The Baltimore Orioles won a few games in Cincinnati over the weekend but the excitement of the World Cup even turned our eyes to the pitch, even though the Birds’ pitching and starting rotation has been greatly improved. But, about the results. Luke Jones and Nestor kick out the ball for an Orioles baseball update as the Cubs and Royals arrive at Camden Yards before the All Star break.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ performance, highlighting their recent series against the Reds, where they won two out of three games. Nestor emphasized the need for more consistent wins, noting the team’s current 7-14 record since May 22. Luke pointed out the starting rotation’s impressive ERA but criticized the offense’s inconsistency. They also touched on the upcoming trade deadline, potential roster moves, and the importance of engaging broadcasts to retain fans. Nestor mentioned his upcoming trip to the All-Star Game in Philadelphia and the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.
Maryland Crab Cake Tour and World Cup Discussion
- Nestor Aparicio announces the Maryland Crab Cake Tour on Friday, mentioning it will be their final appearance at Fate Lees for the summer.
- Nestor discusses his upcoming trip to Philadelphia for the All-Star Game and his disappointment about missing a photo with the Liberty Bell in 1976.
- Nestor and Luke Jones talk about the World Cup, with Nestor expressing curiosity and Luke admitting he doesn’t understand the game but finds it fun.
- Nestor shares a baseball story involving Norway and Mike Mussina from 1994, highlighting the excitement of soccer fans in Baltimore.
Baseball and Soccer Comparisons
- Nestor recounts a story from 1994 about Norwegian soccer fans taking over a bar in Baltimore, emphasizing the excitement of soccer fans.
- Nestor compares the excitement of soccer to baseball, noting that soccer can be more engaging due to the constant movement of the ball.
- Luke Jones mentions his enjoyment of the World Cup, particularly the performance of Erling Haaland for Norway.
- Nestor reflects on his growing appreciation for soccer over the years, mentioning his interactions with the 1998 World Cup team.
Orioles’ Performance and Fan Engagement
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ recent performance, noting their inconsistency and the need for more than just winning two out of three games.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of the Orioles winning more than just a few games to stay competitive.
- Nestor praises Ben McDonald’s commentary skills and his ability to explain baseball concepts to a broader audience.
- Luke and Nestor discuss the importance of engaging broadcasts to keep fans interested, especially during games that might not be as exciting.
Trade Deadline and Team Strategy
- Nestor and Luke talk about the upcoming trade deadline and the potential for the Orioles to be sellers or buyers.
- Luke mentions the Orioles’ current position as a team that other teams might be interested in trading with.
- Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s management and their approach to player development and trades.
- Luke highlights the importance of managing players’ workloads, especially for pitchers like Kyle Bradish, to avoid injuries and ensure long-term success.
Orioles’ Pitching and Offensive Performance
- Luke discusses the Orioles’ starting rotation’s performance since May 22, noting their impressive ERA.
- Nestor and Luke agree that the pitching has been good enough but the offense has been inconsistent.
- Luke criticizes the team’s approach to platoon advantages, suggesting that the actual numbers don’t always support the strategy.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the need for the team to make a run and the challenges they face in staying competitive.
Future of the Orioles and Broadcasting
- Nestor and Luke talk about the future of the Orioles and the importance of having good broadcasts to engage fans.
- Luke emphasizes the need for analysts and commentators to explain complex baseball concepts in a way that is accessible to a broader audience.
- Nestor mentions the importance of having good television broadcasts to attract and retain fans.
- Luke and Nestor discuss the challenges of keeping fans engaged during games that might not be as exciting.
Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events
- Nestor and Luke wrap up their discussion, with Nestor mentioning his upcoming trip to the All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
- Nestor talks about the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and the Maryland Lottery’s involvement in the event.
- Luke mentions his vacation plans and the upcoming series against the Cubs and Royals.
- Nestor expresses his excitement for the upcoming baseball and soccer events, highlighting the importance of engaging content for fans.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are W N S T A M 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively getting ready for the Maryland Crab Cake Tour on Friday. We return to Fate Lees, I think it’s our final appearance of Fatelies for the summer, because we’re going to move to the Fishmonger’s Daughter over in Catonsville with our friends in the Divine Family, and Damien will be with us as well. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. I’ll have the Maryland Treasures scratch-offs to give away on Friday. I’m putting the Crab Cake Tour together again and again and again. Next week, Luke’s out, I’m in. I’ll be at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, ringing the Liberty Bell. You know, I’m so disappointed that in 1976 I didn’t get one of those pictures with the little Liberty Bell, when I was a little boy, like all my friends did. I don’t know, I must have skipped school that day. But 50th anniversary of that, and the 250th anniversary of our country, and we’re gonna watch baseball this week. We’re gonna wrap ourselves in red, white, and blue, and watch a little World Cup. There’s a rumor that Luke Jones is even up late watching Mexico, and our friends over United Kingdom and England, you know, battle there on the pitch of man down. You want to talk soccer or baseball? I never asked you if you wanted to talk soccer with me, Luke. You want to?
