Finding the sweep spot in Chicago lifts battered Birds back to Baltimore

After a sloppy weekend sweep in Pittsburgh, the Orioles took advantage of decent pitching and cold bats in Chicago, closing out a trio of wins that buoys the upcoming home stand against San Francisco and Arizona with some renewed optimism. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss all elements of a Birds team that is navigating a choppy start to the season with more injuries and help needed on the mound.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host Todd Radom on the show next Friday as part of the Ravens-themed coverage.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Record and air the Canadian rock stars segment this week featuring April Wine and a Honeymoon Suite/Rush appearance, including Gilmore from Rush.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Record and air the Favelas segment this week as part of the weekly programming lineup.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Coordinate and appear at the Maryland crab cake tournament stops at Costas on Thursday the 16th, Koco’s on the 23rd, and Pizza John’s in Essex on May 1, promoting the Maryland Lottery Fresh Maryland Treasures campaign.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend and participate in the GBMC “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes” event on Friday the 17th to support sexual abuse prevention and awareness.
• [ ] Join the WNST AM 1570 Baltimore Positive show this week as a featured guest.

Orioles’ Sweep of White Sox and Initial Thoughts

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ three-game sweep of the White Sox, noting the team’s undefeated record on the south side since wearing the Aparicio 59 throwback jersey.
• Nestor mentions the chilly conditions at Camden Yards and the availability of good seats, despite the cold weather.
• Luke Jones and Nestor joke about the pronunciation of “Farnin” and reminisce about Mark Farn Nin from Grand Funk Railroad and the Baltimore Skipjacks.
• Nestor expresses optimism about the Orioles’ potential to play better baseball, mentioning his prediction of 92 wins and the importance of the bullpen.

Current State of the Orioles and AL East Standings

• Luke Jones highlights the Orioles’ second-place standing in the AL East and the inconsistency in their play, noting that only the Yankees have a winning record in the league.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the contributions of Taylor Ward and Gunner Henderson, who are currently the team’s top hitters.
• Nestor mentions the struggles of young players like Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, and Ryan Mountcastle, who are striking out and leaving runners on base.
• Luke notes the importance of the bullpen and the need for consistent performances from relievers like Ryan Helsley, Tyler Wells, and Grant Wolfram.

Challenges Faced by the Orioles’ Bullpen

• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges faced by the Orioles’ bullpen, including the absence of proven relievers and the reliance on young and inexperienced pitchers.
• Nestor praises the bullpen’s performance in the recent series against the White Sox, mentioning the contributions of Ryan Helsley and Rico Garcia.
• Luke acknowledges the bullpen’s volatility and the need for better consistency from relievers like Anthony Nunez and Sir Anthony Dominguez.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of finding value in the bullpen and the potential for developing relief pitchers from the minor leagues.

Impact of Injuries on the Orioles’ Rotation

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of injuries to Zach Eflin and Dean Kremer on the Orioles’ rotation, noting the loss of potential starters.
• Nestor expresses concern about the team’s ability to achieve his prediction of 92 wins without a stable rotation.
• Luke mentions the potential for Dean Kremer to contribute as a spot starter and the importance of Kade Povich’s performance in the upcoming games.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the need for better performance from starters like Kyle Bradish and Chris Bassitt to alleviate pressure on the bullpen.

Offensive Performance and Defensive Issues

• Nestor and Luke discuss the offensive performance of the Orioles, noting the contributions of Taylor Ward and Gunner Henderson but expressing concern about the struggles of other hitters.
• Luke highlights the importance of Pete Alonso’s performance and the need for better production from young players like Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, and Ryan Mountcastle.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the defensive issues faced by the team, including misplays and errors in the outfield and infield.
• Nestor mentions the need for better focus and execution from players like Kyle Bradish and the importance of the manager’s role in maintaining discipline.

Upcoming Games and Future Prospects

• Nestor and Luke discuss the upcoming series against the Giants and the importance of maintaining momentum from the recent sweep.
• Nestor mentions the potential for improved performance from players like Adley Rutschman and the need for better consistency from the bullpen.
• Luke highlights the importance of the upcoming home stand and the need for better production from veterans like Pete Alonso and Ryan Mountcastle.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for trades and acquisitions to strengthen the bullpen and improve the team’s overall performance.

Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events

• Nestor and Luke wrap up the discussion by expressing optimism about the Orioles’ potential to improve and achieve their goals for the season.
• Nestor mentions upcoming events and appearances, including the Maryland Crab Cake Tournament and various community events.
• Luke discusses the upcoming NFL draft and the potential impact on the Ravens’ roster and performance.
• Nestor and Luke express excitement about the upcoming season and the potential for the Orioles to make a significant impact in the AL East.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles sweep, White Sox, bullpen issues, Taylor Ward, Gunner Henderson, Pete Alonso, Adley Rutschman, Kobe Mayo, defensive struggles, pitching consistency, injury updates, manager ejection, American League, Baltimore.

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

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Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 task Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively watching the sun come up over Camden Yards after a three game sweep in Chile South Chicago. You ever since I put that Aparicio 59 throwback on the Orioles are undefeated on the south side in front of the very chilly Louie Aparicio statue out and left center field under the scoreboard when the winds blowing in under there. And there are plenty of good seats available from what I saw. And really Luke a rocky period. And I want to give some love to foreigner a farmer. Read it off of your shirt because I see this is where I knew I was gonna trip the comfort guys while they tell me to do that, you get tripped up.

Luke Jones  00:47

It’s farnin farn

Nestor Aparicio  00:48

in Durban. Here’s the problem.

Luke Jones  00:50

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I never what’s so used to say in farmer, right? So, like, so I think that’s

Nestor Aparicio  00:54

what trip and Mark farn Nin from the Grand Funk Railroad. And then there was Mark Furner, who was a defenseman for the Baltimore skip jacks. I’m not making this up. You can Google this. I mean, I knew mark for so I the derma. I’m fine with the backside of it. I had Zach out here last week. We had a plumbing job. But they they do HVAC and AC, and they’re our friends. We appreciate them sponsoring all of our sports reports, all the stuff up in the audio vault. And you know now that the orals have won three in a row, I get to get back on the bandwagon, even though it was never really off the bandwagon. I just I know they’re capable of playing better baseball. I picked them at 92 wins. I’m going to continue to remind that over under as to whether they can get there or not. But signs of life happen when you find someone in the bullpen, you think you do the job, even when they stumble and when you start to peel back, Gunner Henderson, and what he is, and what Pete Alonso represents. Dude, it’s, you know, it’s April 10 man. You know, the giants are in town. The weather’s going to break this week. The efflin injury, the bad spots of the No kittredges And the and wherever the Tyler wells are, and wherever the Keegan Aikens are, and wherever Jackson holiday may be. And when Jordan westburg falls out of the Scott like all of those are supposed to be big contributors to this effort, and they haven’t picked up a toothpick yet. So for me, balancing it at 500 and being able to come back from that, that sucker punch they took from Pittsburgh, especially on Saturday, and answer, you know, okay. I mean, manager got thrown out, lit a fire under their ass all sudden, you know, whatever, whatever you want to use in the baseball thing. They’re alive. They’re okay. They weathered a little storm. They’re coming home to better weather. And you know, let’s pick it up, boys, is what I would say.

