Throwing Partners Podcast | Braves/Astros Updates, ASG Ballots, Rickwood Field Game and Willie Mays

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Get ready to step up to the plate with The Throwing Partners Pod! Join hosts Kirby Dickinson (@Kirbyd4) and Joseph Aguilar (@Jaguilar7891), and the official podcast handle (@Throwing_Partners_Pod) as they gear up to knock it out of the park with their brand new baseball podcast.

Kirby D (00:04)
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Throwing Partners podcast. It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in the Houston area. It's Kirby and Joseph here. Please remember to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube channel. And you can also follow us on Apple Podcasts now. Some of those of you who want to listen to us on your way to work, in the gym or on your afternoon run. We would really appreciate that. Joe, actually it's been a pretty good week for both of our teams.

So we're gonna give a quick recap about both of our teams We're gonna talk a little bit about the Rickwood field game between the Giants and the Cardinals and we're also going to talk about the life and legacy of Willie Mays So go ahead Joe. Let's hear it

Joseph (00:33)
Mm -hmm.

Well, this week the Astros went 4 -1, playing in games against both the White Sox and the Orioles. So they kind of played two teams on opposite sides of the win -loss spectrum. As of recording, we have not finished up the series against the Orioles. I'm hoping that the Astros can finish the series strong. They need to end on a high note, even though they did take the first two games of the series. They need to...

They need to get out of out of the series with a sweep because honestly they need to make up for losing that first game on Monday against the White Sox. And speaking of that first game against the White Sox, they got absolutely dominated by Jonathan Cannon, who was making his first who got his first win as a major leaguer as a major leaguer in his third career start.

He pitched eight and two thirds innings and held the Astros to no runs, so he pitched a shutout. There's nothing really much to talk about in this game. I mean, they got dominated. The offense did absolutely nothing. They could not figure out Jonathan Cannon and.

I mean, I believe that the Astros only had four hits across the entire game, so they just didn't play well. I'm not going to, you know, I'll actually had seven hits. They didn't play well though. They didn't do anything with those hits. They left seven men on. They were, they were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. So, you know, it is what it is. Fromber, he pitched okay. His stat line is eh.

He pitched six innings. He gave up two hits, two runs. He had five strikeouts and five walks. So the command was a bit of an issue there. But yeah, Jake Bloss, I mean, he just dominated. I mean, sorry, Jonathan Cannon just dominated and there's nothing really the Astros could do to string hits together. So they lost. They would end up losing that game to nothing. Move on to Tuesday. Hunter Brown. He continues.

to step up for the Astros. Him and Renell Blanco have honestly turned into two guys that you can really rely on. And I'll get to Renell in a minute. But Hunter Brown, he dominated in six innings. The Astros would win four to one. Jordán Homer, or no, sorry, that's the Wednesday game. But Cesar Salazar actually came up big.

In this game after Victor Quarantini went down with an injury and he has subsequently gone on the IL. I believe that that was due to a play at home plate where he hurt his leg so he will be out for a while. Hopefully the heat he can come back. And you know, keep producing for us as he has been because that's honestly been one of the better signings of the offseason for the Astros. So it's really unfortunate to see him go down that way. But.

You know, Jake Myers had a pair of doubles in the game, which broke an 0 for 17 slump. So it's good to see him kind of break out of that. And he definitely, he's definitely gotten his mojo back in the last, you know, three games. He's played very well, as he has all season. He just went into a little bit of a slump for, you know, 17 at bats and he's finally coming out of it. So that was also good to see, kind of see him break out of it.

So the Ashers would go on and win four to one in that second game. And then they would look to win the third game of the series, winning the series against the White Sox. And they would in a five to three victory. And Jordan Alvarez, Homer's in the first game that he played in the series. He was dealing with some family issues and he was not in the lineup for the first two games of the series, but came back and immediately Homer. I feel like we see this every time Jordan Alvarez goes out for a little while.

He immediately homers and in 2020 is the most obvious example I can use. He was injured for the first part of the season. He comes back his first game against the Mariners pops a home run and then says, all right, I'm gonna head out and did not play for the rest of the season. So, hopefully we're not in that kind of situation. He was dealing with family problems, but he hit a home run and he drove in another.

And it was good to see because he had honestly been struggling the last few weeks. So not a bad time for him to kind of get a couple days off and, you know, just kind of have a mental reset. And, you know, the Astros would pull out with a victory. I mean, nothing really much to talk about. Araghetti, he threw okay. He went four and one third, gave up five hits, three runs, four walks.

The command kind of got away from him and two K's. So, you know, not great, but not, you know, absolutely horrible. He did enough for us to be in a position to win the game. The white Sox aren't a good team. So, you know, it is what it is. And then moving on to Friday's game, Friday's game was probably the craziest. And what, you know, I'm going to say this, it was probably the craziest game of the season so far. And not for good reasons.

