With the choppy nightly performances and results over the past two months, so much has changed about the roster. Especially the starting pitching. Luke Jones and Nestor measure the Oriolesโ rotation and hopes for a better run of luck heading into this drive to win the division and find October health and prosperity.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
orioles, game, year, week, team, win, pitching, baseball, month, october, monday, day, injuries, yankees, bullpen, chicago white sox, felt, player, healthy, point
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 Taos in Baltimore and Baltimore, positive. Itโs finally that time football season. Weโre into September. We are post Labor Day. I promise I will have the Raven scratch off soon. I still have this pile of gold rush sevens doubles that Iโm going to be giving away on Wednesday. Iโm wearing my Cocoโs gear kicking off the season. Mark Viviano will be that. Mark Viviano, the retired one, yeah, lured him out of retirement, his first ever appearance on my show. Now, Mark hosted radio on my station years and years ago, before the fan started blowing. I think itโs the first time Iโve said that. Um, thatโs pretty funny. I should have used that all along. Uh, itโs like Preakness. Iโll come up with these things. Uh, weโll be at Cocoโs this week, and then the crab cake tour really kicks off. And the oyster tours kicking off on Thursday, with my cousin John shields at Gertrude stand at the BMA. Weโll be doing that on Thursday. And I have no idea what kind of oyster sheโs giving me. I donโt know what anybodyโs gonna give me. I do know that for the first time in a long time, since I was a young old man, Iโm going to the pepper mill this week. So have that. Iโm going to have a proper bowl of oyster stew. Our friends at Liberty pure solutions are sending us out on the oyster tour to keep our water clean. Thatโs what they do for you. Itโs what they do for me. Liberty, pure solutions, my friend Doug, they do it in North Baltimore County, but they do it all over the state, and they keep well water clean, and they keep pipes clean. And then I had a little pipe issue in my bathroom that came out took care of my plumbing needs as well. Thatโs liberty, pure solutions, as well as Jiffy Lube, MultiCare. Donโt need to tell you about that. Iโll haunt my horn. Stop by. By the way, my little yellow lights on. Iโm coming to see you over Timonium Jiffy Lube. Come see me. Luke is busy, as I wrote this week in my independence day screed, he is doing double duty all week long. We just went through our work schedule. We set a work meeting. Would you want to come on Friday? And youโre like, I got practice. Itโs football season around here and itโs baseball season around here, but weโre going to talk some baseball. And I know, you know, come Friday, kind of like the Jimmy Buffett song, come Monday, come Friday. Weโll have some football information with this baseball team. Every single day, something kind of goes wrong, right. You know, after everything went right, we know how right felt back in April and May and into June, and boy, I leave you for like, 48 hours, and pitchers get contusions and get line drives on the wrist, and other guys get i L for the year, and hereโs Kobe Mayo again, and what the hell happened to Urias, and what a weekend we had there in the thin air of Colorado now to be home against the lowly White Sox. Yeah.
Luke Jones 02:39
I mean, it some, some good, some not so good. A series win against the Rockies and coming home and facing the White Sox, who are so, so, so bad. But you know, the big story over the weekend was Dean Kramer line drive off the forearm. Heโs doing better. It doesnโt sound like itโs a catastrophic kind of injury, but Whenโs he going to make his next start? You know, Brandon Hyde said the other day heโd be surprised, if itโs, you know, in five days, you know, at regular turn. So how are they going to adjust there? And unfortunately, Ramona Reus, who, as you and I have been talking about here in recent weeks, he was their best hitter in the month of August, sprains his ankle as of Labor Day, still on crutches. I mean, heโs, heโs gonna be be out for a while here. And thereโs really no timetable. So you hear that, youโre starting to wonder if itโs way more weeks, rather than just the 10 day i l periods.
