Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: WVUAFm Tuscaloosa and welcome back to student section MLB here on Monday, September 23. I'm your host, Luke Tory, joined by.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Tyler Harrison, Luke Anderson and Davis Cornell.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: And we are one step closer, boys, to the playoffs. Everyone's most excited time of year, but we have, I guess you could call it a little extra playoffs for these division races coming down the wire. But before we get to that, I want to talk about the bad kind of history.
Chicago White Sox have tied baseball's modern record for losses in a season, taking an l for the 120th time in 2024. This ties the 1962 Mets, who were long considered the worst team of all time. And now the White Sox still have six games left to go to extend this very not so exciting record.
That's a good question. That's a good question.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: I mean, what's more unbreakable, Cy Young complete games or White Sox losses?
[00:01:19] Speaker A: That could be a debate for another day, honestly. I mean, this team is historically bad.
They just keep losing. And the admin has quite literally had enough on their social media. I mean, I've been following, like, I've seen it pop up on my, my twitter or X for you page and it's saying, like, you can go to the MLB app to go see the score. Or like, the other team scored more runs than we did. Like, they'll do anything except post the final score.
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Not a lot to a lot.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: And then when they tied the record, their admin posted this little meme of a car drifting off an exit. And it's a street sign that says post final score, go straight or literally anything else. Exit right, and the admin is booking it right to exit.
It's funny, they find latent situations like this. I wouldn't really be happy if my team lost 120 games in a season. But, you know, maybe that's just me. That's honestly, Tyler, you beat me to it. That's the question I was going to ask is like, is this the final time this record's going to be broken?
[00:02:25] Speaker B: I want to know what gets broken first. Most like after this season, I think White Sox finished with 124 losses.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: That's generous. They might just.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: What's more unbreakable, 116 wins by the 2000, what was it, three Mariners or one mariner? There was one 2001 Mariners. So what's more unbreakable, 116 wins or 124?
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Unbreakable? I'd say 124.
I think a team will win 116 games before a team loses 120 or 20, whatever they end up with.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: Dude, this Giants accidentally won 107 games three years ago.
[00:03:01] Speaker A: But then again, it's like not a single team won a hundred games this year. It's the first time since 2013 or 2014 when the Angels were the one seed with the 98 wins. Wow.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Yep. And they, what, lost in the.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Got swept. They got swept.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: I mean, if they had Otani and.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: Tried on the same team, could you imagine? But seriously, in all seriousness, I mean, do you guys think this gets, like, broke? I think this has to be, like, rock bottom. Like, seriously, I don't think a team will ever get less wins than this or more losses. Same thing.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, it definitely won't happen for, I don't know, maybe another hundred years. I mean, the other, the Mets team was 60 years ago, and that was a team that was, it's the first year in baseball. And the White Sox, I mean, they've.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Been here a while. This is a team who won their division in 2021.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: They were favored to win the World Series in 2021.
[00:03:58] Speaker C: I just don't understand how they won 90 games or won the division three years ago and they were losing 120 plus games. They're gonna lose at least, I mean, like Tyler said, at least four of their remaining games. I mean, they do play the Angels, who are the second worst team in the American League, but still the Angels are significantly better than the White Sox, even though they both are not the.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: Angels and White Sox are actually, well, the White Sox have already beaten it. The Angels are actually competing to not get the most losses in franchise history. And they're playing the White Sox. So it's just battle of the couple where the White Sox fans. Cause I think they play the Angels at home. I think they said if they lose game 121, they're going to rush the field.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: That would be good.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: That's amazing.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: That'd be like rushing.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: Florida State lost the game on Saturday.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Seriously.
[00:04:47] Speaker C: And then I think, like, they finished the season with the Tigers and we'll talk about the Tigers in a second. But if the Tigers, assuming they don't get swept against the Rays, which they shouldn't, they should still be in contingent for the playoffs. And there's no way a team fighting for a playoff spot loses to a 36 win baseball.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: Right?
[00:05:03] Speaker C: I mean, they're not gonna win 40.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: I mean, 36 wins is just like, it's unspeakable. I mean, it's a 162 game season. You can't win 40 games.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: Eli de la Cruz had more steals at the all star break than the White Sox will have wins to end the season.
That gave me a headache to say.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: You should say what you said before about the NLT. The Cubs.
[00:05:29] Speaker B: Oh, the Cubs.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: Yeah. So the Cubs have more al wins than the White Sox.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: So two things. One, the Cubs have more wins against Al opponents than the White Sox. For anyone not familiar, the Cubs aren't in the AL. The White Sox are. Secondly, the entire AL Central as a division is negative when it comes to record. There are four teams above 500 in that record, and the White Sox bring them down like an ugly best friend.
[00:05:57] Speaker C: There's about, like, a million different unbelievable statistics you can say about this White Sox team that are all true.
It is genuinely crazy how bad they are.
[00:06:07] Speaker D: Everyone thought Tony Lucio is a problem in the front office, and they've just gotten worse since he's gotten fired.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: And it's just. It's impossible. Like, I don't know when they're gonna be good again. Like, with this team right now, dude, they don't have any.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: They got a ten year rebuild. At least gonna get traded. Every good young talent that they have will be traded. Everybody. Who else do they even have?
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Like, honestly, Nikki Lopez had a four extra base hit game against the Mets last year, so.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: Last year.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Listen, listen.
