Cycling through a variety of high draft picks who have scuffled early in their major league careers has been a way of life for the Baltimore Orioles over the past four seasons. Luke Jones and Nestor recap an all-too-rare rare victory for the Orioles in Miami as catcher Samuel Basallo stars with a homer short of the cycle and Adley Rutschman comes through in the clutch as the Birds bounce back from a nightmare weekend on Broadway.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ rare win in Miami, highlighting Chris Bassett’s performance and the contributions of players like Samuel Beside, who hit a cycle. They criticized the team’s defensive errors and the lack of a consistent offense, noting the impact of injuries to key players like Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg. They also discussed the need for better fundamentals and cleaner play. The conversation touched on the upcoming series against the Yankees and the importance of maintaining a positive attitude despite the team’s struggles.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend Planet Fitness in Timonium on Thursday afternoon and bring Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets (Maryland Treasures and Lucky Batch) to distribute
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Appear at Faidley’s next week on Wednesday for the conclusion of the Yankees and Orioles event (attend in-person appearance)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Participate in the Crab Derby at Lexington Market during Preakness week (organize/attend as part of long-running event)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Be at Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville on the 21st (attend event appearance)
• [ ] Join the Faidley’s appearance next week on Wednesday (appear with Nestor and others)

Orioles’ Rare Victory and Upcoming Events

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ rare victory in Miami, highlighting the importance of the win despite the team’s ongoing struggles.
• Nestor mentions upcoming events, including his appearance at Planet Fitness in Timonium and the conclusion of the Yankees and Orioles series at Faidley’s.
• Nestor and Luke Jones talk about the upcoming Preakness week and the crab Derby event at Lexington Market.
• Nestor shares a personal anecdote about a friend who is not interested in the Marlins, despite his love for baseball and financial means.

Marlins’ Stadium and Team History

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Marlins’ stadium, describing it as a place nobody wants to go and mentioning its controversial construction.
• Luke explains the Marlins’ history of financial mismanagement and ownership changes, including the sale of the team multiple times.
• Nestor shares a story about a friend who collects Marlins memorabilia, highlighting the team’s lack of fan base.
• Nestor expresses his belief that the Marlins’ franchise might need to move at some point due to its poor attendance and lack of interest.

Orioles’ Performance and Player Highlights

• Nestor and Luke analyze the Orioles’ performance, noting the team’s early lead and the sleepy atmosphere of the stadium.
• Luke praises Chris Bassett and the bullpen for their efforts in the win, despite acknowledging the team’s overall imperfections.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the performance of players like Samuel Beside, who has shown improvement in his batting.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the challenges faced by young players like Mayo and Cowser, and the importance of their development.

Defensive Issues and Coaching

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ defensive issues, noting the team’s frequent errors and mental lapses.
• Luke criticizes the coaching staff for not addressing the team’s fundamental flaws, questioning the organization’s development strategies.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the importance of defense in baseball and the need for the Orioles to improve in this area.
• Luke mentions the need for the team to play cleaner and smarter baseball to avoid making costly mistakes.

Injuries and Roster Management

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of injuries on the team, including the absence of key players like Jackson Holiday and Jordan Westburg.
• Luke provides updates on the expected return of players like Rogers and Holiday, noting the challenges they face in their recovery.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the need for the team to manage its roster effectively, given the ongoing injuries and the need for young players to step up.
• Nestor expresses concern about the team’s ability to stabilize and perform well, especially with the upcoming series against the Yankees.

Future Outlook and Team Improvement

• Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s future outlook, noting the importance of winning games and maintaining a positive attitude.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the team to find ways to win consistently, even with the current challenges and injuries.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the importance of the team’s young players, like Beside and Cowser, in contributing to the team’s success.
• Nestor and Luke express hope that the team can improve and find a way to compete effectively, despite the ongoing struggles.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles victory, Miami, Chris Bassett, bullpen, attendance, Marlins, injuries, defense, offense, Jackson Holiday, Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby, Brandon Young.

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:02

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We’re Baltimore. Positive, positively. Getting you ready for baseball this week. The Orioles home this week. I will be at Planet Fitness on Thursday afternoon in Timonium. I will have scratch offs on the Maryland lottery. These are the Maryland treasures, a fun little artistic group, as well as a lucky batch. Doc Steve won 20 bucks couple weeks ago over Koco’s. We’re going to be at faidley’s Next week, on Wednesday for the conclusion of the Yankees and the Orioles. Luke will be down with us. Also going to have Ivan Bates there. It is also Preakness week next week. So we’ll be doing the crab Derby that we’ve been doing at Lexington market for, oh, about 50 years. Then on the 21st we’ll be over at fishmonger’s daughter in Catonsville. Luke joins us now. Are you in a better mood? I mean, because you and I were not in a good mood after that four game sweep at Yankee Stadium and getting outscored, ugly and they rallied. They

Luke Jones  01:00

won. You know, let’s be happy for a moment with all the injuries and all the issues they have, that they at least did what they needed to do the first night in Miami. Well, they weren’t going to lose forever. I mean, they’re not going to go, oh, for the rest of the way. So it’s a good win, right? I mean, not a perfect win by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, we’ll talk about Chris Bassett, we’ll talk about a couple members of the bullpen, but they got a win. They got an early lead down in Miami in a very, very sleepy environment. What the announced attendance was 6000 something. So certainly a very sleepy atmosphere down

Nestor Aparicio  01:36

that place is you went to the All Star game there. So you like, there are people there.

Luke Jones  01:39

It wasn’t a mistake. It was. It was a flat out scam that that was built. If you go and actually look at how that, how that all went down with the previous ownership, you know, previous regime, all all that, where a lot of people made money, and then they’re, you look at this place, and you say, like, why? You know,

Nestor Aparicio  02:01

it’s a place that nobody wants to go in, a place nobody wants to go to see a team nobody cares about it’s at the end of the earth. There aren’t people. There’s only alligators that live on the other end of it. It’s like,

Luke Jones  02:13

but, but remember, they

Nestor Aparicio  02:15

unbelievably dumb.

