Throwing it all away

The defense as a whole of this year’s Baltimore Orioles team is the worst we’ve ever seen in Birdland. No matter how many games in a row they win, it’s atrocious. Fly balls. Ground balls. Cut off man. Cut off throws. Nothing is routine; everything is a wild adventure. Luke Jones and Nestor lament the Orioles throwing away their seven-game winning streak in Boston on Monday night.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ recent seven-game winning streak, which ended against the Red Sox. They highlighted the Orioles’ defensive errors, particularly in the third inning, which led to two unearned runs. Despite the loss, they noted the Red Sox’s impressive 14-game winning streak and their strong pitching and defense. They also expressed concerns about the Orioles’ injury issues, particularly with Adley Rutschman and Sam Basallo, and their impact on the team’s performance. The conversation also touched on the upcoming Ravens training camp and the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.

• [ ] Cover Ravens training camp next week.

Orioles’ Winning Streak and Defensive Issues

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the end of the Orioles’ seven-game winning streak against the Red Sox.
• Luke Jones expresses skepticism about the long-term prospects of the Orioles, highlighting their defensive errors, particularly in the third inning.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones agree that the Orioles’ defense was poor, with multiple errors leading to extra outs for the Red Sox.
• The conversation touches on the excitement of the game despite the defensive lapses, with both teams jockeying for playoff positions.

Impact of Defensive Errors on Game Outcome

• Luke Jones criticizes the Orioles’ defense, mentioning specific plays where errors cost them runs.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of defensive mistakes on the game’s outcome, emphasizing the importance of strong defense.
• The conversation highlights the Red Sox’s ability to capitalize on the Orioles’ errors, leading to a win.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses frustration with the Orioles’ defensive performance, comparing it to JV baseball.

Orioles’ Roster and Defensive Flaws

• Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discuss the Orioles’ roster, particularly the lack of strong defensive players.
• The conversation includes mention of players like Gunnar Henderson and Jeremiah Jackson, who struggled defensively during the game.
• Nestor Aparicio criticizes the Orioles’ decision to play certain players in positions they are not suited for, such as Jackson Holiday at third base.
• Luke Jones points out the absence of Blaze Alexander, who would have provided better defensive versatility.

Red Sox’s Run Prevention and Offensive Improvement

• Luke Jones praises the Red Sox for their strong run prevention and defensive play, which has contributed to their winning streak.
• The conversation highlights the Red Sox’s ability to pitch well and play good defense, even with injuries to key players.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Red Sox’s offensive improvement, noting that they have scored more runs recently.
• The discussion includes a comparison of the Red Sox’s and Orioles’ run prevention and offensive performance.

Orioles’ Injury Concerns and Future Outlook

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the injury to Adley Rutschman, who is out with a wrist injury.
• The conversation includes concerns about Rutschman’s availability and the impact on the Orioles’ lineup and pitching staff.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses frustration with the Orioles’ injury issues, mentioning other players like Cedric Mullins and Grayson Rodriguez.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of Rutschman and Basayo to the Orioles’ success, noting their unique catching tandem.

Orioles’ Trading Deadline and Future Plans

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming trading deadline and the Orioles’ potential moves.
• The conversation includes speculation about the Orioles’ buyers or sellers status and the possibility of trading players like Rutschman or Basayo.
• Nestor Aparicio mentions the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and other promotional events, highlighting the Orioles’ community engagement.
• The discussion concludes with a focus on the Orioles’ need to improve defensively and sustain their recent success.

Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positive to get you through the week. Now that the winning streak is over with, and we calm down around here, we got a trading deadline coming up. We have Ravens Camp opening next week. Luke Jones will be out there. I will be kicking off the Maryland Crab Cake Tour for another season. We’re gonna have Raven scratch. I’ll say I still get to hold the Maryland Treasures up, which I have a pretty good time with. This is one of my more fun promotions because it was artsy and local, and I still haven’t been there. But I’ll get there at some point. Luke just got back from there in the beach just in time to crush the Orioles’ winning streak. You know, Luke leaves, challenges the Orioles, and here we are. And you know, it’s fun at least having a big game and a big crowd and a Fenway Park and a how’s the pitching and the Orioles signed a pitcher and you know

Luke Jones 1:00
we’re having real baseball conversations here. I don’t know that either one of us really believe in what’s going on here at the operation or the seven-game winning streak against the Royals and the Astros, and what the next two weeks will portend. Let alone what the next couple of seasons are going to be about. But for now, they were embroiled in a game they could win, and you know it’s it’s the original sin, dude. They don’t catch the ball. It’s they’re a disgrace defensively. It’s awful. Well, it was more that they didn’t throw the ball on on Monday night. But yeah, I mean, four errors, and I know Craig Albernaz wanted to split hairs in the post game and say, well, it could have been three. Which really you could fire back and say, well, Gunnar Henderson should have gotten an error on that second misplay in the third inning, right? I mean, a liner that wasn’t even that high-he he jumps up in the air and it hits off his, you know, either the the heel of his glove or his wrist, even. I mean, just yeah, I think I texted to you, and I’ll say this over the air because I’ve seen JV baseball teams play better defense than what we saw, specifically in that third inning, but some other instances over the course of the game. This is a Red Sox team that’s won 14 games in a row, 13 in a row going into Monday night’s game. You’re going to give them extra outs and extra opportunities. What do you think’s going to happen, right? And that’s the shame of it because, like you said, this was a back and forth exciting game. Not going to say it was October baseball. It’s July, right? But it felt meaningful. It felt like two teams that are really trying to jockey for position here after they. It also feels like

Nestor Aparicio 2:34
two sets of teams and two sets of fan bases that were completely exterminated. So much so that literally, as we record this segment, we would have been in the air going to Fenway Park, like because we had planned on, and we were like, it doesn’t, it didn’t feel like it was going to matter to you and me two weeks ago, let alone to the players. So, like, all of a sudden, let alone to the broadcasters, like you know, I, I, I, it feels like you you jet into something that you’d given up on a couple of weeks ago and given up several times on here and probably never believed in at all if you were in Boston, right? Like, so I don’t know. It’s kind of neat in that way. I mean, I don’t know if either one of these teams going to make the playoffs or whatever, but I don’t know. I’m I’m just trying to be pie in the sky and Pollyann and Baltimore positive, I guess. But yeah, I neither one of us believe in this, right? I mean, do we or do we not?

