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Inside the Diamond is your one-stop shop for everything MLB! From in-depth analysis of the latest games and breaking news, to minor league prospects we've got you covered. Join us for insightful discussions on the game's history, current events, and future trends. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just getting into baseball, Inside the Diamond has something for everyone.
welcome back everyone this
is inside the diamonds
podcast this is episode
nine I'm your host jc and
I'm joined again tonight
with cj how you doing cj
aside from this cold that I
have I am fantastic cold or
allergies I don't know
that's what I'm trying to
figure out kind of cold no
it actually kicked on more
so last night and
it's just kicked my ass
today sniffles that's all
it is just just sniffles
yeah I wouldn't let anyone
else know that um just the
sniffles don't be an austin
matthews play the game um
I'm here ready to work did
you by chance not to talk
hockey but did you see any
of the reels of uh the
toronto coach quitting
made with the different
memes and reels where it's
not really his voice,
but there's some good ones
out there right now.
Nothing better than seeing
the Maple Leafs fans kind
of fold under the pressure
and throw a fit.
They should know better by
now in a game seven against
the Bruins what's going to happen.
Uh, let's get right into baseball.
Forget all this hockey talk.
That's for somebody else to do.
What did you think?
What was some of your
takeaways from this past week?
What were, uh, what was,
I guess the biggest
takeaway from this past week of baseball?
So we talked about this a
couple of weeks ago,
might've been last week
with the Aaron Boone
getting tossed when it was the fan.
Yeah.
yeah can we just start with
I'm tired of the um show
like let's get back to
baseball here I didn't like
I forget what day it was
the other day and there's a
clip it went viral of byron
buxton I think he had a bad
slide he just tweaked
something I think he's
played all week I don't
think he's on the injured
list or anything no he's on
the injured list now oh he
is so he's so he was
actually badly hurt um
There's the video of him
jogging off the field and
the umpire clearly saying to him,
let's speed this up.
What are we doing?
The guy's hurt.
He's trying to get off the field.
And you can kind of see
Buxton took a second.
It looks like he actually
tried to go into a slight
jog and then kind of just
stopped and was like, nope,
can't do that.
And he wasn't moving that slow.
He was getting off the field.
He was just hurt.
The other one was, I'm sure you saw it,
the Mets-Cubs game.
But their home plate,
which not for nothing,
everybody can have their opinion on this.
I think he was blocking the plate.
I mean, you can't stand on a home plate.
But it is what it is.
It was the call.
I didn't like the whole – so
they reviewed it.
They said it wasn't blocking the plate,
and they said that he was out.
So nothing got overturned in any way,
shape, or form.
The call stood.
What I didn't like was you
could hear the hot mics.
I shouldn't say I didn't
like I love the hot I
didn't like the umpire
saying if you have a
problem with it take it up
with the office like what
are we it was pretty bad to
a show and on top of that
judge getting tossed the
other day for the first
time in his career yeah
it's just so you bring up
an interesting point
because we've talked about
robo lumps you mentioned how the
minor leagues are kind of
using this as a system to check.
Do you feel of any like,
or do you think there's any
pressure on these umps
where they feel as if
almost they know their time
is up and they're trying to
make their impact now?
Or is it just they're sick
and tired of the bullshit
and being second guessed
all the time in regards to
different things and
hearing it all the time that they're,
between that and being
pressured to speed up the
game that just like the players,
they're seeing a pressure
from their bosses in
regards to doing their job and,
and kind of getting things
in line because it's all
about the speed of the game,
how quick we can turn this over, you know,
get the fans in and get them out.
Like there's going to be
some element of pressure
that they're feeling that
not by just calling balls
and strikes and outs and in
fair balls and foul,
but they've got to be
feeling the pressure of, you know,
some of these guys not
saying that Buxton is one,
but some of these guys are
at a beat of their own
drummer and they don't give
a shit on the field.
They're going to hustle on and off,
or they're just going to
take their sweet ass time.
And some of these guys under
their pressure,
and some of them have
pretty damn big egos too.
It's just I don't know what's going on,
but it hasn't been a good
look in the past two weeks,
especially for the Alps.
And again, nowadays with cell phones,
the hot mics and everything
and what they're doing with replay,
it's it's pretty tough to
get away with anything.
The old days of reading lips
and determining what the
Alps and coaches and
players are saying to each
other is just about over
because it's right there
front and center for
everyone now with all the technology.
Yep.
I mean, it's in,
it's gonna be interesting
to watch over a couple of weeks.
Cause I don't know if it gets better,
if it gets worse.
I mean, I don't know.
And it's all,
I think all these umps are
starting to get egos.
I think I agree with you.
I think they're feeling the
pressure of the robo umps
and I think they're feeling
pressure of their bosses
and that's affecting things,
but it's just,
it's not a good look to
tell a player who's hurt to
hurry up and get off the field.
Yeah.
You know, it'd be interesting.
And this is probably a stat
that somewhere is found,
but it would be interesting
to see for the number of games,
the ratio of in the minor leagues,
people getting tossed
versus the major leagues.
Yeah.
Especially now with a robo-ump, you know,
because what are the player going to do?
The ump may have called it a ball.
The other team deems it was a strike.
And they go to the computer.
You know, it's not the ump's fault.
He got it right the first time.
That is true.
That is something else.
if there was a way to find it,
I'll have to take a look.
Not now, but down the road to see what,
what it all looks like, because it's just,
I don't know.
They're trying to speed up the game.
They're trying to do everything else.
These refs have got to be
feeling some sort of pressure about it.
Um, it's just,
it's very interesting to me
of how it's looking,
but this past week was pathetic.
Yeah.
Um,
out and just not a good,
not a good look regardless.
So it'll be interesting.
Yep.
I don't want to cut you off.
It's definitely, I'll go for it.
I just don't want,
I don't think people want
to hear us talk about the umps.
I mean, everybody knows they're bad.
And also like, can we,
if we're going to start
being able to overturn
things after seven days or whatever,
can we go back, you know,
whatever amount of time and
get Galarraga is perfect game back.
That's the other thing that I don't like.
I mean, and I will always respect,
I think it was Jim Joyce was the ump.
In tears.
He got it wrong,
and the next day in tears
during the lineup exchange
when Galarraga came out for that.
I mean, that's how it should be.
You know, he admitted he got it wrong.
He admitted everything.
He felt terrible about it.
Let's overturn that.
I don't know if we can create one,
but let's get a poll and I
want to see if there's a
way I can do it and throw
it up on social media and
see who agrees that he
should have his perfect
game given to him and see who disagrees.
If you disagree, I want to hear why.
I want to hear the reason
why because I think he
deserves to have it
overturned and have his
perfect game on the record.
Yeah, that's too bad to see it done that.
I saw that one and I saw Schilling
when the kid bunted.
There's some things I think
at another time when we can
talk about the rules of
baseball and different things,
but that Galarraga one is
an ump related and
definitely should be overturned,
in my opinion.
For sure.
So let's talk about these
Red Hot Baltimore Orioles, huh?
Yeah.
Six and one last week,
and that was taking three
or four from the Yankees,
and then they swept the
Reds over the weekend.
And when I was looking into it, I was like,
huh,
I wonder what they put up for runs
and everything.
They outscored their
opponents 29-8 in those seven games.
And that's – I mean, think about it.
They just lost Grace Rodriguez.
He's on the injured list.
