transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Amazon presents Jamal vs. the Shih Tzu. Descending from the gray wolf, Shih Tzus live by their own untamed primal code of not giving a single Shih Tzu. But Jamal shopped on Amazon and bought dog treats, chew toys and 32 ounces of carpet cleaner. Hey Jamal, you've been promoted to pack leader. Save the everyday with Amazon.

Speaker 2:
[00:30] It is Thursday, April 23rd, 2026. This is another edition of Baseball Today presented to you by T-Mobile. That is my man, Trevor Plouffe. I am Chris Rose, producer Dan along for the ride as well. All right. I like the gear you've been wearing. You've been supporting the company. It's a good name.

Speaker 3:
[00:46] That's right. Yeah. This is a nice light blue color right here. I don't usually wear it, but maybe I should start because I look pretty good this morning.

Speaker 2:
[00:57] Yes, you do. In fact, you look extra good as we'll show off in just a second. But let's start with our original tip of the cap where somebody who plays his home games on the South Side made a little history.

Speaker 4:
[01:10] Just trusting that those would come.

Speaker 5:
[01:12] Murakami deep to right side of field. Show me the Mooney.

Speaker 2:
[01:22] Show me the Mooney. Dude, I played that like 15 times, Shriff and Skall. I'm like, come on, show me the Mooney.

Speaker 3:
[01:32] It's the call. I'll give a 6 out of 10. Mooney's home run swing, I'll give a 10 out of 10. The guy's got absolute lightning in his barrel, Chris.

Speaker 2:
[01:44] So he ties the franchise record for most consecutive games with a homer with five. He and Montgomery, I think, are the first teammates to each do it in at least four consecutive games. Dude just hit one, 451 in Arizona. Okay. Can we just make an agreement right now? See him in Philly, home run derby.

Speaker 3:
[02:07] Yeah, it has to. It has to happen. Yeah. That's like the smart play and it looks like he deserves it too.

Speaker 2:
[02:13] Yeah. I mean, he's, God, and when he hits a man, he is crushing these things.

Speaker 3:
[02:20] He's, I think he's going to, you know, right now we're seeing a ton of like three true outcomes from him, but I think he's, I think he'll adjust. I think we'll see him become also like a better hit. Even if you don't care about this, like a better hitter for average. I think he will.

Speaker 2:
[02:35] All right, their line up. And by the way, Vargas is homered in three straight games as well. So they got quite the run going. Good stuff. Good for them. The fans have been through some awful baseball the last few years.

Speaker 3:
[02:46] Just think about the teams that could have had this guy. What's he making? It's two years, 17 a year, right?

Speaker 2:
[02:53] Mm-hmm. Jeez. It's exactly what it is.

Speaker 3:
[02:56] Well, hey, both of our teams could have used this guy.

Speaker 2:
[03:00] Hell yes. There's a lot of teams. There's a lot of contender, true contenders that could have used him on top of it. Whatever. We had a fun show yesterday. We always appreciate everybody hanging out. There was probably one comment that was more popular than anyone out there. That was when you discussed hitting your first home run in Funky Twins uniforms. They said, producer Dan should have been on that, should have got. Well, here we go. Two-one driven pretty well. Deep right field.

Speaker 5:
[03:30] Back is Chu.

Speaker 6:
[03:31] Looking up and she is gone.

Speaker 2:
[03:34] That's how long ago it was.

Speaker 5:
[03:36] Look at those things.

Speaker 6:
[03:36] Minnesota, a two-run cushion is now a four-two ballgame.

Speaker 5:
[03:40] Boy, he stayed on that ball and hit a long way. Oppo.

Speaker 2:
[03:45] Look at you. These must have been the Negro League uniforms.

Speaker 3:
[03:51] They were and they were, I don't actually 100 percent know. I think that sounds right, but they were just massively baggy. Carl Povano was pitching that night. He's like, I can't throw in these. There was big baggy sleeves. I'm not doing it. They're like, well, Carl, you have to wear the uniform. He goes, I'm going to cut the sleeves. I'm like, no, you can't cut the sleeves, Carl. He cut the sleeves. He did? Yes.

Speaker 2:
[04:16] He pulled like an abbreviated Chris Sale?

Speaker 3:
[04:19] I mean, Carl Povano, much a veteran at that time and also pitched great for us that year. Yeah, he did whatever he wanted.

Speaker 2:
[04:27] Interesting. So that was off of Don't Call Me Fausto Carmona?

Speaker 3:
[04:32] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[04:33] Okay. Good. Way to start it out. I'll gladly accept my team being the first one to welcome you to the big leagues that way. Thank you. So that was cool. Speaking of big home runs, Giants, they have taken the first two of their series from the LA Dodgers. Game was actually scoreless in the seventh, an amazing pitching duel until an unexpected hero, Patrick Bailey, stepped to the dish.

Speaker 5:
[05:00] High drive to left. It is on a hair.

Speaker 6:
[05:08] He's had big moments late in games here against some pretty damn good arms. So more than anything, I think it was just good for him to see him in that moment. I know that's probably the loudest cheer I've heard out of that locker room. They usually take 30 seconds or so once everybody's in there after a game. And I think they knew it was coming for them and it came at a pretty good time there.

Speaker 2:
[05:33] There were a lot of reasons that that moment was very cool. Number one, as a TV viewer, it was great to hear Dwayne Kuyper get another call like that. He's had so many amazing calls and he's battled some health issues. So to be able to hear him hit it at full range was great for us baseball fans to dig into that stuff. Number two, is that Bailey has been one of the worst offensive players in the sport. I'm not just talking about the first three, almost four weeks of the season. He just has not been a guy who's been able to get it going. There have been critical moments for him. He's got 13 of his career, 22 homers in the seventh inning or later. So he does love the big moment. Number three, you actually heard Bailey say it after the game, I appreciate Tony Vitello trusting me. Well, until Daniel Susak got hurt a couple of days ago and got put on the injured list, Bailey had been losing time behind the dish. Even as good as he is defensively, they were like, we can't have nothing back there, bro. You got to give us something. So I was happy for him. I was happy for the Giants fans to see that atmosphere, particularly against their arch rivals. A lot of good there.