Luke Jones  02:51

Yeah. I mean, a reminder that their second place in the Al East going into the off day, and then, of course, coming home now to start their second home stand of the season, and there are only three teams in the American League right now that even have a winning record. It’s really no one other than the Yankees. You know, Cleveland’s eight and five, Texas is seven and five. But there’s no one other than the Yankees that really has looked good in the Al entirely, right? I mean, you kind of look at the run differentials and all the all those kinds of, you know, kind of beneath the surface statistics to kind of see where teams are. And you’re seeing a lot of, frankly, what the Orioles have been, a lot of inconsistency. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and say that the Orioles played great baseball in Chicago. They played well enough to

Nestor Aparicio  03:38

beat a bad team, yeah.

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Luke Jones  03:40

And by the way, I’m okay with that for right now. I like it a lot. I mean, I’ll say this. I mean, they won three games in Chicago, and who exactly is swinging the bat? Well, right now I see two guys that are very clearly swinging the bat. Well, Taylor Ward, who’s been fantastic and has nine doubles already, and gunner Henderson, who accounts for half the team’s homers at this point in time. So you know, you have a couple others that have been okay, like Richmond’s been okay, but he hasn’t been great. Pete Alonso, still not hitting, right? I mean, go down the list. I mean, members of the young corps that we’ve talked about, kalaser and mayo, I mean, are not hitting at all

Nestor Aparicio  04:19

and having really dreadful at bats. They’re striking out a lot. They’re leaving runners on. I mean, 13 runners left on. They won, but, you know, seated her pants, and it’s freezing out there, and they’re moving the game times around. And, you know, everything’s upside down, and you get there, you’re blowing on your hands. And, I mean, I couldn’t believe people sat in it on Tuesday, in like, in the ninth inning, the woman who had the mask up, and the six, same six White Sox fans there wearing Ron Kittle jerseys, or the hell was going on like I’m watching it because I Luke, it doesn’t mean anything to you, and it maybe doesn’t mean anything in my audience, except that I’ve experienced this stuff. So I worked in Chicago to. Of the century. I was nationally syndicated. My kid was of that. He was 1415, years old. I brought him out on a road trip when the Orioles played in Comiskey on a Tuesday night, sort of Albert Bell era. I mean, this is 99 2000 and Dude, it was so cold. There were 3500 people there, which felt like nobody’s in now, I see games that look like there’s less than 1000 they look like Eggers down games or whatever. I mean literally, because they just don’t care. They’re making it for television. They don’t care. They don’t care about they if you’re saying they care about the fans and moving the game from seven o’clock to two o’clock, then they really don’t care if anybody shows up. And then when people show up, I feel sorry for them. You know what I mean? I felt sorry for Rob long and his little hoodie down in the dugout like I’m it’s cold, man, and playing baseball, and it is not natural, not anymore natural, seeing these kids run around with the lacrosse sticks when it’s 28 degrees around here. But I mean, and I didn’t play lacrosse, but I played baseball. It’s not baseball weather and it’s, it’s not, it’s just not going to be good, as my dad would say quar needs more heat to pitch.

Luke Jones  06:05

So, I mean, it’s, it is what it is, right? But they won

Nestor Aparicio  06:08

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three. Gonna

Luke Jones  06:10

say? I mean, yeah, one three was the eyeball test. Impressive. No, not really. I mean, I have to say this, since you mentioned Tuesday, anyone who watched that game through the first four or five innings, and I’m not talking Orioles baseball. I’m not talking White Sox baseball here, those first four or five innings. That’s some of the worst Major League Baseball I’ve ever watched. The first 11 Orioles batters, six strikeouts, four walks and a hit by bat, hit by pitch. I mean, there, there wasn’t a ball put in play over those first 11 batters. And that’s not to say it was good pitching, because, I mean, the White Sox starter who, by the way, was optioned to the miners after that game on Tuesday. I mean, we talked a lot about the three true outcomes in baseball. I mean, that was the two outcomes, because you weren’t getting any home runs even so. But they found a way. And the thing that I will say, and I will take some some optimism away, they pitch pretty well in this series. And again, it’s the White Sox, right? I’m not going to sit here and act like the White Sox or anything to pop your chest out over as far as being able to beat them three straight. But they pitched, well, you know, shaky with Ryan Helsley, right? I mean, Rico Garcia walked two guys in the ninth inning on on Wednesday. Well, they’re showing

Nestor Aparicio  07:29

a lot of confidence in him, right? I mean, he’s, he’s a good

Luke Jones  07:32

story, yeah, he’s been really good. I mean, they’d be in a lot of they’d be in a bad spot right now where you’re saying, How are you getting to Ryan Helsley, consistency, consistently. And you know, Helsley hasn’t had clean innings, but overall, I’m not overly concerned with him. But you know, Tyler wells got off to a shaky start. He’s pitched better since then. Grant Wolfram has had some really good outings. They need him. Because, I mean, there are other lefties, Keegan, Aiken and Dietrich ends are on the IL right. So you’re having to, you’re needing to count on some other guys that in some leverage situations, that, frankly, just haven’t done it, or haven’t done it to a degree where it inspires a lot of confidence, but they’re making it work. I mean, Anthony Nunez pitched the eighth inning on

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Nestor Aparicio  08:20

Wednesday afternoon. We knew was going to be this when they came north. Sure they did not at all. They didn’t have a stable of proven relief pitchers, and I don’t even know what proven is. I mean, I see Sir Anthony warming up in the bullpen in Chicago, and I’m thinking like, I don’t know if that was my closer. I wouldn’t, you know, I sleep better with Helsley. And in a general sense, this is where Elias is the smartest guy in the room and pisses off lock. And for her and anybody that wants to hate on him, is, you know, he thinks himself as a pitcher. He thinks himself as a pitching guy. I thinks himself as a budget guy in getting better value and being smarter than the next guy, and being able to take a draft pick that he saw eight years ago, who was a first round draft pick, and say that O’Hearn guy always had potential. Bring him in here. We’ll we’ll analytic him up. We’ll figure him out. Zach, well, Bradish, obviously, from the deal, to say that that’s the guy, I think that can be a Cy Young candidate, and then Rogers as well in the Stowers thing to say, I understand pitching, and I can get better value out of pitching. I I don’t know Elias at all. I’ve had half of one conversation with him ever, but I think if I spent more time with him, that part of the pitching thing would be, this is how we find relief pitchers. Is we find guys from the Mexican it’s like a Major League, the Mexican penal League. We bring them in, bringing a guy from a y who’s been in eight organizations, bring, you know, like Nestor Cortez was his first, you know, mission. And years ago, right? So, I mean, he has found these diamonds, and sometimes they escape him, but I think he feels like he can find this kind of talent to give him nine to 18 pitches in his in a circumstance to throw strikes. And the latest experiments are what we’re seeing, right, a reformed position player that they turn into a pitcher. I mean, it, it is a little Willy Wonka. It is a little science experimenty, is it not?