They got John Means back in
his first start, seven innings, no runs,
three hits, no walks, and eight Ks.
You're adding that to a
rotation that when healthy –
I don't know who's the odd man out.
You got Burns, who's a Cy Young candidate.
You're not taking him out,
especially when we gave up to get him.
Kyle Braddish is back.
To me, Corbin's the guy out.
But John Means, Kramer,
and Grayson Rodriguez,
I really have a tough time
even taking Corbin out.
But that rotation is stacked.
Irvin pitched tremendous the other night,
and it was him versus Hunter Green.
And...
the biggest difference in
that game and the biggest
difference I see in the
Orioles is they don't give
you multiple outs.
You don't, they've,
I think this was the stat I
heard the other night and
it may have changed since.
I don't think they have more
than nine double plays
turned against them this year.
I didn't hear that stuff,
but that is interesting.
If it's true,
that was it during the Reds game.
I believe it was during the
Reds game or maybe it was
the Cubs Brewers game, but like,
They worked Hunter green to 98 pitches,
I think through five.
So they're working the
counts they're getting,
and they've just got in the
biggest thing.
When I heard that it was
about the double play is
that the athletes that they
have on that team, they all can run.
They all can run.
They all can move.
And if you're not able to be
having a ground ball pitcher come in,
when someone gets a single
or walks and then turn over
that double play,
You're just extending the inning.
The pitcher does his job,
but if you can run and beat it out,
they're a very dangerous team.
And like you said,
with the injuries they have
in their rotation, getting means back,
which not a lot of people,
I think you and I
personally offline talked about it,
but their team that they
took it to the Yankees again,
they took it to the Reds, and...
One piece here, one piece there,
and this team is going to
be tough to beat.
Again, not just this year,
but like you said,
for many years to come.
I don't even know if they
need another piece,
unless you're going to move
one of those arms to get a
number two solid arm.
But Rodriguez has looked like a two.
Means is pitching like a three.
And Kramer and Braddish can
run out the rest of the rotation.
I don't think they need it.
And you still have Irwin to
spot start when needed.
Right.
And I was looking at some numbers,
and we talked about Jackson Holiday,
I think, in our preview podcast.
We'll get to him later and
what's going on with him.
But nobody talked about
Colton Couser and what a
start for his career.
276 average and 929 OPS, six home runs,
19 RBIs, 13 runs scored,
three stolen bases,
and he's the betting
favorite right now on
DraftKings to be the rookie of the year.
Yeah, I remember opening day at Fenway.
We were both there and just
being impressed with him.
Gunnar Henderson, I was impressed with,
but him especially.
He is a top prospect,
a guy that was talked about heavily,
but due to the amount of talent they have,
he's overshadowed.
But his stats speak for themselves.
I don't think he will be much longer.
No.
I mean,
I remember he was a thorn all three
games in that Red Sox series.
He was a thorn on their side.
And I love seeing it.
The other good name I liked,
and you just said it,
Gunnar Henderson might be the MVP.
I mean, what he's doing is fantastic.
He's 274, 914 OPS, 10 home runs, 24 RBIs,
26 runs scored, six stolen bases,
and he hasn't been caught stealing it.
No.
And he's right behind Juan
Soto for the betting
favorite to be the MVP.
Okay.
I mean,
is it unrealistic that these Orioles are,
you know, they started off slow.
Have they figured it out and
they're ready to roll?
And they are proven that it
might be the best team in baseball,
especially after the
weekend series with the
Dodgers and the Braves,
which I'll get to.
That's on my list, I think, later on.
Yeah.
Actually, it's actually next.
So I might as well just
transition into it unless
you want to add more on the Orioles.
No,
I just think they're an impressive team.
And what you're about to
speak about is what I'm
really looking forward to.
So I had said last week,
I think that was my main
series that I was excited
for for the weekend.
And the Braves just didn't show up.
I mean, Glasnow is dominant.
If he can stay healthy,
and there's something I'll
mention about this series,
but if he can stay healthy,
that pitching staff is very good.
And he got the start on Saturday.
I think the final score is
11-2 in that game.
He went seven innings, gave up five hits,
two earned runs, a one walk, and 10 Ks.
I mean, but I forget, oh, he faced Elder.
So, I mean, I'm not big on Bryce Elder.
I'd rather have seen
Smith-Shaw ever get a
chance or something like that.
But the other one was yesterday,
which we thought was going
to be Sunday Night Baseball,
but it was the 4-10 start.
And I thought for sure the
Braves would not get swept
when I saw the pitching
matchup for that game.
But, you know, what was it?
Last week we were watching the game,
and we mentioned he had a
complete game and he'll dominate.
Not this week against that Dodgers lineup.
Seven innings pitched, four hits,
four earned runs, three walks, seven Ks.
Paxton went six and two-thirds,
gave up five hits, one earned run,
two walks, three Ks.
So outpitched by James Paxton.
And how bad is that?
That outing's not horrible for Max.
It's just not when you
compare it to what he did
the week before.
Yeah.
I mean, the four on runs is tough,
but it's the Dodgers lineup and you just,
four on runs is not bad.
Um,
the other thing I was listening to
something today and it made
me think while I was
looking up the theory and
there's a conversation
going around on Twitter and social media,
um,
with Shohei Otani and what
he's doing to start this year.
Yeah.
And how he's hot in his numbers.
I didn't write his numbers
down because I heard it
while I was driving.
But is it unfair to say he's
doing all this because he
doesn't have to worry about pitching?
I mean, I'm going to pull it up,
so if you want to... So I'm just... Yeah,
no,
I'm just... Because we talked about
this before, right?
We talked about...
him coming back and being
more of a closer in the playoffs.
And when I was thinking
about anytime I think about Otani,
I think about how it
appears from what we hear,
how obsessed he is with his routine.
Right.
And that takes in a lot of his time,
you know,
making sure he gets in his bullpen,
make sure he's throwing and
doing all this stuff right now.
He can't throw.
He's got nothing to do,
but focus on hitting.
And we all know he's a phenomenal hitter.
but now he is so dialed in
and he hasn't stopped.
I think he's got 10 home runs and like,
I want to say 28 to 32 RBIs.
Again, this was some 25.
So at some point,
like the trickiest thing
with him is when he's right,
he's dominant on the mound too.
Right.
So I don't think you're ever
going to see him really truly just be a,
a pitcher or a hitter, but right now,
without having that
stress... The Dodgers
really don't need him to be a pitcher.
So that's why I asked the question.
What are they going to do?
I mean, you paid him all that money,
so you're going to have to pitch him.
Whether it's like you said in the preview,
is he a closer?
It's...
right now who knows I mean
he's got his as of right
now he's hitting 364 with a
1.111 ops I mean that's
just and again it's only
through 35 games but people
were talking about it as
like that's a career high
for him if the season today
well it's like who knows I
mean but he's so dialed in he might
I mean, he's got 52 hits,
which I want to do the math.
So 52 divided by 35 games,
that's 1.4 hits per game he's played in.
Holy shit.
Say he plays in, what do we want to say,
probably 145, just to be safe.
He might play in more, but 145.
He's looking at 215 hits,
which would be a career high.
His career high right now is 160.
So just think about that.
So that's an interesting,
like that's phenomenal, right?
But didn't Itro have 300 hits in a season?
Yes.
Was that his rookie year?
