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Late nights and big wins on West Coast bring surging Orioles home ready to fly

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The 2023 Baltimore Orioles keep doing things on the field we have never witnessed. Luke Jones and Nestor rub the sleep outta their eyes and look toward a homestand with big promise as the AL East crown is in sight.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

game, orioles, pitch, good, henderson, playing, talking, gunnar, night, team, grayson, ravens, rodriguez, innings, great, rotation, year, series, city, thought

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

What about W en s t test the Baltimore, Baltimore positive I am back from the beach but youโ€™re going to hear lots of stuff here this week as we took the Maryland crabcake tour on the road down Ocean City. We read the Ocean City Convention Center on Thursday and Friday for the Maryland counties conference. Good times. Lots of great conversation stuff about virtually everything in the state. We had senators Ben Cardin, as well as Chris Van Hollen, on Mayor Brandon Scott lots of other guests lots of other promises including next week when the crappy October church the Glen Burnie weโ€™re gonna get Pappas grab as all are brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery in conjunction with the friends at winter nation we have a wind nation shirt rockin here, windows, sidings, doors 866 90 nation make sure you take care of them as well as all of our sponsors. It is our 25th anniversary. Look what do you think of the new logo man? You like it? I mean, you know, I feel like cupcakes and fireworks feels very well Disney to me.

Luke Jones  00:57

Yeah, very celebratory and plenty to celebrate as it pertains to not just wn St. and Baltimore positive but the Baltimore Orioles continuing to roll and a West Coast trip that felt like it lasted three weeks in some ways. But the difference this year compared to recent years. You got the sense there was still plenty of juice and people following even late at night, you know, maybe not as crazy as when itโ€™s a 705 game, of course, but people were very interested and the Orioles continue to play. Not just interesting baseball but good baseball and they did exactly as they should against the worst team in baseball and Oakland over the weekend. They took care of business and they took care of business in pretty emphatic form other than I guess Saturday night with the extra inning when but certainly they took it out on the Aโ€™s on Sunday afternoon with Gunnar Henderson and company leading away.

Nestor Aparicio  01:49

Well, I mean, we could weโ€™ll get on Bradish in a minute. We could talk about God or Henderson sort of passing the cycle the cycle and too easy. Iโ€™ll take the double. Iโ€™ll come back and do that later. The things theyโ€™re doing historically, right. I saw stat about 620. Ball. Right and the 69 Orioles, famously, were very, very successful. But in the history of the franchise, weโ€™re talking 97 wire to wire 79 Orioles were really good. The 83 Orioles were pretty good. The 81 Orioles were, you know maybe better than any of them in the split season and did he make the playoffs? But this team where it stands against the franchise, going back to 66. What happened in 64, and even 60 with some near misses when they only let one team for the American League in. And itโ€™s 7070 134 very, very good teams under Earl Weaver this thing at 620. And by the way, it took Kevin Brown and Ben McDonald, this could speak to the broadcasting I talked to that every day. But that it sounded like they werenโ€™t allowed to talk about how bad Oakland was. And they didnโ€™t even mentioned the leaf any that look. Oh, theyโ€™re getting eliminated today. And itโ€™s August 20. And theyโ€™ve won 39 games and theyโ€™re going to lose 100 before theyโ€™ve won 34 games, excuse me, theyโ€™re going to lose 100 before they went 40. Thatโ€™s also hard to do, you know, only really awful teams have done that. But the Orioles are on the edge. And dude, itโ€™s August 20. And theyโ€™re not going to play the Yankees and the Red Sox 14 times with big payrolls where itโ€™s lopsided, theyโ€™re playing a relatively sort of normal schedule, theyโ€™re gonna have to go to the West Coast again. And we were talking about this in May, when we knew they were good, like, hey, schedule makers donโ€™t like the Angeloโ€™s family, theyโ€™re gonna like do whatever they can do to owsm because they are because they are at the bottom of the bottom of the pecking order of getting favors from the legal and scheduling. But that being said, theyโ€™ve also been so irrelevant, that send that out to the West Coast three times in August and September. Who cares? Well, they just went out to the West Coast and clean clocks. And now theyโ€™re gonna come back home to fanfare and we are ramping up now playoff ticket sales, you know, a different kind of mojo for how good the team can be. When whereโ€™s the ace? Oh, itโ€™s only been Kyle Bradish for two months.