[00:06:38] Speaker C: He's not that bad. He's decent.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Hey, if you're paying Andrew Ben intendi more than you paid, you know, Frank Thomas back in the day, he better perform. Man. I'm talking straight out of the left side of my butt. They are so terrible.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: They are so bad. And honestly, yeah. I think they're probably the worst team in major league history. Like, genuinely.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Well, I don't know. Their offense is better than the Mariners.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: But that's the Mariners catching straight. All right, let's move on to the Tigers. Now. Now, this is a team, guys, that they sold at the deadline, and you don't see that often. Teams that sell at the deadline who are very much in the wild card race, they are currently, as it stands right now, in second place, tied with the Royal. They are tied for. With the Royals for the second wild card in the AL after selling at the all star break. This doesn't happen often. I mean, where did this come from? Where did the surgeons come from? From the Tigers.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: First of all, teams just get hot. Like you have. You have rallies in game, like earlier.
Yes, the Mets. But the brewers were down eight nothing against the Diamondbacks this week. True. And won ten to nine. Like, you have runs like that in game. I haven't seen something like it's been on a, what, month long hot streak now.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: What I'm hearing is the Braves. If we go like 60 in our last six games, we can keep the Mets and the Royals out of the playoffs.
It's a long streak. Needs to pitch six of those games. But I don't know. No, that's good. I didn't realize it. I thought the Tigers were like two games behind now and like, closing in on it. But no, they. If the playoffs started right now, they would make it.
[00:08:20] Speaker D: Can you imagine if they didn't trade Jack Flaherty at the deadline? That'd be such a nasty one two punch in that wild card series.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: They'd be competing with Baltimore for the.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Top wild card spot if they didn't. I agree.
[00:08:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: And that's crazy to think about.
[00:08:34] Speaker C: One thing I just realized. I did see that they were tied with the Royals, but I didn't realize that. That's also because the Royals are on a seven game losing streak, first off. So the Royals, who were like a surefire to make the playoffs at the start of this month, they might not even make the playoffs anymore. But back to the Tigers actually being good. I saw that they're gonna call up Jackson jobe.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: Yup.
[00:08:53] Speaker C: For this week. So maybe, I don't know what the playoff eligibility is like, but I'm guessing he can play in the play.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Yeah, he'll be. Yes. Yes.
[00:09:03] Speaker C: So we'll see how he does this week and if he'll be on that roster. But if they do make it. But I mean, I mentioned it before. They have a fairly easy schedule with the Rays, who are a 500 club, who aren't the greatest and the worst team to ever play baseball ever in a hundred years. So you got to think that they'll win five of those games, at least, especially with how they've been playing recently, you know, and they'll make the playoffs. They control their own destiny. They're in the second wild card spot. You know who's insane?
[00:09:34] Speaker A: You know who I was paying attention to? Because I was wondering, like, where did the Tigers get this energy? And what went, like, what, what started this, you know, hot streak, let's call it. And Javier bias is never going to play for them again because Trey Sweeney, who young shortstop, he was in the Yankees organization, but he was part of a trade for.
I gotta. I gotta go back and check. But Trey Sweeney's been. Has been unbelievable for them. And Javier Bay has been no where to be found, and he will not.
[00:10:06] Speaker C: Yeah, well, he's injured right now. I think that's why.
[00:10:08] Speaker A: Right. That's why he got his chance. And I. He's been playing well, and I. They've been playing well, so I don't know why they would make anything, any changes, especially. I mean, we all know Javier, but you, especially Luke. You've seen Javier by his first hand. That dude, he was solid on the Mets, but he might have the worst plate vision I think I've ever seen in my entire life.
[00:10:30] Speaker C: That one swing, the first one that went viral was him. When he was on the method, he was decent. And then he only started doing that type of swing. On the tiger.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: On the tigers.
[00:10:40] Speaker C: Two years. I think that the Tigers should just eat his contract. And, I mean, it was one thing when they were not very good so they could afford to keep him on the team and not have to defer money forever. They could just stink for a couple more years and then let him go. But if they're actually going to make the playoffs this year and have a future for next year, they need to just defer his money and get more money now to sign better players this offseason because he. I mean, we could talk about Javi bias forever. He stinks.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: I think they need. I think they need what? One more piece starting pitcher, maybe like a lockdown closer, and then maybe one more hitter. Cause I'm seeing good things out of Kerry Carpenter.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I mean, they. They definitely got a long way to go before I'd say they're contenders. But, I mean, I, this late push that they've put on, I mean, they're in third place in their division, but they're probably going to make the play. I mean, as it stands right now, they have a playoff spot. And if I told a Detroit Tigers fan a month and a half ago that they would have a playoff spot with six games left in the season, they would call me crazy.
[00:11:41] Speaker C: Their first time finishing above 500 in six, seven, eight years. 2016.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: It was a long time ago.
I mean, they have been, if not the most irrelevant team in the league, maybe bottom three for the past two, three years. Bottom out.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Because I think the A's beat him out last year in irrelevancy, and I think the year before that, I think that A's beat him out in irrelevancy.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, it was nice by the White Sox to, you know, give the A's a year off on their last.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: The Tigers will always be better than the Rockies. And A's. And Marlins. And the Marlins.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: The Marlins are historically true. But I was watching first take the other day, and Stephen A. Smith had done his top five worst franchises in sports, and the Marlins were number one.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: Ouch.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: The Tigers.