I don't know because what
I'm doing is I'm thinking
about like... Itro's high.
He's not known for all the hits, right?
He's known for that.
was 262-04.
Okay, so maybe no one's ever had 300 hits,
and maybe I'm just overtired,
but Otani's just dialed in.
Regardless, doesn't matter what's going on,
he's definitely one of
these guys right this
minute that it's him and
his teammate at the top of the list,
Mookie Betts, for the NL MVP right now.
I don't think there's anyone
else that's really
Close.
Acuna's got over 30 runs scored.
We talked about him before,
and I know he'll heat up.
But there's no one in the NL
Central that's going to touch him.
Unless De La Cruz stays on his pace,
then he'll be in the conversation.
But if the Reds don't make the playoffs,
then that kind of is a notch down.
Right.
That lineup is dangerous,
but they've got gaps still.
I mean,
the only name that I think you
could potentially put into
a conversation right now
based on the start they've
had is Alex Boehm.
Yeah.
He's hitting 360,
so he's just behind Otani.
He's got 45 hits,
so he's seven hits behind Otani.
Not up there in the home runs,
but that is what it is.
He's second in the National
League in RBIs behind Marcelo Zuna,
who's the other name that
you could throw out there.
because I'm working on – it
will come out tomorrow,
my Red Sox Braves series preview,
my favorite series,
one of my favorite series
of the year because I grew
up watching both teams.
Ozuna leads the National
League in home runs and RBIs.
So that is another name that
is going around quietly.
Like nobody's talking about
the season Marcelo Ozuna has.
It's happening now.
But he didn't – I mean,
I don't even know what he
did in the series against the Dodgers.
I barely watched much of it.
He's batting cleanup, right,
most of the time for them?
Right around there, either the four, five,
or six hole.
Pulling it up now from
yesterday's game at least.
Yesterday he hit fifth.
Olsen's usually batting cleanup.
And he went two for four
with a run in an RBI home run yesterday.
Yeah.
Yeah,
and then the other two games he went
0-4-4 and 0-4-4 with three strikeouts.
So 0-4-8 with three
strikeouts entering yesterday.
Yeah.
So that's another name to watch 0-4.
I think that was the other
note I had with this series
is the Phillies took first place.
Yeah.
And with that, I mean,
they swept the Giants.
Well,
they didn't sweep the Giants because
I thought it was a sweep,
but then I realized they played today.
And did they complete the sweep?
They sure did.
yeah so it's another team to
watch out for you've
mentioned it before I even
did I thought the braves
would run away with the
east but the phillies are
took over first place and
they're right there um so I
guess that leads into we'll
keep with the dodgers trend
I guess if you want to yep
um yoshinobu yamamoto
i mentioned I wrote an
article before the season
started and it was actually
it might have been after
his first start yeah it was
either before the season or
right after the first start
and I said is he a bust I
didn't say he was and again
I said this when I
mentioned on the last
podcast I didn't say he was
but I said could he be
because his spring training
numbers look terrible and
then you and I talked about
it it may have been on the
podcast but it was
definitely at least on the side um
that it was kind of
embarrassing that his first
start in the major leagues
was almost a home game for him.
Yeah.
And he got shelled.
But so this point in the season,
now this is where I
crunched some numbers and I
was intrigued by this.
So to this point,
he has started seven games.
He's 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA, a 1.08 whip,
42 strikeouts, 34 innings pitched.
Now I crunched it even more.
and this is where things are
kind of interesting, an 11.1K per nine,
a 0.8 home run per nine,
and a 2.1 walk per nine.
So then I was like, huh,
I wonder what his numbers
really are without that start in Korea.
Yeah.
He's undefeated, 3-0.
His ERA goes from 2.91 to 1.64.
His whip drops almost...
a 10th, so 1.08 to 0.97.
He has two less strikeouts.
So he only had two
strikeouts in that start in Korea.
Pitched one inning in that game,
so he's at 33 innings.
So breaking down the numbers,
he's got a 10.91K per nine,
a 1.91 walk per nine,
so then walks are lower,
and a 0.8 home run per nine.
So the home run per nine is the same,
because I don't think he
gave up a home run in that game in Korea.
So...
I'm going to take that back.
I don't think he is a bust.
And I think they got a
pretty solid start to go
with Glasnow on their hands.
Yeah.
And the scary thing is, as you mentioned,
Paxton,
who we saw last year in New
England with the Red Sox,
looked good while he pitched.
They still have Walker Bueller,
who I believe is coming
back in the next 10 days,
if not this week.
And...
They still have Clayton
Kershaw that they can slow
play all they want.
I believe Buehler's back tonight.
Is he back tonight?
Okay.
I believe so.
I know I have him slated to
pitch when we get to it later.
He's pitching this weekend,
but I believe I did that
because he is facing the Marlins tonight.
Okay.
Well, what a game to come back to.
Something to get a little
confidence under your belt with that.
Jesus.
They don't have anything there,
but that's another story.
We'll get to that.
But the thing about Yamamoto,
and I was going to lead in
to Yamamoto with the other one,
but Yamamoto may not even
be the best rookie pitcher this year.
No.
And that's where I come in
with a Shota Imanaga.
Yep.
Next guy, six starts, 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA,
a 0.75 whip.
When was the last time you
saw an ERA and a whip that
close together?
Unreal.
35Ks, 34 and two-thirds innings,
which translates to a 9.1K per nine,
one walk per nine,
and less than half a home run per nine.
Yeah.
So my issue with this, though,
is the numbers are fantastic.
But what happens when summer
comes and the weather warms up?
You mean the wind changes?
Because that's going to be the issue.
Well, also,
he's going to be on the road a lot more.
I feel like the Cubs have
been home a lot to start the year.
Maybe I'm wrong on that.
But does he start giving up
more home runs?
And that obviously changes.
But for right now, wow, what a start.
And I believe he gave up –
was it his first home run
of the season to the Red
Sox that Friday he pitched at Fenway?
That would have been his first, I believe,
yes, going back.
Because the first few games
he didn't – his first two
starts he didn't give up a run.
So –
Yeah, I think it might be.
The way he's pitching, though,
and the one thing that
impresses me about Shota, and, again,
this is a little biased
because I pay more attention.
I've watched more of his starts,
and I haven't seen Yamamoto
except for clips other than
that first game.
He's having fun.
Seeing him out there joking around,
having fun,
he reminds me an awful lot of
Seiya Suzuki.
the way they interact with
the teammates together and just, you know,
enjoying the game.
But the biggest thing for
him is he is really,
he's only thrown in that 93,
94 mile an hour fastball range,
but he's up always up high in the zone.
But once they, the weather changes,
it heats up a little bit.
Some of these pop flies that
are kind of dying or the
winds blowing in,
that'll be the true test to
see if he can keep that
home run rate down,
because that's where I
could see him getting in trouble,
especially, you know,
on the road and some of, you know,
in Cincinnati at that ballpark,
even in Wrigley, if the,
if the wind's not blowing
in and he gets up,
that could be against the
right team could be dangerous for him.
But as of right now,
he's definitely by far, in my opinion,
the best free agent pitcher signing.
And,
rookie right now pitcher at
this point he feeding off
what you said about his
attitude and everything
he's got going on his press
conference was electric
where he said he put the
hat on he said hey chicago
what do you say the cubs
are going to win today I
mean I tell you right there
the kind of guy he is and
to go back to what I had
said his first home run he
gave up was to the marlins
it was josh bell to start
before the red sox yeah
bell so and the final thing
that I want to talk about
from last week was the
weirdest thing we might've
seen on a baseball field in a long time.