Nestor Aparicio 03:34
Was there any point in May where I ever when they had the six man rotation where I thought, hey, theyโre pretty healthy, like I never thought even Westbrook could get hurt. You know, it didnโt baseball players donโt get hurt. They do, but they donโt. Itโs not like football, where weโre always crossing their fingers. This has been, I mean, by any stretch of any season, good, bad, young, old players. This has been a wild two months. It really has been. I
Luke Jones 03:56
mean, itโs been difficult. Thereโs no question about it. But look, I mean, go, go. Look at the Atlanta Braves right now, and look at some of the position player talent theyโve lost long term. It happens. And one thing that Brandon Hyde even addressed before Mondayโs game, as the Orioles came home and beat the pants, beat the tar out of the White Sox was we were really healthy. Other than Batista last year. He said we were really healthy the year before that. Sometimes this is how it plays out. And marques thing felt like it was
Nestor Aparicio 04:28
the only thing that went wrong that year. Was the only thing you could go wrong. It really like I still will look back if I donโt know Nick Marquez, I donโt think Iโve ever met Nick Marquez. Honestly, he he kind of came in right around then, when they threw me out. If I ever met him, I always think of him and that season and our night with that giant rat in New York at Yankee Stadium, which feels like a minute ago, but it was 10 years ago. You know, one thing can be a huge difference maker in any of it. And obviously the thing here is rushman not hitting the ball right now. And. Team not hitting the ball and but the injuries will be and I said this before they had the two injuries over the weekend. I said this, you on Friday, I said they already got it built in. If they take a face or three, four games next month, I mean, they theyโre not supposed to win the World Series now, as constructed now, they really are. I donโt think the fan base has changed its sort of expectations of weโre great in June to we were great, and now weโre just kind of slapping along a little bit, yeah. I
Luke Jones 05:27
mean, I guess I think thatโs a little defeatist, though, because who is winning the World Series in the Al right? I mean, who do you love? Like, who do you think is this amazing team? And when I say this
Nestor Aparicio 05:38
moment, there are three starters could be healthy burns on target, healthy Rodriguez rested it on target, and effin looking like Evelyn. And if they would, Kramer, and thatโd probably be okay by the middle of October. I so as defeatist as we are, Westbrook could be, I mean, we could talk about it in those terms of itโs a month from now. Think about a month ago. Think about two, you know, give it a month. Let it settle in. Let them play these bad teams. Let them just get to the finish line. Your game, upper game back on the Yankees. Theyโre going to play big games two weeks from now. The other Yankees games coming up on Yankee Stadium after the Dallas game here in the third week of September. I mean, and to your point, all along, I sound like you now, and they could stumble into October like Colorado did 30 years ago, or Arizona did last year, even Texas a little bit, and just catch fire and just win two out of three for a couple days. Itโs all they need to do. They need to win two out of three in October, two out of three, two out of three, two out of three, and they win the World Series.
Luke Jones 06:37
Literally. Yeah, couple things. I mean, you said a month, and itโd be apropos to mention this. I think back, and itโs a different sport, but things can change a lot in a month. And I think back to last Christmas and what the Kansas City Chiefs looked like that day, right? Sure, but Iโm talking specifically last year. I mean, Kansas City looked how they looked, and then a month later, they were beating the Ravens on their home field. Ravens looked like the best team in football. Had been for weeks. You never know. I mean, thatโs why they play the games. But I want to go back to something you said, because you mentioned burns, you mentioned a healthy, healthy Grayson Rodriguez, we need to start mentioning Zach Eflin first right now, because what he did on Sunday, albeit I get it, itโs the Rockies, but itโs still pitching at Coors Field, thin air coming off of an IL stint with shoulder inflammation. You donโt really know what youโre going to to get. And he was fantastic. He was outstanding in that performance. So I look at this right now, and Iโm even going to put Grayson Rodriguez aside for the moment, because again, we donโt know, right? We we think heโs throwing heโs making progress. Thereโs still optimism that heโs going to be back later in the month, but itโs still going to be later in the month, so you donโt know exactly how itโs going to look. So even if we put him aside right now, you give me a healthy Zach Eflin, who has been outstanding for the Orioles, you give me Corbin Burns, who was better on Monday? Was it peak Corbin burns? No, but certainly an improvement over what weโd seen here in recent outings. And Albert Suarez. Letโs letโs start calling it what it is. Albert Suarez has been that good, you know, right now, if the Orioles started a playoff series today, heโd be one of their top three. I mean, no questions asked. So