Luke Jones  02:16

They spent a bunch of money at the time to get that thing approved and made it look like, Hey, this is a new era, new ballpark. And then very shortly thereafter, after everything was done, they sold off everyone. Yeah, I mean, just what the Marlins have done multiple times, despite the fact that, hey, to their credit, over the last 30 years, they actually have a couple World Series titles.

Nestor Aparicio  02:38

Hey, dude, that guy could have bought the Orioles Lauria, the art dealer. Remember him? Yeah, he was in the he was in the room with Angela. Was Holding, holding billion dollar bills up. So, yeah, that was his deal.

Luke Jones  02:48

But, but, yeah, not, not a great,

Nestor Aparicio  02:50

but it’s just such a it’s bad as the A’s are going to be coming in here this weekend. They don’t even have a home. This is a franchise here. I text my buddy, and you’ve met my buddy, Scott, who lives down in western Florida, which is near Fort Lauderdale. He when I went to his home, he had the Charlie Huff picture of the first knuckleball being delivered at the Marlins at the stadium at Joe Robbie. He has hats. He has four different versions of the orange hat, the blue hat, like all of that, he was all pinstriped up back in the day with Jeff Conine and like all that, 30 years later. And my dude loves baseball. Like he loves baseball. He’s from Rochester, my friend, I text him in the third inning last night. I’m like, do you even, like, know the Marlins are playing? Like, if you go out to a restaurant, are they on TV or he? He wrote back to me one sentence, who are the Marlins? That’s what he wrote to me. Now, this is a guy who has spent, he’s had, he’s had money in his life. He spent money. He’s a club box seat kind of guy. He’s a lawyer. He’s a baseball guy his but he goes to dolphins games like The Marlins are, they’re gonna have to move that franchise at some point, right? I mean, nobody’s ever gonna come if they’re serious, if baseball’s really serious, like, I just watch it year after year, and I sit there and I watch you say, well, there was 6000 and ask my wife came and took a look. She’s like, What are they doing? Like, I’m just saying, like, when teams go in there, it’s just a baseball mistake, that’s all. And I want to throw that out, because baseball’s gonna make a lot of mistakes over the next year.

Luke Jones  04:31

Yeah, they are. I mean, attendance at 6600 but hey, I’ll say this. It was encouraging for the Orioles to to get to Sandy Alcantara, Alcantara. I mean, he he’s pitched well, had pitched well so far this

Nestor Aparicio  04:45

year to see Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby,

Luke Jones  04:49

yeah. I mean, I wish those guys well, not necessarily. You know, that’s not my greatest concern when they’re playing the Marlins. But you know, they get to a good starting pitcher early. I thought it was great to see Samuel beside swing the bat the way he is. He’s for as much as there is to be negative, and you and I have dwelled on that a lot. I mean, you look at where the team is, are 16 and 20, right? I mean, they’re way closer to last place than first place at this point in time, and all the different issues that they have, including issues even that showed up on Monday night beside swinging the bat well, and we’ve seen that now for two to three weeks, where? And it’s not just old Well, the kid has power. He runs into one and absolutely crushes one. You see him going the other way. There were, there was an example or two on Monday night. Where? Or, I’m sorry, Tuesday night. I’m all messed up with my night,

Nestor Aparicio  05:41

I know, yeah, series, it hangs over Tuesday night. It’s like a hanging chad. You have that Monday game is a

Luke Jones  05:49

little odd, yeah, but, but on Tuesday night, I mean, he shortened up, he shows a willingness to go the other way. He looks like, he increasingly looks like he has a plan up at the plate. And, I mean, he’s swinging the bat. Well, you look at his numbers, at this point, he’s up to a 255 average. I mean, he’s, he’s got an o, p, s, that’s approaching 800 now, and that’s it. And that’s after him starting off in a way very similar to the way we were talking about, and still are talking about mayo and cows are and guys like that. I mean, he didn’t get off to a blazing most

Speaker 1  06:22

of

Nestor Aparicio  06:22

these guys haven’t rounded out the first time around holiday, rushman was fine, but even Henderson came up the first time, just sort of like you do, scuffle the first 30 days, and then you either figure it out, or they figure it out for you and send you back to Norfolk like literally,

Luke Jones  06:38

right. Rushman struggled his first month, as we kind of forget that, because from that first month on, yeah, or that second month on, as far as him being in the big leagues, he he played so well until halfway through 2024

Nestor Aparicio  06:51

wasn’t like it like three weeks in that we should send him back. I mean, most of these guys, almost all of these guys, have been looking like they’re in over their head when they get here. I would agree with you. Beside is not going back to Norfolk.

Luke Jones  07:04

No,

Nestor Aparicio  07:04

to

Nestor Aparicio  07:05

me, he’s graduated, whereas Mayo still might be going back tomorrow morning, right? Like, literally, some of these guys are still, you know, we’ll see when holiday comes up that he doesn’t hit 148 for a month and a half. You know what I mean. But Messiah. I’m not he’s I’m not worried about him. He’s a major league player at this point. He’s ready to go,

Luke Jones  07:24

especially when you consider he’s 21 years old. I mean, you have to consider the age when you’re talking about these ball players. I mean, even some of these prospects that we’re talking about, I mean, like Colton cowser wasn’t in the big leagues at age 21 right? So that’s