Luke Jones  04:15

Yeah, exactly. I mean, kind of radishes has pitched excellent baseball since April. And remember he had the weird start and down in Texas. He gets hit on the fluid. He goes on the Il. Thatโ€™s what brought Grayson Rodriguez back to the major leagues after the rails had initially sent him down. But since that opening month, and heโ€™s just been on a roll, and I thought it was interesting over the course of the road trip. Kyle Gibson not pitching his best right now. Heโ€™s the veteran that theyโ€™re kind of leaning on from an innings perspective. Right. Jack Flaherty since his first start, it hasnโ€™t looked great. But meanwhile, Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez, who of course will see as the homestand begins against the Blue Jays here this week. Theyโ€™re the ones pitching the best ball right now and Dean Kramer, itโ€™s been a little more up and down. But Dean Kramer pitch well as last time out. So we keep talking about the young guys in the innings and the workload and beyond how many innings they have left, how effective theyโ€™re going to be down the stretch, and they continue to get the job done. But Kyle Bradish, especially first time through the order on Sunday, I mean, he was sensational. I mean, it was one of those starts that those first three innings, youโ€™re thinking are we gonna be sending out a WNS T text alert in the sixth or seventh inning, of course, gave up you know, gave up a couple hits. But then he hit a guy. Yeah. But he pits so well. And thatโ€™s, thatโ€™s what you want to see. You get an early lead. Pitch aggressively, you know, donโ€™t walk people donโ€™t nibble, donโ€™t get into trouble and put a bunch of guys on base. But itโ€™s just been so good to see him pitch the way he has. And Grayson Rodriguez pitch the way that he has since returning from triple A Norfolk. So again, theyโ€™re theyโ€™re in the six man rotation right now. Theyโ€™re trying to manage that. I understand that. You know that thatโ€™s, I donโ€™t know if trepidation is the right word. But thereโ€™s I think thereโ€™s some anxiety in terms of how thatโ€™s all going to work out. But you said it, and it was something I was going to bring out, bring up as the Orioles come home 30 games above 501st time theyโ€™ve been 30 over since the end of the 2014 season. I mean, you mentioned 1997. I mean, I think the highest that team finished 98 and 64. I think they got up to 38 over at one point in time. I mean, thatโ€™s the kind of territory weโ€™re talking about at this point, you know, the rest of the way. And as you mentioned, the schedule the rest of the way now, you donโ€™t want to get complacent, you donโ€™t want to relax, certainly Tampa Bayโ€™s right there with three games out, and it has stayed right on their heels for the most part. But theyโ€™re 38 rengay remaining games. 18 of those are slated to be against teams that are sub 500. So we know the Orioles have played really well against tough competition. But when you see roughly half of your remaining games or against sub 500 teams, thatโ€™s that makes you feel a little more confident that theyโ€™re gonna continue to roll and yeah, they might have to manage their rotation a little bit. And weโ€™re, you know, theyโ€™re still trying to figure out whoโ€™s going to pitch high leverage in the bullpen. And theyโ€™re even some thereโ€™s some scuffling over the course of the road trip with relievers not named Felix Batista. And weโ€™re kind of used to that at this point in time, but, you know, theyโ€™re figuring it out. And theyโ€™re winning ballgames. And at this point, as weโ€™re almost five months into the season, theyโ€™ve earned trust, you know, theyโ€™ve earned trust that theyโ€™re going to be okay, and, you know, whether theyโ€™re gonna win 100 games, whether itโ€™s gonna be 98, whether theyโ€™re going to win the division, or whether theyโ€™re going to be the top wildcard, however, it shakes out here over the last six weeks and certainly they want to win the division and they want to be the number one seed but however it shakes out, youโ€™re fully confident that theyโ€™re going to be there standing and theyโ€™re going to be playing in the postseason now and weโ€™re going to be talking about Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez being in a postseason rotation and you know, whereโ€™s DL Hall potentially fitting into this Whereโ€™s John means fitting into this as he started his rehab assignment so you know, theyโ€™ve got some other options theyโ€™ve got some moving parts theyโ€™ve got some guys banged up on the position player side you know, Santander with the back and Hicks back on the i l but they just theyโ€™ve earned their trust they played so well for so long now that we can continue to talk about these issues and we will because weโ€™re still trying to project what itโ€™s going to look like come October but in the meantime, they just keep winning. And itโ€™s not always the prettiest or itโ€™s not always a blowout like it was on Sunday, but boy, they just keep on rolling and youโ€™re 30 games over 500 As your 10 days to go in the month of August. Youโ€™re really doing a lot of things right even if you do have some question marks that will linger as we get closer and closer to playoff baseball.

