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Speaker 1: From the Berkshires to the sound. From wherever you live in MLB America, this is Inside the Parker.
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Speaker 2: You give us.
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Speaker 1: 22 minutes and we'll give you the scoop on Major League Baseball. Now, here's Baseball Hall of Fame voter number 57.
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Speaker 2: You have another hot take. Will not N.O.T. make the playoffs. Don't hand me the money.
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Speaker 1: Rob Parker.
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Speaker 3: Come on.
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Speaker 4: I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost 40 years now in New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit, in L.A.
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Speaker 2: I love this game. Let's go.
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Speaker 4: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. What a show we have for you today. Coming up, former Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph. He's also a analyst on the Yes Network. We'll talk He'll give us some insight on what's going on with the Bronx Bombers.
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Speaker 2: Aaron Judge is back.
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Speaker 4: Plus, we'll talk with anchor reporter Reggie Chapman from 11 Alive in Atlanta. He'll give us the skinny on the Braves, big weekend series against the Phillies.
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Speaker 2: That and much more. Let's go.
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Speaker 1: To lead off, it's getting robbed. Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major League Baseball. Number one, Shohei Otani is on the I.L. The Dodgers have officially placed him on the I.L.
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Speaker 4: He'll miss some action here in the final three weeks of the Major League Baseball season. He has a knee issue, right shoulder soreness, a couple of things ailing him. And he's kind of been dragging himself. He's not totally himself this year. This makes total sense to me. The Dodgers are comfortably in the lead in the NL West. They're going to win the NL West going away. There's no reason to push the issue. They're trying to three-peat, be the first team to three-peat since the Yankees did it in 98, 99, and 2000. It's been a long time, 25 years ago or plus, and this makes sense. He puts a lot of wear and tear. Imagine if he was even stealing bases during that time. But pitching and DHing, there's a lot of wear and tear. Every time he seems to have a season where he's doing both, injuries pile up on him. So the Dodgers finally put their foot down, said it doesn't make sense. Because I think they realize, too, he's not going to win the MVP. You know, so so why are you pushing and get putting him out there when he's not going to win a National League MVP? He's not winning a Cy Young. So so what is the purpose of doing this? This makes total sense to me by the Dodgers. And bravo for just finally saying we're going to do what's best for the organization.
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Speaker 2: Number two, Anthony Volpe back with the New York Yankees.
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Speaker 4: You remember demoted? No longer the shortstop when they brought up George Lombard Jr., their top prospect and the guy who's supposed to be the next quote unquote Derek Jeter. He's going to replace Jazz Chisholm. who is injured, and it makes sense. He's down in the minor leagues. They've been working him out at second base anyway.
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Speaker 2: I don't know.
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Speaker 4: Does Jazz Chisholm leave the Yankees and they make Volpe the second baseman going forward with Lombard?
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Speaker 2: It'd be very interesting to see how that plays out as a backup at least.
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Speaker 4: And the only thing is, I think Volpe got treated very poorly by Yankee fans, and it was kind of really shocking.
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Speaker 2: The guy won a gold-gloved shortstop. I get it. He was banged up. He played. He made a lot of errors, and it was hard to watch.
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Speaker 4: You don't want your shortstop, which is a very vital position in baseball, to be messing up routine plays or whatnot. But it's funny because George Lombard Jr., go back and read the stories his first couple of days, first week. Oh, look at the plays he's making, and this is a shortstop. And then he had this freakish where he had an error in six straight games, which I don't think had happened in Yankee history.
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Speaker 2: Like six straight games, you make an error. George Lombard Jr.
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Speaker 4: though, did hit his first Grand Slam home run on Wednesday night, which was big. Yankees hadn't hit a Grand Slam home run all year. So I know he's the guy long-term, but it's funny the leeway that fans gave him when he was going through his fielding woes And the way they turned on Volpe so quickly as a guy who, you know, to me, had played a good shortstop for the most part.
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Speaker 2: One year, good enough to win a gold glove.
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Speaker 1: Number three.
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Speaker 4: It will be very interesting to see what happens in San Francisco. They're going to finish in next to last place in the NL West. Thank God for the Colorado Rockies. But what happens with manager Tony Vitello? Buster Posey, thought outside the box, tried to do something different, hiring a manager who had never had any major league experience. We're not talking about playing in the big leagues, but even coaching or involved in baseball on.
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Speaker 2: That level at all.
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Speaker 4: Of course, he came from college, had a successful college program.
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Speaker 2: Still, it's so unconventional. And then the Giants have such a bad year.
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Speaker 4: And I wonder what ownership is Buster Posey going to save face, maybe move on for Tony Vitello, or only feel like the only way he's going to save his bacon is if Tony Vitello can rebound and have a better year in year two than year one as manager of the Giants. I just think in a division with the Dodgers and Padres, two franchises that spend money, have big stars, that you're going and allowing a manager to learn on the job in that division. I just think it's... You might be able to do that in Tampa Bay or Kansas City or somewhere like that. But San Francisco, the fifth largest market, I think it was a mistake when they did it.
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Speaker 2: If I'm the Giants, I'm firing Buster Posey and Tony Vitello, or both.
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Speaker 4: And I'm going to go out there and get me an experienced general manager, an experienced manager, and get this thing turned around.
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Speaker 2: Here comes the big interview listen and learn oh it's so good.
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Speaker 4: Now let's welcome into the podcast one of my favorites Willie Randolph who of course played 18 big league seasons of course won all back-to-back world series against the Dodgers with the New York Yankees and now is a broadcaster for the Yes Network and of course a former major league manager as well Willie what's happening.
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Speaker 5: How are you Good to see you, Rob. Always a pleasure, man.
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Speaker 4: No doubt about it. And I do want to talk about the New York Yankees. Obviously, you play for the team. You manage the Mets. But when I think of Willie Randolph, I think of the New York Yankees. And I know you started with the Pirates.
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Speaker 2: But here we are.
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Speaker 4: Coming into Friday, the Yankees are three games out of first place. Of course, they would love to be able to win the division. Do they have a shot? Can they get there? Or now that they have Judge back?
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Speaker 6: Yeah, well, Rob, I said about three weeks ago that I think they're going to catch Tampa.
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Speaker 5: Tampa's a phenomenal team.
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Speaker 6: They've had a great year, but the Yankees are starting to get some rhythm going, starting to get healthy with the big boy coming back. Their pitching is what's going to get them there. I mean, You know, they, you know, Cole's been throwing the ball better. Schlittler is going to be the Cy Young winner. So, and I can go on and on, but you know, they're stacked. They got a good club and I got a feeling, funny thing. They're going to catch them, but they still got work to do for big games at the end of the season coming up soon. So that's going to be the telltale.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: And you just mentioned it. Aaron judge being back. That's a big boost. He didn't go to any.
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Speaker 2: We have, he missed a lot.
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Speaker 4: You know, Willie, you know, this baseball is one of those sports that, where you kind of got to ramp up to get there. And a lot of times, guys got to go to the minor leagues, get some swings, some live pitching, you know, and whatnot. And Judge didn't do it, but I heard them talking about There's new machines that kind of give you simulated that are better, that you don't have to go, but you can still get your swings in. Is that what helped Judge to be able to, you know, not take a minor league assignment and come right back to the big leagues?
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Speaker 2: And then the other night he had two hits.
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Speaker 5: Yeah. Well, those machines are phenomenal. Really are.
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Speaker 6: They simulate just like you right there. It could be in a video game, really. It's kind of weird. And you can work on that, Rob Loder, but there's still no subject to for live pitching. OK, you know, at this point in time, the season is too late to really do any type of rehab work. The Yankees need them now. They need to get them in the mix. So for me, you know, Judge is a great athlete. He's in good physical shape. But when it's time, he starts to come by.
