Another quality start from Shane Baz was wasted at Camden Yards on Tuesday night as the Orioles continue to play the foil to the New York Yankees with a Wild Card berth at stake in a sloppy American League race. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the eternal frustration of Orioles losing close games to Yankees all these years later.
The discussion focused on why the Orioles keep losing close, winnable games to the Yankees despite remaining within reach of the playoff race.
Boz Start
- Luke said Shane Boz delivered a strong bounce-back outing after his poor start in Minnesota, with better velocity, an excellent knuckle curve, and a season high in strikeouts.
- He argued Boz’s 4-13 record is misleading because the Orioles have provided poor run support and, over the full season, inconsistent defense.
- The offense scored only one run, went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and failed to capitalize in the seventh inning after getting two men on.
Team Pattern
- Luke said the last two losses are more representative of the 2026 Orioles than the recent sweep of the Rays, citing the club’s repeated pattern of short hot streaks followed by regression.
- He noted the team has hovered between two and nine games under .500 since early May, which he described as consistency of a mediocre team rather than simple inconsistency.
- Nestor agreed the club is usually competitive deep into games, but said sloppy execution, limited offense, and missed late opportunities continue to define them.
Open Questions
- Luke said Samuel Basayo’s return appears imminent and that Blaze Alexander and Felix Bautista are expected to begin rehab assignments within a week, though Bautista should only return if he looks and feels right.
- He said the bullpen has been closer to average than disastrous overall, but late-inning roles remain fluid and some pitchers are working in miscast spots.
- Can the Orioles sustain any momentum during this homestand against the Yankees and Rays? Can Gunnar Henderson return even to his 2023 level and become the impact bat the roster was built around?
Action Items
- Attend the WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore “Baltimore Positive” live appearance at Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville on Wednesday. (@Nestor Aparicio)
- Attend the WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore “Baltimore Positive” live appearance at Koco’s Pub on next Wednesday. (@Nestor Aparicio)
- Bring and provide Ravens scratch-off lottery tickets at both Fishmonger’s Daughter and Koco’s Pub appearances for giveaways. (@Nestor Aparicio)
- Finish the partially written article about O.J. Brigantz this week.
- Organize and host the celebration of the Best of Baltimore Reinvention Award, including coordinating guest appearances from Max Weiss and Ron Cass. (@Nestor Aparicio)
- Launch the ’28 music memories’ series leading into the station’s 35th anniversary on Baltimore Radio, beginning around the 28th. (@Nestor Aparicio)
- Participate in the planned WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore “Baltimore Positive” segment featuring Luke and Alan discussing baseball.
- Shift the WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore “Baltimore Positive” programming focus toward full football coverage after concluding the current discussion of fake football in Minnesota. (@Nestor Aparicio)
Yankees Loss
- Nestor and Luke reviewed the Orioles’ 3-1 loss to the Yankees and described it as a familiar script: strong starting pitching, limited offense, and the Yankees closing the game cleanly late.
- Shane Boz was a focal point, with Luke emphasizing improved velocity, a dominant knuckle curve, and a start that should have been enough to give the Orioles a real chance to win.
Offensive Problems
- The Orioles scored one run, failed with runners in scoring position, and did not create enough pressure outside of Kobe Mayo’s home run off a left-hander.
- Luke criticized the seventh-inning sequence in which Jeremiah Jackson pinch hit and struck out, raising the question of whether a bunt would have been the better situational play.
Season Identity
- Luke argued the team’s recent slump is consistent with its season-long identity: brief stretches of strong play followed by losses that keep the club under .500.
- Both speakers agreed the Orioles are rarely out of games, but not good enough to stack wins consistently or take control of the wild-card race.
Bullpen And Reinforcements
- The bullpen was discussed as average overall rather than the primary cause of the season, though Luke said some current relievers are in roles above their ideal usage.
- Potential reinforcements mentioned were Samuel Basayo returning soon, plus rehab assignments for Blaze Alexander and Felix Bautista.
- Luke said Bautista could help if healthy, even short of his 2023 peak form.
Key Player Concern
- Nestor and Luke closed on Gunnar Henderson, with Luke arguing that even Henderson’s 2023 level of production would likely have the Orioles in a playoff position right now.