Speaker 3:
[06:42] Yeah. Susak came on and you're right, he was losing playing time and then sometimes things happen. You don't always love him, a little injury continues Bailey's playing time. You get a pop like this, all of a sudden you're feeling good at the plate. He's never going to be a guy that's like a difference maker with the bat. Obviously, we know what he can do with the glove. But yeah, if he can get back to career norms, and I mean, that will obviously help the Giants line up out a ton, who's now on the verge of sweeping the Dodgers.

Speaker 2:
[07:13] True.

Speaker 3:
[07:17] That's good for baseball. And I want to say, side note, I'm getting more and more into Tony Vitello. Like I think I'm getting there.

Speaker 2:
[07:26] Welcome. Welcome to my side of things.

Speaker 3:
[07:29] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[07:30] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[07:31] I'm still not there, but maybe I'm headed that way.

Speaker 2:
[07:35] Did you see his comment the other day, because they had an off day on Monday, and before the game on Tuesday, when he met with the media, he was talking about how, I just haven't gone out very much in the city, because they asked him what he did on the off day, and he said, I just haven't done much. I'm waiting for a few more wins, and then he decided to go to Dave Chappelle, and he said, you know what? I'm going to cancel my one Uber, I'm going to work my way into that show because damn it, I deserve to go and laugh a little bit, and he said, Chappelle killed it, and it's good because you can see that this stuff is weighing on him. He knows that the entire eyes of the sport are on how a guy is going to do in the move that he's made. So I'm happy for him. I want to see them get back to that place rocks, dude.

Speaker 3:
[08:21] That's the interview that started turning me that way because you could tell he was feeling the pressure. He said he wasn't going out at all, he didn't want to show his face until they started winning a little bit more, which I totally understand. It was relatable finally for me with Tony Vitellos. So I'm working there. I'm working.

Speaker 2:
[08:39] Okay. Look, I love him. Are there a few things I wish he hadn't said? Yeah, but that kind of comes with the territory of a guy who's non-cliche and speaks from his heart and just opens his mouth and goes. And so sometimes I just have to live with that, that there's going to be stuff that falls out of his mouth where you're like, huh, that one was weird. But he is so entertaining and I'm just rooting for him. I'm rooting for the guy. The other part of this game is obviously Shohei Ohtani, who had his consecutive games of on base streak that ended with an offer. Ends at 53 games, which I believe is five shy of Duke Snyder's franchise record. But on the mound, he was incredible again. Fourth straight start that he goes six innings, shut out baseball, lowered his ERA to 0.38 through four starts. How close is he to being the best starter in the National League?

Speaker 3:
[09:33] I mean, just off the top of my head, he's top five already. I think there's some guys, I think his teammate is probably one of them that I would say is on par or maybe a little bit better than him, Yamamoto. And then you go Skeens, probably Christopher Sanchez. And then it's like, I don't know, maybe get somebody else in there with him. But that's how good he is, Chris. And it's crazy to say that. It's like, I don't take it for granted, but sometimes I feel like I do, because we talk about him as a hitter so much, but then you see him on the mound, and he's just that good as well on the other side of the ball. It's truly special what we're watching, because it's not like he's, it's the same thing as a hitter. He's got pop, but he's also a good hitter. And then with the pitching side, he's got raw, pure stuff, but he's also a good pitcher. It's like he just does everything well. And when you really start like, I don't ever really go in and like research the pitching side of Ohtani. Every time we're doing something on the show, it's like Ballot is hitting, his homers, whatever. You sit down and start to look at some of these numbers, and where he ranks, and just the amount of pitches that he throws, and the fact that he's striking out like a third of batters he's facing throughout his career, it's everything about it is nutty. So I'm going to give him top five in the National League, no doubt, and I wouldn't be mad if someone said top three.

Speaker 2:
[11:06] Yeah, I think last week we discussed whether or not we thought he'd have a shot of the Cy Young. He could. I don't know if he's going to log enough innings, because Dave Roberts now twice this year, including yesterday, has talked about, as Dan likes to put it in the title of the show, Shohei's load management. And I think part of it is limiting his innings, even when he's pitching well. Like the one thing Shohei said after last night's start was, hey, look, I was pleased to go six shutout innings, which is great, but I really wanted to get through seven. And I think that even when he's throwing the ball well, if he's kind of in that 88 to 92 pitch range, they're going to say, we got to throw you back, bro. Like we need you healthy for October and ready to go. And that's when we can unleash the monster. So it basically feels like instead of five and fly, it's going to be like six and I don't have a word to rhyme with it. But I think that's the way it's going to go for him.

Speaker 3:
[12:07] Yeah, I mean, I know that he wants to win the Cy Young, obviously, but you're right, like in a six man rotation, getting pulled early, I'm trying to think about. So in 2023, he threw 23 games, 132 innings pitched. I mean, do you think it's, what do you think his inning count is this year?

Speaker 2:
[12:29] Oh, boy.

Speaker 3:
[12:30] If he stays healthy, makes all starts, it's probably somewhere around like 150 innings, which I don't think would get the job done.

Speaker 2:
[12:38] I think that I think he maxes out at 161, 65 tops. I mean, that is tops. That's if you throw a few sevens in there. But there's going to be games where he goes five. Might be one where he goes four, right? It just where he doesn't have it and they're like, okay, it's a hot July day. Let's just like, let's call it. We'll cover you the rest of the way. But yeah, I mean, stuff wise and as far as talent and he will, I think I'm going to say right now, he will finish top five Cy Young. It'll be a second one of those.

Speaker 3:
[13:10] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[13:11] I think although.

Speaker 3:
[13:13] Do you have Yamamoto above him as like a starting pitcher?

Speaker 2:
[13:16] I think in terms of if who I would like to have start the game. Yes. Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[13:22] They're so close though, which is crazy.

Speaker 2:
[13:26] Yeah. Because I don't see Yamamoto grabbing a bat anytime soon.

Speaker 3:
[13:30] No. Yamamoto is a stud though.

Speaker 2:
[13:34] Stud.

Speaker 3:
[13:35] You get three against the Giants first inning, then it ends up going seven and that's all he gives up. Like that's to me the mark of a real guy you want on the mound is someone that could give up some runs early and then figure it out and then get through seven. That's it.

Speaker 2:
[13:54] Let's see here. Ohtani, 25 strikeouts in his 24 innings work. I was just doing a little work on skeins. How many strikeouts do you think he has this season?