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Speaker 5: That's why we don't understand why they're not playing him regularly. for nine innings.
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Speaker 6: He needs reps. He needs to see pitches. So I know they're trying to conserve his, you know, him not getting hurt. But you can't predict that, man. You can pick up your daughter, you know, at home and pull your back out, you know. So that's just my feeling on it, whatever. But I think Aaron's going to be fine because he's in excellent shape. And the more pitches he sees, the better he's going to get. But just him being in the lineup, Rob, is going to make the whole lineup better, of course.
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Speaker 5: Willie, just.
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Speaker 4: Let's just talk about Aaron Judge for a minute and his impact. Obviously, to finally get his place in Yankee lore, they're going to have to win a World Series, you know, and we all understand that.
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Speaker 2: But when you look at, like, the year he had last year.
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Speaker 4: You know, it's hard to beat out a guy who had 60 home runs as a catcher, right?
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Speaker 2: Set the altar.
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Speaker 4: But Aaron Judge's numbers were just so ridiculous that they could not not vote him MVP and when I look at the Yankees and even when they have the the judges chambers they've never done that for anybody will you know that like the yankees are always the yankees are the most important thing not individual people right right what do you make of aaron judge in his place with the yankees.
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Speaker 6: Well you know he's going to go down as one of the all-time greats i believe you know he's still relatively young and he's putting up phenomenal numbers and and he's a popular guy in today's game with the kids um He.
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Speaker 5: Learned now how to be an average hitter.
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Speaker 6: You know, you look at Judge most of the time, most of the time you think he's a power guy, and it's true. But, Rob, he had over 300 last year. This guy for a little while last year was flirting with the triple crown. So that, to me, what separates Judge is a great, because he's not just a Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth type of slugger. He can hit, and that just takes him to a different dynamic, I think. And he plays defense, and he does a lot of other things, too.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, no. He's phenomenal. I mean, he batted. 331.
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Speaker 4: And Willie, the average batting average in Major League Baseball last year was.
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Speaker 2: 242. This guy hit.
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Speaker 5: 331.
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Speaker 2: You know it. Hey, Willie, if you were striking out batting. 240, they would have sent you back to the minor leagues back in the day.
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Speaker 6: You would have got your pink slip, man, and went out and got a real job, right? I mean, it's unbelievable how these guys are getting paid to be mediocre, man.
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Speaker 5: It blows my mind.
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Speaker 2: It is crazy.
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Speaker 5: God bless. God bless.
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Speaker 2: No, I'm with you.
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Speaker 5: I'm with you.
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Speaker 2: Hey, if they're paying, I'm not mad at you. Our guest is Willie Randolph.
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Speaker 4: Of course, former New York Yankee second baseman, started with the Pittsburgh Pirates, managed the Mets, of course, and is a broadcaster now on the Yes pre- and post-game show in New York. You brought it up earlier, the pitching too with the Yankees. You know, to me, in the postseason, you've got to have pitchings. And starting pitching, when you go into a series, and Slitler and Freed and Garrett Cole, and you've got Rondon is the fourth guy. I mean, that's pretty impressive pitchers. to go and I would feel good in a series. Don't you think pitching gets them to the World Series?
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Speaker 6: No doubt about it. And that's what's going to get the Yankees there. I mean, you didn't mention Will Warren, who was going to be like a fifth guy or whatever. But another thing that I want to mention is that we got guys coming back and healthy right now. I mean, Ryan Weathers right now, lefty coming out of the bullpen with nasty stuff, okay? Clark Smith is coming back, and there's one other guy. Hill is throwing the ball much better. So if those guys can adjust to the bullpen, it's going to take the pressure off Hedrick and the other guy that's having a great year. I mean, because they're starting to run out of bullets a little bit because nowadays we use our pitchers too much. So that's a little caveat I want to throw in there because the Yankees have these guys who are starters. But if they can go in there and get them one or two innings out of the bullpen, that's a huge, huge get right there and something that could really make them even better as a pitching staff.
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Speaker 4: I know the chances are not good for Aaron Boone to be manager of the year in the American League. But when I look at all the injuries, no judge, you know, Stanton was hurt. Cody Bellinger was hurt.
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: You know, I look at the team and, you know, Max Freed, right, hurt twice. You didn't start the season with Garrett Cole. How have the Yankees been able to hold it together? Because to me it feels like they've had to do it with, you know, popsicle sticks, tape, and glue, you know, to hold this thing together.
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Speaker 2: And they're within striking distance to win the division.
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Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
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Speaker 6: Well, you know, like most great teams, you got to have team depth. I mean, Rice has had a really good year. You know, we've had, you know, other guys pitch in and do, you know, Bellinger's been hurt also, you know, but he's done a nice little job. When you have that type of team depth and you can pull in a guy like Jones, who's done a nice job so far today. I mean, Grissom has been up and down, but, but, you know, they, they just have a nice chemistry on their club, Rob. They, They kind of play for each other. They do play for each other. I've been in spring training for years now with them. So I see the chemistry. And that means a lot. They have a nice group of guys. Their coaching staff does an excellent job of preparing them to play. But I just think that they've been together for a few years now and they've gone through some disappointments and ups and downs. And I think that they know it's time. OK, because in New York, as you know, you know, it's like put up or shut up. And I think the pressure for them to really come through right now, I think they feel that collectively. And that's going to get them over the hump a little bit. Now, again, it's a crap shoot. They shoot with that division because Boston's right on their heels. Red Sox are no joke. And they got four lefty starters. And the Yankees are heavily laden with left-handed hitting. So I think that they have to watch their back a little bit. And if they do, you know, get the first wild card, you got to go up against Boston. That should be a great series. So Yankees are always going to be there. You know, they like the Dodgers.
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Speaker 2: They got glue.
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Speaker 6: They're going to, you know, get guys or whatever. But they can replace people when other teams can't. And that's part of their thing.
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Speaker 4: Before that last thing, before the season started, I think I picked the Padres and the Yankees in the World Series. I just thought it's very hard for the Dodgers to 3P to get there again.
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Speaker 2: You know, like, it's just a lot. You know you did it back-to-back.
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Speaker 4: It's hard to win the last team, to win three in a row with the Yankees, 98, 99, and 2000.
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Speaker 5: That's 25 years ago.
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Speaker 2: You know, it's hard. Mm-hmm. Who do you like? Who did you pick before the season started? I'm just curious.
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Speaker 5: You know what? I'm not a big pick guy.
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Speaker 6: I didn't really go out on that limb to do that because I always feel like you got to watch the season. Instead of having to flow with the season, I don't start really looking at teams until after the All-Star break, you know, or right approaching the All-Star break.
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Speaker 5: I really like Milwaukee.
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Speaker 6: See, people sleep on Milwaukee all the time, but they play the game right, Rob, okay? You know, they might not slug like a lot of teams do, like the Yankees or the Dodgers or other teams, but when you get into a short series, yeah, we love the 3-1 homer. Yeah, we love that. But you still got to play fundamental baseball. And they run, they catch the ball, and they put the ball in play, which is huge in a short series or in the World Series. So I like right now Milwaukee to get there. I'd like the Yankees also to be there. But, again, it gets to be a crapshoot around this time, and it's all about pitching, like we said, and getting guys to step up at the right time, being a little lucky, getting a break here and there. So I'm not a big prediction guy, but right now those are the teams, two teams that I really.
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Speaker 2: Really like.
00:16:48
Speaker 5: The Padres could get hot too. The Dodgers. I mean, the thing with the.
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Speaker 2: Dodgers right now. I hear you with Milwaukee.
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Speaker 4: They've had a good team for the last few years, and in the post last year– Against the Dodgers, Willie, they couldn't hit to save their– you know what I mean?
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Speaker 2: They just couldn't hit.
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Speaker 4: It was unbelievable how poorly they performed in the postseason.