Luke Jones 3:30
I mean, as it pertains to the big picture, what it looks like right now. No, I’m not feeling great about it, and I’m not going to sit here and say that a seven-game winning streak wipes away everything, but you also look at the context of the American League and say there is an opportunity here, right? I mean, even yeah, sure. The Reds-that’s exactly what the Red Sox are doing right now. They were 11 games under 500 what three weeks ago? You know, when when you include the All-Star break, and now they’re in the third wild card spot, and they’re three games over 500, and they’re right there on the verge of setting a franchise record for a winning streak, right? I mean, and

Nestor Aparicio 4:09
certainly put themselves in a position to compete for the division, like you know, if things, I mean, if they break their play

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Luke Jones 4:14
like this, of course, and and obviously Tampa, they put themselves

Nestor Aparicio 4:18
in a position. That’s what I’m saying. Like that’s all you’re doing in July is you’re moving along the back stretch like the horses at some point, and who’s going to fade and who’s just going to give up? And we went through that earlier, and they’re not going to give up. I mean, the Orioles. I mean, I I don’t.

Luke Jones 4:36
Oh, it feels

Nestor Aparicio 4:37
very much like they’ll be buyers next week for whatever buyers means. They’re not going to be subtracting holidays or Kouzers or Ruchman’s, and we get back to Ruchman being injured again. But but yeah, I mean I’m sitting up straight for our audience and for anyone who loves the Orioles and. Wants to have meaningful baseball games, and they haven’t felt like a whole lot of meaningful baseball games first half of the year. Just like they haven’t played a meaningful baseball game since like you and me and opening day in Toronto last year. Like to some degree, where you’re like you really believe they can win. That went away in May of last year. I believe 90-two wins until everybody got hurt in April, and then I stopped believing I wanted to fire the general manager on Preakness Day. Still do, still would have. And then they win a bunch of ball games against slag teams while you’re on vacation eating pizza, and then you come back and they start losing again. And I’d honestly rather be in Boston today for a big game. I probably still would go see Toto and Christopher Cross if me had my way, but I I like the fact that my timeline is alive and we’re watching it. I hate that it looks like JV baseball, and I can’t believe in it.

Luke Jones 6:02
Well, and look, I don’t want to. I don’t want to completely bury them because the the seven game winning streak comes to an end. Like they’re going to lose another game. The Red Sox will lose another game here at some point, whether it’s tonight, tomorrow, or later this week. Right? I mean, well, whether you can

Nestor Aparicio 6:17
win games kicking the ball around like the bad news bears, but

Luke Jones 6:19
that’s the thing, right? You look at a game like this where Shane Boz pitched pretty well, right? Like the third inning hits two outs and nobody on. The balls hit to Jeremiah Jackson, and I get it. You’re talking about someone who runs well there. He’s got to make a a good throw, but they just have

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Nestor Aparicio 6:36
guys in the field that shouldn’t be there. You went through Taveras in center field after all the errors, then they put Jackson Holiday at third base, which was like our nightmare thing from two months ago. To say, how about you make him a major league player for like? It’s just they are their own self-fulfilling prophecy in that way. I mean, they don’t give the kid a chance. Well, I’m not

Luke Jones 6:59
gonna. I mean that that part of what happened is a product of Blaze Alexander being on the IL, right? You you don’t have the the defensive Westberg. Keep going, of course. But um, right. Well, Westberg’s been gone since March, so I’m not going to give them a pass on that. They could you can go out and get somebody when you’re talking about that. But they recently lost Blaze Alexander, so that’s where the defensive alignments change. I mean, we’re seeing Christian Encarnacion Strand, who actually was one of their better performers on Monday night. Good for him, but you certainly do not have the versatility in this infield that you had when you have Blaze Alexander. I mean, simple simple question: Who’s playing shortstop if something happens to Gunner Anderson? Right? I mean, is it Jackson Holiday? I guess right now, but that’s there’s a reason why they moved them to second, right? So, yeah. But I I go back to that third inning. I mean, this is a back and forth game, right? And that’s where I give the Orioles credit. Even in the ninth inning, after Durbin hits the home run in the bottom of the eighth off Wells, and you’re thinking, all right, well, they’re probably going to go quietly. Chapman’s really good. Kouzer has a really good at bat. Works a walk. They’ve got an opportunity to not just tie the game but go ahead. And O’Neill hits a bullet. So it was a back and forth. They come up short, but you go back to that third inning. Two outs, nobody on in the bottom half of the inning, and you give up two runs because your defense is just awful, right? I mean, not just on one specific play, but a sequence of plays where your defense just stinks. You know, Gunnar Henderson and Jeremiah Jackson, even the the double there, Tavares, very conservative, going after that ball in left center field. Did not play that in a sure way. I think Colton Kalser catches that ball, quite frankly. So, and I’m not, you know, I’m not saying he’s, you know, Paul Blair, but he’s better than Tavares in center field. But you’re not playing him because he can’t hit lefties at all, right? I mean, you just have this this club that has Swiss cheese

