 The American League Wild Card is in the books as the A's lose a snoozer to the Rays and we got two DS games coming up to preview. Let's do it. All right, what's up everybody? Thank you for joining us and listening to another episode of talking baseball the players or the playoffs are Underway the two wild card games have come and went. We got two DS games to preview We got this an American League wild card game to recap. We'll get into all of that First got introduced myself. My name is John boy coming to you from New Jersey Real name is Jimmy if you if you're unaware you can call me that I got my co-host good best friend Jake here Company from Denver a late-night recording session because we got some stuff to do in the morning and most importantly this episode of talking Baseball is brought to you by some fine people meet cynical Paul Jarman, oh, I'm feeling a soft Jay there. Yarmann Polly yarr Oh, his name is Jarman collects jars. I'll be a jar man. Yeah, Daniel Solid name might go by Danny might go by Dan. We don't know Alex Goodwin I've got a theory on all the single-name people Okay, they don't want people to know their full name. Is that theory? That's a theory. It's a bad theory All the guys that are the guys and gals that don't give their last name their major league baseball players I'm confident of it. That's probably Daniel Hudson. Oh, okay. That's great. Yeah news He was excited that he was all excited to win yesterday wanted to hear what we had to say Found out that we are your patreon needs to hear it live. Okay. Thank you, Daniel Hudson Alex Goodwin Cassidy Martin and Trevor gildea Gilda gildea Those are our most recent patreon sponsors They have access to watch live to win a couple jerseys each month And they really help us out as we continue to grow in the early stages of this podcast and everything So we appreciate that Jake How are you doing? Doing well James had a late-night cup of coffee to bring the heat for this More heat than the the baseball game itself brought unfortunately Oakland just kind of get anything going. I'm doing well man. I I'm wondering right now if there's gonna be almost a mini lull after the wild cards Because we just got two game sevens Well, that's my spin zone if this was a really exciting game like yesterday's Like the NL wild card then we then I'd be in fear of this low like man these game ones of the DS's are gonna seem Kind of benign or whatever in comparison, but this game being such a dud entertainment wise for Neutral fans if you're a raised fan, you should be very happy very excited If you're an A's fan should be devastated and kind of like upset I think but for as a neutral fan That was a dud of a game That was that was pretty boring and you and I are baseball enthusiasts and we can usually enjoy kind of you know Games that everyone else say ah game suck like oh, there's good stuff to it There's some good stuff in the beginning, but once it got past that first hour it just dragged We can get into it, but uh, but my spin zone is this game being a dud has me excited for the DS games So I'm like I need more. Okay. That wasn't my good fix You know how like you want to end a basketball practice on a good shot or you want to end? Your cage session with a good good swing barrel ball up This was like a foul tip and it's like I need another need another game. Yeah and and to be fair a good chunk of it was The raised pitchers made this game pretty boring. Yeah, shout out to them but yeah, not a Not not one that you flash in front of the the non-baseball fan at the bar and be like are you watching this? Do you have a burn of it? I do have a burn of it. You want to do that before we get into it? Yeah, let's get let's get through it. All right this burn of the American League wild card game is brought to you by Either our ad company put an ad right there or they didn't. All right. Here we go It's fun on your mark Get set The coastal kissing cousins for their frugal ways meet up in the do or die game as Oakland and Sean Manaya hosted the salty Charlie Morton and his rays first batter of the game Yandy DS to the parking lot where most ace fans were when it happened One-nothing raise a huge gud punch top two I'm Have a sailing away To run shop for Garcia three nothing the road team in a wild card game Tell me if you've seen that one before But top three you haven't seen this the yandy man can so nice He does it twice second shot for the big man whose last hit was in late July He was injured a while we while while while we while well for nothing rays But a ray of hope for Oakland as they push one across on a Ramon Lariado sack fly after an error. It's for one. Okay. A's get some momentum Not good game fam Tommy fam to deep center It's five one rays the Tampa pitching is the story Dominant as they go more into Castillo to Anderson and they finally end it with their pagan ways to win it Five to one final. They'll head to Houston to play the straws Nice Hi and tight. That's all this game gave me Raise all the raised decisions worked out Jake like Yandy does gets to start to home runs Garcia gets to start I was shocked they left Morton in for as long as they did that worked out because there was a point It was the first inning where I was like, oh shit. Morton doesn't have his curveball bases loaded He's gonna get in trouble here and then got out of that then it was on base fest for a while like every half inning There was someone on base. It felt like Morton Morton gets out of it The playworks they go to the bullpen that one dude is fucking Nassie Anderson or whatever his name is So the the raises are a bit unconventional