Nestor Aparicio  07:37

still struggling. Four years later, he’s

Luke Jones  07:39

struggling at the same time. It’s refreshing to see him play outfield defense compared to other guys they put in right field. I mean that that’s that’s what’s so I’m so torn is not the right word, because torn would almost imply that I like the options. But you either put someone out there in right field that can’t do it. Is a liability defensively, and maybe has a modest I mean, beavers has swung the bat at times. Okay, I’ll say this. And Craig Albernaz talked about it after the game. Beavers that that at bat he had in the first inning, what, 12 pitches and drew a walk. Think that really threw out alcantara off his game, and really led to that inning being what it was. So that was good to see, at least, but your choices in the outfield right now. I mean, Tavares is a center fielder. Taylor Ward is the left fielder because of the bat. It’s certainly not his defense of why you want him out in left field every day, but the bat more than makes up for it, but in right field, your options are Tyler O’Neill, who’s not a good right fielder at this point in his career and has done nothing with the bat, beavers, who is still searching for it at the plate, but at least shows signs and works counts and has good at bats, even if the numbers overall aren’t impressive, but he’s not a good right fielder at this point in his career. You know, I’m hoping he can gain an extra level of comfort and become a better outfielder, and I think he will, because I think he’s a good athlete and he’s young and kauser, who is a really good outright fielder, good, really good corner outfielder, solid center fielder, but the bat is just a complete liability, right? So you just have complete dented can options of like, what do you want to what do you want to give up, or what do you want to sacrifice when you’re putting any given player out there? So, but, but to go back to beside for a moment. I mean, he’s, he’s looking, he looks like he has a plan up there, and I don’t know if

Nestor Aparicio  09:42

he’s really ever going to be a catcher in the big leagues in a way like where, if rushman were dealt at the trading deadline this year, they he would be 124 game catcher next year. I don’t think that’s going to be the case for him.

Luke Jones  09:54

Yeah. I mean, I I’ll say this. I think he’s gotten a little better from where he was last year. But a perfect example. Was late in that game on Tuesday night. I mean, he double pumps Mayo’s not at 30. Has to wait on the steel attempt. And you’re saying, I literally was saying it out loud, don’t throw the ball. And he throws the ball and he throws it in the left field, and the tying run scores as a result. I mean, that’s, you know, you see something like that, and you just say, oh,

Nestor Aparicio  10:17

makes up for the cycle.

Luke Jones  10:19

They’re almost so I will agree with you. I am not so down on his defense that I would say, Oh, that guy can’t catch it all. Because I thought there it was a possibility, when he was caught up last year that he was going to be a guy that you say he can’t catch it all, dude, if

Nestor Aparicio  10:34

he’s going to catch one game a week, he’s going to catch 30 games then then that’s he’s a backup catcher. It’s the cover off the ball. Who’s going to be better than Rick Dempsey or whatever? You know what I mean, better than whatever Jeff Tackett, they’re going to do.

Luke Jones  10:46

He’s not really your backup catcher, because he’s going to be your full time. DH, right? I mean, when he’s not catching once or twice a week, he’s going to be your full time. DH, one thing that I thought was fascinating, and, you know, and this is fast forwarding to the end of the game, but because he had such a big night, I thought it was interesting that that Albernaz Hit rushman for him, not not in the sense of, when you just look at it simplistically, you say, Okay, well, the platoon advantage, it’s a left handed pitcher. But beside was having such a big night, and you look at his numbers, now, he hasn’t started and gotten a ton of plate appearances against lefties, but he’s five for 20 with a home run against left handed pitching. This year, he’s he hasn’t looked completely lost, so I thought that was an interesting example.

Nestor Aparicio  11:29

Get a bad away from what he’s got the cycle. But I don’t

Luke Jones  11:32

care about the cycle,

Nestor Aparicio  11:32

but you’re saying that a 21 year old kid up there who’s trying to hit a home run because he’s trying to hit the cycle, there is a point where, like, sitting him down, might not have been worse thing either.

Luke Jones  11:42

Well, I just, I think that’s one where you push a button and you really need it to work, because if it doesn’t work, that’s when I wonder if, besides kind of, and I don’t say this about him as an individual, I think any player who is having the kind of night that he had, and then he’s hit four in the ninth inning, and if the guy that hits for him doesn’t come through, that guy’s grumbling in his head saying, why the heck did you, you know you, you took me out. I had a great night. I drove in for

Nestor Aparicio  12:09

human nature, sure. Right,

Luke Jones  12:11

exactly. So I thought that was an important moment for if Albernaz is going to make that move, it needs to work out and and fortunately for him, Adley rutschman came through so but it also speaks to what I’ve said going back to Brandon Hyde, this organization clearly values the platoon advantage, right? If there’s an opportunity for them to send a right handed bat up against the left handed pitcher in a situation like that, or vice versa, they’re going to do it more often than not even an indictment

Nestor Aparicio  12:39

of the left handed hitters in many cases, because you’re saying they can’t hit a left handed pitcher. And to your point, you don’t give him a chance So,

Luke Jones  12:46

and that’s the thing, and very limited opportunities, he’s done it so and, and there’s also the school of thought where you say, Well, how is Samuel beside supposed to prove that he can hit left handed pitching if you never let him hit against left handed pitching? So I just thought that was interesting. But you know, bisayo, big night for him. Big night for Pete Alonso, big night for Taylor Ward, who continues to just give them good at bad after good at bad. I mean, he had a hit, but three runs scored, walk, two. That was, that was good to see. You know, leodi Tavares with the tackle and run then in the ninth inning, and just the fact that that game started out feeling so beer league softball like, in terms of Oriole score three runs, then the Marlins tie it in over the next two innings, then they jump out to five, three, it’s five, four, it’s seven, four, and then Nunes comes in in the seventh inning, and he’s really scuffling. I mean, as impressive as he was early in the season, you know, you look at his last four or five outings, it hasn’t been good. So that kind

Nestor Aparicio  13:44

of how the two home runs as the Welcome to the game. Not good?

Luke Jones  13:47

Yeah, yeah. I mean, he pitched so

Nestor Aparicio  13:49

and they were rockets, man, my wife went downstairs to get some food. I went down. I’m like, one went 400 114, 50. Like they were just bashed.