Nestor Aparicio  08:54

Luke is here he will be there with ravens all week. They have two games this week. The Oriole star games try against Toronto and home. Nice little homestand here after going out on the west coast for 10 days playing all night. I was down in Ocean City watching him every night had secrets 11 oโ€™clock at night playing the Padres playing the Aโ€™s on Friday night as part of our Mako coverage you can find Luke at Baltimore Luke. Anywhere the good internet is served Blue Jays first and the Rockies look for for you with the pitching. And with beach. Itโ€™s me saying Are you satisfied? Give me your temperature on polarity Mooji these pickups You were always the voice of reason like these guys get picked up and sounds great. We could pick them up on August 31 Or even August 18 or whatever it was that they grabbed Fuji youโ€™re like, well, these are the additions. And meanwhile itโ€™s August 20. And weโ€™re talking more about Bradish and more about guys in the system and more about DL Hall and more about John means and I know Givens thatโ€™s not happening now, but from where Sin, how are you feeling because when I give the ball to Fuji late in the game, I mean, Flaherty takes his turns now every fifth day, heโ€™s got a ways to go to earn some trust here. And there is the point where Grayson Rodriguez started to emerge as the guy we thought he was going to be, and the lights are gonna get glaring, the lights donโ€™t get glaring until game one, when you take the ball, like, I think the rest of the way here, the lights will be bright people becoming to the games and you get banged around a little bit, youโ€™re 30 games over 500. You donโ€™t want to lose the vision. But Iโ€™m also not going to lose my head because the guy coming over from St. Louis, it hasnโ€™t worked out great so far. Again, he might be the dog in game three, going seven innings and beating the Astros because these guys have a little pedigree for that I do have a level of you say trust, I have a level of confidence that they can compete.