Speaker 3:
[14:02] Skeins? How many games has he thrown? Five? Five. 35.

Speaker 2:
[14:13] Would shock you if I told you 23.

Speaker 3:
[14:15] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[14:17] I know. Strange.

Speaker 3:
[14:19] Maybe on purpose.

Speaker 2:
[14:21] By the way, opponents are hitting just a buck 41 against Shohei on top of it. Let us know what your starting pitching rankings are in the National League right now. Anything else about Shohei that you want to throw in there, just go for it.

Speaker 3:
[14:35] I probably should have said Zach Wheeler too.

Speaker 2:
[14:38] Who, by the way, makes his season debut this weekend. That's great. Great for the field. My God, do they need him? Can he hit? Because I think that's what they need. Sorry. My bad. Time right now for Game Savers, which is powered by Amazon. Just like Amazon is ready to save the day when life throws you a curve ball. Let's discuss how Luke Weaver saved the game last night for the New York Mets. Boy, oh boy, did they need it.

Speaker 5:
[15:07] He struck him out and the ball game is over. For the first time in more than two weeks, the Mets can shake hands. That insidious 12-game losing streak has finally come to an end.

Speaker 3:
[15:21] Look, this wasn't about attitude. This wasn't about word that thick. This wasn't about a bad demeanor. There was none of that. It's about just showing up every day, giving you something to cheer about. And thankfully today we fricking did that, all right?

Speaker 2:
[15:37] It was an amazing on-field post-game interview for Weaver. I mean, he's talking of, you know, I'm not the biggest, the strongest, all that sort of stuff, but I fear no man. He was all over it.

Speaker 3:
[15:53] That's kind of like, that's what he kind of brings. I don't mind that. Out of a reliever, you want somebody that's like, you know, got some balls on them.

Speaker 2:
[16:02] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[16:02] For lack of a better term.

Speaker 2:
[16:04] And when they said at the end of the game, for the first time in two weeks, they get to shake hands, I said, Oh my God, how horrible of feeling. When you go to the ballpark every day and for two weeks, you don't shake hands.

Speaker 3:
[16:19] Yuck. It's not fun to show up to the ballpark. It's not fun to leave the ballpark when something like that's going on.

Speaker 2:
[16:26] All right. So the good news is that Juan Soto is back. The bad news is they might lose Francisco Lindor for a while. He had to leave in the middle of the game after running the bases. He's going to get an MRI on his calf. We've got the ISO shot right up here. I mean, he looks about 70% maybe running the bases, and you could see it after he slid in the home. He's like, oh no, something. Say whatever you want, Mets fans about Francisco Lindor. That dude balls every day at the toughest position in the sport. One of them. Well, certainly the one you can play every day. Catcher is more physically demanding, but you can't play that every day. You understand what I'm getting at. So now we'll see what they're like. They have to deal with it without him being there for a while.

Speaker 3:
[17:14] I can't believe he finished running right there. Because you could tell, like, yeah, he heard that maybe coming around second base and still got in there, still made the slide. That is, that's, that's like that. I like that out of Lindor. But yeah, the fact that they just get Soto back and then they're going to lose Lindor, that's tough.

Speaker 2:
[17:32] Would you, last night they moved to Bichette from third to short. Is that what you would do?

Speaker 3:
[17:40] I think Bichette is probably happy about it, for being honest. I don't know. I think if he puts someone at third base, and he's going to be there long term, I will leave him at third base.

Speaker 2:
[17:47] I know.

Speaker 3:
[17:47] But I think, I think it makes sense for their roster to do it.

Speaker 2:
[17:52] Yeah, it's weird. They got a lot of guys that could play at third.

Speaker 3:
[17:55] Yeah, like they have corner guys, and maybe not someone that could really step in and play short stuff like that.

Speaker 2:
[18:03] See where that goes. As I mentioned, Juan Soto, he did get a knock in his return, but some people are knocking him for this Q&A prior to the game.

Speaker 7:
[18:14] You've been talking to guys throughout and trying to gauge where they're at and try to lift them as we go along here.

Speaker 4:
[18:22] No, not all. I mean, they've been on the road most of the time, so I haven't talked to them.

Speaker 2:
[18:30] Any problem with those comments?

Speaker 3:
[18:33] I mean, not really, if we're being honest, like it is what it is. Like some guys, you're not always just going to be in contact with your teammates. Like that, I don't think that's something like, if I'm on the interlaced, I'm still texting my boys on the team, seeing how they're doing, especially in a losing streak, I'm trying to like fire them up a little bit as best as I can. So now that I think about it, I don't know. Like, yeah, it's a little strange. Like, I'm not like, I'm not like, you know, blow everything up once other than talk to his teammates. But yeah, obviously, like it's, it's a little out there. But we've heard like he kind of does his own thing. That's right. We've heard that before about him. I would say it's unusual, but I don't think it's that big of a deal.

Speaker 2:
[19:20] Yeah. Like you don't have some dude on your team where you're just like, hey man, how's, how's everybody hanging? Like not just one.

Speaker 3:
[19:29] Yeah, you think so. You think so.

Speaker 2:
[19:33] That seems strange and I'm usually an ardent Soto supporter because people are like, well, if they pay you 800 million, you should be doing this, that, the other thing. You know what they should be doing? You should be doing mashing baseballs, which is normally what he does. But in the one, this is the one instance. It's never been easier to communicate and check in with people and so one time on this thing, you're not like, hey, man, just tell everybody I'm close. Just tell them I'm close. If we could just push through one time, I really feel like, I don't know.

Speaker 3:
[20:07] I don't love that text. Like, hey, the Savior's coming. Is that what you're saying?

Speaker 2:
[20:12] Even if no, you just say, hey, let the boys know I'm almost back.

Speaker 3:
[20:15] Yeah, or like, hey, how you doing, man? How's the vibe there? How's the vibe in the clubhouse? I wish I was there.

Speaker 2:
[20:21] I can tell you, I saw the Mets more often than the Lonsoto did during their losing streak.

Speaker 3:
[20:28] That was the vibe.

Speaker 2:
[20:30] Actually, the vibe was good. And I caught them in Los Angeles, where they were probably only halfway through that 12 game losing streak. But they were like in a good mood. They were smiling.