Luke Jones  13:58

Yeah, the Hicks. One went, I think 431 feet, and Lopez was 415 I mean, there no doubt about him. But you know, with Nunez, kind of feels like you’ve got to ease off the gas in terms of throwing him in high leverage, which leaves in, leaves them in a tough spot, because you don’t have Helsley at the moment. Kittridge struggled again on Tuesday night. Thank goodness for Rico Garcia comes in. You know, he would have rather not walk issue that walk, but then he gets the strike out to get out of trouble in the eighth, and then then finishes it off in the ninth. For, you know, not not a four out save, but a four out win. I always

Nestor Aparicio  14:34

wanted a beard that sexy, but the mind doesn’t come in like that.

Luke Jones  14:37

Thank goodness for Rico Garcia. I mean, you look their bullpen has,

Nestor Aparicio  14:41

he is the closer right now, literally, right?

Luke Jones  14:43

He has to be. I mean, I mean he but he’s the guy that you go to if you absolutely need outs and you’re in trouble at any point in the game. He’s your guy right now. I mean, that’s but because you don’t have Helsley, you’d like to save him for the ninth inning. You’d like to save him for the end of the game. But problem. Is you still have big spots in the sixth or the seventh inning. So they got to win. They needed it desperately. It gives everyone a chance to exhale a little bit. They need to just keep finding ways to win games like there’s no magic to this, right? They’ve got to find ways to grind out wins and stay in this thing and not let it fall off the mountain. You know, go down the mountain in terms of just the rails completely, going off the rails completely, and hang in it. We talked about it. We talked about it a lot coming out of the weekend and the disaster in the Bronx. I mean, we’re at the point in the season right now. This was when the 2025 team completely went in the tank for about two weeks. And you looked up in their 1617, 18, games out or under 500 I should say, and the season was over at that point, right? Season’s not over at 15 and 20, or 16 and 20. You don’t feel good about it. The eyeball test is awful right now, but mathematically you’re still on decent footing, as long as you maintain that and start winning some ball games.

Nestor Aparicio  16:06

Well, you’re down in Miami, kicking the ball around, not playing good baseball, and you’re throwing AAA pitchers at them, right? Brandon Young’s GOING TO GO game two pub. It’s going to go game three. This is not the plan that was laid out in Sarasota. This was what it’s going to look like in week six when we get to Miami, so swing

Luke Jones  16:24

the bats. I mean, there’s the offense needs to be the strength. This goes back to Luke Jones has been a broken record about this, going back to April of last season, when you talk about this baseball team, and you talked about all the things that were reasons for optimism going into last season and going into this season, we talked a lot about the lineup, right? We talked a lot about these guys swinging the bat, and I get it

Nestor Aparicio  16:50

because they were on high draft picks. That’s really at the heart of it. That’s why we talk about them,

Luke Jones  16:53

their lineups not complete right? Now, we understand that. I mean, I’m bracing for the Jordan westburg surgery news at any point, whether that’s going to be now or two weeks from now, or a month from now, and we’re still waiting on holiday. Seems like holidays on the verge of, you know, another rehab assignment here, so you hope that goes well, but, but my point is, in the meantime of missing a couple of those guys, you know, they need gunner Anderson to not have a 270 on base percentage. Pete Alonso is finally really starting to look like Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward’s been great. They need him to continue to be really, really good, right? I mean, he’s got a 429, on base percentage right now. I mean, can make the argument, you know, to lower gunner Henderson in the order and put Taylor ward in the lead off spot. I mean, they started out, they started out the season doing that, and you look at the on base percentage, I mean, strong argument to do that. But beside, oh, is swinging the bat really well? They need that to continue. And not that he’s going to be red hot moving forward all the time, but you want to have those good periods, and you want those lulls and those dips and those valleys to be a little more fleeting. So we’re still waiting on Colton cowser and Kobe mayo, right? And Blaze Alexander, if he’s going to play on a regular basis. I mean, Jeremiah Jackson has come back to earth here of late. They need him to to continue to contribute. So it’s a lot of ask out of the young guys. But those guys that I mentioned that are at the top of the order, those guys we all viewed as an is they all need to be that, right? And they they need that, especially right now when your rotation is very incomplete compared to what you thought it was going to be until you get Rogers back, which Roger should be back here. What in the next week, whenever he’s eligible, he he’s back with the team. Sounds like he’s feeling better. Kramer is still going to be a little while here with the quad. Obviously, efflin is not coming back, so they need to be able to you made the point probably two and a half three weeks ago, when we were talking about this team. And look, we haven’t been overly positive about this team since, since the pirate sweep, right, since they lost two out of three to the Rangers the second series of the season. But we made the point, when you have injuries and when you have when you’re dealing with, you know, whether it’s rotation woes or bullpen injuries or other guys missing time, you’ve got to find a way to tread water, right? You’ve got to find a way to just stay in it, right? Stay in it. They obviously didn’t do that at all against the Yankees. Well, Yankees are a great team. The Marlins are not a great team. The A’s are not a great team, right? So when you’re playing teams that are not juggernauts, man, that’s when you need to stack wins. That’s when you need to win series and keep yourself within, you know, within sniffing distance of 500 right? At least for the time being. At some point you’re gonna have to take off and have a really good stretch. But you know, they got they found a way. On Tuesday night, the bats came alive. That was good to see the offense needs to carry this team. I mean, it just does. And I know it’s not the one through nine. Row offense that people were dreaming about in the offseason, when you know you’re hoping that cows are and mayo and guys like that are taking the next step forward, and they haven’t, but there’s enough firepower in this offense to expect more than we’ve seen from this offense so far. Let’s put it that way. I think that’s fair. So they need that. They need gunner Henderson to get going. I mean, Gunner wasn’t a big part of what they did Tuesday night. They need gunner Henderson to start swinging the bat better and to get on base and to be more gunner Henderson like even if he’s not going to be 2024 first half MVP candidate, they need a better version of gunner Henderson than they’ve gotten so far this year. And he’d be the first to tell you that he understands that, but he’s got to do it. So they got to win, not anything worth doing, cartwheels over, but at the same time, they really needed it. They needed to stop the bleeding. They needed something to feel good about on Tuesday night as they were leaving the ballpark and getting some sleep. You know, it was a late night for those guys getting into Miami or early morning, I guess I should say, but just they’ve got to find a way to your point when you have Brandon young and Cade Povich pitch starting games for you right now, not that those guys shouldn’t have some level of expectation that they need to compete, right? I mean, these guys aren’t being called up from single a but

Nestor Aparicio  21:22

it’s a less than ideal circumstance.