Nestor Aparicio 8:57
team, right? Yeah, all those levels and

Luke Jones 8:59
flaws. Oh, and we talked about this even coming out of the seven-game winning streak and the sweep in Houston. I mean, but but the point I was trying to make is here you have this lineup that strikes out what 15 times on the heels of striking out. I think it was 30-eight times in Houston. I mean, they’ve struck out a ton coming out of the break, yet they still scored five runs. They still had a chance, and they’d still very much a good chance to win this ball game if you just play decent defense. I mean, Boston didn’t play a completely flawless game, but which team made fewer mistakes and which team did a much better job taking advantage of the opponent’s mistakes? It was clearly the Boston Red Sox, and when you look at it through that lens, and it’s a six-five ball game, yeah, the Orioles’ fault, and they didn’t lay lay down and roll over, and I’ll commend them on that. But that was a very winnable ball game on Monday night, and that’s where you look at it. And the Red Sox are in the same camp, even as a team that’s won 14 in a row, because. You look at it and say, “Well, they’ve won 14 in a row, yet they’re only three games over 500. So it tells you how far they’ve had to climb. Same story for the Orioles right now, on the heels of a losing, you know, a seven-game winning streak coming to an end. You’re still three games under 500. It speaks to the kind of hole that each team put themselves in over the first three plus months of baseball, but it’s a reminder of how very tiny that margin for error is at this point, and how very fleeting it can be that you say, “All right, it’s nice to have a winning streak, and it is. I give them credit for the way that they finish the first half, and then come out of the break in Houston against an Astros team that’s been in a very similar place to the Orioles and the Red Sox this year, under underwhelming, underperforming, disappointing over the first few months, trying to dig themselves out of a hole, and the Orioles got a sweep. So that was good to see, but it’s the way, it’s the manner in which they lost Monday night. Losing on Monday night, one of these teams was going to have their winning streak come to an end, but I just didn’t like how they. I don’t like how they played. I mean, it’s just that simple. The defense was very sloppy. Craig Albernaz can, you know, sit there and say, well, you know, they technically gave Ward a throwing error. Well, Gunner should have gotten another error in the third inning anyway. And there are a couple other plays here and there where you look at it and say that it’s not the way you want to do it. Yeah, I don’t know what your level of expectation

Nestor Aparicio 11:21
is when you’re putting Jackson Holiday at third base or Jeremiah Jackson here or skating guys around or whatever it would be. Taveras in center having guys that you would rather have ball Blair play, but you don’t have him, right? But I

Luke Jones 11:35
mean, but then there there

Nestor Aparicio 11:36
is the point where like the ball gets hit to you. You have to look like a ball player when you’re you are the shortstop, right? Like about Henderson, you know what I mean? Like it’s one thing to say, “Well, Taveras, I don’t even give him a pass. He was a major league player. You, it’s like when guys can’t bunt. Like I don’t even want to hear that. I really don’t. But it’s one thing to not have speed. It’s another thing to use it poorly or unwisely or not to be thinking. But when it’s your position and your play to make, and you don’t make the play, and you can’t make the play consistently, you have no idea where the ball’s going. I mean, the that cutoff was unbelievable, and this just going on every night across the diamond, across the organization, this isn’t any one player. And I go back to you and Alan and me yelling about it back in May. It’s philosophical. They don’t care. They just don’t think it’s that important until they give the Red Sox. I mean, four errors. I mean, there were two other plays that were they made mistakes and got and it didn’t cost an extra base? It wasn’t called an error. But I mean that happens every night. They they never have the World Cup’s over with, but the they never have what they call a clean sheet ever. They they and I don’t need it to be flawless every night, but pitcher throwing the ball into right field. First baseman coming off the bag. Second baseman bobbles a double play ball, opens the inning wide up. Now you’re losing. Just not to mention the strikeouts and the you know on and on and guys hitting 188 Yeah, I don’t know. I I think the winning streak made a lot of us sit up and think they’re good. I think the fact that they’re a game and a half off the wild card in any given day, because the rest of the team stink, gives us some sort of false hope. But when I watch them on a night by night basis, it doesn’t feel like winning baseball to me. That’s all. The pitching does lately.

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Luke Jones 13:43
Well, you say lately. It’s been two months that the pitching’s been, you know, top five caliber in in in baseball, at least in terms of ERA. Now strikeouts, but here’s a reminder: when you have a staff that doesn’t strike a lot of people out, you’re going to be subjected to more potential defensive miscues. I mean, I’ll say this, and I said this back in late May and early June when they had that what 10 and four stretch, and that was kind of their first stretch that got them, you know, saved their season at that point in time. Right? They’ve had stretches where they’ve played better defense, right? Not great defense, but better defense. I mean, they don’t the way they played Monday night. They don’t play like that every night, or they won. They barely win ever, you know that. But I mean, that was just for me. It it was disappointing because it did feel like a bigger game, right? Again, I don’t want to say it was like October baseball. I think that’s over the top. But but if you’re

Nestor Aparicio 14:37
trying to get the momentum you want to get to be a playoff team mid this year,

Luke Jones 14:40
you need to keep it going. You need to sustain. I I said it coming out of the weekend. Seven game winning streaks are nice, and and look, there aren’t many bad teams that have seven game winning streaks, right? I I want to be clear on that. At the same time, I just looked it up. The 1999 Orioles won like 12 in a row, 11 in a row at some point. That wasn’t a good team, right? So. Bad teams can win and go on winning streaks, but the idea is you need to be able to sustain it. Like the the idea isn’t that you get back to two games under 500 and then a week and a half later you’re back to seven games under 500 Well, they’re

Nestor Aparicio 15:15
averaging 13 strikeouts a night every night since the break, and they’ve won three of four of the games. So like, how long you know you’re you’re walking the tightrope here and I think to some degree you’re walking the tightrope to be getting pitching this good because the next two months probably won’t be as good as the last two months in a general sense because it’s been really good yeah I mean yeah

Luke Jones 15:37
it’s not that I would think it will fall off to to the point where it’s bottom five again, I think those guys are pitching well. But and I pointed this out to you, and and you just said it talking about the strikeouts that the Orioles are guilty of striking out so much. This pitching staff just doesn’t get many strikeouts. Now you can still be effective and you can still win games that way. You got to turn

Nestor Aparicio 15:57
double plays. But

Luke Jones 15:58
I was just going to say, what do you probably need in concert with that, you need strong defense if you’re going to be pitching the contact more often, and that’s where yeah they’ll go through some stretches where the defense is okay and solid, but you’re never going to look at this group and say oh this is going to be a really strong defensive ball club, but God it’s ugly to watch it it’s frustrating. You know, I mean, I forgot.