in their ways. They went They kept a starter in which is conventional but unconventional for the unconventional race double negative brings you back to normal But uh, I like that good on the raise Good on the raise good on Charlie Morton doesn't give up an earned run over five innings In like didn't have his a plus stuff Yeah So that's that's impressive by him kind of a kind of a gutty performance on the road and yeah I mean Yandy Diaz it there's something to we we've we've over analyzed the decisions that go into some of these games and we You were all over it and we see the rays a good amount because they play the Yankees 19 times a year, but Rays don't care about your name the rays are kind of what we talked about with the Brewers last night like okay There's a lefty in Then we're gonna throw in a bunch of righties g-man Choi our lefty first baseman that's been killing it That was on the post season picture representing the rays He he's on the bench because they're opening up with the lefty They put Yandy Diaz in the lead-off hole and I know when we saw him when we he was healthy earlier this year It was like whoa that dude's a bad man He's got a little bit of that Eric Thames effect where he's fucking yoked up He he looks like he could be playing linebacker or shooting guard or something like that And his shot fired across the bow. We got God. It's actually Thames Thames The running saga I think we're just being punked right now. I think we're getting punked by I don't know I don't know which way it is. I should have watched the video But yeah, man. Good for Yandy Diaz That was a born game The A's I went into the live chat. I went into Joe's McFly's live live streaming during the game I went in there for a little bit and he was like A's got glass jaws, man Yankees punched him in the face in the first couple innings last year and they died There's punch in the face here. They died They did like they got a base runner every now and then but it was always with two outs They hit into a double play at one point That's bad Yeah, I was I was going through things things you run through for the A's I mean, obviously the conversation on sports radio for the A's offseason will be We should have started fires and it was funny before the game Some some people were we're going at that the Maniah hasn't given up a run in the first four innings And they're like, well, that's you know, that's due for regression and it's like yeah Because any pitcher that doesn't give up runs is gonna be too for regression because that's not how the sport works Find me a pitcher who's got a scoreless streak and isn't due for a regression Yeah, exactly so It is crazy in the stat you'll hear if you're an Oakland fan for the rest of the year is that Maniah gives up as many earned runs in this start as he did in his five starts he had this season He clearly didn't have it in the the rays were geared up and Jim I think what's gonna be the recurring theme that we've seen in these two games already It was the high fastballs if you can handle a high fastball and drive it where it needs to go I mean, we saw some big-boy home runs from the rays We saw two to center and yandhi went oppo taco twice So I think that's looking like the early theme in the playoffs if you can handle That high fastball you're you're gonna thrive in these playoffs because that's what everybody throws The Maniah pitches weren't that bad. I didn't think they were just able to kind of sit on them like I Don't know they were high and outside. They just like did what they had to do with them Yandhi did what he had to do with it The one you had an O2 we got it to 2-2 and he wanted to do that high outside corner for a strike He put it right where he wanted it Guy handled it. So I don't know. Yeah, I will I will say this though two years in a row Where the A's opened the playoffs With a pitcher with zero playoff experience Yeah, and I think if they make the wild card or whatever next year They should probably pivot from that We're gonna see a lot in the second half of the show teams going with experienced guys Over the rookies Yeah, and I'm gonna walk over you a little bit because the part that sucks is That towards the end of this game I mean the three innings by Lazardo if you're a baseball fan that that was close to baseball porn I mean that kid looks special You know, it's one of those it almost turns into a hindsight thing. It's like, why didn't you throw this dude? He's dirty, huh? Well, I'm not saying it was a bad decision because I was fine with them and I this right decision But in the future, I think and then you might do someone who maybe doesn't have to deal with nerves as well as everything else and I think this stat you mentioned the the A's having a glass jaw I think they're and again this this goes back over a period of time now But they're oh and nine in their last do or die games Yeah, it's since 1973 That's a Yeah, I mean that's 73 team I don't there's I think there's only a couple players that are still on the roster But it's changed hands a little bit It's one of those things you just don't want to be a story because once it's a story that sucks And yet the only thing that I looked back at and was like This could have been a pivot point for Oakland Was when pro far missed getting hit by the pitch That was like the most momentum the A's had going and that pitch was all over his left thigh And he just got it out of the way in time And that was kind of their best chance at a rally so it sucks Because you never even even in little league you feel bad saying like hey take that one for the team kid Never