I can't say I expected this. I'm going to be honest. You know, as a baseball fan, I mean, you love to see it. I mean, the Tigers have been, like I said, irrelevant for so long, and, you know, it's good to see teams go from, you know, irrelevant to, you know, in the mix for. For a wild card. So the Tigers, you know, they definitely shocked everybody. Moving on, though, got some playoff vibes in New York, and I'm not talking about the Yankees. The Mets have been phenomenal recently, and I've been watching in those Phillies games. Cause my roommate is a Phillies fan and he always has the games on, so he's been trying to watch them clinch. And the Mets were doing everything in their power to not let that happen in Queens. They've looked really, really, really good. And, I mean, things you love to see. Edwin Diaz got a six out save last night that, you know, as a Mets fan, I'm sure that you love to see that.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Only because Francisco Alvarez threw down, missed the throw to third, and it hit the third base and popped straight up. The game would have been tied.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Phillies played better next year. After Edwin Diaz's six out save, the Mets now hold a two game lead over the Braves in the NL wild card race with three, with a three game series in Atlanta starting on Tuesday. So both of you, obviously, this is a very big series.
Thoughts on the series? What do you think's going to happen if we lose?
[00:14:07] Speaker B: I'm blaming it on injuries. If we win, they deserve it.
No. In a more in depth way. No. The Mets have been on a hot streak. I know Luke and I talked about it, and I like to say we have the sale game locked down. Max Freed is 50 50. He's kind of like Charlie Morton for me. He's either going to pitch a complete game shutout or he's going to give up eight and then Spencer Schwellenbach. I just have to hope the Mets hot hitting does not get to a young Schwellenbach.
We control whether we make the playoffs or not because we also have a cold Royals team that we have to play after. The Mets.
[00:14:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that, I mean, I like my chances as a Mets fan, but it's also hard to say because obviously the Demons from 2022, but, I mean, this means a lot more. That was, the Mets had already clinched the playoffs at that point. I mean, winning the division and getting, I think that was the one seed because they were both at like 100 wins or something crazy.
It did mean a lot. But this is playoffs or no playoffs at all. So it means more. I mean, you saw it when they were playing at home this past weekend. I mean, the games were, all the games were sold out. My family was actually at the game on Saturday.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: It seemed like a playoff atmosphere.
[00:15:16] Speaker C: It was definitely playoffs. I mean, they feel it in the clubhouse. Brandon Nimmo is back. We were talking about it before we started the show, but Lindor has been hurt. But Luis Angelicuna got called up and has like four homers and four games.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: He's been amazing.
[00:15:29] Speaker C: He's been phenomenal replacing Lindor.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: And I'm sure in the offseason. And the Metz will look to get rid of McNeil and then.
[00:15:35] Speaker C: Oh, 100%, yeah.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Kuniel will be their second baseman going.
[00:15:38] Speaker C: Forward, especially also with Ronnie Mauricio, who should have been starting this year. But Torres ACl is third base, right?
[00:15:44] Speaker A: He'll play on the course.
[00:15:45] Speaker C: He's playing second base last year, but also, he could play third. But also, Vientos has been so good this year that they want him playing third.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: I mean, you gotta be excited about those three, those young guys.
[00:15:56] Speaker C: He sucks.
Straight up answer. He stinks.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: That missed pop fly months ago kind of got to him. Okay.
[00:16:02] Speaker C: Yeah, unfortunately. I mean, I didn't like Vientos before the season, but he's been playing light.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Great.
[00:16:07] Speaker C: I think that, I mean, Alvarez has been great.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: I mean, you got to be happy for the young core that you guys.
[00:16:12] Speaker C: Alvarez and Nima were both slumping and in September, they're playing phenomenal. The pitching staff, I saw a graphic. I might be able to pull it up really quickly, but, like, in their, everyone's last five starts, they all have a sub three era or something ridiculous.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: The right time to get in that groove.
[00:16:28] Speaker C: Jose Quintana has a 0.3 era over his last five starts and Sean Miniata's last 18 starts, which is half the season, by the way. Two seven era.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Very good.
[00:16:38] Speaker C: He's facing the Braves. Sevy's facing the Braves. David Peterson is facing the Braves. Who, he's not the greatest, but, I mean, magic number is two in this series, and they do face the brewers after that. And the brewers have been selling really hard recently. They got Owen slapped around by the Diamondbacks a couple times, so maybe they're kind of coasting because they've locked down their playoff spot. They're going to be the three seed. They know it. So the Mets do have a chance, if they do lose a couple to the Braves. But I mean, obviously, they need to lock it down as soon as possible. I think they can.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: We have to sweep or hope that the Diamondbacks fall apart.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: I tell you what, though. I mean, as a Mets fan, I mean, obviously I'm not a Mets fan, but, you know, as a baseball fan, something that you, I'm sure, didn't expect is the Mets right now. They, what they've been attempting to do the past few years with all the money that they spent failed. And now they don't have that big guy with all the money on their team. Right. I mean, Lindor, I.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: But he's hurt. Yeah. Their biggest, their ace starter is making like $10 million.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: Right. And it's, that's the thing that I'm sure you love to, it's like I saying, yeah, it's the, the big money is not, you guys are playing meaningful baseball on September 23, and you guys don't have a big payroll.