Luke Jones  10:27

I mean, it is. And by the way, you mentioned Nestor Cortez because I know he’s your guy. That was actually the last year the Duquette era,

Nestor Aparicio  10:36

that’s right, he was a Rule five, right, yeah.

Luke Jones  10:39

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But your point is well taken.

Nestor Aparicio  10:41

Well, Ducat was a genius, too. In that way, he was, in certain ways, weird freaking dude, nasty dude, but what a genius. Hey. I mean, it’s funny.

Luke Jones  10:51

I was actually, I was just talking to a friend who used to work a little bit in media, but he’s a big Orioles fan. We were kind of talking about the state of the team, and this was a couple days ago before they completed the sweep, when you know, I mean, I, I know you wrote a column criticizing what we’ve seen early on, I did as well. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and and just ignore a sweep in Pittsburgh and some choppy play and waiting for the bats to come alive and all that three and

Nestor Aparicio  11:17

six and getting swept in Pittsburgh’s not good enough.

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Luke Jones  11:19

But we knew that, but we talked about it from the standpoint of, because you mentioned Duke had, I mean, I think back to where the Orioles were three years ago, right? They win 101 games, win the division home field advantage, right, first round by all of that. And even before we got to that Texas series there, there was very much a mindset that I think both fans and media had at that point in time of look at how good they are right now, and this is before quite a few members of that young core are even here yet, right Just think how much better they’re going to be in a few years. And I pointed out to him, relative to expectations, a lot of the Duquette era holdovers, you know, the Cedric Mullins, Austin Hayes, Santander was a Rule five pick, all that those guys lived up to expectations to a way more impressive degree than what we’ve seen from basically everyone not named gunner Henderson to this point, right as far as this young core. But to bring it back to the point we were talking about with the bullpen. It’s kind of been what they’ve done. They deviated from that a little bit at the 2024 trade deadline, when they obviously picked up Sir Anthony Dominguez, they bring in Gregory Soto. You looked at that bullpen that they had last year. At this time, they had more money pumped into it. But I will say, and this is where I’ll stick up for Elias a little bit. And I say that as someone, as you know, going back a few years now, one of my biggest criticisms of him and his roster building has been their bullpen. But you know, they had a higher price bullpen at this time a year ago, and it wasn’t great. They didn’t perform great. So you kind of look at it through the lens,

Nestor Aparicio  13:00

he’s been a mixed bag in that the way to Costa has been with the wide receivers where, like, he’s got some Craig kimbrels in there, and he’s made some judgment calls on all of those pitchers that they dealt for in the pennant race, to your Sir Anthony and that group, the Phillies guys, as I would think of them, that didn’t make it to put now, they didn’t hit the Ball, man, they had all sorts of issues, I mean, reasons why they would lose, and who you want to pin it on. And the manager got fired, and they only brought six guys back from the opening day roster, and they spent the fortune, and they have new ownership, and fredo’s gone, but they brought in Steve Martin and, you know, and Michael aghetti and Katie Griggs, and they’re going to get an all star game. And even just all these the backdrop of massing and who’s paying for it and try, they’re selling tickets, and they got a lot going on new manager, but on a night by night basis, the biggest thing that concerned all of us is the bullpen. It probably will continue to be that, because I keep thinking they’re going to hit the ball. They’re going to hit the ball today. It’s Taylor Ward and and Henderson. Next week, it might be cows are in rushman or mayo and holiday I don’t you better hope it is. But from the pitching standpoint, the starters, we only mentioned, effin and Tommy John, which is like the worst possible thing that if you would have told me two weeks ago on April 10, I would have thought was an April Fool’s joke like efflin is already gone. Already Tommy John, good night. Goodbye. Second home stand. He’s not even on the team. He’s not even considered to be on the team. Like that’s a massive blow for my 92 wins, because I had him sort of penciled in as being one of the great hopes of this year to make 27 starts and look like a three starter. Who could I’m going to give wins and loss. It’s going to piss you and Kevin Brown off, so I’m not even going to bother to say he could have been 15 and eight and 27 starts and thrown 182 innings, and all of that’s blown up, and we haven’t even gotten into what the long term part of that is, but I think they’re going to hit the ball. I like the. Starters and the bullpen continues to remain like they’re going to win games, when their bullpen can come in a cold day and perform and give them innings, even the Kate Povich innings were important on Sunday.

Luke Jones  15:11

Yeah, yeah. I mean to go back to effing for a moment. My apologies to everyone on the wnst tech service. I had a church meeting in the midst of that and missed it, but I think we all excuse exactly, but when we all knew he was getting a second opinion and he was going to see Dr Keith Meister in Arlington, the Rangers team doctor who has performed a number of elbow surgeries for the Orioles in recent years, I think we all knew where that was going. And it’s a bummer. It happened on this happened on his birthday, right? I mean, he had surgery. His birthday was on Wednesday, so it’s disappointing. I mean, the silver lining is you weren’t looking at Zach Eflin as your opening day starter, as your number one or number two starter or number three starter. He was your number five starter, so you were hoping that that meant a higher floor for your number five starter, and Dean Kramer pitched well in Norfolk on Wednesday. I do think we’re going to see Dean Kramer here in the near future, although they are giving Cade Povich a start this weekend. You’re hoping Kade Povich another year older, more experience under his belt, failures under his belt, times where he’s looked good, under his belt where he can take a step forward, and you’re going to be five innings kid,

Nestor Aparicio  16:19

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two runs. You know, get it. Get out of the big jam that you get yourself into, because you’re going to get yourself into one, or we’re going to kick the ball around to get you into one, which is a whole other. That’s a whole other issue too, right? And the Bradish melted, you know, they’ve, they’ve broken bats over their knees. They’ve had, you know, the managers gotten thrown out. They’ve been swept in Pittsburgh like that. You know, they’ve, they’ve managed a little choppy waters and weathers and not being the largest part of eating with holiday in Westberg. And you know, where they are with the bullpen and depleted because Elias would say, hey, you know, to some degree, if all these guys had their arms on, we would be pitching our asses off. And I was buying that in March, you know? I mean, as the depletion happens, we start to count on Kade Povich this weekend. Let’s go. I mean, you know, I’m, I’m okay with that. I like the way you look last weekend.