But this started off what I believe to be the second most important series of the season. So I think it was very big for them to come out and get this win. It's unfortunate how the game progressed because early on it looked like they were in full control. Even with the fact that their starting pitcher got injured. I believe in the middle of the fourth inning.

Let me let me make sure that's correct. Yeah, he was he was two or he was three and two thirds innings in so in the fourth inning he got injured with a shoulder injury. Jake Bloss making his major league debut. I think he pitched pretty okay for you know the lineup that he was facing. He was facing the league's best lineup. He gave up six hits.

A lot of them were soft contact hits. I'm not going to lie. I thought, you know, he did very well avoiding hard contact and he had one walk and two strikeouts. He gave up two runs and three and two thirds, but unfortunately he had to exit the game due to a shoulder injury. all night he had been sitting 95 to 96 and on his last pitch of the night, he was at 90 .5 miles per hour. so, you know, hoping.

that it's nothing long -term because I would like to see, you know, I would like to see how he progresses. He was kind of on the fast track. Dana Brown, this was Dana Brown's first draft pick as an Astros general manager. And to see him kind of progress the way that he has, it was really exciting to see. He was part of a Corpus Christi combined no hitter last week. And then he immediately comes and makes his major league debut after that. So.

You know, he's got good stuff. The Ashrows broadcast was talking about it. He's got very good command. He fills up the strike zone and he's, he's got some good velocity and some good breaking stuff. opposite of what I feel about Jose Yarkity where he's in the zone and he's, he doesn't have, you know, a high velocity. So he's, he's not missing barrels and his breaking stuff. It just doesn't play well.

But I think that Jake Bloss models out pretty well for his pitch shapes and his command. So I'm really excited to see him come back and potentially contribute to this Astros team who was hurting starting pitching wise. So outside of the starting pitching, Jake Bloss, the Astros would put up 14 runs. They were all over the Orioles pitching.

especially Rodriguez starting the game. He gave up seven runs and he was awful in five innings. He did have eight strikeouts, so he did kind of settle in, but you know, it was, I mean, the Astros just exploded for that nine run, six inning. And you know, you thought that they had the game pretty in hand because at that point they were up 14 to three. But unfortunately,

Jaros Bada had to go to Sean Dubin, Nick Hernandez and Rafael Montero to try to fill the gaps for those middle innings and try to get outs. And honestly, up 14 to three, you should be able to rely on guys like that. I know that I called them AAA pitchers last week and they are pitching against the best lineup in the league. But what happened on Friday was kind of unacceptable from a mop up role, which it

It kind of goes to show that losing Brandon Bielak really hurts because he was kind of the guy you could always rely on to give you length in these mop up roles. These games that you're either blowing out or getting blown out in. So not having him right now hurts. And like I said last week, it all has to do with roster construction and poor roster construction. But you pitched Sean Dubin, Nick Hernandez and Rafael Montero.

And Sean Dubin would come in, he would pitch two and one third innings. He would give up one run, so not the worst. And then Nick Hernandez would come in, he would only pitch one and one third innings. He gave a five hits, five runs, a walk, and he gave up three home runs. So he was not good. And these are both guys that people were screaming about. Joe Espada not pitching in in San Francisco in a close game.

You know, and again, it just goes to show the lack of, you know, good roster construction is really hurting us right now. like you cannot rely on these guys in a, in a 14 to three game. How are you going to rely on them and an extra innings game where a runner is automatically put on second? I just, I don't see it. so the Astros have some things to figure out in the middle of the middle relief. but they had to go to Rafael Montero who had been.

you know, decent this year, but his ERA has now been inflated due to this very poor outing. He pitched a third of an inning, gave up three runs, gave up one home run and you know, bad. He was bad and he only got one out. So they had to go to Taylor Scott and Brian Abreu. Taylor Scott pitched a third of an inning, didn't give anything up. So he's been dominant as he has been all season.

And then Brian Abreu who pitched for the third day in a row came in and he dominated as well. He didn't have any strikeouts, which, you know, that's usually his thing, but he pitched contact, which I find kind of not bad because recently his command has been all over the place. He found bats, which tells me that he was in the strike zone. So not a bad outing for him. He was able to lock it down, but the Orioles were able to mount a comeback.

