Luke Jones and Nestor discuss Orioles mediocre baseball and waiting on better health and more big hits
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
play, game, pitches, bullpen, talking, orioles, eighth inning, inning, wednesday night, ball, runs, throw, craig kimbrel, postseason, week, henderson, base, point, webb, cal ripken
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, task of Baltimore, Baltimore positive. We are into a incredible week and weekend here. For those of you who ventured to Pearl Jam, or are venturing the Bruce Springsteen or sticks, we got some rock and roll on here, but we got a lot of football, lot of baseball. JT, the brick talking Raiders. We’ve had Mark Viviano this week. We’ve had Lawrence gallon from sticks, but we still are meandering on a nightly basis with what is going on with this baseball team. On Friday, we’re going to be down to Cooper’s doing the Maryland oyster tour as part of the Fells Point oyster festival and a real crab cake tour. It’s all presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I’ll have the Raven scratch offs. Ross says she’s going to have for me on Friday morning, but I have the Gold Rush seven doublers. Chad weaseling, NFL agent to the stars, will be joining us, as will Dave shining freshly back from his assignment in Paris with the Olympics. So from the Washington Post, of course, and also James Piper bond from living classrooms Foundation, one of our big benefactors, through head coach Brian Billick, throwing their big maritime magic down in Fells Point, he’s going to join us on Friday. Jiffy Luke puts a sat on the road. They get Luke back and forth from Owings Mills to Shrewsbury and then back down to Camden Yards. But this isn’t about Owings Mills just yet, even though Lamar Jackson appeared and the Raiders are going to appear, boy, the Orioles are falling down the mountain Lucas, you know, you start losing two out of three. We’re in the middle of September, and I think you’re an Oriole fan, and you had visions of parades and sugar plums back when they had six starting pitchers. I remember that press conference. This is, you know, it’s a little alarming in a general sense, because they’re not winning many of these tight games and the excitement and that part of the walk off and attaboys and the high fives, if this, it feels like they’re few and far between lately.
Luke Jones 02:00
I mean, it’s been more than lately. It’s been a long time. I don’t know if they’re falling off the mountain as much as they’re just a 500 team. They’re a mediocre they’ve been mediocre for two and a half months. I mean, even this soft part of the schedule that we were talking about where, you know, they’re playing Colorado, the White Sox, Tampa Bay, I mean the Red Sox. I mean the Red Sox are a couple games over 500 Okay, mathematically speaking, are they eliminated from postseason contention? No, but they’re not. They’re not a contender, right? Come the same way to give them hope. So the So, the the whole idea is, this is a time period to potentially put yourself in better position, ahead of that final week where you go to New York, you go to Minnesota to play the twins, and they’ve gone six and six. They’re a 500 team. They’re mediocre as presently constructed. They’re mediocre, and they’ve been mediocre for a long time. So it’s disappointing. They’re, they’re still going to make the playoffs. I mean, they’re 99.5% I mean, they’re very, yeah, they’re going to be in a position where, in the not too distant future, they’re going to be clinching a playoff spot. But those weren’t the expectations back in June, right? When you’re 24 games over 500 or, you know, whatever, their high water mark. What? I mean, that was their high water mark at a few different points, but they’re just mediocre. I mean, they got a really good start from Dean Kramer. What’s What’s ironic about where they are right now Nestor is we’ve spent so much time talking about the starting rotation and the injuries there, and of course, that’s a huge factor when you look at their upside and all of that. But as they’re presently constructed, the current state of the Orioles, the rotations actually one of the bright spots, putting aside Kade Povich, their top four. You know, Corbin Burns has gotten back on track here in the month of September. And you just have to assume, I mean, it’s Corbin burns, right? He’s going to take the ball in October, and hopefully he can be a more dominant version of himself than we saw certainly in the month of August. Zach Eflin has been fantastic for them, save the IL stint. Albert Torres we’ve talked about seemingly every time he goes out there. I mean, he he’s just been fantastic for them, especially relative to expectations. And Dean Kramer was really good on Wednesday night. I mean, that was a really good effort. He deserved better than that. It was better than two runs in seven innings, considering Emmanuel Rivera threw away a ball that directly led to a run scoring earlier in the game. So
Nestor Aparicio 04:34
at least he got out of it. I mean, I I remember when McDonald said something like, You got to flush that. I went back and rewound it just to hear what he said he’s you got to flush that, because I think McDonald has been on the mound and and Ben wasn’t a feisty guy. I mean, I, you know, I watched Ben pitch. Ben wasn’t a guy that it fell down the mountain the way, let’s say it did with Sidney ponson, or it did with some other players. When things went bad, their emotions. Got the best of them. I think Kramer was one of those guys that for Ben to say that you got to flush, that that’s it. That’s the ball coach in him. And that’s also the 55 year old version of Ben and saying. And he did, he got out, he escaped. That, I said to my wife, this could be four one real quick, you know. And I said, it used to be, and literally, I stopped, you know, I stopped the game and I went and, you know, I this version of Dean Kramer on September 11. Is I can live with that on October the fifth. You know what I mean, like the fact that he’s trending pitching well right now, because that’s the temperature, right? The temperature isn’t, what were you doing in May? The temperature isn’t Cedric Mullen stunk in April and May, you know, gives him a chance right now. I mean, there are other guys swinging through balls that I like rushman. And where are you on the rushman injury? Thought, on the tip on June 27 and where are you with him?