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Speaker 2: But I hear you.
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Speaker 6: They've been– Yeah, new year and a little more experience and stuff. I understand that. I understand that. But, you know, you got teams like– You know, I think, like you said, I think San Diego can get hot.
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Speaker 5: You know, anybody can get hot at this point in time.
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Speaker 6: It's really weird. I mean, Cleveland struggled all year. We don't expect them to be there. But all those teams kind of have experience, and they can scare you. But the teams that we just mentioned are the teams that should be in the mix. And, again, don't sleep on Boston. I hate saying that. I'm giving Boston some props. But they do have a weird setup there where they believe in themselves. And Crochet might come back, too, which might help them a little bit.
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Speaker 2: No doubt. His name is Willie Randolph, one of the best in the business, my man. Willie, always a pleasure, man. I'll see you in the Bronx, I'm sure. Yeah, we'll do it soon, man.
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Speaker 5: Love you.
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Speaker 2: Always a pleasure being with you.
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Speaker 5: Take care, bro.
00:17:58
Speaker 2: Thank you, buddy. In case you.
00:18:01
Speaker 1: Missed Rob Parker on the MLB Network, here's his latest appearance on MLB Now.
00:18:08
Speaker 7: Personal attacks are back on the table right now.
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Speaker 3: Rob Parker is back, our good friend, in the showdown. Rob, you good? Good to have you back?
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Speaker 2: All good, BK. Ready to roll, my man. Let's do it.
00:18:18
Speaker 7: I hate to slam, like, the best, you know, team in baseball, the standard. I wax poetic on the Dodgers left and right, but they're out there saying, Otani, we're going to put him on the IL. We think this is prudent. We're just going to play it safe. They weren't playing it safe this year, Rob, and I see the guy getting hurt. They didn't make him get hurt. I think they allowed him because he wanted to do both high throttle, and now he's hurt.
00:18:43
Speaker 4: Okay, I think at some point we just have to acknowledge that Ohtani is selfish. He wants what he wants. He wants to do, you know, pitch and play. And when he was in, people forget this, when he was in Anaheim with the Angels, he was hurt, right, when he was doing both. Yeah. It seems like every time he's doing both, BK, he winds up hurt or something goes wrong.
00:19:09
Speaker 2: A couple of years ago when he did not pitch.
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Speaker 4: He had a 50-50 year.
00:19:15
Speaker 2: He was unbelievable, right?
00:19:18
Speaker 4: That was his best year by far because it didn't include the pitching.
00:19:22
Speaker 2: And I think maybe the.
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Speaker 4: Dodgers have finally said, you know what– we're not just going to go along because this is what you want to do.
00:19:29
Speaker 2: And I give the Dodgers some credit, finally.
00:19:31
Speaker 7: Yeah, but again, he's dinged up. The knee, you know, the bicep. He was hurting for a while. You could see him wearing down. And look, as far as being selfish, a professional athlete has to be selfish.
00:19:41
Speaker 3: I get like, I know what you mean on that. We're not nailing the guy.
00:19:44
Speaker 8: He's tough.
00:19:45
Speaker 3: He wants to play. He wants to do both.
00:19:47
Speaker 7: He's historic. But there's a price. And now we're seeing that price.
00:19:50
Speaker 3: And you're right.
00:19:51
Speaker 7: There's only been one double-duty season for Otani where he did both and played the full year.
00:19:56
Speaker 4: One.
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Speaker 3: It's extraordinarily difficult.
00:19:59
Speaker 4: Right, and that's my point, that's all, is that for the most part, injuries follow, and he's not the same, and somewhere there's a compensation for the other thing, and especially when you're such a great hitter like he is. So I'm just saying, if I'm the Dodgers, I want two World Series without Otani. His postseason ERA is a chubby 4.43.
00:20:23
Speaker 2: I have enough pitching. It's just not a priority.
00:20:26
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:20:27
Speaker 2: No.
00:20:27
Speaker 7: And it's only tantalizing because he is such a great pitcher. I don't know that he's tough.
00:20:31
Speaker 3: He's game. All of that. All right.
00:20:33
Speaker 5: Mr.
00:20:33
Speaker 3: Mr. MLB, bro. I want you to you. You tell me. You tell me now.
00:20:37
Speaker 7: Acuna home run shots right over the weekend. Hats sideways. Ump says no. So just broadly, Rob, what are the limits of personal flair? How much individualism is a player allowed to have within the uniformity of Major League Baseball?
00:20:54
Speaker 4: I think you should be able to do all of that. There are no rules against it. We saw that. We saw Lady Umpire overstepped his bounds. Major League Baseball chastised him, and rightly so. That's just not a part of it. There's an issue going on. I remember when people were mad at Ken Griffey Jr. for wearing his hat back. saying he was disrespecting the game. People have flair and swag, and they bring a different thing to the game. You know, I mean, for one time, people were wearing a do-rag underneath their hat. I don't know what the issue is. As long as you go out there and can perform, get the job done. Fernando Rodney had his hat cocked to the side, right, for his whole career. He was a tremendous closer. CeCe Sabathia is in the Hall of Fame. His hat was off to the side. I don't understand why it's such a big deal. I see Rodney with the hat cocked. I'm like, yeah, but that works for him. I don't know why it works for him, but it works for him. But there are parameters, Rob, right?
00:21:54
Speaker 7: At a certain point, you can't do everything you want. You can't get out there in shorts. George Orta did. You can't get out there just wearing 10 chains around you.
00:22:03
Speaker 3: There are limits. It's professional Major League Baseball. There are limits.
00:22:07
Speaker 2: OK, I get that.
00:22:09
Speaker 4: But those are usually stipulations by the league about certain things that you can and can't do uniform wise. There's nothing written there about a hat. And unless unless the manager or the organization maybe says that, you know, we could go back to the Yankees who had the clean shaven.
00:22:26
Speaker 2: Face right which is cool except if you're.
00:22:28
Speaker 4: Black and for black guys our hair curls underneath our skin and we get shaving bumps that's why a lot of black guys wear facial hair because of the irritation of shaving but black players they went along with it with the yankees forever until devin.
00:22:43
Speaker 2: Williams showed up you know what i mean.
00:22:44
Speaker 4: They went along with it so unless it's something that's being put out by the organization and not major league baseball i don't think it's an issue i really don't.
00:22:53
Speaker 7: Okay, I think it's, you know, it's case by case. There's a lot of things there. Eli De La Cruz, are you ready to concede my position?
00:23:01
Speaker 2: No, concede what? You've been saying he's going to be the MVP for years.
00:23:05
Speaker 3: He's very close.
00:23:07
Speaker 2: He hasn't been close to the MVP.
00:23:09
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? He's top five right now. He's top five in the league right now.
00:23:12
Speaker 2: He is not winning the MVP, BK.
00:23:14
Speaker 5: Stop it.
00:23:15
Speaker 4: Can you admit that you've been wrong about Eli De La Cruz?
00:23:18
Speaker 8: I get it.
00:23:19
Speaker 3: I was wrong. Now I'm right. That's what I'm saying. That's all I'm saying.
00:23:23
Speaker 4: I'm glad he's cut down on the strikeouts. He has way less stolen bases. He's a tremendous player. He's not close to the MVP.
00:23:31
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
00:23:31
Speaker 7: Do you know where he ranks in hitting alone? Just hitting because he's playing shortstop. Do you know where he ranks in hitting in the National League?
00:23:38
Speaker 2: I know I got 283 batting average. So what is that? Fifth?
00:23:41
Speaker 5: Fifth.
00:23:42
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:23:42
Speaker 3: Not just bat. I'm not looking at bat.
00:23:43
Speaker 4: Sorry.