Luke Jones  10:55

Yeah. And as far as the young guys, and weโ€™ve talked about this concept before, I know Iโ€™ve talked about it with Dennis, I mean, they play with such a confidence. And I mean, Gunnar Henderson is a great example of this. Weโ€™ve talked about this with Adley rutschman. From the moment he arrived last May, that thereโ€™s almost that sense of you know, theyโ€™ve they have that healthy ignorance about them. They donโ€™t know any better, but they donโ€™t know any better. But itโ€™s just like, hey, this is what weโ€™ve been doing since more fun. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And look, I donโ€™t know how long that will carry them. I donโ€™t know if that will be the World Series. But I think that can carry them through at least a series or two. So who knows, but But to go back to what you said. I mean, clearly Fujinami I mean, itโ€™s, at best a coin flip pop proposition. And we even saw the fact that he pitched the ninth inning on Sunday. And Braden heights talked about this. So itโ€™s not as though thatโ€™s out of left field. But heโ€™s talked about the fact that heโ€™d like to give them some low leverage to kind of work things out, see if he can get a better feel for that split. And, you know, he throws hard, you know, you see the velocity, but now he got burned on a splitter over the weekend, and heโ€™s trying to work on the cutter a little bit. So that is what it is. I think deal Hall is going to be in this bullpen sooner rather than later whether itโ€™s going to be sometime in the next 10 days or whether itโ€™s going to be when rosters expand on September 1. So, you know heโ€™s looked good since returning to Norfolk. Is he gonna be a one inning guy to winning guys? Can he pitch some back to back? I mean, those are questions about him. But certainly heโ€™s going to figure assuming he stays healthy. So heโ€™s an intriguing arm. I think heโ€™s someone who, depending on how he pitches, and this goes for anyone. I mean, this goes for anyone that is in their current bullpen. I think as much as weโ€™ve focused on Fuji because he was the shiny new toy. I mean, take a look at what Webbโ€™s done even though he got into some hot water in the 10th inning on Saturday night. Heโ€™s been really good for them, you know, and he showed some stuff that, you know, I think has been impressive. So

Nestor Aparicio  12:55

heโ€™s earned the confidence of the manager at the moment, right?

Luke Jones  12:58

I mean, at least for right now. And we can see how that changes. You know, certainly, you know, you look at canola, I mean, I think theyโ€™re still hoping that you and your canola can get back to closer to where he was earlier in the year, not that they donโ€™t have confidence in him anymore. But weโ€™ve seen it hasnโ€™t been as consistent the last 678 weeks. So you know, other than Batista, itโ€™s kind of sitting right there for these high leverage situations for someone to grab it. You know, weโ€™ve seen el Perez since Danny coulomb had to go on the aisle, weโ€™ve seen Perez, do well. And some, some spots that would have been would have gone to coulomb normally, so you have that pay some dividends. But, you know, thatโ€™s where theyโ€™re still, you know, thereโ€™s still a lot of moving parts to this, you know, whether weโ€™re talking about a John means coming back, and what role he would potentially fill. And again, Iโ€™m not saying you count on that, but itโ€™s

Nestor Aparicio  13:45

not plug and play, but when youโ€™re playing the a team thatโ€™s got 34 wins at the end of August, it is time to like, you know, take the car for a ride a little bit when you get those opportunities. And, I mean, theyโ€™re gonna have a couple more of those kinds of series that maybe they sweep or when two out of three, because the other team just stinks. And then theyโ€™re gonna have these more competitive goes like theyโ€™re gonna have the next couple of nights it gets Toronto and a couple of weeks from now against Tampa, right.

Luke Jones  14:15

No question about it. And look, some of those let you know, you just mentioned some of the lesser opponents. Thatโ€™s where you have you hope you have a few more games like you had on Sunday. Where Yeah, when itโ€™s 10 to one, you can experiment a little bit, so to speak, right? I mean, you can throw a guy out there in a spot that No, itโ€™s not high leverage, but it gives Fujinami a chance to, to work on some things against some major league hitters. Well, I use Major League loosely when talking about Oakland safer a few guys in Atlanta, but you get my point. And they are in that position theyโ€™ve earned the right to be in that position where you can look at some of these games against sub 500 teams and look they have to take care of business. Now. You donโ€™t want to be in a position where you drop series or suddenly, youโ€™re given Tampa Bay a chance to really do Not that theyโ€™re out of it at three games out, but you donโ€™t want to let them even up with you. You know, and of course they play in mid September in Baltimore for game set, which thatโ€™ll probably be as close as they get to postseason feel before actually getting to the postseason

Nestor Aparicio  15:16

time they got Rockies and you know, yeah, White Sox, these teams that are playing 350 400 ball like next they should eat well on this homestand. And, you know, not withstanding, theyโ€™re gonna see Gasman, you know, all that stuff, but not withstanding this. This is these are the good days, man, this is this is fun, get out to the ballpark before the kids go to school. Yeah, no question