[00:17:57] Speaker C: They lost two games in September.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: We're almost, we're a week away from the month, and they've only lost two games. I mean, it's super fun to watch, especially coming into a season where I thought we would win 70 games.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:18:07] Speaker C: It's awesome. It really is.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Nobody. Nobody. Especially, yeah. Mets fit. Nobody expected meaningful baseball to be played in queens this late into September. And you know what? It's good to see, even as a Yankee fan, it's good to see.
[00:18:19] Speaker B: Maybe for you, huh?
[00:18:21] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't got to worry about them until the end, and I don't, honestly, I don't know if they're going to make it to the end. They got to worry about making the playoffs first.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: See a subway series in the playoffs.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: I mean, as it stands today, the Mets do hold a playoff spot.
I'm the, the NL.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: Looks like there's only four available.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So the Dodgers right now have the one. The Phillies have the two. The brewers have the three. Who, I want to talk about the brewers for a second.
They came into today with a three game losing streak.
They were trying to keep, you know, get back on track, but they fell behind eight nothing in the third inning to the Diamondbacks. Slowly and steadily, Milwaukee started to climb out of that hole, pushing the score to eight to six by the 7th.
And then even as Arizona scored what looked like to be an insurance run, the Brew crew mounted a four run tally to take the lead. The brewers accomplished this ten run burst despite not hitting a single home run, 16 hits, five two out RBI's. A game like this in the playoff atmosphere. Milwaukee could be a dark horse on the NL.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: We said that last year.
[00:19:40] Speaker C: This year, this year they would stink.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: This year they very well could be a dark horse in the NL. You know, I mean, we see, we've been seeing it, especially since they added the wild card Series where teams that have the by will not see live pitching for a couple days and they'll get a little rusty. And then the teams that like the Phillies two years ago and the Diamondbacks last year, it's like, yeah, but I mean, the Phillies, that's a year after they made it. You're expecting them to make a run again.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: The Diamondbacks.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: The Diamondbacks.
Nobody was expecting them to make it to the World Series, and nobody was expecting the Phillies to make it. My point is, teams that are playing in the wild card, honestly, like the brewers, they, that's a team that wouldn't surprise me, taking like a deep run. I mean, like, like I said, the teams that don't see live pitching for a couple days, and then they go out and face a playoff, number one pitcher, it, and then you get shut down. It could be demoralizing and shut your team down. I mean, that's what I'm a little frightened about. The Yankees can hit just about any right handed hitter, right handed pitcher on the planet. You throw, you go find a guy who was working Costco, who happens to throw lefty, and you put him on the mound, we'll get two hits. I mean, so it could be anything. And I would say the brewers genuinely could be a team to look out for. We got a lot more coming up right after this break. We're going to talk about the rest of the playoff implications, and we'll talk a little bit about some awards coming down because I think a lot of us have changed our thoughts on the rookie of the year for the NL. So we'll talk about that right when we get back here on student section MLB.
WVuafm Tuscaloosa all right, welcome back to student section MLB. Let's jump right back into it. We have some breaking news. Sadly out of Denver, Colorado, Chuck Nasty has retired after a long, long season. Charlie or a long career. Charlie Blackman, I mean, what a career he had in Colorado. I feel like he's been around forever, and I just thought he was going to keep playing forever, but, you know, the time has come and that'll do it for him. But what a career he had. And I just want to, you know, give him his flowers there, but we'll move on. I did want to talk about the Dodgers in a crucial series, in a crucial game before a series with the Diamondbacks with playoff implications and NL west implications on the line, pull a victory out of nowhere. They were down five four in the 9th, in the bottom of the 9th. And then Shohei and Mookie went back to back to win it. It.
If I'm. If I'm a Diamondbacks fan, I am sick to my stomach watching that. I mean, and that was Shohei's 54th of the year, or 53rd, which cut down the major league lead on home runs to just two.
But I.
[00:23:00] Speaker C: Have we talked about that yet?
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Even, what, the slow September from June?
[00:23:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't think we have.
[00:23:05] Speaker C: So, yeah, that was this past.
[00:23:06] Speaker A: That was this. Okay, so, yeah, Shohei Ohtani is the.
[00:23:09] Speaker C: First three home runs.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Yeah. With the greatest single. Greatest game, I think, ever. Five extra base hits, two doubles, two stolen bases, three home runs, ten rbI's. Two enter the 50 50 club to be the first ever. And probably, you know, I don't know.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: He was also the only player 17 total bases in a game without hitting four home runs, though. Because the last people do, like Mike Schmidt and JD Martinez, hit four home runs and then hit a single.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Well, it's not easy.
[00:23:48] Speaker C: To get an extra base counts for 16 of 17.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: By the way. He was. He had two doubles and three home runs.
[00:23:58] Speaker C: Yeah, three home runs.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: Three home runs to double.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: Given one was off of a position player at the end of the game. But I'm not taking anything away.