Speaker 3:
[20:39] Yeah, because they were in California.

Speaker 2:
[20:42] That part's true. That part, I wouldn't really.

Speaker 3:
[20:45] The weather's beautiful.

Speaker 2:
[20:47] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[20:47] They had some in and out. The Angels visiting clubhouse is a great job with their spread. One of my favorite spreads on the road. It was the Dodgers.

Speaker 2:
[20:56] Oh, the Dodgers.

Speaker 3:
[20:57] The Angels for some reason. No. Same.

Speaker 2:
[21:01] Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[21:03] Even more so.

Speaker 2:
[21:05] I don't know. I would like to see the Mets get. I would like to have them for the second time in three seasons, make me eat my words. I want to see them get back in this thing.

Speaker 3:
[21:17] Let's let the twins win tonight. Let's let the twins win.

Speaker 2:
[21:20] Yeah, let's not. No.

Speaker 3:
[21:23] They had a chance last night. Buck had a shot there.

Speaker 2:
[21:27] They did.

Speaker 3:
[21:28] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[21:29] OK. There were a lot of Mets comments in there yesterday just talking about how it's horrible and David Stern should lose his job and Mendoza's horrific. Trey Lindor, even though you can't without his permission, I mean, it just is. It's Mets fans are is it. It's Mets and Jets, Yankees and Giants fans. I believe that's it's not always the split, but I think that the Mets fans and there's Islanders and Devils, right?

Speaker 3:
[21:59] Like Islanders are with the Giants and the Yankees. If I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 2:
[22:03] That one I'm not sure about.

Speaker 3:
[22:06] And then that's in Nicks. Wow, they had a lot of teams.

Speaker 2:
[22:11] There's no Nets fans.

Speaker 3:
[22:13] No Nets fans.

Speaker 2:
[22:13] Even though they're in Brooklyn now, they just that's a one-sided affair. That one doesn't come close to being a split. That is a Knicks town. I've been to a playoff game at the Garden. That's it. Sometimes New York fans overestimate their fan experience in their building because it's New York and it's all that. That one, that's real. Madison Square Garden in the playoff for a Knicks game, that's special.

Speaker 3:
[22:43] I've never been. I've heard great things about it. I know the Nets have a cool-looking hard-play center, and then the Clippers in LA have the new Intuit Dome.

Speaker 2:
[22:54] Which is great.

Speaker 3:
[22:54] But still, there's no Clippers fans.

Speaker 2:
[22:56] No. Yeah, it's very much like the Lakers Clippers, even though the Clippers have been better than the Nets as of late. All right. Thanks to our partners at Amazon. Shop Amazon. Save on Essentials. Save the every day. Okay. Speaking of the Yankees, God, their dominant pitching run, it continues. Sox did score one in the ninth, preventing New York from getting what would have been a third straight shutout for the first time since 1962. Still, your boy Max Fried on point. Swing and a miss. Got him.

Speaker 7:
[23:35] The ninth strikeout for Fried.

Speaker 1:
[23:37] Eight shutout innings.

Speaker 2:
[23:39] A big time performance by the Yankee lefty. Dude, that was almost like a Fernando Valenzuela screwball. That thing was filthy.

Speaker 3:
[23:49] He's so fun to watch pitch because the more you watch, the more just like athletic you realize that he is. And like everything about him is just so smooth. The mechanics are so good. I don't know. He is. I was just thinking about it last night. I actually commented on his Instagram post like he's sneaky on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

Speaker 2:
[24:11] He's a long way from that man.

Speaker 3:
[24:13] He's got seven years left in his contract. I know he's a long way, but if he wins a Psy along the way, which like he looks great. If he wins a Psy, he's already got I think three top five finishes. He's racked up 30 war already. If he continues down, has another five years, which I don't know, man. I know Max, the body is legit. It looks young. He works hard. What he does is baseball. He's one of those guys. I think he could get there, Chris.

Speaker 2:
[24:46] Well, you did. I'll give you credit. You said that because we said, give us a dark horse to win. Not even dark horse, but a guy who is not named Tarek Schubel, that could win the Cy Young and is here. You said Max Fried, and he has just been nails, man. I know that he was so pissed about the way his season ended last year where he got blown up by the Blue Jays in the playoffs. Let's remember, this is a guy who's a World Series champion. He pitched, he started Game 6 for the Braves in Houston, did he not?

Speaker 3:
[25:19] I want to say yes.

Speaker 2:
[25:20] Yeah. He knows what it's like to have that pressure, when you have a chance to win a championship and you've got the ball in your hand. He is, and we focus a lot on Garrett Cole, justifiably so, we're about to talk about Cam Schlitler. Max Fried is the $200 million man who we're like, oh yeah, Max Fried's good. He's great.

Speaker 3:
[25:44] I saw that last night. I'm like, he has a $220 million contract besides the money that he made before. This guy's absolutely loaded. I just remember him as like the young Max Fried that's coming up to the minor leagues, and now he's just an absolute stud. He owes me a dinner. You owe me a dinner, Max. I'm just going to say it.

Speaker 2:
[26:07] Well, then I'll go too. We're talking about Fried. Yeah, thanks. I feel like I get a little left out. I've been invited to one thing, which was the two things. I've been invited to two things by you over the years. One was New Year's Eve. You said on your way home, stop, and I did. I stopped, and that was nice. Then I was invited to your fantasy football draft. But I was really there because you wanted Brady as a liaison to help you pick.

Speaker 3:
[26:37] That is not true. I wanted you to meet some of the guys by neighbor. I thought you'd become friends with them.

Speaker 2:
[26:45] If I didn't have to work so much, I would.

Speaker 3:
[26:47] I know, you work a lot, and that's not... Chris, by the way, I've invited you to many other things. A lot of it has come around New Year's and the holiday season. True. We get to hang out all the time right here.

Speaker 2:
[27:02] Okay. This is the closest you'll let me get.

Speaker 3:
[27:04] And then also, how many dinners have we gone to?

Speaker 2:
[27:07] Well, oddly enough, Michelle said, why haven't we gone out with the Plouffe? What's going on? Why set that up in May? And I said, you know what? I'm going to. Let's do it. So we're going to set this up.

Speaker 3:
[27:18] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[27:19] All right. We'll let everybody know in the comment section. Let us know where we should go.