Luke Jones 1:16
It’s funny, I have nothing insightful to offer. I don’t understand the game. I really don’t know what I’m looking at. I mean, I obviously watched soccer before in my life, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve really enjoyed it. I mean, it’s been a lot of fun. I said this to you at the, at the beginning of the tournament, that there’s a curiosity, at the very least, that I have about it, and obviously the United States, so much excitement there, controversy now, but it’s been a lot of fun. No
Nestor Aparicio 1:48
corruption, I mean, Trump’s involved, FIFA’s involved, right? There’s any corruption involved in this at all? It’s just,
Luke Jones 1:54
but it’s just been a lot of fun, and you’ve seen some really, you know, I’ve mentioned to you Cape Verde earlier on, and you see what kind of run they had. Of course, they didn’t make it through, but I mean, you’ve had some underdog stories, you’ve had some disappointment. I mean, like Brazil, like right? I mean, you see what Brazil has not done. You heard my Messina
Nestor Aparicio 2:14
story about Norway, right? I told that one. I told that one to Raskin. Do you know this one? It’s a baseball story, and it involves Norway. So, maybe today is the day to tell you. If you don’t know it, that means others don’t know it either. This will be a baseball segment, I promise you. Back when I was a younger man, 32 years ago, in the summer 1994 before the baseball strike. Keep in mind, I went on the air in December of 9135 years coming up, 92 the baseball park open, 93 you know, we had the exhibition football games going on, like all of that was happening at that time, Angelos was buying the All Star game happened, so by 94 Mike Massina and I were very close, and his brother and I are still close all these years later, and we were, we would go out drinking after Oriole games, not on nights when Moose pitched. Yes, never in a night before he pitched, right? Like that was an idea, did not go out, obviously, right? But he was a starting pitcher, so we had a couple days to burn, and me and him and Sigi, sometimes Jack Voight in that era, sometimes Brady Anderson in that era, we’d gather at Hooters, Sutcliffe came with this couple, but we would go down to Hooters, and we’d have a couple beers after the game. So, this started in 9293 94 All right, so we’re coming up on the strike. It is right now, it’s this time of the year in 1994 Kind of sounds familiar, doesn’t it? About a work stoppage. Now, this is a baseball segment, and not a soccer segment for you, Luke, but Masaen and I are on the outdoor deck at Hooters in the back of the old Hooters, behind like the Cap City Brewing, or whatever that was at the time, and we heard a roar, like a rumble at 1o’clock in the.. it was really late. This was not 1130 I mean, the games were at 735 then, and three hours long. This was after 1am The bar was empty, I mean, there were some Hooters girls, they were cleaning up, there’s 20 of us, we’re drinking some beers, some Molson’s quiet, quiet inner harbor, July night, 90 degrees, really hot, like it’s been this week, and we heard a roar, like a rumble, like, like noise, like people marching. The hell is this? I looked out onto the promenade up, up northbound, toward up from the harbor, and they were marching from hotels down the walkway, three 400 people chanting, chanting, painted up war paint. They were going to the Norway match the next day in DC and camping in Baltimore. So this could make a lot of sense to you right now, given what you’ve seen. Norway growing and Times Square, and Philadelphia getting taken over by Paraguay the other day, and like my wife and I were going to go up with the Germans had won to Philadelphia. We haven’t participated in this World Cup because I didn’t know six, and I’ve shared videos, and blah blah blah blah blah. But in 1994 I, whatever you know about soccer, I knew less in 1994 I promise you, the blast. Yes, I didn’t know there was such.. I mean, did I know Maradon existed yet? Did I know John Eisenberg went to Mexico? John Eisenberg was at the hands of God game. John Eisenberg covered that game for the Baltimore Sun in 1986 He was at the Maradona game, so next time he’s on, John coming to get you, so there’s soccer involved in intertwines every four years, right? But it’s been in this country one time, 32 years ago, and these 400 Norwegians came down, they plopped down in the, they took over the bar, like the bar came to life, and Messina sitting in the middle, they don’t know who he is, I mean, I mean, at all. We’re just like hanging, and we were so entertained by them, and they were the Norwegian fans. They were playing a game in DC the next day.