00:23:43
Speaker 7: I didn't look at batting average. But 283 is a nice batting average. He's slugging 511. He's got a 139 OPS plus. That's the totality of the hitting, whether it's weighted runs created plus OPS plus totality of hitting. He's fifth and he's fifth in wins above replacement, which includes his tremendous throwing arm, his shortstop play and his base running, which is still superior.
00:24:04
Speaker 3: He's a top five guy in the league right now. Come on.
00:24:07
Speaker 4: And all of that has helped the Reds get into last place.
00:24:11
Speaker 8: Come on.
00:24:12
Speaker 7: He's doing everything he can. Now you want him to pitch. He needs to pitch. So you want Otani not to pitch? You want De La Cruz to pitch?
00:24:20
Speaker 3: Is that what it is?
00:24:21
Speaker 2: No.
00:24:22
Speaker 4: The argument you're making, we know he's a tremendous player.
00:24:26
Speaker 2: He's not an MVP.
00:24:27
Speaker 4: BK, you thought by now, just admit it, that he would have been an MVP by now.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: Admit it, the way he started his career. Yes or no?
00:24:36
Speaker 3: I admit it, yes.
00:24:38
Speaker 2: Okay, and you've been wrong. Four years strong. He's not an MVP. He's going. He's improved. I'm giving you he's improved. He's not MVP level. Not yet.
00:24:48
Speaker 3: What you're not seeing is I'm getting close to being right. See, that's what you're missing. That's all. You're the best, Rob. Take care.
00:24:54
Speaker 2: I want you to show a little more flair.
00:24:56
Speaker 3: You're very staid. Where are your chains? Where's the sleeve? Boring.
00:25:02
Speaker 2: Wait a minute. I'll put a do-rag on or something. Excellent.
00:25:06
Speaker 3: I'm happy now. Thank you, Rob. We'll see you. Rob Parker there.
00:25:10
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.
00:25:20
Speaker 2: Now let's bring in Reggie Chapman.
00:25:22
Speaker 4: He's a sports reporter anchor down in Atlanta at 11 Alive Reggie.
00:25:27
Speaker 2: What's happening? How are you? Rob, I'm doing fantastic, man.
00:25:30
Speaker 9: We are heading into a massive weekend here in Atlanta.
00:25:33
Speaker 2: And so I'm excited to be able to talk to you about it. No doubt. That's why I need to reach out to you.
00:25:38
Speaker 4: So Phillies and Braves this weekend, important series. Coming into Friday, four-game lead for Atlanta and NL East.
00:25:48
Speaker 2: It's been some season. The Phillies were.
00:25:50
Speaker 4: Dead and buried, came out of nowhere, stormed back, and now here's a series that could— alter the division or at least bring them closer, obviously, with a four-game lead.
00:26:01
Speaker 2: But just talk about this series and how important it is to the Braves.
00:26:05
Speaker 8: Well, it is going to be absolutely massive.
00:26:06
Speaker 9: It's so funny because the way that the entirety of the entire baseball season works, where for the Phillies, they started just super, super bad. They played terrible, of course, had to fire the manager, and they found a way to kind of fight back. The Braves, meanwhile, seem to have re-found their focus at the beginning of the year, despite I mean, you come into the season, there was all sorts of question marks about the pitching staff and you had guys get suspended for different PDs. It just was a whole mess going into the season for the Braves and the Phillies. It felt like they were feeling good going into the season. It went the opposite direction. And now things have kind of started to move back. to the mean where we've moved into a series here this upcoming week between two teams that have aspirations, of course, to win the NL East. The Braves really have been kind of doing it through the power of friendship over the course of this season. If I could be kind of funny about that, just because over the course of the season, even going into the year, there was conversations about what are they going to do with this pitching staff? Are they going to be able to add another frontline starter to the rotation? So many other pitchers have gotten hurt. Two more guys have gone down over the last couple of weeks, but still this team sits four-game lead in the division with this massive series.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: Upcoming this weekend here at Truist Park.
00:27:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think fans, like the Braves, you got to give them credit. I mean, they just continue to win and they have a good team.
00:27:23
Speaker 2: Let's just go to their biggest star, Ronald Acuna, and just... You know, where he is, and I know Olsen's a big part of it as well.
00:27:32
Speaker 4: Yeah. You know, they have a lot of good players. I'm not just trying to say he's the only guy. But just Ronald Acuna, there are stretches when you see this guy and you think he's the best player in the league.
00:27:44
Speaker 8: He is the difference maker.
00:27:46
Speaker 9: And you mentioned guys like Matt Olsen, who is having another fantastic year. Ozzie Albies has found his way back into form this season. He's been really good. Austin Riley has found his swing recently. There's been some question marks at shortstop about who's playing the position, but the way that Marisa Dubon has been playing it over the course of this year as a Swiss Army knife for this team and You have Hassan Kim, who's been playing well recently. But at the end of the day, the ceiling gets raised when you have a guy like Ronald Acuna Jr. in your lineup, especially when he's playing this well. Even if he's not swinging the bat all that well, his ability to get on base, his ability to take pitches, to draw walks, and then become a menace on the base pass is something that has been an absolute weapon for this team, regardless if he's swinging the bat well or not. And then you also talk about the defense out there in right field.
00:28:28
Speaker 8: He may not.
00:28:29
Speaker 9: Move as well as he used to after having all the injuries to his knees, but.
00:28:33
Speaker 8: But that arm talent is still absolutely there.
00:28:35
Speaker 9: He is a guy that can gun guys down at second, gun guys down at third, and it makes it an aspect that you have to think about when you're an opposing team, kind of deciding what you're going to do on the base pass. But he is incredible, and he is a guy that can raise the team ceiling to a World Series title if he continues to swing the bat well.
00:28:52
Speaker 2: Our guest is Reggie Chapman.
00:28:54
Speaker 4: He is a sports reporter and anchor at 11 Alive in Atlanta. I always see him at the ballpark, always out there covering the Braves, stuff going on.
00:29:04
Speaker 2: So let's talk about the pitching.
00:29:06
Speaker 4: First, let's talk about Chris Sale, who's their comeback player of the year last year, correct?
00:29:12
Speaker 2: And just has been fantastic for the Braves. What a pickup. He's had an unbelievable year.
00:29:19
Speaker 9: He's had an unbelievable year and an unbelievable time in Atlanta. I mean, you make that trade a couple of years ago for a guy that people think about it now. It's like, oh, Chris Sale, it makes a lot of sense. You trade for a potential Hall of Fame talent. But at the time, he was a guy that the Braves or at least the rest of the league was kind of worried about.
00:29:35
Speaker 4: Right.
00:29:35
Speaker 9: He'd come off a whole bunch of injuries. And now in the years that he's had here in Atlanta, he's won a Cy Young. he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the course of his time here and you've got question marks wondering and when he gets to or if he gets to the baseball hall of fame if he'll have a Braves cat on uh instead of maybe hitting the other pit the other pass.
00:29:52
Speaker 8: Any war over the course of his career. He's been that good here in Atlanta.
00:29:55
Speaker 9: And he's a guy that they just resigned to a new deal to make sure that he stays here over the course of the rest of his career. And the reason for that, the reason he's so loved is because at his age, even at 37, he's pumping 100 miles an hour. He's moving and pitching the best in the moments that they need him the most. And he's been that good. And it's also just off the strength that he's the only guy in this pitching rotation that's That people know for a fact is going to be there coming into the season or hoping that Spencer Strider would come back and pitch. Well, he's been injured for most of this year. It's likely that he's done for the year. Spencer Schwellenbach is another pitcher coming into the season that we've come to spring training at the beginning of the year. And we learned that he has those loose bodies in his elbow and he's not going to come back for this season. And again, Up until this point, you've just had a different mix of pitchers coming in and out of the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez pitched the other day. He hasn't been very good. Grant Holmes, you just don't know. Bryce Elder was good at the beginning of the year, has gotten hurt, just had surgery. They're hoping that he comes back for the postseason. But the Braves know they've got Chris Sale, and they know that if he's out on the mound, they like their chances, and they just try to figure it out after that.