That was a safe situation for Brian Abreu. In the seventh inning, the Astros were up 14 to 3. So the Astros would go on to give up eight runs in any seven and eight. And they made it scary. You know, Joe Espada should not have to use Brian Abreu in a game where they led at 14 to 3 at any point. And I'm just going to keep reaching it. Poor roster construction. Having two, three guys, two guys in the middle innings.

who just aren't majorly pitchers, pitching in that situation. Just not good, not good, not good, not good. So moving on, we're gonna, they got the win. So, you know, they say that there's no such thing as an ugly win. It's just a win. but that was an ugly win, but it set the tone for the series. The Astros would go on to win and then they would go on to win on Saturday as well, winning five to one.

they got to, Corbin burns, which I like to see because Corbin burns has been one of the most dominant pitchers in major league baseball this season. but honestly, he couldn't match. Rene Blanco and Rene Blanco isn't the stepfather. He's the father that stepped up. He's he's dominated for us all season. I mean, he's, he's just, he's incredible, man. I.

He's an all -star by the way. I said that he needed one or two good starts last last episode. I think that this seven inning outing only giving up one run against the best lineup in baseball solidified that he's an all -star. He will probably have I believe one or two more starts before the all -star break. And I don't think it matters what happens in between those two starts because he's earned it.

He's honestly putting up a bid for the starting pitcher spot because he now is in second place in ERA for pitchers qualified for starting pitchers qualified in the AL. I believe it's him and Luis Guile for the Yankees that are one and two. So, you know, I expect him to be an all star at this point. You can't really avoid it. He threw a no hitter in his first start of the season.

He's dominated on almost every other start. He's had maybe two bad starts. And I say that in air quotes because those were starts where he gave up four or five runs, which every Astros pitcher has done so far this season consistently. And he's been the one guy that you can constantly rely on. This was the Astros biggest game of the season that they've played. Probably like the third or fourth biggest game of the season that they've played so far. And he went out there.

And he dominated for us. And I just, there are not enough words for me to describe how much I appreciate what Ronaldo Blanco has been going out and doing for us. especially with the way, you know, he came up, as a major leaguer and he struggled last year when he got the opportunity. so the fact that he is kind of put that behind him and he's been able to reset has been huge. but the Astros would go on to win five to one.

And Chas McCormick had a big game. He had two home runs and he played very well. Alvarez also had another home run and Yair Diaz had a triple. So it's good to see him kind of getting things back on track after he didn't play very much in Chicago due to a hand injury. So it's good to kind of see him get reintegrated into the lineup after Karatini had gone down.

And Joey Loprofito actually came back on Friday. I didn't even mention this in the Friday recap. And he proved why he needs to be in the lineup almost every day. He had two doubles and he played very well defensively. He had probably one of the best catches I've seen all season in that first inning for Jake Bloss. I believe that that was Jake Bloss' first career out or put out.

not out, but recorded out. And it was very impressive to see. It just goes to show what...

You know, this roster has kind of, how this roster has kind of played out and, you know, it just goes to show that Jose Abreu really was preventing other guys that can produce from playing, which again, sucks to say, because I wished that Jose Abreu would have been the player that we knew in Chicago. but it just didn't turn out that way. And he was, he was a hole in the lineup and he was not creating opportunities, for these other people.

these other guys that could produce. He just wasn't given them the opportunity and he was handcuffing the Astros. So I'm glad that they finally cut ties. I'm glad to see Joey Lopofito come back up and immediately produce because, you know, some people might've been concerned that he came, he would come up and slump because he hadn't seen major league pitching in a while, but he didn't. At least on Friday, he played well. On Saturday, he went over, but yeah, it is what it is.

You're not going to get ahead every game, but the Astros are going to win five to one. and you know, they've, they've won the series, but like I said, they need to go out and they need to sweep. I know that it, I think it's been a while since the Orioles have been swept. I know that earlier in the year, there was this crazy stat where they hadn't swept since Adley Rushman came up. I don't know if that's still true, but it would be huge to get that sweep today.

and I believe that it is from Revaldez on the mound. So it'll be interesting to see how he bounces back from that. Not poor start. I don't want to call it a poor start because he did pitch six innings and only give up two runs, but it wasn't his best start. So hopefully he can come out there and he can compete against a very good lineup. and you know, I just have a couple of, I guess, since I covered Jake Bloss and Victor Carantini already just one injury update or maybe two with.

Luis Garcia, but Kyle Tucker, he still isn't running. He's jogging according to Dana Brown, but no baseball activity yet, which is really concerning. This must be the world's most extreme bone bruise, which I, you know, I can see based off of how hard he hit that ball off of his leg, but it's just a little bit concerning because of the fact that the Astros came out and said that he should be ready for that Friday game last week. And it's now been.

Another week since he's been injured and he's still not doing any baseball activity. so that's a little concerning, but you know, hopefully he comes back stronger and you know, he keeps putting up those MVP numbers that he has been, because the Astros are going to need it if they really are going to do the damn thing. they're giving me hope again, which, you know, I could either hate or love. I could hate it because they could just rip it away from me again.