Luke Jones  17:11

We talked about it with Brandon young earlier this week. I mean, you’re look. I’m not going to sit here and vouch for the idea that Kade Povich, if he has to make 20 plus starts that it’s going to go as well as it would need to go for a team that eyes contention and playing playing

Nestor Aparicio  17:27

October base, he will very much look like a fifth starter in both of our minds, or a guy who probably, last year, didn’t belong if you had a real efflin, if you had spent a money on a Basset, you know, if a Bradish or Rogers had emerged, and all of that happen? And thank God it happened, because if Kate pub, which was their number two starter, they would be a

Luke Jones  17:46

really bad team. Oh. I mean, if he was their number two starter, they’d be one of the worst teams in baseball. But, right? But the point I’m trying to make is you’re not going to get through a 162 game schedule with five starters. You’re not going to do it with six, probably not going to do it with seven or eight, right? You’re going to need some spot starts mixed in there. You’re going to need, you know, whether it’s Brandon young or kid Povich or Albert Suarez or you know, as I’ve told you, there are some arms that triple A right now that aren’t necessarily ready to pitch in the majors in April or May, but become interesting consideration.

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Nestor Aparicio  18:21

Again, another Nestor. I want to Nestor German.

Luke Jones  18:25

I was, I was I was safe. Nestor German, right? So, but, you know, you just, you look at that, you look at how the Dodgers, and I get it, the Dodgers spend more money than anyone, right? And it’s, it’s often not a good comp, but the COP is, they’ve had to use quite a few starters, right? And put the money part aside, they’ve done, also done a good job of developing right, their their farm system, and they and they have players internally that they found as well. So that’s why you need a mix, right? It can’t just be you buy your pitching. It can’t just be solely that you develop your pitching, right? We’ve talked about it a lot. The Orioles seem to be doing better, and I’m not going to say that they are accomplished at it just yet, because those guys need to get to the majors and be able to do the job. But I’ve told you, going back to last year or two, they have had more of an emphasis than they had in previous drafts, of focusing on pitching a little bit more. Now, is it as where everyone wants it to be? No, I’m not going to say that, but it’s a recognition of, hey, we can’t just draft college bats, college bats, college bats, for one, quite frankly, that strategy hasn’t produced, reaped a lot of fruit in terms of that being as successful when you know Heston kirstad is, I’m not ready if he’s not a bust already, he’s pus at this point. Colton kauser is off to another bad start at the plate, right? I mean, so you have to adjust as an organization. Eric dicostal. And the Ravens don’t draft in the same exact way that they did. You know, yes, the the mantra is best player available, but they’ve changed their ways and how and how they

Nestor Aparicio  20:09

and about to change it again with the new head coach probably wants different things than John Harbaugh, one bit, yeah, at

Luke Jones  20:14

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least a little bit. No question about it. But you look at the ravens, they’ve had their ebbs and flows, where I can remember the Ravens a decade ago, a little bit more than that, they had a stronger emphasis on small school guys than a lot of teams out there. Look at the Ravens. In recent years, they’ve become much more draft the power, you know, the power five, power four, school type prospects, especially early on, right? Well, it

Nestor Aparicio  20:41

certainly projects better when you’re playing against equal competition.

Luke Jones  20:44

I mean, and you know, I’m not trying

Nestor Aparicio  20:45

to get in the air and I L, that’s all the creams risen to sure

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Luke Jones  20:49

point, right? But, but, you know, and I’m not saying that to get too much into the weeds, the point is, you’re evolving, right? You’re never staying the same. If you are, you’re

Nestor Aparicio  20:56

going to be left behind, dude. And I bring Katie Griggs into this in their little 410 promotion this weekend, and we’ll be down to fadeleys on Friday. By the way, I want to point that out Maryland lottery is sponsoring us. We have the new Maryland treasures. I have a handful of these Harlem Globetrotters left. We’ll be fadeleys on Friday. I’m wearing my Koco’s geared the 23rd we’re going to be Koco’s, but next Thursday, we’re going to be at Costa centimonium, and then we’re going to be at your joint Pete’s, John’s on May 1 I was down. I snuck a cheese steak about after yoga the other night, after I left Planet Fitness, it was Tuesday night now, so it was really good. I didn’t get fries or the gravy, but I did go to peach John, so we’ll be doing that. It’s all brought to you by GBMC. We’re walking a mile in their shoes next Friday the 17th, for safe sexual abuse and prevention and awareness. We’re doing that at GBMC, also our friends at far in the Dermer, who I mispronounced earlier, but did not miss a step in taking care of my plumbing and my flooding issue last Wednesday. And thankfully, my wife’s even more thankful. Luke, I get on the Katie Griggs side of this and I wrote my letter and where their money’s coming from, and the truest sweets and Don rove go through all of that, right? But I do think, as it relates to the team, and as it relates to Mike elias’s vision of the team, and we could talk about this for football with salary cap. Look, Elias doesn’t have a salary cap, but he’s got a range. You know, I would think that Rubenstein and arroghetti are very much counting their pennies because they gave Fredo and the family 1,000,000,008 and they’re expecting this thing to make money, and they don’t know what they’re doing with massing. And, you know, but Elias thinks the bullpen is the place where he has the market advantage right of being able to save money. That’s the place that they don’t want the Sir Anthony expenditures, and piecing it all together as it should look and will look. And I guess we’ve kissed off gun or Henderson, or any notion that they’re going to give him a half a billion dollars, or whatever that’s going to be, or that time will come. Let’s see if the ballpark’s full, if they’ve had a parade around, here’s a lot of things, but the the advantage the Billy ball or the the money ball, Billy Bean ball, not money Billy ball was, I’m thinking Billy Martin. It’s because I have vacaro on talking Steinbrenner stories last week. But the money ball part of this is Elias squeezing the bullpen, right? We should expect that right, that that’s not where he thinks we’re going to spend a lot of money. It’s going to be buy a Basset, you know, get it back, get an off season acquisition, sign our young guys that we can like. And he does think rule fivey in that way. Or I would think that sort of I can get more out of Leo D Tavares, or I can find that outfielder that can come in, that can give me at bats that are professional. I I just feel like he really feels if I spent more time with him, I would think of him as a baseball cheapskate, because he kind of came in that way through all the organisms. He’s never run a Dodgers or Yankees, and here this more fiscally prudent bean count. I mean, look, man, say what you want about the Angeles people, but they were not industry people at all. They were running a lemonade stand there for 30 years. I mean, like, Katie Griggs went to, like, Ivy League and Elias, and they’ve got, they think of them. I’ve met the Whistler. I’ve met the people around these people in the Hamptons air, and they’re billionaire, you like, like,