Speaker 3:
[27:24] Yeah. We also had a dinner at Porta Via one night.

Speaker 2:
[27:28] Yeah. That's easy. Easy. We'll do that. Okay. We're not finished talking about the Yankees and Red Sox. New York has taken the first two of this series. Cam Schlittler, who's from Walpole, Mass, grew up a Red Sox fan, makes his Fenway regular season debut on Thursday. You'll remember Schlittler, who was just awesome, a 12 strikeout, eight inning performance against the Red Sox in the postseason last year. He talked about how he and his family had received death threats on social media. Well, that rekindled this week. He said it hasn't stopped over the last six months and its return. How closely are you watching this matchup to see his mentality, his emotion and his possible dominance again against the team he grew up rooting for?

Speaker 3:
[28:16] Yeah, I mean, I like the gameplay aspect of it. He's been one of the best pitchers, if not the best pitcher in the American League this year. So I like that aspect, the whole, like, hey, I'm going to get bombarded when I'm warming up out there by Red Sox fans, and it's going to be a nasty environment. Like, I don't really believe that. Like, you know what? I know he's gotten some stuff on social media, and that's not OK. So, like, I know it is going to be a little bit of an emotional start for him, but I think as far as, like, the on-field stuff and, like, me watching to see if Red Sox fans are going to be mean to him and how he responds, like, I'm not really interested in that. But I do like watching him pitch, and I think there are some stakes involved in tonight's game. So, yeah, I'm interested.

Speaker 2:
[29:07] Yeah, if I wasn't working the draft tonight, I'd be glued. I mean, I would be. For people that have not been to Fenway, I mean, you've seen it. There is no bullpen, no visiting bullpen quite like it. And we have seen incidents over the years out there. The fans are literally feet from you when you were thrown up. It's like, I mean, granted, the thing opened in 1912. It opened, what, weeks before the Titanic went down, something like that. So that's wild that you just put it like that. That's true.

Speaker 3:
[29:40] I know that's crazy.

Speaker 2:
[29:41] It's either weeks before or weeks after. It was April of 1912 when the big boat went down. So yeah, there's gonna be fans there. I hope nobody's an idiot. I don't think they should be. We're literally talking about, you could probably count on your fingers and toes the number of morons on social media who are doing something, but that's still too many. It's the, there's aspects of social media that are great. They're wonderful. I even like a lot of the banter back and forth, but for some reason, people think it's okay to take it to the next step. And it's just gross and it's wrong. And we know that. I'm not talking to our audience because you're any of them. But if you see anybody on social media typing wrong things, stop them now.

Speaker 3:
[30:31] Hey, highest F4 in the game right now as far as American League pitchers, James Little.

Speaker 2:
[30:35] Do you think he shoves tonight?

Speaker 3:
[30:37] And that's with one less game than a Jose Soriano.

Speaker 2:
[30:40] You think he shoves tonight? I mean, yeah, I do too.

Speaker 3:
[30:44] I mean, the Red Sox offense is essentially non-existent right now. So in the way he's pitching, you pair those things together. Maybe it's a trap. I don't know. But, you know, the matchup works right now.

Speaker 2:
[30:56] Yeah, it's ridiculous. I mean, the Red Sox, well, they have the fewest homers in baseball. Something like that.

Speaker 3:
[31:04] I believe they have 13 total home runs.

Speaker 2:
[31:07] Yeah. By the way, their last six games against the Yankees dating back to last year, they scored 13 runs. They have the lowest OPS in the American League. Come on, Red Sox, let's go.

Speaker 3:
[31:18] Can I give you one more stat on Schlitler?

Speaker 2:
[31:21] Please do.

Speaker 3:
[31:22] Run with this, Dan. Every pitcher's favorite stat is FIP, Fielding Independent Pitching. It kind of shows what they can control, essentially. He's at a.87. Next closest guy to him is Dylan Cease with a 147.

Speaker 2:
[31:39] Wow.

Speaker 3:
[31:39] He's just like, that is okay.

Speaker 2:
[31:42] Yeah, that's big league. I think I said it earlier. I think my bold prediction was Cam Schlitler, when we get to the playoffs, because I think the Yankees are getting there, and in fact, I think they'll probably win the division. That's what I said at the beginning of the year, that he will get the ball before Garret Cole gets it.

Speaker 3:
[32:01] Fourth in K's per nine, first in Woc's per nine. That's legit stuff right there, Cam.

Speaker 2:
[32:10] Okay. That's Cy Young's stuff. Okay. That is Cy Young's stuff. He's been great. All right, today's episode, sponsored by MLB 9 Innings. If you're somebody who's always checking the scores or thinking about your lineup, this is one of those games that just fits right into your day. MLB 9 Innings lets you build your own team with over 2,000 player cards, and everything is fully up to date. I'm talking about rosters, unis, ballparks, all of it. Of course, Major League Baseball trademark used with permission. That's a good thing. There are a bunch of ways to play as well. You can grind through a full season in league mode or jump live in a PVP, if you want more of a challenge. They've also got some awesome historic new players, Joe Mauer, Oyt Wilhelm, Clayton Kershaw, Jim Tomei, Barry Larkin. Maybe you've heard a few of those guys. Seriously, if you haven't seen the new trailer yet, it's worth a peek at your time. You can go check it out on their YouTube channel. Download and play MLB 9 Innings 26 today using the link in the description. Have a blast. Let us know how it goes for you. Awesome. Shout out to a pair of players who've been, I don't think enough people have been paying attention, certainly to one of them because I hadn't until last night. Shame on me. We have talked, however, about Jose Soriano, who is off to a nearly unprecedented start for the Angels. He threw another gem Wednesday against Toronto, took a no decision because the Blue Jays ended up bouncing back in this one, but still five shutout innings, lowered his ERA to 0.24 through six starts. What has impressed you most about him?