Luke Jones  21:24

But, you know, you’re not expecting them to go out there and show up for seven innings, but they need to give you five competitive innings. That’s reasonable, right? Well, the

Nestor Aparicio  21:32

kid did that on Sunday at Yankee Stadium,

Luke Jones  21:34

right? Yeah. You know, can Brandon young give you five innings, three runs allowed, right? That that’s not enough. That’s not even a good era right there. I mean, that’s a five era right there. But it leaves you in the game. It gives you a chance. Same thing for Cade Povich. What they can’t have is what those guys did their last time out, which, you know, Kate Povich gives up five runs early in the Bronx. Brandon young the game that you attended in Baltimore, the night cap of that double header. I mean, was a disaster right off the bat. We’ve seen these guys pitch well, including outings this year. They are capable of doing that. They need to find a it’s also

Nestor Aparicio  22:11

capable be 10 nothing in the third.

Luke Jones  22:13

You can’t have I don’t need Brandon young to take a no hitter into the eighth inning right like like he did in Houston, but they take

Nestor Aparicio  22:22

a win of a ball game into the fifth or sixth.

Luke Jones  22:24

I need Brandon young to not get knocked out in the second inning, and it’s seven to nine.

Nestor Aparicio  22:28

But it also helps when that when they haven’t struck out 11 times and they have one hit and they, you know, they got picked off when they got on base, just the defense and the mental gaffes are something that six weeks into this, I wrote this in my column I have never seen, I’ve been following the Orioles since 1973 Not, not a brag. I was born in 68 so I’ve, I’ve never seen a defense where, on a night by night basis, certainly in our relationship, because Buck took defense seriously, right? Like it was just that’s one of the reasons that Steve Pierce’s and those guys could play is because they didn’t kick the ball around when they threw him out there.

Luke Jones  23:09

I mean, if you think about the buck era, like who were guys that were utter liabilities playing in the field, Trumbo, when he played in the outfield, Trumbo was awful as an as a defensive outfielder, but generally speaking, and it’s not as though all these guys were Gold Glove players, although some of them were, generally speaking, in that era when the ball was hit to someone, they knew where to go with it, right? That’s and they were slop. They were really sloppy early last year too. I mean, that was, if you recall, that was my biggest indictment of Brandon Hyde, way more than just how the team was playing overall, it was how sloppy it looked so to come out of the gate two straight years and it to arguably look even worse this year than it looked last year in that phase, that’s that. That’s a really damning indictment of not and and you could say Albernaz, you could say the coaching staff, fine. I don’t know if those guys are are good or not, right? The evidence, early evidence, isn’t very promising for them, but I look at that and I say that’s an organizational thing, right? Because you decided to put these players here. Literally, it more so than that. You are the ones who develop these guys, right? Not talking like Pete Alonso’s come in. Here’s where I’ll I’ll push back a little bit in defense of the coaching staff, Pete Alonso’s defense is better than it’s ever been. Go look at the metrics. One thing we were talking about at the time of his signing was, yeah, he’s not very good defensively, not very good from a range standpoint. He’s good at scooping low throws in the dirt at first base. That was kind of the one thing he was known for that was good, but he’s, he’s been a plus defender at first base. Now I wish, I wish a more consistent offensive production was accompanying that. But. But he’s been excellent in that way. So I don’t know how much of that is him just saying, hey, I need to be better defensively for my new club. Or is that Miguel Cairo, or someone on the coaching staff working with him? And so you see that yet at the same time, and this is where I pull back and look at it from 30,000 feet and say, the organization as a whole, why do you have all these young players who are so fundamentally flawed? And my question would be, were you teaching them? Were you teaching them properly in the minor leagues? Right? You can get away with you can get away with shaky fundamentals in the minor leagues, because if you’re just better and you have more talent than most the players that are playing in the minor leagues, you’ll put up big numbers. That’s why all these guys rake, right? These guys all had great success at the miners through AAA. But if you have deficiencies, if you have gaps in development, that’s going to show up at the big league level. And how can you not question that about this organization at this point in time, and that’s where it goes back to michaelias, right? What is the vision? What are you prioritizing from a development standpoint, right? What you know? What’s the approach for hitters, all those different things in terms of defense, right? We talked a lot about defense like they love to move guys around. That sounds great in a vacuum. But versatility, there’s versatility and there’s well, a guy can take his glove and stand at five different spots, right? True versatility means you can be a plus defender at, say, one spot. You can be a really solid defender at two other spots. And then there’s two other spots that that guy can play in a pinch. That isn’t going to be a spot where he’s going to play every day, but in a you know, that was Ryan Flaherty, right? Ryan Flaherty, that was Melvin Morrow when he arrived from the Mets once upon a time, right? Those types of players where you say, okay, that guy can play three or four or five different spots with the Orioles. It feels more like, Okay, well, we’re going to cross train these guys. But the problem, problem they run into, is they end up not mastering anything. So you end up having a guy that, yeah, he can play two or three or four spots, but he’s below average at all of them. That’s not really versatility, unless you just say, well, we don’t really care that much about defense. And I’ll go back to the point that I’ve made a lot where I see very little evidence that this organization prioritizes defense, which, by the way, you can also find plenty of good team or plenty of teams in baseball that are good defensively. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good team. Boston is an excellent defensive club. They’re in last place, right? So it’s not the end all be all but, man, if you’re going to be deficient in that area, it’s all the more important that you’re going to score a boatload of runs and you’ve got to be able to pitch at a high level, and most likely, the kind of pitching is going to have to be a lot of swing and miss stuff, because it’s not going to be pitching the contact to let your great defense. Well, if