- The broader concern was whether Henderson can become the lineup anchor the club expected when pairing him with Pete Alonso.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We call the Baltimore positive. Set a spot on your radio dial if you don’t have one of those machines that doesn’t have an AM radio. We’re going to be on Wednesday at Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville. Then next Wednesday at Koco’s Pub. So I decided to wear the Koco’s Pub shirt. I almost snuck down there on Burger Night on Tuesday, and it was actually chicken sandwich. Don’t tell anybody. We’ll be there next Wednesday. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. We will have the Ravens scratch offs. Also, our friends at GBMC putting us out on the road. Some medical conversations around here. Had a real good one on sleep deprivation a couple weeks ago. Of those of you struggling with sleep, it was really cool for that, and I know people in my life that have struggled. Also, our friends at Farnan and Dermer. Luke’s wearing the shirt. I decided to give the bowling shirt up today. Zach Dermer’s going to join me over Fishmonger’s daughter, and we will hash it all out. New York Yankees in town. Luke was at the ballpark on Tuesday night, and dude, I hit the yoga mat and I taped the game and I, you know, watch Melanie Newman for five minutes before and the Yankees are in town and I almost text you at like 6:25 because my my friend Rachel Druckenmiller is singing the national anthem on Wednesday night. I’ve had her on the show this week as well. She had a great story. I don’t know many people that have actually been hit by a truck. She’s been hit by a truck, so we we joke about that, but it’s not funny. But I watched National Anthem and I saw the people filming it, and I almost texted you and said it sort of feels like a big game. It sort of feels like like all that I talked about on Tuesday morning about hey this is kind of a big series on television, and again you know massing lies. Don’t ask me. Greg Bader runs it, but it felt energetic, and it felt like when it’s one-one, the Yankees are going to score a couple runs in the seventh inning and shut the door. And that’s exactly this is the script for the last 30 years of Yankees, or for the most part. There are bits of times we’re going to, but in a general sense, whether it’s Tino Martinez or Cecil Fielder or pick pick anybody, Bernie Williams, whatever it is. Somebody’s going to score some runs in the seventh inning and get a big hit, and the bullpen’s going to get its feelings hurt in Baltimore because that’s I’ve been doing this a long time. That was um right out of central casting is what I would say on Tuesday night.
Luke Jones 2:17
Yeah, I was I it’d be tough for me to disagree with that, and I would also say it’s right out out of central casting for how Shane Boz’s season has gone, and this Orioles team in 2026, how it’s gone. I mean, Boz pitches I thought really well. I mean, especially on the heels of bouncing back from his start, last start in Minnesota, that was not good. I mean, big game
Nestor Aparicio 2:37
home against the Yankees, ready to start something. Velocity was looked like a top of the line. He looked like a game two starter for me in October if they can ever figure this out.
Luke Jones 2:45
Yeah, sure. Game two, game three, whatever. I mean, good, but it but it was a representative effort. It was a much better version of Shane Boz than we saw the last time out, where the velocity was down. That was one of the rare instances where the Orioles scored runs for him, and he ends up having his shortest and worst start of the season. Shane Boz was back to throwing heat. The curveball, you know, the knuckle curve was outstanding. I mean, got. I think, think I saw there were 21 swings on on his knuckle curve, and he got 10 whiffs out of those 21 strands. I mean, that’s it’s really good. That that’s good stuff right there, specifically for that pitch. He he had a season high in strikeouts. They scored one run. You know me, Nestor. In in modern baseball, how often do you hear me cite win loss record for a pitcher? Never anymore. Well, yeah, it’s
Nestor Aparicio 3:36
it’s me and Jim Palmer pretty much. Right. Talk about. But I’m just saying. I mean, in my
Luke Jones 3:41
in the modern game, there are so many other measurements that give you a more complete evaluation of a pitcher, and Shane Boz is a perfect example of that. Right? He’s four and 13 this year. Now, I’m not going to sit here and say he’s a Cy Young candidate or anything nuts. Right? He’s got a four ERA, but he’s been a guy that more often than not has gone out there and given them a really good chance to pitch or a really good chance to win every time he pitches, and yet he’s four and 13. It’s because he’s had some of the worst run support in baseball this year. Now I think I saw. Don’t cite me on this that it’s 100% accurate, but I did see it on social media that I think of qualified starters. I want to say I saw his run support as like second or third worst in the majors. One, I believe it. Two, it speaks to even decent run support. And keep in mind, he’s also amongst the leaders in unearned runs allowed. The defense has especially been bad for him. Now, not not so much on Tuesday night. You know, weren’t examples of that Tuesday, but with better run support, and