Luke Jones 05:57
I mean, I think I’ve made it clear. I mean, he’s been playing at a replacement level since July 1, I have a difficult time believing there’s not something physical going on. But at the same time, it’s baseball, and it’s a really difficult sport, and if you have something that’s off with your swing, or something in your process is awry, and either you’re not identifying it. Your hitting coach isn’t identifying it. In this case, hitting coaches, you know, sometimes things can snowball. But if we find out if the Oreos are eliminated the second week of October, or whenever it happens, and we find out that Adley rutschman has been playing through an injury, maybe related to the hand, or maybe the fact that, you know, he missed a couple games in August with a back issue, that’s that’s not going to shock me, based on what we’ve seen, right? I mean, so, yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 06:50
we’ll look back on and say, was it the healthiest the season for a 25 or, well, he is version of him, right? Or it’s just a case of,
Luke Jones 06:59
it is a difficult sport and even Hall of Fame players go through sometimes slumps and sometimes horrendous slumps. I mean, I can remember Cal Ripken at a few different points in his Hall of Fame career looking completely lost at the plate. Again, it’s been pretty extreme when you talk about him being a replacement level hitter. You know, when you talk about him being a bottom 10 qualified hitter in Major League Baseball going, you know, going back to the beginning of July, but this isn’t about one player. I mean, they’re, I mean, you mentioned Dean Kramer. Dean Kramer pitched really, really well, and their offense didn’t do nearly enough. The one guy that drove in two runs was Emmanuel Rivera shouldn’t even on the team.
Nestor Aparicio 07:42
My wife, my wife’s like, Who’s that guy? I mean, he
Luke Jones 07:47
wasn’t even in the organization a couple months ago. So, I mean, that kind of speaks to where they are. You know, someone like, god bless Ryan O’Hearn, he’s been a great story the last two years. But even the the other end of that error that Rivera completed. I mean, Ryan o’hearns Gotta scoop some balls at first base too. I mean, yes, the error is charged to the infielder there, you know, to the third third baseman on his throw. But first baseman’s got to save you some errors too. And he’s playing too much. He’s playing first base more than he’s accustomed to, because Ryan mountcastle is out. So, you know, I think we focus so much on the pitching injuries, because that’s what smacked you in the face in terms of what’s so obvious and evident. But you know, their position player injuries have added up to from a depth standpoint. And yeah, Ryan mountcastle wasn’t having a great year, but he gives you a better defense defensive play at first base than Ryan O’Hearn. He you know, it’s caused O’Hearn to play more than you would anticipate, because, well, I mean, who else you gonna play? Right? I mean, you look at their bench, it’s comprised of guys that, frankly, one minute ago,
Nestor Aparicio 08:58
right? Yeah, and, or just any contender, yeah. I mean, we didn’t love the bench when it was your was Urias and Mateo and Austin Hayes. We were looking back and saying, let’s make it better. Let’s make it better. Well, here we are,
Luke Jones 09:08
right. I mean, Jackson holiday makes an error in extra innings there. I mean, you know, reality right now, it even putting aside the Connor Norby thing, because you and I have talked about that, and, you know, it’s a fair question to pose. I’ve said all along to me, trading Conor Norby wasn’t the issue as much as the severe miscalculation in opportunity cost that was lost there. Because while the guy they acquired for him is in the minor leagues, because he couldn’t bitch, the
Nestor Aparicio 09:36
reason you traded those guys was to win the World Series right now. Get you something. They’re getting nothing series right now, and they got nothing, right?