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Nestor Aparicio 16:23
Like, you know, my name’s Aparicio, and I see those old, you know, you know, turning the double play and getting up in the air, and guys coming in with cleats up, and like base, you know, this the excitement of baseball and the bang bang double play, and we watch so much Earl Weaver and Mark Belanger and Cal Ripken and Mike Bordick and JJ Hardy and I just go on and on and on. Like I even say, my Venezuelan brother Melvin Moore became a decent fielder around here when he wasn’t. But man, the era of the Mark Reynolds and the kicking the ball around, and that’s one thing when you’re going to lose 94 games and you know it year round, every year they were going to lose 9690 every you had no belief. But when you start to believe and you draft these young players and you stink and you’re sold the bill of goods and you’re signing pitchers for $90 million signing pitchers for $90 million all you want, but when you can’t feel ground balls and you’re putting second baseman at third base, and backup guys at second base, and your shortstop is going to the hall or something, and he’s batting 201 and and and on a weekly basis does something that makes you say, “My God, get the get him off. Maybe he’s a designated hitter. He’s an athlete.

Luke Jones 17:39
I mean, I wouldn’t go that far, but he he’s very inconsistent. I mean, let’s stick with Gunnar Henderson for a moment. I’d like to be able to talking about the fact that he had three doubles on Monday night. He went the other way multiple times. He it was a kind of approach. It was a kind of approach that I’d be encouraged by seeing, right? Especially on the heels of you know, especially the first two games in Houston. I mean, he looked completely. I mean, he looked sick at the plate. Just swings were completely off. I mean, swung through some hittable pitches. All of that, but you saw that. But then you just see the defense in the third inning that directly led to two errors or to two runs in that inning. I mean, it’s just, and the difference with him compared to, you know, again, you you you brought up Jacks. They’ve played Jackson Holiday very, very, very little at third base. It’s been an inning or two at a time, right? Nothing’s really happened that’s cost them in any of those situations that I can think of. But it’s it’s kind of a he’s also

Nestor Aparicio 18:39
a one one athlete that should at least be a decent third baseman. It shouldn’t look like I’m I’m making it up. Kobe may I don’t know. I mean, it shouldn’t look no. It should look better than that. No matter what, I agree with you.

Luke Jones 18:52
No, what holiday? I mean, have we really seen him do much at third? I mean, like you know, again, I’m trying to. I think he

Nestor Aparicio 18:59
can play third. That you know, probably, probably,

Luke Jones 19:02
but you know, it’s it’s more that more epitomizes where they are, right, with the roster construction and all that. But with Gunnar, this is not a guy that’s incapable of making plays, right? We see him make incredible plays at shortstop. Even recently, we’ve seen him make very good plays at shortstop. But it’s when you then see him throw a relay, make a relay throw to the backstop, and it’s up the line like that happens, and that puts guys, you know, in scoring position. It gives extra bases. That that liner, I don’t know if he lost it in the seats, you know, lost it with white shirts in the background or something like that. I mean, he leaps, and I think he

Nestor Aparicio 19:42
thought it was hit harder. And the ball hit him

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Luke Jones 19:45
on the heel of the glove or the wrist. I mean, but that that right there, like that sequence, that two runs in a one-run game that you lost. There you go, right? I mean, that sequence of of events there in that third inning. I mean. It was two outs and nobody on, and it’s not just that you give up the two runs. Then it’s the trickle down effect, right? Boz has to throw more pitches. Boz isn’t going to get as deep into the game, even though they pulled him with a relatively low pitch count. You know, I, and that’s where we look at the bullpen, which, despite perceptions, and you know how I felt about the bullpen going back to spring training. It is a bullpen that statistically has done way better than people would have thought. At the same time, when you’re in a close game like that, you’re in a big game like that where you need to win. You want to keep this going. That that’s where that shows up then, and you know Wells gives up, and Wells has pitched really well of late, right? But you know, he’s kind of become their, I guess, sort of their default closer right now. I mean, I don’t know if he’s going to do that every night, every game necessarily, but but you know, then he gives up the home run to to Durbin. But you talk you talk about the the chain, right, and Boz having to get extra outs in that third inning, and it cost him two runs. His final line, you know, he gives up four runs, but only two of them are earned. I thought he pitched pretty well. He didn’t. The pitchers, they didn’t walk anybody, right? I mean, so you look at that, but the defense just let them down at such a high level that it’s just it’s really frustrating, and it’s tough to look at anything else in the game. Those are self-inflicted plays, especially these were all throws. No,

Nestor Aparicio 21:26
dude, it’s not a one-night thing, though, right? I mean, you know, like, but I’m looking at. I understand the body of work.

Luke Jones 21:34
But this, go ahead.

Nestor Aparicio 21:38
It just, it just,

Luke Jones 21:39
I know, but it’s up in bite. I know you’re talking about the big picture. I’m just trying to focus on Monday night’s game specifically. We know they’re not a good defense, but this was a very winnable game. You know, in the big picture, I know they’re not. I’ve said for a couple years they don’t really prioritize defense, and especially now when the most versatile infielder you have, and Blaze Alexander, who can actually play three spots at you know not a Gold Glove level, but he’s capable of playing three spots and is better than most of what you have in that infield defensively. He’s out of the picture, and then yeah, you’re you’re trying to piece this together with okay, can you put Kobe Mayo there and he’s not kill you? Can he get a couple hits in the process, or okay, we’re going to give Christian Encarnacion Strand an opportunity, and hey, he did a nice job with that. But you know, is is he going to hold up there? Is he going to hit enough? Right? I mean, you’re just these aren’t appealing options, right? These aren’t appealing choices. That’s where I’ll empathize with Craig Albernaz a little bit in terms of that. At the same time, these are major league players, and you know it’s one thing if a ball takes a difficult hop or something along those lines. These were throwing errors, and by the way, Boz made a throwing error as well, right? So you know there’s a case where the pitcher didn’t help himself, even though that one wasn’t quite as consequential. But you know it’s just you know the these are the things that you have to be better in doing to keep this going to turn a seven-game winning streak or 10 of 13 into 20 of 20-six. Right, those are the kind of things you need to be able to do consistently to put yourself in position to get back to 500 to get a two games over 500. Yeah, the Red Sox.