again, not top of the line. Just give me middle of the road run support for Shane Boz, and a more representative defense time in and time out when he goes out there. Shane Boz would be way close. To 13 and four than four and 13, not saying exactly, but it’d be close. Point is, he pitched well for them on Tuesday night. He gave them a really good chance to win. Josh Walker did not pitch well in relief coming in in the seventh inning, and ultimately leads to Boz having a couple more runs attached to his name. But they didn’t score. They didn’t score any runs. You know they didn’t hit the ball. I mean they were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. They got the leadoff man on once all night. I get it. The Yankees pitch at an incredibly high level. It’s the reason why the Yankees are 70 and 55. Their offense has been awful, awful for two months now. But they can
Nestor Aparicio 5:39
close the door when they got a three-one lead on the road, they have
Luke Jones 5:41
great pitching. I mean, they absolutely and they got Carlos Rodon back. Now, granted, Max Free just went on the IL, but they get Carlos Rodon back, and he was on. You know, he was shortened up. You know, pitch count wasn’t going to allow him to go very deep, but he pitched well, and the bullpen was outstanding. But you got to score more than one run. I mean, it’s just that simple, right? Just because the Orioles had a good week offensively, I’m not going to sit here and and give the offense a pass. They lost because they couldn’t score runs on Tuesday night. You go into a game and give up three runs, you should have a chance to win a good chance to win that game. And they just didn’t give themselves much of a chance, and you know I kind I asked Craig Albernaz about the seventh inning. They get two guys on, and they pinch hit Jeremiah Jackson for Norvayas. And you know me, I’m not a big bunting guy, but that seemed like a situation. Whether you’re going to let the catcher hit there, or you bring up Jeremiah Jackson, or whomever, you lay down a bunt there. Top of the order then has the the tying runs in scoring position. They didn’t do it. Jeremiah Jackson swung, you know, swung through. What was it? Three straight pitches, I think it was, and then you know they didn’t get it done after that. Jackson Holiday and Pete Alonso didn’t get it done, but you know they had that opportunity, and they had the opportunity in the second inning. They didn’t cash in it. Like it was that simple. They didn’t really have too many. They made the game at
Nestor Aparicio 7:07
Pete Alonso. It’s a home run there. You know that’s how that’s how the Oriole magic happens. And Pete Alonzo’s done
Luke Jones 7:13
done some of that of late, right? But I’m just saying this
Nestor Aparicio 7:16
week it has to happen when you’re four games under 500 and you’re you’re chasing the ring. You know, all of a sudden they’re not in the wild card lead anymore. I’m concerned, but yeah, I think they’re
Luke Jones 7:24
fifth now because because it just speaks to the night. The night is just nuts in a general
Nestor Aparicio 7:28
sense. You know, I come on every morning and I try to be optimistic. You come on every morning and you like sort of urinate my Wheaties. And today you’re right because like the Yankees showed up and and and I felt that playoff thing and that and Shane Boz goes out and gives them what they give them. And at the end of the day, it’s well, we catch the ball when we when we want to, and even when we throw the ball in the dirt or pull the first baseman off the bag or make you just it’s just very very sloppy baseball. And to my eyes, having witnessed this for six decades now of watching baseball, but like the part where, like, in the end, are they gonna, you know, are they gonna Lucy and Charlie Brown? Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, yeah. Like, here we go. I mean, do you really believe in them? No. Did I really believe in them in the seventh inning? Did a home run late in the game? Maybe once this week they’ll do that. I mean, they’ll win. They’ll win one of these games in some dramatic fashion, but they might go two and four on the stand, and that it’s not nothing’s going to put a fork in them until all the rest of these teams stink bad enough. But or somebody pulls ahead. But I would say like Tuesday was particularly frustrating if you went down there and you got into the vibe of like you’re sitting on your effing hands for two and a half hours and nothing happens. Really, that was sort of the story of Tuesday night, right? Like he showed up and nothing really happened. Yeah,
Luke Jones 8:46