mind the major league level for a guy who used to be the number one prospect in baseball But that was literally their best opportunity and again We we keep saying boring game and if you're one of the hundred race fans out there You feel a little offended because your guys shoved. I mean the pitchers were insane and The rays are gonna be a scary The rays with the lead are one of the scariest teams left in the playoffs. Well, I'll say this raise fans All you felt this game was excitement and happiness So that means is boring Little bit. I think there's an argument there to say happiness is is a good thing not for them Like right like for third party like they can't be upset if a third-party person says that was a boring game No, no, no, no Just no team had a swing of emotions. There was never an emotional swing. It's Ray's happy a sad Stayed that way for nine innings Throughout the duration from the first batter on Yeah, Yandy man good for him Yeah, well There were we'll do this on a future episode obviously, but they just announced that glass glass now is gonna be the starter for the game one versus Houston We saw that kid as Yankee fans We saw him go against the Yankees and he was like wildly geared up Yeah to face the Yankees and like a big start like Couldn't control his emotions and irregular season start against Yankee's a fun big game. They're both good teams. So hopefully he can Get a hold of himself a little more Yeah, hopefully he learned somewhat of a lesson there. I mean he's he's gonna be like pass ball wild pitch Was there a ball? It was it was like to rain yourself in and there's Like a tapper to third that someone beat up and that like started all of it and you saw he clearly got like too emotional Yeah, I mean that's when that game one comes up. We'll be recording that tomorrow and it'll be out on Friday But yeah, I mean that'll be a huge what to watch for in that game because he's he's a young dude emotions Houston will be rocking But when he's right, I mean that that could be so much fun Friday in Houston Chris Davis looked awful in this game Yeah, it sucks man. I found myself rooting for him super hard Cuz he felt he felt like the guy that would spark it for them Like he's he's been there. He's the known power hitter. He had the rough season He's the guy that if he got one it felt like okay post seasons back on Chris Davis is here. Let's go Hit nothing I you you wonder if it because we saw him a couple times this season and it was like is he gonna get going? Is he gonna get going and it just never happened you you almost wonder is there some injury stuff there? Is it just how baseball flows sometimes and he could never get his hot streak on? Yeah tough year for Chris Davis who's a guy they they need Yeah, so that you still like the wild card after completing to I asked. Oh, I love it Okay, I agree. I 100% agree. I think it's awesome. Yeah Yeah, if you get into I mean if you get into three game wild cards I'm kind of open to it because one game is brutal, but it's the same time. That's what it's supposed to be I think you game wild card system like I don't think yeah, I don't think an American League will ever do that because it's a little different and if no one knows what I'm talking about There's some league. Is it Japan or is it Korea? Somewhere one of the overseas and it's if you are so Oakland was the first seed So they only have to win one game the rays would there would be another game There'd be one more game and then that's the elimination game But if the A's one today, they win I like that because three games kind of pushes the other series way too far back Yeah games each day right so yesterday you have two and then the next day you have two It's the same schedule doesn't push it back if they won if they won Yeah, if the if you needed both I think I'd like that a lot I don't think it'll ever happen, but that's what I would be a fan of yeah for me That's just too tough because then you're gonna demand what the the road team to win two games on back-to-back days I Don't know and I think that takes away from that game seven feeling that we said we liked and I mean I don't think you can increase teams or anything right now. You get the top third of the league You get the five best teams from each league I I really liked it It was something I was skeptical of the time because I think I was thinking of how much it sucks as a fan if Your season comes down to one game of not really getting into the playoffs, but as not a fan I think it's really good. I think they nailed it. Yeah, no I'm fine with them keeping this way if they wanted to expand and I do two games I wouldn't go to three Because then it's a whole then it's a series you're pushing everything back your teams are waiting that kind of sucks Yeah, you have a road trip involved there. So you can't I like I don't think you can do three yeah Anything else on this one ESPN broadcast was Did you watch which one did you watch? Did you watch it with sound? I? Flipped over to the ESPN to nerd channel when I saw your tweet just because I'm hoping that ESPN looks at it and they're like, whoa John Boy tweeted and then five without five thousand people switched over to ESPN to which uh Which was funny because they're obviously pushing the analytics and I think there's some stuff there that's Like if you're gonna go full analytics broadcast, you're gonna lose people on part of it Even I'm super into analytics. We do a weekly Yankees analytics episode You know there there's still some stuff there. That's not fully proven like did you see the did you see the stats? Versus pitchers