Nestor Aparicio  24:39

I smell that, and I feel that. And I think for Elias with this gig, part of his genius is going to say, I can find better value than spending buying it at market rate. For you fellas, I think this is where the advantage would be. And I think that that’s the hardest part of operating. Being This is thinking, this is going to become, we say the Cardinals, that it’s not the pirates, and it should never be the White Sox, especially in that market where they have people, there are a lot of people in Chicago. They got to figure out how to get them. Cubs ripped them off for years before they got competitive. I feel like they’re trying, they’re spending money, they’re doing things. But for any of us to ever try to explain the bullpen or think that they’re going to get proven arms, and maybe they’ll do that at the deadline, right? Maybe somehow they can package the mount castles and the cowsers and the pieces that they don’t want and get an arm or two that would make you happy, make the pundits happy, make Ken Rosenthal happy, and take on that 10 or $20 million over the last 90 days of the year to try to bring in a second closer a set. You know, though, those pieces that are in the last year of a contractor didn’t cost you some of your Nestor Hermann’s, or whatever it would be, but that’s my long way of saying like I’m trying to understand, now that they are competitive, now that they spend money, now that they buy 100 $50 million players, they have two Money Bags owners. They have a bean counter in there trying to squeeze every nickel out of the Birdland insiders and trying to wave a magic wand to have more money, Elias would still say, No, we’re not going to spend money on that. We’re going to grow that from the Mexican league out of the Hawaiian, 31 year old guy that we’re given a chance, that we made from an infield, like, that’s the Willy Wonka brew. I feel like Mike Elias sells to these people. And it has to be that way, because I don’t fill in that stadium up and thinking this thing’s going to pump money out in some way. I don’t smell it. I mean, I just don’t. And I so I’m always thinking that this is going to be his market advantage.

Luke Jones  26:57

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I don’t know. I mean, I hear what you’re saying, but last year, Sir Anthony Dominguez was making $8 million Gregory Soto was making, I think, I can’t remember off the top my head, but he was making real money. Andrew Kittredge was on a $9 million base salary with a $1 million

Nestor Aparicio  27:12

buyout after they wasted money on Kimball the year before, too a lot of money.

Luke Jones  27:16

So I don’t, I don’t know if this is like, what their bullpen is now really signals anything other than that’s just how the 2026 club is constructed.

Nestor Aparicio  27:25

It’s, I think he might think it’s the riskiest money he can spend is in the bullpen.

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Luke Jones  27:29

I think that’s short. I mean, short of like, nine figure contracts. Sure I would agree with that, and I think that the industry would mostly agree with that, just based on the volatility you see from year to year. I mean, we always romanticize the Mariano Rivera’s or the Trevor Hoffman’s, but you can find a heck of a lot of relievers out there that even had long, very fruitful careers. And you’ll go find someone who pitched for 15 years, and four or five of those years were absolute clunkers. Where you say, Man, that guy is unusable and high leverage.

Nestor Aparicio  28:03

So because he wasn’t throwing strikes, that’s usually part of throwing the ball, 98 miles an hour, right?

Luke Jones  28:08

Well, I mean, even before, but, but even before we got into this, you know, this current age of crazy velocity. I mean, it’s just, it’s volatile, right? In a simplistic way, relievers are what failed starters almost across the board. Now you’ll find some rare exceptions there, but even once upon a time, there were thoughts of Mariano Rivera being being a starter, right? So Zach Britton was a starter before he became an awesome Greg

Nestor Aparicio  28:31

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Olsen at all. Right?

Luke Jones  28:32

So, so that just inherently, there’s a little bit of that that goes on, but it’s just, it’s volatile. It’s volatile, and I think how the Orioles are presently constructed, and believe me, I have my concerns about this pen. You know that you heard me talk about it all winter. I still do regardless of the fact that, hey, Rico Garcia has done a nice job, and I’d like what I’ve seen from Anthony Nunez, other than failing to field a dribbler in Pittsburgh in a game where they should have won and ended up losing, but there’s still a lot of a lot of question marks in that group. But if you’re trying to look at this thing, and you have to look at every part of a roster as you’re trying to assess, Mike Elias would probably tell you, our expectations are that our rotation is going to be better, and we have Trevor Rogers, who is looking exactly like he did a year ago, and has looked the part of an ace. He’s been a stopper for them, right? I mean, for all the frustration of how they swung the bats on Tuesday, Trevor Rogers did his thing again, right? And gave them enough.

Nestor Aparicio  29:37

It is trending in the right direction where you’d want it in the early part of April from that aspect, which is why you and I can remain bullish on them when they they sweep a series to say they’re doing what they need to do, to wait for holiday and wait for Westberg and wait for better weather, and, you know, and more solid through their rotation, whatever their rotation is going to be, because it just. Changed dramatically, right?

Luke Jones  30:01

Well, I’m not ready to say I’m fully you know, good with where the rotation is, but Rogers Bradish looked better on Wednesday afternoon, other than getting ticked off and costing himself a run. And by the way, I don’t know if you heard his post game comments. I mean, he he owned it. He completely owned it. He said that was childish. That will not happen again. And in defense of Kyle Bradish, I know we haven’t watched him pitch a whole lot the last year and a half, but going back to when he was a rookie, going back to 2023 He’s not someone who exhibited that kind of immaturity, or, you know, losing his mind in the way that you know, you think how Sidney pots own would have meltdowns, and, you know, would have a good start until it’s not or even Dean Kramer. Dean Kramer, I

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Nestor Aparicio  30:44

was getting ready to say that’s been dean Kramer. It’s not his arm, it’s what happens when adversity comes,

Luke Jones  30:50

right, right? So, so I’m willing to give him, you know, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that. We all have our weak moments, right? Even in everyday life, we all have our moments where we say, I shouldn’t.

Nestor Aparicio  31:01

No, I think about these guys going through the Tommy John thing and efflin on his birthday, and I’m thinking like all of these guys have been at the bottom of the pit with ice on their arm and in a lot of pain and having to work back. So they throw the ball 98 miles an hour, and some sub, you know, crazy, you know, less than human thing that they do that none of us could ever do. And they do it all day, every day. And I sit down and and then you get out there and things aren’t going your way. I mean, no one’s had more adversity than that, dude, radish.