Luke Jones 09:43
They’re getting nothing not not the potential production of Connor Norby, which, again, would he be doing what he’s doing with the Marlins, with the Orioles in the midst of a pennant race, and
Nestor Aparicio 09:51
I would still say right now, over the next 100 at bats in the big leagues, Connor norby’s a better player than Jackson Holland right now to win them a world. Series right now,
Luke Jones 10:01
maybe that, well,
Nestor Aparicio 10:02
that was my case two days ago. Need to go on about that. But every time the kid looks in over his head and look, he’s a phenom, he’s he’s all of that 20. He’s 20, you’re right. I mean, like he almost has no business being here, to some degree, if you’re going to put the game on the line with a 20 year old kid and and know that he’s ready, not think that he might be ready. And whatever we saw in April, whatever we whatever this piece of work the last 60 days has been to or 45 days, however long it’s been, um, yeah, I they’ve just, they’ve miscalculated. And look, Brandon Hyde’s getting beaten up, and he’s playing with spare parts. And it reminds me of my last conversation with John Harbaugh two years ago, when he felt like he was getting beaten up because the team fell apart. His quarterback got hurt. It’s injuries, injuries, injuries. You realize we didn’t have this, we didn’t have that. We didn’t have the I mean, they’re going to be able to rest on that when this is over with, if, and let dare I say, when they don’t win, although I still think they can win the World Series, I’m not going to beat him up after a bad couple days of Fenway Park, but I am concerned about the the way they’re comprised right now. And I’m, you know, I don’t want to be a dick, but I’m concerned about their ticker. You know what I mean? Are they, are they going to fight? Are they going to do all that Jordan westburg, who, by the way, is from just outside of San Antonio, so he’s probably herded cattle. I’m making that up, but I’ve been to San Antonio. My brother lived there. It’s flat, but you know, at some point who’s going to lead us. I remember Johnny Oates flipping over that God that’s, I’m channeling Johnny Oates. Johnny Oates lost his mind one night and flipped over the buffet, and the media could hear him screaming from outside the door. Who’s gonna lead us? Who’s and this is in front of Cal Ripken and Rick Sutcliffe. And Ben was in there as Messina was in there. Brady was, you know, like, I like, like, you know, and I don’t like, Johnny ever managed a good team here, you know, a team that where it was this time of the year and it mattered. It might have been 95 when that 94 when it happened. I’m not sure either way. So I’m channeling 30 years ago. But you know who’s gonna lead us? I mean, yeah,
Luke Jones 12:21
I hear that part of it, but it’s also just they’re not as talented as they as they were, as they are constructed two months ago compared to four months ago. I mean, again, Emmanuel Rivera is playing meaningful September games for them. Look, we’ve talked about rutchman. I just mentioned Ryan O’Hearn gunner Henderson had a, you know, underwhelming August. For his incredibly high standards. He’s been great in September. Now he’s one for five on Wednesday night. I mean, anyone’s going to have a bad game, right? But, you know it Henderson, Mullen, since July has been much better. But again, he’s a platoon player. Now, I mean, he doesn’t even start against lefties. They pinch hit form against lefties, and that’s the right call when you look at his numbers against against lefties. But when you’re talking about guys that are either platoon types, Ryan o’hearns, another example of this, or guys that are playing because two other players have gotten injured. I mean, Jackson holiday, he’s had his moment since he’s been back in late July. He certainly, overall, has been much better than what we saw for those 10 games in April. I mean, he’s not striking out in two thirds of his at bats like he was then at the same time. If Jordan westburg and Ramona Rios were both healthy right now, they’d probably be starting at second base and third base, and holiday would be, you know, they’d probably be platooning him, right? It’d probably be more of a case where he wouldn’t be playing every single day. So look, I’m not making excuses, but I’m trying to assess the overall makeup of the club. And, you know, I mean, we’ve talked about it a lot, on the pitching, the bullpen. Great example, I will beat up Brandon Hyde a little bit on Wednesday night. And it’s not, it’s not even so much about well, you know, you should have issued an intentional walk. It get your canoes through two pitches in the bottom of the eighth inning. You have an off day. You don’t have an extremely long chain in the bullpen. When you’re looking at a game that you’re facing extra innings, even though Dominguez pitched fine, and it’s not about not wanting Sir Anthony Dominguez to pitch to me. Have Cano start the ninth in and maybe Dominguez, maybe he gets through it, and Dominguez is available then to pitch the 10th. You
Nestor Aparicio 14:31