A two hour delay for bees.
Yeah.
And then the story of the guy, did you,
have you heard the story?
Early though for bees or am
I not knowing my beef?
It's Arizona.
So, I mean, I mean,
but the guy was at his
son's literally game.
gets called you have to get
called because he works for
I had it written down here
uh sky blue pest control so
the hero the b issue and he
got to throw out the first
pitch and then they made
him a tops baseball card
that's awesome the guy's
name the hero of the week
may as well we could make
that a segment matt hilton
two hour delay for bees and
there's been some strange
ones but there was a ton that was
I'm allergic, so have at it.
I mean, how do you not know?
Yeah,
that's not something that happens
overnight.
That had been coming.
I mean, there's a lot to get into it.
Maybe they were away for a
10-day stretch or whatever,
but either way.
I mean, I know they were off, but, like,
somebody's got to be there.
Like,
even if you show up and you just hang out,
like, not hang out, but, like,
somebody in ownership or somebody in,
like, a GM or something like that.
Like, we all see Moneyball.
Yeah, Jimmy.
Billy Bean's sitting there
watching the game from the
stands on his phone.
I don't get it.
Like, you just show up in two hours.
So, like.
you know,
the players show up to the park
and they're taking BP at it for, you know,
for an East coast game at seven o'clock,
it's probably three, three o'clock,
four o'clock, three o'clock.
Probably they're taking BP four o'clock.
So that's three hours,
four hours before game time.
How do you not know then?
Yeah.
We're delaying this game two
hours or did they know?
And they,
they just didn't know what to do.
Potentially.
Maybe they thought they
would have left when all the noise and,
Everything, you know,
get the people in there and
stuff will move.
But, yeah, that was crazy to see that.
And just not something you see every day.
I mean, squirrel, cat,
some other bird on the field, sure.
A bird getting blown up by Randy Johnson.
Yeah, we've seen it.
If you're in Oakland and the
visitor press box, you got, what's it,
raccoons or possums just living in there.
You know, it is what it is.
Yeah, this is some strange shit.
But, yeah,
that was definitely interesting
this week.
And it was one of the
strangest things by far this year,
I would say.
Not just this week.
Yeah.
Well,
that's all I got for what I saw this
week.
All right.
So, for me,
I dove in and it was kind of
the one thing I was
thinking about was Jackson Holiday.
And you've got the Baltimore
Orioles who have been
playing phenomenal baseball.
They call them up.
And normally when you see a
top prospect come up,
it's when the team actually needs a lift,
a boost, some sort of energy.
And he came up and struggled.
No harm, no foul.
The team continued to win.
Gave him his first taste of major leagues.
So I wanted to look to see
what he's been doing since.
And he's been with the Norfolk Tide.
And as of right now,
which I just actually deleted it,
He's only hitting 200.
Now he's got four doubles,
but he's only hitting 200
cents coming back.
Beforehand, I believe he was hitting 288.
And I was just kind of
really interested to see
how he would do coming back.
And I think you had
mentioned that it was
Tuesday of last week that
he went three for six.
So he got off to a slow
start getting back.
Obviously,
I think it would probably a
little bit of a culture
shock or maybe an ego shock
to him to go up and
struggle the way he did with the Orioles.
But again,
he was so protected in regards
to that team winning still.
It wasn't on his shoulders
to win the game.
So I'm going to be
monitoring Jackson Holiday
over the next couple of weeks,
and I want to pay attention
to Norfolk Tide just to see
if he really is starting to
turn it around or if this
is going to be a struggle
that he deals with for a
little bit longer after his
first call up.
But again,
the big thing for him is this
isn't one of those times
where the Orioles need to
call him up because they
need to boost in ticket
sales or anything else.
This was just simply giving a taste,
sending him back down and
continuing to roll.
And the biggest thing is he
didn't have an impact
negatively or positively on the team.
So it'll be very interesting
to see what he does moving forward.
Hopefully he'll rebound and
get back to what he was doing previously.
You know, hitting the ball hard,
hitting the ball out of the ballpark,
which he hasn't done since
going back to Norfolk,
but it's something I'll watch.
And such a mental game.
Yep.
Him getting called up and struggling.
Now the way,
All the numbers,
it was talked about for so long.
I forget how long he was up for.
I want to say it was three weeks.
It might have been longer.
It might have been less.
But I want to say I feel
like it was three weeks.
And I just felt like every
night he was being talked
about and what he was doing
and how he wasn't succeeding.
And that's such a mental
thing that him getting sent down,
that's in his head, you know,
as a person who played.
And again,
I don't have all this money and
I don't have all this nice
stuff where I deal with
Marucci and they give me a
nice three or four bats and
I'm good for the season.
I would get hot.
Like last season, perfect example,
I started off red hot and
then I shattered my bat.
And it just became such a
mental thing where I knew I
broke my bat and I knew the bat I had,
I wasn't hitting the ball with well.
And I didn't have the money to go buy one.
So I sat there and
It affected my numbers.
I mean,
my average dipped from
three-something to
one-something over the
course of like six games.
And that's what baseball is.
It's just all mental.
You don't feel comfortable.
Something happens.
Everything about it changes.
Your plate approach changes.
I was swinging at pitches I
wouldn't normally swing at,
like everything.
And so I'm not really
worried about what he does.
especially, I mean, like you had said,
we talked about Tuesday,
he went three for six with
a double in RBI and two runs scored.
So it's there.
You just have to get that confidence back.
And not for nothing,
it's going to take – I
don't think he gets it back this week.
And if he does,
that shows you the kind of
hitter he can be.
You know, he's young.
So it's going to take him
some time to find that
rhythm that gets him out of his slump.
Yeah.
He is the son of a former
major league player,
so he's used to the – I'm
sure his dad's telling him
that the crowd noise is going to come.
You're going to go through
stretches where you're bad.
But he, as his own person,
has to find what works for
him to get him out of that.
His dad could tell him all day long,
you've got to get used to it.
But he's got to find what works for him.
And I have no doubt,
as the ballplayer he is and
what he's done in his young career,
that he will.
Oh, yeah, he's way too young to worry now.
There's a reason why he's
the number one prospect in MLB.com,
Baseball America, ITD.
All of us have him there.
There's a reason for that.
So I'm fully confident that
he'll get back there and
he'll be the hitter that we
expect him to be.
So you mentioned his father,
and that was the next kind
of thing that I was going
to talk about Jackson was,
is that it's not like a
typical prospect that came
up that may have had good bloodlines,
but Matt Holliday as your
dad is a different bloodline.
you know, all-star World Series champ.
He's at the games every
single game down on the
field before at batting
practice every single game.
And you have to wonder if
that pressure and because
you have to believe the
comparisons are going on
back and forth being asked, you know,
the questions by the reporters, you know,
what do you think of this?
You know, your dad did this here.
What are you trying to live up to?
That's a lot.
for a young kid at 18,
who's had to live with it
his whole career anyway.
But it just made me think of, you know,
the Boba Shets of the world,
the Kevin Biggio's and the trifecta,
Vlad Jr.
in Toronto,
and all three of them having
professional dads and
having their own storied careers.