Nestor Aparicio 6:12
They played three games, I think, at DC back in 94 There were three or four matches, Saudi Arabia, there were a couple countries that played in DC that sort of based around Baltimore at the time, RFK Stadium wasn’t much, and we met the Norway fans, and that’s that’s my only World Cup entree from 1994 where I even knew, and I was on the radio every day, like there were there weren’t people watching it or call like Brazil want whatever, I mean, believe me, man, like it was. It’s come a long, long, long, long, long way to get your attention, even for a night for the USA. And which brings us to baseball, and saying, I sat up on Sunday night, and my wife looked at me, she’s like, God, like, you got your glasses on, you’re like watching the game, like I haven’t seen you watch a game in a while, like really, why? Like, I didn’t watch the Orioles that way, I don’t sit up, and because soccer, the ball’s moving, right? Baseball’s more like get stuff done, passive, rewind, stop. What did Palmer say? What did Ben McDonald say? Baseball, it’s got to keep our attention here, and I tell you what, over the weekend, nobody wanted to come to the game in Cincinnati on Sunday either. The Cowboy Hats with the C on it, the Ben McDonald wanted so bad. I mean, I watched over the weekend, I want them to come back to life. And this is a baseball segment, but my God, we’re all watching soccer. It’s crazy, isn’t
Luke Jones 7:36
it? Yeah, yeah, I mean Walker. Yeah, I’ll be just to put a bow on the World Cup talk, at least for the moment. I mean, it’s, it’s a lot of fun. I mean, you know, I know who Harry Kane is, right? But Erling Hall, on for Norway, I mean, that’s been amazing. I mean, he just, he scores goals, right? I mean, like, it’s incredible. So it’s been fun. I mean, it’s see
Nestor Aparicio 8:00
the allure of it, being a football, and in a base, sure, like that’s the thing about soccer. Even in 1994 Messina and I are like, y’all are all painted up over your country, like, whatever, you kick a little ball and gold and fake like you’re hurt, and like, whatever those thoughts would be, until you really understand soccer. And I, you know, I fell in love with it, 98 when the World Cup team came to my studio. I’ve put all the videos up as Steve Sampson kissing me, and Precky, and, and Tab Ramos, who was making Snickers commercials. Then, and they went to France, and they laid a turd, and, like, you know, on and on and on and on. 98 2002 and six, and the legend of going to South Korea, and being this far into it. I, soccer’s exciting in that way, and baseball can be exciting in that way, but like we’re in this pivot point for this baseball team, where it’s just sort of like even when they’re winning a couple of games, I mean, and Brad is pitched great on Sunday. Yeah, yeah, I think for me, obviously, they win a series, right? They
Luke Jones 9:00
won, they won two out of three. Great, but the time for that, where you’re just, you’re satisfied with winning two out of three. And let’s face it, the Reds are the opposite of the Phillies, right? The Phillies were terrible in April, fired their manager, and they played, I believe it’s right around 667 ball since Don Mattingly took over for Rob Thompson, whereas the Reds played really good baseball through the month of April, and they’ve been the worst team in baseball since may 1. So, yeah, you should win two out of three at a minimum, but this team needs more than that at this point. Like, they need to go on a run, and I’m not saying it needs to be 15 in a row, but they’re already at a point now where no matter what happens on this homestand, they’re under 500 at the all-star break. Right? I mean, there’s seven games under 500 after winning two of three. For me, the time for saying winning two out of three and just being the tortoise, you know, slow and steady, that was about five or six. Weeks ago, and guess what happened. They had that run where they went 10 and four, and then guess what happened. Let me read off the series results since then. Loss split, loss, loss win series win at Dodger Stadium. There loss, loss, loss win. I mean, that’s they had their opportunity to do this slow and steady, win two out of three, win two out of three, win two out of three, and they didn’t do it. So now you’re at a point where, again, I’m not saying it has to be a 12 game winning streak, but I need to see more than two out of three against the lousy Cincinnati Reds, and for the
Nestor Aparicio 10:41
most part, they’re getting pitching that could support that.
Luke Jones 10:44
The pitching has had that
Nestor Aparicio 10:45
could support that.
Luke Jones 10:46
Have you seen what their starting rotation numbers are since may 20? I mean, they’ve been one of the better rotations in baseball since then. Now we can sit here and debate whether that’s going to continue, and no, it’s not really a group that strikes out a ton of people, and we can poke holes in that, but the point is it’s been more than good enough. If you think about how this team was designed, intended to play back in the off season, they’re starting pitching even with the injuries that they’ve endured, which Zach Eff went through what, three innings all year, Dean Kramer’s barely pitched, Chris Bassett hasn’t been very good, even when he has been on the hill. So Trevor Rogers had his stretch there, where he was sick and very, very ineffective. But overall, the starting pitching, if you kind of told me back in mid May where it would be going on, you know, a month and a half, almost two months later, I would take that, but it’s been everything else, right? The offense, maddening at best, inconsistent at best, right? I mean, the overall numbers, when you look at them in their totality, they’re not horrendous. I’m not saying it’s a terrible offense, but this was built to be the offense being the heavy lifter, right, the group that’s going to do the most for you. And Sunday was a perfect example of that. You said it, Kyle Bradish pitched well. It wasn’t his most dominant effort of the year. I mean, wasn’t a ton of swing and miss, or but when he pitched into the eighth inning, he had a chance to finish eight innings. I mean, we can debate Craig Albernaz leaving him in the game. Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, emotionally I’m all
Nestor Aparicio 12:25
in. Albert, as came in, looked him in the eye, like the whole deal.
Luke Jones 12:30
Yeah, but even so, even with that, he gave up three runs in seven to two thirds inning. You didn’t
Nestor Aparicio 12:35
even ask how I got Peacock TV, where I stole it. You didn’t even ask. You didn’t even.. I watched the game on. See, I just proved you. I watched the game on Sunday, right? You
Luke Jones 12:42
get it.
