Buy or sell isn’t a question at this point for Mike Elias and the Baltimore Orioles. The mission is to improve the position for a stretch run in a lousy American League field and not worry so much about next year – if there’s a next year at all. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Orioles miracle comeback win over the Tigers and the open market of MLB trade possibilities as Dean Kremer is the first man off the roster to Minnesota.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ historic 10-7 comeback win over the Tigers, where they overcame a 7-0 deficit. They highlighted key moments, including Jeremiah Jackson’s 12-pitch walk and Cedric Mullins’ two-run single. Despite the win, they expressed skepticism about the team’s long-term prospects, citing defensive errors and inconsistent performance. They also touched on the upcoming MLB trade deadline, emphasizing the need for bullpen reinforcements and a reliable center fielder. The conversation concluded with reflections on the Orioles’ season and the importance of maintaining fan interest.
Orioles Miracle Comeback and MLB Trade Deadline
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ recent win over the Tigers, highlighting the team’s comeback from a 7-0 deficit.
- Nestor mentions his excitement about the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and his upcoming events with GBMC and the Maryland Lottery.
- Nestor shares his recent conversations with baseball experts like Buster Olney, Tim Kerchin, and Janet Marie Smith.
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ defensive errors and the team’s overall performance, including the impact of players like Jeremiah Jackson and Cedric Mullins.
Luke Jones’ Perspective on the Orioles’ Performance
- Luke Jones recounts his experience of listening to the game while covering the Ravens’ training camp.
- Luke highlights the Orioles’ defensive mistakes and the impact of players like Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of Jeremiah Jackson’s 12-pitch walk in the seventh inning, which led to the Orioles’ comeback.
- Luke shares his frustration with the Orioles’ performance and his skepticism about the team’s ability to build on their recent win.
Historical Context and Personal Reflections
- Nestor and Luke discuss the rarity of the Orioles’ comeback, noting that it was only the third time in franchise history they came back from a seven-run deficit.
- Nestor reflects on the Orioles’ history and the impact of past comebacks, such as the 2009 game against Boston.
- Luke shares a personal anecdote about his high school friends’ reaction to the game and his own frustration with the team’s performance.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the broader implications of the Orioles’ win, including the team’s potential to make a playoff run.
MLB Trade Deadline and Team Strategy
- Nestor and Luke discuss the upcoming MLB trade deadline and the Orioles’ potential moves.
- Luke expresses skepticism about the Orioles’ ability to make significant improvements through trades, given the current market conditions.
- Nestor and Luke debate the importance of players like Gunnar Henderson and Cedric Mullins in the team’s future success.
- Luke emphasizes the need for the Orioles to focus on their current roster and avoid major overhauls.
Orioles’ Future and Fan Engagement
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of fan engagement and the impact of the Orioles’ recent performance on fan interest.
- Nestor shares his experience of watching the game with his wife and the broader interest in the team among fans.
- Luke highlights the significance of the Orioles’ win in terms of fan morale and the potential for future success.
- Nestor and Luke conclude by discussing the upcoming schedule and the challenges the Orioles will face in the coming weeks.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Tass of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We’re taking the Maryland Crab Cake Tour on the road. I got my Farnan and Dermer gear. You know when I wear this, it probably means the Orioles won. This is sort of the Orioles sunshine farning and Dermer shirt. They are HVAC specialists as well as plumbing, but they are the comfort guys. You can find them at 410 367777. They’re putting me on the road with the Maryland lottery, and our I love the kiss face bird. I’m going to be all about giving these away. I already told Roz get more because I’m going to give a lot of them away. We’re going to be Acosta’s and Timonium this week. Alan will be joining me. Luke Jones, who’s about to join me, will be joining me as we get up on trade deadline for MLB. I have had an unbelievable baseball week here. Great conversations with Buster Olney, with Tim Kerchin, with Janet Marie Smith. Just great, great baseball conversations here. And we’re going to be at Koco’s later on in August. I’m putting some other Maryland crab cake tour dates together. Our friends at GBMC have got me out as well. I did a great piece with GBMC this week on sleep, and if you’re having trouble sleeping and sleep apnea and people with sleep medicine, so I’m learning lots of stuff here. Buster Olney taught me a lot earlier, but 17 years it’s been since this sort of a comeback. I don’t even know what to say, Luke. I mean, Scrubable on the Mound. I watched every pitch of it. I did. I did a Buster-only segment in the middle of the the extra innings. Everything that went up and down with the game, and I don’t know, dude, they lost 14 to nothing Tuesday night, and we’re not going to talk about that. But like, right? I mean, but you had your own day. I mean, Ravens training camp’s open, you know that because the Purple Bird told me out in front, and you’re double dutying because they don’t give me a press credential because neither one of these organizations behaves with professionalism as I see it. But you kind of got trapped in the car, right? Like you’re you had a whole you had a whole day with the biggest comeback in Oriole history or of our lifetime or whatever it’s been.
