00:00:00
Speaker 1: I was laughing going through some social media interactions that I had just a couple of days ago, dating back to the Miles Garrett trade when he went from Cleveland to Los Angeles, and I was going through a bunch of tweets that I saw from people who were saying, Okay, well, now the Steelers should go out there and trade TJ.
00:00:19
Speaker 2: Watt whoever they get for TJ. Watt.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: It's not going to be the Hall that the Rams gave out to the Browns for Miles Garrett. In fact, even saw one guy say that the Steelers should flip Watt to the Browns for their twenty twenty seven first round pick because now the Browns have a needed edge.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: Well, the Steelers are going to do that. They're not gonna trade Watt within the division.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: That's not realistic, but it's no less goofy of a suggestion than believing that the Steelers could even get a sniff of what Cleveland got.
00:00:49
Speaker 2: For Garrett if they do deal Watt.
00:00:52
Speaker 1: Garrett just had his best season at age thirty, setting the NFL record with twenty three sacks.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: He also set a career high with forty three.
00:01:02
Speaker 1: Solo tackles and tied a career high with sixty total tackles. What sack total went down from nineteen and twenty three to eleven and a half and twenty four. Then last year, Watt only posted seven sacks and twenty three solo tackles. That's even before he got poked in the lung during the whole dry needling thing. What had just one sack in the previous four games. The only place in America where we're still doing the favorable Watt to Garrett comps after last year is Pittsburgh.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: If the Steelers were to.
00:01:35
Speaker 1: Trade Watt, there's no way the team is getting back a two time Pro bowler in year three of his entry level deal like they did in Verse.
00:01:44
Speaker 2: Forget about it.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: Especially not with sixty four million and guaranteed salaries still remaining on his contract. So I know there's a lot of conversation out there still about the idea of the Steelers probing and investigating trading Watt because they locked up her big and they they could do that and maybe they get something that they could use as a weapon to trade up next year in the draft if they want the quarterback. That could happen, but it's not gonna be the Howitzer that the Browns just got from someone. I don't see it that way. Like, for instance, you know, in March, Bleacher Report had that story out where they floated Watt plus a third rounder in twenty seven to San Francisco for the Niners twenty twenty seven first rounder.
00:02:29
Speaker 2: What in some second day.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: Capital for a potential late first rounder, even that I feel like his high end, even that might be optimistic at this point. His age, injury history, lagging production come into play. But so does the knowledge that other teams have that the Steelers have now just inked her Big and they still would then have Highsmith even though the number isn't guaranteed for him, but I think it's thirty five million thirty million left in salary between now and the end of his contract two years from now. That's one thing that that her Big contract does. It kind of puts the Steelers in a position where the rest of the league knows that if they go through three years with all go through this year with all three of the outside linebackers, that everybody in the league knows they're trying to open up a spot in some salary cap room there because they're paying them as if they're all three starters, and even if it does work out, that's going to be tough.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: For Omar Khan to swallow.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Four one two three three three ninety nine thirty nine, or you can call eight three three four one two w XDX. Let's go to Alex in Bethel Park. Who wants to talk about Paul Skeins Alex y'er on one of five nine the X.
00:03:42
Speaker 3: Hey, Tim, how you Dan good?
00:03:44
Speaker 1: So?
00:03:45
Speaker 3: I was listening to me a little bit earlier, and you were talking about how Skeens is not trusting his splinker as much, which I thought when he came into the league with his bread and butter, and I've noticed that he really has gone away from using that critical situation. So that to me tells me there is something going on with his command or control or the loss. There has to be something that's stopping him from using the pitch that really got him on the map, because nobody had heard of a splinker before he came into the league.
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, and one thing I wonder that has come up, and you know, maybe we're focusing too much on pitch selection and his repertoire and we should be focusing on other things perhaps, But one of them that does strike me is he really seemed to fall in love with the change up and how effective it was through mid May. That was an excellent compliment to his fastball and the sweeper. But those have been the three pitches that he's relied on, and sometimes maybe those pitches get elevated, you know, maybe there's not as much downward break. But one thing that I have noticed is he's had a harder time getting out of jams than he did in his first two years, where he would admittedly get guys on base, but he'd get the out that he would need to wiggle away from those situations, and we're not seeing that as much right now.
00:05:01
Speaker 3: No, And to fall up on your point about the bullpen and you know baby going to a six man rotation like they do in LA, there is one guy that's out there that the pirates could get that you know they're never going to touch, and that would be Trevor Bauer.
00:05:13
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:05:13
Speaker 1: And I know Mark has talked about that, and I don't know what he's got left, but I would be in favor of looking, especially since they seem to be in love with this whole piggyback ideal and idea, and maybe that's a way to incorporate a guy like him. Robbie and Butler talking about Skins. You're on one of five nine the X Dame.
00:05:31
Speaker 3: What's up?
00:05:31
Speaker 5: How are you?
00:05:32
Speaker 4: Hey?
00:05:32
Speaker 6: Man? I'm just I'm just good good.
00:05:34
Speaker 4: How are you?
00:05:35
Speaker 6: I'm just playing Devil's advocate right now. Everybody's like, uh, it sounds like everybody's saying, like, what's wrong with Skeens? Is he heard? Is he what?
00:05:44
Speaker 1: You know?
00:05:44
Speaker 6: What's going on? Couldn't be that just he's everybody has all the other teams. Now, let's not forget that everybody else everybody other team has great players too, you know. Could it be the other teams have seen him enough of his pitches that they just figured him out.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: Well, if that's the case, then it's a bigger picture problem. I mean, if he's figured out with six pitches only two years into his career, then that's not a guy who's going to make a half a million dollars as everybody is, sorry, half a billion dollars, as everybody is suggesting, you know, like that's not you know, first five years of Verlander, as people were comparing, or even what Garrett Cole got, you know, like, if you look at Cole, he was starting to ascend in his third year, that was his best season. And if you're sort of suggesting that everybody's figured him out already just two years in, then that's a guy who's going to be called a flash in the pan in five years from now.
00:06:37
Speaker 2: And I don't think that Schemes and.
00:06:39
Speaker 6: I thought, I don't think.
00:06:40
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:06:41
Speaker 2: I thought where you were going with the.
00:06:42
Speaker 1: Call is, Hey, it's nothing, it's just a quick rut and he'll get out of it.
00:06:45
Speaker 2: And maybe he will.
00:06:46
Speaker 1: It's entirely possible he goes out there, walks one guy, strikes out ten and does it on a huge stage against the Dodgers, and we're all feeling better about it. But there's just a lot of stat geeky evidence and metric evidence to go along with the eye test of something's weird here that we haven't seen yet. And the big talking point is how do you nip that in the bud so it doesn't turn into the situation that you're talking about where we're saying, God, he was great for two years, but then whatever happened after that? Right?
00:07:18
Speaker 6: But I mean, if if there is like if he's working with some kind of injury or something's off in his elbow's shoulder, whatnot.
00:07:25
Speaker 4: Whatever.
00:07:27
Speaker 6: You know, why wouldn't why wouldn't the Pirates like just sit him instead of like.
00:07:32
Speaker 1: Maybe that's why they're not that's probably he's probably not hurt. I mean, if he is hurt, then they should do something to protect him, and he should do something to protect himself. And I appreciate you checking in, but he should do something to protect protect himself because the big money he's gonna make someday is not from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's gonna come from somewhere else, whether there's a labor stoppage or not, and a salary cap or not.
00:07:55
Speaker 4: Four one two three, three three ninety nine thirty nine.