Nestor Aparicio 23:26
Yeah, I was going to say, what do you make of them? By the way, Luke Jones is here. If you’re listening in, you follow him out at Baltimore, Luke. We’re going to be doing the Crab Cake Tour this Friday. We’re Pizza Johns. I did not promote that at the beginning. Brought to you by the Maryland Lottery, GBMC, and our partners at Farnham and Derma, and I had Zach on talking about all that smoke in the air and changing your filters. So you definitely want to listen to that this week. We didn’t talk much about the Red Sox and getting a look at them because I don’t know. We took them seriously in the off season and and pitching and young players and potential potential. A lot of the same storylines we have here, except that this group here, with Henderson, you know, Cowser Rookie of the Year. There were guys that had the lights on here, Ruchman certainly, that made the Orioles look more optimistic, perhaps on opening day than the Red Sox. Certainly, in your mind, my mind, Alan’s mind, our baseball minds around here, Joe Poyley, some other people didn’t think much of the Red Sox in the beginning. Now that they’re coming to life, what do you make of

Luke Jones 24:31
it? I mean, it begins and ends with the fact that they’ve allowed fewer runs per game than anyone in the American League. If there was something that you could point out for them to have hope and look-they fired Alex Cora early in the midst of that Orioles series, way way back. What was that draft weekend? I think it was. So if I don’t, if I remember correctly, but they’ve pitched and they play good defense. Now it wasn’t perfect, you know. They had a play or two in Monday. Night’s game where it didn’t look flawless, but overall they’ve played really good defense and they’ve pitched at a high level. And by the way, that’s with Garrett Crochet on the shelf. That’s with you know Ranger Suarez is currently on the shelf. I mean it’s not as though things have gone perfectly for them. They’ve been missing Roman Anthony, of course, on the offensive side, so and he’s the guy that was the you know the guy right. I mean, he’s there, Gunner Henderson. You know, not the same position, but the idea of a guy that you think is going to be your aircraft carrier long term. But the thing that that really kept them in it, and frankly, it’s the thing that’s kept the Orioles in it at least to this point, right to where they are right now, that they’re still in it. They they pitched at such a high level, and they have so many individuals who pitched well for them that it gives you an opportunity to get on a roll. And now they’ve swung the bats well over the course of their winning streak. But you look at them. I mean, go just look at the American League East standings, and then just look at the runs allowed column. Right, Tampa’s at 420-two Yankees 380-seven They pitched well as well. Also, Orioles 470-eight Toronto 440-nine Red Sox have allowed 370-three runs this year, and that’s what 90-nine games into their? It’s 100

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Nestor Aparicio 26:22
runs less than the Orioles.

Luke Jones 26:24
Yeah, well, and and that’s even with the Orioles having pitched as well as they have over the last two months. I mean, one, it speaks to how bad the Orioles pitching was through Memorial Day, but it also speaks to just how well the Red Sox have pitched all year. But it also the the other factor is the Red Sox have only scored 419 runs, right? Which is 45 less than the Orioles. So they, but they’ve, it’s been their pitching and their defense that had, I don’t want to say kept them in it because they were 11 games under 500 three weeks ago, two and a half weeks ago, whatever it was when they started this winning streak, but it speaks to giving yourself a chance. And even in a game on Monday, and it’s not like they pitched. You know, it’s not like they pitched great. They struck out a bunch of Orioles, but the Orioles still scored five runs, right? I mean, it’s not like they shut them out or anything. But the way they’ve done it, if there was a team that you could continue to point to that said, of all these teams in the midst of this wild card mess in the American League, right? This malaise of mediocrity, they were the team that you try to identify what does a team do well, and it’s been very evident for most of the season. Even with some injuries to some really big names on their staff, the Red Sox have pitched very, very well this year. That’s going to give you a chance, right? The Orioles, their seven-game winning streak. Look at how they pitched, right? I mean, look at how they’re, you know, even Dean Kramer wasn’t great in in Houston on Friday night, but it’s not like he gave up seven runs either, right? They’ve pitched really, really well. So, but the Red Sox-the difference is the Red Sox have kind of done that from the start of the year and until now. I mean, it’s been their offense that’s been so horrible for them, but now they’re swinging the bats better, and they’ve gotten themselves on a roll. So, you know, the the Red Sox-I think are-and I wasn’t terribly high on them going into the year. Like I thought they’d be in the playoff mix with basically every other team in the division, even though we all thought Tampa was going to be the worst. If if you think back to it, I mean, how many times have we done that over the last 20 years? But I think if there was something you could identify, it was their run prevention, and you kind of looked at their run differential, which, and I know old school people will cringe at this a little bit, but if you’re talking in terms of analytics and sabermetrics and you know run prevent or a run differential can be something that can be predictive over time, or you’d like to think it can be, go look at the Red Sox run differential plus 46 Now the 14 game winning streak has allowed that to move up, you know, to increase. It’s gotten better. But even before that, if you looked at them, despite where they stood in the standings, their run differential wasn’t that bad. They

Nestor Aparicio 29:13
were in games they were losing. Yeah, you

Luke Jones 29:15
kind of looked at it and said, hmm. Of all these different teams, you know, I’d keep an eye on Boston. They they need to get healthier on the pitching side, which they’re still dealing with that. But they’ve pitched so well overall, it doesn’t matter. And you know now they’re starting to swing the bats a little bit better, but they’re they’re a pretty strong defensive club overall. So I think they’re really interesting. I think the the thing I’ll say, and this is where I’m not ready to really give them an amazing chance to overtake Tampa. I mean, the Yankees. I mean, you know, the Yankees are top wild card right now. I mean, Tampa Bay’s really fallen back to the pack, so that’s helped the Yankees who haven’t played very well in the wake of Judge being out. We know Judge. Doesn’t sound like his return is anywhere close to being imminent, but I think what’s tough with the Red Sox, and I think this applies for the Orioles. I thought this applied to Houston, you know. And I talk, I mentioned this in passing. When you’ve dug yourself an early season hole, a first half hole, in the way that these clubs have, you exert so much energy trying to get back to 500 Trying to get a couple games over 500 I mean, the Red Sox are in that position now. They’ve won 14 in a row. I do wonder if they run out of gas, right? Do they get to a point where, you know, they well, that’s where you want to get your pitchers back if you right exactly exactly. But but I just and that’s you know and the same thing like Houston, a couple weeks ago, I kind of looked at them. Two and a half, three weeks ago, I think it was. You know, they they were kind of making their push at the same time as as the Rangers were making their push to to kind of get back in the in the AL West and wild card discussion. But Houston made a had a really nice run. They played really well for I don’t know, it was three weeks, something like that. And the last couple weeks you’ve seen them backslide, right? And I I just think it’s really challenging. I mean, it’s just the reality. You play a certain way, you have a certain winning percentage for the better part of what three three and a half months, and then suddenly you play out of your minds for a couple weeks. I mean, and the Red Sox have won 14 in a row. I mean, my goodness. But I, I think it’s then challenging then to not even sustain that because you’re not going to continue to have 14 game winning streaks, or just like the Orioles, you’re not going to have seven game winning streaks. You know, every other week. But you’ve got to sustain a certain level, and I think that’s where it can be tough. I think there’s, I think there can be an emotional toll that beyond just the physical of getting later into the season. Pitchers are more tired. Position players who are playing every day get a little more tired. There’s all of that. That I do. I I will be interested to see how the Red Sox do whenever this winning streak comes to an end, whether it’s tonight, tomorrow, or later this week, you know they’re going to lose again at some point. You you hope the Orioles can hand them a loss or two here before this series is over. But I I do wonder how a team does on the back end of that, on the other side of that. Do you now start playing like a legitimate playoff caliber team. Are you able to keep that going, or does it end up being wow? It was an incredible two weeks, or it was an incredible three weeks, but then you kind of just start playing like the team you were for the first three months of the season. So, you know, we’re going to see.