similar to Yeah, like finesse pitchers starting pitchers stuff like well, no they compared it to actual guys. Oh so that they brought in I forget who is pitching, but it was like yeah this this pitchers similar to Severino Somebody else somebody else I forget who it was and the analytics guys were even like yeah, this is something we're testing out We're not sure What kind of correlation it has an Eduardo Perez who I appreciate Eduardo. He's a player that's trying to Appreciate this stuff as much as he can But he was just like you just can't do that like you can't like pitchers are are different Yeah, I didn't see that but yeah, that seems like even the guys on the broadcast like this isn't real and the producer was like No, we're people are gonna like this. I thought that broadcast. I don't know if it was good It was miles better than Mendoza vesturian and yeah, I mean that's awful awful awful awful product Yeah, I basically when I watch that I'm tuned in on the game and my ear turns on when a rat says something weird It's awful Broadcasts have the problem with smothering the game like yeah, they're both just non-stop talked Last last gem that I got of out of a rod before I switched over was when they were they said Yeah, when avacel Garcia was in Detroit They called them a little miggy and a rod was like those are tough expectations if you don't hit 400 with a thousand homers a year You're not Miguel Cabrera and I was like yeah a rod you wrote that one down and you were feeling real good, huh, buddy I like a rod. I like I like I like those people separately that boot does such weird chemistry It's cool that they offer both broadcasts They still need to offer room everyone hates Joe Buck Joe bucks the fucking best play-by-play guy He talks so little in comparison to these other guys Yeah, if a big play happens you just listen to the crowd, which is what everyone wants, right? They just smother in the broadcast, but I liked it for a while because they were actually talking about the situations at hand Right, which I like but all right. Let's move forward. We got two games to talk about Let's take a little break and then we'll get to them Hopefully it goes to a break now look on that will come back from the break We are back we have the National League divisional series starting Jake two games today Which is exciting. We've got Braves versus Cardinals as the first game and then Dodgers versus Nationals as the night cap Let's start with the first game Braves versus Cardinals two division winners. We have Myles Michaelis versus Dallas Keiko Should be a good matchup. I was reading about I was reading on these teams Jake They're like matched up very similar like the zips projections and all that Have them all squared up I Don't know how much we want to do like a overall series preview right because we're gonna do every game anyway So let's kind of just talk about this matchup Opening it up Braves are the home team Michaelis versus Keiko you got any first thoughts First thoughts that I'll start off pretty wide and zoom in is five game sets are messed up, man Like I my original note and you know how my brain works. So this this might get a laugh out of you, but I Wrote down instantly. I was like whoever wins game one wins this series And then I was like, well, that's a that's that feels partially obvious But then I looked at some of the other matchups and I was like, I don't I don't actually believe that I think I think there's a lot of moving parts and I don't know you and I talked about this a little bit We both like Keiko getting the ball game one. He's got the playoff experience I mean for all of Houston's build-up years before that damn Verlander guy came to town Keiko was their go-to guy the spots not gonna be too big for him and Jimmy. He's been really good this year You know, this is one of my favorite things to do Keiko had one Serious outlier start this year. He had a 3.2 a turn runs against the Marlins Don't really know what that was about if you take away that one start, which I think it's one out of 19 Keiko would have had a 3-2-2 ERA this year. I mean, it's not like they're going Experience over skill to a giant degree although Soroka and freed are really good like Keiko has had a Very quality season you kind of know what you're gonna get. He's gonna give you a chance So I really like them given the ball to Keiko Yeah, and he's got experience in the postseason nine games started in the postseason and his team is six and three in those games So, you know nerves aren't gonna get the best of him. He is the home pitcher. It's kind of nice. It's kind of nice He hasn't faced the Cardinals Jake this season and he was in the American League So he for a while he hasn't faced the Cardinals since August of 2016 And he went five innings pitched like a lot of earned runs that game, but who cares about that. It was 2016 so that's kind of interesting that there's not a lot of track record there only four guys have at bats against him on The Cardinals and only one of them has a lot and that's Goldie Who's got a good amount of at bats against Keiko and it's not good. He's got 20 plate appearances 18 at bats only three hits one double 250 on base percentage 20 plate appearances Yachty Ozuna carpenter have a handful nothing really Worth talking about so it's Keiko versus a team that hasn't seen him in a while Which is interesting to me or something that I like to make note of see how that plays out because they're gonna be feeling each other out They're first time through the order and it might be the second time through the order that either Keiko settles in or