Nestor Aparicio 12:44
Stole it. No, no, no, he’s too much cheapskate. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Someone passed along the pool, they passed along the peacock for an afternoon, so I peacocked with Ben McDonald, and the other guy, who was a decent, I mean, it was a, it was a decent reading of the game. I thought it was a little bit of a lonely game, but
Luke Jones 13:08
I thought pretty good. Yeah, I thought, yeah, yeah, I thought
Nestor Aparicio 13:11
Ben McDonald’s great, by the way. I just, I don’t say it enough, and I praise him, really
Luke Jones 13:16
good job. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 13:18
Ben McDonald’s really, really, really good at this, and they are blessed to have him, and I’ve known Ben since we were both puppies. I mean, 35 years ago, I met Ben McDonald when he was the rising star and the one one, and a big deal, and he was always the best guy. Like, so I, you know, like, I, I would just say that from the minute I met him, because he was a big star in this town, or was budding to be the Jackson Holiday, or the whatever, all that is, but all these years later, the fact that he’s here with this All Shucks, Brooks Robinson, Louisiana, you know, Coon Dog thing, go, I don’t even know, but it’s amazing, and he’s great, and they better hug him up, especially as Palmer hits the exit, because you make, he makes three hours of my night better being with him, and I know him, so I feel like I know him, and I do, and he’s very familiar to me. But boy, is he good.
Luke Jones 14:12
Yeah, I mean, you just take the words right out of my mouth, and in terms of you, you better hold on to him, because you know, I mean, Jim Palmer’s not going to be doing this much longer. I mean, it, you know, it’s not – it’s not a bold proclamation. I mean, Jim’s in his early 80s at this point, but I
Nestor Aparicio 14:27
think McDonald’s great for kids. He, he teaches the games thing – he’s great. He’s here. Here was
Luke Jones 14:35
a very simple thing from Sunday’s broadcast, and we – this is nothing new for Orioles fans, because we’ve heard him explain this before, but he was talking about Kyle Bradish. What makes the fact that he has such a crazy spin rate on his breaking balls? He told you why that’s important, right? We have so much stat cast data at this point in time, and I’ll be the first to admit I’m probably guilty from time to time when I use certain terminology or a certain statistic, and I don’t. Explain it right, and that’s what me, if that’s the case, but the point is Ben McDonald went on to explain. He said, okay, Kyle Bradish has this crazy high spin rate on his breaking ball, you know, slider and his curve, and he told you why that’s so effective, because that kind of spin, when it’s that sharp a spin, a hitter thinks it’s going to be a fastball, so early on, especially that first time through the order, you saw how many Reds hitters were, you know, check swing going too far, not able to lay off those breaking balls in the dirt. Well, out of hand it looks like it’s going to be a fastball at the knees because of that spin rate. So, Ben explain that to the audience, whether we’re talking about Orioles or Reds fans, or anyone else that was just taking a peek at that game, so that’s what you want. You got to learn
Nestor Aparicio 15:46
baseball when you’re watching it, and you have to learn it,
Luke Jones 15:49
especially in this day and age, right. And I don’t say this to be a commentary, good, bad, or indifferent, about analytics and modern front-off the other day about
Nestor Aparicio 15:59
swinging over and under the ball, and I’m like, I mean, that’s cute. I mean, it’s like the gamblers telling me that Dallas and the Redskins are 42 and 28 What does that? That means nothing. You know, some of this information doesn’t mean anything. It
Luke Jones 16:13
can absolutely be information overload, but there is plenty that can be really helpful and really interesting, right? And that, that’s something that the best commentators out there, or the best writers out there, can explain that to an audience that needs to have an open mind, right? I mean, I call it color
Nestor Aparicio 16:32
commentary, yeah, adding color,
Luke Jones 16:34
so, so your audience needs to have an open mind about it to some degree, but if they do, can you explain it in a way that makes it make sense, right? Baseball bunch,
Nestor Aparicio 16:43
man. I go back to that to kids and people, and not just people. To my Swedish girlfriend that I took to a game 30 years ago, didn’t like, if you want to recruit people to baseball, the television show is the show, sure, it really is. And I keep.. and it’s not lost on me, Mark Fine and Katie Griggs and Don Rovak and Rubenstein, and these creeps of the new set of creeps have done the new losing baseball creeps have done in throwing me out. Is it the television show now that we pay $20 a month for, and it’s he, it’s pass or fail, it’s up or down. I turn around, Ian Dark’s more interesting. I put the soccer game on. I mean, like, this isn’t rocket science, but staying with it is a part of understanding it.
Luke Jones 17:26
Sure,
Nestor Aparicio 17:27
and having a reason to be engaged, whether it’s you love the Orioles, you love Gunner Henderson, you love the game, you want to learn something about the game, you want to fly, you’re betting on it. My God, they hope you bet on it, that’s all they really care about you, do is bet on it, right? Exactly, which is why me sitting up watching a soccer match that’s completely corrupt in the middle of the night, and it completely corrupt in Mexico, you know, like I’m up watching it because I love sports, but the way it’s presented is so important, and with the Orioles going nighty night and the team not being great, that the broadcasts matter, and the recruitment of what’s left of the fan base is really important.