[00:24:04] Speaker C: It was absolutely stats demolished.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: He would have had an even better game if he didn't get thrown out during that second double. He was going for a triple.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: He would have had the cycle and six for 610. Yeah.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: I mean, even if. It's crazy, because even if this was the first game of the season, it would be the greatest game ever. And then you add to the fact that he joined, he made history doing it 50 50 on top of just one of the single greatest games individually in a vacuum. Just greatest games ever.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: I do think, I will say, and you know, this might sound a little bit surprising coming for me. I do think when it's all said and done and Shohei oh Tani's career is over, he will be the greatest baseball player to ever walk on them.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: He also pitches because he also.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: That's what a lot of people are forgetting about Shohei oh Tani is. He didn't pitch this year because of a surgery that he had. And he is doing alien things still.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: If judge didn't hate 62 home runs in 2022. Shohei would have four straight MVP's before 29 years old.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's safe to say.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Well, is he on pace for bonds record? Does he reach seven? No, seven MVP. He's not root three before 30 and then just being a d eight.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: Yeah, no seven MVP. I thought you were talking about like 700 homers.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: No, no, no. I don't think there's anybody on base for that right now.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Not even judge if he continues to be good at pitching because we don't know how he's gonna pitch after the surgery. There are people who exclusively pitch who are never the same after Tommy John. And Ohtani also focuses a lot of his time on hitting. I mean, I don't know if while they were doing the Tommy John, they also put some sort of, like, chip or robotic arm in his arm that makes him hit homers, but I think it's gonna be. I would like for him to get up pitching, but if he still is pitching to a three three five erade and hitting 40 plus homers every year, I mean, there's no way he doesn't win the MVP, especially when you look at the competition for him this year. I mean, I talk about it a lot, too, because Lindor is going to finish runner up, and I love Lindor, and he's had a great season, but Lindor's runner up season is definitely beatable. And if Otani is hitting 40 homers, three era, he's just going to win it every single year.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: I mean, seriously, he'll still end up voting in 2020. He'll end up being minus odds at some point.
[00:26:27] Speaker C: Yeah. Preseason to win an craziest things I've ever heard.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: What was the last time that happened?
[00:26:33] Speaker A: I don't think ever.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: Probably. Probably never even.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: But, like, it's in 162 game season. Like, you can't do that like that. But, like, with him, it's just like you expect it at this point. So unbelievable stuff from him, you know? But as usual, Shohei is one of a kind judges having a better year in all statistical categories besides stolen bags. Is he that fast?
[00:27:00] Speaker B: Didn't think so.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: Yeah, he only has eight stolen bags. But I will say I'm not taking anything away from Shoei Ohtani and what he's done this year. But I mentioned this to both of you already. I think Acuna season last year is more impressive than a 50 50. I think 40 homers, 70 stolen bases is more impressive than 50 50.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: Not only from the laid off, I'm trying to do this unbiasedly. Shohei's batting like two. I mean, he's batting 290 with 50 50. That is crazy.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Unbelievable.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: Acuna batted 331, right?
[00:27:29] Speaker A: I mean, from the lead I spot. Like I said, I'm not taking anything away from what Shohei is doing right now. But I just think. I'm not gonna say it's unfair. I think Acuna deserved a little bit more credit for what he did last year. Nobody really talked about the 47 70 like they're talking about the 50 50.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: Yeah, he. Yeah, I'm looking at it. Acuna led the league and played appearances at bats, runs, hits, stolen bases, OBP OpS, OPS plus total bases.
[00:28:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean I'm not, again, I'm not taking anything away from Shohei, but.
[00:28:04] Speaker C: I mean, it's the same talks about like why he should win MVP versus maybe why he shouldn't. If you look at just at the plate, I think Ohtani season is better. But also Akuna was playing plus defense at center field and Ohtani doesn't play defense. So if you look at just full time season, I would say that Okunya's could be better.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: I don't know if he was playing plus defense in right field. He just made up for it because he was strong.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: I get fast.
[00:28:27] Speaker C: Yeah, but you got to a lot of balls.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: He ain't necessarily a goal.
[00:28:31] Speaker A: Moving on though, another milestone out of the ML west. You darvish is the first japanese born player to reach 2000 career strikeouthenne. So give it up for him. He's had a long decorated career with a couple different teams, but you know, feels like a long time coming for him. He's been great for so long.
[00:28:51] Speaker B: Two teams, is it just Rangers, Padres?
[00:28:53] Speaker A: He was on the Cubs.
[00:28:56] Speaker C: I forget that he was on the Dodgers sometimes, but yeah, really? I mean, he was only on the Dodgers for half a season.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: Oh, like the, like a Mac Scherzer thing where he was there for two.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: Years and now I do want to talk about Paul schemes again. I mean, Jackson Merrill may prevent Paul Skienes from winning it, but I mean.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: He shouldn't Skenes.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: He'S got a 199 era with 167 strikeouts in 131 innings. How is he's averaging 11.5 ks per nine through his 1st 22 starts of his major league career.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: What we were saying in our group chat is the fact that Paul Skienes is the third best pitcher in the league and the two people ahead of him are going to win the triple crown in their respective divisions. Like that's it. I would take a bronze medal in that position for sure.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: I mean, what really made me realize is like, because I was looking at, like, potential pitching matchups for the last few games of the season and the last game of the, or the second to last game of the season. The Pirates are in the Bronx, and it's Paul Skiens versus Louise heel. Two very good rookie pitchers. And I've watched Louie seal all year. I'm 162, or I watch pretty much every game that I physically can of the Yankees. I've seen a lot of Louie's heel starts. He showed me a very good amount of good and a little bit of bad. But for the, for how good Louis heel's season is. And I was looking at their, their stats next to each other, comparing them. And the fact that skeens has one more strikeout in like, a lot less innings was like, whoa.
Yeah, yeah.
[00:30:42] Speaker B: One more strikeout than him. And eight less starts.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: Eight less starts.