know that the 10th is always harder because you got a base run, right, right? You come in in the 10th inning. It’s a different it’s, it’s worse than Craig Kimbrell. It’s, you know, it’s Mariano Rivera. May have struggled with that, with that, you know, with that equation, it’s different than being a closer in the ninth inning, I guess is what I would say so. But whoever you’re putting in there in the 10th, Keegan, Aiken, um, you know, you better have somebody around if the game extends and you don’t have a game the next day too. But maybe they didn’t like Matt. Chops, no. I
Luke Jones 15:01
mean, you should like your matchups with the end your canoe against anyone, compared to bringing in and look, Keegan Aiken deserves more credit from some circles of fans who watched, you know, who have beat him up this year. And look when he’s when he’s not his best. It can look really bad. But at the same time, Jackson holiday boots, a routine play there. I mean, that looks really bad. And we were talking a few days ago, I thought his defense in recent weeks had started to look better, and I think it has overall, but that was not a good example of it. Well, he hasn’t played a lot of second base. Is what you’re you know, we
Nestor Aparicio 15:35
think of him as a second baseman here, but that’s not his natural position, right? And
Luke Jones 15:40
that’s where I organizationally speaking, that they dropped the ball last year not playing him more at second base. And this is
Nestor Aparicio 15:45
something you don’t hear from Ben McDonald or anybody you know. Like, you don’t really hear it a lot, that he’s really a natural shortstop, right? Like, yeah, all his life, since he was six years old. Probably,
Luke Jones 15:54
sure, sure. And, I mean, it is an adjustment. And if you if you talk to middle infielders or shortstops specifically, and guys that have moved off of shortstop, they’ll tell you that the transition to third base is way easier, other than just adjusting to the quicker reaction time you need to have. But in terms of footwork, things of that nature, it’s way different than moving to second base where, okay, you don’t need quite as strong an arm as you do at shortstop, but that pivot the angles at which you’re taking throws at second base and pivoting to throw to first to turn the double play. I mean, it’s at first jump to see the ball off the bat. It’s an adjustment. So and look, I don’t think that had anything to do with him. He just, he didn’t make that play. I mean, there was nothing. It was hit hard, but it wasn’t like something that, you know, that that wasn’t an overly difficult play. I mean, he received an arrow on it. We know official scorers, it feels like in the modern era, are much kinder than not. When it get a cheap triple, it’s been way dark. Yeah, I kind of which it looked like that ticked off the ticked off his glove. You know, I was kind of surprised about that, but, but, but, there you go. I mean, on Wednesday night, they’ve certainly weren’t good enough hitting, wise, one of the three runs they scored came on the ghost runner, you know, the automatic runner in extra innings and
Nestor Aparicio 17:19
cows turned a pop up into a triple.
Luke Jones 17:23
They didn’t, they didn’t score. There you go. So and again, there’s another example of not being good with runners in scoring position. So, you know? So there was a lot about that game where you point and say, gotta score a couple more runs. Got to defend better, you know?
Nestor Aparicio 17:40
I against a good team, especially, right? I mean, and look, the schedule is going to get ugly again, right? I mean, the schedule gets no more white sox or Colorado Rockies. The schedule gets really competitive here, right? Well,
Luke Jones 17:52
I mean, you’re talking about, yeah, I mean, you’re not talking about any terrible teams at the same time. I mean, Detroit’s four games over 500 I mean, that’s, that’s okay, right? I mean, we’re all we’ve all been saying for weeks, the Orioles aren’t that good. The Orioles are 19 games over 500 I mean, Boston’s been hovering around 500 I mean, you know, they’re going to see the Giants still. I mean, the giants are a couple games under 500 so it’s not as though these last games leading up to that final week where they go back on the road, and they’re playing in the Bronx and finishing up in Minnesota. These are winnable games. But when you’re as mediocre as the Orioles have been for as long as they’ve been, you can’t assume anything. I mean, anyone who was pointing out the softer schedule was making an observation, not that they were making an assumption that the Orioles were going to go 10 and two during this stretch. It would have been nice if they did, they’d be in way better shape in terms of trying to win the division. It’s, you know, the division’s not over. I mean, the Yankees over their last 10 or right, or five and five as well, I believe, well, this
Nestor Aparicio 18:50
is kind of old school, because they’ll get their chance against the Yankees. I mean, it looks like they’ll get, they’ll get, they’re going to get a swing, yeah. I
Luke Jones 18:56
mean, it looks like it. I mean, that’s, you know, that, and that’s what to the point that you made a few minutes ago. That’s why you don’t give up hope on this team in October.