I mean Kobe Mayo hits another home run off a lefty, right? I mean we’re we’re getting to the point where I mean Mayo faces a lefty. You’re kind of just waiting for him to hit hit a tank. I mean that’s how it is. Well, he he’s the best power hitter. He’s been the best hitter against left-handed pitching in baseball this year. I mean, that’s go look at the numbers. It’s incredible. We can talk about the flaws in Kobe Mayo’s game, and and those are evident. But man, there are very few hitters in all of baseball. I won up there against left-handed pitching as much as Kobe Mayo at this point in time. But yeah, I mean, they they didn’t swing the bats and and they didn’t score runs, and this is these last two nights are exactly what I wrote at BaltimorePositive.com. I mean, this is what this team has done all year long. They play well for a week or maybe two weeks. They have a really good series. You start to to get excited about them. You you kind of revert to your spring training expectations, your spring training optimism, and then they go out there and they remind you why they’ve been under 500 since the end of April. Right? I mean, it’s that simple. I mean, I I went through. The the list of times where they’ve done these types of things right I mean they had the 10 and four stretch back in late May and early June and then right after that they won one series in their next eight they had the Dodger Stadium series win right they lost three straight series immediately after that the seven game winning streak back right around the all, you know, wrapped around the All Star break, and then they lost three of their next four series, and that’s what prompted Michaelias to sell instead of buy. Right, so I mean, I I can’t sit here and say I’m surprised, and I’m not saying it’s over. Like, look, like I’m not losing my head after a couple losses either. But what they’ve done the last two nights is much more representative of what we’ve seen of the Baltimore Orioles in 2026 than me overreacting and getting overly excited because they took three straight from the Rays at the trough. It’s a good series. It’s a really good series, but that inability to sustain and extend and really use those types of stretches as a jumping-off point to then just start playing better and to get back to 500. Let alone get a few games over 500. They haven’t done it all year, and that’s where I just look at it and say, “Is this really going to change now? I mean, we can lay it out there. I mean, Samuel Basayo is going to be his return is imminent. I think it’s going to be, you know, the next couple nights. I would say by the weekend at the latest. Craig Albernaz and the Orioles announced Blaze Alexander, and I’ll give you the other name here. That’s really interesting, Felix Bautista. They’re going to be starting rehab assignments here within the next week. So yeah, so
Nestor Aparicio 11:40
Albernaz talked about that, and he said, “I haven’t even thought about him in the same way I haven’t thought about him. Yeah,
Luke Jones 11:45
I mean, I look if he’s if he looks right, and you know, I I was talking to someone yesterday. It sounds like the velocity. It’s not at 2023 102 miles per hour, but I’ve heard that he’s mid to upper 90s. So let him go on a rehab assignment. I’m not sitting here holding my breath. That oh my gosh, you’re gonna have you’re going to have Felix Batista back. No, we got to need to see what this looks like, and ultimately you need to do what’s best for him and his career more so than trying to shoehorn him into the midst of a you know this pennant race of sub 500 teams, but if he looks right and he feels right, and you can insert him in a September where you have an expanded roster, yeah, sure. I mean, take a look. I mean, you’re seeing who they’re throwing out there on a nightly basis with their bullpen? Of course, I’ll take a look at Felix Batista if he’s feeling right. So, so you know, we can look at those things and and you can try to paint an optimistic picture, but ultimately they’ve got to go out there and they they need to win games consistently, and they just have not been able to do that. They haven’t had the terrible prolonged stretches either, right? I mean, their longest losing streak of the year is five games. It’s not as though this has been a team that’s had a bunch of stretches where they lose 11 of 13, but at some point in time,
Nestor Aparicio 13:14
inconsistent. They’re consistently under 500 by this much, right?
Luke Jones 13:17
I I I’ve said this all year long. I mean, you’ll
Nestor Aparicio 13:20
consistently lose three to one in the seventh inning against a better team.
Luke Jones 13:23
You hear people use the term inconsistent for the Orioles all year, and and it’s not just the Orioles. Any team that’s kind of in this space, but because it’s a euphemism for you’re just not you’re not good enough. You’re not terrible, but you’re not good, right? Right. So, but but that’s who they’ve been. I mean, they have hovered between two and nine games under 500 since the beginning of May. I mean, that’s they’ve been in that space all year long. I would, I would challenge that they’re actually quite consistent. Doesn’t mean it’s a a consistent brand that you like, but this is kind of who they’ve been. It’s like Sanka. It’s consistent, but it’s not very good. Yes, yes. I mean that that might be the perfect description there. I mean they’re not they’re not a terrible ball club by any means. But for me to sit here and that’s why I was I was very cautious talking about the Rays series in the terms that some people were not you just in general people trying to be excited and I get that fans want to be optimistic and excited, and you-it is sitting right there. A playoff spot is sitting right there to be taken. But this is the latest example of the Orioles. They can’t even get to one game under 500, let alone 500 or two games over 500 or four games over 500. So, you know, this is the latest example. They get to two under, and now they’ve dropped two in a row again, and you’re still have five games to go on this really challenging homestand. That if it doesn’t go well, and you said two and four, like that, their mo would the way they’ve played this year, you know, coming home after the Rays series feels