They get to them But there might be a change through the first and second time I think it's funny going over to Michael is who will get the ball on the road game one Which is a tough ask anyways And I've been flip-flopping on some Jack Flaherty thoughts this whole time because I know the Brewers were coming for them But God really would like Jack Flaherty ready for game one, but anyways Michael is and it's it's part of how much baseball has changed. He actually led the NL in losses this year I know nobody actually cares about that. How many was nine nine. He had 14 Yeah, so I mean his stats are pretty solid I mean four one six ERA over a hundred eighty four innings pitched the fifth isn't too far off from that four two seven But like this is a guy that even five years ago We'd be looking at him starting game one and being like why are they throwing this jump out there? so I I think that's kind of a funny thing and I I think one of my Recurring themes for this theory and it's what you just mentioned about Keiko to a degree is for the Cardinals the hitters that jump out to me on the Cardinals are Are the righties and so we mentioned Keiko Freed is gonna get a start in this one I want to see I think a big part of this series in general is gonna be braves lefty pitching Versus the Cardinals righties and I mean Paul Goldschmidt who's been one of the best first baseman in baseball for a while now Marcelo Zuna who he's a threat. He's the definition of the threat I think he's got the stat going around on the nerd cast today was he's got the Cardinals four hardest hit balls or something like that and Then John he's your guy Yadier Molina. I'm gonna pull the experience card Because he has a pretty solid playoff batting average and he's got 89 playoff games in 343 playoff appearances if Yadis in a with runners on base against the braves lefty I mean, I really like I like Yadis experience there So I think braves lefties versus the Cardinals righties are gonna be one of the biggest themes of this series and and probably game one I was going through the Cardinals lineup. Jake is Not that good Nobody jumps off the page. Nobody jumps off the page besides Goldie. Yeah And then I went through like all right. Well, has anyone been hot lately? So I pulled up their September numbers They're fucking brutal man Yeah in September now Yaddy had a 682 OPS in September But I agree with you Yaddy in the playoffs. I expect him to come to I expect Yaddy to be a threat He's gonna give you a net bat. That's all you can hour in September 6 36 OPS Diyang 655 OPS Ozuna 622 OPS Bader 646 OPS. These guys are all in their starting lineup. They're all fucking brutal September's That's below. Yeah, I don't know at the OPS. It started with six is below average I think Goldian and we haven't have been crazy Yeah, that's the one name. We haven't mentioned yet that Cardinals fans would be mad at is Tommy Edmond Rookie he's come up this year 92 games. He had a 3-8 war hit 304 11 homers a 350 on base the kid is really playing second base third base a little corner outfield and He's the guy that's a little bit of a wild card is art is Tommy Edmond real and we're gonna be walking away from this Playoff series saying like yeah that that he's a switch hitter That's one of the guys we should have been talking about as a main thread in this lineup You and I do lean on experience. I can't buy in to play off Tommy Edmond until I see it I mean look at look at the A's rookie catcher today My guide went to throw out a guy stealing and he lost the ball and his one at bat He went down looking and that was it. Yeah. Well, the reason Edmond got a lot of run is that Ender? I'm gonna say this last name wrong in in car in Kiarte I think it's in siarte in siarte. He got hurt and then well first Edmond came up and he pushed carpenter out. I believe Was it carpenter carpenter did not have a Matt carpenter year And that's another guy that if he does have a couple if he has a two big playoff games early It's like oh Matt Carpenter's back on he's been doing better since Ender got hurt that moved Edmond to third and Carpenter back in at second. I think he's been playing well since he moved back. That means really good But anyway, my point is the Cardinals lineup does not scream Good things to me And it it really shouldn't Stats wise and even threat wise like I gave Ozuna a lot of love his year was solid But I mean he's he's a guy that's a threat and I think that's that's kind of what I was saying The right-handed bats are the only guys that I think could scare you for the entirety of this series Yeah, and then for the Braves, it's all about their top four which before a lot of national league teams That's always who it's all about Acuna albies Freeman Donaldson, you can have Marcakes. I wonder what they're gonna do with the infield Cuz I think I think I heard Dan's be swanson anyone that's listened to talking baseball knows he's been on slump watch for a while Yeah, we we missed it. We were he had some hits Yeah, he had he had a four hit game and a three hit game back-to-back So I think he's nine for his last 24 or something like that So I think they rolled Dan's be out there, but if he looks bad, I think they go to etch etch of Rhea pretty quickly I think that's definitely a story in Braves land But yeah, I mean this it kind of starts and stops with albies Freeman Acuna and Donaldson And yeah, I mean, I think the Matt Joyce Adam Duvall conversation is a fun one after checking those guys splits out Yeah, but they got a lot. They don't have any lefties, right? The Cardinals don't have any lefties Let me get in there. I don't