Luke Jones 32:36
But I do think with Boston, I mean, the thing that you you have to give them the nod over the Orioles. They pitch even better than the Orioles have pitched for the last two months, and they’ve done it all year, really. And they defend better. I mean, that’s just the truth. And and they’ve dealt with injuries too. So you know, that’s where maybe where we you know we’ve only mentioned in passing the injury with Adley Ruch. I was gonna say.

Nestor Aparicio 33:00
I mean, we went after Ruchman. I went after him pretty good from last week, and I could have been a jerk to ask him about all sorts of things, including injuries. And I kind of, I definitely took the sunny side of the street, saying, “Hey, dude, you’re at the All Star game because you’ve been healthy enough to be your best self because Basayo has caught a significant enough amount of the games to give you a little bit of slack that you can go be the best version of yourself and the best ball player. And even last week, you’re on a winning team that’s in the middle of turning things around. They won three more games, and now suddenly he’s not even a part of it. I mean, that’s the thing about this team, dude. Like, I’ll give this to Elias. You know, for Blaze Alexander and for the Burns deal two years ago, and for identifying Rogers, even though the Stowers thing didn’t smell good this time last year, right? Whatever the good and the bad and all of it, as comprised what I believed in with 92 wins and all of this other stuff, I don’t know that Rutchman, that I was first up to really believe in him. I believed in Henderson. I was never a Kowser guy, but I was a Cowser’s going to hit 240, strike out a lot, hit 16 home run. He’s never going to be a great player, but I thought he’d be a 600 at bat. But I, I thought he’d be a part of these 92 wins, not a guy that’s going to hit a buck 88 and be out of the big leagues, right? I believed enough that Kobe Mayo could turn a corner and be a big league ball player. Now I believed Holiday would be hitting 271 right now with 13 home runs and 58 RBIs and be a complete player. I believe that Westberg would be playing third base right now and be batting 262 with 17 home runs and 49 RBI and like I. But I believed Rutchmo would be a 250 hitter with. 12 home run, you know what I mean? Like I, I didn’t think Rutschman was going to turn into Johnny Bench again or anything like that. But I believed Helsley was going to be a closer. I believed Efflin was going to make 16 starts in the first half. I mean, there were a lot of things I believed in back in March. the The Rutschman thing, the fact that he was their all star in this lowly sort of year when they’ve been scuffling along for the most part. Nobody on the roster, even Rico Garcia’s side, even came remotely close to being their best self. Blaze Alexander, maybe that Rutschman will be their all star last week, but dude, the injury thing with him-you get a deal for him at the deadline. You sign like this is getting to be.

Luke Jones 35:51
I didn’t say this to him last week, but I’m a prick now. You know, Luke-he might be soft. Well, I mean, I’m not going to use that terminology of especially. That’s the phone call. No, but but I I understand the sentiment. I I’m not going to look. Here’s the reality. Since the start of last year, he’s caught 115 games. Since the start of last year, they played what 262. You know they’re right around 100 games at this point. You know they’re, you know to to be accurate, they’re at 101 games. So 263 games over the last two years, he’s caught 115 of them. He’s been on the IL five times now in the last 13 months. That’s concerning. He’s 28 years old. He’s going to be 29 years old. I mean, this is not. This is why. And I’ve said it to you. And I think people hear me say it or see something I might write about this, and they they think I dislike Adley Rutschman. No, think Adley Rutschman, when he’s at his best, and I will say this. I will give him credit after the year and a half that he had talking about all of last year in the second half of 24, he has rebounded nicely as far as the productivity at the plate in terms of how he’s played defensively. I mean, he’s played very good behind, very good defense behind the plate. He’s throwing he’s throwing way better than he had been last. That makes pitchers better

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Nestor Aparicio 37:18
because we’ve talked how good pitching is, right? No

Luke Jones 37:20
doubt, but. availability is is absolutely a concern at this point. Now, there’s nuance to this. Now, last year he had two month plus absences with an oblique strain on on either side. Right, he had two different oblique injuries. That was concerning to me because it’s like I don’t want to say you get oblique injuries all the time because you’re out of shape. Like it’s not that, but are you in peak condition the way that you need to be to survive and navigate a 162 game season when you have two different oblique injuries, right? But this year, if if you do look at the IL stints, he had a very minor ankle issue in injury in April. I think it was 10 days. I think it was the minimum, and he was back or 11 days, something like that. It was very close to you know just the minimum. And then the one the the second IL stint. Keep in mind that was when he got hit in in the ear on the errant throw to first base. He was on the concussion list. I’m you know, and I’m not suggesting that you were saying that either’s nothing. That, but that’s that’s a different animal, right? When you’re talking about someone who gets hit on the side where the ear flap isn’t, you know, the batting helmet with the without the ear flap as you’re running the first and get hit in the ear, and you’re on concussion protocol, and even then, I think he was out eight or nine days. That’s a seven day concussion list stint. You know, you hope this is nothing major, but I don’t know about you. I get nervous when I hear about a hitter with a wrist injury, right? Doesn’t mean it’s chronic. Doesn’t mean it’s major. It’s his

Nestor Aparicio 38:53
left wrist, right?