Luke Jones 18:07
Yeah, sure, sure. And really, just to finish the thought on, you know, when you’re talking about someone like a Ben McDonald or a Jim Palmer, I mean, you want that in any sport, right? I mean, the best analyst in the for the NFL or college football can break down what they’re seeing in a way that someone who might not understand it as well as them can grasp the concept. Right, I mean, that you know their football’s a very complicated game. I mean, all these sports, when you get into the weeds, can be very complicated. You
Nestor Aparicio 18:38
imagine being a 30 year old person in Germany trying to learn the American football game, like baseball. Yes, because pupples people baseball, because it
Luke Jones 18:46
would be it’s like me trying to learn soccer, but soccer is
Nestor Aparicio 18:49
the ball offsides on sides, 11 on 10, like whatever. Sure, like you could learn soccer a lot quicker than one of these blokes coming over here watching England to learn baseball, like baseball, like which way do we run, which way do we hit, what’s an out, what’s a ball, what’s a hit, like, like, what’s a run, like all of these definitions for baseball that are a part of, like, our DNA, being from Baltimore, and growing up around Earl Weaver, and your dad, and my dad, and our culture here for baseball, but baseball’s as complicated as any of this stuff, and I think it also can be. Don’t tell anyone, I know you don’t. It can be boring. Don’t tell anybody, but like for people who don’t get it, see, you’re gonna fight back, because people do stadiums getting more empty every day, and they’re trying to get it more full, and I’m thinking Ben McDonald, and whatever their television broadcasts are, and this is free. This is memo to Greg Bader in the middle of this soccer thing. TV broadcasts are all they got, and I guess that’s my point, of like when I’m home and it’s 115 degrees, and I can either watch Ian Dark in Argentina or I. And watch a bad broadcast, and no offense that you know any of the B teams of Mass and or anyone else, but like a good broadcast, and it supports whatever the sporting event would be in a way that gets a nonchalant person involved to become involved, like the Orioles have the Orioles people, you and me, everybody that watches this thing every day, they’re the same, like we’re in now, like I’ll get all of that, but like when it’s not very good, the broadcast is the only glue that’s going to hold the thing together on that, that’s how I feel about it,
Luke Jones 20:34
yeah, but I think that applies elsewhere, I mean, okay, if we’re not talking World Cup aside, right, I mean, that’s the extreme. You can find plenty examples of soccer matches that aren’t the most exciting, right? So, like, especially if you don’t understand it, like someone like me, if it’s nil, you know, if it’s nil, nil, and it’s that might not be the most exciting, but instead, in a world on a World Cup stage, you had a stretch of what was that 60 seconds where three goals are scored between England and Mexico. I mean, when something like that happens, when you have a 10 to nine baseball game, hey, that’s exciting in that sense, right? But when it’s 104 degrees in Cincinnati, and there’s 8000 people scattered in the stadium, and Bradish is, it’s just when you put it on, the energy of it, the energy of it in your living room, and sound around, or whatever, it, you have to really engage yourself with this baseball team, which you and I do on a daily
Nestor Aparicio 21:30
basis. My kid came over here in the middle of the game Sunday, I’m watching the game on a little flip-top peacock, because this is what they’re doing to me. My son’s defecating all over, last name Aparicio, defecating all over baseball. I’ve watched the baseball game in years, and he’s your age, and he’s like, this is why I don’t support them, man. They’re chasing you and your sister-in-law around, running around, trying to get a password, just so you can watch their game today on 100 degree day. And Ian Dark’s about to call a world class, like literally, and I’m not a golf guy or a NASCAR, all the other options that life’s journey would provide for you, watching them auction cars, which my wife likes, Bugsy Malone cars, so I like literally all the 57 channels that Bruce Springsteen wrote about, this baseball team needs to be more of everything to everybody in a lot of ways that they’re not right now, and I guess in this World Cup thing, where you and I began the thing with the World Cup, we’ll go to bed with World Cup. Corinch is coming on tomorrow, they’re gonna win, they’re gonna lose, they’re gonna move out of the way, whatever it is. We’re at a point where the baseball team is going to an all-star game with one player, Ruchman. We brought that, we haven’t brought that up, I just did, was my guest last week anyway, and they’re coming home again, right? I mean, they’re home, and the weather’s broken, right? Like, the weather’s gonna be decent this week. Where are we? We’re going out to the ballpark to see the Mighty Copies in the Royals. What are we doing? I know you’ll be with me on Friday at Fade Lee’s, but where are we with this ball club? Because we’re getting up on this trading deadline, buying and selling, and to your point, they’re in quicksand, they’re not mud, they’re in quicksand.