think they have a lot of lefties I think Joyce is gonna get a lot of run and that'll be fun for him and then McCann's gonna be their backstop, right? McCann they're starting. Yeah, they they they've split pretty evenly between McCann and flowers You assume, you know McCann can still swing it pretty good from the right side of that or from the left side Excuse me, and he's got a lot of playoff experience Yeah, Matt Joyce, I I know we're talking about it kind of casually like him and Duvall who Duvall does have great splits against lefties So maybe you'll see a pinch hit it bad or whatever it is Matt Joyce is at a really good year 238 played appearances a 295 batting average a 408 on base and 858 o Ops You know Matt Joyce kind of deserves to be playing and I think Again, he's a guy who's been around a lot You're you're not you think he's gonna give you professional at bats the playoffs that statement could could change With I mean just a couple at bats, but he's an 871 OPS against right-handed pitching I think you can if he gets right and he's bat and maybe five hole for the Braves I mean now you've got you've just stretched out your lineup one more dude Yeah Now we're worried about the Braves line. I'm worried about Cardinals line Yeah Because they got I'll give him Yachty. I'll give you a Goldie And I think like Edmunds been batting to a hole. We'll see how they do it in the playoffs But after that man, I mean, I mean a Zuna is good So they're their top four is Fowler has been bad in September Edmund Goldie Ozuna Then Yachty, that's their top five then after that. It's like the young carpenter baiter That's it Colton Colton Wong's Colton Wong's a solid player He's hurt he hasn't he hasn't had a great year is he out for the whole series or they don't know yet That's that's the last I heard. I'm pretty sure he's out Yeah, let last I saw they weren't sure if he was gonna start game one I don't know not sure if he's gonna be on the roster or not He's gonna start I looked this up earlier and we're saying like they didn't think he was gonna be there That's that's good for them Yeah, cuz he's he's solid. I mean he hasn't he hasn't had what he could have had this year but he's he's a good ball player and that's the only thing that has me worried about this series Jimbo is that a Coona and Freddie Freeman are nicked up Coonya and Colton Wong I just don't want to walk away from this series and be like, yeah, you know Cardinals one and four Ronnie and Freddie they just didn't look right. I just I just don't want that to happen Yeah I'm just reading this Dakota Hudson will be available out of the bullpen because they had updates today for the Cardinals I checked this way earlier when I was doing this and I didn't see he was in but yeah Wong ran today past the test and he's gonna be in the lineup tomorrow. He's really good defensively. He's one of the best offensive Infielder show Lay down tonight. I think and we won't do the whole thing because we are going day by day But I believe they're going the Braves are going Keikul Fulton a wits And Soroka and freed I think what's gonna be an interesting thing that I have circled in this one is that Soroka and freed they're gonna be on the road and You know again guys that don't have a ton of experience They could go out there and shove and look look like the rays did tonight or if they look a little shook That could be it Fulton nevich Yeah Kind of interesting like Soroka's young dude, but we like yeah, we liked out of janky fans. We like putting Severino as the road guy go be the bad guy like go. Yeah, so maybe it's the same thing a Little bit and you know it goes one of two ways pretty quick That's that's the beauty of the sport and the other thing that I've been just flip-flopping You you could ask me every five minutes and I'll have a different answer But I mean Jack Flaherty game two if I'm a Cardinals fan I don't want to regret the Brewers coming back in the race So we couldn't line up our starters that Jack Flaherty only gets one start this series. No, he's lined up to get to If they go five, that's what I'm saying if the Braves win this in four I think you're a Cardinals fan. You're gonna be kicking yourself that you didn't have them for one and four I See what you're saying. Yeah So and that's why that's why I was on the line Yeah, and that's why and the Brewers came back into it But like you mentioned some of the Cardinals numbers this past month haven't been great the Brewers played incredible But yeah, I don't know and at the same time We fell into this trap in Yankee land if the if St. Louis can sneak out game one and they could be kikel He kikel is not unbeatable by any measure. I think that Braves house is gonna be rockin chop on Oh But if they if the Cardinals sneak out game one Jack Flaherty on the bump game two to bring it back to st. Louis for two games That that's why I think game one has more importance than it normally would but I think anyone could say that about any series You just did the chop on Hmm, Nicole and I was thinking we were at the wedding in Maine and we heard like five bridesmaids They were taking pictures in the woods and the photographer said like make crazy noise and And we heard them through the woods and we were like holy shit that sounds crazy since you can't see him It's just coming the woods. Imagine a whole tribe of Native Americans doing the like oh Chance man war was scary. Just the noises alone would have scared me War was scary next next time through the trees on horseback fucking kill you like to the Thracke And I could see Atlanta showing up to game one like that when they call it the players That's scary All right now is there is there is there a little merit to this statement that this game one is A little more important just because with with Jack Flaherty The Braves are either playing with one in the pocket or it's essentially do or die against the best picture in baseball The second half of the year. No, I don't think Jack Flaherty is a short thing in the postseason I got he's not growing there. It's just gonna be his first time You know what I mean like it a little bit. Yeah, his regular season is fantastic He could crumble in the first inning and we'd be like, well, yeah, playoff baseball is different I don't think he's an ace in the pocket at all Hey, I mean if you're if you are Cardinals fan be confident, but yeah, if you're Braves fan I think you're you can easily convince yourself like if we can get to him It's playoff baseball. It's a different animal Right walk Freddie Freeman to a run shot boom. Yeah. Yeah, there you go All right next up Dodgers versus the Nationals Nationals fly out to LA party and on the plane Jake champagne bottles screaming beat LA beat LA beat LA we had a Cameracruh there is fucking it was a nuts plane ride is crazy got Walker Bueller versus Patrick Corbin Really good matchups here gonna be a fun series It's hopefully it feels more intense I'm gonna say like West Coast Baseball if it starts in the daytime It just doesn't it's lacking in intensity, but Dodger Stadium is pretty It's got the atmosphere Yeah Los Angeles likes getting behind a winner and The they'll be there for this Dodgers team and man, I was going through the Dodgers Like year by year stuff I think this is their seventh or eighth straight playoff appearance and they you know the Dodgers are doing something special But they don't have that title and I I've got a little bit of a hot take Jim I think this is gonna be the most fun series in the playoffs Even if like the Yankees and Houston meet up even if there's You know, whatever the world series is because these teams have stacked starting pitching They've got fun bats in their lineup and the bullpins are kind of a shit show And I think this series is just gonna be a delight. I like that I was excited. That's why I was rooting for the Nats because I thought this series would be really good We got Bueller going Walker Bueller not Kershaw the torch has been passed Bueller has it in his hands Two games versus the Nats this season one in July one in May One was not great five point one innings pitch for and runs. That was when he actually matched up with Strasburg And it was like kind of important games at the end of July before the trade deadline and then there was a seven innings pitch Zero earned runs in May in the bad start does your homeward Robles tripled and Rendon had an RBI single Then there's some errors and stuff like that The numbers against him. There's not a lot there Gerardo para Gerardo para who is in baby shark He has a 316 on base percentage He's got four hits and 19 played appearances in a home run only gets him a start Maybe maybe I don't know what that does, but he's got the most and then after that The next best is a Rendon's three for six. It's 500 And again, I guess we haven't done this disclaimer on talking baseball yet But batter versus pitcher stats we know Not to put a lot of stock into them because a lot of its chance and happenstance. I Still love looking at them. I cannot stop Because if there's something crazy that pops out, it's cool You've always been a big BVP guy That was your fantasy strategy back in the day and it worked pretty well because it makes sense You can hit a guy. You can hit a guy. Well, I think it's confidence like one sodas 0 for 5 Never gonna hit off Walker Bueller. I Believe in do baby. Yeah Yeah, and this Maybe I'll go broken record mode a little bit but Jim. I'm I like Patrick Corbin Getting the game one start because we saw it in the Red Sox series last year This Dodgers team is not the same team against lefties I mean think about the the guys that get neutralized more so against lefties Muncie Peterson probably won't even start I think Bellinger is is not the same player against left-handed pitching and so Okay, Cory Seeger So you say alright, but the righties are gonna be better the righties You're worried about our Justin Turner and David freeze which no offense. I'm a big Justin Turner guy I think he gives a mean at bat, but think about the other guys I just neutralized a little bit Muncie Bellinger Peterson those are the guys that are special and dynamic and win you games and I like Corbin Coming out in game one against Walker Bueller who hasn't been Who hasn't been the Walker Bueller we saw in the playoffs that broke out last year He's had a good year But he kind of he took a step back and I think he turned it on later in the year and he's better at home So you figure with that crowd his fastball have a little more juice But kind of like what you just said I mean a one bad inning from Walker Bueller and it's gonna be like well should they have gone Kershaw or Ryu It's like get out of your Kirkogen. I like the Walker Bueller pick Yeah, he got moxie Vandy guy Jim Vandy guy whatever that means so wait so Peter said Pete jock's been starting a lot But maybe they're just facing a lot of righties lately Because who's who's poo platoons with jock is it a Taylor? I Mean Taylor's around. I know Verdugo got hurt, but he's he's a lefty And as he can play anywhere. Yeah, but he's not gonna start. He's been brutal Yeah, I I mean they love Kee-Kee And yeah, if for those of you at home that that don't know I mean that the