Luke Jones 38:55
Yeah, that’s the wrist he

Nestor Aparicio 38:58
catches 90-eight mile an hour fastballs with so like that. That’s the first thing I thought because I was in the car listening, which I’ve been doing a lot of lately, and I think Josh Lewin and Brett do a nice job. And and all I could think about left wrist, and I’m thinking, oh no, that’s where he catches fastballs. That’s going to make him far less of a catcher, and they’re going to want his bat. And this is to your point, it’s problematic because yeah, I mean, anytime with risk for a catcher and a hitter, no bueno, no bueno. Well,

Luke Jones 39:31
and but I also think so. What you hope is that this is them being ultra proactive to say no. We’re we’re not going to try to give you two days. We’re going to give you minimum 10 days to rest. Really shut this down, and then hopefully it’s fine. And if it is, then then he’ll be back in 10 days. And I guess

Nestor Aparicio 39:53
the point is, it has to be 100% Yeah, when you’re catching fastballs and it’s your left or right, it’s not going to get better, right? Right. Exactly. Be able to play through it.

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Luke Jones 40:01
You might be able to play through it, but what level of effectiveness are you going to have? And that’s dude. He probably

Nestor Aparicio 40:05
has to stay off his phone because your wrist is like literally, literally. When your wrist is a mess,

Luke Jones 40:12
yeah. Albernaz was vague about how it happened, but I I do know a few folks had pointed out if you go back to Saturday’s game, and I think you know where the red flag was raised on this was he caught Friday night, he DH on Saturday, and then he’s out of the lineup Sunday like that. Okay, that’s the fact that he DH on Saturday. That was no big thing because Trevor Rogers pitched and Basayo has those two just click really well. They’ve talked about it in terms of how they think about calling a game and all that, it’s he’s become his personal catcher, which is fine because Basiao’s not your typical backup catcher. Like, there’s no controversy here, but the fact that Ruchman DH on Saturday-if you go back and look at that game-he flies out. I forget which at bat it was. I think I want to say it was later in the game. I mean, they didn’t take him out or anything, but you could kind of see he reacts awkwardly. He he flies out. Now I will say this: I don’t know for sure that that’s what it was because it was a pretty fat pitch, and and he popped it up in the shallow center field or right center wherever it was. But he kind of reacts, and you do wonder if it one was this something that was bothering him. You know, maybe it was bothering him a little bit before the All Star break, and then on that swing, he really aggravated it, or was this something new? I mean, Albernaz was kind of vague about that. He was asked about it after the game Sunday, was asked about it again in pregame on Monday, and you know, didn’t really say anything definitive on it, but it is one of those things where you really hope they’re just really being extra cautious here because I don’t know about you. I mean, we haven’t seen Sam Huff a whole lot, but he’s not Adley Rutschman or Sam Basayo at the plate. That’s for sure. Because I mean, my goodness, you look at the numbers. I I think he. I don’t know. I can’t remember what his strikeout rate is off the top of my head, but it’s it’s pretty crazy. Like it’s he is not going to do. I have it right here: 30 plate appearances, 17 strikeouts. I mean, that’s what you’re talking about here. So, this is not a situation where if Adley Rutschman has to miss any kind of real time beyond the 10 days, that is not good. And oh yeah, Basayo is dealing with the sore shoulder, right? And he wasn’t in the lineup Monday night. Now that sounds like more of a day to day, but Nestor, just like we were talking about his wrist, this is Basayo’s right shoulder, so it’s his lead arm hitting, and it’s his throwing arm as a catcher. So suddenly, you know, even with this seven-game winning streak, and again, I don’t want to. I’m not burying them after one loss, as ugly as it was on Monday night defensively. It’s it’s a loss. It’s not anything to panic over. But you’re talking about two really, really important players to what they do with their lineup, and also in handling the pitching staff. That’s certainly something that you know kind of took the the joy out of the winning streak. Even on Sunday, when you know Rutschman wasn’t in the lineup and and Pasayo leaves early in the game, it’s one of those yeah but situations. Yeah, they won a seventh in a row, but man, those are two guys you don’t want to be out, be without for too long because you know they. If if you’re looking for just like I was talking about the Red Sox a few minutes ago, if you’re looking for what this team does really well or what this team’s strengths are, it’s catching tandem. It’s pretty unique, right? It’s very unique to have two catchers like that, where you know, and we can, you know, we can pick and choose, you know, who’s better at what or or any of that. But got two really good options.

Luke Jones 43:50
I mean, for all of our debate that you and I have had and others have had about Sam Basayo long term as a catcher, he at least catches well enough that, like, I never at this point, I don’t view him as a-he’s not a liability back there or anything like that. It’s not like, you know, some name any kind of any kind of bigger guy that’s lined up as a catcher over the years, where you just say, “All right, that guy’s actually a DH and he’s just their backup catcher, right? Sal Fasado, someone like that. You know what I mean. My dude,

Nestor Aparicio 44:22
Mark Parent.