Luke Jones  31:33

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I mean, especially when you can

Nestor Aparicio  31:35

maybe Bautista at this point, you

Luke Jones  31:36

know, Batista at this point, absolutely. I mean, for him to have major elbow surgery, and then less now aflin, I mean, there’s

Nestor Aparicio  31:43

no good stories here, you know? I mean, it’s made his way back and into a bad situation last year and and now this season’s off to a start where, like they all know they can be good. You know what? I mean, I’m not blowing smoke, neither are you right. They can be a really good team if things, if they play well, they have the potential, dude, you and I’ve sat here for many, many years where they just stunk, and they had Rio Ruiz and hitting cleanup and, you know, just, like, not like, literally, you know, no offense, I loved Rio Ruiz. But, you know, Mark Reynolds batting a buck 80 and hitting 42 home runs and striking out 240 times. You know, like, I’ve seen some real crud ball, everything the owner, from ownership all the way through. Like, I don’t feel that way about this pack at all. And I’m going to hold them to a higher standard, because Albernaz is supposed to be a genius. And they did have 1.5 pretty damn good major league starters, as I saw it, to say, like, all right, I’ll take mine and play yours. But the pot, the Hall of potential, for the rutsman’s and the cowsers and all the draft picks, they they’re striking out too much. They’re situationally not like I am worried more about that part of the operation now that we’re two years into this.

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Luke Jones  32:55

Well, I mean, some of these guys have struggled for a long time now. I mean, look, I’m I’m way more apt to give some Samuel besayo, who’s 21 years old, and even Dylan beavers, who has swung the bat better than some of the other guys, but we’ve seen him have his lapses defensively. Those guys are still rookies, right? You know, Colton cows are 26 I mean Adley rutsman is 28 I mean the idea that we’re going to use young with Adley rushman at this point in time, and look, Adley has gotten off to a better start with the with the bat this year, so I’ve been encouraged by that. But I’m also not going to say, well, he’s back and there’s nothing to worry about two weeks into the season.

Nestor Aparicio  33:34

Him being adequate is just so disappointing. And sure, some sort of Matt weeders. Way, you know,

Luke Jones  33:43

at this point I take Matt weed I 100% based on it’s 100% I can remember talking to you back in 2023 and I said this, at this point, I’ll own it. What we Adley rutsman two years, two calendar years into his major league career, was better than Matt weeders ever was, but the Adley rutschman we’ve seen since then is worse than that weeders was at as when he was a starting player, not talking about like we when he went off to the Cardinals and he was a backup for the nationals for for five minutes. But to go back to, you know what we’re talking about here with this offense, I mean, what’s what was encouraging about this series? And there wasn’t a whole lot to be impressed about, other than, you know, the pitching. They pitched well enough they got a good start from Rogers. Bradish was better. Think Bradish a big thing for him first pitch strikes that that rate has been down for him so far in 2026 compared to what we saw not just last year in his limited sample, in return, but previously in his career. So, you know, he’s fighting the command a little bit. I don’t think the stuff, he hasn’t carried his stuff as well when we’re talking getting deeper into the games. But it’s been cold. It hasn’t been conducive. You know, he’s not pitching in 7580 to. Degree weather, which he will be in the not too distant future. So that part of it, I’m not as concerned about, but he needs to be better. And he’d be the first to tell you that, you know, Boz has pitched well, save for one inning, right? I mean, boss has pitched pretty darn well, save for his second inning in his debut start. So I want to see, I not. I want to. They need to see a better version of Chris Bassett. I mean, Chris Bassett has another starter too, like he’s had, he’s gonna be in the bullpen, or should be, because that’s, that’s how bad it’s been. And you know, we’re gonna see the fifth, you know Povich is gonna get started on Sunday, whether it’s going to be him, and they give Kramer a little more time at Norfolk, or Kramer, who pitched well for the tides in his last time out, we see him later on in the home stand. You know, I would lean that way just because of who Dean Kramer is. But you know, you want to see more consistency there, and to go back, because we talked, we’re kind of talking in circles about the bullpen, but they need their starters to be more consistent. If their starters are more consistent, that eases some of the pressure and the workload on the bullpen. It’s all related, right? If their offense is better, they’re not playing in four to two games. They’re playing in eight to three games, right? I, you know, my joke going back a couple years ago, they needed more blowouts then it’s, it’s all, you know, we tend to do this thing, and we do, we do this in every sport, because we do the same thing with the Ravens talking about defense, offense or special teams. It’s all related, right? The better you are in one area. A little less is needed from some of the other areas. And if you’re really good in all the areas, that’s the makings of a great team. So you look at where the Orioles have been right now, and my overall assessment isn’t terribly different than it was coming out of the Pittsburgh game. I haven’t been terribly impressed with what I’ve seen across the board, save for a few individuals, but those few individuals doing what they did, meaning what Taylor Ward did on Wednesday afternoon, having three doubles. I mean, he, he had a bad first series. You know, he had a bad start to the first home stand. He’s been really good since then. I mean, he has swung the bat exceptionally well. He hasn’t hit home runs. But, like I said, I mean, he’s, he has nine doubles already. I mean, go look at the Orioles total number of doubles. He’s, he’s accounted for. They have 23 doubles total. He has nine of them. Gunner Henderson has four home runs. The Orioles have eight total. So it really speaks to how little anyone else is slugged except those two guys. But you can get through a three game series with a couple guys hitting right if they’re hitting at a high level in the long run, yeah, of course, they’re going to need way more from Pete Alonso. I mean, if Pete Alonso doesn’t hit, they have way bigger problems than anything we’re talking about right now. I’m going to work under the assumption that Pete Alonso will start hitting, right So, but when you’re talking about cowser and

Luke Jones  38:01

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Kobe mayo and kind of going down the list of those guys beside Oh. I mean, you’re talking about guys who haven’t done it at this level yet. I mean, cows are when he did it at his best, two years ago. At this point in time, kauser knows the book is out on him 100% unequivocally, don’t throw him a fastball, throw him change ups and breaking balls. He can’t hit him. I mean, he just can’t, until he proves otherwise. I don’t know why you would throw him a fastball. I mean, it’s just the truth. He understands that, but, you know, it’s amounted to he, I will say this, he’s not striking out at quite as high of a rate as last year, but he’s not hitting for any power either. I mean, it’s, it’s one thing. And you mentioned strikeouts a lot. What do I always tell you, I can live with the strikeouts if what it’s accompanied by slug. They’re not slugging right now, it’s for a couple guys. So, you know, Gunner struck out quite a bit. I mean, gunner has 17 strikeouts and 49 played appearances. That’s a lot, but he’s also homeward four times, and He’s doubled three times, and he’s also, he’s drawn some walks as well. So the profile of striking out a lot. Kyle Schwarber strikes out, as you know, go, look at go, look at his strikeout numbers on a daily or annual basis for the Phillies, Kyle Schwarber also can hit 50 home runs, and he’s also going to walk. Going to walk 100 plus times and and do all kinds of other things that allow you to live with that part of his game so far with some of these Orioles. I mean, it’s, you know, you’re seeing a lot of strikeouts and you’re not seeing much pop, which, again, cold in Chicago, not like it was 90 degree, dude. I told John

Nestor Aparicio  39:41

Martin, you guys start giving some more money. Giving some more money away. They got, you know, I mean,

Luke Jones  39:44

it’s ridiculous, yeah, so, but all that being said, they pitched well enough. And the thing I really liked, and we really saw this on Tuesday, big time. You know, Gunner hits the big home run. They got it done, right? You’re not going to play. You’re. Absolute best for 162 games. You’re going to go through periods of time where you’re not hitting. You’re going to go through periods of time where you don’t pitch as well. You’re going to go through periods of time when your bullpen is completely spent because they’ve had to work a lot. You’re going to go through time a time or two through your rotation where no one pitches all that well.