00:07:59
Speaker 1: I didn't get to that clip from Kevin Gorman about the abs challenge. We'll do that when we come back, how that might be affecting schemes, and a couple other variables that might be in the mix too. Then we're gonna get to Tim Neverritt, who joined me on the Breakfast Even's podcast. Former Pittsburgh Pirate broadcaster has since gone on to the Red Sox and the Dodgers. It has called World Series wins for both of those franchises. Was here when the Buckos went to the playoffs in twenty thirteen through fifteen. We'll talk to him about those years, and we'll talk to him about Showy Atani, Paul Skins, the Dodgers trip here, and much more.
00:08:33
Speaker 4: One O five nine, the x Yo, It's the Oni Show.
00:08:37
Speaker 2: What's in your w astless Chaps?
00:08:39
Speaker 4: Would that help it all? If they want d X at one oh five nine.
00:08:48
Speaker 1: Frocks about the Studars Pro Shop, get it direct from the team at Steelers Pro Shop shop dot Steelers dot com. All right, let me clarify that Sporting News list I was talking about with Pierre.
00:08:57
Speaker 2: What they did was and.
00:09:00
Speaker 1: I guess this adds some nuance to it, but the headline is they crafted and we've crafted an all time NHL team with the best players in hockey history.
00:09:13
Speaker 2: And what they did was and I just thought as a tweet now if you go to the.
00:09:16
Speaker 1: Actual story on it, they're taking the best individual season from each player and saying that's who the player was at their absolute best. So like Mario one Gretzky at what was a two point fifteen Ovechkin when he set the record, So like they're taking the best individual season from each player and saying that's who represents him. Yoger when he won the scoring title in ninety six, Bosson in eighty two, Solani in ninety three. So that was the paran thing, all right. So that's the only guy I looked at with the year I said, what are they doing here? Eric Carlson in twenty three, That's why he's on the list. So the best individual season to represent a player. But still, I don't leave Sydney Crosby off this list. And you're really just kind of parsing things there, aren't you, Because I would think that if you're doing an all time team, whoever you put on that all time team, that guy's gonna have one season that stands out to that level to be there, unless you're talking about a guy who's just played for thirty years and has been a consistently very like a Ron Francis or somebody like that. Also want to mention the Pirates lineup tonight, which is eye catching, especially since Skens is going against the second best team in baseball. Gonzales leading off playing third, Low is going to play tonight despite getting injured in Atlanta second base, batting second, Reynolds third and left, o'hearne clean up right field. Ozuna is in there at DH he's batting fifth, O'Neill, Cruz sixth in center, and then it gets kooky. Davis Winzel first base, batting seventh. Just I don't know, Triolo is going to be the shortstop batting eighth, and then Davis is going to catch and bat ninth. Horror, Wit should just be in there at first, but whatever. So it's basically, whatever runs you're gonna get, you're probably gonna get one through sixth and then home Skiens has a better night along those lines. Here's what Kevin Gorman, who we're gonna hear from on Friday, said about how the ABS system might be affecting Skins.
00:11:45
Speaker 5: How much the ABS challenge system is affecting a guy like Paul Skins who can live right outside the strikes and he's got that type of control and command that he can throw pitches what you would call, you know, strike the ball or ball to strike and if that's counter productive for him, when you know Skeens is trying to kind of paint the black and and if he's outside the zone, he's gonna get punished for it.
00:12:10
Speaker 1: Now.
00:12:10
Speaker 2: I get that.
00:12:11
Speaker 1: But if you've got the stuff that Skeens has of all the pitchers, and all of them are are affected by this, you should be able to trust your stuff the most to play and operate within the zone.
00:12:28
Speaker 4: And that's where.
00:12:29
Speaker 2: And I'm saying that Kevin's wrong.
00:12:31
Speaker 1: He's probably right, But if that's something that's affecting Skins, then somebody needs to communicate that to him. Somebody needs to talk to him and say, hey, look, your stuff is good enough that it should be able to operate within the zone, so let it eat in the zone as opposed to trying to live on the block.
00:12:49
Speaker 2: And I get it.
00:12:49
Speaker 1: Like for a guy who's only in the league for two years, he got some calls before this APA abs whatever. We don't want to say that out loud. We always want to act like the umps and the refs are always screwing Pittsburgh teams. But schemes for a rookie and then a second year guy, he got some calls just off the black that maybe he's not getting now, and that might be factoring into what Kevin is talking about. But I mentioned Davis before batting ninth and catching.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: Here's the thought.
00:13:15
Speaker 1: If Davis is in there solely because he's doing a great job catching for schemes, and if Skeins has struggled his last four times out there, does that come into the calculus of how much longer they stick with Henry Davis. I asked Kevin that too. If he's lost for in a row and he's not dominating the way that he used to, does Henry Davis.
00:13:37
Speaker 2: Have to be his catcher?
00:13:40
Speaker 5: No, But I think there's a I think there's a comfort level there. And I also don't know that Andy Andy Rodriguez, if he's in the lineup it's right now, it's because of his bat you know. I still don't know if the Pirates trust his arm. Right now, it seems it seems like it's fine, but because of the history of arm issues, I think, you know, I think there's something concern on how frequently the Pirates are going to play him. I think some people would like to see him jump in, based on a very small sample size, jumping and play more frequently because of the way he's hitting. But Henry Davis has earned Paul Skins trust by the way he you know, calls the game, by the way he frames pitches.
00:14:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, but at some point you're going to need some bats to help things out, and you might need some hitting from your catcher too. So and the last clipball played from Kevin Bill Murphy, the new pitching coach for the Pirates, we had a caller suggested, you know, is this about leaning into the wrong pitches in his repertoire. I think that would be something that a guy like Murphy would be able to tap into a Skeens. But let's get Gourmey's take on him.
00:14:42
Speaker 5: The guy that I'm concerned about it, and I don't know him very well. I've not really had any direct conversations with Bill Murphy, you know, I've not interviewed him yet, just because he was barely around in spring training because he had so much work to do.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: Because it takes so long for him to walk over for your interview, it's time to stret the game.
00:15:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, but you know, here's a guy who two of the top arm talents on the Pirates have regressed from their last year's performance, and Scheins and Bubba Chandler, and that's under his watch.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: And Chandler might be bouncing back, but you know, Skeens has largely been on autopilot and everybody's been comfortable with that, but he might need some outside influence, and it's got to come from multiple sources within the organization. Hopefully Murphy is the right guy to tap into that and to be a sounding board for Skins if things continue to go sideways, which they have for the last month, but hopefully they get back on track against one of the best lineups in all of baseball tonight.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: All right, we'll talk about that with Tim Neverett. Next one to five nine the X.
00:15:45
Speaker 7: This is NFL quarterback Rodney pet And here's what's trending on the Iheartsports Network.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: Presented by KFC. The Pirates host the Dodgers tonight.
00:15:51
Speaker 7: It's a three game series opener with Paul Skeen's on the hill for Tobaccos.
00:15:55
Speaker 4: We're riding the three games. Kain West Virginia face Troy.
00:15:59
Speaker 7: That'll open the College World Series Friday whenter There meets either Ale missing North Carolina, and the NCAA is a healing a ruling that allows Texas Tech QB and admitted gambler Brendan Soresby to play while schools consider boycotts of the Red Raiders.
00:16:13
Speaker 5: I'm Scott David's introducer in the KFC ten dollars Beckett of the day.
00:16:18
Speaker 1: Five o'clock hour of the Mark Madden Show, Tim Benn sitting in for Mark today. Mark is back tomorrow and you can check him out on the Madden Monday Podcast with me. It's up at the Breakfast of Benz site at trip Live. If you missed it earlier in the week, you still catch it there. Joining me right now as we get ready for Dodgers and Pirates at p and C Park with Paul Skeens pitching tonight Showiatani pitching on Wednesday. It's Tim Neffett play by playman for the Dodgers, of course, formally play by playman here in Pittsburgh on Sports at Pittsburgh and on the Pirates flagship station on the radio side as well. Tim call games here from nine to fifteen. Tim, It's great to catch up with you again. How are you good?