Luke Jones 23:01
Yeah, I mean, it’s what’s funny is we’re talking so much about the trade deadline here, and you know, the idea of what Michaelias said last home stand, and how they responded there. And whereas you look around at the rest of baseball, first of all, who are the definitive sellers at this point in time? There aren’t many, right? I mean, you’re it’s a pretty small list, I mean, you would think the Angels, but who knows, with them making changes in their front office and where they are right now, the Royals look like a definitive seller, right? Yeah, you have a couple teams in the National League, I’ll hear all that, but, but by and large, I mean, I mean, the Orioles are seven games under 500 There are lots of teams looking at the Orioles right now, and wondering, oh, are they going to sell? That doesn’t mean they’re going to trade Gunner Anderson or even Adley Ruchman, but Taylor Ward, wouldn’t you take a run at it? Rogers,
Nestor Aparicio 23:52
would you take a run at it if you’re, if you are the Cubs? If you, I’m making it, I mean, if you’re a team, would you make a call to Elias and say, what do I got to give you for Henderson to rent him for the next two and a half years, or what a year, whatever it is. Ruchman, same thing. Like, if you want these guys and the phone rings, are you frozen? Don’t take the call, listen to it, shop a little bit, and then say no. Take it to David Rubens, take it to Araghetti, because Eric Getty’s running the team, dude, they’re not dealing any of these guys, Araghetti’s paws are into this, I’ve heard this more and more in the last two weeks that Araghetti thinks of this as his team and his future team, and these are his assets, like he’s not running to the front to make a bobblehead or whatever, but these decisions about aircraft, I keep wanting to call it Battleship Galactica. I know these baseball terms, you, that the nerds use, aircraft carrier, is that the word that was
Luke Jones 24:49
actually that, that’s actually more of a long time GM and scout thing, right? That’s a Dan O’Dowd was the first guy, Baseball Network, yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 24:58
okay, aircraft. Carriers, we went through this with Machado, and you and I did the ancient history. I had to look up who used Neil Diaz. How to remember his name, but.. and while Kramer’s, you know, okay? Right? I mean, you got something out of it, but these assets.. and we did a whole hour on this the other day. Go listen to it. This is just such a.. this is a constitutional crisis. To borrow a 250 year term for for Araghetti and Rubenstein, and I don’t even want to hear about Katie Griggs or Elias or Albernais, or I don’t want to hear about the players, because they’re all expendable. What are these guys doing? Who’s running this joint? What are they doing? They’re home all week. What are they doing?
Luke Jones 25:46
I mean, in a big picture sense, your guess is as good as mine. But I think
Nestor Aparicio 25:51
this time next week they’ll have an all-star game in 2030 Katie will come back from Philadelphia next week, like the constitutional, you know? I’ll be up there, she’ll ignore me. I’m like a fake media member with a real media pass, but like they’re going to come this time at the end of next week, they’re going to have an all-star game to announce here in 2030 That’s really what’s the most important thing that’s on her mind right now, because she can’t control whether Kyle Braddoche is going to make, and by the way, so much for like controlling how many pitches and innings for him, I guess innings, but like, it felt to me on Sunday afternoon like they were gonna wear them out.
Luke Jones 26:24
Well, it, yeah, I’ll go back to what you just said in a moment, but yeah, it was funny at one point during the broadcast they brought up that very subject, and Ben McDonald made a comment saying somewhere, and I don’t, I don’t think Ben was privy to this. I think this was purely him speculating, and you know, I’m not even saying this to be a knock on Ben or anything like that, but he made a comment. I think he said it was like, oh, he might pitch, you know, somewhere in the neighborhood 140 145 innings, and I almost spit out my drink because I just wanted to say, Ben, he’s got 100 innings now. I mean, if he’s only gonna throw 40 more innings this year, and I don’t, again, I don’t think Ben is privy to anything there. I think he can throw 40 more innings by the end of the month, right? Like, literally. And look, let’s be clear, I’ve said this all along, these types of hard caps for innings limits and pitches and things of that nature, they’re still the evidence that supports it, is still flimsy, right? I even said to you, for me, I almost – I would almost view it, you have to look at the micro within the macro, right? Like, for example, I can bring
Nestor Aparicio 27:36
Dr. Leo Mazzoni on here to make your argument, by the way,
Luke Jones 27:39
put on, put on Sunday, like the example would be within those seven and two thirds innings. How many pitches, how many innings would you consider high stress? Did he have an inning where he threw 35 pitches, for example? Right, that’s the kind of stuff you need to be looking at much more closely and definitively than just looking at the raw number of pitches, the raw number of innings. Now that said, do I think Kyle Braddish is going to throw 190 innings this year? I’d be really, really surprised by that. Well, he’s going to pitch
Nestor Aparicio 28:12
Saturday or Sunday, he’s going to come back and pitch again against the Astros on the on the way out. He’ll pitch again in Boston probably the day after you and I go, and then he’s going to pitch again against the Tigers. At the, I mean, there’s five starts there, you know. Yeah, it’s at least 30 innings, right? I mean, he’s gonna get five, like, so you by august 1, he’s gonna be at a buck 40, to your point. I mean, so I mean, somewhere he might not be at a buck 40, but he’ll be like, you were saying something like, well, they can skip a start bag, and then they’re not going to do, dude, they’re trying to get into the pennant race, like they’re trying by july 31 they got to figure out who the hell they are, and I think you and I know who they are at this point, they’re that they’re August 500 or whatever they are,
Luke Jones 28:54
yeah, I mean we’re already, you know, the trade deadlines august 3 this year, august
Nestor Aparicio 28:58
3, okay, thank you,
Luke Jones 29:00
but we’re still under a month, and I hear you. Is there an option for them to go to a six man rotation at some point? I, I mean, they’re going to have to do something, and I hear, I hear you loud and clear, but you can also do that. And then you say, all right, well, what are we doing with Bradish over the final two months of the season? Right? I mean, you would think they’re taking him
Nestor Aparicio 29:20
out of turn during the all-star break. He’s pitched Saturday or Sunday, you take off, bring him back Friday or Saturday next, you know, whatever. See,
Luke Jones 29:27
I wouldn’t do that, but I mean, to me, give him an extra
Nestor Aparicio 29:30
day and a half. What do you..