Luke Jones  15:41

about it. And look, theyโ€™ve done well, even against some of these tougher home stands theyโ€™ve had for the most part theyโ€™ve been able to eat. So you certainly would hope for that. You donโ€™t assume that? You? You know, you canโ€™t take your foot off the gas, so to speak, but, you know, weโ€™ve seen it. I mean, they have a six man weeps. Thatโ€™s like 24. No, yeah. And they havenโ€™t been unbelievable, right. And weโ€™ve talked about this, this crazy stretch where they havenโ€™t been swept since before Adley rutschman was called up. I mean, thatโ€™s just extraordinary when you really think about it. I mean, every team in baseball gets swept a couple times, you know, I went back and looked at the 83 Orioles, they were swept four times that year, that to seven game losing streaks that year. I mean, that happens. So for them to. And itโ€™s almost you know, itโ€™s taken on a life of its own, you know, the stretch, you know, you hear about it mentioned on the broadcast, and fans are mentioning it on Twitter every time they win the first game of a series that they wonโ€™t be swept for another series. But it really does speak to the mindset. We just we just joked a couple of minutes ago about, you know, some of these young guys having that healthy ignorance of not knowing any better that theyโ€™re not supposed to be this good because they donโ€™t theyโ€™re not experienced enough, right yet. Right. But it is that is a perfect example of their ability to and buckshaw Walters, best teams did this as well. Any great team does this. Really good teams do this. Theyโ€™re able to mitigate those struggles, you know, you drop the first couple games of a series, you come out and win the next day, you donโ€™t let losing you know, go back to right before the all star break, you know, right around the Fourth of July when they dropped what six of seven, you donโ€™t let dropping six out of seven suddenly morphed into dropping 12 of 15. Theyโ€™ve had a hideous

Nestor Aparicio  17:24

losses. I mean, the Grand Slam with Batista. I mean,

Luke Jones  17:27

theyโ€™ve had a couple of like, they got punched in the face a couple times. But But everyoneโ€™s going to have some of those the differences. How do you respond to that you come out the next night and youโ€™re not thinking about that anymore. And you go out and win. And thatโ€™s thatโ€™s what theyโ€™ve been able to do. And the not being swept streak is such a you know, it epitomizes that mindset that, you know, theyโ€™re happy when they win. But itโ€™s not this big celebratory thing. And when they lose Iโ€™m in that clubhouse yet. The musicโ€™s not playing after a loss, but theyโ€™re not freaking out. And thatโ€™s the way theyโ€™ve been. And thatโ€™s, you know, thatโ€™s the good teams know

Nestor Aparicio  18:05

them well, because thereโ€™s a 5050 chance thereโ€™ll be Owen one in game one. And that thatโ€™s, thatโ€™s when the poop hits the fan. I mean, and for everybody out there I remember this vividly and talking about this back in 14, nothing matters until game one, you know what I mean? Like they and the way the format is set up. I hadnโ€™t really put a lot of thought into it, Luke when they installed it, because Iโ€™m like, worried about learning the new format when the time comes, you know, and even things like looking at ravens game, you know, in October and home games and who would get preferential treatment and whether they play at one oโ€™clock or eight oโ€™clock or, like as an example, the Billy Joel Stevie Nicks concert is going on at the football stadium like the first weekend of October, that would be a weekend where if they get the buy, they would have a game one or Game Two, almost moved to an afternoon game was like thereโ€™s their scheduling issues here. I remember the Kordell Stewart issue. Back in 97, when we had a playoff game downtown, and the the Ravens were still playing Memorial Stadium back in 97. So thereโ€™s only one parking lot so theyโ€™ll have to figure that out on nights when Billy Joel is in town. Because these are firstworldproblems for the city, and for the parking lots and for the football team. My thought on all of it, though, is still game one. Everything changes with the playoffs in the short series and anything they get experienced to do. So if theyโ€™re losing three to nothing in the second inning, and the crowd gets quiet and Verlander is on the other you know, whatever that experience is that theyโ€™re going to be able to overcome that because theyโ€™re not just gonna Cakewalk to the World Series bro. You know what I mean? Like bad bad stuffs gonna happen? No at