00:17:00
Speaker 4: Tim? It's great to be back in the Burg. I love this town and it was the hardest place I ever had to leave, and it's just great to be back every year and still have a lot of friendships here, and you know, just it's great to be back at the ballpark.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that, what do you think of what you're going to see over the next couple of days, particularly with Skeens pitching tonight and what have you seen on a regular basis calling shows starts this year in Los Angeles?
00:17:28
Speaker 4: Well, with Skeens, you know, he's a guy that I always look forward to seeing because we don't get to see him very much, but he's the special talent. He's somebody like you know, really they've never had here in Pittsburgh. I mean, they've had some great pitching over the years and you know, going back and and whatnot, but I don't know if they've ever seen anybody quite like Paul Skeens. So yeah, I look forward to seeing that. From the baseball side of things, I know it's going to be, you know, a challenge for the Dodger hitters. And you go, wow, you're a first place team and you keep winning and all that stuff, but still it's tough. And whenever the Dodgers play the Pirates in recent years, it's been tough the Pirates, you know, they do they give the Dodgers their best shot. So I'm expecting that kind of a game tonight. Otani this year, now that he's back pitching full time, has been incredible on the hill. I mean, he's got an e er you can't even see. He's got six pitches, all of them he throws for strikes. You know, he's pretty much a guy you can count on for six innings, seven innings sometimes, and then he can continue to hit. This last month, he's been really really good at the plate. He had a slow start I think offensively for him, relatively speaking, but he's been really good at the plate lately, and just he's like somebody that nobody's ever seen. He's the best player on the planet. He does stuff on a daily basis that just makes major league players shake their heads and go, I don't know how you do that, but it's an honor to be around him, and it's been a pleasure to cover him and see his daily exploits. So I think this series, you know, you got a lot of good things to watch in this series. I think the Pirates are a team that you know, I think in the central they can still surprise. There's still a lot of time and always like these games because the Pirates play the Dodgers so well.
00:19:27
Speaker 1: Well when he did pitch last year, I think it was fourteen starts last year. Ten so far this year. He was good last year two eight seven e ra. But to amplify your point, when your er and your whip are that close to each other point seventy four point seventy nine, you don't need to say anything else statistically, tell me, though, what you're seeing. That has made him go from pretty good getting back in the mound after not doing that in twenty four to being you know, cy young worthy here in twenty six.
00:19:56
Speaker 4: I think it's overall command of his pitches. I think, you know, he he's throwing the sweeper quite a bit, and he's throwing it a lot for strikes to left handed hitters. He gets it over the outside corner to come back at the last second. I mean, his sweeper's been very good. Of course, his splitter is really good, and his curveball has been excellent. But his fastball he's got back up to round one hundred again, so that I think was the difference with last year, where he really didn't unleash the fastball like he is this year consistently ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine and get up around one hundred in the fastball command. Everything else works off of that, So you know, he has been endpoint in terms of his fastball accuracy where he wants to put it for the most part. He had a game a couple of games ago where he walked a few and that was pretty uncharacteristic for him. But if he's not walking people, he's getting him out one way or another. And he's been really, really tough to hit for the guys that he's faced so far this year.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: Want to dwell on the point that you brought up about all of his pitches, his six pitches, and he just went through the litany of those pitches that are working right now, and then he brought it back to the fastball being good. And that's kind of been the problem for Schemes this year, at least the last month. He was excellent up until the last month. In his last four outings, he's had some problems. Granted, some of that's been external, some of it's been defense, some of it's been bullpen that has augmented problems when he's gone out early. But his fastball hasn't been what it was the first two years, and everybody's insisting he's not hurt, so I'm wondering if he's just not able to get back to it because it's so diluted with the other pitches, so many arrows in the quiver. How has that not been a problem for Otani?
00:21:44
Speaker 4: I think it hasn't been a problem because the way that he's used. First of all, the Dodgers are going with a six man rotation. He's essentially pitching once a week. They may give him a day off after. They're trying to find the right formula rest wise for him, and I think they might have stumbled on it because, you know, they had him where he wouldn't hit, he'd only pitch, and I think he was not happy with that because he's such a good offensive player. He wanted to do both. They found a way to rest him and he got back into the lineup and his hitting and pitching at the same time and doing well of both. So I just think it's the way that they have decided to use him, you know, to steal a term from the NBA, load management, I hate the term and I hate the way they use it in the NBA, But at the same time, I think it's working for Otani and I'm not suggesting that, you know, the Pirates should say, well, you know, Skiing should only pitch once a week. No, he should pitch when he's on turn. He's just that talented of a pitcher. But I think when you talk to hitters, they go through slumps. You talk to pitchers, they go through slumps when they're not feeling a thousand percent. They may not have a good bullpen session, or they might you know, come out they just don't feel right. It's not always that they're hurt. It's just that sometimes things aren't perfect in baseball, you know. I mean Clint Hurley used to say all the time, baseball is a game. It's an imperfect game played by imperfect people. And he was right, and that's you know, I think, you know, he might just be going through it at this point in time, and who knows, tonight he might come out and just shove. That's kind of the way the game is. You know, he's going to be back to what he was at some point. I think he's confident in that. I would, I would venture to say, and I think the Pirates are as an organization, are confident in that as well. But I'm anxious to see him go tonight, because he's just he's a special talent and not everybody has a Paul Skins on their rosters. So I think it'd be great if Schemes was pitching against Otani, and I think if Otani was on regular rest, we'd see that matchup tonight. But it's just not the way that the teams are deciding to do business. Each team's doing it a little differently with their with their best pitcher.
00:24:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was hoping that would be the case. We had a similar situation last year where it was going to be Scooball and Schemes and then there was a rainout that happened. They had to make it be a double header, and they still pitched in opposite ends the double headers.
00:24:14
Speaker 4: That was really maddening.
00:24:16
Speaker 1: But you know, like, honestly, Tim, the conversation that you brought up about the six man thing and applying it to Skeens, and I hear what you're saying, he should pitch when he should be on rest, But if his regular rest were to be six Like, the biggest issue that I've got with some teams doing a six man rotation is you got to count to six, and most teams don't have six, And the biggest controversy so far this year for the Pirates has been taking one guy out of the rotation. It looked like they did have an opportunity for six with Carmen Leczinski, but they're now using him to piggyback Jared Jones. It appears, you know, like, if you've got six decent guys who can go, and if you could get more out of schemes once every six instead of once every five, I'll take that swap out, I guess. For the Dodgers, now, the question and is who's your six? And I guess the sixth is lour who we're seeing tonight, right, the guy from the Blue Jays.
00:25:05
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, he was dfad by the Blue Jays a few weeks ago, and since he's come over to the Dodgers, he's pitched pretty well. And you know, he was a bullpen guy for the for the Blue Jays for part of his time there. They wanted to use him as a piggyback guy after an opener, and he didn't like the opener idea, and it made it, you know, pretty evident to his manager, and so they're like, okay, well maybe you'll go somewhere else and be a starter, and so that's what happened to the Dodgers picked him up. But he's been pretty good in his couple of starts with the Dodgers so far. I think, you know, he realizes he's got a pretty solid bullpen behind him, and the fact that they can afford to have a six man rotation, I think for any pitcher is a little comforting in today's baseball, and I just you know, the way things are going with the game itself and how we've seen it evolve. I mean, remember, it wasn't all that long ago, relatively speaking, you had a four man rotation. When the five man rotation started. When you get a fifth starter, that was almost revolutionary when that started. And now you know the Dodgers are going with six. You know, it's like, how do you manage your roster well? Because you've got a guy who can both hit and pitch and you're not going to push him, and you've got other guys who can certainly fill the gap, you know, Yamamoto and Sasaki. Sasaki has been pitching out of his mind lately, you know, which is finally he's he's adjusting to where he should have been when he first got over here.