Luke Jones 1:55
Yeah, what’s really funny about it? The Ravens obviously practiced at like 11 o’clock. Interviews are around 1230. Worked in the the media room in the facility for a little while. Got some sound done. You know, Lamar Jackson and Kyle Hamilton and Jesse Miner speaking on the first day, and we’ll obviously get to all that in another segment. But I kind of sort of listened to the first inning or two, and then got in the car. And anyone who watched that game, it was a very quick pace through the first four or five innings. Like I looked at my car clock as I was pulling out of the facility, and I had the game on the radio. And it’s only maybe 2o’clock at that point. And at that point, the Tigers were building a lead. The Orioles were committing errors. I mean, it’s wild. I didn’t watch the first seven innings, so I can’t comment on anything that, yeah, that I saw anything. I listened to it, however, and let’s call a spade a spade. This was shaping up to be a shameful effort on the heels of a 14 nothing loss when you won the first game of a series, it was
Nestor Aparicio 3:01
fire the manager kind of. It was awful. I mean, the defense was
8
Luke Jones 3:05
awful, absolutely awful. Alonso
Nestor Aparicio 3:09
and Henderson couldn’t make enough errors. Like, I mean,
Luke Jones 3:11
well, Tavarez, and once again, Leodi Taveras is not a center fielder. I mean, we’ll continue to say that, and I know Gun Henderson or not Gunner Henderson, Colton Kozer doesn’t hit lefties, so when a lefty’s on the hill, and it’s Terek Skubal, that’s that’s an extreme example, right? So, but just in general, we’ve talked about that over and over and over. But it was wild as as I was getting closer to home. Seventh inning happens, obviously coming to the end, and even the Orioles radio broadcast, you know, they’re talking about the fact that you know how’s AJ Hinch going to play this? Are they going to pull him in the middle of the inning so he can walk off the mound in a little more dramatic fashion? All of that, and obviously the Orioles, you know, we’re grinding out some at bats. Obviously they they they make it seven one, and I’m trying to think. I I had gotten into my living room, and it’s wild to kind of look at it all in hindsight because there’s so much to unpack. And I tweeted this, and I’ll stand by this for as much as there were some other heroes, some other crazy things, things that happened, some not so good things that happened along the way, right? I mean, but I go back to the Jeremiah Jackson at bat, right? They just made it seven one. He’s down 0.2 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. It’s seven one. If he is retired there, they’re not coming back and winning that game. I mean, they’re just not. He’s down 0.2, mind you. And I looked this up to to verify because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just saying this off the top of my head and I was incorrect, but I went and looked at this on Fangraphs. Entering the day on Wednesday, minimum 220 plate appearances. Jeremiah Jackson’s not qualified anymore, of course, because Holiday’s back and playing much more regularly. But of hitters with 220 plate appearances in the majors. Jeremiah Jackson has the lowest walk rate in big league baseball, down 0-2, and he works a 12-pitch walk to load the bases. Of course, Holiday hits a two-run single, Taylor Ward hits a two-run single, and suddenly it’s a seven-to-five game. That turned the game right there. I mean, when you you didn’t know it at the time, obviously, but just incredible. But in the midst of all that, and this is where I’ll pull back the curtain a little bit. You’ll get to hear from not so much Luke Jones, the reporter, but this is Luke Jones, the lifelong Orioles watcher, right? My high school buddies. We have a text group, and I’ve mentioned this periodically over the last few years. In fact, a couple years ago was one of the great stories that I had. Is as far as my personal life, having friends of mine who are not really lifelong baseball fans, and and we can certainly get into the reasons why or why not, and what the Orioles have been for most of my lifetime. But they were super into it a couple years ago. This year, not so much. Yeah, I I don’t know other than a stray comment here or there. There hasn’t been much discourse about the Orioles in two months in that high school friend chain. But for whatever reason, a couple guys were watching the game, maybe just being a Wednesday afternoon. Well, it does end when the hope
Nestor Aparicio 6:14
ends, right? When you stop hoping, that’s when you right. Sure,
Luke Jones 6:17