Nestor Aparicio 14:57
about right for where they need to be against these two. Two good teams at you know right
Luke Jones 15:02
no but I’m saying like the two and four home stand that kind of screams what they’ve been for most of the year right and that and that would not bury them by any means but it would then once again put them behind a couple then they got to go
Nestor Aparicio 15:14
sweep you know bad teams when they get them and they don’t have a lot of that coming up right and they
Luke Jones 15:17
and even it’s funny I saw someone cite this. I mean, go look at the Orioles. Their number of wins they have against winning teams-it’s relatively impressive. Problem is, when you’re talking about a sub 500 team, what does that mean? That means they’ve lost their they’ve lost their share to bad teams too. Right, and that’s where you just again, it goes back to what we said. This is not a good ball club. It’s not a terrible ball club by any means either, but it’s just tough for me this deep into the season. I mean, talking about a team that’s played 126 games at this point in time, that’s why it’s tough for me to put a whole lot in three straight wins against the Rays and saying, okay, here we go, this is who they are, more so than just reverting to what we’ve seen the last couple nights, which is this is a team that you know it’s been two one or two steps forward and then two or three steps back all year long. I mean, but it
Nestor Aparicio 16:13
really has been the hitting. No one on this team has profiled to be. I mean, Jeremiah Jackson’s coming up in big spots, and we’re like, “Well, he had a big hit in April. You know what I mean? Like Matteo had a big hit in April. Matteo had a big hit the other night. He had big hits for us three. I mean, all these guys-they’re big league ball players. Something good. Taylor Teegarden’s going to, you know, win a game for you. But by the way, had Lavarne visitor here this week, so yeah, just back backup catchers. I’m on all that. Maybe I could jump back at or something on here sometime soon. But I would just say everybody’s capable. But then there’s, I always go back to Johnny Oates turning over the buffet 35 years ago. Are you going to lead us? Are you going to lead us? Who’s going to lead us? Well, you know, Pete Alonso came up with you know big ducks, and I’m not saying I’m down on him. He got he can’t do it. He can’t do it every night. Exactly. Every night, it’s a different star. But somebody’s got to step up. And maybe this is the point where we talk about one of your favorite things, which is the bullpen, the bullpen, the bullpen, the setup, the structure, the bullpen. And the Yankees have all of this money, and you know they go steal the Pirates guy, right? Like it is. They don’t wow. It’s not Mariano Rivera right now. It’s not Stanton and Nelson and Rivera. You know, it’s not something like that. But it’s better than what whatever the Orioles have been trying to do. And listen, I’m not even down on Elias on this. He has spent money going back to washed up Craig Kimbrel through Batista and believing in him through you know, investing in in in Helsley, and it’s been unfortunate the bullpen situation because Elias, if he were here and defending himself, would say I did this and this and this and this. It’s a bullpen. It’s whack a mole. And look what Brian Baker’s become. You know what I mean? We gave him away, and Wells is gone now, right? So,
Luke Jones 18:02
yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 18:03
seeing the Yankees do this, shut the door on the road quickly, eight pitch innings, like that kind of thing, throwing strikes, throwing a cutter that nobody can hit, just like literally. You gotta have that, man. You gotta have that if you want to shut the door. You can’t be, and I like Cano, you know, and I and there’s a place and all that. But you got to have three dudes this time of year. You got to be working into that, and I learned that in Kansas City 12 years ago. You got to have some dudes.
Luke Jones 18:34
Yeah, I mean, you’ve heard me cite. I mean, look, there’s different tiers to it, right? I mean, you need Two serious, highest leverage kind of guys. One’s your your closer in the traditional sense, and you need someone else that can do that on the night your closer is unavailable, right? So you need two guys like that, and then for me, you need two or three other high leverage types that can really pitch in just about any situation, whether whether there’s a big spot with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, or whether it’s the eighth inning, right? So, look, I mean, you look at the Orioles’ bullpen and how it’s profiled this year, and I’m looking at the stats right now, season-long stats, bullpen ERA. The Orioles are 15th, 4.13 bullpen ERA. Tampa Bay, who’s got the best record in the AL? They’re 16th, but 4.16. Now, ERA doesn’t tell you the entire story. You know what? What’s the strikeout rate? What’s the walk rate? How many home runs have you allowed? All those inherited runners. All the different things you could break down. But I guess my point in in bringing that up is, if you had told me beginning of the season, Nestor, that the Orioles would be average with their bullpen ERA in in Major League Baseball, I would have said to you that’s probably what Mike Elias kind of sorta has in mind, and that’s without knowing that Ryan Helsley would miss most of the season. So. I’m not giving him a pass. You know, I haven’t been big on his philosophy with bullpen construction and certain moves they’ve made here and there. You know, I wasn’t high on when they signed Kimbrel a few years, a few winters ago. Just as one example, but generally speaking, you and I have not talked about the bullpen on a very regular basis as being the reason why they’ve lost games. Would you agree with that? I mean, that has not been something where we’ve seen them blow a slip. I would have said that was