And Luis Hill has crazy strikeout stuff. I mean, he throws 100 miles an hour. He's got great slider.
That's what made me.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: He's got realized.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: I was like, luis heel has some of the best stuff I've seen out of Yankees pitchers this year. And he has one more strikeout than Paul Skeens in eight more starts.
[00:31:06] Speaker B: Have you seen the overlay from pitching? Ninja in Skienz is like, splinter change up.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: By the way, splinter might be the most unhittable pitch in all of major league's history.
[00:31:16] Speaker B: What? 16 inches of Armside run, it can hit you and you're going to breaks.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Physics and it's not cool.
No, it's really cool. But, like, as a hitter, like, I'm sure it's not cool.
[00:31:29] Speaker B: And his motion is identical. And coming from six six sidearm, that is terrifying.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: I mean, and to talk about how quick that dude came up the monitors. I mean, we talked about it last week. I think he deserves rookie of the year.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: I think he should be what he should. I mean, Cy Young talks next year.
[00:31:46] Speaker C: I was about to say.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: I was about to say if he was here to start this year and he didn't, and he didn't get called up after a little bit, that would.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: Be such a good, that would be such a good run. I would be happy now. I don't know if I'd be happy for Chris sail to lose the Cy young race to anybody else, but.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Right. I mean, Paul talking about national champion. You're talking about right after that, he's a number one pick. You're talking about flying through the minor leagues, coming up to the major leagues and producing at this level, it's like he's lived up to all expectations and then some, and it's really cool to see. So I'm. I think Skenes deserves the rookie of the year at least.
I want to give a quick shout out to the Detroit Tigers for going into Baltimore and winning a series. There I was, watching every game of that series, praying hard that the Orioles would somehow lose, and they did. So now, then the, now I'm going to shift over to the Yankees.
One game magic number is one.
You know, been waiting a long time to get to this time of year because this is seriously my playoff baseball. Yankees. There's nothing I like more to watch. And we got one. One game to win against the Orioles in this series. I mean, crucial. We just need to win one game to clinch the division. But the magic number is down to three now for the one seed, obviously, that is a priority as well. So Yankees are looking good at the right time. Let's hope that continues. They're off tonight, but tomorrow, hopefully they clinch. And the Orioles, I mean, they kind of started like, declining last, a week ago, about a week and a half ago. They have not looked good.
[00:33:39] Speaker B: No, it's been pretty bad.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: I mean, it's almost like one of the worst drop offs in recent runs. I mean, the Yankees were. We had a one game lead at the end of August, and now we're up 6 September 23.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: I think. I think we said two shows ago, like, that was supposed to be a.
[00:34:03] Speaker A: Yeah, we were talking about. Yeah, I mean, it was supposed to.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: Be a competition about the AL east, and now it's just. I hope Oreo's gonna be in the playoffs.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: You know, they're making playoffs.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: What is it? Wait, who said. What was the losing streak?
[00:34:15] Speaker A: They were on there. No, they're.
[00:34:18] Speaker C: They've.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: The Orioles or.
[00:34:20] Speaker C: Sorry, the. No, I said the Royals, I think.
[00:34:21] Speaker A: Yeah, the Royals. The Orioles lost their last two, but in their last ten, I believe they.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Are three and seven. Two and eight.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: Yeah, like, not good.
[00:34:32] Speaker B: Not a good time to be stinking enough. Late September.
[00:34:35] Speaker C: Yeah. But also, all those team, it's like, who wants to?
Because the Twins got smoked in a doubleheader versus the Red Sox yesterday or two days ago. The Mariners are still not very good, and the Royals have lost seven in a row, all while the Tigers are winning games, which we talked about before. I mean, there's three teams there that should, that have, at some point in the season, had a playoff spot seemingly locked up, and now they're all trying to miss the playoffs. I don't know if they want to go to Cancun or something.
It is interesting because the Tigers are, like, the only American League team, aside from the division winners, that even want a playoff spot.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:14] Speaker C: Versus the National League, for sure. The Braves have been playing well. The Mets have been playing well. The Padres have still been playing well, like, all the teams in the National League have still been playing really good baseball, fighting for those playoff spots. And in the american league, it's just who's going to lose more games and miss?
[00:35:29] Speaker A: All right, well, we are going to head to one more break here on this Monday, September 23. We will be right back here on student Section MLB wVUafm tuscaloosa.
And welcome back to student section MLB.
Let's jump into some possible playoff matchups. Who, who's winning? What say? We'll say the season ends today and the bracket is.
[00:36:17] Speaker C: I don't see the bracket changing too much anyway.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: Right. So right now, the Tigers would go to Houston.
That poor Tigers be Alex. Hey, that's, uh. Honestly, though, his first is. That's, that'll be his first play, obviously, his first playoff series against his whole team that he used to manage.
What's his name? AJ hench. Oh, was the cheating scumbag. Sorry. Sorry. No, he's so, he, yeah, he's done a great job with the Tigers, in all seriousness. But he'll play against the Astros. I don't see the Tigers getting more than just that one game, honestly. Maybe two.
[00:36:57] Speaker C: Maybe they'll.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Win the scuba game.
[00:37:03] Speaker B: What if Jackson job comes up and, like, throws a perfect game in his debut, and they're like, yep, you're on the playoff. And they just stay.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: I think he will be on the playoff roster. They wouldn't be calling him up here just for the final six games.