Luke Jones  19:57

all and theyโ€™re not going to because they havenโ€™t played that way all year. Theyโ€™ve played close games and things have been a grind at times. And my goodness, weโ€™ve been talking about the bullpen falling apart for like two and a half months now. Itโ€™s held together and it hasnโ€™t been pretty. And

20:11

all of a sudden here comes the yo Hall John me just the way I wrote it up. Right, right.

Luke Jones  20:15

Or Tyler wells and John beans goes, it goes in the rotation and someone else goes in the bullpen. So they still have some options and that way, and look, theyโ€™re gonna have to figure that out. And Iโ€™m not, no one should assume that John means is going to be able to help them but now that heโ€™s actually making rehab starts, you can think about it right? You can think about Dr. Hall, because heโ€™s back at triple A, and heโ€™s striking out a bunch of hitters at triple A and yeah, the velocity maybe isnโ€™t peak, but itโ€™s certainly better than it was earlier in the year when he was dealing with the back issues. So youโ€™re trying to figure all that out in the meantime, six man rotation theyโ€™re trying to massage these innings these workloads for these young guys who, by the way, as weโ€™ve said with Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez had been their best starters recently Bradish all season but you know, in the case of Grayson Rodriguez, I mean, letโ€™s start he had against the Padres last week was he looked like an ace. Anyone who watched that game, you know, his mentality missing bats gave up the home run and then comes right back and strikes out what three in a row right after that. So itโ€™s kind of stuff that you expect from a top of the rotation kind of guy. But Bradish has pitched that way since May, you know, so theyโ€™re trying to figure it all out in terms of managing the workloads, managing the innings, giving these guys an extra dayโ€™s rest. You made mention every fifth day, itโ€™s every sixth day for these guys at this point. And even with the off day, Monday, theyโ€™re staying in turn, so it shows you theyโ€™re really trying to stretch that out as much as they can give it a five innings. That helps. Well, I was just gonna, I was just gonna say, in order for that to work, you need Corbin to be competitive. And heโ€™s been able to do that his couple times through the rotation. And weโ€™ll see how that continues. Weโ€™ll see. You know, weโ€™ve talked a lot about you know, I made mention of Gibson, you know, his last couple of times out and you know, itโ€™s, you know that last time that was not good, you know, and he was staked to a lead in that game too. So, you know, youโ€™re hoping you get Jack Flaherty as heโ€™s more acclimated more comfortable in his surroundings pitching for the Orioles and, you know, all the things the Orioles do from a, you know, a biomechanics standpoint and their lab and Bel Air and all the analytics. Now youโ€™re hoping you can still get him to pitch a little more like he did in Toronto, his first start, and he can Heโ€™s certainly capable of doing that. But, you know, these are the same things that every other contender is talking about right now, every other contender in the American League, you know, whether itโ€™s something with their lineup or you know, their outfield, their bullpen? Everyone needs starting pitching. So thatโ€™s not you know, thatโ€™s not unique. But, you know, the Orioles are are not different in that way than any of those other teams where they are different is they have a better record than all those other teams. So from that standpoint, you look at where they stand right now. 3030 over 500 With what 38 games to go. I mean, their path to winning at least 9697 9899 games. Yeah, thatโ€™s what they do the work they have to do to do that. Thatโ€™s not a you look at that on paper. Thatโ€™s not an intimidating a hurdle. Itโ€™s a cross. I mean, thatโ€™s, you know, thatโ€™s very realistic for just what theyโ€™ve done all year. I mean, whether theyโ€™re gonna win 100 Or not, weโ€™ll see. Even that, you know what theyโ€™re trying to