Or I could love it because this could be the sign of, you know, turning the ship around. But they're not going to be able to turn the ship around without Luis Garcia. And they're going to need him to come up big, especially with the Major League best six starting pitchers on the IL that the Astros currently hold. They're going to need him to be big. And I believe that he is going to do he's going to pitch in a simulated game down in the Florida complex. You know, Astros spring training site. And if.

All things go well and he recovers well from that. He will then go on to start in some rehab assignments, which is awesome to hear. I'm excited to see Luis Garcia come back this season. He had pitched pretty well for the games that he played in last season. So I'm excited to see him come back and see if he can improve upon that. And they're going to need him big. They're going to need him to eat innings and pitch well.

And I mean, I think that that pretty much wraps up my Astra's recap.

Kirby D (21:04)
That was a great recap Joe and just like your team. It's been actually a really good week for the Braves as well. We haven't played the Sunday day game yet, but so far this week they're four and one which is really great to hear. They had a home series with the Tigers to start and then they've been playing in New York for the last two games and now we'll finish up in New York today. The home series against Detroit went really well for them. Monday they won two to one against the Tigers.

Max Fried threw five and a third innings. He had three walks and six K's. Not his best command, but he managed to kind of scrap through those five and a third innings. Forrest Wall is back with the big league club. He's a really athletic guy overall. He moves well. And he had a big RBI that tied the game in the bottom of the seventh to score Austin Riley. And then in the bottom of the eighth,

Ozzy hit one in the chop house and made it two to one and that was pretty much the ball came. So shout out to Oz. I love watching that dude swing a bat, especially when he's going right. It's awesome to see. Tuesday's game, also a two to one victory. Spencer Swalenbach had another quality start. So his last two starts have been really good. His command has looked pretty good as well.

Through six innings, like I said, he only gave up one run. He had two walks and seven K's. And I, he looks really good. Like I said, this was a quality start. His last start was a quality start. He just, man, he just throws strikes, which is huge in today's game. He is definitely more of a pitcher. He's got several pitches that he can throw for strikes. And I'm really interested to see where he goes and how he continues to progress.

Ozzy and Ozuna both had RBIs in the bottom of the first and that was pretty much all the scoring for this game. And then Wednesday, Wednesday was a 7 -0 shutout for the Braves. The Braves actually beat up on Scoobble who was probably the AL Cy Young favorite at this point in the season. He only threw four innings, he gave up five runs and also had two walks against the Braves.

He did have seven strikeouts, but like I said, he gave up five runs against the Braves. That was huge for them. Sean Murphy went four for four on this day with two homers and four RBIs. That was huge for Murph to get going. They need his back to get going if they are going to be successful. And then Ramon Louriano also homered. And then once again, this guy, Reynaldo Lopez, five innings pitched.

One walk, six Ks. That actually brought his ERA down to 157. And he doesn't have quite the innings to qualify. So you won't see his like on baseball reference or anything like that. But just know that he is having a phenomenal year and he deserves to be an All -Star. I think the Braves have three guys that could be All -Stars on the pitching side at least. And one hitter and that's Ozuna. But we'll get to that in just a little bit. And then let's see, they had an off day Thursday.

traveled to New York for a series with the Yankees. So Friday, the Braves played and actually won 8 -1. Chris Sale threw five innings, only gave up one earned run. He had three walks and eight Ks. Like I said, the three walks is a little different for Sale because he's not a guy that typically walks a lot of batters. But he managed to get through five innings, only giving up one run. And that actually helped bring his ERA down to 291.

The Braves beat up on Carlos Rodon, which was awesome. He only threw three and two -thirds innings. He gave up eight runs. He had two walks and only three caves. The Braves hit five doubles and three home runs in this game in route to an eight to one victory against the Yankees. Now my favorite part of this game is that Chris Sale was absolutely gassed up for this game, touching 98. And he actually struck out.

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge twice in this game. So shout out to Sailman. He looks fantastic. If they can just get him healthy and into October, he is going to be a real weapon for them. And then yesterday's game was actually their first loss of the week. They lost eight to three against the Yankees. Charlie Morton didn't look good. He went five and two thirds, he gave up five earned runs, but he also had five walks.

And he only had four strikeouts. The walks are killing him and that's what always hurts him. Walks and hit by pitches. He had five walks and the Aaron Bummer also had three walks. So as a pitching staff, not a great job yesterday. Eight walks total. And the only real bright spot for the offense was Marcelo Zuna hitting a home run, which actually started out the scoring yesterday, but it turns out it didn't really matter.