Speaker 3:
[33:50] I mean, just really the pure swing and miss stuff that he has. I watched, when you watch him pitch, I feel like as a former hitter, you realize pretty quickly why he's so tough. And it's this kind of lackadaisical start to his windup. It's slow. And then when he goes to release the ball, everything speeds up. So it's like two different speeds. So, you know, as a hitter, you're trying to time up a pitcher. And once he starts going, you start going essentially. And so that kind of like slow start gets you kind of slow. And then when he speeds up, you speed up. So all of a sudden, you're getting swings like that. He's got nasty stuff to go along with it, obviously. That sinker riding in and down. The curve ball's gross. Then he's got the forestreaming that he can spot up as well. But he just gets you out of your rhythm so easily that I feel like the swing decisions with him, it's a tough thing just because of what he does to you tempo-wise. You get going slow, then you're sped up before you even see the pitch because that's what his motion is like. So I think hitters, you're going to have to adjust to that. If you see him a couple of times during the season, you're going to have to figure out when to start exactly because it's not like a typical tempo case. So I mean, he's just been phenomenal. And you know what? The angel starting pitching as a whole has been great, which is has not been not something we usually think about with the angels.

Speaker 2:
[35:26] And here they are, the numbers that were floating around social media on Soriano yesterday were almost inexplicable. He's the first player excluding openers in history to allow just one run through first six starts of the season, the 0.24 ERA. It's the lowest in a pitcher's first six starts of a season since runs became official in both leagues, pitchers 19-13 earned runs I'm talking about. ERA plus, league average for pitchers is 100, right? That's kind of what we're looking for. His ERA plus is 1592. I don't think I've ever seen that.

Speaker 3:
[36:11] No. Sometimes you'll get a reliever like a 700. What the hell is that?

Speaker 2:
[36:16] 1592?

Speaker 3:
[36:17] He's worth 15 pitchers, almost 16.

Speaker 2:
[36:21] My God. That was awesome. What a great night for him. And then what the heck is going on with one of the old men out in Arizona?

Speaker 5:
[36:35] And he's bidding for one more. Vargas gives it a ride. Way back to the wall. And there it goes. Ildemar Vargas, his second home run tonight. He has now homered at three consecutive advance.

Speaker 2:
[36:51] Ildemar Vargas, who's a guy who you probably have heard his name. He's always a back end of the roster guy. He's never played more than a hundred games in any major league season. I mean, Tory Lavello cannot take this dude's name out of the lineup at this point.

Speaker 3:
[37:08] Former Minnesota Twin, by the way, briefly. Look, I love this for, I don't want to call him a journeyman.

Speaker 2:
[37:16] That's exactly what he is, Travis.

Speaker 3:
[37:18] He's a role player. But when you go through stretches like this, where you're just hitting everything, and he's doing it all, Chris, it's been a lot of fun to see. When you go through stretches like this, you're buying yourself more time in the show. You can get a couple more years out of your career if you go through stretches like this. You're showing that you can do it. It gives you the confidence. Your numbers get a boost. It all adds up, man. So when I see stuff like this, it makes me happy because you know he's been working diligently just to tread water in the big leagues. Then you go through something like this, and it just gives him a little bit more of a leash, man, which is, I've been there. When you feel that you get a little bit of like, I can breathe again, and then you might start playing well consistently. So I just love everything about this. It's been great.

Speaker 2:
[38:16] So here's some cool numbers. First of all, he has hit safely in all 17 games in which he's appeared this year. I think if you attack on how he finished last year, it's a 21-game hitting streak. I'm not a big fan of rollover hit streaks, but whatever. So for him, guy in his mid-30s who's grinded his entire career, I'll give it to you. Here's the stuff that's amazing. He's hit five homers. That's one shy of his career high. He's 34. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals at age 16 back in 2008. He has appeared in a minor league game every year since then, except for COVID in 2020 and in 2024. Those are the only two years he hasn't played at least one minor league game. You know what that means? You love this game because at some point you're like, man, it's just not going to happen on a consistent basis. I'm in my early 30s. Some dudes will say, hey, I've given it a great run. This guy is going to end up grinding for 20 years. And I hope he never plays another minor league game unless it's a rehab stint. But that's some amazing stuff.

Speaker 3:
[39:32] Yeah, he's crushing the ball right now. Absolutely crushed him. I'm looking at the career war at a 3-0. He's got 1-2 already this year. So he's skyrocketing up the list.

Speaker 2:
[39:44] And who knows how long this is going to happen, right? In two weeks it might be, he might be back to the role player that he's been throughout his career, but you ride that. You're going to get talked about on baseball today.

Speaker 3:
[39:55] And he really only got the playing time because they played a blaze Alexander.

Speaker 2:
[39:59] Good point.

Speaker 3:
[40:00] This is just like one of those things. You get the opportunity, you run with it. You want to hear another war stat that I saw on social media.

Speaker 2:
[40:08] What do you got?

Speaker 3:
[40:10] It's taken Kevin McGonigal 23 games to surpass Spencer Torkelson's career war. Wow, that's crazy.

Speaker 2:
[40:20] Man, good for Torke. He got off the home run Schneid last night. So there you go. Welcome to the party. Today's episode of Baseball Today, it is sponsored by HIMS. You got weight loss goals, but actually sticking to them, that can be an entirely different story. I am example A. But that's where weight loss by HIMS can lend a helping hand. HIMS offers access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP-1 medications, including the Wegovi Pill and the Wegovi Pen. With Wegovi through HIMS, you can lose up to 20 percent or more of body weight when combined with diet and exercise. One of the biggest things, everything happens online. You actually connect with a licensed provider who determines if treatment is right for you. And if prescribed, your medication gets delivered right to your door. No insurance is needed here. So you ready to reach your goals? Visit hims.com/baseballtoday to get personalized affordable plan that actually gets you. That is HIMS, hims.com/baseballtoday. Weight loss by HIMS not available in all 50 states. We go via is registered trademark of Novo Nordisk A-S. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, we go via clinical study information and restrictions. Visit hims.com today. All right, Padres, I think our buddy Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal worth a guaranteed nearly $2.8 million. Giolito is going to report to their single A affiliate in Lake Elsinore, build up his arm strength. Hopefully, they'll have him ready by early to mid-May. We'll see. How shocked are you that it worked out this way for the right-handed?

Speaker 3:
[42:05] Honestly, a little shocked. Especially, you see these contracts that fly around with guys that can throw Major League innings. I think Giolito during his career has been a guy that is better than that. He wouldn't just say he just eats Major League innings. At one point, he was one of the better pitchers in the league. Some injuries, obviously, it happened. But last year, 145 innings to a 3-4. I would take that in the back end of my rotation. Those guys are usually making $15 to $20 million on a one-year deal. And for the Padres to sneak in and get them on a pro-rated three, we talked about this all off season. Why didn't the Braves go get him early on? They've been just fine. But after those injuries, we thought that would be a landing spot for him. I'm not really sure why it ended up like this, Chris. I don't know if there's just something out there that I'm completely missing. But this is a steal of a deal for the Padres.

Speaker 2:
[43:07] Right. If you're just looking at the finances, Lucas turned down his end of the mutual option with the Red Sox. It would have been for 19 million. And I'm sure for him, this is hard to stomach. It's not all about money. But at the end of the day, you have a finite time to be a professional athlete. So you want to maximize your earning potential. He can still earn more than that 2.8 million. There is an option involved for next year as well. I'm excited for him on a personal level. He gets to work with it in my opinion. And guys, I've talked to Ruben Diablo, one of the best pitching coaches around. And in fact, Lucas just has to pick up the phone and talk to the guy who he's, he's going to end up replacing most likely in that rotation. And Nick Pavetta, their friends, they were teammates in the minor leagues in Washington. I think they had one overlap in Boston as well. And I know that Lucas has told us before that he's friendly with him. So, Nick Pavetta became a different pitcher out in San Diego too last year. And so whatever magic is out there with Ruben Diablo, I hope it works on Lucas Giolito. And then all of a sudden, boy, it's been a great couple of weeks between the run that the Padres have been on. I think last night was just their second loss in the last 13 games. The fact that they're going to get a new owner, new ownership where hopefully they'll start spending some money, although that's, we'll see it to believe it. And then to get a guy like Lucas Giolito with the presence that he has out on the mound for less than 3 million bucks, sign me up. All good.

Speaker 3:
[44:46] I'm looking at all these salaries of all my little buddies that I used to work out with.

Speaker 2:
[44:52] Don't do it.

Speaker 3:
[44:53] Dude, Giolito has already made 60. Flaherty is at 65 after this year. And then Max Fried is going to end up being $260 million. Was I the worst player at this workout facility? Geez.

Speaker 2:
[45:10] We're not going to say that. Nobody's the worst. If you make the major leagues, everybody is elite.

Speaker 3:
[45:16] Ryan Braun made a lot of money. Gosh darn it, dude. That's fine. I'm happy.

Speaker 2:
[45:26] You had a great career.

Speaker 3:
[45:27] I'm happy, Chris. I mean, no one's happier than I am. You know that.

Speaker 2:
[45:33] If I had told you in high school when you were stud that you would get eight years in the show, wouldn't you have taken that?

Speaker 3:
[45:41] Oh, there are times where I would have played for league. I've said this out loud. I would have played for league minimum at the JV levels just to be in the big leagues.

Speaker 2:
[45:52] What's the best part about being in the big leagues?

Speaker 3:
[45:58] I mean, this sounds stupid. You're not going to believe me. I think it's like proving yourself against the best. Like I love that. Like I miss that so much being like, okay, like what do you got? And sometimes you're the best.

Speaker 2:
[46:13] Why is that? Why would I not believe that?

Speaker 3:
[46:15] I don't know. Cause people probably think, you know, the paychecks you get or, you know, flying around, playing in front of the, the, the, the pack stands, which is all nice. It's all great, but it's just so much baseball. And then you get to play against the best in the world. And it's just like the coolest thing to compete against people like that.

Speaker 2:
[46:36] Was there ever a time where you, you were tired of it and you were like, God, this is, man, I don't know how much longer I can do this.

Speaker 3:
[46:44] Yeah. I mean, I probably, I ended my career a couple of years short just because I was tired of it. I wasn't getting the opportunities that I really wanted to. I was old and off the 40, man. I mean, I wasn't old. I was 31 or 32 off the 40, man. But yeah, I mean, it gets, it's daunting when you're in it, but you know, now I look back at it, I'm like, you're like, that's the best, dude.

Speaker 2:
[47:05] You miss it?

Speaker 3:
[47:08] No, I would, but we're still around the game so much that I don't. I still get a lot of the cool things, like being around the guys. I still get to go travel with the team and I get to be in the clubhouse and go down to the cages and all that stuff. If I didn't have that, I would miss it.

Speaker 2:
[47:21] Yeah, I could see that. It's the number one thing, I think, when I worked at MLB Network and our old boss Tony Petitti, who's now the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. I think the smartest thing he ever did was he would ask major leaguers who were interested in working at the network, how many days you want to work a year. You tell us what you want. For so many years, it was always the network saying, here's the deal, we need it for us to make sense for us financially. This is how many days you have to work and you have to be available for us. He went the opposite way. He said, listen, bro, I know you made your money in the show. Here you get to come up here, hang out with other former ballplayers, talk about the sport you love, maybe we'll send you to the stadium here and there. You tell us, and Mike Lowell was the perfect example. Mikey Lowell was a multi-time world champion, won one with the Yankees, he barely played in 98, I think it was, still won a ring. Centerpiece in 2003 with the Marlins and the World Series MVP in 2007, made, I forget what it is, 75 million in his career. Mikey was good and smart, smart with his money. I know that because his brother is my financial guy, so he better be smart with both of our money. Anyway, Mikey was like, yeah, I want to be around the game, but I got two young kids, I don't want to be flying up from Florida all the time. He'd work like 25 days a year. That was it. But it was enough to whet his appetite and be around the sport.

Speaker 3:
[48:50] That's what I got. Yeah. I'm going to talk with you all the time, man. Look at this.

Speaker 2:
[48:53] Well, that part's good. Now we just have to talk.

Speaker 3:
[48:56] Let me just apologize to you on air right now.

Speaker 2:
[48:58] Why is that?

Speaker 3:
[48:59] I put an Instagram post out yesterday.

Speaker 2:
[49:01] Oh, no.

Speaker 3:
[49:01] I had a funny picture of me and Jake, where I was doing the goggles thing at the WBC, and I captioned it me looking for a better podcast duo. I put it out there just as a joke, just as a funny caption, but then I realized, you and I are really good.

Speaker 2:
[49:23] Yeah, we do a really good job. You guys do the best.

Speaker 3:
[49:27] There's nothing wrong with that. I felt bad about that.

Speaker 2:
[49:29] Why?