Nestor Aparicio  23:24

win 23 Then is it play be 23 and

Luke Jones  23:27

cheating? Yeah. Which which is pay, thatโ€™s a thatโ€™s a good stretch, but thatโ€™s what theyโ€™ve done all years. So can they do it? Sure. Will they do it? Weโ€™ll see how it plays out. But everything about this team, and you know, Iโ€™d be remiss because you mentioned Gunnar Henderson in passing, Matteo had the inside the park home run. Letโ€™s give Ryan mountcastle some credit, because there are lots of people, myself included, looked at where he was and look to vertigo. How much that was impacting him. Maybe even before he landed on the aisle, who knows but mountcastle Heโ€™s got a 26 game on base streak. Best streak the Orioles have had in that department since Jonathan scope back in 17, when he was an all star went down to Miami and covered him that year at the All Star game but mountcastle has been one of the best hitters in baseball since the all star break and you know so so to get that to get him back on track and weโ€™ve seen it in the past when he swings well and thatโ€™s not to say heโ€™s gonna do it the rest of the year because heโ€™s been a very streaky hitter, to a maddening degree at times, but to see what heโ€™s done. In addition to rutschman moving into the leadoff spot, I think thatโ€™s been a nice boost for them with his own day stability. Gunnar Henderson doing what he continues to do. I mean, I thought it was so cool. And I saw you made mention of it on social media as well that he crushes that ball inside the first base bag. It would have been really easy for him especially a 10 to one game. It would have been easy for him to just say oh, Iโ€™ll just stay at first. Thatโ€™s thatโ€™s not how he plays though. I mean Eat a kid plays so hard. Brandon Hyde even talked about this. It was at the end of the last homestand. He talked about the fact that Gunnar Henderson one thing that concerns him about Henderson is how hard he runs into first base and puts his foot on the first base bag trying to trying to beat out a ground ball. Itโ€™s something that Hyde has actually talked to him about and said, Hey, we want you out here for 150 plus games, you know, every year there are times where that we want that but there are other times where dude, you gotta be thinking about the big picture also, and I think Gunnar Henderson DOING what He did on Sunday where needs a single for the cycle. And now he goes into second base hard. Itโ€™s a blowout game. And

Nestor Aparicio  25:43

I had to tell him Lamar Jackson not to run in the linebackers for five minutes, too. So you know, itโ€™s but itโ€™s just

Luke Jones  25:49

what what a great and you know, Iโ€™ll even this sounds a little corny, but so many young people, you know, so many kids that are getting into the Oreos and everything. You see that example right there where he could have just yeah, he could have pulled Manny Machado a little different. And look. And to be clear, I donโ€™t think Gunnar Hendersonโ€™s the only guy on this team that would do that. Iโ€™m not saying that. But you see an example like that you say, hey, you know, thatโ€™s, thatโ€™s a pretty cool example to see, you know, one of the best young, bright future stars that thatโ€™s an Oreo right now. And the rest of the league is quickly finding out about this kid, you know, for him to do that in that spot. So thatโ€™s pretty cool. And oh, by the way, he just, you know, instead of the cycle he had to settle for four extra base hits in one game.

Nestor Aparicio  26:33

No one would it be grudged them stopping at first base and they would cycle itโ€™s cool. Nobody would have you know, thereโ€™s no argument on that right literally.

Luke Jones  26:42

Yeah, well, Iโ€™m Brandon Hyde joked after the game. He said, Well, maybe gunner was just trying to elevate his Oh, PS a little bit more, you know, get the extra base hit.

Nestor Aparicio  26:49

Oh, thereโ€™s a part of it. Respecting the game to you know, play played out. Play the game out. Look, Joe, just here. Weโ€™re playing the game out. Heโ€™ll be playing the game out late night with the Ravens this week as well as early night with the Orioles playing 705 games. Finally,

27:03

howโ€™d you do with the toothpicks in

Nestor Aparicio  27:04

your eyelids? I mean, I was in Ocean City, dude. 72 hours, three days in Ocean City. I was never even on the side of the coastal highway where the beach is. Thatโ€™s how that I saw as much beach as you and I did the two times weโ€™ve done Super Bowls in Miami, and Tampa. And anywhere else there was a beach.