Overall for the Braves Orlando Arcia and Adam Duvall are still struggling. They are really having a hard time Orlando Arcia it has a negative f4 as of the last six to eight weeks and for those of you who don't know that includes defense I'm not saying that Nacho Alvarez is the answer but when you look at his stats in AAA he's got a slash line of 364 417 and 659

He's hit three home runs there in 10 games. He's got 16 hits in 10 games. If the defense is just average defense and he comes up and he can put up an OVP of 360, 370, that is an upgrade over Orlando Arcia. I like Arcia. Overall, his glove actually looks really good this year, but lately it hasn't been that great. So I know the Braves don't want to rush Nacho because he just turned 21 this year.

But at this point, I would really like to see him get a shot. Nacho seems like the kind of guy that could thrive on hitting ninth and really turn the lineup over well. So I don't know if, I don't know, I don't know. And I really don't think that Arcia, I don't think that, you know, his time is ticking, but it could be because the Braves have shown before that they are not afraid to bring guys up if they feel like they're ready.

Adam Duvall is still struggling. I still feel like at the trade deadline the only move that they really make is they're gonna go get an outfield bet. Maybe like Jesse Winker who hits right hander pitching really well. And that's pretty much the only moves I really see them making at the trade deadline. And then two real positives for the Braves. Since Ronald Acuna has gone down, the Braves have been looking for a leadoff man. They had tried out the Michael Harris experiment and the Ozzy Albies experience.

And you know, those went okay. But let me just throw this out there. Jared Kelnick has taken over and owned the leadoff role. He's got a 1 .034 OPS batting first this year. For those of you who don't know, those are Ronald Acuna numbers. He's hitting 371 with the 405 OBP and a 629 slug. That's awesome. He needs to stay there.

And since May 21st, I keep bringing this date back up, but that's when he made the stance change Since that date he's got an 899 OPS and he's brought his K rate down to 21 % which is actually pretty good So I'm I'm really happy to see Kalanick just playing well. He's been doing a great job in the leadoff spot He runs exceptionally well, too So he's not Ronald Acuna, but he's doing the best he can

And he looks pretty solid hitting lead off. I like him up there.

And then Austin Riley, Austin Riley has been on a real burner. while the team was in Baltimore, Riley met with, the late great Mike Bromley, who was his, who was his go -to guy as far as his hitting instructor. And Bromley helped him with the swing while he was in Baltimore. And then when they got home, Austin Riley has gone on this just absolute tear. Now, sadly, Mike Bromley just passed away.

Just a couple weeks ago right after they left Baltimore But since Riley met with Brumley and he's had he helped him with his swing Riley's played in eight games. Okay He's got four homers and nine orbeez in that stretch since June 14th He's hitting 500 and he's slugging over a thousand. Okay, that is not a mistake I mean, he's also got a 1 .1 f4 and eight games

And he just he looks great at the plate right now. He looks locked in and he's just he is one of those guys that if the Braves want a chance to win this division and go deep in the postseason He's one of those guys that has to be right because he is one of the catalysts of this offense So shout out to Riley. I know he's going through some hard times with losing Brumley But you're making him proud by hitting that well and playing that well

So that pretty much wraps up my Braves Update, Joe. Both of our teams have had really good weeks. Some key players are actually playing really well. And then throughout the league, we've actually had some pretty interesting things happen as well. We actually had the first annual Rick Wood field game in Birmingham, Alabama. It is the oldest ballpark in the US. It was built in 1910.

and it was home to the Negro leagues for many, many years. And we actually got to see a professional baseball game played there this week against the Giants and the Cardinals. The Cardinals actually won six to five. It was actually a really good game. And there was about, I think, 8 ,000 or 9 ,000 people in attendance for this. I don't know that if fans like us, Joe, would ever be able to attend a game at Rickwood, but that would be pretty cool.

that, but it was, it was really cool to see. I hope this is something that, that MLB continues to do. and then what turned out, what was going to be a game where they honored Willie Mays, they actually did end up honoring him and remembering him because he passed away on Monday or Tuesday. I'm sorry, Tuesday, I believe on the 14th, or the 18th, I'm sorry, the 18th.

Joseph (31:47)
That would be it.

Absolutely.

Kirby D (32:15)
In my honest opinion, I believe that Willie Mays is the greatest position player to have ever played the game. He was a 12 -time Gold Glover, a 24 -time All -Star. He hit 660 home runs. He stole 339 bags. He's got a lifetime OPS of 940. And according to Baseball Reference, if any of you have ever dug into any stats, they consider a season with eight

Be war or better to be an MVP type season. Well, Willie Mays had 11 of those Now granted he I think you only had a couple of MVP MVPs to show for but in terms of advanced analytics He had 11 seasons worthy of an MVP If you go back and look at some of the old highlights of him playing I've actually been listening to some podcast about Willie Mays this week His life his legacy was just incredible So he will be dearly missed

But we'll always have those old clips and all of these old Pat podcasts to go back and listen to greatness and to everything that everybody has ever said about him. So that kind of wraps up Rickwood and Willie Mays. Joe, what else do we want to talk about today? Do we want to talk about the All -Star? The All -Star stuff?