00:30:57
Speaker 2: No doubt.
00:30:58
Speaker 4: And the other elephant in the room, of course— We know Milwaukee has the best record in the National League. The Braves are trying to hang on against the Phillies. But the Dodgers, the big bad Dodgers, the evil empire, trying to go for three straight World Series. At one point, the Braves actually led the Dodgers with the second best record in the NL.
00:31:20
Speaker 2: That has flipped now.
00:31:21
Speaker 4: The Dodgers have a three-and-a-half game lead over Atlanta coming into Friday. How important would that be for Atlanta if they could– not be in the wildcard spot.
00:31:33
Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
00:31:34
Speaker 4: Because even though they win the division, they still wind up in the wildcard because they're only two division winners are able at the top to, you know, have a buy. So how big is that? Have you heard a conversation about them trying to get to that perch?
00:31:48
Speaker 9: Well, they know at least the talking talent as they know, since they're going to likely be in the postseason, they're not, killing.
00:31:55
Speaker 2: Themselves trying to get there. They'd love to have it.
00:31:57
Speaker 9: It's so funny, though, because there's kind of two schools of thought on this, just based off of how things have gone over the course of the last couple of postseason runs since they won the World Series back in 2021. They had those division wins in that first round, I guess, bye. And they found themselves coming out of those or coming into those divisional series against a team out of the wildcard that came in with some momentum, having won a wildcard series and won a wildcard game, and they seemed to get blitzed in that first game. And so the question now is.
00:32:26
Speaker 9: Whether they get in as the team that has the buy or the team that doesn't have the buy, they like their chances.
00:32:32
Speaker 8: But they do know that having an extra amount of.
00:32:35
Speaker 9: Time to make sure that Chris Sale gets some extra rest is something that they're never going to turn down to give this bullpen another opportunity to get a little bit more rested and maybe give some guys like Bryce Elder a little bit of.
00:32:46
Speaker 2: Extra time, Robert Suarez a little bit.
00:32:48
Speaker 9: Of extra time to be able to make sure they can get back both in that starting rotation and in that bullpen.
00:32:52
Speaker 2: This team would like the time off, but they.
00:32:54
Speaker 9: Know that if they don't get it, they do like their opportunity to try and win a wild card spot and try and get to the divisional round feeling good.
00:33:02
Speaker 2: No doubt.
00:33:03
Speaker 4: The Braves will be in the mix. It's going to be a very, very... The National League, to me, is the stronger league this year. The American League is down... Not as many good teams to me, but Phillies, the Braves, the Dodgers, the Brewers, the Cubs. You know, like you have some formidable teams that are in the mix.
00:33:22
Speaker 2: So it's going to be very, very interesting. His name is Reggie Chapman. 11 alive. My man down in Atlanta.
00:33:31
Speaker 4: Giving us some insight on the Atlanta Braves' big weekend series against the Phillies.
00:33:36
Speaker 2: Reggie, thanks for your insight and your knowledge, my man. Appreciate you.
00:33:39
Speaker 8: Rob, always, brother. I really appreciate your time. Thank you.
00:33:41
Speaker 1: It's time for a trip down memory lane here on Inside the Parker.
00:33:46
Speaker 8: Rob Parker has covered Major League Baseball for 40 years. Now, let's relive a memorable moment of his career.
00:33:54
Speaker 4: The worst blow up I had with a major league manager happened on a Sunday in St. Louis in 1992.
00:34:03
Speaker 3: That's right.
00:34:05
Speaker 4: I was the Cincinnati Reds beat writer for the Cincinnati Inquirer on a road trip. And I had written a Sunday column that Reds manager Lou Piniella didn't like. I still remember the headline on that column, Sweet Lou Turned Sour. Lou Piniella's nickname was Sweet Lou, and the players were not having fun playing for Lou Piniella just two years after winning the World Series in 1990. So when Piniella arrived at Busch Stadium on that Sunday morning, the column from the paper was faxed to him in his office. He read it, was furious, and ran into the clubhouse and screamed at me at the.
00:34:54
Speaker 2: Top of his lungs. It was profane.
00:34:58
Speaker 4: And while the scene in the clubhouse momentarily was ugly, Lou and I were able to work through those differences about the story and wound up having a good working relationship.
00:35:11
Speaker 2: In fact... Lou goes down as the best manager I ever covered. Hey, this is Rob Parker.
00:35:20
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.
00:35:47
Speaker 2: Until next time, Rob Parker, out.
00:35:50
Speaker 5: He can't get it.
00:35:51
Speaker 2: This could be an inside to Parker.
00:35:53
Speaker 8: See you next week.
00:35:54
Speaker 5: 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.
00:00:08
Speaker 2: You give us.
00:00:09
Speaker 1: 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. 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 3: 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 2: I love this game. Let's go.
00:00:42
Speaker 4: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. What a show we have for you today. Coming up, former Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph. He's also a analyst on the Yes Network. We'll talk He'll give us some insight on what's going on with the Bronx Bombers.
00:00:58
Speaker 2: Aaron Judge is back.
00:00:59
Speaker 4: Plus, we'll talk with anchor reporter Reggie Chapman from 11 Alive in Atlanta. He'll give us the skinny on the Braves, big weekend series against the Phillies.
00:01:10
Speaker 2: That and much more. Let's go.
00:01:15
Speaker 1: To lead off, it's getting robbed. Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major League Baseball. Number one, Shohei Otani is on the I.L. The Dodgers have officially placed him on the I.L.
00:01:31
Speaker 4: He'll miss some action here in the final three weeks of the Major League Baseball season. He has a knee issue, right shoulder soreness, a couple of things ailing him. And he's kind of been dragging himself. He's not totally himself this year. This makes total sense to me. The Dodgers are comfortably in the lead in the NL West. They're going to win the NL West going away. There's no reason to push the issue. They're trying to three-peat, be the first team to three-peat since the Yankees did it in 98, 99, and 2000. It's been a long time, 25 years ago or plus, and this makes sense. He puts a lot of wear and tear. Imagine if he was even stealing bases during that time. But pitching and DHing, there's a lot of wear and tear. Every time he seems to have a season where he's doing both, injuries pile up on him. So the Dodgers finally put their foot down, said it doesn't make sense. Because I think they realize, too, he's not going to win the MVP. You know, so so why are you pushing and get putting him out there when he's not going to win a National League MVP? He's not winning a Cy Young. So so what is the purpose of doing this? This makes total sense to me by the Dodgers. And bravo for just finally saying we're going to do what's best for the organization.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: Number two, Anthony Volpe back with the New York Yankees.
00:03:03
Speaker 4: You remember demoted? No longer the shortstop when they brought up George Lombard Jr., their top prospect and the guy who's supposed to be the next quote unquote Derek Jeter. He's going to replace Jazz Chisholm. who is injured, and it makes sense. He's down in the minor leagues. They've been working him out at second base anyway.
00:03:28
Speaker 2: I don't know.
00:03:29
Speaker 4: Does Jazz Chisholm leave the Yankees and they make Volpe the second baseman going forward with Lombard?
00:03:35
Speaker 2: It'd be very interesting to see how that plays out as a backup at least.
00:03:40
Speaker 4: And the only thing is, I think Volpe got treated very poorly by Yankee fans, and it was kind of really shocking.
00:03:46
Speaker 2: The guy won a gold-gloved shortstop. I get it. He was banged up. He played. He made a lot of errors, and it was hard to watch.
00:03:55
Speaker 4: You don't want your shortstop, which is a very vital position in baseball, to be messing up routine plays or whatnot. But it's funny because George Lombard Jr., go back and read the stories his first couple of days, first week. Oh, look at the plays he's making, and this is a shortstop. And then he had this freakish where he had an error in six straight games, which I don't think had happened in Yankee history.