00:26:35
Speaker 7: You know.
00:26:36
Speaker 4: So we've still got two guys out in Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow who are on the injured list currently who will get back at some point in time. So yeah, the way that they handle starting pitchers is continuing to evolve. And it wouldn't shock me that, you know, as we move along here in the coming years, that more teams try to find a way to have a six man rotation.
00:26:58
Speaker 1: How does this Dodgers stack up to the other teams, including last year that won the World Series, that the recent World Series iterations of the Dodgers that you've seen.
00:27:10
Speaker 4: Well, I think, uh, I think it's frankly, it's better because you have Otani as a full time member, you're pitching staff, You've got Sasaki not coming out of the bullpen. He's starting and and has finally figured it out. Uh, at least from what we've seen in his last few starts. I mean, he comes off a start where he was, you know, was his best major league start. We're seeing the emergence of Justin Robleski, who's last each of his last two starts, I think at least two out of his three have been two of his best major league starts. You know, we're seeing guys just develop in front of our eyes in terms of pitching. So I think that's one of the main reasons why this team's probably better. Plus the guys we have on the injured list right now, not only bullpen guys but starters that are coming back, I think that's just gonna make him that much stronger as we get later in the season. So, uh, you know, Freddie Freeman is still there. Mookie Betts is not having a good year offensively, but that's gonna change. He's gonna come around. He always does, always has. You know, Tony's hitting the ball, waiting for Kyle Tucker to be Kyle Tucker, but he's you know, occasionally we've seen those flashes, and I think it's just going to take time for everything to come together for this team. But I actually think they're a little better than they were a year ago.
00:28:24
Speaker 1: So you're going there in Los Angeles for three straight World Series again, Tim Nevertt with this former Pirates broadcaster you were here for twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, and twenty fifteen. We just got done having a conversation yesterday about those three teams, and which was the best of the three. What do you think which one stands out to you is the best constructed team? I know the thirteen team made the deepest run and had that biggest highlight. What was the best team to watch on the field though for one sixty whatever ended up being sixty three or sixty seven or eight.
00:28:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I agree with you on this. I think the thirteen team. The twenty thirteen team had the best chance to win and could have gone further if not for that Game four that Michael Waka and Charlie Morton faced off and they both pitched great and Walker pitched the game of his life and forced that Game five in Saint Louis and Adam Wainwright was arrested. I think that if they win Game four, they go play the Dodgers in the NLCS, and I think it would have been a toss up and had a World Series team here in twenty thirteen. But I do think the best constructed team was twenty fifteen. I think that, you know, man for man, that was the best team. Unfortunately, ran into Jake Arietta when he was at his absolute hottest in that Wildcard game and I think if they get passed a wildcard game, they probably could have done some damage in the postseason. But I really think that that was a great stretch of pirate baseball. I was really fortunate to be part of that, be around for all. All of that still brings me great memories and great thoughts and great conversation. I was out having coffee with some folks this morning who are friends of mine here, and that's what we talked about, was the twenty thirteen, fourteen, fifteen seasons. I was introduced to somebody I hadn't met before, and that's the one thing they brought up. Hey, you were here during the good years, and so it's great to have that memory. But I really, you know, I went to Boston, we won a World Series. I've been part of three other World Series teams in LA been very, very lucky. But to me, quite honestly, Tim, and it might sound corny, but it's not, you know, my love for the city here and the fact that, you know, I had a really hard decision to make and at the end of fifteen do I go home and help my parents out or do I stay here in Pittsburgh. And I had to pick family over this family here, But I really wish that people in Pittsburgh could have at least experienced, you know, a part of what I've been able to experience in terms of the winning side of baseball. I really wish the Pirates could find a way to win again. I think these fans here are unbelievable. I really do, and I think that, you know, they deserve a winner. And I hope that this team can somehow find a way to compete come September and October, because we've all seen it. We know what it's like here in September and October when the Buckos win. And I mean when I see people hanging off the Clementy Bridge trying to get a glimpse of the field during the wild Card gave.
00:31:31
Speaker 3: It's just.
00:31:33
Speaker 4: Those are some of the baseball memories I'll always have. They'll go, you know, you've been part of four World Series teams and all that. I'm like, yeah, but there was nothing like October first, twenty thirteen. Still in my mind, that was one of the greatest baseball environments I've ever seen in my life. And I don't know if that can be replicated. Maybe it can be down the line here but probably only in this city.
00:31:54
Speaker 1: I know one thing that could help potentially, Tim, that's the salary cap. How would your bosses feel about that? You know camera bosses in Boston, by the way, how do they feel about it?
00:32:05
Speaker 4: Too? Well? Obviously the owners want it, right, I mean collectively they want it. They've already put it out there on the table. Yeah, it's going to change it. You know, if they get it, they would change the way that people do business in baseball. And I think for for certain owners, you know, like really big market owners, if they have a salary cap, they have a chance to make more money, don't they. I mean this it's just math, right, Yeah, I.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: Just I wonder they sound unified now and that's all well and good. I'm just wondering, like, when the negotiation happens, how firm are the big market cities, big market owners not only a cap but a functional cap? Like's it going to be a real cap or is it going to be another version of what we see in the NFL or the NBA.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: Like I think for it to work, it's going to be a hockey cap.
00:32:50
Speaker 4: Honestly, Yeah, I don't. I don't know what's going to happen.
00:32:53
Speaker 6: There.
00:32:54
Speaker 4: I'm like right now, my concern with it and any kind of work stoppage in baseball, it's not I'm not concerned about the owners. I'm not concerned about the players. I'm concerned about the people who work for the team, who have regular jobs and make regular salaries, because I think if if there's a lockout, there's gonna there could be some length to it maybe, and if there is, a lot of good people are going to lose jobs. And that's the part that really sucks about all of this. And that's the part that I hate about it. But you know, they want to try to save the game for the future in terms of economics, in terms of competitive balance. I understand all that. But you know, my thinking is with anybody who's with a team who you know may get laid off as a result of this. I've seen it before. It's it's no fun for anybody. And I just hope there isn't a work stoppage period. I hope they can. These are smart people. I hope they can sit down in a room and figure it out.
00:33:51
Speaker 1: Well, Tim, it's great catching up with you. I'm glad we can do it. Thanks for taking the time to speak here in advance in game one. Enjoy the series while you're here, and I hope we will catch up at some point over the next couple days. I'm really looking forward to all three games, and we didn't even get to the last game. The pitching matchup there with Jones and rib Leski you talked about a little bit, but that's gonna be fun too. I think it's gonna be a great series.
00:34:12
Speaker 4: And you're right.
00:34:12
Speaker 1: The Pirates, for whatever reason, always seem to cause the Dodgers trouble. So even though the Pirates come in limping after the Braves series, I think it's gonna be a fun one to watch.
00:34:20
Speaker 4: I think so too. I think it. I think it's gonna be a great series. I think this is uh, this is gonna be good baseball this series. I really do. And I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to bumping India over at PNC Park and seeing all kinds of people this week that now I only get to see about once a year, which is unfortunate for me because I really loved it here.
00:34:43
Speaker 1: Thanks, Tim, appreciate it all right, see it Tim. Tim never does play by play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Formerly a play by play Guy here in Pittsburgh from twenty nine to twenty fifteen One No.
00:34:53
Speaker 4: Five to nine.
00:34:53
Speaker 3: The X
Speaker 1: I was laughing going through some social media interactions that I had just a couple of days ago, dating back to the Miles Garrett trade when he went from Cleveland to Los Angeles, and I was going through a bunch of tweets that I saw from people who were saying, Okay, well, now the Steelers should go out there and trade TJ.
00:00:19
Speaker 2: Watt whoever they get for TJ. Watt.
00:00:22
Speaker 1: It's not going to be the Hall that the Rams gave out to the Browns for Miles Garrett. In fact, even saw one guy say that the Steelers should flip Watt to the Browns for their twenty twenty seven first round pick because now the Browns have a needed edge.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: Well, the Steelers are going to do that. They're not gonna trade Watt within the division.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: That's not realistic, but it's no less goofy of a suggestion than believing that the Steelers could even get a sniff of what Cleveland got.
00:00:49
Speaker 2: For Garrett if they do deal Watt.
00:00:52
Speaker 1: Garrett just had his best season at age thirty, setting the NFL record with twenty three sacks.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: He also set a career high with forty three.
00:01:02
Speaker 1: Solo tackles and tied a career high with sixty total tackles. What sack total went down from nineteen and twenty three to eleven and a half and twenty four. Then last year, Watt only posted seven sacks and twenty three solo tackles. That's even before he got poked in the lung during the whole dry needling thing. What had just one sack in the previous four games. The only place in America where we're still doing the favorable Watt to Garrett comps after last year is Pittsburgh.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: If the Steelers were to.
00:01:35
Speaker 1: Trade Watt, there's no way the team is getting back a two time Pro bowler in year three of his entry level deal like they did in Verse.
00:01:44
Speaker 2: Forget about it.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: Especially not with sixty four million and guaranteed salaries still remaining on his contract. So I know there's a lot of conversation out there still about the idea of the Steelers probing and investigating trading Watt because they locked up her big and they they could do that and maybe they get something that they could use as a weapon to trade up next year in the draft if they want the quarterback. That could happen, but it's not gonna be the Howitzer that the Browns just got from someone. I don't see it that way. Like, for instance, you know, in March, Bleacher Report had that story out where they floated Watt plus a third rounder in twenty seven to San Francisco for the Niners twenty twenty seven first rounder.
00:02:29
Speaker 2: What in some second day.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: Capital for a potential late first rounder, even that I feel like his high end, even that might be optimistic at this point. His age, injury history, lagging production come into play. But so does the knowledge that other teams have that the Steelers have now just inked her Big and they still would then have Highsmith even though the number isn't guaranteed for him, but I think it's thirty five million thirty million left in salary between now and the end of his contract two years from now. That's one thing that that her Big contract does. It kind of puts the Steelers in a position where the rest of the league knows that if they go through three years with all go through this year with all three of the outside linebackers, that everybody in the league knows they're trying to open up a spot in some salary cap room there because they're paying them as if they're all three starters, and even if it does work out, that's going to be tough.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: For Omar Khan to swallow.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Four one two three three three ninety nine thirty nine, or you can call eight three three four one two w XDX. Let's go to Alex in Bethel Park. Who wants to talk about Paul Skeins Alex y'er on one of five nine the X.
00:03:42
Speaker 3: Hey, Tim, how you Dan good?
00:03:44
Speaker 1: So?
00:03:45
Speaker 3: I was listening to me a little bit earlier, and you were talking about how Skeens is not trusting his splinker as much, which I thought when he came into the league with his bread and butter, and I've noticed that he really has gone away from using that critical situation. So that to me tells me there is something going on with his command or control or the loss. There has to be something that's stopping him from using the pitch that really got him on the map, because nobody had heard of a splinker before he came into the league.
00:04:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, and one thing I wonder that has come up, and you know, maybe we're focusing too much on pitch selection and his repertoire and we should be focusing on other things perhaps, But one of them that does strike me is he really seemed to fall in love with the change up and how effective it was through mid May. That was an excellent compliment to his fastball and the sweeper. But those have been the three pitches that he's relied on, and sometimes maybe those pitches get elevated, you know, maybe there's not as much downward break. But one thing that I have noticed is he's had a harder time getting out of jams than he did in his first two years, where he would admittedly get guys on base, but he'd get the out that he would need to wiggle away from those situations, and we're not seeing that as much right now.
00:05:01
Speaker 3: No, And to fall up on your point about the bullpen and you know baby going to a six man rotation like they do in LA, there is one guy that's out there that the pirates could get that you know they're never going to touch, and that would be Trevor Bauer.
00:05:13
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:05:13
Speaker 1: And I know Mark has talked about that, and I don't know what he's got left, but I would be in favor of looking, especially since they seem to be in love with this whole piggyback ideal and idea, and maybe that's a way to incorporate a guy like him. Robbie and Butler talking about Skins. You're on one of five nine the X Dame.
00:05:31
Speaker 3: What's up?
00:05:31
Speaker 5: How are you?
00:05:32
Speaker 4: Hey?
00:05:32
Speaker 6: Man? I'm just I'm just good good.
00:05:34
Speaker 4: How are you?
00:05:35
Speaker 6: I'm just playing Devil's advocate right now. Everybody's like, uh, it sounds like everybody's saying, like, what's wrong with Skeens? Is he heard? Is he what?
00:05:44
Speaker 1: You know?
00:05:44
Speaker 6: What's going on? Couldn't be that just he's everybody has all the other teams. Now, let's not forget that everybody else everybody other team has great players too, you know. Could it be the other teams have seen him enough of his pitches that they just figured him out.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: Well, if that's the case, then it's a bigger picture problem. I mean, if he's figured out with six pitches only two years into his career, then that's not a guy who's going to make a half a million dollars as everybody is, sorry, half a billion dollars, as everybody is suggesting, you know, like that's not you know, first five years of Verlander, as people were comparing, or even what Garrett Cole got, you know, like, if you look at Cole, he was starting to ascend in his third year, that was his best season. And if you're sort of suggesting that everybody's figured him out already just two years in, then that's a guy who's going to be called a flash in the pan in five years from now.
00:06:37
Speaker 2: And I don't think that Schemes and.
00:06:39
Speaker 6: I thought, I don't think.
00:06:40
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:06:41
Speaker 2: I thought where you were going with the.
00:06:42
Speaker 1: Call is, Hey, it's nothing, it's just a quick rut and he'll get out of it.
00:06:45
Speaker 2: And maybe he will.
00:06:46
Speaker 1: It's entirely possible he goes out there, walks one guy, strikes out ten and does it on a huge stage against the Dodgers, and we're all feeling better about it. But there's just a lot of stat geeky evidence and metric evidence to go along with the eye test of something's weird here that we haven't seen yet. And the big talking point is how do you nip that in the bud so it doesn't turn into the situation that you're talking about where we're saying, God, he was great for two years, but then whatever happened after that? Right?
00:07:18
Speaker 6: But I mean, if if there is like if he's working with some kind of injury or something's off in his elbow's shoulder, whatnot.
00:07:25
Speaker 4: Whatever.
00:07:27
Speaker 6: You know, why wouldn't why wouldn't the Pirates like just sit him instead of like.
00:07:32
Speaker 1: Maybe that's why they're not that's probably he's probably not hurt. I mean, if he is hurt, then they should do something to protect him, and he should do something to protect himself. And I appreciate you checking in, but he should do something to protect protect himself because the big money he's gonna make someday is not from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's gonna come from somewhere else, whether there's a labor stoppage or not, and a salary cap or not.
00:07:55
Speaker 4: Four one two three, three three ninety nine thirty nine.