Nestor Aparicio 20:32
in our mind in February and March, but in April and May, the Rico Garcias and yeah, some of these guys stepped up even when Helsley wasn’t there, I would agree with you. It wasn’t every night like they’ve got a five-three lead in the seventh, and they’re gonna blow it. I mean, it hasn’t been that act. It hasn’t been that long. It
Luke Jones 20:49
hasn’t been that, and that they’ve had a lead. They’ve
Nestor Aparicio 20:51
won,
Luke Jones 20:52
right? Generally speaking, they’ve done that. So, but that said, and that’s where we bring it back to Tuesday night, for example, when you have a series like they had down at the Trop, where there was there was some pretty substantial bullpen usage, you you know you’re playing all week without an off day, you know that you have three against the Yankees and then three more against the Rays this weekend. Would you really? Is Josh Walker really your optimal choice if if you’re looking at everything on paper in a vacuum if you had everyone at your disposal if everyone’s healthy no he’s not right but at the same time Craig Albernaz I this is where I’ll stick up for him a little bit because I saw a lot of fans questioning Josh Walker being in there the fact that they left him in as long as they did all that, and I’ll hear it. Like that, I thought those were fair questions, but it’s funny. I was actually listening to Sirius MLB Network Radio on the way down to the ballpark because I just you know I was flipping channels and networks, and I saw Terry Francona was on, you know, and he was talking about the Reds, but also just talking general baseball, and he was talking about as a manager when you’re in mid to late August, as much as like yeah, if you have your entire bullpen rested and your starter two days ago went eight innings and you’re coming off of an off day and everyone’s full strength, yeah, there’s a way to deploy a bullpen to try to optimize the matchups, right? Match, maximize lefty, lefty, righty, righty, all that kind of stuff. But he said, you know what? When you’re 135 games into the season, on most nights, it’s rare when you really have a chance to do that. You’re kind of looking at it and say, okay, who are my guys that that have the most bullets available tonight? Tonight,
Nestor Aparicio 22:44
tonight. Who who is
Luke Jones 22:45
available tonight? But I’d like to stay away from them. And then who are the two guys that have thrown three of the four previous days that I need to stay away from entirely? Right. And and that’s that’s before I even get the batting practice in. And I’m especially
Nestor Aparicio 22:58
on a Sunday afternoon if the series started on Thursday night, right? Literally.
Luke Jones 23:03
So, so, and I’m not even saying like again. I’ll I’ll I’ll hear like Josh Walker had a really long rope there. Like I I I would agree with that. At the same time, you’re this deep into the season, you don’t know what’s going on in terms of how these pitchers are feeling with their arms, with their legs, back, all of that, so, but but Francona really made the point. He’s just like, look, man, in a vacuum, yeah, there are lots of moves that I would do make differently as it pertains to my bullpen and my pitching, in a perfect world. But when it’s August 19th or August 18th or September 10th, and all these guys have, I don’t know, 50 innings, 50 plus innings under their belt. You know, the guys that you actually want to want to turn to on a nightly basis, you’ve got to be a little more judicious. You need to be a little more selective and responsible with how you deploy these guys. So, point is, yeah, I guess it’s a long, long story short way of saying, you know that they’ve got some guys that are miscast in this bullpen right now. I think that’s evident. That said, Cam Sanders has given them some really big innings here of late, and Alex Hoppe has really been impressive with the arm that he’s shown. And guys that
Nestor Aparicio 24:16
at the All Star game we were not taught a month ago they were not a part of the mix and even on the other part of the mix can right well that’s what I’m saying like they’re now replacing those Tyler Wells innings and that’s the way Elias saw it yeah and that’s the way it’s going to be and Albernaz as well I mean I don’t know that Albernaz was in on all the trades but probably was on Tyler Wells like I’m going to take this away from you but what am I going to do? You know how how are we going to make how are we going to make those pitches, those innings, those matchups, that leverage point in the game work for us if we have a lead?