00:04:23
Speaker 2: Like six straight games, you make an error. George Lombard Jr.
00:04:28
Speaker 4: though, did hit his first Grand Slam home run on Wednesday night, which was big. Yankees hadn't hit a Grand Slam home run all year. So I know he's the guy long-term, but it's funny the leeway that fans gave him when he was going through his fielding woes And the way they turned on Volpe so quickly as a guy who, you know, to me, had played a good shortstop for the most part.
00:04:54
Speaker 2: One year, good enough to win a gold glove.
00:04:57
Speaker 1: Number three.
00:04:58
Speaker 4: It will be very interesting to see what happens in San Francisco. They're going to finish in next to last place in the NL West. Thank God for the Colorado Rockies. But what happens with manager Tony Vitello? Buster Posey, thought outside the box, tried to do something different, hiring a manager who had never had any major league experience. We're not talking about playing in the big leagues, but even coaching or involved in baseball on.
00:05:26
Speaker 2: That level at all.
00:05:28
Speaker 4: Of course, he came from college, had a successful college program.
00:05:33
Speaker 2: Still, it's so unconventional. And then the Giants have such a bad year.
00:05:39
Speaker 4: And I wonder what ownership is Buster Posey going to save face, maybe move on for Tony Vitello, or only feel like the only way he's going to save his bacon is if Tony Vitello can rebound and have a better year in year two than year one as manager of the Giants. I just think in a division with the Dodgers and Padres, two franchises that spend money, have big stars, that you're going and allowing a manager to learn on the job in that division. I just think it's... You might be able to do that in Tampa Bay or Kansas City or somewhere like that. But San Francisco, the fifth largest market, I think it was a mistake when they did it.
00:06:20
Speaker 2: If I'm the Giants, I'm firing Buster Posey and Tony Vitello, or both.
00:06:26
Speaker 4: And I'm going to go out there and get me an experienced general manager, an experienced manager, and get this thing turned around.
00:06:34
Speaker 2: Here comes the big interview listen and learn oh it's so good.
00:06:39
Speaker 4: Now let's welcome into the podcast one of my favorites Willie Randolph who of course played 18 big league seasons of course won all back-to-back world series against the Dodgers with the New York Yankees and now is a broadcaster for the Yes Network and of course a former major league manager as well Willie what's happening.
00:07:01
Speaker 5: How are you Good to see you, Rob. Always a pleasure, man.
00:07:04
Speaker 4: No doubt about it. And I do want to talk about the New York Yankees. Obviously, you play for the team. You manage the Mets. But when I think of Willie Randolph, I think of the New York Yankees. And I know you started with the Pirates.
00:07:17
Speaker 2: But here we are.
00:07:21
Speaker 4: Coming into Friday, the Yankees are three games out of first place. Of course, they would love to be able to win the division. Do they have a shot? Can they get there? Or now that they have Judge back?
00:07:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, Rob, I said about three weeks ago that I think they're going to catch Tampa.
00:07:38
Speaker 5: Tampa's a phenomenal team.
00:07:40
Speaker 6: They've had a great year, but the Yankees are starting to get some rhythm going, starting to get healthy with the big boy coming back. Their pitching is what's going to get them there. I mean, You know, they, you know, Cole's been throwing the ball better. Schlittler is going to be the Cy Young winner. So, and I can go on and on, but you know, they're stacked. They got a good club and I got a feeling, funny thing. They're going to catch them, but they still got work to do for big games at the end of the season coming up soon. So that's going to be the telltale.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:08:05
Speaker 4: And you just mentioned it. Aaron judge being back. That's a big boost. He didn't go to any.
00:08:10
Speaker 2: We have, he missed a lot.
00:08:11
Speaker 4: You know, Willie, you know, this baseball is one of those sports that, where you kind of got to ramp up to get there. And a lot of times, guys got to go to the minor leagues, get some swings, some live pitching, you know, and whatnot. And Judge didn't do it, but I heard them talking about There's new machines that kind of give you simulated that are better, that you don't have to go, but you can still get your swings in. Is that what helped Judge to be able to, you know, not take a minor league assignment and come right back to the big leagues?
00:08:41
Speaker 2: And then the other night he had two hits.
00:08:43
Speaker 5: Yeah. Well, those machines are phenomenal. Really are.
00:08:46
Speaker 6: They simulate just like you right there. It could be in a video game, really. It's kind of weird. And you can work on that, Rob Loder, but there's still no subject to for live pitching. OK, you know, at this point in time, the season is too late to really do any type of rehab work. The Yankees need them now. They need to get them in the mix. So for me, you know, Judge is a great athlete. He's in good physical shape. But when it's time, he starts to come by.
00:09:09
Speaker 5: That's why we don't understand why they're not playing him regularly. for nine innings.
00:09:12
Speaker 6: He needs reps. He needs to see pitches. So I know they're trying to conserve his, you know, him not getting hurt. But you can't predict that, man. You can pick up your daughter, you know, at home and pull your back out, you know. So that's just my feeling on it, whatever. But I think Aaron's going to be fine because he's in excellent shape. And the more pitches he sees, the better he's going to get. But just him being in the lineup, Rob, is going to make the whole lineup better, of course.
00:09:35
Speaker 5: Willie, just.
00:09:36
Speaker 4: Let's just talk about Aaron Judge for a minute and his impact. Obviously, to finally get his place in Yankee lore, they're going to have to win a World Series, you know, and we all understand that.
00:09:48
Speaker 2: But when you look at, like, the year he had last year.
00:09:53
Speaker 4: You know, it's hard to beat out a guy who had 60 home runs as a catcher, right?
00:09:59
Speaker 2: Set the altar.
00:10:01
Speaker 4: But Aaron Judge's numbers were just so ridiculous that they could not not vote him MVP and when I look at the Yankees and even when they have the the judges chambers they've never done that for anybody will you know that like the yankees are always the yankees are the most important thing not individual people right right what do you make of aaron judge in his place with the yankees.
00:10:25
Speaker 6: Well you know he's going to go down as one of the all-time greats i believe you know he's still relatively young and he's putting up phenomenal numbers and and he's a popular guy in today's game with the kids um He.
00:10:37
Speaker 5: Learned now how to be an average hitter.
00:10:39
Speaker 6: You know, you look at Judge most of the time, most of the time you think he's a power guy, and it's true. But, Rob, he had over 300 last year. This guy for a little while last year was flirting with the triple crown. So that, to me, what separates Judge is a great, because he's not just a Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth type of slugger. He can hit, and that just takes him to a different dynamic, I think. And he plays defense, and he does a lot of other things, too.
00:11:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, no. He's phenomenal. I mean, he batted. 331.
00:11:10
Speaker 4: And Willie, the average batting average in Major League Baseball last year was.
00:11:15
Speaker 2: 242. This guy hit.
00:11:17
Speaker 5: 331.
00:11:19
Speaker 2: You know it. Hey, Willie, if you were striking out batting. 240, they would have sent you back to the minor leagues back in the day.
00:11:26
Speaker 6: You would have got your pink slip, man, and went out and got a real job, right? I mean, it's unbelievable how these guys are getting paid to be mediocre, man.
00:11:34
Speaker 5: It blows my mind.
00:11:36
Speaker 2: It is crazy.
00:11:38
Speaker 5: God bless. God bless.
00:11:39
Speaker 2: No, I'm with you.
00:11:40
Speaker 5: I'm with you.
00:11:41
Speaker 2: Hey, if they're paying, I'm not mad at you. Our guest is Willie Randolph.
00:11:46
Speaker 4: Of course, former New York Yankee second baseman, started with the Pittsburgh Pirates, managed the Mets, of course, and is a broadcaster now on the Yes pre- and post-game show in New York. You brought it up earlier, the pitching too with the Yankees. You know, to me, in the postseason, you've got to have pitchings. And starting pitching, when you go into a series, and Slitler and Freed and Garrett Cole, and you've got Rondon is the fourth guy. I mean, that's pretty impressive pitchers. to go and I would feel good in a series. Don't you think pitching gets them to the World Series?
00:12:26
Speaker 6: No doubt about it. And that's what's going to get the Yankees there. I mean, you didn't mention Will Warren, who was going to be like a fifth guy or whatever. But another thing that I want to mention is that we got guys coming back and healthy right now. I mean, Ryan Weathers right now, lefty coming out of the bullpen with nasty stuff, okay? Clark Smith is coming back, and there's one other guy. Hill is throwing the ball much better. So if those guys can adjust to the bullpen, it's going to take the pressure off Hedrick and the other guy that's having a great year. I mean, because they're starting to run out of bullets a little bit because nowadays we use our pitchers too much. So that's a little caveat I want to throw in there because the Yankees have these guys who are starters. But if they can go in there and get them one or two innings out of the bullpen, that's a huge, huge get right there and something that could really make them even better as a pitching staff.
00:13:15
Speaker 4: I know the chances are not good for Aaron Boone to be manager of the year in the American League. But when I look at all the injuries, no judge, you know, Stanton was hurt. Cody Bellinger was hurt.
00:13:31
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:13:32
Speaker 4: You know, I look at the team and, you know, Max Freed, right, hurt twice. You didn't start the season with Garrett Cole. How have the Yankees been able to hold it together? Because to me it feels like they've had to do it with, you know, popsicle sticks, tape, and glue, you know, to hold this thing together.
00:13:53
Speaker 2: And they're within striking distance to win the division.
00:13:55
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:56
Speaker 6: Well, you know, like most great teams, you got to have team depth. I mean, Rice has had a really good year. You know, we've had, you know, other guys pitch in and do, you know, Bellinger's been hurt also, you know, but he's done a nice little job. When you have that type of team depth and you can pull in a guy like Jones, who's done a nice job so far today. I mean, Grissom has been up and down, but, but, you know, they, they just have a nice chemistry on their club, Rob. They, They kind of play for each other. They do play for each other. I've been in spring training for years now with them. So I see the chemistry. And that means a lot. They have a nice group of guys. Their coaching staff does an excellent job of preparing them to play. But I just think that they've been together for a few years now and they've gone through some disappointments and ups and downs. And I think that they know it's time. OK, because in New York, as you know, you know, it's like put up or shut up. And I think the pressure for them to really come through right now, I think they feel that collectively. And that's going to get them over the hump a little bit. Now, again, it's a crap shoot. They shoot with that division because Boston's right on their heels. Red Sox are no joke. And they got four lefty starters. And the Yankees are heavily laden with left-handed hitting. So I think that they have to watch their back a little bit. And if they do, you know, get the first wild card, you got to go up against Boston. That should be a great series. So Yankees are always going to be there. You know, they like the Dodgers.
00:15:11
Speaker 2: They got glue.
00:15:12
Speaker 6: They're going to, you know, get guys or whatever. But they can replace people when other teams can't. And that's part of their thing.
00:15:22
Speaker 4: Before that last thing, before the season started, I think I picked the Padres and the Yankees in the World Series. I just thought it's very hard for the Dodgers to 3P to get there again.
00:15:31
Speaker 2: You know, like, it's just a lot. You know you did it back-to-back.
00:15:36
Speaker 4: It's hard to win the last team, to win three in a row with the Yankees, 98, 99, and 2000.
00:15:40
Speaker 5: That's 25 years ago.
00:15:40
Speaker 2: You know, it's hard. Mm-hmm. Who do you like? Who did you pick before the season started? I'm just curious.
00:15:52
Speaker 5: You know what? I'm not a big pick guy.
00:15:54
Speaker 6: I didn't really go out on that limb to do that because I always feel like you got to watch the season. Instead of having to flow with the season, I don't start really looking at teams until after the All-Star break, you know, or right approaching the All-Star break.
00:16:04
Speaker 5: I really like Milwaukee.
00:16:05
Speaker 6: See, people sleep on Milwaukee all the time, but they play the game right, Rob, okay? You know, they might not slug like a lot of teams do, like the Yankees or the Dodgers or other teams, but when you get into a short series, yeah, we love the 3-1 homer. Yeah, we love that. But you still got to play fundamental baseball. And they run, they catch the ball, and they put the ball in play, which is huge in a short series or in the World Series. So I like right now Milwaukee to get there. I'd like the Yankees also to be there. But, again, it gets to be a crapshoot around this time, and it's all about pitching, like we said, and getting guys to step up at the right time, being a little lucky, getting a break here and there. So I'm not a big prediction guy, but right now those are the teams, two teams that I really.
00:16:48
Speaker 2: Really like.
00:16:48
Speaker 5: The Padres could get hot too. The Dodgers. I mean, the thing with the.
00:16:51
Speaker 2: Dodgers right now. I hear you with Milwaukee.
00:16:53
Speaker 4: They've had a good team for the last few years, and in the post last year– Against the Dodgers, Willie, they couldn't hit to save their– you know what I mean?
00:17:02
Speaker 2: They just couldn't hit.
00:17:03
Speaker 4: It was unbelievable how poorly they performed in the postseason.
00:17:08
Speaker 2: But I hear you.
00:17:08
Speaker 6: They've been– Yeah, new year and a little more experience and stuff. I understand that. I understand that. But, you know, you got teams like– You know, I think, like you said, I think San Diego can get hot.
00:17:20
Speaker 5: You know, anybody can get hot at this point in time.
00:17:22
Speaker 6: It's really weird. I mean, Cleveland struggled all year. We don't expect them to be there. But all those teams kind of have experience, and they can scare you. But the teams that we just mentioned are the teams that should be in the mix. And, again, don't sleep on Boston. I hate saying that. I'm giving Boston some props. But they do have a weird setup there where they believe in themselves. And Crochet might come back, too, which might help them a little bit.
00:17:45
Speaker 2: No doubt. His name is Willie Randolph, one of the best in the business, my man. Willie, always a pleasure, man. I'll see you in the Bronx, I'm sure. Yeah, we'll do it soon, man.
00:17:56
Speaker 5: Love you.
00:17:57
Speaker 2: Always a pleasure being with you.
00:17:58
Speaker 5: Take care, bro.
00:17:58
Speaker 2: Thank you, buddy. In case you.
00:18:01
Speaker 1: Missed Rob Parker on the MLB Network, here's his latest appearance on MLB Now.
00:18:08
Speaker 7: Personal attacks are back on the table right now.
00:18:11
Speaker 3: Rob Parker is back, our good friend, in the showdown. Rob, you good? Good to have you back?
00:18:15
Speaker 2: All good, BK. Ready to roll, my man. Let's do it.
00:18:18
Speaker 7: I hate to slam, like, the best, you know, team in baseball, the standard. I wax poetic on the Dodgers left and right, but they're out there saying, Otani, we're going to put him on the IL. We think this is prudent. We're just going to play it safe. They weren't playing it safe this year, Rob, and I see the guy getting hurt. They didn't make him get hurt. I think they allowed him because he wanted to do both high throttle, and now he's hurt.
00:18:43
Speaker 4: Okay, I think at some point we just have to acknowledge that Ohtani is selfish. He wants what he wants. He wants to do, you know, pitch and play. And when he was in, people forget this, when he was in Anaheim with the Angels, he was hurt, right, when he was doing both. Yeah. It seems like every time he's doing both, BK, he winds up hurt or something goes wrong.
00:19:09
Speaker 2: A couple of years ago when he did not pitch.
00:19:12
Speaker 4: He had a 50-50 year.