Nestor Aparicio 19:06
Well, they were fighting with the Yankees, right? So if they go up there and they beat the Yankees ass a couple of days and wind up a half a game up, or whatever the math would be, by the last four games of the weekend, then they’re playing good ball. Yeah. I mean, like they could scuffle all along, if they beat up on the Yankees and work themselves in even if, as Barry Bloom said last week, they have to play the playing games right away and keep their pitching on cue. That’s kind of the heartbeat of what you’d like to see that this is a better team two weeks from now. Oh, and you and I are like Westbrook back in the lineup. He’s been back for a couple days. Rodriguez made a start. He’s gonna start this week against the Yankees. Oh, Urias. He’s not limping. He’s good. Hey, rutchmans back. He’s He’s hit 320 the last week or two. You know, he’s back to hitting the ball a little bit like Mount castle that, you know, Kirsch that I’ll just go through all of these web. The cologne, like, let’s go through all of them. Four or five of these guys could be on the field Yankee Stadium, right? Maybe
Luke Jones 20:08
that’s a lot that has to happen that you just I know. I know. I know. No no. And look, I was going to mention the same thing. I mean, they’ve got to get some of these guys back now. The good thing, Jacob Webb Tuesday, scoreless inning, could join them this weekend. You know, I think part of the thing with Jacob Webb, that I think they’re trying to be careful with, but also recognize, yeah, you’re running out of games, is keep in mind. I mean, he was so valuable for them in the sense that he could throw more than one inning. I mean, how many times have we seen him throw get four outs or five outs for them? So I think it seems like there’s a sentiment there to see if you can stretch him out a little bit at the same time. It’s like, Hey, you could use them right now, and you could try to extend him a little more as he gets back into the swing of it. But you’re also dealing with someone who is dealing with sore elbow, even if structurally, it seemed okay that it wasn’t like, oh, major UCL damage or anything. They’re still trying to, they’re still trying to massage that, right? Well,
Nestor Aparicio 21:06
there’s also nothing’s at risk, other than the division, right? I mean, they’re gonna make the playoffs that their pitching hasn’t really stunk. Like, really, really stunk as bad as we feared it was going to stink, right? Like, so rushing any of these guys in September is only about, are we really getting them ready for October? It’s not about we need Webb in the bullpen last night again for six pitches at Fenway Park, maybe. But, like, that’s not really the way they they’re thinking, right? I mean, certainly not the way I’m thinking. Well, I mean,
Luke Jones 21:38
I look if, if he were fully ready, and if the scouting report looked good, the narrative looked good, you know, the shape of his pitches, all that looked good. I mean, I think you know, he’d be activated this weekend, and look, maybe he will be. I’m not saying he won’t be, but, you know, it sounds like they’re still trying to ponder whether to give him another outing. And you know, there was, it was about a week ago, you know, starting to wonder, because they had given him a couple extra days, you know, was he feeling, you know, was he bouncing back physically, all that? So, you know, we’ll see. You know, his last outing seemed to go well. You know, statistically, I wasn’t there to see it. Danny cool, you know, made a rehab appearance for Norfolk on Wednesday afternoon. That seemed to go well. So I would think he’s going to have to get a couple more of those. I mean, he hasn’t pitched since June, you know, so, but they need those guys because, again, the way that Brandon Hyde managed his bullpen on Wednesday night. And, you know, me, I’m not big on the oh, you should have brought in this guy, or, you know, you should have pitched this guy. And, you know, understanding that he basically has two, maybe three guys in that bullpen that he trusts right now. I mean, really trust, you know, guys like Bowman and you know, Bert Smith of three weeks ago. And you know, they’ve had some guys who had some moments, but for the most part, Dominguez Cano and seems like he trusts Perez more than I do. I think I would, is the way that I would put it, probably, um, you know, because he can be a little hit or miss with his command. But you know, if you get Danny cool on back into that picture, if you get Jacob Webb back into that picture, you know, now you’re starting to talk about, I’m not sure it’s the robust four or five guys in the way that I’ve had that vision for their bullpen in terms of four or five guys being shut down, because I don’t know how you’re going to be able to judge if Danny cool coulomb is going to come back and be shut down, and same thing with Jacob Webb but it’s the best you’ve got at this point. And I’m I have zero expectations for Craig Kimbrel at this point again. You know, I it felt like he was turning the corner a little bit, and then his last, you know, last couple times out, you know, so that’s still, I still have some hope for him, but Kimbrel, I mean, again, to me, I think he’s more likely to be DFA eight or left off the postseason roster entirely than to have any shot at this point, because I just think he’s running out of games. And these aren’t to the point that you just made. Yes, they’re, they’re what, they’re eight up, as far as you know, a playoff positioning goes, you know, while holding on to a wild card. But it’s not the like these games are throw away
Nestor Aparicio 24:17
where they but when you’re losing eight to three, and you bring Kimberlin, he gives up a couple of runs. It does not mean to think you want to bring him in when the game’s three two, right?