Luke Jones 29:31
I would try, I would slot him to the back of the rotation coming out of the.. I want to give him
Nestor Aparicio 29:36
11 days off, or like that, like literally do that. You’re going to skip him, kind of, sort of,
Luke Jones 29:40
kind of, yeah. I mean, unless we’re just gonna say that the innings don’t matter, and you’re just gonna let him go. I mean, okay. I mean, he’s, he’s the, he’s the one, I guess, Boz too, just because he’s under contract, but he’s the one amazing asset you have as a pitcher right now. I mean, you’ve got some assets,
Nestor Aparicio 29:58
and I looked down at these lottery tickets. I see the horses, and I think of them as Preak this week. It’s Preak this week. Do we run the horse or do we not run the horse? And it’s two weeks off. It’s literally it reminds me of that dude. It’s the same same concept with these guys, right?
Luke Jones 30:12
Yeah, I mean, so.. and let me.. let me.. that’s why I threw the
Nestor Aparicio 30:15
F bomb out last week. Tell Wyckoff I sent him a script, by the way. I did put the F bomb, and it was about effing pitchers, by the way, so it wasn’t about like any, so when I dropped my F bomb, it had to do with the disposability of the race sources of the pitchers, yeah.
Luke Jones 30:30
Well, I mean, but at the same time, you want to, you know, we can call it disposable being disposable when you’re talking about average and run of the mill arm, don’t tell that to the
Nestor Aparicio 30:42
Arizona Diamondbacks right now in their payroll.
Luke Jones 30:44
Sure, right? I mean, yeah. How many Orioles fans wanted to resign Corbin Burns? Right, the Orioles tried to resign Corbin Burns, and, and we see how that would, would have turned out, right. And, and I don’t mean that’s why I called them
Nestor Aparicio 30:56
effing pitchers, that’s why
Luke Jones 30:59
I’ve said you need to develop your own, because those are cheaper, controllable assets that you don’t have to be in a position where you’re signing someone that may not, you might pay millions and millions of dollars to, and they might not pitch for the better part. And to quote
Nestor Aparicio 31:13
Earl Weaver, literally the beginning of this conversation, other than all the World Cup stuff that we began, and my dear friend Billy Ronson, who made me think of him on Sunday night, the late great Billy Ronson. They’re getting good enough pitching right now, like I mean, the effing pitching, to quote Earl Weaver, is has been good enough, and that’s hard. That’s the hardest thing to do, kind of, sort of, you know. And in the sport, keep it healthy, get it out there, get you six, seven innings, you know, three, four of those guys, they can do that four or five nights a week, they’re on to that, but the thing’s a mess.
Luke Jones 31:47
I mean, it’s just I’m going to pull it up right now, because I told, I said I alluded to this earlier, but since may 22 so we’re talking, I mean, that’s what, six and a half going on seven weeks at this point in time, since may 22 their starter ERA is ninth in the majors right now. It is, it would be fourth in the American League right now. Since May, may 22 I mean, that’s if you had told me that back then that their starting rotation would be pitching like that, I would think. At this point, they were back over 500 and they’re not. Don’t get me wrong, not saying they’d be leading the AL or leading the AL East – we know what kind of start they got off to, but, but, but that’s the reality. That’s why this is so frustrating. That’s why I’m unmoved by taking two out of three from the lousy Cincinnati Reds. They back on may 22 when they started that homestand, right when we were talking about them in similar terms to last year, as far as that, that feeling like a very pivotal moment, as far as whether the season was just going to completely crash and burn, or whether they were going to get off the mat, they had that seven and three homestand, they had a 10 and four stretch, all of that, but you go back to the beginning of that, they were eight games under 500 now they’re seven games under 500 So, in six and a half weeks, or whatever it’s been, they’ve, they’ve made up one game just in terms of getting closer to 500 and to quote Luke Jones, big whoop, that that’s that’s why taking two out of three from that’s why taking two out of three from the Reds. I’m just okay, like it wasn’t a bad weekend. Like, look, it was great to see Bisayo hit home runs Friday and Saturday. Why wasn’t he in the lineup Sunday, right? I mean, that was the other thing. I mean, Lodolo, you kind of look at him, he was a reverse split guy. Look, say what you want about him, and it is a little more complicated, because you don’t want them in the field, but Kobe Mayo needs to play against lefties. Go look at his splits, he demolishes left-handed pitching, so I have no problem with that. But in terms of sitting the other lefties the way they did on Sunday, in favor of guys who, I mean, Tyler O’Neill doesn’t hit lefties anymore. Leody Tavares doesn’t, okay, maybe he hits lefties a little better than Colton Kauser, but Colton Cowser is a way better defensive player, and we saw that Saturday that that catch he made in the ninth inning was massive for them. So I don’t know, I just see this blind devotion to the platoon advantage, when then you look at the actual numbers, and you say, is that really giving them an advantage there? Like, what are we doing here? It just adds up to it not being good enough, right? And that’s the frustrating part here. Look, they’re going to come home, maybe they take two out of three from the Cubs, and you, you’ll have a chance to, you know, we’ll catch up on this, because I’m not going to be around by the time that the Royals series concludes, but they could take two out of three from the Cubs. The Cubs look at them, I mean, they’re 10 games over 500 but look at their season, if that were a stock, you’d see lines that are. Up and down, up and down. I mean, look at their losing streaks and their winning streaks this year. My goodness, they are the definition of a high variance team, in terms of they’ve looked like one of the best teams in baseball, and they’ve also had long losing streaks, but they could, they could win two out of three, and guess what, I’d be just as likely to expect the Orioles to lose two out of three to the Royals, then over the weekend, right? I mean, it’s just that’s who they are, they’re not very good at some point in time. We’re in July now, can they? Could they make a run? Can they make a run? Yes, it’s baseball, right. We’ve seen that.