Nestor Aparicio 08:24
Venezuela, you canโt let him in. Oh, Iโm sorry, thatโs so itโs media pitching,
Luke Jones 08:29
so you just look at that, and then, okay, yeah, Grayson Rodriguez, Iโm, you know, I think theyโre still optimistic. He canโt have any setbacks. Thatโs obvious, right? He you donโt want him tweaking his hamstring cover in first base and a PFP or anything like that. But theyโre in a position where the rotation looks better than it did a few weeks ago. The bullpen is still a major question, but you know it in fairness, the bullpen the last week to 10 days, itโs been better, and theyโve gotten some decent performances. And even someone like a Gregory Soto has looked better. And even closed out the win on Sunday, what you know, wasnโt a high leverage situation, but was higher leverage than heโd been pitching. So thatโs looked a little bit better. And you know, they need to get the bats going. And Monday was a great, a great start in that and certainly facing the Chicago White Sox helps who Iโm just astonished, Nestor, we, weโve watched so much bad baseball, specifically the rebuild era of Orioles baseball. And three, you know, 100 well over 100 lost teams, the White Sox, having lost 41 of their last 45 games. Itโs just that blows my mind just how bad they are. And this is truly one of those series. And you and I talk about this a lot when, whenever the Orioles are going up against a bad team, you say, Man, youโd really like to sweep. This is one of those series where, if they donโt sweep, and they only get. Two out of three, itโll kind of feel like a series loss, right? I mean, thatโs how it felt,
Nestor Aparicio 10:03
like a stumble, and they were losing two nothing in the first inning, and theyโre getting all around again and sure, and the fans are all there, itโs a perfect day, and theyโre finally home, and, um, yeah. And it was giveaway, you know, like all that stuff going on. They answered the bell on Monday, and, quite frankly, they answered the bell with the Grand Slam last week. Um, you know, there has been theyโve had moments. Because I remember last week and a half ago, before I left for vacation, Iโm like, they havenโt had a moment since July 4. You know what I mean? It felt like they had had a walk off and had a win. They hadnโt had a I hadnโt seen them do that or come back, and there had been a lot of bad bullpen efforts, in addition to a lot of injuries. Just a lot of bad news. Um, the good news comes every day. When you look at the standings, though, right? Like, really, that is the saving grace is, yeah, the skyโs falling. The skyโs falling. Theyโre half game out of first place. So, like, the standings help them a lot. And the notion that there is a Calvary where weโve talked about this forever and ever, about calvaries, like, if what you have now isnโt good enough, whatโs coming over the hill? Well, you know, they they have some prosperity coming over the hill that will make them a better baseball team on October, the second, third, whatever day theyโre going to play a month from now, they should be a better team than what they were last week, if that just from a composition standpoint. And dude, Slater, you know, Rivera, these guys that they brought in that always feel like an afterthought, and somebody else is paying them in a lot of cases, that could be helpful too. And mayo coming up and having his wind again and maybe hitting the ball a little bit holidays organized things that we would have questioned back in April and May. If we took person by person, player by player, position by position, and had our questions of April and May answered in October, they can still ring the bell in October, right? And I love when I put a status up. People think that Iโm down on the team. Iโm like, people donโt listen to the show like I thought this team was great all year. I think itโs tragic that theyโve had part of the Mojo taken away. But Iโm not Lamar is not gone, and they have to play playoff games with Snoop. Theyโre not at that level yet. Now, if they have to go, they have to go into October and Dean Kramerโs their number one starter. They got problems.