Luke Jones 24:25
Exactly. I mean, if he were striking out the side, and throw it tossing scoreless innings when it’s eight to three, then you say, Okay, well, I’ll bring you in then when we’re down two and we still have a chance to win. And if you do that, maybe I’ll bring you in in the seventh inning of a tie game. And if you handle that, okay, maybe we’ll talk about the eighth inning. I don’t think you’re going to get your closers rolled back because Dominguez has been that good in that role, but that would be the progression for him to have a pathway to any kind of meaningful spot in a postseason bullpen. You know, we’ve talked about it. What’s problematic about Craig Kimbrel in his current role? And people say, Well, he’s the last man in the. Bullpen agreed. But typically, when you’re talking about a roster that’s constructed in an ideal form, even if that last guy in the bullpen isn’t someone that you’re trusting in high or even medium leverage, they’re usually someone then that will give you multiple innings, like Cole Irvin, for example, Craig Kimbrel can’t do that, so he’s just there. He’s, you know, looks like Craig Kimbrell in the sense of physical appearance and the way that he takes his set and pitches, but you know, the results just aren’t there. So again, I’m not even talking about him at this point. I honestly, the next time we might talk about and I’m sure we’ll bring it up, just because it’s a frustrating, you know, it’s a point of frustration because of how much money he’s making and what they signed him to be. But you know, he’s not relevant to the discussion at this point. I mean, he just isn’t, because I just don’t see a path that in two weeks of time he’s going to do anything that’s going to change your mind to say, Oh yeah, I can trust him to bring him in in the seventh inning of a close game. I mean, you know, let alone talking about being the closer again. So, so again, it’s the focus is on cool long and on Jacob Webb and seeing where they are physically and when they come back, if, if they’re going to be effective. So that’s where you looked at Wednesday night. Just to bring it full circle, where I do look at Brandon Hyde there and say, you know, why? Why are you so? Why were you so quick to not bring Cano back to at least start the ninth? Because understanding it was looking like it could be an extra inning kind of game, then maybe Dominguez pitches the 10th. And maybe that was
Nestor Aparicio 26:35
my point, if you’re going to begin it. You know, begin, you know, in the 10th inning, you begin the inning in trouble. You begin the inning with a double, the ROB Manfred double, the Manfred man that’s a Springsteen reference, so I just want to throw that in for you blinded by the light of the bullpen. Let me just say this on you have these visions of sugar plums, of or shut down relief pitchers. And I laugh because I always think of the Royals from 10 years ago, or teams, just Yankees, when they had Nelson and Stanton and, you know, these really amazing things that we talked about lately. I don’t that’s not coming through
Luke Jones 27:12
the door. Well, then they’re not winning World Series. Well, you know, we need to talk about, well, here’s
Nestor Aparicio 27:17
what we need to talk about. When that doesn’t work. You can’t have holiday throwing the ball into, you know, Cambridge, and you have to hold runners on when you have them late in the game. And more than that, somebody’s got to be hero. Somebody’s got to draw a walk in the eighth inning after your middle guy pisses away a four two lead with a home run, and now it’s 4454, in his seventh or eighth inning, and the shadows are falling and it’s 512, and whatever Ryan mountcast listed, a three run, home run there. You know what I mean. Ryan O’Hearn needs to be hero. Needs to be a first round draft pick. So does Colton. They’re all first round draft picks. Somebody needs to step up and beat Delman young be Roberto Alomar, beat Tito Landrum, win the game with the bat. Be Rick Dempsey. And how to say that? Still hero Dipper, 41 years later, you’re still here. Um, but 41 years later, I’m talking about Rick Dempsey, who I maybe was a 234, career hitter, but shine when he needed to shine. And that’s what, that’s what the post season’s about. It’s about Jim leyritz. You know, it’s, it’s about when something bad happens with your because your bullpen is not good enough. But kicking the ball around is something we did not talk about with this franchise for about two calendar years. It’s something we’re talking about a lot since the all star break, really a lot since June. I mean, Henderson stinks defensively. Look at the numbers. I mean, he just ranged this. That speed, by the way, the you know, the way the game is played is amazing. And