00:07:59
Speaker 1: I didn't get to that clip from Kevin Gorman about the abs challenge. We'll do that when we come back, how that might be affecting schemes, and a couple other variables that might be in the mix too. Then we're gonna get to Tim Neverritt, who joined me on the Breakfast Even's podcast. Former Pittsburgh Pirate broadcaster has since gone on to the Red Sox and the Dodgers. It has called World Series wins for both of those franchises. Was here when the Buckos went to the playoffs in twenty thirteen through fifteen. We'll talk to him about those years, and we'll talk to him about Showy Atani, Paul Skins, the Dodgers trip here, and much more.
00:08:33
Speaker 4: One O five nine, the x Yo, It's the Oni Show.
00:08:37
Speaker 2: What's in your w astless Chaps?
00:08:39
Speaker 4: Would that help it all? If they want d X at one oh five nine.
00:08:48
Speaker 1: Frocks about the Studars Pro Shop, get it direct from the team at Steelers Pro Shop shop dot Steelers dot com. All right, let me clarify that Sporting News list I was talking about with Pierre.
00:08:57
Speaker 2: What they did was and.
00:09:00
Speaker 1: I guess this adds some nuance to it, but the headline is they crafted and we've crafted an all time NHL team with the best players in hockey history.
00:09:13
Speaker 2: And what they did was and I just thought as a tweet now if you go to the.
00:09:16
Speaker 1: Actual story on it, they're taking the best individual season from each player and saying that's who the player was at their absolute best. So like Mario one Gretzky at what was a two point fifteen Ovechkin when he set the record, So like they're taking the best individual season from each player and saying that's who represents him. Yoger when he won the scoring title in ninety six, Bosson in eighty two, Solani in ninety three. So that was the paran thing, all right. So that's the only guy I looked at with the year I said, what are they doing here? Eric Carlson in twenty three, That's why he's on the list. So the best individual season to represent a player. But still, I don't leave Sydney Crosby off this list. And you're really just kind of parsing things there, aren't you, Because I would think that if you're doing an all time team, whoever you put on that all time team, that guy's gonna have one season that stands out to that level to be there, unless you're talking about a guy who's just played for thirty years and has been a consistently very like a Ron Francis or somebody like that. Also want to mention the Pirates lineup tonight, which is eye catching, especially since Skens is going against the second best team in baseball. Gonzales leading off playing third, Low is going to play tonight despite getting injured in Atlanta second base, batting second, Reynolds third and left, o'hearne clean up right field. Ozuna is in there at DH he's batting fifth, O'Neill, Cruz sixth in center, and then it gets kooky. Davis Winzel first base, batting seventh. Just I don't know, Triolo is going to be the shortstop batting eighth, and then Davis is going to catch and bat ninth. Horror, Wit should just be in there at first, but whatever. So it's basically, whatever runs you're gonna get, you're probably gonna get one through sixth and then home Skiens has a better night along those lines. Here's what Kevin Gorman, who we're gonna hear from on Friday, said about how the ABS system might be affecting Skins.
00:11:45
Speaker 5: How much the ABS challenge system is affecting a guy like Paul Skins who can live right outside the strikes and he's got that type of control and command that he can throw pitches what you would call, you know, strike the ball or ball to strike and if that's counter productive for him, when you know Skeens is trying to kind of paint the black and and if he's outside the zone, he's gonna get punished for it.
00:12:10
Speaker 1: Now.
00:12:10
Speaker 2: I get that.
00:12:11
Speaker 1: But if you've got the stuff that Skeens has of all the pitchers, and all of them are are affected by this, you should be able to trust your stuff the most to play and operate within the zone.
00:12:28
Speaker 4: And that's where.
00:12:29
Speaker 2: And I'm saying that Kevin's wrong.
00:12:31
Speaker 1: He's probably right, But if that's something that's affecting Skins, then somebody needs to communicate that to him. Somebody needs to talk to him and say, hey, look, your stuff is good enough that it should be able to operate within the zone, so let it eat in the zone as opposed to trying to live on the block.
00:12:49
Speaker 2: And I get it.
00:12:49
Speaker 1: Like for a guy who's only in the league for two years, he got some calls before this APA abs whatever. We don't want to say that out loud. We always want to act like the umps and the refs are always screwing Pittsburgh teams. But schemes for a rookie and then a second year guy, he got some calls just off the black that maybe he's not getting now, and that might be factoring into what Kevin is talking about. But I mentioned Davis before batting ninth and catching.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: Here's the thought.
00:13:15
Speaker 1: If Davis is in there solely because he's doing a great job catching for schemes, and if Skeins has struggled his last four times out there, does that come into the calculus of how much longer they stick with Henry Davis. I asked Kevin that too. If he's lost for in a row and he's not dominating the way that he used to, does Henry Davis.
00:13:37
Speaker 2: Have to be his catcher?
00:13:40
Speaker 5: No, But I think there's a I think there's a comfort level there. And I also don't know that Andy Andy Rodriguez, if he's in the lineup it's right now, it's because of his bat you know. I still don't know if the Pirates trust his arm. Right now, it seems it seems like it's fine, but because of the history of arm issues, I think, you know, I think there's something concern on how frequently the Pirates are going to play him. I think some people would like to see him jump in, based on a very small sample size, jumping and play more frequently because of the way he's hitting. But Henry Davis has earned Paul Skins trust by the way he you know, calls the game, by the way he frames pitches.
00:14:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, but at some point you're going to need some bats to help things out, and you might need some hitting from your catcher too. So and the last clipball played from Kevin Bill Murphy, the new pitching coach for the Pirates, we had a caller suggested, you know, is this about leaning into the wrong pitches in his repertoire. I think that would be something that a guy like Murphy would be able to tap into a Skeens. But let's get Gourmey's take on him.
00:14:42
Speaker 5: The guy that I'm concerned about it, and I don't know him very well. I've not really had any direct conversations with Bill Murphy, you know, I've not interviewed him yet, just because he was barely around in spring training because he had so much work to do.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: Because it takes so long for him to walk over for your interview, it's time to stret the game.
00:15:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, but you know, here's a guy who two of the top arm talents on the Pirates have regressed from their last year's performance, and Scheins and Bubba Chandler, and that's under his watch.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: And Chandler might be bouncing back, but you know, Skeens has largely been on autopilot and everybody's been comfortable with that, but he might need some outside influence, and it's got to come from multiple sources within the organization. Hopefully Murphy is the right guy to tap into that and to be a sounding board for Skins if things continue to go sideways, which they have for the last month, but hopefully they get back on track against one of the best lineups in all of baseball tonight.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: All right, we'll talk about that with Tim Neverett. Next one to five nine the X.
00:15:45
Speaker 7: This is NFL quarterback Rodney pet And here's what's trending on the Iheartsports Network.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: Presented by KFC. The Pirates host the Dodgers tonight.
00:15:51
Speaker 7: It's a three game series opener with Paul Skeen's on the hill for Tobaccos.
00:15:55
Speaker 4: We're riding the three games. Kain West Virginia face Troy.
00:15:59
Speaker 7: That'll open the College World Series Friday whenter There meets either Ale missing North Carolina, and the NCAA is a healing a ruling that allows Texas Tech QB and admitted gambler Brendan Soresby to play while schools consider boycotts of the Red Raiders.
00:16:13
Speaker 5: I'm Scott David's introducer in the KFC ten dollars Beckett of the day.
00:16:18
Speaker 1: Five o'clock hour of the Mark Madden Show, Tim Benn sitting in for Mark today. Mark is back tomorrow and you can check him out on the Madden Monday Podcast with me. It's up at the Breakfast of Benz site at trip Live. If you missed it earlier in the week, you still catch it there. Joining me right now as we get ready for Dodgers and Pirates at p and C Park with Paul Skeens pitching tonight Showiatani pitching on Wednesday. It's Tim Neffett play by playman for the Dodgers, of course, formally play by playman here in Pittsburgh on Sports at Pittsburgh and on the Pirates flagship station on the radio side as well. Tim call games here from nine to fifteen. Tim, It's great to catch up with you again. How are you good?
00:17:00
Speaker 4: Tim? It's great to be back in the Burg. I love this town and it was the hardest place I ever had to leave, and it's just great to be back every year and still have a lot of friendships here, and you know, just it's great to be back at the ballpark.
00:17:15
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that, what do you think of what you're going to see over the next couple of days, particularly with Skeens pitching tonight and what have you seen on a regular basis calling shows starts this year in Los Angeles?
00:17:28
Speaker 4: Well, with Skeens, you know, he's a guy that I always look forward to seeing because we don't get to see him very much, but he's the special talent. He's somebody like you know, really they've never had here in Pittsburgh. I mean, they've had some great pitching over the years and you know, going back and and whatnot, but I don't know if they've ever seen anybody quite like Paul Skeens. So yeah, I look forward to seeing that. From the baseball side of things, I know it's going to be, you know, a challenge for the Dodger hitters. And you go, wow, you're a first place team and you keep winning and all that stuff, but still it's tough. And whenever the Dodgers play the Pirates in recent years, it's been tough the Pirates, you know, they do they give the Dodgers their best shot. So I'm expecting that kind of a game tonight. Otani this year, now that he's back pitching full time, has been incredible on the hill. I mean, he's got an e er you can't even see. He's got six pitches, all of them he throws for strikes. You know, he's pretty much a guy you can count on for six innings, seven innings sometimes, and then he can continue to hit. This last month, he's been really really good at the plate. He had a slow start I think offensively for him, relatively speaking, but he's been really good at the plate lately, and just he's like somebody that nobody's ever seen. He's the best player on the planet. He does stuff on a daily basis that just makes major league players shake their heads and go, I don't know how you do that, but it's an honor to be around him, and it's been a pleasure to cover him and see his daily exploits. So I think this series, you know, you got a lot of good things to watch in this series. I think the Pirates are a team that you know, I think in the central they can still surprise. There's still a lot of time and always like these games because the Pirates play the Dodgers so well.
00:19:27
Speaker 1: Well when he did pitch last year, I think it was fourteen starts last year. Ten so far this year. He was good last year two eight seven e ra. But to amplify your point, when your er and your whip are that close to each other point seventy four point seventy nine, you don't need to say anything else statistically, tell me, though, what you're seeing. That has made him go from pretty good getting back in the mound after not doing that in twenty four to being you know, cy young worthy here in twenty six.
00:19:56
Speaker 4: I think it's overall command of his pitches. I think, you know, he he's throwing the sweeper quite a bit, and he's throwing it a lot for strikes to left handed hitters. He gets it over the outside corner to come back at the last second. I mean, his sweeper's been very good. Of course, his splitter is really good, and his curveball has been excellent. But his fastball he's got back up to round one hundred again, so that I think was the difference with last year, where he really didn't unleash the fastball like he is this year consistently ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine and get up around one hundred in the fastball command. Everything else works off of that, So you know, he has been endpoint in terms of his fastball accuracy where he wants to put it for the most part. He had a game a couple of games ago where he walked a few and that was pretty uncharacteristic for him. But if he's not walking people, he's getting him out one way or another. And he's been really, really tough to hit for the guys that he's faced so far this year.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: Want to dwell on the point that you brought up about all of his pitches, his six pitches, and he just went through the litany of those pitches that are working right now, and then he brought it back to the fastball being good. And that's kind of been the problem for Schemes this year, at least the last month. He was excellent up until the last month. In his last four outings, he's had some problems. Granted, some of that's been external, some of it's been defense, some of it's been bullpen that has augmented problems when he's gone out early. But his fastball hasn't been what it was the first two years, and everybody's insisting he's not hurt, so I'm wondering if he's just not able to get back to it because it's so diluted with the other pitches, so many arrows in the quiver. How has that not been a problem for Otani?
00:21:44
Speaker 4: I think it hasn't been a problem because the way that he's used. First of all, the Dodgers are going with a six man rotation. He's essentially pitching once a week. They may give him a day off after. They're trying to find the right formula rest wise for him, and I think they might have stumbled on it because, you know, they had him where he wouldn't hit, he'd only pitch, and I think he was not happy with that because he's such a good offensive player. He wanted to do both. They found a way to rest him and he got back into the lineup and his hitting and pitching at the same time and doing well of both. So I just think it's the way that they have decided to use him, you know, to steal a term from the NBA, load management, I hate the term and I hate the way they use it in the NBA, But at the same time, I think it's working for Otani and I'm not suggesting that, you know, the Pirates should say, well, you know, Skiing should only pitch once a week. No, he should pitch when he's on turn. He's just that talented of a pitcher. But I think when you talk to hitters, they go through slumps. You talk to pitchers, they go through slumps when they're not feeling a thousand percent. They may not have a good bullpen session, or they might you know, come out they just don't feel right. It's not always that they're hurt. It's just that sometimes things aren't perfect in baseball, you know. I mean Clint Hurley used to say all the time, baseball is a game. It's an imperfect game played by imperfect people. And he was right, and that's you know, I think, you know, he might just be going through it at this point in time, and who knows, tonight he might come out and just shove. That's kind of the way the game is. You know, he's going to be back to what he was at some point. I think he's confident in that. I would, I would venture to say, and I think the Pirates are as an organization, are confident in that as well. But I'm anxious to see him go tonight, because he's just he's a special talent and not everybody has a Paul Skins on their rosters. So I think it'd be great if Schemes was pitching against Otani, and I think if Otani was on regular rest, we'd see that matchup tonight. But it's just not the way that the teams are deciding to do business. Each team's doing it a little differently with their with their best pitcher.
00:24:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was hoping that would be the case. We had a similar situation last year where it was going to be Scooball and Schemes and then there was a rainout that happened. They had to make it be a double header, and they still pitched in opposite ends the double headers.
00:24:14
Speaker 4: That was really maddening.
00:24:16
Speaker 1: But you know, like, honestly, Tim, the conversation that you brought up about the six man thing and applying it to Skeens, and I hear what you're saying, he should pitch when he should be on rest, But if his regular rest were to be six Like, the biggest issue that I've got with some teams doing a six man rotation is you got to count to six, and most teams don't have six, And the biggest controversy so far this year for the Pirates has been taking one guy out of the rotation. It looked like they did have an opportunity for six with Carmen Leczinski, but they're now using him to piggyback Jared Jones. It appears, you know, like, if you've got six decent guys who can go, and if you could get more out of schemes once every six instead of once every five, I'll take that swap out, I guess. For the Dodgers, now, the question and is who's your six? And I guess the sixth is lour who we're seeing tonight, right, the guy from the Blue Jays.
00:25:05
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, he was dfad by the Blue Jays a few weeks ago, and since he's come over to the Dodgers, he's pitched pretty well. And you know, he was a bullpen guy for the for the Blue Jays for part of his time there. They wanted to use him as a piggyback guy after an opener, and he didn't like the opener idea, and it made it, you know, pretty evident to his manager, and so they're like, okay, well maybe you'll go somewhere else and be a starter, and so that's what happened to the Dodgers picked him up. But he's been pretty good in his couple of starts with the Dodgers so far. I think, you know, he realizes he's got a pretty solid bullpen behind him, and the fact that they can afford to have a six man rotation, I think for any pitcher is a little comforting in today's baseball, and I just you know, the way things are going with the game itself and how we've seen it evolve. I mean, remember, it wasn't all that long ago, relatively speaking, you had a four man rotation. When the five man rotation started. When you get a fifth starter, that was almost revolutionary when that started. And now you know the Dodgers are going with six. You know, it's like, how do you manage your roster well? Because you've got a guy who can both hit and pitch and you're not going to push him, and you've got other guys who can certainly fill the gap, you know, Yamamoto and Sasaki. Sasaki has been pitching out of his mind lately, you know, which is finally he's he's adjusting to where he should have been when he first got over here.
00:26:35
Speaker 7: You know.
00:26:36
Speaker 4: So we've still got two guys out in Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow who are on the injured list currently who will get back at some point in time. So yeah, the way that they handle starting pitchers is continuing to evolve. And it wouldn't shock me that, you know, as we move along here in the coming years, that more teams try to find a way to have a six man rotation.
00:26:58
Speaker 1: How does this Dodgers stack up to the other teams, including last year that won the World Series, that the recent World Series iterations of the Dodgers that you've seen.
00:27:10
Speaker 4: Well, I think, uh, I think it's frankly, it's better because you have Otani as a full time member, you're pitching staff, You've got Sasaki not coming out of the bullpen. He's starting and and has finally figured it out. Uh, at least from what we've seen in his last few starts. I mean, he comes off a start where he was, you know, was his best major league start. We're seeing the emergence of Justin Robleski, who's last each of his last two starts, I think at least two out of his three have been two of his best major league starts. You know, we're seeing guys just develop in front of our eyes in terms of pitching. So I think that's one of the main reasons why this team's probably better. Plus the guys we have on the injured list right now, not only bullpen guys but starters that are coming back, I think that's just gonna make him that much stronger as we get later in the season. So, uh, you know, Freddie Freeman is still there. Mookie Betts is not having a good year offensively, but that's gonna change. He's gonna come around. He always does, always has. You know, Tony's hitting the ball, waiting for Kyle Tucker to be Kyle Tucker, but he's you know, occasionally we've seen those flashes, and I think it's just going to take time for everything to come together for this team. But I actually think they're a little better than they were a year ago.
00:28:24
Speaker 1: So you're going there in Los Angeles for three straight World Series again, Tim Nevertt with this former Pirates broadcaster you were here for twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, and twenty fifteen. We just got done having a conversation yesterday about those three teams, and which was the best of the three. What do you think which one stands out to you is the best constructed team? I know the thirteen team made the deepest run and had that biggest highlight. What was the best team to watch on the field though for one sixty whatever ended up being sixty three or sixty seven or eight.
00:28:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I agree with you on this. I think the thirteen team. The twenty thirteen team had the best chance to win and could have gone further if not for that Game four that Michael Waka and Charlie Morton faced off and they both pitched great and Walker pitched the game of his life and forced that Game five in Saint Louis and Adam Wainwright was arrested. I think that if they win Game four, they go play the Dodgers in the NLCS, and I think it would have been a toss up and had a World Series team here in twenty thirteen. But I do think the best constructed team was twenty fifteen. I think that, you know, man for man, that was the best team. Unfortunately, ran into Jake Arietta when he was at his absolute hottest in that Wildcard game and I think if they get passed a wildcard game, they probably could have done some damage in the postseason. But I really think that that was a great stretch of pirate baseball. I was really fortunate to be part of that, be around for all. All of that still brings me great memories and great thoughts and great conversation. I was out having coffee with some folks this morning who are friends of mine here, and that's what we talked about, was the twenty thirteen, fourteen, fifteen seasons. I was introduced to somebody I hadn't met before, and that's the one thing they brought up. Hey, you were here during the good years, and so it's great to have that memory. But I really, you know, I went to Boston, we won a World Series. I've been part of three other World Series teams in LA been very, very lucky. But to me, quite honestly, Tim, and it might sound corny, but it's not, you know, my love for the city here and the fact that, you know, I had a really hard decision to make and at the end of fifteen do I go home and help my parents out or do I stay here in Pittsburgh. And I had to pick family over this family here, But I really wish that people in Pittsburgh could have at least experienced, you know, a part of what I've been able to experience in terms of the winning side of baseball. I really wish the Pirates could find a way to win again. I think these fans here are unbelievable. I really do, and I think that, you know, they deserve a winner. And I hope that this team can somehow find a way to compete come September and October, because we've all seen it. We know what it's like here in September and October when the Buckos win. And I mean when I see people hanging off the Clementy Bridge trying to get a glimpse of the field during the wild Card gave.
00:31:31
Speaker 3: It's just.
00:31:33
Speaker 4: Those are some of the baseball memories I'll always have. They'll go, you know, you've been part of four World Series teams and all that. I'm like, yeah, but there was nothing like October first, twenty thirteen. Still in my mind, that was one of the greatest baseball environments I've ever seen in my life. And I don't know if that can be replicated. Maybe it can be down the line here but probably only in this city.
00:31:54
Speaker 1: I know one thing that could help potentially, Tim, that's the salary cap. How would your bosses feel about that? You know camera bosses in Boston, by the way, how do they feel about it?
00:32:05
Speaker 4: Too? Well? Obviously the owners want it, right, I mean collectively they want it. They've already put it out there on the table. Yeah, it's going to change it. You know, if they get it, they would change the way that people do business in baseball. And I think for for certain owners, you know, like really big market owners, if they have a salary cap, they have a chance to make more money, don't they. I mean this it's just math, right, Yeah, I.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: Just I wonder they sound unified now and that's all well and good. I'm just wondering, like, when the negotiation happens, how firm are the big market cities, big market owners not only a cap but a functional cap? Like's it going to be a real cap or is it going to be another version of what we see in the NFL or the NBA.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: Like I think for it to work, it's going to be a hockey cap.
00:32:50
Speaker 4: Honestly, Yeah, I don't. I don't know what's going to happen.
00:32:53
Speaker 6: There.
00:32:54
Speaker 4: I'm like right now, my concern with it and any kind of work stoppage in baseball, it's not I'm not concerned about the owners. I'm not concerned about the players. I'm concerned about the people who work for the team, who have regular jobs and make regular salaries, because I think if if there's a lockout, there's gonna there could be some length to it maybe, and if there is, a lot of good people are going to lose jobs. And that's the part that really sucks about all of this. And that's the part that I hate about it. But you know, they want to try to save the game for the future in terms of economics, in terms of competitive balance. I understand all that. But you know, my thinking is with anybody who's with a team who you know may get laid off as a result of this. I've seen it before. It's it's no fun for anybody. And I just hope there isn't a work stoppage period. I hope they can. These are smart people. I hope they can sit down in a room and figure it out.
00:33:51
Speaker 1: Well, Tim, it's great catching up with you. I'm glad we can do it. Thanks for taking the time to speak here in advance in game one. Enjoy the series while you're here, and I hope we will catch up at some point over the next couple days. I'm really looking forward to all three games, and we didn't even get to the last game. The pitching matchup there with Jones and rib Leski you talked about a little bit, but that's gonna be fun too. I think it's gonna be a great series.
00:34:12
Speaker 4: And you're right.
00:34:12
Speaker 1: The Pirates, for whatever reason, always seem to cause the Dodgers trouble. So even though the Pirates come in limping after the Braves series, I think it's gonna be a fun one to watch.
00:34:20
Speaker 4: I think so too. I think it. I think it's gonna be a great series. I think this is uh, this is gonna be good baseball this series. I really do. And I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to bumping India over at PNC Park and seeing all kinds of people this week that now I only get to see about once a year, which is unfortunate for me because I really loved it here.
00:34:43
Speaker 1: Thanks, Tim, appreciate it all right, see it Tim. Tim never does play by play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Formerly a play by play Guy here in Pittsburgh from twenty nine to twenty fifteen One No.
00:34:53
Speaker 4: Five to nine.
00:34:53
Speaker 3: The X