but I went on a rant. I went on a rant, and I’ll flat out say this. And like, I used a little more colorful language than what I’m going to say right now, especially as a man of faith and trying to, you know, not not use certain words. But I came close a couple times in the midst of the rant, and I said, “Look, guys, I’ve been covering the Orioles a long time now. I’ve watched them in my entire life. This is hardly the worst Orioles team, not. But you know, not even by all. It’s not close. They’re not close to being into that conversation. But I said this is absolutely shaping up to be the least favorite Orioles team of my lifetime. The organization, from top to bottom, should be embarrassed with the way they play defense, and I just, I’m just not a believer in this team, and it’s not really about today’s game. You know, as I was, you know, at that point it was probably seven to three, you know, or maybe a seven to five at that point. And I said, look, they’re they’re making a comeback here, but you know, I I don’t know if it really matters. And we’ll get to that point because you know I have some thoughts on that as well as we get back to the game. But it’s hilarious. I went into this rant where I was just like, “Look, I I don’t believe in what they’re doing. I don’t believe in where they’re going. I don’t think they’re building anything special. And let me be clear, Wednesday’s result doesn’t really change my mind in that way. But it was just the hilarity of the the timing of that, and then you have the biggest comeback, and only the third comeback in the history of the franchise where they were trailing by at least seven runs. 1956 at third wave.
Nestor Aparicio 7:50
I’m trying to get my head around this. So they seven runs down, only three times in how many? It’s actually 54. I’m just doing the math, and you know, 7070, years, 72
Luke Jones 8:04
years, 73 seasons, I suppose. Of, but yeah, and and now that’s per the Orioles. I’m I’m I’m gonna trust that they got that right. But this absolutely, and it’s wild. I remember that 2009 comeback. It was my sister’s birthday. I remember forget what restaurant we where we were for celebrating her birthday, but the game was on in the background. This is 2009. The Orioles weren’t very good, obviously, and I just remember they were playing Boston, and it was 10 to one. Drove home by that point, it was probably like 10 to four, something like that. And I just remember they came back and won that game.
8Nestor Aparicio 8:38
I remember the game now. Brian Brian Roberts, I
Luke Jones 8:40
think, scored the go-ahead or winning run, whatever it was. But it was it was wild. But you just see something like this, and for something like this to happen, the number of things that have to go right, the number of things the Tigers have to do wrong, and even in the in the context of the Orioles, I mean, think about Mayo in the eighth inning, he hits the two-run triple, and they have a chance to take the lead there. And they stranded him. Think about Gunner being doubled off in the 10th inning. Think about Rico Garcia when you have a two-run lead in the bottom of the 11th, and the very first pitch he gives up the game-tying two-run homer. I mean, it was just a crazy baseball game. We’re going to see what happens, right? If this team is going to get off the mat, and we’ve talked about this how many different times this year, and they’re going to do something, and mathematically, we’ve talked about the wild card race, and we’ve talked about the trade deadline. We’re going to see what happens here over the next five days as it pertains to the deadline, and then we’re going to see what happens over the next two months because nothing’s going to be decided one way or the other, right? I mean, it’s it’s the reality. You you’ve seen the Tigers, you’ve seen these other teams that are in this middle middle space of the American League. No one’s very good, right? And the Orioles are not good, but the Tigers are, and to.
Nestor Aparicio 10:00
My point in talking so much labor this week with Evan Drellick and Tim Kirchen and all these Marty Conway, Kurt Badenhausen, who does the franchise valuations we went after, Joel Poili’s been on this week, but no one wants to throw the towel in when there might not be a season next year.
Luke Jones 10:17
Yeah, and and we don’t talk. I mean, we talk about this, but we maybe let me rephrase this. I don’t talk about this as much because it’s just how I tend to be singularly focused on the field and like. But you’re much better talking about the big picture with fans and the business side and all of that. But it’s really tough to throw in the towel. I mean, it it should be really tough to throw in the towel, right? For any franchise, they only
Nestor Aparicio 10:47
took the franchise behind the woodshed for six years where they didn’t try at all. Sure, sure needed it of any day. And obviously, so you know that to to get to this point where you can try and you have a new owner and they’ve invested money and and the circumstances can’t run a rundown, but you paid him under $50 million. You let him play, give him a chance to win, right?