I Ben McDonald points out things like when a shortstop holds young Jackson holiday’s hand down on the bag like he’s got the ball and he doesn’t, or when Gunder Henderson takes a long turn at first base and Deeks a throw from the strongest right field arm they’ve had since Dewey Evans and winds up at second base laughing at them. There really is some smart baseball that these guys because they’re gamer guys, and they’re one one ones, and they’re they’re all golden children. I expect them to play the game well, and they, they did it spring training. They did in April and May. I don’t know what we’ve seen lately, but this is a combination of all of this. I mean, I know you want four. They have four major league pitchers that they’re going to be able to pull out of the bullpen and do okay, but they’re, they’re going to be, let me I’m
Luke Jones 29:43
not saying that. I’m that they’re foreclosers. You know, I’m not saying that you have four Mariano Rivera’s. My point is, you have to look at my
Nestor Aparicio 29:51
point is they’re going to poop the bed and you better hit the ball in the eighth and ninth any once they do. That’s a I’m assuming I’m that on the. Mean, the last four innings of every playoff game, they’re going to give up a run or two or three. You’re going to have to
Luke Jones 30:05
score two or not then, then they’re going to be eliminated. I mean, you’re not going to have to hit good pitching, agreed. But if you’re going to, you know, you’re the one, get to keep saying that they can still win a World Series, their bullpen has to perform if they’re going to win a World Series. I mean, if it’s literally two guys and everyone else giving up runs, they’re gonna lose, like they’ll be done quickly. So, you know, I mean, look, we’re splitting hairs here. The overall prevailing point here is not that complicated. They need to play better, and they need to get guys back. I’m dead serious. I mean, not more complicated. What they are, you’ll know the one right now.
Nestor Aparicio 30:42
They’re 500 teams.
Luke Jones 30:43
One thing I will say to you about gunner Henderson, because I looked at this, he has a almost identical number of errors as Cal Ripken had in his age 23 season. I mean, he’s been, look, he’s been very erratic over the last two months as a shortstop. I don’t think he’s a terrible shortstop. I think he’s going to be a good major league shorts up, but he’s been erratic, just like a lot of stuff about this club has been erratic, and that’s been the problem, right? I mean, it’s, there’s nothing you really point to right now that is a mate other than a couple individual hitters like gunner Henderson or Anthony Santander who tied the game on Wednesday night. You know, first time, I think we’ve mentioned him in this conversation. But collectively, when you look at this team, kind of unit by unit, the starting rotation is really the only thing right now that has shown some promise. Again, putting Cade Povich out of that, because he’s the number five starter. He’s not going to start a game in the postseason, you know, unless three guys get hurt between now and then. But beyond, beyond the rotation. I mean, you know you’ve got two guys in the bullpen you really, truly trust right now, maybe two and a half. And you know your defense hasn’t been good, and their offense since the beginning, beginning of August specifically, is really scuffled, really scuffled. And
Nestor Aparicio 31:58
I wouldn’t bet on them right now, but I wouldn’t bet. No, I
Luke Jones 32:00
understand, but, but I guess my point is it, you know, if you’re saying they can still win a World Series, the bullpen is going to have to be a part of that. And that’s my point, and that’s why I say, when Danny coulomb and Jacob Webb come back, if they look like Danny coulomb and Jacob Webb at their best, then that’s a much better looking bullpen. I’m and let me be clear, it doesn’t have to be the best bullpen, bullpen in baseball in October. You know, it doesn’t have to be the very best bullpen in the playoff field in October, but it’s got to be deeper than what it is right now, you know. And that’s why I kind of looked at Wednesday night as being odd. When Cano comes in, gets the final out of the eighth inning, throws two pitches, and you say, okay, he’s going to start the ninth at least. And instead, you bring in Dominguez. It’s, you know, in a tie game, if you’re like, why’d you burn in, right? Was kind of peculiar. Yeah, sure, and I’m not, and I’m not saying even that Cano had to to finish the ninth inning. Then, you know, if he runs into giving up a base runner or some deep counts, then maybe you go to Dominguez with two outs in the ninth, and then he pitches the 10th, right? I mean, you have to extend the chain a little bit