Nestor Aparicio  28:01

you’re playing with 29 or 30 outs every night,

Luke Jones  28:04

it’s tough. It’s very tough to win ball games like that. I mean, it just is. It’s you can get away with it here and there, but over the long haul. Man, that is not a formula that’s conducive to it’s like we talked about with Kyle Bradish here in 2026 when you’re throwing ball one constantly and you’re constantly down one, oh, in a count. Sure, there are plenty of at bats where you’re going to get back in it, and it’s going to be fine, but it drives up your pitch count, and it’s just going to lead to a lot of stressful innings that it’s going to be really tough to be successful over the course of six or seven innings, week in and week out. You know, turning

Nestor Aparicio  28:41

hitters live in hitters counts, they will get you

Luke Jones  28:44

so, so and, you know, I mean, to kind of look at this team overall. I mean, Bassett. Bassett was not good on Tuesday night, breaking ball command just, I mean, his his curveball, he threw behind someone right for a wild pitch and a run scored. But he was asked because he’s one of the grown ups in that clubhouse, right? He’s 37 years old, and he was just kind of asked about where this team is right now. And the thing that he kept saying over and over and over, they have to find some level to play cleaner baseball. This defense is not going to be great, it’s not going to be good, it’s probably not going to be average, even, even if. But they’ve got to find a way to improve some with their defense, right? There needs to be at least some incremental improvement in that way as the season goes on, it’s not, it’s not just a matter of snapping your fingers. It’s putting in the work. Albernaz said it the other day, what kind of team do you want to be, right? Do you are you just going to wait around for things to get better, or are you going to go put in the work to get better? Right? They’ve got to find a way to be a team that can play some cleaner baseball. It’s not going to be perfect by any means. They’re not capable of being a great defensive ball club. But I. Have to think, if there’s any optimism whatsoever left that this team can do anything in 2026 they’ve got to find a way to be a little bit better defensively, at the very least. If not, then what we’ve seen is probably just going to continue for five or six months, right over the course of a full season and and it’s going to be really tough to watch, and they’re probably going to be out of it right sooner than later, and not really have much of a chance to do anything of consequence. But he kept saying it, they’ve got to play clean baseball. They’ve got to play clean baseball. And you know that it’s not I mean, the physical errors are one thing you know, you’re going to throw a ball away from time to time, you’re going to boot one, right? You’re not you’re going to miss someone in the outfield is not going to track a ball properly. Those kind of things are going to happen. But the constant not knowing where to throw the ball, right? In the case of mayo at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, a ball is clearly going foul. Let the ball go foul, right? I mean, what are we doing here in those spots? Those are the situations where they have to be smarter and they have to play cleaner baseball. Can they do it? We’ll see. I think they can. Can will they I don’t know. So that’s but those are the kind of things they’ve got to find a way to do a little bit better. You know, it’s not, not going to happen overnight, but you just you’ve got to be a smarter baseball team. Clean. To play clean baseball is to play smarter baseball. This is not a smart baseball team. They don’t play that way whatsoever. So that’s something you’re hoping they can you know that that’s where I will look at Albernaz and the coaching staff and say that’s something you should be able to find some improvement as the year goes on. We’ll see if it happens, but until it does, you know, nights like Tuesday night or they still found a way to win, and that was great, but they’ve got to, they’ve got to be smarter, they’ve got to be cleaner. They’ve got to find a way to play a more inspiring brand of baseball, right? I mean, it’s, it’s an imperfect club. We know that. We knew that going into the year, even before all the injuries, right? It wasn’t going to be a perfect team. It wasn’t a well oiled machine. But, man, just can you eliminate the mistakes that have you just screaming at the TV? It’s like I said to you, and visayo throws that ball away. I mean, just put it in your pocket. It’s a stolen base. It’s not the end of the world, right there, right? The last thing you want to do is turn a stolen base into two bases. And that’s exactly what he did by throwing up, ball away, just put in your pocket, live to fight another day, right? It’s not, I, no, wasn’t ideal to have the guy steal third base, but that’s better than having them just be able to trot home when you throw it in the left field. Those are the kind of things they’ve just they’ve got to cut that out. And that’s where I will hold the coaching staff, the major league coaching staff, a little more accountable in that way, but the overall core fundamentals, that’s, that’s, that’s the organization right, that that starts at the top and really makes me question everything they’re doing from the lower levels all the way through the major leagues, when you have players that just don’t come across as fundamentally sound whatsoever, where are we on the waiting on guys give me an infirmary report here, because through all of the angst over the weekend with the Yankees waiting on Wherever the cavalry is you’re waiting on westburg to get surgery. I don’t know what’s up with holiday Right? Like, I’m just, where are we coming over the hill that

Nestor Aparicio  33:30

the Westin wards aren’t getting more at bats? Wilson, Wilson, Wilson, yeah, I’m sorry about that. Taylor ward. It’s actually a funny Tyler O’Neill. It’s, yeah, it’s a funny bit for us. But the guys that sometimes the third base and sometimes the left field can’t catch the ball in either place. I’m trying to figure out when this thing could get stabilized, and the Yankees coming in on Monday, I’m concerned, sort of, that the Yankees don’t win three more, least win one next week or two, or put a starting pitcher up. I’ve seen what they’re doing here. I mean, they’re working with the Norfolk crew here. They’re going to come home this weekend. Bradish is going to go after it again. And so I guess Bradish isn’t going after the Yankees, right? So I’m just trying to get rotationally and where they are with Rogers and his il stint with the flu, like, is he going to start the last game against the Yankees next Wednesday, if we see family? I mean, they’re gonna have to ramp him back up. Ramp him back up. Get it. There’s a lot of things going on here that are bad, besides the record. Yeah. I mean, it’s as we’ve