Luke Jones 35:34
I mean, look at the Tigers a couple years ago, look at what Cleveland did last year, right? I mean, we’ve seen that. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s impossible, and one of the reasons why I would say is they’re starting rotations, doing a pretty darn good job over the last six weeks, but my goodness, you just look at the elements of this team and it’s just not consistent enough. And Sunday was another example, right? This was their seventh attempt to win four in a row, seventh, right? They’ve had seven different three game winning streaks, and they’re at a point now where, hey, let’s let’s sweep the Reds, who’ve been so lousy for two months now, come home final homestand, you know you’re not going to get the 500 but if you rattle off a five and one home stand on the heels of sweeping the Reds, man, you’re feeling good about yourself at the all-star break, could they still have a five and one home stand? Sure, could they? Yes, but every time you really start to buy into this team for some series win, you know, take two or three from the Dodgers, or do this, or win three in a row, they just come crashing right back down to earth, right after that. So that’s why I look at this, and you know, I say, okay, you won two out of three from the Reds. You know, the Reds are 20 and 37 since may 1, worst team in baseball. So you know, I mean, they had a chance to sweep them, and they had, they had their ace on the hill Sunday, and they’re itching like an ace, right? Pitch well, right? I mean, even even disagreeing with Alberna, leaving him in there, it’s still three runs over seven and two thirds innings, and Lodolo, you know, the Reds lefty, he doesn’t have great numbers this year. I mean, even, even after a good start against the Orioles, he got a four, six ADRA, yeah, they didn’t go out, they didn’t do what it took to win a game, and that’s just the story of this team, right? It’s not horrendous, but it’s not good. It’s not good enough, and it’s where they are, and you know, we’re they still have time, but the way that I’m viewing this series win, and it being two out of three, it needed to be a sweep. It just did, and if that sounds unfair, well, they had three months for me to not be in a position where I’m sounding unfair, talking about this team, right? You know, like you’re at a point where you need to start really making a run and stubbing your toe in the final game against the Reds, a very winnable game on Sunday. That’s that’s the kind of thing that you can’t afford to have happen at this point in the season.
Nestor Aparicio 38:01
I got a great letter from me, a listener in Canada. I’ll start the next segment with that. Luke and I were to talk some more baseball. We’re gonna talk Adley Ruchman. I am headed to the All Star game in Philadelphia next week to sort of like look around and see what the All Star game is. I’ve been going to All Star games for 35 years, on and off. Major League Baseball always credentials me. I expect to be there on Tuesday and running around and doing my job, the job that I’ve done on behalf of everyone here at WNSD, for a lot of time. Luke’s on vacation next week. We’re going to gather on Friday at Fadley’s. It’s all brought to you by friends at the Maryland Lottery, in conjunction with our friends at GBMC. Let’s not forget Fern and Dermer, there the Comfort guys kept a lot of people comfortable last week. Luke, that it’s there’s like rain in the forecast every day this week for this Cubs and Royals series, but it’s going to be much more temperate in the 80s into the 70s at night. I don’t know whether people are going to go to the ballpark or not. We will be at Faith Lee’s on Friday, having the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and giving away some Maryland lottery scratches. My last batch of these before we get going later on in the month, we’re going back to all of our sponsors, can be a big month around here. We’re watching soccer, football, football Americano by the end of the month. Luke’s on vacation, he’s going to eat pizza while Woody O, and I’m going to eat pizza Essex Essex at Pizza John’s later in the month. I think we’re there on the 24th I gotta get the date right for that with everybody over in Essex as well. So, more baseball ahead and all-star game ahead. Luke and I’ve done a ton on the Ravens that you can find out at Baltimore Positive, and I’m this week I’m turning my lonely eyes toward the baseball all-star game, as well as this emergence of soccer in the World Cup in America here this week, which has been, quite frankly, more fun than the baseball. I’m Nestor East. Luke Moore had, we’re Baltimore Positive. Stay with us,