jock Peterson splits are Are no joke against right-handed pitching jock Peterson's 252 a 349 on base with a 920 OPS He's essentially an all-star all of his home runs this year have come off of right-handed pitching against lefties a 240 on base a 505 OPS. He goes from an all-star to a double-a hitter Righty versus lefty. I think Gavin Lux might get to the start. I think he's making the roster He's been starting that second base a good amount lately. We'll see how he's been playing big big prospect A John Boy media fan will Smith and Russell Martin behind the dish. I think it's gonna be Smith We'll see how it goes, but The Dodgers have a lot of history against Corbin. They're in the same division for a long time Corbin's last start actually before I get into that was bad 4.1 in his pitch six earned runs to Cleveland I mean he's good all season. It's coming off a bad start. So that's interesting He had one start against the Dodgers this season back in May. It was really good seven in his pitch only three hits Zero and runs in his career. He has 19 games against the Dodgers to it starts to three three six ERA Justin Turner has really good numbers against him 12 for 32 with three doubles two homers. That's a one dot one one six OPS Corey Seeger has terrible numbers against him and Chris Taylor has a lot of that bats there his numbers aren't good Cody Bellinger is two for 11, you know, I'm really interested in Cody Bellinger If you if you want my honest opinion, I'm that's what I'm watching this. We've seen him kind of get Neutralized by good pitching and Yeah, I seen a lot of games where they have their way with him like top-tier pitchers So we'll see He says didn't didn't he have like a bad postseason last year Jake I'd have to get into the numbers. I just know again, it's kind of that like if there's a lefty I mean Cody Bellinger is an MVP Cody Bellinger. Oh His postseason was Worse than bad last year. Yeah, it's definitely it is definitely Bellinger watch in 16 games 11 starts 57 played appearances. He had a 385 OPS Yeah, a 193 on base percentage Holy shit, that's not even bad. That's like so. Yeah And I think he obviously last year he was he was a lesser player throughout the season And I think I did I do remember reading the articles now like that motivated him to get where he is So yeah, I mean it's Cody Bellinger. It's money time and his his numbers verse lefties aren't that I mean They're still good his numbers verse righty are much better But a 280 bad batting average of 386 OVP and a 982 OPS I mean those those are that's why he's probably the NL MVP. Yeah You want to make picks or anything to end this show? I I I guess I you know, we're not a huge pick show I think the one fun conversation again is the starting pitching here because they're the Dodgers are going Bueller They're undecided about Ryu Kershaw And then though it Bueller would be on full rest for game four and it'd be all hands-on deck for game five The Nationals have an interesting thing here Jimmy because they can go it's gonna be Corbin game one We know that I Wonder if they win if They do throw Annabelle Sanchez game two because here's my thinking You have Strasburg and Scherzer game three and four at home and The Nationals don't want to use their bullpen. They don't have a bullpen so I Think if they win game one there's a conversation be had there that you throw Annabelle out there for game two or You throw Strasburg game two because he only threw I think 34 pitches in that game What would be a two days rest It would be yeah two days rest 34 pitches So I mean, it's probably naturally a throw day, but it's more than he normally would do I don't know what you do It's that's the fun conversation because then Strasburg would be lined up for game five with again Scherzer basically being able to follow him But you have to get to game five for that But if if he doesn't pitch game two Annabelle Sanchez pitches game two Right, then there's an off-day now. We're looking at one two We're looking at normal rest or you'd have Strasburg and Scherzer with normal slash extra rest for your two home games Which that sounds pretty nice to me Yeah, I'll be interesting and it's not like Annabelle's been bad this year But I mean you you just run the risk of going oh to and then putting I mean again This this team in a Scherzer Strasburg start was a Josh Hader Normal performance away from not being here. So I think that's the fun conversation. I don't know if there is a right or wrong answer He will see that's an interesting And then and then what's the Dodgers doing were you game two or a Kershaw game to so they haven't said it's Ryu or Kershaw And then the other one will get the third game Cool for these first games, I think I think I'm taking Dodgers and I kind of want to take the Nationals I'm taking national braves. I don't care. I think I don't act like I'm saying this with confidence Yeah, no, I think Old takes expose and they're our favorite favorite account I like I might like the guy who runs old takes exposed. Sure, but I hate his account and the people That worship it or the worst the leeches Yeah, no, I think Kaikul at home is really fun and Yeah, I mean the idea of Patrick Corbin kind of shutting down the Dodgers I don't know if that's more of a dream, but that I'm a storyline guy and I kind of like This being the implosion of the Dodgers. Hey, thanks for listening Dodgers fans All right, thanks guys we'll be back tomorrow to recap these two games and preview the two American League divisional series matchups and games. Thank you very much. Leave a rating if you want. We'd appreciate it