And you get this hype built
up and everyone right now
thinks that Vladdy has
you know, isn't the superstar that he was.
His numbers are just as good as anyone,
but they've got this expectation of here,
right?
After one good year.
And I hope that doesn't
happen to Jackson because
otherwise a good,
a great career might be
belittled because of
everyone holds them up here.
When reality,
what he's doing is still a great career,
but they don't think of it
that way due to who his bloodline is.
So,
Jackson will be fine.
I'm interested to watch to
see what happens.
I do think we'll see him
again up in Baltimore just
to rebuild that confidence again,
and maybe he'll stick.
But the kid's 18, 19 years old.
He's like you said,
he's the number one rated
prospect by everybody for a reason.
So the next,
the next guy I was looking at
and kind of shocked me,
but I thought about this
earlier in the year when
the Rockies played the Cubs
was Nolan Jones was this top outfielder,
you know, young rookie,
and he is having a bad start to the year.
He's hit in 26 games and 94 at bats.
He's got 11 runs scored, 16 hits,
five doubles, one triple, one home run,
and only seven RBIs.
He's got nine walks and 37 strikeouts,
two stolen bases.
He's hitting 170.
He's got an OPS of 520.
Last year, he had 20 home runs, 22 doubles,
four triples, 62 RBIs, 20 stolen bases,
and hit for 297 with an OPS of 931.
That's a ways off the mark.
And for a team that was
looking to be young and was
really looking into the
future and Nolan Jones
being a big part as of right now,
he's been a letdown so far this year.
And that was kind of
something that was a shock
to me because he's a big kid,
talented kid.
And I think he's starting to
press and you can see that
with a number of strikeouts
he's got right now.
Well,
I also wonder if that has to do with
the Rockies not being good.
And I mean, they were,
they weren't good last year, but yeah,
They've lost all of their
pitching from last year.
Marquez hasn't pitched at all,
and I think we talked about that.
And so is it the aspect of
he's trying to do too much?
And I thought about it.
I tried my hardest to find a
way to try to find a
loophole to something for
him where I did his home and away splits,
and those weren't good.
No.
And I almost want to say
let's see what happens when
it gets warmer.
I just want to wait and see
and come the end of maybe
in the middle of June.
What's he like in the middle of June?
Yep.
No,
it was just interesting to me because
he was also that gold glove
caliber outfielder.
And the first few games,
he was making several errors, bad plays,
just misreading things,
just being kind of lackadaisical,
having one go off the heel of his glove,
trying to charge in on a
ball and let it go under his glove.
So I think right now he's pressing,
no doubt.
And hopefully, like you said,
once it starts to heat up,
you know, maybe sit him a couple of games,
get him back in the groove
of things because he is a
talented player.
My next thing, it was,
we had talked about Luis
Reyes being traded.
And I forget at this point
in time who I'd even mentioned it to.
Maybe it was for the Reds.
No.
I forget which, maybe it was the Reds.
I can't even remember which team,
but I threw his name out
there and neither of us
thought they'd give up at this point.
now he's a san diego padre
which is interesting
because what are you what
are they doing he's I
wasn't sure what the hell
they were doing with him
there but but he's a guy
that can hit gets on base
doesn't hit for power but
maybe he can set the table
for the rest of the guys
out there but it led me to
wonder what's what's the
next shoe drop in in miami
Do the White Sox start selling off?
What about the Angels?
The Angels are going to be
without Trout for a long period of time.
They're already dead at the
bottom of the division, both teams.
The White Sox, in my eyes,
I looked at their roster
today just to kind of see
stats-wise of who's worth moving.
There's nothing.
Nothing for the White Sox.
I saw something today about the White Sox,
and I'm kind of...
intrigued by it.
I'm not saying do it.
I'm not saying I love it,
but we talked for the last
couple weeks and you know
I'm very high on this with
Andrew Bailey and the Red Sox.
People have talked about
what if Michael Kopech
comes back to the Red Sox
and Andrew Bailey gets his hands on him?
Is that the kind of thing
that could fix him and save his career?
Where would you put him?
Starter or bullpen?
See, I don't know because I feel like he's
You almost Daniel Bartum now.
You've just messed with the
guy's head so much.
When he came up, he came up a starter,
and then Sox trained him to be a starter.
The White Sox had him as a starter,
and then they moved him to
the bullpen now.
I just feel like it's a lot
of emotion to keep messing with.
They did it with Papaborn, too.
It's another guy that they
had as a starter, and he succeeded.
Yeah.
I don't know if I want them
in the bullpen because I'm
okay with the bullpen the way it is,
especially like you get
Kenley and you're going to
have hundreds backed by the deadline.
And, again,
I should have talked about them before,
but they're a team I can't
believe with all the injuries they got.
They're 19-16, I believe,
or something like that.
Their pitching has been phenomenal.
And even the guys you don't expect,
like Cooper Criswell and
Winkowski hasn't looked bad.
I mean, the bullpen games kind of suck,
but there's hope on the horizon.
Bayo's back this weekend.
Cavetta's back.
uh wednesday but I really
think jesus lazardo going
back to your marlins take I
think he's a game a guy
that's going to be out
there uh and I think no
matter what they're trading
josh bell and tanner scott
as soon as they possibly
can because they're both
free agents at the end of
the year jake lamb as well
because or no um jake
burger sorry uh jake lamb
doesn't know jake burger
who was on the il but as
soon as he gets back and
hitting two he's another
one that could go
The other guy,
I think Lizardo is one that
you see him get,
if he can prove in three
starts and not have any setbacks,
that that's when teams,
you'll start hearing rumors
of so-and-so scouts.
There's going to be some
talk if he can come back, pitch,
and show no signs of
regression or have any setbacks.
That's a guy to go.
And the other one was Tanner
Scott out of the bullpen.
He was actually someone I read.
or heard over the weekend
that the Cubs were interested.
It's not a bad one.
No, the other,
the only other guy from
really the white socks,
the angels are just a mess.
And I don't,
I don't know what they do or
if they just stand pat and
reset at the end of the season.
Trout's going to be out.
There's nothing really there
that interests me.
Uh, the white socks have been intended.
They have fam who again comes in,
gets pulled up veteran, uh,
Saw it last year with the Mets.
They traded him off to the Diamondbacks.
He's a veteran bat that can just play.
He's consistent.
You know what to expect from him.
So I think it'll be
interesting to see how long
before the Marlins continue
to go and then the White Sox.
And I think the surprise
team that could be sellers
sooner rather than later if
things don't turn around are the St.
Louis Cardinals.
Yes.
I was thinking of... What
about Arnando to the Reds?
I don't think they're
trading within the division.
I also saw another one that I put away.
I didn't even bother reading.
It was Jazz Chisholm to the Phillies.
I went,
they're not trading within the division.
That's not happening.
I think you have a better
chance of Mike Trout going
there in the offseason or
the deadline to Philly.
Now,
could I see Jazz Chisholm going to an
American League team?
I very well – I mean, I don't know who.
I mean,
I'm trying to think off the top of
my head right now.
About the Royals.
Yeah, they're still in it.
I almost debated the Guardians.
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
Stephen Kwan went down today, well,
May 5th with a hamstring.
But, yeah,
that would be an interesting fit there.
But it's going to be
interesting because some of
these teams right now are
in such bad shape and
they're so far behind.
that there's going to be
some moves to be made now
probably by the end of May,
beginning of June to get a
headstart before, you know,
everyone else is out there.