Luke Jones  34:30

talked about it. It’s not an excuse, but it’s part of the explanation. The injuries are very much a part of that, right? We I don’t want to be disingenuous and ignore it. It. It doesn’t excuse everyone else for playing poorly, but it hurts. But Rogers, as I said, he’s back with the team. I know he talked to reporters Tuesday in Miami. His il stint, if you recall, was, was retroactive to April 26 so he should be pretty close. I mean, it’s 15 days for a pitcher on the IL so you know, you’re, you’re talking early next week. I would think. I wouldn’t I’m sure, with him being as sick as he was, he probably lost a little bit of weight because he was throwing up and all that. But I can’t fathom that it’s going to be an especially long ramp up, right? I mean, this isn’t someone who’s been out six weeks at this point, so you’ll get him back very soon holiday. You know the he was going to be going to buoy, or, I guess Chesapeake is the official team name now, but it’s still in buoy. But he was going to take live BP, from my understanding, and if that was going well, he was going to be restarting a rehab assignment this week. Does that mean he’s back next week? Probably not. I’m guessing they’re probably going to try to give him, you know, another 10 days of at bats. I guess, you know, they’re trying to get him where the wrist in hand feels as good as it can feel, right? It’s it’s taken a long time. I don’t know why it’s taken so much longer for him compared to this the two major leaguers who had handmades at the same exact time as him in this surgery at the same exact time as him, and both those guys were ready for opening day. And here we are with Jackson holiday a month plus later. But it is what it is. That’s where he is right now. So it’s costing him time in the prime of his career. Yeah, it’s really well he’s not, no, he’s not in his prime. These are I’ll disagree with that. He’s in the formative development years of his career. And this is we talk about it a lot in football, right? We we talked about that so much with someone like David ajabo. Right? Missed so much time his first two years that, no, he wasn’t on the field for the ravens, but he missed so much practice time also, right? There, there are guys that don’t necessarily play on Sundays that are still getting time to practice. In the case of Jackson holiday and baseball is obviously a different sport where a lot of the development is done while you’re playing even at the major league level, he’s just, he’s missed a lot of time that, you know, he missed all of spring training, and you know, he took up, he took a step forward last year, but not a gigantic step forward you were looking for. This was a year he could be hitting 294, right now with six bombs. And look, whatever Jeremiah Jackson’s numbers are, project that on the holiday the first six weeks of the season, and we would say A star is born. We’re not saying that about Jeremiah Jackson, but if the numbers were there for holiday and he were performing to that level. This would smell like Nestor and Luke were smart for picking how many games you pick him to win? 90 or 91

Nestor Aparicio  37:30

would you pick him to win? I bet 9290 90. Yeah, 90 wins. Had Jackson holiday with Jeremiah Jackson’s offensive output thus far, and saying, Wow, this is going to be a year. He’s going to hit 18 home runs, knock in 74 runs, play 140 games, turn double plays. You know, maybe get some All Star votes or be the, be the backup at the All Star like, that’s where I was with Jackson holiday this year. Instead, it’s Preakness week, and he’s running around buoy trying to figure it out, and we’re trying to figure out whether he’s going to get 300 at bats in the big leagues this year, and whether they’re going to be good big you know, whether it’s going to be 211 at bats, or whether it’s going to be 294 at bats, and looking like he’s to your point, wherever ADA owe way was, which is getting better when you’re 2324 Right? Like Messiah. We spent the first 10 minutes here talking about, you know, not an anomaly. He had a single, double, the triple the other night. He might do it again

Luke Jones  38:28

this weekend. Beside again. Go look at his numbers the last three weeks. I mean, he’s been one of their best hitters. So he’s, he’s making improvements. I mean, Jackson holiday, look, I’d be lying to you if I said that I didn’t have concerns of whether he’s ever going to be a guy that really lives up to being one one, because, frankly, I don’t see a great athlete for one thing, right? I mean, I know he stole bases last year, but not at a good clip, right? He’s

Nestor Aparicio  38:54

not Robbie Alomar.

Luke Jones  38:55

Yeah, no, no. I mean, he’s he doesn’t have that kind of range even at second base, let alone talking about shortstop. So all that aside fully acknowledging he’s 22 right? I mean, he’s still very young, whereas guys like cows are, you know, cows are 26 at this point in time, right? Mayo still younger, but not quite as young as holiday

Nestor Aparicio  39:16

Rob long made a reference to Adley rutschman Being a young player the other day, and I’m like, oh,

Luke Jones  39:21

watchman’s 28 years old. I mean, I’ve been saying this for a couple years. That’s the

Nestor Aparicio  39:25

stuff that Rob long were on my station. He said that on my radio station. I talked to him afterwards. Say, really? But

Luke Jones  39:30

I would also say, in fairness, he’s not the only one I’ve heard that from. I hear lots of people make references to that, like,

Nestor Aparicio  39:36

Yeah, well, they’re all massive employees. Y’all work for Greg Bader.

Luke Jones  39:39

Some some non mass employees, even anyway, you know, point is, yeah, some of these guys aren’t that young anymore. I mean, at the rushman, if the Orioles had not been in the midst of a multi year rebuild when they drafted him, or really at the beginning of a multi year rebuild when they drafted him, at the rushman would have been in the Major League. Leagues within a year and a half. You know, I’m not saying he quite would have been on the Paul Skeen schedule, but it wouldn’t have been a whole. Wouldn’t have been very long, put it that way. So obviously, covid happening in the middle of that. And what that meant for the 2020 minor league system. You know, when there were no minor league games other than what the the alternate site at buoy or whatever it was. But, I mean, you look at some of these guys, I mean, Adley, Richmond’s 28

Nestor Aparicio  40:28

rushman’s closer to being gone than being young.