Luke Jones 12:18
Or if, heaven forbid, Gunner, Gunner Henderson gets hurt, or something like that, right? So, yeah, Iโm with you on that, and I think we need to continue to remember, like Monday is a great example of it. The Orioles were the first team to 80 wins in the American League on Monday, early evening. Now the Yankees won later in the day to stay a half game ahead, but you really just have to, I canโt stress enough the importance of continuing to look around, and I donโt mean that in a sense of scoreboard watching, but Iโve talked about this a lot as it pertains to the offense Nestor. Weโve talked about this for two or three months. You know, I was talking about this back in April and May, when, even back then certain segments of the fan base. And look, Iโm not picking on Orioles fans here. I think itโs the same way everywhere, because our country has become such an NFL football culture as it pertains to sports fandom, I think we lose sight of just how baseball works and understanding that, yes, the Orioles had a very rough month offensively in the month of August, but you still look at their stats compared to a lot of teams out there, it still wasnโt that bad. It wasnโt as bad as people wanted to make it out to be. And look when theyโre only getting three or four hits in a night. I get it. Itโs frustrating. Those guys are more frustrated than anyone when thatโs happening. I asked Brandon Hyde about Adley rutschman on before Mondayโs game, and he gave a two and a half minute long answer, talking about the work heโs putting in and understanding that heโs a catcher, and at times, theyโve got to kind of pull the reins back on him and say, Hey, you got a game tonight, right? I mean, so itโs not about guys.
Nestor Aparicio 14:02
Those bank commercials are real, huh? Heโs underneath just catching the 200 ball. Yeah, you know, the wall sit, or whatever. I do worry about anytime they start making commercials and theyโre 21 years old, I get that RG, three Baker Mayfield thing, and Iโm thinking, yeah, youโre selling a lot of pizza, and youโve been in the big leagues a minute and a half and, you know, and youโre boring, and you catch the ball and youโre boring, and youโre hitting 115 this month. So, like I always, the commercials can be a little weird in the modern era, I think. And they havenโt had star players. Adam Jones, never had a commercial. No, none of them. They havenโt had commercials here for players in years, because my buddy that gives all the money to Papa Johnโs for that awful pizza. They didnโt have a player they could even give the money to they didnโt have a player that ate pizza.
Luke Jones 14:44
So when you look at all that, and you remind yourself that 2024 is not the year of offense in Major League Baseball, and Iโll continue to say that the numbers donโt lie, and I get it, the Orioles are up and down and can. Are inconsistent at times. Thatโs baseball again. Whenever I ask posed this question to people, no one really gives me an answer. And I donโt mean you specifically, Nestor, just in general, say, what offense Do you covet? Like? What offense would you want the Orioles to be more like? And sometimes people will mention offenses, and Iโm like, theyโve scored fewer runs in the Orioles this year. So look, theyโve got to be better. They know that you made this point, and I think itโs a good one. About two weeks ago, we were looking at that stretch of Houston and the Dodgers. A week long stretch, the Astros clearly have played a lot better. Theyโve seized control the Al West. I think if thereโs any team, and Iโm going to include the Yankees in there, the Astros are the team they theyโve got the pedigree. Say what you want about their past and cheating and all that, but theyโve been there, and theyโve won World Series. They played deep in October of this current playoff field, the way itโs shaping up to be. They are the team in the Al that has the pedigree, right? But we were talking about that stretch, and we were even saying, I think I even said to you, before you departed for your respite, I said, Man, we could be talking about a very different story here if the Orioles go one in six over that time, and thatโs where Iโm going to stick up for the Orioles a little bit here, as choppy as itโs been since late June, and itโs been very choppy, they still have not been in a position where theyโve been so woeful for three weeks, and suddenly they look up and the Yankees are six games up on them, and theyโre clinging to the final wild card spot or something like that, for as much as
Nestor Aparicio 16:30