Joseph (33:34)
Yeah, let's go ahead and dive into the All -Star Ballot as it stands right now. For the AL, for the catcher position, you got Adley Rutchman and Salvador Perez, two guys that have been dominating at the catcher spot leading the way. Then you got Jose Trevino, Danly Jansen, Jonah Hyam, and Yiner Diaz to round out the top six. And then for first baseman,

You got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leading and then Ryan Mountcastle following close behind. And then Josh Naylor, Anthony Rizzo, Nathaniel Lowe and Vinny Pascuantino. And then you actually see John Singleton in the top 10 at seven, which I think is kind of funny. But then moving on to second baseman, you've got Jose Altube, well deserved because he has been one of the best hitters in the league.

this year, as he is most years. And then you got Marcus Simeon, who is the host of the All -Star Game as it is being held in Arlington. And then you got Michael Massey, Jorge Mateo, Andres Jimenez, and then David Schneider. And you got guys like Gleyber Torres, Brandon Jury, Jorge Polanco, and then Vaughn Grisham.

in the top 10 for second baseman. Altube has a pretty big margin, so I'm hoping that he kind of locks that down here soon. The Astros have three starters currently as it stands for the All -Star game in terms of voting. And it'd be nice to see a fourth with a Blanco thrown in there. I'm just saying, I'm just saying I'm going to keep making my case for him.

So moving on to third baseman, you got Jose Ramirez leading the way and it's not even that race is over. Jose Ramirez will be the starting third baseman for the AL. He leads by a good 400 ,000 votes. And then second on the list is Jordan Westberg, third Rafael Devers, fourth Oswaldo Cabrera, Isaiah Conor -Falefa, Josh Smith, Alex Bregman in the top seven.

Luis Renjifo, Esauk Parades, you know, just not a, not a very strong, third base position in the AL, not a very strong first base position in the AL either, but you know, it is what it is. And then moving on to shortstop, you got Gunnar Henderson, leading the way. You got Bobby Wood Jr. Two MVP candidates right there. You got MVP one and MVP two. but Gunnar Henderson is, kind of pulling away from that.

then you got guys like Anthony Volpe, Corey Seeger, Bubba Shet, Jeremy Pena in the top six. Astros have a lot of players in the top six. I don't know if that's, I mean, that's obviously just because the fans keep voting for them like crazy. I don't know if they exactly deserve it. but you know, I think Pena you could kind of make a case for he, he deserves it. Regman not so much. Singleton not so much.

But moving on to designated hitters, someone who does deserve it very much. Jordán Álvarez is leading the designated hitters. And John Carlos Stanton is pretty close behind. So I'm hoping that Jordán can keep playing well to kind of pull himself away. He hadn't played very well at the beginning of the season. So the fact that he is leading the All -Star voting is kind of impressive to me because he hasn't played well and he's kind of turned it around in the recent weeks and his numbers are already looking so much better.

so then moving on to outfielders, you got Aaron judge, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker, Steven Kwan, Anthony Santander and Alex Rodugo all in the top six, which means they would all be considered for a starting spot. they, and if you're in the top six for outfield, you move on, to, and then they narrow it down to the top three who then start. so Kyle Tucker is currently in third.

And there's a pretty big gap between him and Stephen Kwan who's in fourth. So I'm hoping, you know, that he's probably going to lock that down. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have over a million votes. So Kyle Tucker's only way to the All -Star game as a starter would be just continuing to beat out Stephen Kwan. I don't know how much his injury and lack of playing in the recent weeks is going to affect that. But he's put up MVP type numbers as well, right beside Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt.

So hopefully he can come back in the next week and keep where he left off. And that really rounds out. Yep, go ahead.

Kirby D (38:33)
Joe, let me say some real quick.

Let me say something real quick about Stephen Kwan. For those of you who don't know what's going on with Stephen Kwan right now, because he plays in Cleveland, which is kind of a small market, nobody really cares. Stephen Kwan is hitting 390 right now. Now he was on the injured list for a little while, so he's only played in 48 games. But right now he's hitting 390 with an OBP of 449. And there's just something nostalgic about guys hitting for a super high average.

If Tucker is still hurt at the All -Star break, which he might be at this point, I'm not really sure. I think it would be kind of cool to see Stephen Kwong at the start and potentially even hit leadoff just because of those OBP numbers. Do you want to see how Tuve hit leadoff Joe? Is that what you're telling me? Is that, is that who you want to say?

Joseph (39:23)
absolutely. I would love to see Altuve Uncork on a first pitch fastball from whoever the, it'd probably be what, like Ranger Suarez or something, somebody like that on the Phillies. I would love, I would love to see Altuve Uncork on a first pitch fastball. That would give me, you know, that would give me World Series flashbacks. I would love that. I really need that. I really need that right now with the way that the Ashes are playing.