Luke Jones  40:32

That’s why, it’s why I brought up the other day, like, if the Orioles are not in it, and they’re looking whether they are as bad as last year or not. But if they’re not seriously in it at the trade deadline, you really need to be strongly considering trading Adley Richmond, because he’s only he’s only under club control through next year, right? Keep in mind, he got called up and finished second in Rookie of the Year, like he got a full year of service time in 2022 for that. So I mean, he’s, to your point, he’s way closer to the end of his Orioles career than the beginning assuming they’re not going to resign them. And frankly, I don’t have, I know he’s off to a good start this year. I’d be lying to you if I said I had any strong interest in giving him the kind of deal that he’s probably going to get from somebody. You know, if it’s a more modest deal, sure, I’d keep them around a couple more years. But point is, some of these guys,

Nestor Aparicio  41:27

he’s the Tyler Linder bomb at this point, right?

Luke Jones  41:32

Yeah. I mean, I Yes, and no, I suppose, but, but with some of these guys, it’s like, it’s go time. I mean, Colton cows are 26 right? I mean, he’s a good defensive player. I like him out there with his defense. I mean, he even showed that late in the game, you know, ran down a couple balls that I’m not sure other guys on this roster get to in right field. But, I mean, he’s just, he’s just looked completely lost with the bats in spring training. So but good win. They need to go out and do that again and do that again and do that again right for a while now, and fans are gonna be skeptical, and fans absolutely should be skeptical. Fans are ticked. I don’t blame them. I’ve been ticked watching this baseball team, and, you know, I try to take the emotion out of it big time at this point in my life. And I’ve been covering baseball for a long time.

Nestor Aparicio  42:25

I was screaming at the television at Cooper’s the other night when they’re kicking the ball around. I’m like, You got to be kidding me. And I guess, you know, pinch hitting for bisayo, just all of it’s curious. But you know, it is what it is. Luke is here. Finish up for me. Go,

Luke Jones  42:38

yeah. I mean, you just mentioned the Messiah thing. I, I wasn’t saying I, I vehemently disagreed with it. I just thought it was interesting, right? Especially the night that he had, the fact that he actually has handled some left handed pitching this year. But it’s also Hey, Adley rutsman came up and he got it done. So it was smart. Thumbs Up on the on the move. I’m not gonna, not gonna. I can ask a question without thinking that it was a terrible move. I just thought it was a little more curious.

Nestor Aparicio  43:05

But after the game, this is where you asked the manager, what were you thinking?

Luke Jones  43:08

He was asked, he was asked, and he flat out said, like, honestly, like, I struggled with that one, but I knew we had ruts coming off the bench. We probably were going to put him in the game defensively at that point, you know, for the bottom Well, that is a

Nestor Aparicio  43:20

managerial decision and not an organizational decision. So as much as we talk about how many buttons does Albernaz Push, and how many buttons are pushed by the computers around him and the people around him,

Luke Jones  43:32

yeah, I mean, it’s not a completely robotic process, but yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  43:36

there was a real human decision to be made there. Sure, when you’re making the lineup cards out,

Luke Jones  43:42

that’s where, that’s where the front office influence is definitely there. He he literally writes it out. And I’m not saying he has no say, but put it this way, when you talk about something being collaborative, but then someone has quote the final say. If they’re constantly going against the collective, how do you think that’s going to go for that individual over the long haul, unless they just proved to be a total genius? So that’s, but those are, that’s modern baseball with the front office and the relationship with the coaching staff and the manager. I’ve said it for years. Field managers are middle management now, good or bad, that’s that’s how it works in just about every market in Major League Baseball.

Nestor Aparicio  44:25

Luke can be found at Baltimore. Luke, we can be found at W NST in Baltimore. Positive you’re on the wnst tech service, you get the breaking news first. So if Jackson holiday does come back and play, you’ll know about that. It’s all brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordon energy. I finally got my walk a mile in their shoes, shirt out benefiting GBMC safe domestic violence and child protection program. It’s something we talk a lot about around here at GBMC, our partners. And I’m not going to talk about my doctor appointment last week where Luke, you weren’t at Pizza John’s last week, but like, right before I got my checkup from Dr Senussi, and I got, like, a three. Bang back, and it said the first word was unfortunately from the doctor, and that wasn’t anything tremendously unfortunately, and I’m not breaking HIPAA violations here, but it had something to do with lifestyle choices. And you know, when I had the pizza, I’m thinking, this is a lifestyle choice, and there is no low fat pizza. There’s gluten free at Pizza John’s, but so I’m I didn’t have the french fries and gravy on Friday because of my partners at GBMC. They’re trying to keep me alive and trying to make sure whatever blood they tapped out of my veins the other day that I’m like, No, I I shouldn’t have drank that much coffee before I gave blood. I shouldn’t have I shouldn’t have eaten so much ham the week before. I should have a chunk the next time I’m giving blood, I’m going to be on my PS and Q’s with my diet. Kind of like, you know, the people that like have to pass a drug test don’t use drugs right before they pass the drug test, because I’m telling you, there’s no way I need to make lifestyle changes. I’m skinny, so like a dumb ass talking to my doctor. This is why you need doctors around GBMC, so our friends at Farnham and Dermer, they are no dummies either. When it comes to your AC and HVAC and your plumbing needs, everything’s working perfectly around here because we call them. They are the comfort guys, 410, 367777, I can remember that number as well, and they provide all of our sports coverage, which Luke will be doing at some point football season comes back soon, right? Sometime, maybe

Luke Jones  46:23

it does. Yeah, we’re a couple weeks out from OTAs and seeing what this team, not not just the rookies at rookie mini camp, but seeing what this team, or most of this team, looks like, right? Still could be a move here or there made, and maybe an edge rusher, hopefully a center is added to the mix, because I’m not terribly confident in their internal options. But yeah, we’re a couple weeks away from that really starting to ramp up and feeling as real as football can feel in late May and June. How about that?

Nestor Aparicio  46:52

That’s okay, because baseball been better, better, good to me. He’s Luke, I’m Nestor. We are W NSD. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive.