00:00:01
Speaker 1: From the Berkshires to the sound. From wherever you live in MLB America, this is Inside the Parker. You give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the scoop on Major League Baseball. Now, here's Baseball Hall of Fame voter number 57.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: You have another hot take.
00:00:18
Speaker 3: Will not N.O.T. make the playoffs. Don't hand me the money.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: Rob Parker.
00:00:25
Speaker 2: Come on.
00:00:26
Speaker 4: I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost 40 years now in New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit, in L.A.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: I love this game. Let's go.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Let's go.
00:00:42
Speaker 4: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. And what a show we have for you today. It's the MLB Network edition.
00:00:52
Speaker 3: Of Inside the Park. I'm on site at the MLB studios.
00:00:56
Speaker 4: I'll be talking with former Major League pitcher, of course.
00:00:59
Speaker 3: Al Leiter.
00:01:00
Speaker 4: He joins us and the host of MLB Now, Brian Kenney. BK will stop by. We'll talk about the recap of the 2026 season. All that and much more.
00:01:13
Speaker 3: Let's go.
00:01:13
Speaker 1: Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: Oh, it's so good.
00:01:20
Speaker 4: Now let's welcome into the podcast Outlider, of course, three-time World Series winner, pitched a no-hitter, also the Mets Hall of Fame.
00:01:29
Speaker 3: He used to get on me once in a while in New York. Well, you know that, back in the day.
00:01:32
Speaker 4: And also, of course, a host and analyst here at MLB Network. I want to talk to you about the Cy Young, both American League, National League. Let's go to the National League. I know a lot of people, Otani really wanted to win and, you know, got off to a good start pitching and obviously got hurt and is not pitching.
00:01:49
Speaker 3: Who is your National League Cy Young?
00:01:52
Speaker 5: I thought it was closer.
00:01:54
Speaker 6: I think Christopher Sanchez of the Phillies kind of lost a little traction. He's had some bumps in the road the last few starts.
00:02:02
Speaker 4: When he had that squalid streak, it looked like it was going to be his.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: Am I right?
00:02:05
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:02:05
Speaker 5: I mean, it was right there.
00:02:06
Speaker 6: Look, Jacob Mizorowski with Milwaukee has shown beyond dominance, right? The only issue, and I've always thought this, Rob, I want my Cy Young Award aces. to be in every game seven, eight innings. I know that might be some kind of delusional fantasy from the 80s and backwards.
00:02:23
Speaker 3: It's not from when you pitched. You know what I mean? Guys were like that.
00:02:26
Speaker 6: So Jacob Mizorowski has about 160-something innings, right?
00:02:31
Speaker 5: So he's going to fall short with respect to what I just said. However, like, just pure domination. He does it primarily with a fastball. He cuts it occasionally.
00:02:40
Speaker 6: He's not creative with respect to that because he's throwing 105 miles an hour. It's going to be hard for me to not... pick him. Again, I think Sanchez is right there. Yamamoto, same thing with not having as many innings. But I think Mizorowski wins the.
00:02:57
Speaker 5: Cy Young International.
00:02:59
Speaker 4: And I know coming into the season, maybe we thought Paul Skeens would be in that conversation.
00:03:05
Speaker 3: How can a guy.
00:03:06
Speaker 4: Go from unhittable basically his first two years to.
00:03:10
Speaker 3: Where he was where he couldn't even throw over 100? Is there an injury or something we don't know about?
00:03:15
Speaker 5: Well, so that's an issue. I know he had skipped a start, and then he came back, and he had some good starts.
00:03:21
Speaker 3: Here's the thing.
00:03:22
Speaker 5: When you get to that level, if you're pitching like.
00:03:24
Speaker 6: Tom Seaver or Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton or some guys that, you know, let's go back once upon a time, It's almost unfair because it's hard to sustain that.
00:03:33
Speaker 3: He had a war last year, and I don't get super nerdy, but he had a.
00:03:35
Speaker 5: War that was, if he sustained that, it would have been one of the greatest pitchers ever at an A-plus war. So it's kind of a backtrack. His arm slot elevated, so he raised his arm a little bit.
00:03:47
Speaker 6: Normally guys are higher and they get lower because they got a little shoulder issue.
00:03:50
Speaker 5: He went higher, I think, for movement and probably command. And he lost about one and a half miles per hour.
00:03:56
Speaker 3: That's big in a big way.
00:03:57
Speaker 5: Yeah, it is.
00:03:57
Speaker 3: When you're talking average, we're not talking.
00:03:59
Speaker 6: About a stroke fastball at 97 that would drop a dip to mile and a half. That's an average over 100 pitches per game, essentially. But he's a worker. He's really good.
00:04:10
Speaker 5: I'm not worried. And I always worry about pitchers with injuries with respect to that. We're going to throw out there. Chase Burns has been unbelievable in Cincinnati.
00:04:16
Speaker 6: But, you know, he throws and looks like a closer to me because he's just a gripping guy.
00:04:21
Speaker 4: Right, right.
00:04:22
Speaker 6: But as we transition, I assume we're going to American League. There's another guy in Toronto that has the kind of same thing with how he.
00:04:28
Speaker 4: I want to say this one last thing about schemes. I know people were saying, next Tom Seaver. And I tell people all the time, you've got to pump the brakes.
00:04:36
Speaker 3: If you really look at Tom.
00:04:38
Speaker 4: Seaver's career, it is really hard for somebody to sustain.
00:04:44
Speaker 5: Am I right?
00:04:44
Speaker 6: Well, I would have never compared Paul to Tom Seaver because of just pure delivery.
00:04:51
Speaker 5: You know... Paul is a tall, big dude, and he's, when I came up, I.
00:04:57
Speaker 6: Was taught we pips like a Ferris wheel and not a carousel.
00:05:01
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:05:01
Speaker 6: And he was the first guy really coming in out of college with LSU like a dominating carousel, right? It's nothing more than, you want to use the bigger muscles, chest, abs, butt, legs, and you do that by creating a linear movement.
00:05:16
Speaker 5: Force that goes north and.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: South and that was sieber the dirt on the pants.
00:05:20
Speaker 7: Leg am i right no but his delivery was beautiful right when you talk to tom about pitching i know you did plenty of time he talked about it with artistry and it was like a beautiful sculpture in his brain.
00:05:32
Speaker 8: As to how he would dissect hitters etc etc you know paul is you know bully fastball he's got two or three different breaking balls he uses them but i would never have used that comparison Delivery-wise.
00:05:44
Speaker 5: But then we can go to Chris Sale, who is a carousel guy, and he's had an unbelievable career, the whole thing. Okay.
00:05:52
Speaker 3: Let's go to the American League.
00:05:53
Speaker 6: All right, American League. So I mentioned about Dylan Cease. Dylan Cease, tremendous arm, pull-down, high-to-low, fastball slider. Kind of the Chase Burns kind of model. But Kim Schlittler has been phenomenal, phenomenally. consistent in New York for the New York Yankees in the.
00:06:15
Speaker 4: Bronx considering what they've been through injuries with other guys you know even pitching judge and still being able without him they're not where they are.
00:06:24
Speaker 6: Goes down you know uh took a while for for Garrett Cole to come back no no and this kid came out of he came out of nowhere I mean with without disrespect I mean Northeastern University gets in the system he increased velocity by a couple miles an hour plus maybe even three But he's been that dominating. You've got to mention Dylan Cease. I think he leads all the baseball in strikeouts. I know the American League, but that.
00:06:49
Speaker 5: Will fall short. Who else is over there? Look at Sonny Gray, what he's done with the Red Sox.
00:06:55
Speaker 3: Unbelievable season.
00:06:56
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Drew Rasmussen.
00:06:58
Speaker 6: You know, in Tampa, they're always kind of under the radar in some degree because we always look at Tampa as a little engine that could.
00:07:05
Speaker 5: Drew Rasmussen is a hell of a pitcher.
00:07:06
Speaker 3: So he'll get some votes as well.
00:07:07
Speaker 5: He's going to get some votes, yeah.
00:07:09
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:07:09
Speaker 3: All right, Al Leiter, there it is.
00:07:11
Speaker 4: There's our breakdown for the Cy Young National League American League.
00:07:15
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining the podcast.
00:07:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, my pleasure.
00:07:17
Speaker 3: Appreciate it, Al.
00:07:17
Speaker 5: Good to see you in person. Oh, yeah.
00:07:20
Speaker 1: In case you missed Rob Parker on the MLB Network, here's his latest appearance on MLB Now.
00:07:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, showdown time. Rob Parker here in the flesh. You won't say that to my face. Sure I will.
00:07:33
Speaker 5: Yes, I will.
00:07:34
Speaker 2: Yes, I will. I don't know if I've ever seen a team take the hit like the Mets have taken with the Pete Alonzo thing, come back the 300th, all the parameters around it, total botched job, back-to-back years negotiating. But to have it in your face like this and they're saying fire David Stearns, I don't know if I, what more can you add to this than the embarrassment that they have suffered?
00:07:58
Speaker 1: It was bad.
00:07:59
Speaker 4: And you know, I was talking to you about Pete Alonzo the whole time, that he's a homegrown talent. He has performed in New York. Everybody can't do it, BK, you know that.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: All durable, played.
00:08:12
Speaker 4: There was no reason the Mets couldn't say, we're going to sign the guy. And even if the last three years of the contract aren't worth it, and he can help you get.
00:08:20
Speaker 3: A World Series, then it's worth it.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: And money is your advantage. You're not Cleveland. It's not like we can't spend that.
00:08:26
Speaker 4: Why all of a sudden you have some justifies like, oh, we're going to hold the line on this guy.
00:08:31
Speaker 2: Your own guy. Your own guy.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: Your own guy.
00:08:33
Speaker 2: It made no sense. Kevin Brown should get an Emmy, by the way. He's calling Orioles games. And He has a spontaneous call here and took the Mets knees out. Listen to this.
00:08:43
Speaker 9: About a billion dollars worth of Mets out in left field and none of them could pick it up. Come on.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: That's good. That's good.
00:08:52
Speaker 2: You don't like that call?
00:08:52
Speaker 3: That was terrible.
00:08:54
Speaker 2: Who is he?
00:08:54
Speaker 3: A retired writer for David Letterman? What was that?
00:08:58
Speaker 2: That's hilarious. There's three guys out there. There's a $ 700 million, a $ 300 million. What does it have to do with money? It sounded jealous to me. Jealousy, not clever. And I'm going to say one. He doesn't work for the Mets, so too bad. If he's taking a shot at them, good for him.
00:09:10
Speaker 4: So if that was an Oriole player and Juan Soto was playing for the Orioles because he signed with that and that happened, you think.
00:09:16
Speaker 3: He would have delivered that line?
00:09:17
Speaker 2: No, nobody would. Everybody eats that. Everybody clams up. because you don't want to be that snarky, but it's the other team, and it's good. Come on. There's a tradition in baseball going back to the $ 100, 000 infield. Remember the $ 100, 000 infield?
00:09:26
Speaker 5: It's 1910.
00:09:26
Speaker 2: You don't remember it as a kid. I was going to say, I don't remember that one. It's Eddie Collins. Eddie Collins, one of the all-time great second basemen, was part of that. They won three World Series in four years. The other year, they won the pennant. So it's an all-time. We talk about money because we know how much these guys make. So how much you make is part of it. And again, they can go cry at their beach house.
00:09:46
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, but also people make errors and mistakes happen.
00:09:49
Speaker 3: This is commonplace.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: No, that's an embarrassment.
00:09:53
Speaker 3: This is somebody who's a.
00:09:54
Speaker 4: Little jealous because those guys are talented enough to make that kind of money.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: I didn't like it. I don't think it's jealous. I think it's apropos, given the season that those guys are having. You don't mock players. On this show, we don't show guys making errors and laugh.
00:10:07
Speaker 3: No, no, no.
00:10:07
Speaker 2: They're human beings. But when you're making that type of money, and there's three of them, they're mega rich, and the ball falls between them, that's embarrassing.
00:10:15
Speaker 1: Come on.
00:10:16
Speaker 3: To me, that's an error.
00:10:17
Speaker 2: That's all it is. All right. We need a new rule, I think. You cannot have a giveaway involving a player that you have traded away. You have to eat it. Joe Adele bobblehead. Joe Adele football jersey. They've had two giveaways for Joe Adele. The Angels, since they traded him away, should they be allowed to do this?
00:10:33
Speaker 3: No, this makes no sense. Typical Angels.
00:10:36
Speaker 4: I guess they didn't want to take the L and have to do something.
00:10:39
Speaker 3: But you know what?
00:10:40
Speaker 4: When the Patriots were going for the 19-0 perfect season, right?
00:10:44
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:10:44
Speaker 4: They printed the T-shirts ahead of time. Everybody thought they were going to win the Super Bowl. The Giants beat them. You send those shirts to Chile for all the children.
00:10:53
Speaker 2: Where they don't get what it means.
00:10:56
Speaker 4: So take those bobbleheads, take those football.
00:10:59
Speaker 3: Jerseys, and send them to a country where they.
00:11:02
Speaker 4: Don't even know what's going on, but they could appreciate it.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: What are the angels doing? No, again, it's an embarrassment. But we have them all, and they're in storage. Send them to Joe. Send them to Joe Adele and his family.
00:11:13
Speaker 1: And let them give it away.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: And it's foundation.
00:11:14
Speaker 2: Right.
00:11:15
Speaker 3: Very nice.
00:11:15
Speaker 1: It's over.
00:11:16
Speaker 2: All right. Tim Anderson night yesterday for the White Sox. He had a very good career. Which was classy, man. You like that?
00:11:21
Speaker 4: I did like that they brought him back.
00:11:23
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: I thought that was nice.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: You should celebrate your own heritage. Now, you think this is a big-time home run. This was the Field of Dreams game. It was exciting. You like it?
00:11:30
Speaker 4: I think it's one of the top three home runs of all time for a regular season.
00:11:36
Speaker 3: I'm not kidding. I'm dead serious. And I'm going to tell you why.
00:11:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, please.
00:11:39
Speaker 4: The setting of that, if you remember what happened in that game, Stanton and Judge hit home runs to put the Yankees ahead, right? And then Tim Anderson walked it off with that home run and that setting, those fireworks, that was one of the greatest endings to a game I ever saw.
00:11:56
Speaker 2: And yet, like, top three all-time, you're given to hyperbole, right? Hank Aaron, 7'15. Mara, 61. Shot heard around the world. Bucky Dent. Mike Piazza, 9'11. Willie Mays in the spawn versus Marichal, 16 inning game. No, no.
00:12:10
Speaker 4: A lot of yours, all of yours are major accomplishments. I get that, okay? They're major accomplishments. I'm talking about a regular season game.
00:12:20
Speaker 2: These are regular season games.
00:12:21
Speaker 4: Okay, but it's not attached to anything other than the ending of a ball game. And I'm talking about for drama.
00:12:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a 9-11. I said top three. I said top three. You can't have them all in there.
00:12:36
Speaker 3: Fred McGriff, upper deck home.
00:12:38
Speaker 2: Can we stop with the Fred McGriff? Please show him.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: No, no.
00:12:40
Speaker 2: Watch this. Watch this.
00:12:41
Speaker 9: No.
00:12:42
Speaker 1: No.
00:12:44
Speaker 3: And nobody's there.
00:12:45
Speaker 2: That's a big moment. Nobody's there. Also, he's an ex-Yankee. So everybody there and everybody watching and watching the scooter is saying, we used to have that guy? Yeah, he used to have it.
00:12:56
Speaker 4: That's better than Tim Anderson walking it off on the cornfield?
00:12:59
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. That's more impressive. By the way, what does this mean? It's over. I wanted to be happy. It's over.
00:13:04
Speaker 3: It's over.
00:13:05
Speaker 2: Even I do that, but it's excessive. It's like this segment, BK.
00:13:08
Speaker 6: Over.
00:13:08
Speaker 2: I got you.
00:13:09
Speaker 3: I beat you.
00:13:10
Speaker 2: No, he's doing both. How about that?
00:13:13
Speaker 1: It's time for the Pocket Protector Central. The analytic numbers you need to know. Well, maybe.
00:13:20
Speaker 4: Anthony Masterson is his name. BS Analytics is his game.
00:13:25
Speaker 3: What do you got for me, Anthony?
00:13:27
Speaker 9: As we near the end of the regular season, the postseason picture is starting to fall into place. The NL division winners are pretty much locked in as the Brewers, Dodgers, and Braves will take the top seeds, with the Phillies, Cubs, Padres, and D-backs set to fight for the final three spots. The American League, however, is another story. Since interleague play started in earnest in the late 90s, the American League has seen themselves as a league finished with a losing record eight times, the worst coming in 2024, when the league cumulatively finished 48 games under. 500, a. 490 win percentage. That win percentage is the same mark the league currently has this season, as only three teams are more than three games over. 500 in the entire league. You take one look at the AL West, and it might be hard to keep your eyes from melting. Through September 15th, the Astros lead at just one game above. 500. The previous worst mark of any full-season division winner in MLB history is the 2005 Padres.
00:14:19
Speaker 5: Who went 82-80.
00:14:22
Speaker 9: And it gets worse. Every team in the AL West has a negative run differential and not just by a little bit. Midway through September, the Rangers had the best mark at minus 42. All told, the entire AL West has a run differential of minus 431. And they will make a run at the aforementioned 2005 NL West single season record of minus 490. A reminder, just because it's close doesn't mean it's quality.
00:14:49
Speaker 1: When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto. If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer or broadcaster, old or new.
00:14:59
Speaker 3: Let's welcome in Mr. Brian Kenney from MLB Network, BK.
00:15:03
Speaker 2: What show is this now?
00:15:04
Speaker 3: This is my podcast, Inside the Parker.
00:15:07
Speaker 2: You have a lot of different shows.
00:15:08
Speaker 3: Yes, okay. You never know which one you're on. All right, here we go. The baseball season is about to wind down. Biggest surprise this season.
00:15:18
Speaker 2: Off the top of my head, Brewers' dominance. We knew they were good. I didn't think they were the best team in baseball.
00:15:23
Speaker 6: Maybe they are, maybe they're not, but they're right there.
00:15:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Brewers, I would say, jump off.
00:15:27
Speaker 3: Okay. Biggest disappointment this season?
00:15:31
Speaker 2: The competition is fierce, but.
00:15:35
Speaker 3: There are a lot of teams.
00:15:36
Speaker 2: Mariners, Tigers, Reds, but Mets beat them all.
00:15:40
Speaker 1: How about the.
00:15:41
Speaker 3: I got the Mets.
00:15:43
Speaker 4: Not the Mariners, considering where they were last year. You know, like, it's a dramatic fall off. This division is wide open for them to win, and they can't put anything together.
00:15:54
Speaker 2: I thought their roster was excellent, too. I thought Jerry Topoto put the finishing touches on it.
00:15:58
Speaker 5: No, you're right.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: They should be... I didn't think they'd be 88 wins. I thought they'd be 93 wins and win that division going away.
00:16:04
Speaker 5: So, yeah.
00:16:05
Speaker 2: But the Mets' fault is epic.
00:16:07
Speaker 3: It's tragic.
00:16:09
Speaker 2: It has the hubris and the corruption of money all around it. So it's just bigger than the Mariners.
00:16:18
Speaker 3: No, I get it.
00:16:19
Speaker 4: And how about this? Here's my contention. The Mets waited on making a managerial change. The Red Sox didn't wait. The Phillies didn't wait.
00:16:28
Speaker 3: Are you not on that camp?
00:16:29
Speaker 1: Why?
00:16:30
Speaker 3: Those two teams turned those teams around.
00:16:33
Speaker 2: Nothing was going to save the Mets.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: But they're winning now. Had they changed earlier? They're not winning, winning.
00:16:38
Speaker 2: They have a nice little young club, and their young players are good. It wouldn't have happened like that. The Red Sox, I thought, had a great offseason, oddly enough. And I thought they had a nice young team. I thought they'd win the division. You know, I'm not crazy. When they plummeted, you didn't hear much from me.
00:16:53
Speaker 5: No, no, no.
00:16:53
Speaker 3: Right.
00:16:54
Speaker 2: But their comeback showed like they had they have they have a real breadth of of of talent that the Mets just didn't. Mets are so good. focused and localized on those superstars, and they got hurt at different times, and then they just got sunk for a variety of reasons. They fired all their coaches. So remember, all their coaching staff was gone from the get-go. You have a new manager with all new coaches, with all new players, no buy-in. Bo Bichette, who's an excellent player, comes in, he's like half in, half out. You know, I got my option after year one. What's that? So No, there was nothing going to save the Mets.
00:17:28
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:17:29
Speaker 4: How about, is it, and not that you want Otani to be banged up or hurt. That's not what we're talking about. But the idea that PCA is going to win the National League MVP, somebody other than Ohtani, is that good to mix it around and not have the same guy win all the time?
00:17:45
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's good or bad. I'm a guy, you speak this language. I like that David Robinson won an MVP. I like that Charles Barkley.
00:17:53
Speaker 3: Won an MVP.
00:17:54
Speaker 4: That Michael Jordan didn't win every one, even though you could have made the argument, what year was he bad?
00:17:59
Speaker 2: It's like Willie Mays. He could have won 11. He won two. And it seemed like anytime there's anybody that could take it from him, they did. But I like how it's more representative of the era that David Robinson won and that Charles Barkley won. So this is PCA's year.
00:18:15
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:18:16
Speaker 3: And, you know.
00:18:18
Speaker 2: Again, for Otani to do what he was doing pitching-wise with his normal offensive year, you know where I stand. It's not possible. He's only had one year where he's put them both together, and that's five years ago when he was 26th. So I don't think that's coming back. Again, he's the all-time unique player. There's no question. He's a one of a kind. But I think they did press him too far. So he was never, what I'm saying, he was never going to come in with a 1.5 ERA.
00:18:44
Speaker 1: Right.
00:18:44
Speaker 3: He was never going to be that guy.
00:18:46
Speaker 2: And slugging 600. Those two things are not happening in the same year.
00:18:49
Speaker 4: How about Yankees pitching-wise, starting rotation, pitching overall, do they have enough pitching to win a first World Series since 2009?
00:18:58
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:19:00
Speaker 2: I was hoping you would say do they have enough pitching to win an American League pennant.
00:19:03
Speaker 5: Right.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: Yes. I don't think– again, can anybody beat anybody? If the Marlins jumped into the playoffs, could they win everything? Sure they could. You know, it's baseball, but it's less likely that they win a World Series. I think it is likely. It's the way to bet. that the Yankees will win the pennant. I think that pitching is so deep, and they have all their components, including a healthy Aaron Judge. They're the best team in the American League.
00:19:24
Speaker 4: Okay, last thing. We get Milwaukee, dominance, National League. They've won the last few years.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: They've been in the running. Last year, they couldn't score a run against the Dodgers. Really, really bad.
00:19:35
Speaker 5: I don't know.
00:19:35
Speaker 3: They just didn't show up for that series.
00:19:37
Speaker 9: Yeah, I agree.
00:19:37
Speaker 3: And you have Tampa Bay. These are two teams that regular season are good. Do they have enough? Can either one of these teams break through?
00:19:46
Speaker 4: Could we see a Brewers-Tampa World Series?
00:19:51
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I threw that out the other day saying, like, we believe in that. I was really disappointed in the Brewers last year. Them getting swept the way they did. I thought it was It kind of diminished the season.
00:20:03
Speaker 3: 100%. Like, they were so bad. I couldn't get over it.
00:20:07
Speaker 2: I remember talking to Pat Murphy at the winter meetings, and I thought he'd be more disappointed. I'm like, how come I'm disappointed and he's not? I'm sure he was disappointed.
00:20:14
Speaker 3: But I know what you mean.
00:20:15
Speaker 2: I'm sure it hurt his soul, right? We know it hurt him. And he had to bounce back by winter meetings. But I was like, damn, that tarnished your year. You can't get swept.
00:20:23
Speaker 9: I'm sorry.
00:20:24
Speaker 2: I know the mercurial nature of it. of the playoffs, but that was incredibly disappointing. They have a lot to prove. I hate to go all sports writer-y on you.
00:20:31
Speaker 3: No, but it's true.
00:20:32
Speaker 2: They have a lot to prove, actually, that no, no, no, you can play playoff baseball. I think there's less of that than, like, we used to think in the 80s, but there's still something to what, like, those Yankees did winning, I think, 11 of 13 series. You are that tough in playoff situations, and the Brewers just have not been. Not this version of the Brewers.
00:20:51
Speaker 4: So, just... Chances of the Rays and the Brewers being in the World Series.
00:20:57
Speaker 3: No chance. Both will make it. That's what I'm saying.
00:21:00
Speaker 2: Both won't make it. It's unlikely, but it's possible, again, with Junior Caminero hitting the way he is and Yandy Diaz and Drew Rasmussen is very under the radar and writing something on him today. Yeah, they could. It's unlikely any combination that you pick would go, like the mathematical possibilities. But, yeah, that's the outside. Look, The behemoths of the coast should meet. Dodgers, Yankees, that's the way to bet. Now, the next thing is to say, if you want to get cute and a little more sabermetric, no question. Again, even the Brewers aren't as sabermetric as they are baseball-y. They field, they run, they do all these things right. Now they've got the Miz. reigning on top, who's a beast.
00:21:41
Speaker 3: I'm with you.
00:21:42
Speaker 2: Cam Schlittler's been the best pitcher in baseball.
00:21:44
Speaker 3: I'm going there.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: But Mizorowski's a monster, and he's a number one, and he's an ace of both leagues, really.
00:21:50
Speaker 3: All right.
00:21:50
Speaker 4: There he is, BK, MLB Network, of course. The baseball season winding down. I can't believe it.
00:21:56
Speaker 2: Boom.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: It's time for a trip down memory lane here on Inside the Parker.
00:22:04
Speaker 2: Rob Parker has covered Major League Baseball for 40 years.
00:22:08
Speaker 1: Now, let's relive a memorable moment of his career.
00:22:12
Speaker 4: In 1994, one of the toughest things I had to do writing a baseball column was criticizing a living legend in Detroit. The 1994 season wasn't going well for the Detroit Tigers. They were under. 500, not playing well, and manager Sparky Anderson was still at the helm. So here I was, a 30-year-old columnist, taking on... future Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson, a guy who had won three World Series as a manager, two in Cincinnati, and the 1984 Detroit Tigers. But there was a real concern by many that the game had simply passed by the older Sparky Anderson, but no one wanted to say it. Enter yours truly, writing that column.
00:23:10
Speaker 3: For the Detroit Free Press.
00:23:12
Speaker 4: I can still remember the day I showed up after that column made the paper to the old tiger stadium outfielder. Tony Phillips said I had some big guts to show up after ripping skip. As he said in the newspaper, it wasn't personal. It was business. It had to be written. And in 1995, Sparky Anderson retired.
00:23:42
Speaker 3: Hey, this is Rob Parker.
00:23:44
Speaker 4: Come back all season long every week as I chronicle my 40 years of covering Major League Baseball. And if you missed any episodes, go to MLBBro.com and catch up. In the words of New York TV legend, the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time. Until next time, Rob Parker, out.
00:24:15
Speaker 3: He can't get it. This could be an inside to Parker.
00:24:18
Speaker 5: See you next week. Same bat time, same bat station.
Speaker 1: From the Berkshires to the sound. From wherever you live in MLB America, this is Inside the Parker. You give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the scoop on Major League Baseball. Now, here's Baseball Hall of Fame voter number 57.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: You have another hot take.
00:00:18
Speaker 3: Will not N.O.T. make the playoffs. Don't hand me the money.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: Rob Parker.
00:00:25
Speaker 2: Come on.
00:00:26
Speaker 4: I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost 40 years now in New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit, in L.A.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: I love this game. Let's go.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: Let's go.
00:00:42
Speaker 4: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. And what a show we have for you today. It's the MLB Network edition.
00:00:52
Speaker 3: Of Inside the Park. I'm on site at the MLB studios.
00:00:56
Speaker 4: I'll be talking with former Major League pitcher, of course.
00:00:59
Speaker 3: Al Leiter.
00:01:00
Speaker 4: He joins us and the host of MLB Now, Brian Kenney. BK will stop by. We'll talk about the recap of the 2026 season. All that and much more.
00:01:13
Speaker 3: Let's go.
00:01:13
Speaker 1: Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: Oh, it's so good.
00:01:20
Speaker 4: Now let's welcome into the podcast Outlider, of course, three-time World Series winner, pitched a no-hitter, also the Mets Hall of Fame.
00:01:29
Speaker 3: He used to get on me once in a while in New York. Well, you know that, back in the day.
00:01:32
Speaker 4: And also, of course, a host and analyst here at MLB Network. I want to talk to you about the Cy Young, both American League, National League. Let's go to the National League. I know a lot of people, Otani really wanted to win and, you know, got off to a good start pitching and obviously got hurt and is not pitching.
00:01:49
Speaker 3: Who is your National League Cy Young?
00:01:52
Speaker 5: I thought it was closer.
00:01:54
Speaker 6: I think Christopher Sanchez of the Phillies kind of lost a little traction. He's had some bumps in the road the last few starts.
00:02:02
Speaker 4: When he had that squalid streak, it looked like it was going to be his.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: Am I right?
00:02:05
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:02:05
Speaker 5: I mean, it was right there.
00:02:06
Speaker 6: Look, Jacob Mizorowski with Milwaukee has shown beyond dominance, right? The only issue, and I've always thought this, Rob, I want my Cy Young Award aces. to be in every game seven, eight innings. I know that might be some kind of delusional fantasy from the 80s and backwards.
00:02:23
Speaker 3: It's not from when you pitched. You know what I mean? Guys were like that.
00:02:26
Speaker 6: So Jacob Mizorowski has about 160-something innings, right?
00:02:31
Speaker 5: So he's going to fall short with respect to what I just said. However, like, just pure domination. He does it primarily with a fastball. He cuts it occasionally.
00:02:40
Speaker 6: He's not creative with respect to that because he's throwing 105 miles an hour. It's going to be hard for me to not... pick him. Again, I think Sanchez is right there. Yamamoto, same thing with not having as many innings. But I think Mizorowski wins the.
00:02:57
Speaker 5: Cy Young International.
00:02:59
Speaker 4: And I know coming into the season, maybe we thought Paul Skeens would be in that conversation.
00:03:05
Speaker 3: How can a guy.
00:03:06
Speaker 4: Go from unhittable basically his first two years to.
00:03:10
Speaker 3: Where he was where he couldn't even throw over 100? Is there an injury or something we don't know about?
00:03:15
Speaker 5: Well, so that's an issue. I know he had skipped a start, and then he came back, and he had some good starts.
00:03:21
Speaker 3: Here's the thing.
00:03:22
Speaker 5: When you get to that level, if you're pitching like.
00:03:24
Speaker 6: Tom Seaver or Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton or some guys that, you know, let's go back once upon a time, It's almost unfair because it's hard to sustain that.
00:03:33
Speaker 3: He had a war last year, and I don't get super nerdy, but he had a.
00:03:35
Speaker 5: War that was, if he sustained that, it would have been one of the greatest pitchers ever at an A-plus war. So it's kind of a backtrack. His arm slot elevated, so he raised his arm a little bit.
00:03:47
Speaker 6: Normally guys are higher and they get lower because they got a little shoulder issue.
00:03:50
Speaker 5: He went higher, I think, for movement and probably command. And he lost about one and a half miles per hour.
00:03:56
Speaker 3: That's big in a big way.
00:03:57
Speaker 5: Yeah, it is.
00:03:57
Speaker 3: When you're talking average, we're not talking.
00:03:59
Speaker 6: About a stroke fastball at 97 that would drop a dip to mile and a half. That's an average over 100 pitches per game, essentially. But he's a worker. He's really good.
00:04:10
Speaker 5: I'm not worried. And I always worry about pitchers with injuries with respect to that. We're going to throw out there. Chase Burns has been unbelievable in Cincinnati.
00:04:16
Speaker 6: But, you know, he throws and looks like a closer to me because he's just a gripping guy.
00:04:21
Speaker 4: Right, right.
00:04:22
Speaker 6: But as we transition, I assume we're going to American League. There's another guy in Toronto that has the kind of same thing with how he.
00:04:28
Speaker 4: I want to say this one last thing about schemes. I know people were saying, next Tom Seaver. And I tell people all the time, you've got to pump the brakes.
00:04:36
Speaker 3: If you really look at Tom.
00:04:38
Speaker 4: Seaver's career, it is really hard for somebody to sustain.
00:04:44
Speaker 5: Am I right?
00:04:44
Speaker 6: Well, I would have never compared Paul to Tom Seaver because of just pure delivery.
00:04:51
Speaker 5: You know... Paul is a tall, big dude, and he's, when I came up, I.
00:04:57
Speaker 6: Was taught we pips like a Ferris wheel and not a carousel.
00:05:01
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:05:01
Speaker 6: And he was the first guy really coming in out of college with LSU like a dominating carousel, right? It's nothing more than, you want to use the bigger muscles, chest, abs, butt, legs, and you do that by creating a linear movement.
00:05:16
Speaker 5: Force that goes north and.
00:05:18
Speaker 4: South and that was sieber the dirt on the pants.
00:05:20
Speaker 7: Leg am i right no but his delivery was beautiful right when you talk to tom about pitching i know you did plenty of time he talked about it with artistry and it was like a beautiful sculpture in his brain.
00:05:32
Speaker 8: As to how he would dissect hitters etc etc you know paul is you know bully fastball he's got two or three different breaking balls he uses them but i would never have used that comparison Delivery-wise.
00:05:44
Speaker 5: But then we can go to Chris Sale, who is a carousel guy, and he's had an unbelievable career, the whole thing. Okay.
00:05:52
Speaker 3: Let's go to the American League.
00:05:53
Speaker 6: All right, American League. So I mentioned about Dylan Cease. Dylan Cease, tremendous arm, pull-down, high-to-low, fastball slider. Kind of the Chase Burns kind of model. But Kim Schlittler has been phenomenal, phenomenally. consistent in New York for the New York Yankees in the.