[00:37:14] Speaker C: They mess with his salary.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: Right, right. Yeah. He'll be on. He'll be on the playoff roster for sure.
[00:37:19] Speaker C: But that means, hopefully, he has to be good this week when he plays.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: I'll call it. I think the Tigers beat the Astros in the wild card. That'd be amazing.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: That would be amazing. I would love nothing more than that.
[00:37:30] Speaker B: I need Justin Verlander to give up. Like, I need him to pull a Clayton Kershaw from last year.
[00:37:36] Speaker A: He has. Yeah, but it's playoffs. That is crazy. You know, he's gonna, he's a bona.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: Fide hall of famer.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: To not put him on the playoffs.
He'll settle it in the playoffs. He belongs there. Coming down to the Royals Orioles series. I think that goes to five games. Yeah. With how the Oriole has been playing and how the Royals have been playing.
This is. It's now or never. Now it's like, hey, we both gotta lock in. I think that that series goes to.
[00:38:01] Speaker B: Five cold teams, and then whoever wins that face is the one seed Yankees. That is rough.
[00:38:07] Speaker A: I would much rather the Royals, because.
[00:38:09] Speaker C: The Orioles are just better.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: They are a better team. They are a better team. I think they.
[00:38:13] Speaker B: Orioles playoff baseball, right?
[00:38:18] Speaker A: They do. Yes. Yes, they do. Yes, they do. And then moving over to the national league side, I think the brewers will be the Diamondbacks in five games.
That'll be the wild card. So that'll be in three games.
[00:38:35] Speaker C: I forgot.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Huh?
[00:38:36] Speaker C: I said, I forgot that the Mets have the tiebreaker over the dynamites.
[00:38:39] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: Which is wild card.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: Three or five games.
[00:38:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: Three. Why are we saying in five?
[00:38:45] Speaker A: No, I mean, I meant through.
So the Mets Padres.
[00:38:51] Speaker C: I would listen. I would. I would rather face the brewers. I'm being completely honest. I would rather face the Brewers. I think that the atmosphere in San Diego is harder. I think the Padres have a better. Well, actually, the Padres have more wins than the diamond or the. Sorry, the brewers, which I didn't even realize. But I do think, regardless of that, how the records finish, I think that the Padres have a better team. I was gonna mention this before we went to break. This is the same thing I said about the brewers last year. I think they're surprisingly balanced. Like, in a way, especially this year when they sold Corbin Burns. They got a new manager. It's very impressive that they are this good. I thought it was really funny on social media when Jackson trio got a stroller.
[00:39:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. That was really funny. Zero. Zero beers and all that.
[00:39:35] Speaker C: He's younger than me, and he's insane at baseball, but I just don't think they have, like, a spark plug to make a push in the playoffs because you need something.
[00:39:46] Speaker A: I was just.
[00:39:48] Speaker C: I just don't think. I don't see that from them. I mean, with how the Mets have been playing, honestly, I would see that from them. But I think the Padres, even with Tatis, with Jackson Merrill, we talked about him. I mean, we haven't talked very nicely about him.
He's had a good season. We talked about you, Darvish before. He's playing really well as well. They have great pitching. I mean, they've won so many walk off wins. They've had so many walk off wins this year, including one against the. All three of the games. Would be at home. I mean, I would be. I'm scared of the Padres personally, but.
[00:40:21] Speaker D: That bullpen just built for the playoffs.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: Yeah, they do.
[00:40:24] Speaker C: Their bullpen is in making six innings.
[00:40:26] Speaker D: With Suarez, Tanner Scott, and Jason Adam at the back end of that bullpen.
[00:40:31] Speaker B: Robert Suarez, too.
[00:40:32] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:40:33] Speaker A: Moving on to the second round. If we think, you know, the Astros are going to win, we'll say, we'll say the Orioles win.
[00:40:41] Speaker B: Guardians take that.
[00:40:42] Speaker A: I don't know, is everyone, like, higher seed gonna win, though, if the Guardians go, I mean, in the first round? Well, we'll say, we'll save for hypothetics. We'll just talk about, we'll say if the, if the Indians were to play the tigers, I think they, the Guardians, I actually can make the break. I haven't made that mistake, like, since.
[00:41:04] Speaker B: They'Ve changed their name, end up making us change our name, too. Don't worry, we support, you know, look, I'm not, never mind, never mind.
[00:41:11] Speaker A: Yeah, let's not get into that.
[00:41:13] Speaker B: Nevermind.
[00:41:13] Speaker A: But I'm actually, wow, that's a brain fart. I can't believe I, I haven't called them the Indians and, like, he just did it again. Well, yeah, but I'm talking about it.
That, like, threw me off. All right, well, if the Guardians were to play against the, the tigers in the second round, I'd say the Guardians sweepden.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: I think.
[00:41:36] Speaker A: Yeah, the Guardians are guns.
[00:41:37] Speaker C: Could sweep the Orioles.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: The Guardian.
[00:41:38] Speaker C: The Guardians are really, the Guardians are legit there. This, before the show, Davis brought this up, actually, that J Ram might hit 40 40, and no one's talking about him. It's actually wild and it's, this happens every year.
[00:41:57] Speaker B: He's a base.
[00:41:59] Speaker A: Jrom might be the most underestimated rated player in the league.
[00:42:02] Speaker C: He's going to be a hall of famer every season. He gets overshadowed by, like, three other guys. And his team usually is not very good. They're very good this year.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: They're really good.