Luke Jones 11:06
And and the circumstances that have nothing to do with them, meaning just how bad the American League is in general, and the fact that you have three wild
Nestor Aparicio 11:15
card spots, smoke them while you got them. It
8Luke Jones 11:17
doesn’t mean that you should do foolish things, and that’s why I’ve said, if if I’m going to sign off on the Orioles being buyers, I very much want it to be looking for something that can help you beyond this year. You know, understanding next year’s as cloudy as can be at best, right? I mean, we don’t know what’s going to happen. I’d like to think the season’s going to going to happen at some point, but what kind of season? When will it begin? All of those types of questions that we have we have no clarity on whatsoever right now, but but yeah, just in a general sense. And putting aside even the Mike Elias, you know, where is he? Where how does ownership feel about him? And how how are the next couple months going to? How’s that going to play out. It’s just it’s tough to throw in the towel. I mean, it really is, or it should be, right? No one, no one should be happy about rebuilding or selling off at the deadline or having a fire sale or anything like that. So yeah, when something like this happens and you have this incredible comeback, look, I’m gonna be. I’m gonna continue to be very skeptical that this team’s gonna build on it because Colton Kauser had two walk-offs back in late May, right? They just had a seven-game winning streak and they lost back-to-back series right after that. Two very winnable series, mind you. You know, momentum is as good as the next day starting pitcher, right? I mean, that’s the old adage in baseball, but you know this is one of those that if there is something in the in the cards for them in terms of making a run, I don’t. I certainly don’t envision something where there’s a deep October run or anything like that. But holy cow, this kind of comeback win is how you start the book, right? I mean, that like that’s really. I mean, it’s just that crazy, and forgetting about all that, it was just-it’s another reminder of how wonderfully stupid this this game can be sometimes, right? I mean, you have a game where they were the absolute, you know what’s through the first six innings who bet on it and cashed a ticket when it was seven. I mean, it’s just-it’s just crazy. I mean, it’s and and look at the Tigers. I mean, think about that. That that very well could have been the final nail in the coffin for them trading Tarek Scouble now, right? I mean, I mean, just how wild that is from from their side. How gut gutted they have to be after losing that game. I mean, it’s just it really is crazy. And like I said, whether it amounts to anything of real meaning or not. It’s a game you’ll remember in the same way that I remember that game in 2009. I mean, I just do. By
Nestor Aparicio 13:48
the way, that’s the exact word I used. I I text Pete over at Costas and I said I’ll be there Thursday. We’re doing the show, and he said heck of an Orioles win, and I’m like memorable was the word I used. Memorable,
Luke Jones 14:00
right? And and and that’s one, that’s one of those where look, this has been a very frustrating season. The last two years, the amount of frustration I’ve I’ve said on the air a number of times.
Nestor Aparicio 14:13
I’m in 28th anniversaries Monday. It’s been a frustrating 28 years here at WNBC.
Luke Jones 14:18
Yes, but but sticking to this era of Orioles baseball, it’s been an incredibly frustrating two years, right?
Nestor Aparicio 14:26
But it has been piled on the rest of it. Don’t dismiss that part. No, I’m not. I’m not really.
Luke Jones 14:30
I’m just trying to make a point, Nestor. I’m talking about me, just as a baseball fan, as a baseball reporter. I’ve struggled from a brain bandwidth standpoint of what exactly has happened to this team over the last two calendar years, we’ve talked about this over and over. That day at Costas, when you and I watched the Orioles, and everyone watched the Orioles beat the absolute, you know what, out of the Yankees in the Bronx, right? And at that point in time, they had just taken two out of three from the Phillies and two out of three from the. Yankees and how things have just gone so horribly wrong since then. Well, here comes
8Nestor Aparicio 15:05
Phillies again, by the way. Sure, no
Luke Jones 15:06
doubt, but make some sort of a
Nestor Aparicio 15:07
statement one way or another over the weekend. And by the way, win two out of three. Start with that statement. How about the
Luke Jones 15:12
juxtaposition of the Orioles erasing a seven nothing win on Wednesday? The Phillies blew a six nothing lead against the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon, and got swept as a result. So, but but I just the point I’m making here is, this has been such a frustrating team, a frustrating season, a frustrating couple seasons. And to your point, yes, going back four decades, I’m glad
Nestor Aparicio 15:37
you brought that up because there is a reason you’re as pissed off as you were when they’re losing seven to one after losing 14 to nothing after this lame-ass general manager who needs to be fired was given a vote of confidence the other day. Just on and on, their catchers aren’t available. The manager they throw the ball around like the bad news, but on and on and on and on and on. One of the things that really pisses you off is that like I had Janet Marie Smith on, and we’re talking about 33 years ago when the ballpark was full. Buster only talked about how he couldn’t, he lived to come to Baltimore to get a job here because baseball was so important here, was so relevant here. And I spent the last three days, the last friggin’ 28 years, talking about what used to be around here and how maybe it could be again in some way, and you know, part of it’s just the fact that like training camp’s on. Were there people out there? The fans are out there, right, or not yet? Yeah, yeah, lots of
Luke Jones 16:30
fans. Yeah, okay, tons of fans. On a
Nestor Aparicio 16:32
day like that, it’s a beautiful 80 degree day. I will wish I would have gone to see Melanct, and I was up all night with Rush and Getty Lee in New York. But it’s a beautiful day, middle of summer. I mean, middle of middle of summer. I mean, kids are away, school camps. I have people telling me what they’re doing with their families and all that. 1o’clock game, lost 14 to nothing. I’m watching it. You’re watching it. I’m not gonna. I’m not even gonna bshade, dude. I’m. I’m being really honest with you. When it was seven to nothing, my wife was on lunch break. She came in to where we sit and watch, and we watch with the cat. I watched the first four innings with the cat. She watched the next three innings with the cat. When I went in and the game was tied, she was watching it on her iPad. I in my life, I swear, I don’t ever remember in the 10 years she’s been working, I went in, and she continued to watch a freaking Orioles game in the middle of summer, when they’re under five. She doesn’t like. She didn’t care. I don’t know why. I have to, I have to ask her why she was watching. But your buddies were watching too. So for whatever happened in the comeback, whatever that was, for the people like me that watched the first couple innings, or people that got in on it at 430 because somebody hit them, or said, “Hey, the Orioles came back, and I was doing radio with Janet Marie Smith and Buster Olney and Evan Drellic, who was fantastic. They were all I just got great stuff for people that want to listen to good baseball conversations for people no more than me, which I love, they there was a little awakening, right? People were watching, and everybody in my house watched, including my. And this,
8Luke Jones 18:10
this was kind of the point I was trying to make, and you know, we we’ve kind of veered off because you
Nestor Aparicio 18:14
care. No, no, but care. That’s the point.
Luke Jones 18:17
It’s it’s that, but for me, it’s also just the beauty of baseball and just sports in general, right? They might lose, they might lose six straight right after this. We don’t know, but that’s that right there. That example on on Wednesday is why I still love baseball, right? I mean, it’s because you know, and again, right?
Nestor Aparicio 18:35
I was watching, yeah, and I’m glad I wasn’t watching when they lost 14 to nothing. But dude, I went to New York on two minutes’ notice. People ask me, like, I literally went to New York on two minutes’ notice. I went up, put my phone in my pocket, I hung out with Scott Norton. I had food. I had Getty Lee. I had and then and then I got on the bus at midnight, and I’m like, oh, the Orioles play. I literally, literally, went on my phone and I looked at and I’m like, how the f did they lose 14 to nothing? And the headline on the app was Tiger score a run in every inning. Yeah, and I’m like, boy, that’s indignant. Which I believe dignity. It really is, right?
Luke Jones 19:12
I want to say I could be wrong on this. I’ll get to. It’s funny you mention that. How
Nestor Aparicio 19:17
bad do you have to be to give up a run in every inning? And I think it’s it might
Luke Jones 19:21
be the first time in Orioles history that that had happened, that the opposition had scored in every inning. It might be that, and maybe that maybe being shut out, something like that. But it’s funny you mention this.
8Nestor Aparicio 19:31
There’s a lot of stuff that’s happened since last time you and I got together. Like
Luke Jones 19:36
I, I didn’t watch a pitch of Tuesday night’s game.
Nestor Aparicio 19:38
Good for you.
Luke Jones 19:38
So what’s funny because
Nestor Aparicio 19:41
you don’t have to. I don’t. You and I, you know, a little, a little bit, a little bit of in that,
Luke Jones 19:46
a little bit of inside baseball in how you and I operate. For for anyone listening, obviously we recap the game, but we also try to talk big picture, and we’ll talk about topical things, all of that nature. But when there’s a Tuesday night game into a. Wednesday afternoon game, on top of Luke’s going out to Owings Mills and covering an 11 o’clock practice, you and I chat still only allow me to
Nestor Aparicio 20:08
go. We didn’t re we
8Luke Jones 20:09
didn’t recap. Well, I mean that anyway. Noted, but now I lost my train of thought. But we didn’t we didn’t recap Tuesday night’s game. So when we have a scenario like that, if I have a chance to do something with the family and I have two nieces and Moana’s their favorite movie, and the live-action Moana had come out right before we went to the beach and we wanted to go last week and didn’t work out, well, I everyone kind of knew like Uncle Luke’s schedule picks up big time starting this you know, Wednesday, for the foreseeable future. So we decided to go to the, we went to the movie. You know, we saw the live action Moana, and how was it? It was, it was good. I mean, look, if you have if you have kids or you have nieces or grandkids or or whoever who like Moana, it’s enjoyable. I mean, The Rock plays Maui. I mean, it’s it it was well done, right? I mean, an Oscar or anything. I knew
Nestor Aparicio 21:05
there was an angle.
Luke Jones 21:06
But but what’s but what’s funny is you know I mean I didn’t watch a pitch in the same way you were kind of talking about it, and I was checking it on my phone. And obviously, I mean, if we’re going to talk about something from Tuesday’s game, like where are they with Dean Kramer right now, I mean, if if if we’re talking about you know the rest of the way, I can’t
Nestor Aparicio 21:26
imagine being a host at the fan at any point in my life. But if I had to sit and do four hours on Dean Kramer and Pete Alonso yelling at each other, right, right. I mean,
Luke Jones 21:34
that was just awkward. I mean, just like really awkward. And I mean, obviously they didn’t hit at all, and they were they were down big early on, right? So I I put a little less of that on the offense, but they still didn’t hit. No one padded padded any stats, right? No one hit a a home run late in the game, anything like that. So so yeah, when you have that kind of performance on Tuesday night, and then you’re down seven nothing through six innings on Wednesday, and Scoubel’s pitching, and the Tigers are in this weird space of: Are they going to throw in the towel and trade him, or are they going to make a run? And obviously, they’re they’re leading big. They’re feeling good. There’s a there’s an emotional energy for the fans that are there in Detroit, knowing that you might be seeing Scoubel in a in a Detroit uniform for the last time, so you want to give him, you want to give him your his flowers regardless of what’s going to happen at the deadline, and then Orioles history breaks out by you know in in the process of all that. So it’s crazy, and like I said, whether it leads to anything or not, we’re going to find out. We’re gonna find out. My my gut tells me no because that’s the DNA of this team is they get a big win or they they happen to have a nice stretch and then look I I can’t tell you what’s between their ears but they play like a team that starts to be satisfied again, or starts to get comfortable again, and then it goes away, right? It’s fleeting. They haven’t, they haven’t had that stretch where, you know, they win seven in a row and then win 10 of 15 right after that, right? I mean, they haven’t, they haven’t done that this year, right? I mean, they hadn’t won more than three in a row until you know this stretch right that wrapped around the All Star break. So we’re gonna find out. I mean, this is a Phillies team coming in now that has very high expectations, had a very very disappointing series, has you know not you know Wednesday’s result notwithstanding, they they haven’t really hit the ball in the way that they expect to, or they would like to. They are a they’re a team that’s looking to make some, you know, looking to make some additions at the training. They have expectations
Nestor Aparicio 23:51
there. I yeah, I know. Well, they do, but but
Luke Jones 23:53
but they were a team that got off to a horrible start and fired their manager, right? I mean, so you know, just it’s it’s another example of a team that they have much higher expectations just based on how they’ve played in recent years. You know, they’ve been a team that’s been to a World Series, all that, but they’re scuffling, right? And and you look at them like this is a this is a time to jump on them. Like if this win on on Wednesday afternoon is going to mean anything, gotta go at minimum take two out of three. Go go stomp on another team. You know, at some point you got to start beating some teams, right? The the Tigers they just they they ripped their heart out on Wednesday. I mean, what little the Tigers might have had left as far as their hopes. That kind of feels like that’s all she wrote for them. You know, I I kind of had to laugh at the Masson broadcast. I mean, they they showed the famous photo of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston. You know the you know the award winning photo of him saying “Get up. No one’s going to believe it, right? I mean, so like they obviously had the you know the the prize fight motif going back and forth at how crazy that game was. But do you want it to just be a nice game? Nice moment in the midst of a really disappointing season, or can it be the jumping-off point to doing some? I want to say special because the third wild card in a mediocre American league. I’m not going to. I don’t know. I feel special at this point, though. If you if you want to do that, you got to build on it, right? Or you can just, or you can just exhale on the on the plane ride home and enjoy your off day, and then lose two out of three this week. Well, you know, you begin the whole thing by saying you still didn’t believe in them. So I don’t, I don’t. I mean, I’m not. But that said, I’m also not going to deny the math and the reality of where the American League is right now. It’s sitting there for someone to emerge. The Red Sox have done that over the last three and a half weeks. Now we’ll see if they continue that, but the point is, it’s sitting there. I mean, the Red Sox were in way worse shape than the Orioles were at any point this year. Now, doesn’t mean you have to win 15 in a row. You know, that’s generally not a formula you wouldn’t be counting on to to get back in it. But they’re in a position now that hey, come home and have a winning home stand at at a minimum. See what happens at the trade deadline, and you got two months to go. Right, mathematically they’re right there. I can’t deny that. Right, anyone you could loathe this team, as I just alluded to that how how much disdain I have watching this team at times. Like I was angry just listening to the defense on the way home and from from Owings Mills on Wednesday, right? And I I think a lot of fans feel that way, but there’s two months to go, and we’re gonna find out, right? I’m not gonna bet on them. I I won’t. You know, I Craig Albernaz could ask me, are you Luke? Would you bet on this team the rest of the way? I’d say no, but that said, the math like this isn’t you know this isn’t the Cleveland Indians in Major League You know where we’re like it takes a miracle run like they don’t have to win 95 games. I’m guessing something in the neighborhood of, I don’t know, 84, 85, 86 wins. It’s probably getting you in the dance in this American League. So
8Nestor Aparicio 27:09
it’s about how good they can play the rest of the way, and we we want them to start playing looking like a playoff team. And to your point, they won’t even have to look like a playoff team to be one.
Luke Jones 27:18
Yeah, I mean they’re they’re a couple games out with how they’ve played so far this year, right? Now that said, I mean, you can’t play defense like you did on Wednesday. I mean, that was even by their standard, that was really bad, right? That was real. That was that was easily one of the worst defensive games of the year. I don’t even need to see it. I just heard it. I could hear it was Josh Lewin and Brett Hollander. I could hear the disgust those guys had, and they’re you know they’re trying to be as positive as they can be in that spot. But you know, I mean, they are
Nestor Aparicio 27:50
people to be positive, Lou. But but you look at that. I mean,
Luke Jones 27:53
you look at that, and this is where it’s like, all right, after a win like this, I’ll give a little bit of oxygen to buying. They need bullpen arms. They they need a bullpen arm. Rico, I admire to a point trying to get Rico Garcia back to where he was the first two months. Look at his numbers over his last 21 appearances. I mean, it’s ugly. Like it’s really ugly. Not saying DFAM, but
Nestor Aparicio 28:22
but they were putting them in leverage positions. That’s the thing. I mean, way above his pay grade. Wednesday and Wednesday. You know, Wednesday’s
Luke Jones 28:28
a little different story because I understand they’ve had to cover more innings the last couple days with their pen than what they’ve had to do the last three or four weeks. But man, you just you just can’t trust him at all right now. I mean, he needs to be, you know, he needs to be kind of at the bottom of the totem pole right now. And then if he works his way back up into leverage, then great. But so so they need at least one really serious bullpen arm, and I would even argue maybe two. So problem is, just about every other team. That’s, you know, whether you’re a a wild card pretender or whether you’re the best team in the league, everyone’s looking for that. So how easily can you get that? I’ll continue to say it. They need another outfielder, right? They, you cannot continue to play Lodi Taveras in center field.