Speaker 3:
[49:31] See, Dan says I should.

Speaker 2:
[49:33] Yeah, don't listen to him. He's emotional.

Speaker 3:
[49:35] It wasn't, I didn't really mean it. It was like a flippant comment. And I shouldn't be flippant with my captions. How about that?

Speaker 2:
[49:41] Stop it.

Speaker 3:
[49:42] You know I love you.

Speaker 2:
[49:42] I appreciate you saying something. You do not need, look, I've heard and seen a lot of stuff over the years. I don't get my feathers ruffled like hurt. Very rarely do I get hurt.

Speaker 3:
[49:55] We're really good together.

Speaker 2:
[49:56] I will say this, last night I was, you know what? We have to go, I want a word from Trevor Plouffe and then we'll come back and continue this discussion. Hold on.

Speaker 3:
[50:03] Baseball is here, people. The days are getting longer. The sun is back out and baseball season is finally upon us. Baseball is a game of inches. The result of a game hinges on a thousand little moments and momentum can shift quickly. That's why we decided to team up with Fanatics Markets, the trusted home for real time sports prediction markets. It's simple. Just pick a game and choose an outcome, like which team will win, which player will hit a home run and more. It's time to get involved in the action. Then buy contracts based on what you will think will happen. Yes, if you think it will, no, if you don't. You can buy as many as you want. Sell if the price moves in your favor or let them settle when the event ends. So from opening day to the fall classic, no matter who you root for, Fanatics Markets is right there with you. Join the Baseball Today family on Fanatics Markets. Event contracts carry risk of total loss and changing prices. Not good for all investors. Not available in all states. Must be 21 plus. See important disclosures in Fanatics Markets app. Customers are introduced to crypto.com by Paragon Global Markets, LLC, DBA, Fanatics Markets, IB and Introducing Broker, registered with the CFTC and a member of the NFA.

Speaker 2:
[51:13] Thank you, Trevor. The one thing I was going to tell you is that we started reshooting BattleBots last weekend in Las Vegas and that'll be out on a YouTube series coming out in June, for those of you that are fans. I hadn't seen some of the Bot Builders for years. The series had been on the shelf and I just hadn't done anything with BattleBots. One of the guys, because I walk around, now I've got this because I was never allowed to have a beard on the TV side of things, I can on YouTube. Guy goes, God, you got old. I was like, the fuck does that mean? Really? Last night, I was like, have I aged significantly? Michelle's like, well, your beard is gray. What are they going to say? Like, damn it, if I shaved the beard, would I look that old?

Speaker 3:
[51:59] You look great. I actually think you've never looked better since I've known you.

Speaker 2:
[52:03] Well, that's nice.

Speaker 3:
[52:04] There was just that one photo booth at the party in LA where everyone looked good. That's the only time I've seen you better.

Speaker 2:
[52:09] That's true. The lighting was fantastic.

Speaker 3:
[52:12] Shit, dude.

Speaker 2:
[52:12] Good lighting in LA will always help you out. Yeah. Last thing before we get out of here, boy, is Logan Gilbert a lucky dude? The 108 off the bat where he couldn't find the ball because it ended up in his jersey. My God. I had sent this to you, Dan. Dan's getting it now. For the YouTube audience, it'll be there momentarily. All I could imagine was if that had hit him square in the ribs, how much that would hurt.

Speaker 3:
[52:45] Yeah. No doubt about it. I don't think he's got a lot of meat on those bones, though. Not in the rib section.

Speaker 2:
[52:51] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[52:52] That's not an out, right?

Speaker 2:
[52:53] It is not an out.

Speaker 3:
[52:54] Yeah, it's not an out. You can't catch it with your jersey.

Speaker 2:
[52:57] So it was interesting because there were runners on. And I think that I want to say it was Langoliers who might have been on third base. They did not give him home because it's umpire's discretion on where to put him. Here it is. Oh my gosh. That is amazing. It's not a catch. Using the jerseys apparatus, they say they would have to figure out if the ball went somewhere, where do we put the runners? And the runner at third, they could not give him home.

Speaker 3:
[53:29] I agree with that because it could have just fell right in front of them and then you're not going to go.

Speaker 2:
[53:34] Gosh, man, he's lucky. I'm going to tell you something, massive respect for Logan Gilbert. Spring training, I went to Mariners camp to go do some content for us. You were walking around the clubhouse early. It was also the day they were taking their physicals. So for people that have never been around it, that's a busy day for players. But we have to get our content. I said, Logan, do you have a second one to take outside? We'll do a three minute interview. He's like, I can't do it right now. He looked at his watch, he said, 10 a.m. I said, okay. 9, 59, 50 on the clock. He walks outside, cup of coffee in hand, shows up. Now, just to let people know, you're like, what's the big deal? That does not always happen.

Speaker 3:
[54:20] Good for you, Logan. He's got respect for you like everybody does, Chris.

Speaker 2:
[54:24] That was nice though. That was very, very nice. The Mariners were great that day. God, I think we got the most out of any team in the spring training and it was with them. So I always appreciate it.

Speaker 3:
[54:35] We got to figure it out, Chris. They got to figure it out up there in all Seattle.

Speaker 2:
[54:39] I know. Well, Calralli started to hit the ball over the wall.

Speaker 3:
[54:43] Are they on their verge of getting swept as well?

Speaker 2:
[54:45] No, no, no. They won.

Speaker 3:
[54:46] They won last night.

Speaker 2:
[54:48] Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[54:48] They won last night. That's right.

Speaker 2:
[54:50] They're good. They're good. All right. I am not here. I've got NFL Draft Duties on Friday, but Dalton Feely will be back. So there's going to be a lot of this and a lot of that. There might be some Diamondback talk. You never know.

Speaker 3:
[55:05] No, we already got Barker's talk in.

Speaker 2:
[55:07] That's true. We met our Arizona quarterback.

Speaker 3:
[55:10] We'll all show Snakes and Twins, baby.

Speaker 2:
[55:13] That'll be awesome.

Speaker 3:
[55:13] No one would listen.

Speaker 2:
[55:15] For our one of a kind producer, Dan Rorke, the uber talented Trevor Plouffe, I am Chris Rose. This show will see you on Friday. Thanks for tuning in to Baseball Today, presented to you by T-Mobile.