Luke Jones 44:23
Yeah, exactly. I mean, back in the day, kind of, kind of back there because of their bat, and and they were a backup catcher, but didn’t do anything that, you know, like you’re just hoping, like, okay, hopefully this is an easy game for them behind the plate. Pasayo is way better than that. So, the thought that you have both these guys banged up right now at such a critical juncture where you’ve won seven in a row, but you need to keep this thing going. You’ve got two weeks, less than two weeks now to the trade deadline. You, you know, you you want to get back to 500 You want to get a couple games over 500 right? I mean, the the goal isn’t just 500 and then hey, pop the shampoo. Right, that’s not how this works. They got it. They need to be better than that. But when you don’t have Adley Rutschman now, and you know Basayo’s status is at least iffy for the time being, man, that’s just that’s not where you want to be. You don’t want Sam Huff and Chadwick Trump catching games for you when you need to be winning. So it’s definitely a another layer to the concern. In addition to just the way they threw the ball all over the diamond on Monday night, Luke Jones is here. He and I are trying to field the ball a little better as we get ready for Ravens training camp. He is back from vacation, which means the Orioles are losing again. I hear what you say. I’m blaming this on you. I will say this: I got home Saturday and was able to watch what the game went 11 innings, I think it was. I saw the the bottom half of Houston, the the final winning, and then Sunday I watched the entire game and they won. So, you know, I I saw I’ll take credit for two of those wins being home. So, but yeah, it it’s all my fault. Otherwise,

Nestor Aparicio 46:02
you know, I want to. Another thing that’s your fault is that as we speak here right now, we would be flying somewhere over Nantucket in Martha’s Vineyard in route to landing at Logan in Boston. We had a Tuesday morning flight, was stupid cheap flight a couple months ago. Luke said to me in a private moment that he wanted to cover a game at Fenway Park. Was on his bucket list when I got back from Machu Picchu, and I said, “Well, let’s try to figure this out. And we identified Tuesday, the 20-first of July, day after his mom’s birthday, week after the All-Star game, a whole day and a half after he gets back from his vacation, and all of this. Orioles were a sinking ship up in the Red Sox were at the

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Luke Jones 46:44
time too.

Nestor Aparicio 46:45
I didn’t cancel this trip until you were already in Wildwood. I canceled this trip 10 days ago because, like, I don’t want to be mean, but you didn’t want to do it, and I didn’t want to do it. I’ll say it, but

Luke Jones 47:00
as long as you had that part, no, no,

Nestor Aparicio 47:02
no. I was really fine doing. I haven’t been to Boston in a long time. Haven’t been in the summer a long time. I haven’t been with you ever. They wouldn’t have given me a press pass, but I would have gone to see Toto at the Shell tonight. I mean, I would have been good. So here’s what I’m thinking, and I was thinking about this because you know my wife thought she was a Red Sox fan the first 50-two years of her life, and you know she didn’t even know the Red Sox had won 13 games in like literally. That’s how out of it, out of the sports grid she is at this point, walking in the woods and living her best life at this point. And we got talking about this. I said, so Tuesday night we were supposed to go, and I looked at there might even be like some forecast for some rain sticks is playing up in Philly. I was thinking about doing that, get some cheesesteaks, whatnot, but I’m not. I’m gonna watch baseball because the Orioles are relevant again. I’m not even going to Toto because the Orioles are relevant again, and we’re not going to Boston because you quit on a trip. Now, something weird’s gonna happen, right? Like no hitter. Like something’s gonna happen that’s gonna have me busting your balls really big time on Wednesday, right? Something’s gotta happen that’s gonna be crazy in Boston on Tuesday night, right? Maybe, maybe, or it could be a rainout as I’m looking at the hourly 60 61% chance of rain at 7o’clock 80%

Luke Jones 48:21
at 8o’clock 80-5% at 9o’clock 80-9% Best decision of our lives. We’ll see. I mean, hey, you never know, right? I don’t know if it’s quite like the the Chesapeake Bay, where if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes or an hour. But

Nestor Aparicio 48:36
it did feel like if we had gone Monday night, we really would have been wildly entertained, and it would have been a good night. You know, it was nice, light weather, the whole thing. Right. I

Luke Jones 48:43
mean, as much as all the hand wringing over the the bad defense, it was an entertaining back and forth kind of game. Like if those were two teams that I had no vested interest in, I’d say that was that was an entertaining game. You know, a little bit of errant. You know, dude, if you bagged out on

8

Nestor Aparicio 49:00
Boston on a rainout night, dude.

Luke Jones 49:03
I’m the MVP. Then

Nestor Aparicio 49:04
yeah, you are. Yeah, that’s a walk-off grand slam, is what that is. You know, that’s better than a bowl of legal clam chowder. Put it this way: it

Luke Jones 49:13
will either be that, or Kyle Bradish is going to throw a one hit shutout. Which, you know, there we go. So we’ll we’ll see how it plays out, but yeah, the the forecast as you and I are speaking in real time the morning of that game, it doesn’t look too great right now. So we’ll see, but

Nestor Aparicio 49:31
all right. Well, the Toto concert will probably show up Christopher Cross on my timeline too, and the Romantics. What I like about you, I am Nestor. He is Luke. The Orioles winning streak has come to an end. The Ravens winning streak is about to begin. He’ll be at training camp next week. We’re going to be at Pizza Johns on Friday doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. For those of you who love East Point Mall, the mall that I grew up in, John Allen, my rock star pal, going to join me down in Essex for some pizza, and then we’re going to meet at the mall at five. 5o’clock on Friday. Do one last tour of East Point Mall. Then we’re all heading over to Costas in Gundok, where they have real crabs. Luke, I have not these beautifully manicured hands missing a finger have not had crabs yet this year. So Friday night, really about 615

Luke Jones 50:16
I mean, it’s almost August, dawg. I mean, like I’ve had crabs twice this year, this summer.

Nestor Aparicio 50:22
I’m gonna try including including

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Luke Jones 50:24
once at Costas, and they were delicious.

Nestor Aparicio 50:26
I already told Nick, you know, I’m coming. I’m I’m gonna have a I’m gonna have Raskin’s uh uh claw over here. Hold on, let me show you. You know, Raskin’s got this. He gave me this crab claw a couple years ago, and this is the best thing ever because it’s got the beer opener right on the other side, nice. So yeah, so I’m gonna have I’ll have my crab call. Yeah, absolutely. And and and Leonard came on this week too. We talked to more World Cup and some stuff like that too. Also about saving money this year, which I’m gonna spend money. I’m getting some crabs at Costas. We’re going to East Point Mall. It’s all brought to you by friends at the Maryland Lottery. I’m gonna have Raven scratch offs, GBMC, Farnham and Darn were putting us out on the road this week. We are at Costas in Timonium, as the coach would say next Thursday, and we’re back at Koco’s on August 26. Koco’s is on vacay week after next. Get over there, get the crab cakes ahead of time. I am Nestor. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking. Baltimore, positive.