Luke Jones 24:50
Yeah, and that’s where it’s challenging. But at the same time, you also give someone an opportunity, and sometimes you have no other choice to give someone an opportunity that you. Otherwise, wouldn’t do it. But like I just said, Cam Sanders has been really, really good. Now, I’m not going to sit here with full-blown confidence to say he’s going to continue to do this through the end of the season and into next year. But you might get him doing this for three weeks, and that might be an eighth inning guy for you for three weeks, I mean, Rico Garcia was that guy early in the year, first two months of the season. He was one of the best relievers in baseball, let alone talking about what he was just doing for the Orioles. So, I but we’ve also seen how that’s gone the last two months. You know, he’s been better of late, but certainly not the same level of reliability. So, as it pertains to the pen, yeah, you’ve got some guys that are kind of in miscast roles, and you’re not really okay. Who’s the ninth inning guy on any given night? Who’s the eighth inning guy? A lot of it’s matchup dependent and what part part of the order you’re in and all that. That’s why I said, yeah, if Felix Batista’s going on a rehab assignment, and if it goes well, and if he looks good, and more than anything, if he feels good, of course I’ll throw him in the mix and and see what it looks like. I’m I’m going to be smart about it. I’m not going to have crazy expectations that I’m getting the Felix Batista from three years ago. But yeah, their bullpens in a spot where if he can be 85% of that, that’s still probably better than at least a couple guys they have in their bullpen right now. So we’ll see how it plays out. But yeah, disappointing effort from Josh Walker. But again, it comes back to this team was built to score runs and score runs at a high level, and too many times over the course of the season, it’s their offense that’s come up smallest relative to what their strength is supposed to be. Going back to how Michaelias put the put together this roster, good, bad, or indifferent.
Nestor Aparicio 26:54
The rest of the week and getting through this and waiting on help and all of that. I, you know, I don’t even want to hear about September games when the best teams in baseball are in your ballpark, right? Like, sure. This, if they have, if they stumble here this week, I’ll become the negative one on them next week. But I still feel like they’re hanging in on a night by night basis, and it does feel like the frustrating part is Alonzo is coming up with runners in scoring position late in the game. That you know, even on nights when they can’t muster it, they get a good start. They’re in games, you know. To to your point, like they’re frustrating enough that at 830 9o’clock, you put them on, they’re in the game. They have a chance every night.
Luke Jones 27:39
Yeah, I mean they. This goes back to what I said. I mean, this has not been a team that, as look as frustrating as they’ve been to watch, and my goodness, this has been a very frustrating team to watch for most of the season. They’re generally in it. They generally have a chance, right? And and they don’t have these two week periods where they go two and 10. Either they they’ve been a team that’s been in it, but man, you just Tuesday was another example of a game that felt very winnable. I mean, they they get a a really good bounce back performance from Boz, eased all your concerns about the velo being down the previous timeout. The fact that he talked about not feeling right, and you’re, you know, you and I just had a discussion the other day about, you know, their pitchers and their workloads, and you know, not so much Boz, but Kyle Bradish looking at his workload compared to the last couple years, Brandon Young being at a career high for innings already, way more than last year already, and him not looking as crisp the last few times out, but when you get a start like that, when you have a starter getting into the seventh inning and has only allowed one run to that point, when you hand it over to the to the bullpen, you know those are the kind of games you want to win. I mean, that that’s the thing. We can all sit here without even pulling up the schedule. You and I, if we, I’m not putting you on the spot or anything here, but if you and I sat down and just said, let’s just between our between the two of us, we could probably come up with six or seven games pretty quickly where you’d say, if the defense were better, or they came through in this spot or that spot, or they didn’t have that base running blunt, also stole
Nestor Aparicio 29:22
a game a week and a half ago. Sure, and it’s baseball. Oh, of course, of course. And I’m
Luke Jones 29:26
not, I’m not belaboring that too much. Let me be clear. Look, 61 days all
Nestor Aparicio 29:29
balances out, is what they say, right? It does. But at
Luke Jones 29:32
the same time, when you are talking about a race as unimpressive as this race is, boy, if there’s just every night, every
Nestor Aparicio 29:39
game, believe me, we’re going to come back in October when they’re two when they miss it by two games and say, you know, that that night in Kansas City, you know, or whatever whatever the night was, you know. Yeah.
Luke Jones 29:51
Or and again, I don’t I don’t say this to pick on them too much, but it’s the truth. Look back at it and say if if you got a. Representative season from Gunnar Henderson, right? Who has been way better over the last week, and you need to see that continue, right? Otherwise, it’s just almost forgiven if they play
Nestor Aparicio 30:09
one playoff game in October because of him. Because it will be because of him over the next six weeks. It will be because of him and others, but he has to be a huge part of this because it’s not going to be Blaze Alexander hitting 12 home runs the rest of the year. Might be Kyra O’Neill, but but it’s in a general sense carrying the team and looking like the aircraft carrier that you. I just call it a superstar, right? Like you you you want the $500 million contract. You you got Boris ready to get okay. Go earn the money, dude. You can’t hit 213 and and tell me in the prime of your career when you’re 26 years old and tell me that he’s not even 26. He’s 24.
Luke Jones 30:50
He’s 20, I believe, 25 now.
Nestor Aparicio 30:52
Five now. Okay. All right.