11 and 612, and five football team, right? Thereโs still a very still. Theyโre still very formidable, and theyโre still as good as anybody else over three games, if they can get three of their best starters to the post in the most important games, wherever those games are, where, I mean, wherever they play them, whoever the draw is, I will still take my chances that if they get Westbrook back in the lineup and holidays healthy and available, and, you know, still a phenom, I thereโs some pile divers in there. I have listen. I wrote my screed about you being asked to do double duty and me being locked down. By the way, I do appreciate that. Wnst got a question in on the on the baseball manager the other day, but I the the notion that the team canโt win, or that there is some negativity in regard to the baseball team not being good enough at this point. This is, this is baseball. The injuries are part of this, other than the 84 tigers. You know, I havenโt seen anybody just run away. And the Yankees, when they were $100 million better than everybody else, just run away and hide. And the Yankees arenโt running away and hiding either. And I think the the interesting point you mentioned is the balance of all of this is that thereโs not even any super team in the tournament. On the other side, right? Thereโs no super team here. Itโs literally going to be game one, your pitcher, my pitcher, whoโs healthy, whoโs not, where are the shadows, whoโs going to score four runs today instead of three? Because thatโs what playoff games are. Thatโs what they always are, yeah,
Luke Jones 18:01
and I mean, on the other side of it, I mean, okay, the Dodgers, the Dodgers have come on. Arizonaโs Come on, as much as I was really dismissive of the Diamondbacks, and I kept using them as an example, because they were so mediocre. The first half of the season, they played really good baseball. Since then, Padres have played good baseball, but the Dodgers have come on, but your point still stands. I mean, weโre not talking about any teams here at this rate. Itโs not looking like weโre going to have 100 win team in Major League Baseball this year. So look when we when we say these things, weโre also projecting out here, right? You just said it. Some of the guys are going to get back from injury. Now those guys need to come back, and they need to look like themselves. If Jordan Westbrookโs a 200 hitter coming back the last week of September, because heโs not 100% then you donโt really have Jordan westburg back. Same with Danny Coulomb. Go down four
Nestor Aparicio 18:50
hits in an October game theyโre gonna lose, you know what I mean, or unless they win one to nothing, but they need to hit the baseball and knock first. Yeah, every every team
Luke Jones 18:59
does. No one of the biggest misconceptions, and Iโve seen people write articles about this, is this constant thing that people say, well, that teamโs too reliant on the home run. Go, look at teams that have won in the postseason in recent years. Theyโve hit home runs. Go, look at how many home runs the Texas Rangers hit last year. Look, Iโm not saying thatโs the only way to score runs or or that you want. You donโt want to be more versatile in how you score runs, but you better be able to hit some home runs, because I just donโt think youโre winning in October if you donโt hit home runs well. And
Nestor Aparicio 19:28
this team has capacity to do that, and thatโs success, yes, but,
Luke Jones 19:32
but they have to be better, right? I mean, Gunner Henderson has to get back to more the player that he looked like the first half of the season. Weโve talked at length about Adley rochman, and Iโve asked about Adley rutschman, and Adley rutschman on Monday got on base three times. Now do I think that means heโs fixed? Well, check back with me in a week, check back with me in two weeks. We need to see a better version of Corbin burns on the pitching side. And yes, it was better on Monday, albeit against the Chicago White Sox. They need Zach. Shoulder to continue to feel good, and so we could pitch like he did on Sunday, which was fantastic. So yes, there are questions. Yes, there are warts. Yes, the injuries are such a big part of this. Thereโs no doubt about that Kyle Bradish isnโt walking through that door. And the same with John means, and the same with Tyler wells, even though I saw Tyler wells and John means in the clubhouse, and was good to see them, but you know that theyโre not pitching in 2024 so yes, thereโs so much attrition that theyโve dealt with, and thatโs part of it. Itโs not an excuse. Itโs literally part of their reality, right? I mean, to ignore it is, as you mentioned a few minutes ago, itโd be like saying, Why arenโt the Ravens winning when Tyler hutleyโs at quarterback rather than Lamar Jackson, itโs like, what do you expect? So again, as weโve said, itโs baseball. You let it play out. Yes, this teamโs been mediocre since late June. At the same time, while weโve talked about the fact that they havenโt won three in a row since right coming out of the all star break, they won the last game against the Yankees. Had the break, and then they won two in Arlington. Thatโs the last time they won three in a row. However, they also havenโt lost three in a row since, I think, July 24 through the 26th something like that point is they havenโt, you know, for all the injuries theyโve had, for all the mediocrity that weโve talked about, for all the pitching concerns and and flat out woeful stretches of pitching that theyโve had over the last two months, theyโve still hovered right around where they are right now, which is 2021, games over 500 you