Nestor Aparicio  40:17

So this team’s definitely going to go through some hitting slumps and Yeah, l, o, B’s and K’s because, like, they’re built for it. And I, you know, I can’t expect a, you know, a wolf’s a wolf man, you know what I mean? Like, strike out and strike out.

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Luke Jones  40:32

And the other part, and this is, you know, this is the part of the game where we’ve talked about, we haven’t talked about it a lot in this conversation, but we’ve talked about it plenty in general, you know, they’re not great defensively. They’re not good defensively. They don’t really have too many guys that profile as average defensively. You know, I like what I’m seeing from Blake. No, it’s the truth, though.

Nestor Aparicio  40:55

I like cut that up. That’s comedy. I mean, really that

Luke Jones  40:59

they don’t. I mean, who? Gunnar Henderson is, at times can play a good to your point when

Nestor Aparicio  41:05

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they hit the ball at somebody. It’s an adventure for all of us, and it generally

Luke Jones  41:11

can be. I mean, their outfield, their outfield defense needs to be better. I mean, that that’s been really bad, their infield defense. You know, I think gunner Henderson, from where he was a couple years ago is playing a better shortstop. I don’t have, I don’t, generally speaking, I don’t have any concerns when the ball is hit. The gunner. I think Blaze out, he’s not a liability, exactly. You know, he’s not saying he’s going to become a Gold Glove shortstop.

Nestor Aparicio  41:33

Again, he’s going to hit 34

Luke Jones  41:34

home runs exactly. I like what I’ve seen from Blaze Alexander defensively. You know, Peter Pete Alonso, generally speaking. I mean, that’s kind of been the best part of his game so far, which is damning him with praise until he starts swinging the bat better, but, but their outfield defense has left a lot to be desired. I mean, we talked a lot about where cows are was in terms of being a center fielder. I mean, it’s across the board. I mean, we’ve seen everyone misplay make misplays out there, miscues out there. And we’re not just talking about, you know, taking a bad, you know, bad path to the ball, or, you know, dropping, you know, it’s also been the throw into the wrong base. You know, it’s been that sloppiness. So that’s an area where my

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Nestor Aparicio  42:16

dad would say, Get your head in the game well, and

Luke Jones  42:19

that’s if you’re trying to assess this team across the board, that’s something that gives you some some worry, because inevitably, you’re going to have periods of time where you don’t pitch as well or hit as well. But what the good teams, their defense will pick them up. I’m not sure how often this team’s defense is

Nestor Aparicio  42:35

going to pick Well, that’s where the Bradish meltdown was sort of like, come on. Yeah. You know Albernaz And the dugout the other day, sort of like, Come on, man. I mean, let’s play like grown ups here.

Luke Jones  42:44

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You know, I don’t mind a manager getting thrown out. I But

Nestor Aparicio  42:49

the air of the Manny Machado acting like a clown, like and we, you know, the Armando Benitez is, and the issues we’ve had around here, but you mentioned Sidney ponson. I don’t want to see any of that in the modern Orioles under Craig Albernaz. You know, I just don’t, I mean,

Luke Jones  43:04

I don’t disagree, but I mean, the man, I don’t know where I put the manager ejection in there. I mean, we’re talking about the same franchise that Earl Weaver’s in the Hall of Fame, right? And Earl got kicked out as as much as anyone I love more than metrics

Nestor Aparicio  43:19

of all of it, yeah, so.

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Luke Jones  43:20

But there’s also something to be said. Of, you know, that’s an early season moment of, you’re sticking up for your guys. A couple of your guys weren’t happy with how the opposition was perceiving, the perception of a quick pitch or whatever. Hey, they’ve won every game since he was ejected in that Sunday loss. I don’t know. They’re not saying it because of that. Point is sometimes you respond to something like that, you know, don’t make a habit of it. I’m not saying go get kicked out once every other series, but you, I think you understand where I’m coming from. They need to be better. There’s no doubt. But they got a sweep in Chicago. They got themselves back to 500 that’s good enough for second, second place in this division, going into the off day and understanding that there aren’t many teams across the American League that are playing great baseball right now. You know, they’re six and six, and Pete Alonso is hitting 188 and Colton cowser is hitting 182 and Kobe Mayo is hitting 133 and Ryan mount Castle’s hitting 250 but hitting for

Nestor Aparicio  44:24

no power. Westbrook sitting, zero, holiday sitting, you know,

Luke Jones  44:29

holiday, you know, I said to you, I’m looking for holiday at some point on this home stand, you know, I if he’s not back at some point on this home stand, I’m kind of asking, like, what’s taken so long with him at Norfolk? Like, you know, he’s getting at bats. I get it. This is his spring training. I understand that, that notion, but at some point you want him back. Because, let’s face it, you know, I mentioned, I like what I’ve seen from Blaze Alexander, and he’s, you know, he hasn’t hit for a lot of power, but he swung the bat. He’s hitting 276, you know, he’s played good defense. But, I mean, Kobe mayo, we talked so much about his D. Defense, hitting it all. I mean, he’s 133 he has slugging 167 when he when he’s making contact, he’s not hitting for any authority. He had a bad challenge at the plate a couple days ago. Cost them a challenge, and to the point where we’ll get back

Nestor Aparicio  45:14

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into the heads up part of the game and the ball like I don’t I mean that to me,

Luke Jones  45:19

that to me, is a product of someone pressing, right? I mean, I think a young hitter that challenges at a pitch and in a situation where you really don’t want him to, that’s a guy that’s pressing that that’s he’s feeling it. And doesn’t mean I’m saying he’s going back to the miners at this point in time, but he needs to start hitting. Well, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  45:36

because 133 you’ve earned going back to the miners. I mean, 130

Luke Jones  45:41

look, it’s one.

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Nestor Aparicio  45:43

It’s that two weeks into the season. I’m not, you know,

Luke Jones  45:46

it’s 36 plate appearances.