Luke Jones  27:27

Iโ€™ll say that the nice thing about the West Coast trip is gone at least now right now. And maybe thatโ€™ll change in the future. Gone are the days of those 1035 starts. I mean, remember that 1035 starts. I mean, especially pre pitch time or pre pitch clock. When these games were starting to go. Three 315 330 I mean, that would be rough especially. And letโ€™s call a spade a spade. 2018 2019 2021 wasnโ€™t even tried. Yeah, Iโ€™d watched it first couple innings and then Iโ€™ll watch the highlights on MLB Network. The next workout after Johnny Carson is what? But yeah, but But itโ€™s been nice. I mean, these games have been more 940 You know what the one game the last game in San Diego was actually an 840 star. So so thatโ€™s, you know, thatโ€™s not too bad. But I admittedly I dosed once or twice, you know, long days in Owings Mills covering covering practice on the backfields even though the weather has been pleasant in that regard, but, but itโ€™s you know, itโ€™s been fun. And thatโ€™s the one thing Iโ€™d say about the San Diego series, Iโ€™d be remiss because you know, weโ€™re not going to you know, weโ€™re focusing on Oakland and just the the West Coast trip in its totality. I will continue to say it is amazing to me that the Padres are as mediocre as they are record wise when you watch them even for three nights. That right there is underachieving the anti Orioles right now letโ€™s say you know compare it to the Orioles who feel like theyโ€™re getting everything they possibly can out of their talent that letโ€™s letโ€™s not misconstrue theyโ€™re very talented, but theyโ€™re still young and theyโ€™re still ascending and you. You still feel that these guys are Gunnar Henderson is going to be better two months from now and two years from now than he is right now. Whereas you look at the Padres and say, Howโ€™s that team under 500? Howโ€™s that team? Not neck and neck with the Dodgers in the MLS? Well, yeah, the Orioles lost two out of three, not the end of the world, certainly. But that was the one thing that you know, one of my takeaways from this West Coast trip is that boy the Padres should be way better than they are because you see him just for two or three nights and you see the talent and how little theyโ€™re getting out of that in the win loss column.

Nestor Aparicio  29:36

My takeaway was I need to go to San Diego next year see the Orioles play. Heโ€™s Baltimore Luke. You can follow him out on the interwebs I have been at Mako and Ocean City, promoting our friends at the Maryland lottery as well as when donation and and really having some great conversations spent time with the governor. We spent a lot of time with Ben Cardin as well as Chris Van Hollen talking about federal stimulus money, things going on with the city. Whatโ€™s out sitting there, Carl Anderton who is the delegate Republican delegate from the Eastern Shore, whoโ€™s the big sports fan big Oriole, raving fan always sort of in the know we had had a month for extended visit, as well as Odette Ramos from from our city here talking about making things better around here and going down to Annapolis and looking for West to help out. So lots of political stuff around here this week. Youโ€™ll hear that mixed in with some Oriole stuff as well as the ravens and the residue from the Washington commanders. When you spend time in DC with montgomery county people and Prince Georgeโ€™s County people in Southern Maryland, maybe Charles get all Hey, theyโ€™re gonna change the name of the football I donโ€™t care. As long as they lose is all I care about the Governorโ€™s Cup, I think is what they call it. They used to call it this I think, Phil we own all that. We have baseball around here all week. The Blue Jays are in town Luke will be there. Colorado Rockies and I will be here and you can find me anywhere the internet travels. Add on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Iโ€™m Esther weโ€™re wn st am 1570 Towson Baltimore. Little Orioles, little ravens and a lot of Baltimore positive.com. Stay with us.

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