know, theyโve dropped down to 19 or 18, a couple at a couple points, but theyโve kept themselves in position where, you know, there are 9293 94 win team, which is Not last year, I get that right. Itโs not 101 wins. Itโs not 106 or seven, like they were on the pace to do in late June, but itโs still right there. And as I said, as they come out of Labor Day, they and the Yankees are the only two teams in the Al with 80 wins. And Iโm not saying throw a parade, but it just means who are the dominant teams? You know, we can go through every single contender in the Al right now and they have question marks. I mean, even the Astros, who I just mentioned, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, their health. I mean, theyโve lost guys over the course of the year. You know, Iโm not saying the Orioles are going to be the favorite. Iโm not saying the Orioles are going to look like the best team going in October, or arenโt going to have question marks, even when they get some of these guys back, because I still have my major doubts about their bullpen, for example, but let it play out, see if they can get themselves healthy. My goodness, you canโt lose anyone else to injury at this point, and if that happens now weโre talking about whether that personโs coming back, as I mentioned, remote remote areas, whoโs still on crutches, but you know, weโll see how this plays out. We know their schedule until they play the Yankees. You know, when weโre heading into the final month of the or final week of the regular season, their schedule is very favorable on paper. Letโs see what they do. You know, Iโm not expecting them to go nuts, but I certainly fully expect them to one hold on to a playoff spot at the very least. And two, you know, I think the Yankees are a lot like the Orioles in the sense that I donโt think theyโre good enough that theyโre going to run away with it, even if they end up taking the division. I think the Orioles are going to stay right there with them. So letโs see how it plays out. You know, letโs, letโs keep in mind this is also supposed to be fun for as much as itโs felt not so fun the last couple months, theyโre still right there. Everything is still in front of them. As far as what they can theyโre capable of potentially doing. They need to get healthy. They need guys to start their stars, to start playing like stars again. And if they do that, then hey, Buck Showalter always used to say itโs all about getting October. And then you roll the dice and you see who gets hot. And at this point, I donโt know who that hot team is in the Al, so letโs see it play out. And to your point, things could look a lot different a month from now. As weโre talking about the Orioles getting ready to play October baseball, weโll
Nestor Aparicio 23:53
get to the bullpen in a minute. We got a lot of football to talk about. Lukeโs going to be covering the game on Thursday night. We have full coverage all week long, as weโve always done here from the very beginning, whether Weโve accessed or not. And Iโve written about that, and Iโll continue to write about that. Eric decostas Getting a love letter for me this week that heโll love in advance of the Pearl Jam show next week as well. Iโll just say this before we break, because I want to do bullpen with you. And weโll weโll talk some more baseball, for sure. Weโre going to mix in some ravens, get some chiefs in here. Barry Bloomโs going to join us this week. Matt scurra came on to talk about Joe DeSantis and his loss and the importance of offensive line. Heโs doing well down in Charlotte. So we got a lot of things going on here. Iโll just say this about Monday, and Iโll probably begin with this. We talk about pitching, but Monday, Iโm watching the game on TV, because thatโs how I watch it. You were at the game, because thatโs how you watch it. Look like a lovely day. I didnโt know anything about the giveaway and the lines and all that. When the game started, it felt like a playoff game. I looked at it on TV, and the shadows were weird because it was a three oโclock game. I looked at it. Iโm just where the shadows were with the pictures in the box. Iโm like, it looks like playoff baseball, like a time of it. And then the vibe when burns took the ball the first couple of pitches, like. Like it, and then if it went to poop, because they gave up a couple runs and threw the ball around, but it had a little pepper, did it not? Or Am I nuts? On Monday TV, it
Luke Jones 25:08
was a nice atmosphere. And Iโll tell you another recent game, I mean. And it sounds kind of funny to say it, but that Santander Grand Slam game against Houston, the Orioles gave fans nothing to cheer about over the first six, seven innings of that ball game, until, of course, the big blow in the eighth inning. The crowd was electric that night. I mean, has it been a sell out every night? No, of course not. And they had 35,000 there on it was itโs a nice crowd, but it doesnโt look that way, because they donโt open the left field, upper deck right. So those
Nestor Aparicio 25:38
are the free the bird seat. So theyโll be the first gone once.
