt like um you know I thought I was going maybe a popup or something but with that many pitches I just felt like I had to kind of empty the tank with heaters and kind of let him put the ball in play like I was doing all day why you staring at him like that I I don't know does he have like a hearing impairment I don't I don't I don't know or is that just like did he have some what did he have on right there I just think he had some headphones that were dangling he looks like an interesting dude he does look like an interesting D I do not know him personally yeah that's uh okay he kind of looks like a little hipster yeah he does he does look a little bit like that um okay so I my question was going to be on a scale of one to 10 how bad do you feel for him over what has G on lately uh I don't feel that bad to be honest with you not just because he's a starting pitcher now he used to be a reliever um I don't feel that bad because I feel like he's had such a great like um establishment of a season so I'm I'm happy for him more than anything he's shown that he can be a reliable Big League starter and that always hasn't been the hasn't always been the case with him I mean he started this year um I think he believe I think he even got sent down to the minor leagues early on if I'm not mistaken then he's came back up you know Mi mixed his pitches up a little bit throwing the splitter a little bit more fast Ball's been great for him this year uh but the guys that you know go from reliever to starter are able to do it the way he's done it I mean you just have to be happy for him I I understand look you're so close to having a no hitter having your name etched in the in the history books all that that's great but if I had to take a establishing myself as a big league starter or throwing like an like a random no hitter I'm taking establishing myself as a big league starter and and that's what he's done this year so I'm I get it I'm I'm a little bit sad for him but I'm more so happy that he's just kind of become the guy that maybe he's thought all along and it's it's it's really good to see and how about blue jay's manager John Snyder saying I'm not going to get in the way of History I this is what the people want yes yeah do you know what I mean like this was awesome yeah he lost it but great but he feels good and I don't know man I'm I'm I'm just happy for the guy and there's no question that we appreciate that out of a manager but two things number one the Blue Jays aren't going anywhere they got two weeks left in their Seas don't say he's 28 don't you dare say he's 28 nope not going to say that because they still have to take care of him to the best of their ability but it's not like hey we've got to save him we've got a big game coming up in his next start it's nothing do the Pirates have a big game coming up in their next start I think I think we we could admit that there's slightly there's a little bit of difference between bow and Francis and Paul SK in terms of what they mean to an organization no I don't know man looks I think I think uh the other thing I was gonna say means a lot to the Blue Jays right now I understand what you're saying I'm not gonna say the other thing because I don't even want to get into that but I do want to get into this I love the Francisco Lindor came out and said that Bowen Francis was great and he was phenomenal on his thing because I hated what Taylor Ward said after he hit the Home Run he's like I didn't see anything special I always think like that when you get your ass kicked by somebody when they shove against you and what does it say about you I mean what does it say about your team if you're going to sit there and take shots when they just kicked your ass like I think it's stupid I think it's silly when people say stuff like that but that's neither here nor there here's a few things I loved I loved seeing Shawn manah who was on the other side of the dealing yeah tipping his cap in The Dugout that was freaking awesome that's awesome I love that no sham I is a guy he's a stud he also pitched well so yeah pitched great he's pitched great all year the other thing is made me think of a couple things one B Francis is the first player since Nolan Ryan to have two no hitters go arai in the ninth inning in the same season so if you are mentioned with Nolan Ryan you're okay in my book a lot of I got another stat for you can I give you another stat please Bowen Francis has the lowest whip in a six start Span in Major League Baseball history pretty good four above Jacob deg Grom and Grover Alexander oh nice very good so uh I'm telling you man if you if you asked is it Bowen or Bowden it's Bowden and here's why I thought it was Bowden too and then I was doing a little research last night he is named after the legendary Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowen and I was like wait if he's named after it why is his name Bowden then his name is actually so this guy is a character okay his name he was gonna go to Florida State so his name is Robert Bowen Francis Bob D gmit yeah yeah even I know who that is um if you were to ask him yeah hey Bowen would you rather have a no no and then just fade into mediocracy or establish yourself as one of the better pitchers in the big leagues and give up two solo homers to end two no hitters he would pick the ladder you know what he would do he would say I'd like both please yeah give me both because he's a starting pitcher and they're greedy so I just talked about the Nolan Ryan stat if you're Blue Jays fan or just a baseball lover you're probably more inclined to compare him to Great Blue Jays pitch I always thought he was borderline Hall of Fame material Dave stee who in consecutive starts consecutive starts took no hitters into the ninth inning how about this one in Cleveland look at this Julio Franco with the bouncer that was going to be the last out of the game and it hit the lip in Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium isn't that crazy that's brutal isn't that crazy he looks like a badass oh dude he was so good he was so good he would give you so many innings in the 80s and just he would pitch his ass off and um very very good pitcher ended up getting a no- hitter against Cleveland eventually he also lost a perfect game and Roberto Kelly Bobby Kelly for the uh for the Yankees got a hanging breaking ball in two and 0 anyway all right let's move on just Kumar Rocker and Jacob deGrom starting for Rangers this weekend like the Rangers are doing they're looking ahead to 2025 rough year for the Champs on a lot of levels however next three nights in Seattle could be kind of interesting interesting the major league debut of Kumar rocker tonight Jacob deg gram will make his season debut on Friday and then Max Scherer goes on Saturday is this the most interested you have been all season in working a watching a rotation work no it's not dude are you interested at all I yes of course I'm excited that's not the most interested I've been that probably goes to I mean it's it's actually a strange question to ask ask me I think it's probably got to be like a SK thing right it's got to be something like that like SK Jared Jones working back to back I don't know yeah I maybe sure look I would be crazy interested if the Rangers