00:06:15
Speaker 4: Bronx considering what they've been through injuries with other guys you know even pitching judge and still being able without him they're not where they are.
00:06:24
Speaker 6: Goes down you know uh took a while for for Garrett Cole to come back no no and this kid came out of he came out of nowhere I mean with without disrespect I mean Northeastern University gets in the system he increased velocity by a couple miles an hour plus maybe even three But he's been that dominating. You've got to mention Dylan Cease. I think he leads all the baseball in strikeouts. I know the American League, but that.
00:06:49
Speaker 5: Will fall short. Who else is over there? Look at Sonny Gray, what he's done with the Red Sox.
00:06:55
Speaker 3: Unbelievable season.
00:06:56
Speaker 5: Yeah, and Drew Rasmussen.
00:06:58
Speaker 6: You know, in Tampa, they're always kind of under the radar in some degree because we always look at Tampa as a little engine that could.
00:07:05
Speaker 5: Drew Rasmussen is a hell of a pitcher.
00:07:06
Speaker 3: So he'll get some votes as well.
00:07:07
Speaker 5: He's going to get some votes, yeah.
00:07:09
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:07:09
Speaker 3: All right, Al Leiter, there it is.
00:07:11
Speaker 4: There's our breakdown for the Cy Young National League American League.
00:07:15
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining the podcast.
00:07:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, my pleasure.
00:07:17
Speaker 3: Appreciate it, Al.
00:07:17
Speaker 5: Good to see you in person. Oh, yeah.
00:07:20
Speaker 1: In case you missed Rob Parker on the MLB Network, here's his latest appearance on MLB Now.
00:07:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, showdown time. Rob Parker here in the flesh. You won't say that to my face. Sure I will.
00:07:33
Speaker 5: Yes, I will.
00:07:34
Speaker 2: Yes, I will. I don't know if I've ever seen a team take the hit like the Mets have taken with the Pete Alonzo thing, come back the 300th, all the parameters around it, total botched job, back-to-back years negotiating. But to have it in your face like this and they're saying fire David Stearns, I don't know if I, what more can you add to this than the embarrassment that they have suffered?
00:07:58
Speaker 1: It was bad.
00:07:59
Speaker 4: And you know, I was talking to you about Pete Alonzo the whole time, that he's a homegrown talent. He has performed in New York. Everybody can't do it, BK, you know that.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: All durable, played.
00:08:12
Speaker 4: There was no reason the Mets couldn't say, we're going to sign the guy. And even if the last three years of the contract aren't worth it, and he can help you get.
00:08:20
Speaker 3: A World Series, then it's worth it.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: And money is your advantage. You're not Cleveland. It's not like we can't spend that.
00:08:26
Speaker 4: Why all of a sudden you have some justifies like, oh, we're going to hold the line on this guy.
00:08:31
Speaker 2: Your own guy. Your own guy.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: Your own guy.
00:08:33
Speaker 2: It made no sense. Kevin Brown should get an Emmy, by the way. He's calling Orioles games. And He has a spontaneous call here and took the Mets knees out. Listen to this.
00:08:43
Speaker 9: About a billion dollars worth of Mets out in left field and none of them could pick it up. Come on.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: That's good. That's good.
00:08:52
Speaker 2: You don't like that call?
00:08:52
Speaker 3: That was terrible.
00:08:54
Speaker 2: Who is he?
00:08:54
Speaker 3: A retired writer for David Letterman? What was that?
00:08:58
Speaker 2: That's hilarious. There's three guys out there. There's a $ 700 million, a $ 300 million. What does it have to do with money? It sounded jealous to me. Jealousy, not clever. And I'm going to say one. He doesn't work for the Mets, so too bad. If he's taking a shot at them, good for him.
00:09:10
Speaker 4: So if that was an Oriole player and Juan Soto was playing for the Orioles because he signed with that and that happened, you think.
00:09:16
Speaker 3: He would have delivered that line?
00:09:17
Speaker 2: No, nobody would. Everybody eats that. Everybody clams up. because you don't want to be that snarky, but it's the other team, and it's good. Come on. There's a tradition in baseball going back to the $ 100, 000 infield. Remember the $ 100, 000 infield?
00:09:26
Speaker 5: It's 1910.
00:09:26
Speaker 2: You don't remember it as a kid. I was going to say, I don't remember that one. It's Eddie Collins. Eddie Collins, one of the all-time great second basemen, was part of that. They won three World Series in four years. The other year, they won the pennant. So it's an all-time. We talk about money because we know how much these guys make. So how much you make is part of it. And again, they can go cry at their beach house.
00:09:46
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, but also people make errors and mistakes happen.
00:09:49
Speaker 3: This is commonplace.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: No, that's an embarrassment.
00:09:53
Speaker 3: This is somebody who's a.
00:09:54
Speaker 4: Little jealous because those guys are talented enough to make that kind of money.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: I didn't like it. I don't think it's jealous. I think it's apropos, given the season that those guys are having. You don't mock players. On this show, we don't show guys making errors and laugh.
00:10:07
Speaker 3: No, no, no.
00:10:07
Speaker 2: They're human beings. But when you're making that type of money, and there's three of them, they're mega rich, and the ball falls between them, that's embarrassing.
00:10:15
Speaker 1: Come on.
00:10:16
Speaker 3: To me, that's an error.
00:10:17
Speaker 2: That's all it is. All right. We need a new rule, I think. You cannot have a giveaway involving a player that you have traded away. You have to eat it. Joe Adele bobblehead. Joe Adele football jersey. They've had two giveaways for Joe Adele. The Angels, since they traded him away, should they be allowed to do this?
00:10:33
Speaker 3: No, this makes no sense. Typical Angels.
00:10:36
Speaker 4: I guess they didn't want to take the L and have to do something.
00:10:39
Speaker 3: But you know what?
00:10:40
Speaker 4: When the Patriots were going for the 19-0 perfect season, right?
00:10:44
Speaker 9: Yeah.
00:10:44
Speaker 4: They printed the T-shirts ahead of time. Everybody thought they were going to win the Super Bowl. The Giants beat them. You send those shirts to Chile for all the children.
00:10:53
Speaker 2: Where they don't get what it means.
00:10:56
Speaker 4: So take those bobbleheads, take those football.
00:10:59
Speaker 3: Jerseys, and send them to a country where they.
00:11:02
Speaker 4: Don't even know what's going on, but they could appreciate it.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: What are the angels doing? No, again, it's an embarrassment. But we have them all, and they're in storage. Send them to Joe. Send them to Joe Adele and his family.
00:11:13
Speaker 1: And let them give it away.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: And it's foundation.
00:11:14
Speaker 2: Right.
00:11:15
Speaker 3: Very nice.
00:11:15
Speaker 1: It's over.
00:11:16
Speaker 2: All right. Tim Anderson night yesterday for the White Sox. He had a very good career. Which was classy, man. You like that?
00:11:21
Speaker 4: I did like that they brought him back.