See if they can get a little
bit more before the market
gets flooded with some of these guys.
But so my other thing,
this was something I
thought about the other day.
If you're the GM and you're
starting an expansion team,
and you can take one of
these guys to be your
cornerstone first pick and
you're building around,
who would you pick?
Ellie Dela Cruz, Julio Rodriguez,
CJ Abrams, Bobby Witt, Gunnar Henderson,
or Corbin Carroll.
Who would you take to start your team?
The two names I went to
right away on that list
were Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt.
Yep.
Um, and I,
personally went uh gunner
henderson I was 50 50 and
then as I looked more into
it and it was the offensive
and defensive wars that
persuaded me to go gunner
henderson uh and so with
that I wanted to say that
uh bobby witt has a 7.8 war
gunner henderson has a 9.5 war
Offensive war for Bobby Witt is a 10.1,
whereas Gunnar Henderson's a 7.8.
I can live with a 7.8 war.
The defensive war for Bobby
Witt is negative 0.4,
whereas for Gunnar Henderson,
it's defensively a 2.5.
To me, that was what did it.
They say teams that win
championships do it up the middle.
Catcher, shortstop, center field,
and then a pitcher.
So I want to start with,
if I'm going to build my
team to win a championship,
I want somebody to play shortstop,
which Gunnar Henderson is
probably going to play
third if Jackson already does the deck,
whatever.
But for right now,
I believe he can play some shortstop.
So at the end of the day,
I want Gunnar Henderson as
my shortstop to start my
team because he can do it
with the bat and he can do
it with the glove.
And not saying Bobby Witt can't,
but I'll take the Gunnar
Henderson over Bobby Witt in that aspect.
So I went the opposite.
I had those two, and I went Bobby Witt,
and I'm moving him to third base,
which has been rumored
maybe down the line in his
career because I do believe
Gunner's going to move
there as well once holiday's up.
But Bobby Witt's bat,
and he has nothing
surrounding him other than Salvador Perez,
who's been there for years.
But if you put Bobby Witt on
the Orioles roster...
you flipped them what would
their numbers look like
that that to me is
something like who's I
think they're both
phenomenal bats but Bobby
wit speed to me and what he
can do I just I went the
different direction and I
went with Bobby wit and
again like I said moved him
to third but it was
definitely a clear one two
between those two I think
preseason Julio,
Julio Rodriguez would have
been up there due to what he can do.
Just not what he's done so far this year,
but I went Bobby with, I was,
I was debating Corbin Carroll.
Yeah.
Corbin's done the same thing as Julio.
Both have been kind of quiet
to start the year, but, uh,
very interesting kind of look.
I know a lot of people are
very high on what Abrams is
doing and also Della Cruz right now.
And Cincinnati has been phenomenal, but,
I ended up going with you
end up going Henderson and
both were our final two.
So leading into, you know,
wrapping this up,
what's the series to watch
this week or this weekend for you?
You want just one, one or two.
I got, Oh boy.
I got a bunch for the week.
Padres clubs is one.
Cause we talked about before we came on,
Justin still makes his return.
I mean,
there's also out there and Dylan cease.
And also you got a Louisa rise.
I got Red Sox Braves because
I love the pitch matchups in that series.
Crawford and Lopez,
the two guys with two of
the lowest ERAs in all of baseball.
And then you got Pavetta and sale.
I'll skip over this one.
Cause the pitching matchup had changed.
I was going to be blue Jays Phillies,
but I thought it was going
to be burritos versus a
Wheeler and then pass it versus Noah.
It's actually Sanchez going
for the Phillies instead.
So I'm going to pass over that one.
I want to see the Astros and
the Yankees in the week
because I want to see if
the Astros are starting to
figure some stuff out and
see if they can flip the page.
And Verlander's back in this series,
see if they can get some
revenge against the Yankees.
And another one I'm going
into for the week,
before I get to the weekend,
A's and Rangers.
It's a four-game series.
The A's are 8-2 in their last 10.
Now you're placing a team in
your division who is in the
top two of the division.
Is that success going to stay?
And, I mean, they're going to face Heaney,
Evaldi, Lorenzen, and Dunning.
They're going to counter with Woods,
Stripling, Sears.
No, Sears just went on the IL,
so I don't know who's
getting the third game.
And then Blackburn.
And Blackburn's going to be fantastic.
On the weekend,
I'm going to go
Dodgers-Padres because you
get Luis Uriah's add to that new rivalry.
And the Padres are going to see Buehler,
Glasnow, and Paxton.
And...
Another two that I was
interested in for the weekend,
it's a weird weekend slate.
Yeah, nothing really stood out.
Down back to Orioles.
Yep.
I'm intrigued by that one
just because I want to see
Means back out there again.
I believe he's got Saturday.
Yep.
And then I want to see
Gallin pitch on Sunday.
He's going to face, I think,
Kramer from what I've seen
from basing the pitching
matches from what they've
had for a schedule.
The last one, I'm going back to the A's.
If they can even come out of
a split with the Rangers –
You've got the Mariners now,
and you're going to follow.
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
Sears is healthy.
It's Joe Boyle who went on
the injured list today.
He was supposed to pitch the
first game of that Mariners series.
He won't.
But then they're going to
have Wood versus Castillo
in the middle game and
Stripling Hancock in the final.
If the A's can end the week,
what do we got, seven games?
I'll say a game above 500 in
those seven games.
I might have to start
wondering if the A's are
actually really good.
Actually, not really good,
but a decent ball club.
Yeah.
Since that Red Sox series.
Now,
everybody gave shit for the Red Sox
for sweeping.
All you beat the A's, congrats,
you swept them.
Yeah.
Not that bad.
The Orioles didn't sweep them.
But I think I saw, I heard since then,
and I don't know,
this was I think from
Thursday I heard this,
that they are three games
above .500 since that
series with the Red Sox.
Now being 8-2 over your last time,
I'm going to guess there
are more than three games
over 500 since that series now.
So if they go 4-3 this week
against the Rangers and the Mariners,
we could have some
interesting conversations
next week about the Oakland A's.
Yep.
A couple series for me,
and you touched on quite a
few that I'm interested in as well,
but getting back to the Cardinals...
they play the Mets to start this week.
And I'm very interested to
see how they do against the Mets.
Cause that's the team.
Like I said, that back-to-back years,
not doing well,
lot of high price names out
there that they've got to
improve their farm system.
Jordan Walker,
they sent down was just looking awful.
You know, he was their top prospect.
So,
It'll be very interesting to see,
and right now they're
losing 3-1 to the Mets.
I was just going to say that.
And then this weekend,
they play... The Cardinals
have... They play the Brewers.
So if you go in and lose a
series to the Mets,
and you go in with no
momentum against the Brewers,
who currently lead the
division by a slim margin in the Central,
and don't win that series...
You're already 15 and 19
going into play today.
If you can't somehow figure
out a way to get within a
game of 500 after this week's games,
it doesn't get any easier.
The other one this weekend
that I'm really interested
in watching is the Giants and Reds.
Just the pitching matchups
that the Giants have to see what they do.
A lot of ground ball pitchers.
Hicks has looked phenomenal.
I'll be very interested to
see what the Reds can do
against them because they
just seem they should also
have TJ Friedel back at
some point this week.
Maybe it'll be announced
tomorrow that he's back.