Luke Jones 25:41
But no, you said it. I mean, it was a nice atmosphere. And you could, you can tell, you know, again, how many people in the in the stands on a given night and schools back in session, all that, Iโll hear all that, right, but for the fans that are there, good atmosphere was a fun, fun day, way easier playing the Chicago White Sox than anyone else right now. I mean, my goodness, I canโt stress that enough, that team is Iโve watched a lot of bad baseball, going back to 2018 specifically, but boy, that is just another element, and the Orioles acted accordingly after a slow start and win 13 to three. But, yeah, it was a fun day. It was a giveaway all that. But
Nestor Aparicio 26:25
I feel bad for Larry sheets, his kid, to be honest with you, sitting there next to Cal poor guy. Hey,
Luke Jones 26:30
heโs one of the few legit major leaguers they have, right? I mean, he is, and he swung the bat well against the Orioles on Monday. So, but, but yeah. I mean, itโs good day for Orioles fans. And you know, nice to see the Orioles come home on a high note after winning the series in Colorado. So, you know, up and down over the weekend with the injuries and all that also got Zach Eflin back, Jacob Webb started a rehab assignment. So some positives as well. But, but, yeah, uh, down to what weโre down to under 30 games to go, you know. So itโs go time, itโs sprint time, and the Oreos are hoping to get some guys back here. But most of those guys, Iโll just point this out, and Iโll leave you with this, most of those guys still talking about the second half of September. So itโs still going to be, still going to be a couple weeks for some of these guys, which just means itโs even more important for none of these guys to have any setbacks.
Nestor Aparicio 27:25
You know, I had Larry sheets on my stratamatic team back in 87 and 88 you donโt remember Larry sheets. Do you like? You know, you you always feel like youโre as old as me, because youโre like smart and wisdom and all that, and you have books, but you donโt remember Larry sheets. You were like a tie. You were a little tyke. We see where your favorite Oriole in 1987 when you four?
Luke Jones 27:48
I mean, no, I remember Larry sheets.
Nestor Aparicio 27:52
Larry sheets, I never met Larry sheets, which is even crazier, like Iโve never crazy. Itโs weird, you know,
Luke Jones 28:03
Iโve said that. Iโve said this to you though my my wheelhouse, where I really, consciously, really start remembering day to day baseball is right around 8990 you know, when I was six, seven years old, I remember I had memories before that, but thatโs when I remember day to day following.
Nestor Aparicio 28:18
Ray, hold on. Do you remember the devil percentage? Deborah? Stadium. You remember that the foul ball, fair ball? Yes. So you remember that? Okay, thatโs good. Thatโs a thatโs a mark of delineation that Joe Enoch will appreciate if he hears this piece, uh, heโs Luke. Iโm Nestor. Weโre gonna continue baseball, football, football, baseball, ravens, Orioles television at the practices. Heโs Luke. Iโm Nestor, a.