Nestor Aparicio 29:19
Well, that being said, you’re going to trade Taylor Ward to get a different outfit, you know. And that’s why, like, I mean, and the Rogers thing, right? Like, I mean, to deal him, or you’re not. I, I, I mean, it’s tough to say. I can’t fathom they’re gonna deal any of these guys. I think they’re gonna buy, and I think that that’s gonna happen because of desperation all the way around. Yeah, inspiration and desperation. I mean,
8Luke Jones 29:39
the only thing I would say, I mean, maybe, maybe there’s a team that feels that they have some kind of a surplus of outfielders from a defensive standpoint, but but they’re looking for a right-handed. I don’t know. It’s tough. Like, and that’s what. That’s why I just keep coming back. I, I, I openly admit I’ve been so wishy-washy about the. Deadline, and that’s generally not a good. It’s not something I say to compliment myself. I don’t, but it’s just how I feel about this team. It’s how I feel about probably what I’m expecting the market to look like. You know, it’s very much a seller’s market. I mean, it’s just I just don’t know what they’re going to be able to pull off unless you do something really, you know, major leaguer for a major leaguer, two major leaguers for a major league, like you know, like something like that, and then, but you just wonder, okay, are you just robbing Peter to pay Paul in that scenario, right? Are you just opening up a deficiency somewhere else? So we’re gonna say, but I’ll leave you with this, and I said this the other day, and I’ll continue to say it. And you know, these guys did it on Wednesday. If they do have any kind of a semi-meaningful run in them to to be able to do this, it’s got to be the guys they already have, right? No one’s coming. You’re not trading for for anyone that’s saving your season, right? I mean, they’re they’re not they’re not trading for Scouble. I’d be absolutely stunned if you’re sending if I’m sending out the WNST text that the Orioles are the ones to acquire Tarekle. I’ll say that right now. And if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. It’ll be a heck of a story then. But whoever they’re going to acquire, yeah, they might be able to get a couple guys that help. But it’s way more about what they have, right? Jackson Holidays had an awesome July. It’s got to keep going. Gunner Henderson, Gunner Henderson, Gunner Henderson, Gunner Henderson. Like I can’t, we can’t keep saying it enough. How important that has to be if they’re gonna make a run. But it’s it’s the guys they have. I mean, it’s just that simple. And you know, Wednesday was heck of a lot of fun. I’d like to think it can lead to something, but again, if I’m being perfectly honest with you, I’m going to say no. And if I’m wrong, well, it won’t be the first time I’m wrong. It certainly won’t be the last time I’m wrong. But heck of a day and a historic win when you look at the history of this franchise. That’s for sure. Yeah, you know, I looked at the Phillies in this week, and then the Angels in in the middle of next week, and then off to Texas to the Rangers, then off to Minnesota, then off to Tampa. I mean, certainly, and they no one to be scared of. They get the Yankees at the on the 18th of August. We’re talking a couple, three weeks. There’s nothing about that run there that feels like two and 11 that’s going to sink them. You know what I mean? Like there’s no teams there to be. Yeah, I mean even the Yankees and the Rays. I mean they’ve had some stretches over the last few weeks where you look at them and kind of say, “Ooh, that doesn’t look like top of the American League. So who knows, man? I mean it’s stranger things have happened, but I also know we’ve watched this same team for four months, and coming back from seven runs down is an amazing win. It’s an amazing single day accomplishment, but I also the first six innings are the kind of things that we’ve seen them do all too often this year. That you know, is a leopard going to change its spots this slate in the season? Well, we’re going to find out, and it’ll be interesting if they do. That’s for sure.
Nestor Aparicio 33:07
Here’s Luke Jones. He is Baltimore. Luke certainly could find him out on the interwebs. You could find him if you see him out at Ravens. If you won the lottery and you’re out there, you can yell Luke. Call Uncle Luke. He’ll he’ll turn a little faster like his niece is yelling at him. All it’s brought to you by Farnon and Dermer, and we’re doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. Costas, Allen’s coming out. Just done so much baseball this week. We’ve had the greatest baseball guests. If you love baseball and you’ve hung in this segment as long as you have, with me bitching and him smiling, and all of us talking about all of this, Buster Olney, Tim Kirchen, a lot of throwback stuff here. Evan Drellic, who wrote a great book on the Astros, which has tentacles to this and labor, all of that out there. It all be at Baltimore positive by the weekend. We get up on the trading deadline as well. I am Nestor. We are WNSD AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking. Baltimore positive.