I know he was on a rehab assignment.
That would be a huge boost to that lineup.
But that's the other series
other than the Dodgers
Padres that you mentioned,
the A's Mariners that has my interest.
But that Reds team is I'm
still not sure what to think.
They have all the pieces.
They're just not firing on
all cylinders right now.
And I can tell you right now,
I mentioned this when he was signed,
and I've mentioned it a
couple other times to you,
is Jameer Candelero, I can't stand.
I don't like that signing there.
Obviously,
they went into the year looking
a lot different with Marte at third,
India somewhere either between DH,
somewhere out in the outfield,
and Matt McClain.
being in the infield with
them and see CES playing first,
I just don't see Candelario
being a big piece to that team.
And he hasn't done anything to speak of.
It's been Dela Cruz.
It's been steer and India is hot and cold,
but I just, that's a very strange team.
The pitching has not been that bad.
They just aren't scoring many runs.
each game they blow up for
runs and they disappear.
So it'll be very interesting this weekend,
see how they do against the giants.
So that, that, that was one series,
you know,
other than the Cardinals that
I'm kind of paying
attention to just because
of what's going on in the
central right now.
Yep.
So with that said, uh,
before we kind of wrap up,
I just want to kind of talk
like we do each week.
If you folks, um, love baseball, uh,
want to talk baseball want
to join our team kind of
connect with us and write
about your favorite team or
team that you live in the
area of go to the website
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backslash join us and just
let us know and we've got
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So go to the website and hit us up.
We're covering anything to
do with roster moves to series recaps,
series previews,
opinion pieces.
And we're, you know,
some of these teams we're
doing down on the farms to
tell you what the farm
teams are doing and what
the top prospects are doing.
So there's plenty of
different things to kind of
build a writing resume for you.
And also just kind of
previous topics that we can
share with you to kind of
hit the ground running.
So with that, CJ,
That leads us into your favorite time,
or at least my favorite time of the week,
is the top 100 prospects.
And who was your top performer this week?
I should say performers
because you've yet to have
narrowed down to one for each week,
which is fine.
There's plenty of them out there.
This week, I finally did it.
All right, good.
So if you look at the bottom, actually,
I've actually made this.
Yeah, I see that.
The link is there.
May should be coming out.
I know I said it would be Monday.
I'm waiting to get some stuff ironed out.
But we should have our top
100 coming out here shortly.
I made the graphic for the
updated top 10 the other day.
And I actually wrote today
something a little
different besides my down on the farms.
I also included an update
for the top 10 prospects
and what they've done this week.
My goal with that is I'd
like to do what I think I'm
going to do once a month
with the new top 10 and see how they did.
So if somebody slides in
like Max Clark just slid in
with the graduation of Evan Carter,
I think Wyatt Langford will
graduate soon.
Might be whenever there's a
graduation in the top 10.
And we'll do a check-in just
so you can find out what
the top 10 prospects are doing.
So with that,
let's get into who won the
awards this week.
My hitter of the week is...
was from march my 42nd
ranked prospect and that's
catcher harry ford he was
also named hitter of the
week for his respected
league uh he's a double a
prospect for the seattle
mariners playing for the
arkansas travelers this
week he went eight for 14
with a 571 batting average
three doubles a home run
four rbis five runs scored
five walks and three stolen bases
Now, just to give you an idea,
this season he's sitting
261 with a 914 OPS.
He has four home runs, 20 runs scored,
11 RBIs, and seven stolen bases.
Now, he's at AA.
I think the call to AAA,
I think actually he made
the list last week,
if I remember correctly.
Yeah, he did.
It might be time to start
looking at a call to AAA
because I don't remember
who the Mariners catcher.
Oh, they have Cal Rowley.
Or is he more of a DH for them?
Well, they have him and Garver.
Mitch Garver.
So Raleigh's been catching,
Garver's been DHing,
but Garver can catch too.
So he is a little bit, I guess, jammed up,
if you will, at that spot.
But there's definitely room
for him in the future.
And I was looking at him as
maybe moving up to their AAA team.
But if he keeps that up and
is getting on base at that clip,
pretty tough to hold him back.
Garver can play first base
if they need to.
So it would be very interesting to see.
And the other thing to me
when looking and listening to his speed,
and this is – I have not –
I've seen clips of him,
and this is just me
thinking of the stats
without putting eyes on him
for several games.
Kind of reminds me of Craig Biggio.
Super athletic.
Super athletic.
fast guy can move and if
there is that log jam and
Raleigh's really your
catcher of the future they
do have a gap at second
base in the future saves
his knees if he's running
saves his legs gives you
that other kind of dynamic
again this is all without
me even putting eyes on him
but it is someone I want to
pay a little closer
attention to to see because
he's a little guy too if I don't
if I'm not mistaken.
I think he's just a little in stature.
I don't think he's six feet.
I want to say he's like five, nine.
Actually,
if I... They have another second
baseman in their system, I believe.
Hold on.
I'm trying to pull up my
images of my top 100,
but there is another one.
I've got... Yeah.
They do.
He's 5'10", 200 pounds.
Sorry,
my son had his baseball card out on
the desk earlier,
and I was looking at it
before we started.
But that was just, to me,
when I heard you talk about
him last week and then again this week,
just the speed.
You don't see a lot.
I mean,
Jason Kendall for the Pirates back
in the day was a guy that
could steal some bases, had the speed,
and Biggio come to mind
right off the top of my
head when I'm thinking
speed and comparison and size.
Not saying that they'll move him,
but oftentimes teams that
have a pure athletic,
and I don't know what he is
defensively behind the plate,
but if he's an athlete and
you want to save his legs
for the future and get more
run out of him,
there could be a move in the future,
depending on what their
game plan is within the
organization for him.
Well, I almost wonder with Cole Young,
is he your second baseman?
Then we could have the
conversation of what if,
Now, having played catcher most of my life,
the transition wasn't too bad.
The idea of maybe third base.
Third base, or, I mean,
I played first base a lot
more than the third base,
but usually catcher to
third base is an easier transition.
Because if you think about it,
they got Polanco.
So they have Polanco who can
play second or short.
Cole Young can play – I
believe he can play second or short.
I'm assuming I'm thinking of
the right prospect.
And then you'd have Harry Ford who, again,
catcher.
But you could move him.
Third base is usually a
better option for catchers.
Yeah, and I can't remember way back,
but Biggio could have also
been moved due to his arm strength.
And again,
without putting eyes on Henry Ford,
I'm trying to see if it doesn't say it.
Harry Ford on the back
doesn't say anything about
his... Actually, it does say.
His throwing arm is another plus tool.
So, who knows?
Maybe, but he is an athletic guy,
and it's rare for me.
The speed stats are what sticks out.
Again,
it's at AA if that continues on
through his path, but
He's been very productive in
the last two weeks.
So with that,
we'll jump to the pitcher of the week.
And I'm going with Noble Meyer.
He's at single A for the Miami Marlins,
playing for the Jupiter Hammerheads.
He's the 53rd overall ranked
prospect from March.
Again, we haven't updated, so he's jumped.
But he got the start on Saturday,
and he got the win.
He went five innings, gave up one hit,
didn't allow a run, walked two,
and struck out nine.
His issue to start this
season has been his walks.
In this start, he limited them.
The nine strikeouts in that
one start was a career high.