00:11:23
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: I thought that was nice.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: You should celebrate your own heritage. Now, you think this is a big-time home run. This was the Field of Dreams game. It was exciting. You like it?
00:11:30
Speaker 4: I think it's one of the top three home runs of all time for a regular season.
00:11:36
Speaker 3: I'm not kidding. I'm dead serious. And I'm going to tell you why.
00:11:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, please.
00:11:39
Speaker 4: The setting of that, if you remember what happened in that game, Stanton and Judge hit home runs to put the Yankees ahead, right? And then Tim Anderson walked it off with that home run and that setting, those fireworks, that was one of the greatest endings to a game I ever saw.
00:11:56
Speaker 2: And yet, like, top three all-time, you're given to hyperbole, right? Hank Aaron, 7'15. Mara, 61. Shot heard around the world. Bucky Dent. Mike Piazza, 9'11. Willie Mays in the spawn versus Marichal, 16 inning game. No, no.
00:12:10
Speaker 4: A lot of yours, all of yours are major accomplishments. I get that, okay? They're major accomplishments. I'm talking about a regular season game.
00:12:20
Speaker 2: These are regular season games.
00:12:21
Speaker 4: Okay, but it's not attached to anything other than the ending of a ball game. And I'm talking about for drama.
00:12:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a 9-11. I said top three. I said top three. You can't have them all in there.
00:12:36
Speaker 3: Fred McGriff, upper deck home.
00:12:38
Speaker 2: Can we stop with the Fred McGriff? Please show him.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: No, no.
00:12:40
Speaker 2: Watch this. Watch this.
00:12:41
Speaker 9: No.
00:12:42
Speaker 1: No.
00:12:44
Speaker 3: And nobody's there.
00:12:45
Speaker 2: That's a big moment. Nobody's there. Also, he's an ex-Yankee. So everybody there and everybody watching and watching the scooter is saying, we used to have that guy? Yeah, he used to have it.
00:12:56
Speaker 4: That's better than Tim Anderson walking it off on the cornfield?
00:12:59
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. That's more impressive. By the way, what does this mean? It's over. I wanted to be happy. It's over.
00:13:04
Speaker 3: It's over.
00:13:05
Speaker 2: Even I do that, but it's excessive. It's like this segment, BK.
00:13:08
Speaker 6: Over.
00:13:08
Speaker 2: I got you.
00:13:09
Speaker 3: I beat you.
00:13:10
Speaker 2: No, he's doing both. How about that?
00:13:13
Speaker 1: It's time for the Pocket Protector Central. The analytic numbers you need to know. Well, maybe.
00:13:20
Speaker 4: Anthony Masterson is his name. BS Analytics is his game.
00:13:25
Speaker 3: What do you got for me, Anthony?
00:13:27
Speaker 9: As we near the end of the regular season, the postseason picture is starting to fall into place. The NL division winners are pretty much locked in as the Brewers, Dodgers, and Braves will take the top seeds, with the Phillies, Cubs, Padres, and D-backs set to fight for the final three spots. The American League, however, is another story. Since interleague play started in earnest in the late 90s, the American League has seen themselves as a league finished with a losing record eight times, the worst coming in 2024, when the league cumulatively finished 48 games under. 500, a. 490 win percentage. That win percentage is the same mark the league currently has this season, as only three teams are more than three games over. 500 in the entire league. You take one look at the AL West, and it might be hard to keep your eyes from melting. Through September 15th, the Astros lead at just one game above. 500. The previous worst mark of any full-season division winner in MLB history is the 2005 Padres.
00:14:19
Speaker 5: Who went 82-80.
00:14:22
Speaker 9: And it gets worse. Every team in the AL West has a negative run differential and not just by a little bit. Midway through September, the Rangers had the best mark at minus 42. All told, the entire AL West has a run differential of minus 431. And they will make a run at the aforementioned 2005 NL West single season record of minus 490. A reminder, just because it's close doesn't mean it's quality.
00:14:49
Speaker 1: When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto. If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer or broadcaster, old or new.
00:14:59
Speaker 3: Let's welcome in Mr. Brian Kenney from MLB Network, BK.
00:15:03
Speaker 2: What show is this now?
00:15:04
Speaker 3: This is my podcast, Inside the Parker.
00:15:07
Speaker 2: You have a lot of different shows.
00:15:08
Speaker 3: Yes, okay. You never know which one you're on. All right, here we go. The baseball season is about to wind down. Biggest surprise this season.
00:15:18
Speaker 2: Off the top of my head, Brewers' dominance. We knew they were good. I didn't think they were the best team in baseball.
00:15:23
Speaker 6: Maybe they are, maybe they're not, but they're right there.
00:15:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Brewers, I would say, jump off.
00:15:27
Speaker 3: Okay. Biggest disappointment this season?
00:15:31
Speaker 2: The competition is fierce, but.
00:15:35
Speaker 3: There are a lot of teams.
00:15:36
Speaker 2: Mariners, Tigers, Reds, but Mets beat them all.
00:15:40
Speaker 1: How about the.
00:15:41
Speaker 3: I got the Mets.
00:15:43
Speaker 4: Not the Mariners, considering where they were last year. You know, like, it's a dramatic fall off. This division is wide open for them to win, and they can't put anything together.
00:15:54
Speaker 2: I thought their roster was excellent, too. I thought Jerry Topoto put the finishing touches on it.
00:15:58
Speaker 5: No, you're right.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: They should be... I didn't think they'd be 88 wins. I thought they'd be 93 wins and win that division going away.
00:16:04
Speaker 5: So, yeah.
00:16:05
Speaker 2: But the Mets' fault is epic.
00:16:07
Speaker 3: It's tragic.
00:16:09
Speaker 2: It has the hubris and the corruption of money all around it. So it's just bigger than the Mariners.
00:16:18
Speaker 3: No, I get it.
00:16:19
Speaker 4: And how about this? Here's my contention. The Mets waited on making a managerial change. The Red Sox didn't wait. The Phillies didn't wait.
00:16:28
Speaker 3: Are you not on that camp?
00:16:29
Speaker 1: Why?
00:16:30
Speaker 3: Those two teams turned those teams around.
00:16:33
Speaker 2: Nothing was going to save the Mets.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: But they're winning now. Had they changed earlier? They're not winning, winning.
00:16:38
Speaker 2: They have a nice little young club, and their young players are good. It wouldn't have happened like that. The Red Sox, I thought, had a great offseason, oddly enough. And I thought they had a nice young team. I thought they'd win the division. You know, I'm not crazy. When they plummeted, you didn't hear much from me.
00:16:53
Speaker 5: No, no, no.
00:16:53
Speaker 3: Right.
00:16:54
Speaker 2: But their comeback showed like they had they have they have a real breadth of of of talent that the Mets just didn't. Mets are so good. focused and localized on those superstars, and they got hurt at different times, and then they just got sunk for a variety of reasons. They fired all their coaches. So remember, all their coaching staff was gone from the get-go. You have a new manager with all new coaches, with all new players, no buy-in. Bo Bichette, who's an excellent player, comes in, he's like half in, half out. You know, I got my option after year one. What's that? So No, there was nothing going to save the Mets.