there, especially with the off day. So I thought that was odd at best, you know. So I’ll hear criticism about that, but as it pertained to the bottom of the 10th, you know. And you know, could they have walked O’Neal and loaded the bases? Look, I think it’s tricky when you’re talking about loading the bases in a walk off situation. And again, it comes back to you need your major league second baseman. And look, Jackson holiday is gonna be a good player, but you need a Major League Second baseman to make that play. If not, you’re probably gonna lose because of what you said. You started, start the inning with the guy in scoring position, and it should have been runner at third with two outs, and then that error turns it into runners at the corners with one out, and you’re in a not so favorable matchup, then in terms of pitcher who look God bless, Keegan Aiken. But again, he’s not the guy you want in that situation. He’s the guy that you want maybe pitch in the sixth inning of a game like that. But it’s where they are right now. So they have to be better. They have to be more, you know, certainly more fine tuned when it comes to the details and not giving the opposition extra outs. And that’s, and that’s where you have to help your bullpen out, right? I mean, you’ve got to help someone out like Keegan akin not make it harder for him. I mean, my goodness, it’s Keegan Aiken, you know, it’s not, it’s not Danny. Cool, no. And Keegan Aikens had a better year than a lot of people will give them credit for, but he’s not the guy you want out there if you’re going to be kicking the ball around, you don’t have many pitchers on your staff that you that are going to be able to give extra outs period after sixth inning. It’s going to happen every once in a while, but yeah, I mean, they just they have to be better across the board, and they need to get healthy. The ravens
Nestor Aparicio 34:40
are going to win on Sunday. Make you feel better, and just so because they’re nine and a half point they can’t. They better not lose. But oh, we’re going to get to that. Luke Jones will be covering all things football. He’s been out with John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson. If you have not read my declaration of independence or my letter to Eric the Costa, I’m getting a lot of feedback. That, especially on the eve of Pearl Jam. Feel free to do that. Everything’s up at Baltimore positive Friday. I’m going to be at Cooper’s in Fells Point for the Fells Point oyster Festival. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I got to give a shout out to our friends at Liberty. Pure solutions, 800 clean water is the way to find them. They give me a little bottle on set. They keep my water clean. I have well water. If you have well water, you need specialists. You need to know what you’re doing. It’s nothing more important than the water going in your body, the water you’re drinking, the water even that I make in my coffee every day and rinse my vegetables, liberty, pure solutions to make sure that happens. They also do great plumbers, too. I had a little plumbing issue, came out here, took care of that for us as well. Find them our friends at Jiffy Luber, powering all sorts of things up, wise markets, Royal farms, all of our sponsors, making this thing happen. As we get into September, we’re going to start having chats with Coppin State president, Dr Anthony Jenkins, as part of our Coppin State flagship deal that we’ve had here for about a dozen years now. We’ve been the flagship for Coppin State and the mighty eagles. So not the Orioles, not the ravens, but I can say we’re the flagship of the birds, the other birds, the Eagles of Coppin State. So that’s all going on as well. The oyster tour in play. I was down in Annapolis the other night. Shout out to Ray Bachman, our former executive producer here at W NST, who was doing the trivia down at Mike’s, had a great crab cake combination down there. But in Annapolis, I went to this place called a Federal House, like one of the coolest oyster I’ve ever had my life, a crab, ceviche, blue crab. Crab claw. Oh, it was unbelievable. So check all that out. Maryland oyster tour, brought to you by our friends at Liberty. Pure solutions. Luke and I are going to talk some football. We’re going to come back talk some more baseball. I’ve had sticks on the program this week. Nils lofman from the E Street Band, as music settles in. And my gosh, Mark Viviano and rasig have been here this week. We’ve had crab cakes. We’ve had oysters. It is September. We need more baseball victories, maybe least one football victory, at least this week, if not this month. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke back for more Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.