[00:42:12] Speaker C: Really like them for the playoffs this year with Casse and J Ram and their pitching, I mean, they're in a little injured. I don't know if they can go all the way. But I do like the team they have. But, like, the Guardians are not always great, and there's always better teams and players. So no one talks about Jram enough, but he's gonna be a hall of famer. He's always said and done very consistent. He always plays 162 games. I mean, what more can you ask of a player, really?
[00:42:37] Speaker B: Imagine, Stephen, I'm like, imagine Stephen Kwan in the playoffs plays like he did. And the first beginning, like 480 for.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: The first month or something. Yeah, started the year off.
[00:42:47] Speaker B: If the Guardians get down to a game, I mean, hell, if they get to four games, even if they lose one of them, you better hope as a fan of the other team, if you're down by one to three runs going into the last inning, you're just gonna lose that game just because. Greatest relief of all, the showers.
[00:43:07] Speaker A: Start the buses. It's over. Because I've seen one time, Emmanuel, class a, the only time I've ever seen him bow a game was against the Yankees.
[00:43:18] Speaker B: We want.
[00:43:20] Speaker C: I was actually bringing this up. I was at the game where.
[00:43:25] Speaker A: I mean, I'm sure the numbers probably hate the Braves, probably has like five blown saves in his career. But I'm just saying, the only one Riley somehow physically seen was, you know, the Yankees.
[00:43:35] Speaker B: But, oh, no, he's blown three saves in six seasons.
[00:43:41] Speaker A: No, he's, he actually might like, I don't, I don't know how long he could keep it up, though. Like, how, how long is one gonna be able to throw 103 miles an hour? I mean, hey, Chapman. Chapman still doing it?
[00:43:53] Speaker C: Gotta think that he's in your 15 to do it for another two months in the playoffs.
[00:43:59] Speaker A: Right now, that's all that matters, right?
[00:44:00] Speaker C: I think that, I mean, obviously his career is going to be top notch, but it is hard to track a career, especially, like you said, Luke, it is very hard to keep track of that. Especially with pitcher injuries these days. It's so hard to tell if, if, even if he can throw 100, will he keep throwing it or will, will he try to preserve his arm?
But I mean, this season is easily reliever of the year. Easily. Like, if you're playing the Guardians in the playoffs and it's a safe situation, you're shaking. I mean, it's, especially if it's in Cleveland. I mean, that atmosphere is no joke either. With the World Series in 2016, with the drought that they have. I mean, they want it more than anyone, probably.
[00:44:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Klaus has accumulated almost five war as a closing pitcher this season.
[00:44:45] Speaker A: That might be the most unbelievable stat I've ever heard, actually.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: That is crazy.
[00:44:49] Speaker D: It's been over a year since the Guardians have blown a game where they've been leading the 8th inning or later. That's a real stat.
[00:44:55] Speaker B: What?
[00:44:57] Speaker C: That is crazy.
[00:44:58] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: Wait, say that again.
[00:45:00] Speaker D: It's been over a year since the Guardians have blown a game where they've been leading a game in the 8th inning or later.
[00:45:07] Speaker A: It's been over a year since the Guardians have blown a game in the 8th inning or later that they were winning.
[00:45:18] Speaker B: Has a 649 era.
[00:45:21] Speaker A: That's, like, not allowed.
[00:45:23] Speaker C: You gotta hope you get, there's no.
[00:45:25] Speaker A: Place for that in this league early. There's no place for that. Yeah.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: You go down to the Guardians at all, they may just put overdem in at the second and just go over. Have fun.
[00:45:34] Speaker A: Have fun.
[00:45:35] Speaker C: The one thing that I don't like about the Yankees is because of how top heavy they are. But that's actually really good for a matchup against the Guardians because with the top of the order, I mean, if judge hits a home run, you're up early, and then the Yankees have a decent pitching staff, too, and they can close it down. So I I do like the Yankees to win the american league still. I don't care who they play, especially with how they're playing right now. I like that a lot.
[00:46:01] Speaker A: You do have to remember, though, the Yankees lineup is not as shallow as it was a couple weeks ago. You know, we called up Dominguez. We got Rizzo back, and he's actually been doing something for once.
Yep.
[00:46:14] Speaker C: Again. Yeah.
[00:46:15] Speaker A: Stanton. Stanton. I'm so ready for playoff. Stanton. To just lock in again for, like, 15 at bats and then strike out the rest of the way. But, yeah, Jack. Jazz. Jazz has been.
[00:46:26] Speaker C: Jazz is so awesome.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: Everything that we could have hoped for such a. From this second, we got him. I mean, right away that we were, we went to Philly and swept the Phillies in Philly. I mean, yeah, he was unreal. Yeah. Use judges. Bet there's a lot of fun games to pay attention to this week, you know, next week's big show. Playoffs.
[00:46:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Huge. That will be show. So, hey, I mean, I'm ready. I know y'all are.
[00:46:57] Speaker B: Playoff baseball starts, what? October 1.
[00:46:59] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:46:59] Speaker B: So we'll have playoff picture. So it'll be a by day. Yeah, that's perfect.
[00:47:04] Speaker A: Clean slate. We get to make all of our predictions.
Beautiful. All right, I'm printing out. We will see you then. It was a great show here on September 23. We will see you in one week. Great game this week to pay attention to out there. Have a great night.