On this season, he's 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA,
a 1.47 whip, 19 strikeouts in 19 innings,
and he's made five starts.
The Marlins,
and I think I said this a
couple weeks ago when we talked about it,
they are just a pitching
factory at all times.
You know,
everybody has that next man up mantra,
and it's for really any
player for most teams.
But then when it comes to the Marlins,
it feels like they lose a
pitcher and they just have
one waiting in the wings.
Last season,
Uri Perez was a big one coming up,
and I actually think he
made the jump from double
A. I think he got called up
from double A to make his MLB debut
But, I mean, another one they have,
like I just – I've looked at this nonstop,
but I can't – I believe he is a pitcher.
Well, one, I know he's a pitcher.
The other one,
I'm pretty positive he's a pitcher.
Max Meyer, who I have as my third,
Marlins prospect, is another one coming.
And I'm pretty sure Thomas
White is a pitcher as well.
So it's just like they
always have pitchers just waiting.
And like I said,
they have – we talked about Alcantara.
Oh, Thomas White, fun fact –
from Raleigh, Massachusetts.
He's a New England boy.
And he is also a pitcher.
He's at single-A Jupiter.
So it's another thing.
It's just they just – Lozardo.
I think that opens the door
more for Lozardo to get
moved because you've got
Alcantara coming back.
You've got Uri Perez who
will be back next year.
Braxton Garrett.
Six toes looked okay.
I mean,
he struggled and he faced the Braves.
So they're just nothing but an arm factor.
It reminds me of – the other
team I'll equate it to is the Rays.
We talked about it.
The Rays aren't as good
because their arms are hurt.
It's just a pitching factory.
Now, they need bats.
Oh, yeah.
So can you move those prospects?
I mean, they're not in the race,
so they're not going to
flip your top prospect,
top three prospects for a bat.
But can you move Lizardo and
Garrett and get two bats or
two prospect bats that are
worth it and build a little future?
Yeah.
I mean,
think about what they did in 97 to
win it all, or 03, pick it, Milo Cabrera,
like all the prospects they
had that came up,
and Mike Lowell was a vet at that point,
I believe,
but all the things that they
did to win those two World Series.
So... You just mentioned it,
all that you just mentioned,
and I know we're just talking prospects,
but to wrap it up,
for any Marlins fan that's listening,
just because they start
selling off this year,
and all these arms coming back next year,
All they're doing right now
is they're revamping so
that when those arms come
back and they have these extra resources,
they have the offense or
they rebuild their farm
system so that they can do
what they've done in the past.
And they've got the arms.
It'll be very interesting.
This isn't the White Sox
you're talking about that
are riddled with injuries of top guys.
This Marlins team lacks some
talent on the field, but their arms...
are phenomenal when they're healthy.
Yep.
And that, to me,
is maybe the only reason
why you kind of slow play
or hold on to Lizardo, to have him,
you know,
in the mix next year with Alan
Contar coming back.
Well, and Uri Perez.
And Uri Perez.
I mean... We talked about that Arias trade,
and I wanted to know if you
saw the video before we get
to wrapping this up.
The funniest thing... So...
there was a video that went
viral and I forget who posted it,
but what the Arias trade,
the Marlins claimed for prospects.
And what I saw,
the guy was one of the
prospects they acquired,
but he was standing on
second base and they had to pull him.
He was confused why they were pulling him.
He had no idea what was going on.
Like, you know,
trade advances and they understand more.
So like it's coming,
this was out of nowhere.
And I saw the update on my phone and,
was it Friday?
I think it was Friday.
It came through and it was my birthday.
And so I never hear, I'm like,
wait a minute, what's going on.
Yeah.
It was shocking.
But the two players that they acquired,
and I want to say it was
the Padres double affiliate and,
but both guys packed up
their stuff and then they
walked down the first
baseline saying goodbye to everybody.
And so I was like,
there are no clubhouse at the stadium,
but they have to walk down
the foul line to get out of there.
Very well could be,
especially if they're the visiting team.
They literally had just
their bags and their bats in their hand.
They're saying bye to the first base coach,
the guy that was on first base.
It was a very interesting
sight watching it.
You don't see a lot of that
in these trades.
They don't ever show you that,
but where it's so early and
so rare in-game like that,
especially depending on the start time.
But that was definitely a
video that was interesting
to me because normally
they'll show you the –
you know,
the videos from the minors where
they're making the call up
or going somewhere different.
But yeah, that was,
that was a neat video and
interesting and raised a
lot of questions in regards
to what their
accommodations are like
inside the locker room and
how they get in and out and moved around.
Yeah.
So that was fascinating.
Yeah.
It was interesting.
There's so much about minor
league baseball that I
think that we don't even know.
And I think,
we'd be surprised at some,
some of the stories in regards to,
you know,
what their accommodations are like.
They already moved them six
game series to cut back on
travel and costs,
but still these are small ballparks and,
and they're not guaranteed
from year to year.
There's short contracts.
So, you know,
what they've got for
accommodations are vastly
different than what the
pros deal with in the big leagues.
So, um,
Great job with the prospects.
I really enjoy.
I did read the top 10 article.
I like looking at that stuff.
Like I said,
the biggest thing about doing
this with you and joining
ITD and doing the writing
is I'm learning a little
bit more about some of
these other teams' prospects,
paying attention to them,
catching more minor league games,
even if it is just a couple
innings at a time than I would normally.
So it's been a lot of fun.
And just an update,
Justin Steele did not do so
hot in his first game back.
That game's 6-2 right now
going into the top of the seventh.
The Padres are putting it to him right now,
and I believe Steele is
already out of the game.
So welcome back, Justin.
Do you have anything else
that you'd like to add?
Not that I can think of.
I'm just excited for the week of baseball.
I'm excited to see what
happens this week and what
happens this weekend.
Luis arrives by the way over for tonight.
Yeah,
so after you know his first game That
was actually one thing I
didn't have to say might
wouldn't take away that I
forgot to mention I believe
it was a record four for
four was he was the first
Padres player ever to have
a four-hit game in his
first game with the team So
making his presence known
right away which is why I
put that on my docket for
the weekend with the
Dodgers Padres his first
taste of it and I
They got their loaded bats,
some good pitching.
That'll be a hell of a series to watch.
I'm surprised that's not
Sunday night baseball,
but can't do the Dodgers every game,
I guess, right?
No, I guess not.
I mean, you could, but might as well not.
But, yeah, no, Arias playing DH,
like you said,
leading off for the Padres tonight.
And the only guy that shocks
me more than Ranger Suarez
from the Phillies is Profar.
for the Padres and I haven't
mentioned him yet but
that'll be one next week
that I'll touch on that
he's batting cleanup for
those guys he's got two
RBIs tonight so we'll touch
on that next week um we
appreciate everyone
listening like subscribe
reach out to us if you're
interested in joining our
group uh talking baseball
and just um covering the team you love so
I appreciate everyone listening.
CJ, thanks again.
It's been a lot of fun.
And listen in next week.
Thanks, guys.
Enjoy your week.
Go Red Sox.
Go Tigers.
Go Cubs.
Go Reds.
I don't know who else we
want to say go to.
Go anyone but the Yankees, I think,
at this point, right?
Go Orioles.
I mean,
even though they're an AL East team,
but go Orioles.
Phillies are up three games.
Yeah.
Thanks, guys.
Enjoy your week.
Thanks.
Take care.