Kirby D (39:27)
my god.

And just telling it before as, yeah.

That's true. That's true.

Well, it's.

Joseph (39:50)
And with the way that they could be playing by the All -Star Break, I need that, okay?

Kirby D (39:54)
You know, it would be really interesting to see between guys like Rutchman and Altuve and Ramirez and Gunnar Henderson. Who they would actually pick to, like who Bruce Boatry is going to pick to actually hit. Because, I mean, you can't deny somebody like Gunnar Henderson, who's probably the MVP right now, hitting lead off as well. Although I could see like a Henderson.

Joseph (40:07)
it's gotta be Altuve. It's gotta be Altuve.

But it's here, it's -

Kirby D (40:22)
a judge, a Soto, That would, that would be, that would kill. That would be great.

Joseph (40:30)
Eh, eh, eh, eh.

Kirby D (40:32)
I would take like an Altuve, because right now you're looking at Soto and Judge and Henderson are all better than your Don. So it, I mean, those top four between Altuve, Henderson and Soto and Judge, that top four is scary. I would hate to be anybody's pick. Well then moving. Go ahead.

Joseph (40:51)
That's a crazy line up. That's a crazy line up. You know what? I'm going to say one thing about the All -Star game. Hold on. I'm going to say one thing. It's probably one of the biggest corks in the history of sports. I kind of miss the winner of the All -Star game, that league getting home field advantage in the World Series. I miss it. I think that that was, it made the All -Star game worth something.

Kirby D (41:20)
Mm -hmm.

Joseph (41:20)
And they took that away, but you know, I think it would be pretty cool to see that brought back. I know that it doesn't make sense because you could have like a, let's say the NL one in 2019 and you have the, the 107 win Astros playing on the road to start the series against the 87 win nationals. But hey, who knows that could have, that could have meant the Astros won the world series. So.

Kirby D (41:49)
man, I Do wish that there was something to give it more of a More more meaning because there's a lot of guys that will you know They they will they will they choose to take that time off and spend it with their families Instead of going to the All -Star game, especially some of your veterans that have been several times But anyway, so moving on to the National League Looking at the National League. We'll start with the catchers. You've got William Contreras

Joseph (41:49)
I don't know, I'm just saying.

Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Kirby D (42:15)
Leading JT Real and Muto by a long shot, by probably 200 ,000 votes. And I think rightfully so, he deserves a start. And also Real and Muto's hurt. And then Will Smith is actually in third, right behind Real and Muto. So you'll probably see Contreras and Smith there at the All -Star game, at least for catchers. For first baseman, you've got Harper leading by about 300 ,000 votes over Freddie Freeman.

And Bryce Harper 100 % deserves to start the All -Star game over Freddie Freeman. And then you got Matt Olson in third, Pete Alonso in fourth, Jake Cronenworth in fifth. Second baseman, this is probably the most interesting thing right here. Because you've got Luis Arias and Ketel Marte within 5 ,000 votes of each other. With Bryson Stott in third and Ozzy Albies in fourth. Between Arias and Marte.

Both of them actually, in my opinion, deserve to start the All -Star game. I'm probably going with Ketel Marte, because Ketel Marte, in my opinion, is probably a top three MVP candidate right now in the NL, just in terms of war. But Luis Arias is obviously having a fantastic year as well. Third baseman, you've got Alec Bohm in first by about 800 ,000 votes, not kidding, of remaining Machado. The rest of the third baseman in the National League,

are very much, to say the least, none of them are really having a great year. So Alec Wellman will start the All -Star Game at their base at 100 % and he deserves to. As far as short stops, this one actually gets a little tricky too because Mookie Betts is hurt. He actually leads Trey Turner by half a million votes. Trey Turner actually just came off the IL, so more than likely you'll see Tim start the All -Star Game.

With Elie de la Cruz in third and Orlando Arcia in fourth, but that's by a long shot as well. Orlando Arcia is not an all -star. Please do not put him on the all -star team. That's coming from a brave fan. He is not an all -star. And then designated hitters. You've got Otani and Ozuna that are 1 -2. Otani leads Ozuna by a half million votes, even though their numbers are a lot closer than that. And then you've got Schwab in third, followed by Reese Hoskins in fourth.

And then the rest of them, it kind of falls off from there. And then outfielders. Let me just say this, the National League outfielders overall, none of them are as talented as Judge or Soto or Kyle Tucker or anybody like that. You've got Jirkson Profar, who finally decided that he was going to be an All -Star like what people thought he was going to be 10 years ago. He is actually leading all boat getters in the outfield. Then you've got Christian...

Joseph (44:53)
...