00:17:28
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:17:29
Speaker 4: How about, is it, and not that you want Otani to be banged up or hurt. That's not what we're talking about. But the idea that PCA is going to win the National League MVP, somebody other than Ohtani, is that good to mix it around and not have the same guy win all the time?
00:17:45
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's good or bad. I'm a guy, you speak this language. I like that David Robinson won an MVP. I like that Charles Barkley.
00:17:53
Speaker 3: Won an MVP.
00:17:54
Speaker 4: That Michael Jordan didn't win every one, even though you could have made the argument, what year was he bad?
00:17:59
Speaker 2: It's like Willie Mays. He could have won 11. He won two. And it seemed like anytime there's anybody that could take it from him, they did. But I like how it's more representative of the era that David Robinson won and that Charles Barkley won. So this is PCA's year.
00:18:15
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:18:16
Speaker 3: And, you know.
00:18:18
Speaker 2: Again, for Otani to do what he was doing pitching-wise with his normal offensive year, you know where I stand. It's not possible. He's only had one year where he's put them both together, and that's five years ago when he was 26th. So I don't think that's coming back. Again, he's the all-time unique player. There's no question. He's a one of a kind. But I think they did press him too far. So he was never, what I'm saying, he was never going to come in with a 1.5 ERA.
00:18:44
Speaker 1: Right.
00:18:44
Speaker 3: He was never going to be that guy.
00:18:46
Speaker 2: And slugging 600. Those two things are not happening in the same year.
00:18:49
Speaker 4: How about Yankees pitching-wise, starting rotation, pitching overall, do they have enough pitching to win a first World Series since 2009?
00:18:58
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:19:00
Speaker 2: I was hoping you would say do they have enough pitching to win an American League pennant.
00:19:03
Speaker 5: Right.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: Yes. I don't think– again, can anybody beat anybody? If the Marlins jumped into the playoffs, could they win everything? Sure they could. You know, it's baseball, but it's less likely that they win a World Series. I think it is likely. It's the way to bet. that the Yankees will win the pennant. I think that pitching is so deep, and they have all their components, including a healthy Aaron Judge. They're the best team in the American League.
00:19:24
Speaker 4: Okay, last thing. We get Milwaukee, dominance, National League. They've won the last few years.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: They've been in the running. Last year, they couldn't score a run against the Dodgers. Really, really bad.
00:19:35
Speaker 5: I don't know.
00:19:35
Speaker 3: They just didn't show up for that series.
00:19:37
Speaker 9: Yeah, I agree.
00:19:37
Speaker 3: And you have Tampa Bay. These are two teams that regular season are good. Do they have enough? Can either one of these teams break through?
00:19:46
Speaker 4: Could we see a Brewers-Tampa World Series?
00:19:51
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I threw that out the other day saying, like, we believe in that. I was really disappointed in the Brewers last year. Them getting swept the way they did. I thought it was It kind of diminished the season.
00:20:03
Speaker 3: 100%. Like, they were so bad. I couldn't get over it.
00:20:07
Speaker 2: I remember talking to Pat Murphy at the winter meetings, and I thought he'd be more disappointed. I'm like, how come I'm disappointed and he's not? I'm sure he was disappointed.
00:20:14
Speaker 3: But I know what you mean.
00:20:15
Speaker 2: I'm sure it hurt his soul, right? We know it hurt him. And he had to bounce back by winter meetings. But I was like, damn, that tarnished your year. You can't get swept.
00:20:23
Speaker 9: I'm sorry.
00:20:24
Speaker 2: I know the mercurial nature of it. of the playoffs, but that was incredibly disappointing. They have a lot to prove. I hate to go all sports writer-y on you.
00:20:31
Speaker 3: No, but it's true.
00:20:32
Speaker 2: They have a lot to prove, actually, that no, no, no, you can play playoff baseball. I think there's less of that than, like, we used to think in the 80s, but there's still something to what, like, those Yankees did winning, I think, 11 of 13 series. You are that tough in playoff situations, and the Brewers just have not been. Not this version of the Brewers.
00:20:51
Speaker 4: So, just... Chances of the Rays and the Brewers being in the World Series.
00:20:57
Speaker 3: No chance. Both will make it. That's what I'm saying.
00:21:00
Speaker 2: Both won't make it. It's unlikely, but it's possible, again, with Junior Caminero hitting the way he is and Yandy Diaz and Drew Rasmussen is very under the radar and writing something on him today. Yeah, they could. It's unlikely any combination that you pick would go, like the mathematical possibilities. But, yeah, that's the outside. Look, The behemoths of the coast should meet. Dodgers, Yankees, that's the way to bet. Now, the next thing is to say, if you want to get cute and a little more sabermetric, no question. Again, even the Brewers aren't as sabermetric as they are baseball-y. They field, they run, they do all these things right. Now they've got the Miz. reigning on top, who's a beast.
00:21:41
Speaker 3: I'm with you.
00:21:42
Speaker 2: Cam Schlittler's been the best pitcher in baseball.
00:21:44
Speaker 3: I'm going there.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: But Mizorowski's a monster, and he's a number one, and he's an ace of both leagues, really.
00:21:50
Speaker 3: All right.
00:21:50
Speaker 4: There he is, BK, MLB Network, of course. The baseball season winding down. I can't believe it.
00:21:56
Speaker 2: Boom.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: It's time for a trip down memory lane here on Inside the Parker.
00:22:04
Speaker 2: Rob Parker has covered Major League Baseball for 40 years.
00:22:08
Speaker 1: Now, let's relive a memorable moment of his career.
00:22:12
Speaker 4: In 1994, one of the toughest things I had to do writing a baseball column was criticizing a living legend in Detroit. The 1994 season wasn't going well for the Detroit Tigers. They were under. 500, not playing well, and manager Sparky Anderson was still at the helm. So here I was, a 30-year-old columnist, taking on... future Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson, a guy who had won three World Series as a manager, two in Cincinnati, and the 1984 Detroit Tigers. But there was a real concern by many that the game had simply passed by the older Sparky Anderson, but no one wanted to say it. Enter yours truly, writing that column.
00:23:10
Speaker 3: For the Detroit Free Press.
00:23:12
Speaker 4: I can still remember the day I showed up after that column made the paper to the old tiger stadium outfielder. Tony Phillips said I had some big guts to show up after ripping skip. As he said in the newspaper, it wasn't personal. It was business. It had to be written. And in 1995, Sparky Anderson retired.
00:23:42
Speaker 3: Hey, this is Rob Parker.
00:23:44
Speaker 4: Come back all season long every week as I chronicle my 40 years of covering Major League Baseball. And if you missed any episodes, go to MLBBro.com and catch up. In the words of New York TV legend, the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time. Until next time, Rob Parker, out.
00:24:15
Speaker 3: He can't get it. This could be an inside to Parker.
00:24:18
Speaker 5: See you next week. Same bat time, same bat station.