Nestor Aparicio  45:47

Ideally, holiday would be playing every day well.

Luke Jones  45:50

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And if holiday is playing second base, then you have, you have options at third, not just mayo, but plays Alexander, you know, whoever goes, I mean, and it could be Jeremiah Jackson. But point is, you’ve got some different options there that you can look at it. You’re when holidays back. You’re not in a position where you’re inclined to keep waiting on Kobe Mayo if he’s not going to swing the bat, right? I mean, that’s just the reality so, but they’re, they have veterans that need to start swinging the bat better. I mean, there’s no doubt about that. I mean, it’s, it’s really been two guys who have swung the bat at an exceptional level, Taylor, Ward and gunner. Henderson. Everyone else has been at best, okay, you know, Adley rutsman’s been okay, at least walked, and he’s not striking out as much, and has had really good at bats but, but he also still hasn’t hit a home run. I mean, they have eight home runs in 12 games. I mean, that’s not really what John Martin’s hitting.

Nestor Aparicio  46:41

Richard Maryland lottery, I’m telling Maryland lottery, I’m telling you, yeah, giants in town, right? And, and John Miller’s in town. So that’s always good. We’re having crab cakes. That’s good. We’re gonna talk football. Ravens are changing jerseys next week.

Luke Jones  46:53

I know, right, you and I haven’t even gotten into that. I mean, I, I have my thoughts and my honestly, some anxieties about it. If I’m, you know, going to lean into my fashion tweets, nerd them, but

Nestor Aparicio  47:04

it’ll definitely be I have Todd Radom coming on next Friday. So we’re all into this. I’m doing a whole bunch of Canadian rock stars from April wine and a honeymoon suite on, I think Gilmore from triumphs coming on. They’re opening their tour this weekend. So I’m doing some rock and roll. Got a guy named Luke dosett Have I told you this story? Luke, no, I don’t All right, so I went to South America. I haven’t talked to you about this on, on or off the air much, but then we did a couple segments. I think I did a segment with you in Machu Picchu and one in Montevideo, but I saw Brian Adams three times in South America. Was it the reason I went to Montevideo? No, but it was like a reason to go and AC DC. I saw in Santiago when Brian Adams there, by the way, Lollapalooza was in my hotel. Tom Morello, like it was a big deal. The music’s a big deal down there, rock and Rios going on, if you follow Eddie trunk, or, you know, any of the classic rock people. So I go to see Brian Adams in Montevideo, and I got very lucky, a man named Nestor and his wife, Elaine and their daughter Sonia, had a ticket, and I went, and I sort of sat in for the brother and got to know this family, and spoke as much Spanish as I could, as much English as as They could. And their their young daughter spoke English, so band comes on, and I’m like, who’s guitar player? Like Keith Scott is famously this demonstrative, you know, swinging the guitar, doing crazy stuff. He’s been Brian Adams guitar player for 40 years. I’m like, Who’s that dude? And I looked up like I went right to Google on my phone. I’m in the arena, and I’m checking it out. I’m like, Luke dosey. This guy plays with Sarah McLaughlin. He has his own band, big band, Juno winning band in Canada’s Canadian people know who he is in Canada. And apparently, and I learned this later, Keith Scott had a physical issue. They had a tour in South America with 20 dates, or whatever. It started in Puerto Rico, and it went Brazil. I saw a show in Montevideo. I saw a show in Chile I saw a show in Bogota, Colombia. Nice place for a night, but I can’t recommend it. Nonetheless, people said, Were you scared on this trip? I’m like, hell yeah. I mean, I mean, I was, you know, running around South America. It’s like a it’s like a freaking Rolling Stone song. So Brian Adams had a different guitar player. It was this guy, and I looked him up, and he showed up, I guess because rush did the thing at the Juno’s a couple weeks ago. And I know you have WrestleMania coming up. So we all have our high holy holidays. But the Junos showed up and rush showed up, and everything about rush in my life showed up with when they played. They did a surprise gig two Sundays ago. And then after that, you know, the algorithm knows I was in South America with Brian Adams and Luke docent, and you know all of that. And I started seeing pieces from him doing media on the red carpet at the Juno’s. And I’m like, Hey, that’s a dude from Brian Adams little goatee thing going on. And I had looked him up, and he said that Brian Adams basically called him and said, Can you learn 28 of my songs meet me in Puerto Rico in three days and do a tour with me. So he had to learn 28 Brian Adams songs in three days and show up in Puerto Rico. And I noticed when I was watching him in Santiago, Chile, I had a really good seat right above him in this arena. And I mean literally, he was right beneath me. It almost felt like a Rams Head gig for me, you know, and I’m watching him, and he’s just staring his guitar, and he didn’t look at Brian Adams. He said on the red carpet that he’s such a crazy Brian Adams fan, and he couldn’t let on what a fanboy he was, he said, because if I looked up and I realized where I am and who I’m doing this with, I might just break down and cry. And he’s like, so I couldn’t even look at him. So I’m like, I got to get this guy on the show. So I wrote a note, he’s coming on the show. So I’m doing Canadian rock stars this week. I’m doing favelas this week. We’re doing the Maryland crab cake tournament next week, we’re going to be at Costas on Thursday the 16th. We’re going to be at Koco’s on the 23rd looking forward to that, of course, and may 1 back to Pizza John’s in Essex. It’s all brought to you by Farnham and Dermer, our friends at GBMC and the Maryland lottery are fresh Maryland treasures. So you’re not the only Luke I’m having on this week. All right, there we go. Sounds good. You’re all geeked up about the draft, aren’t you? You ready for this? You’re ready for all this?

8

Luke Jones  51:34

I’m ready for it. Yeah. I mean, we’ve talked, we’ll talk a lot about the Ravens. I mean, I still O line some other areas, but we’re getting there. I mean, Lamar Jackson’s back in the building. Players are back in the new coach. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s

Nestor Aparicio  51:49

got a new pass rusher.

Luke Jones  51:50

It starts to feel a little more real at this point in time now where we’re going to see players out on the field, and you and

Nestor Aparicio  51:57

8

I can be talking about it twice,

Luke Jones  51:58

different head coach out on the field.

Nestor Aparicio  51:59

I mean, that more than twice a week over the next couple weeks. Oh yeah, no doubt. All right, don’t believe any of the rumors out there. If you get the W NST tech service, they really might have dealt for Max Crosby or something like that. And here’s the fruit of all of this, is they get to pick 14th. So for all of you out there, on the max Crosby train or not, or who said what? By the way, I had Leigh Steinberg on, I had Gary Davenport on from a bleach report. So we’ve been having a lot of fun around here, not sticking to sports, sticking around sports, and certainly writing about the Orioles and talking about the Orioles on a daily basis. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We are W NSD and 1570 tasks in Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.