Kirby D (45:07)
Christian Jelic and you've got Fernando Tatis Jr. And then you've got Teoscar Hernandez, who I actually feel like should probably start the All -Star game in my opinion. He's actually had a pretty good year. And then you've got Brandon Marsh. Yes. And then you've got Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos. And then to fill out the top 10, you've got Johan Rojas, Cody Bellinger, Eloy Ramos and Jason Hayward. And then looking at the rest of the nationally,

Joseph (45:16)
Mm -hmm. Yep, as I predicted.

Kirby D (45:35)
None of them are good. None of them are good. That is where the NL is going to suck overall. Joe was saying that the Astros are probably going to have four All -Stars. I think the Braves are probably only going to have four as well. You're going to have Marcelo Zuna is probably the only position player. But then you're probably going to have three pitchers. You're going to have Chris Sale. You should have Reynaldo Lopez and probably Max Fried. But let me just say this, Joe. I'm going to throw this out there.

Okay. I want to see one guy from the Braves make the All -Star team and it's a reliever. This dude is 40 years old and it's Jesse Chavez. Okay. Jesse Chavez was actually drafted in 2002. Okay. He's got 13 years of big league service time. And this year he's pitched in 25 games.

He's thrown 32 innings, 32 and two thirds. He's got an ERA plus of 302 right now, which is just unreal, and an ERA of 138. Most people in Braves country believe that this is going to be his final season. I want to get Jesse Chavez to the All -Star game. I don't even care if he pitches. I'm sure he doesn't care if he pitches either. But his ERA is unreal.

And every time this guy puts on a Braves uniform, he is a different person. In 190 career innings with the Braves, he's got an ERA of 278. That's a pretty darn good reliever. So a lot of people call him coach in Braves country. So I am putting that out there. Get coached to Texas. Get coached to Texas. I want to see Jesse Chavez make it to the All -Star game in his final season, more than likely at age 40.

So that's pretty much wraps up the All -Star game. We don't know anything about the pitchers yet, although we know who can pitch and who can't pitch. So other than that, Joe, what else do we need to talk about today? Are we missing anything?

Joseph (47:46)
Now I think that about wraps it up. I think we covered pretty much everything we wanted to talk about so far.

Kirby D (47:52)
Definitely. I think the last couple things is that we also saw Garrett Cole make his return to the big leagues on a Yankee team that has actually pitched exceptionally well this year. And then another thing that we saw yesterday is I really hope that Ahmed Rosario is okay after getting drilled by Jera Jones in the face yesterday.

Joseph (48:06)
without him.

Kirby D (48:19)
So I'm hoping that I'm Ed Rosario is doing well because I watched that clip several times and I cannot imagine taking 100 off the face. But he took it like a champ and walked off under his own power. Other than that, Joe, I don't think that, I don't think there's anything else we need to cover, do you?

Joseph (48:42)
Yeah, no. I guess one thing I saw was yesterday a stat saying that the Astros who currently lead the league in batting average are hitting 261 and I believe in I don't remember what year I think it was like 2002 that was the league average. So I think that's kind of a crazy stat. I think that has a lot to do with the shift. I know that they banned the shift but.

I mean, you can still really play around with it. So I just thought that was an interesting set that I saw yesterday. But other than that, I think that wraps it up.

Kirby D (49:19)
Definitely.

Last thing I'm going to end on Joe, and I said this to you a few days ago during the Brickwood game. I want to mention a person named Bill Greeson. Bill is 99 years old. He is the oldest living Negro League player that is still around. He also grew up across the street from Martin Luther King Jr. He took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

And he's also been a, or he was a pastor for 53 years at Bethel Baptist Church. Bill Greeson has lived a full and complete life. and I just thought that he was worth mentioning on this podcast. so shout out to Bill Greeson. I, I just, I'm just looking at the life and legacy that he is going to leave amongst family and friends is just incredible. so thank you everybody for, go ahead, Joe.

Joseph (50:19)
Breaking news, the Yankees play outfielder slash DH Giancarlo Stanton on 10 day injury list with left hamstring strain.

Kirby D (50:27)
Wow, that's good news for the Braves. Because they're about to play in about three hours. Wow. Okay. Well, hopefully my team goes five and one on the week. Thank you everybody for listening to today's podcast. Yes, let's hope that our teams go five and one, Joe. Thank you everybody for listening to our podcast today. Please remember to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube channel. That really helps the show and helps us grow. And then also too, you can listen to us.

Joseph (50:37)
Hopefully mine does too.

Kirby D (50:55)
on Apple podcast, the throwing partners podcast. You can see our logo right there. And then if you can, and if you have time guys, please put up a review for us. A five star review helps the show as well. And it helps more people see our show. So thank you everybody. Have a wonderful Sunday.