Luke Jones 30:53
Think he just let me let me double check. I mean, either way, TikTok,
Nestor Aparicio 30:56
TikTok. This when we looked at him three years ago, this was supposed to be a 280 35 home run, 115 RBI lead us to the playoffs kind of year. A year when I don’t know we win 92 games or something like that. There was this guy on the radio. I mean Nestor three months ago.
Luke Jones 31:10
Let’s let’s go back to 2023. Now he got MVP votes that year, but it’s not like he was an MVP, you know, top three or anything like that. I mean, 24 is when he had the insane first half, right? But if the Orioles were just getting what they got from him in 2023, played 150 games, batted 255, 28 home runs, 29 doubles, nine triples, drove in 82 runs, stole 10 bases. He had a 325 on base percentage, slugged 489. I mean, he had a 814 OPS. If they got that from Gunnar Henderson, which you know is not MVP level, but that’s certainly All Star level at at the shortstop position, this team would absolutely they’d probably have a two game, two or three game lead in the wild card race right now, and that’s even with everything else going the way it has right the ups and downs of others, and injuries, and you know the pitching injuries at times, and everything else. You know, third base situation, outfield picture being an absolute mess. If they had that version of Gunner, or or even last year’s version of Gunner, they would be in a playoff position right now. Now, let’s be clear. That’s just this team being in a playoff position in this season, in a big picture sense. It’s no, it’s no accomplishment to write home about, right? You’re still talking about a team that, in that scenario, would be 500 or barely above 500. I mean, that’s still not the goal in the big picture sense, but it does speak to how disappointing he’s been this year. I mean, even with the recent hot stretch of the last week, you’re still talking about someone who has a 700 OPS. That’s even after going nuts the last week. I mean, that’s he’s been below average at the plate. I mean, it’s he’s been slightly below league average at the plate this year. That’s it’s not how you draw it up. Yeah, not how you draw it up in the off season. If you’re Mike Elias, and that’s where I’ll defend Mike. Now I would also say Michaelias in the in the front office and the coaching staff. What the heck? Why can’t you why can’t you get this guy fixed and back on track? That’s a fair criticism. But in terms of how you’re designing your roster, how you’re putting together your roster, how you’re laying out a roadmap for you to be successful, there was never a scenario where you say Gunnar Henderson’s a below-average hitter at the plate. I mean, it’s just, just not how it works. Pete Alonso has been everything they could have asked for, especially from may 1 on. You know he’s been terrific, but it was supposed to be Gunner and Pete Alonso, as I said back in spring training. Cal and Eddie, right? You know, not a peanut butter and jelly, not two Hall of Famers necessarily, but in terms of that kind of impact that they needed, and they got it. They’ve gotten it from Alonzo, but certainly not from Gunner Henderson to the degree that they needed-that’s stating the obvious.
Nestor Aparicio 34:02
Here’s Luke Jones. We’re gonna watch more baseball. The Orioles in town all week long. He’ll be at Oriole Park in Camden Yards. The Ravens in Minnesota this week. We had some words about O.J. Brigantz as well. I’ve got something half written. I’m hoping to finish it here this week. We got new sponsors. We got things happening. We’re going to be doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour on Wednesday. A fishmonger’s daughter in Catonsville will have the Ravens scratch-offs to give away. You can join us at Koco’s Pub on the 26th. That’s next Wednesday. I’m looking forward to celebrating my Best of Baltimore Reinvention Award. Max Weiss and Ron Cass are going to come together. I have props. Let me tell you, I have props. And I did a great segment with Joel Poyley. You know, Luke, you and I talk a lot, and you get so annoyed with me, except when we’re next to each other having crab cakes, because it’s like game on, game on. Tonight’s game, tomorrow’s game. Joel and I got into strikeouts and players and strikeouts, and I did a whole dissertation on my little league about how. Little I struck out in Little League, and how significant it was to my psyche to never strike out, and it’s probably one of the reasons I did like 15 minutes with Poyley, you know, about my little league and about my dad and about the time I struck out the one time in Berkshire Little League, and I don’t think I came out of the house all weekend because there was so much shame in striking out as a kid, so I’ve had some good baseball conversations this week. Luke’s going to be here. Alan’s going to stop by at some point. We’re going to talk some baseball, and we’re really going to get into football season on the back end of this fake football in Minnesota. It’s our 28th anniversary on the 28th of the month next Friday. I’m going to start celebrating 28 music memories that are going to lead into our 35th year on Baltimore Radio, so sort of leaning into the fact that I’ve been here longer than the rest of these folks, and we might know a little bit more. Maybe set your dial at AM 1570. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We are WNST AM 1570, Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking. Baltimore positive and crapcakes.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