were involved in the playoff scenario whatsoever then yes this is kind of what we were dreaming of like I don't know say around end of June early July hey the Rangers could get back into it they got these guys coming back they just got to tread water they didn't tread water it's over um I mean I'll say this I'm definitely interested to see Kumar rocker because of the history and um you know we we saw so many clips of this guy coming out of Vanderbilt and um he's dominated since he's been in Affiliated ball I know he had to have tjs come back he's been great I'm excited I'm always excited to see how guys that dominate in the Min leagues come up and how they do in the big leags because this is all that really matters uh Jacob De Grom it's always a pleasure to see him pitch so I can't wait uh to see how he looks sherzer look I mean I've seen you pitch so much bro like this you're not really exciting me that much anymore like I still think you're you're obviously a Hall of Famer first ballot you owned me I get it so I'm kind of sick of seeing you for being honest here um but I don't know this is is it the most excited you've been well I would say that tonight and tomorrow I will be checking in on those two not that I don't care about sh I I think Kumar is probably the most interesting be just because we've never seen it before yes I I I would put him one in onea t tomorrow so with Kumar he really got on our radar with that 19 strikeout game against Duke in the Super Regional when he was a freshman 19 strikeouts in a game we were like oh my god when can this kid get drafted then he gets drafted and then he up with there's an arm injury and the Mets are like well we're not going to sign you and then he goes back in the draft he ends up getting taken I think third overall by the Rangers and he and Jack lighter are reunited like so all of this you know if Jack lighter could get it going like it it could be a great story and I'm just curious to see how he is his numbers as you said have been awesome he's got an 11 to1 strike out the walk ratio so I want to see how that trans that does it for me let's see how that translates at the big league level where guys are really understand the strike zone Jacob deg Grom since 2019 you want to give a guess how many innings he's thrown since 2019 gosh I want to say it's under a 100 no it's not that bad 131 no it's it's double that I don't know it's 254 you just I mean don't ask me a question like that and and then put some 200 number out there well I mean but he did Pitch some at least I mean hell I was going back and I was like okay 2020 was a a year that I've totally blanked out of my mind I don't know all right I guess my point is is that I do get excited because it just hasn't happened enough and he is so dominant like I sit and shake my head it's almost like it's the first time I'm wa it's like baseball Groundhogs Day for me so I just was talking about Jacob deg Grom with Randy Wolf um left-hander from El Camino lives in my neighborhood now we are down at the uh Youth Clinic in San Diego doing some charity work our bad nice um and he was saying that like I think at the tail end of his career he might have been I'm assuming he was with the Mets organization in Triple A and he and when you were in the bushes uh you got the chart or at least you used to have the chart so the starting pitcher will go into the stand and kind of like sit amongst the scouts like behind the plate and he said it was Noah syar and Jacob De gr Scouts were just absolutely gushing all over Noah synerg guard and talking about him he's like have you guys not watched Jacob deg gram throw like this this guy is this is the guy he said he couldn't believe it and obviously you know they both have had their successes but deg gr's been when healthy one of the best pitchers in all the baseball yep yeah it's going to be awesome so watch tonight and tomorrow at the very least and I'm sure we'll have something on it on tomorrow's show for Kumar rocker good luck to him finally The only retired Little League number listen we know that yesterday was September 11th uh we didn't make a huge deal about it I wanted to wait until today just to see how the baseball world was going to do it and they they did it right um it's obviously an extremely difficult day for this entire country there are also some you know amazingly uh emotional stories that get told some that you have heard before and some that you may not know in the baseball world uh there was a young man named Miche camarada who became a firefighter and actually ended up being the youngest firefighter to lose his life at Ground Zero on September 11th 2001 there's a baseball tie-in here he was the starting right fielder for the Staten Island team in the 1991 Little League World Series so that's a squad that made it all the way to Williamsport there is a remarkable story that you should go go find it just type his name in and the number 11 because it is the only number that was his number it was the only number that has been retired at the Little League World Series so you'll see that number 11 on the wall out there um just makes you think man I'm 22 years old and to go man it's tough it is tough and you know you every year on September 11th and the days leading up you get reminded of the stories of the the courageousness and the braveness of the First Responders running into that building and then you know ultimately giving up their lives to try to help people and it's it's something that you know we are the saying is never forget and I don't think we ever will man that was such a you know impactful day um I guess that's not really the right word but well it was I me still definitely still sticks with me absolutely and um I could just tell you this is I mean Josh who's 23 now was 10 months old and I remember holding him watching all this stuff and that was a day where actually we lost a uh a buddy of mine a cooworker who was on the first plane he was one of our camera operators on the best Dam Sports show period young man named Tommy pelli who was right around my age his wife was pregnant um and I think about him all the time not just on September 11th and I still keep in touch with his widow and uh and have actually still had contact with his son over the years yeah I can tell you this he um they moved they ended up moving to Michigan he and his mom and when the Tigers were really good in 20110 and 11 and 12 we would get them tickets when I was covering for Fox um we'd get them tickets to the ALCS and he'd come out and hang out on the set and he was great great kid and he's now in his in his college Years and it's amazing um so just wanted to be able to inform people a little bit about the baseball side of of that and certainly thank Michael camarado for everything he did in his short life so we appreciate you Michael and your entire family uh we are back at it again on Friday we will get your baseball weekend OUTRO pointed in the right direction do want to remind you to please get your questions in for the Five Hour Energy question of the week guys have done an outstanding job so far uh for our amazing one of a kind producer Dan roor The Uber talented Trevor ploof I am Chris Rose we will see you Friday here on baseball today presented to you by 5H Hour Energy