00:19:15
Speaker 2: He was unbelievable, right?
00:19:18
Speaker 4: That was his best year by far because it didn't include the pitching.
00:19:22
Speaker 2: And I think maybe the.
00:19:23
Speaker 4: Dodgers have finally said, you know what– we're not just going to go along because this is what you want to do.
00:19:29
Speaker 2: And I give the Dodgers some credit, finally.
00:19:31
Speaker 7: Yeah, but again, he's dinged up. The knee, you know, the bicep. He was hurting for a while. You could see him wearing down. And look, as far as being selfish, a professional athlete has to be selfish.
00:19:41
Speaker 3: I get like, I know what you mean on that. We're not nailing the guy.
00:19:44
Speaker 8: He's tough.
00:19:45
Speaker 3: He wants to play. He wants to do both.
00:19:47
Speaker 7: He's historic. But there's a price. And now we're seeing that price.
00:19:50
Speaker 3: And you're right.
00:19:51
Speaker 7: There's only been one double-duty season for Otani where he did both and played the full year.
00:19:56
Speaker 4: One.
00:19:57
Speaker 3: It's extraordinarily difficult.
00:19:59
Speaker 4: Right, and that's my point, that's all, is that for the most part, injuries follow, and he's not the same, and somewhere there's a compensation for the other thing, and especially when you're such a great hitter like he is. So I'm just saying, if I'm the Dodgers, I want two World Series without Otani. His postseason ERA is a chubby 4.43.
00:20:23
Speaker 2: I have enough pitching. It's just not a priority.
00:20:26
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:20:27
Speaker 2: No.
00:20:27
Speaker 7: And it's only tantalizing because he is such a great pitcher. I don't know that he's tough.
00:20:31
Speaker 3: He's game. All of that. All right.
00:20:33
Speaker 5: Mr.
00:20:33
Speaker 3: Mr. MLB, bro. I want you to you. You tell me. You tell me now.
00:20:37
Speaker 7: Acuna home run shots right over the weekend. Hats sideways. Ump says no. So just broadly, Rob, what are the limits of personal flair? How much individualism is a player allowed to have within the uniformity of Major League Baseball?
00:20:54
Speaker 4: I think you should be able to do all of that. There are no rules against it. We saw that. We saw Lady Umpire overstepped his bounds. Major League Baseball chastised him, and rightly so. That's just not a part of it. There's an issue going on. I remember when people were mad at Ken Griffey Jr. for wearing his hat back. saying he was disrespecting the game. People have flair and swag, and they bring a different thing to the game. You know, I mean, for one time, people were wearing a do-rag underneath their hat. I don't know what the issue is. As long as you go out there and can perform, get the job done. Fernando Rodney had his hat cocked to the side, right, for his whole career. He was a tremendous closer. CeCe Sabathia is in the Hall of Fame. His hat was off to the side. I don't understand why it's such a big deal. I see Rodney with the hat cocked. I'm like, yeah, but that works for him. I don't know why it works for him, but it works for him. But there are parameters, Rob, right?
00:21:54
Speaker 7: At a certain point, you can't do everything you want. You can't get out there in shorts. George Orta did. You can't get out there just wearing 10 chains around you.
00:22:03
Speaker 3: There are limits. It's professional Major League Baseball. There are limits.
00:22:07
Speaker 2: OK, I get that.
00:22:09
Speaker 4: But those are usually stipulations by the league about certain things that you can and can't do uniform wise. There's nothing written there about a hat. And unless unless the manager or the organization maybe says that, you know, we could go back to the Yankees who had the clean shaven.
00:22:26
Speaker 2: Face right which is cool except if you're.
00:22:28
Speaker 4: Black and for black guys our hair curls underneath our skin and we get shaving bumps that's why a lot of black guys wear facial hair because of the irritation of shaving but black players they went along with it with the yankees forever until devin.
00:22:43
Speaker 2: Williams showed up you know what i mean.
00:22:44
Speaker 4: They went along with it so unless it's something that's being put out by the organization and not major league baseball i don't think it's an issue i really don't.
00:22:53
Speaker 7: Okay, I think it's, you know, it's case by case. There's a lot of things there. Eli De La Cruz, are you ready to concede my position?
00:23:01
Speaker 2: No, concede what? You've been saying he's going to be the MVP for years.
00:23:05
Speaker 3: He's very close.
00:23:07
Speaker 2: He hasn't been close to the MVP.
00:23:09
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? He's top five right now. He's top five in the league right now.
00:23:12
Speaker 2: He is not winning the MVP, BK.
00:23:14
Speaker 5: Stop it.
00:23:15
Speaker 4: Can you admit that you've been wrong about Eli De La Cruz?
00:23:18
Speaker 8: I get it.
00:23:19
Speaker 3: I was wrong. Now I'm right. That's what I'm saying. That's all I'm saying.
00:23:23
Speaker 4: I'm glad he's cut down on the strikeouts. He has way less stolen bases. He's a tremendous player. He's not close to the MVP.
00:23:31
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
00:23:31
Speaker 7: Do you know where he ranks in hitting alone? Just hitting because he's playing shortstop. Do you know where he ranks in hitting in the National League?
00:23:38
Speaker 2: I know I got 283 batting average. So what is that? Fifth?
00:23:41
Speaker 5: Fifth.
00:23:42
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:23:42
Speaker 3: Not just bat. I'm not looking at bat.
00:23:43
Speaker 4: Sorry.
00:23:43
Speaker 7: I didn't look at batting average. But 283 is a nice batting average. He's slugging 511. He's got a 139 OPS plus. That's the totality of the hitting, whether it's weighted runs created plus OPS plus totality of hitting. He's fifth and he's fifth in wins above replacement, which includes his tremendous throwing arm, his shortstop play and his base running, which is still superior.
00:24:04
Speaker 3: He's a top five guy in the league right now. Come on.
00:24:07
Speaker 4: And all of that has helped the Reds get into last place.
00:24:11
Speaker 8: Come on.
00:24:12
Speaker 7: He's doing everything he can. Now you want him to pitch. He needs to pitch. So you want Otani not to pitch? You want De La Cruz to pitch?
00:24:20
Speaker 3: Is that what it is?
00:24:21
Speaker 2: No.
00:24:22
Speaker 4: The argument you're making, we know he's a tremendous player.
00:24:26
Speaker 2: He's not an MVP.
00:24:27
Speaker 4: BK, you thought by now, just admit it, that he would have been an MVP by now.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: Admit it, the way he started his career. Yes or no?
00:24:36
Speaker 3: I admit it, yes.
00:24:38
Speaker 2: Okay, and you've been wrong. Four years strong. He's not an MVP. He's going. He's improved. I'm giving you he's improved. He's not MVP level. Not yet.
00:24:48
Speaker 3: What you're not seeing is I'm getting close to being right. See, that's what you're missing. That's all. You're the best, Rob. Take care.
00:24:54
Speaker 2: I want you to show a little more flair.
00:24:56
Speaker 3: You're very staid. Where are your chains? Where's the sleeve? Boring.
00:25:02
Speaker 2: Wait a minute. I'll put a do-rag on or something. Excellent.
00:25:06
Speaker 3: I'm happy now. Thank you, Rob. We'll see you. Rob Parker there.
00:25:10
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.
00:25:20
Speaker 2: Now let's bring in Reggie Chapman.
00:25:22
Speaker 4: He's a sports reporter anchor down in Atlanta at 11 Alive Reggie.
00:25:27
Speaker 2: What's happening? How are you? Rob, I'm doing fantastic, man.
00:25:30
Speaker 9: We are heading into a massive weekend here in Atlanta.
00:25:33
Speaker 2: And so I'm excited to be able to talk to you about it. No doubt. That's why I need to reach out to you.
00:25:38
Speaker 4: So Phillies and Braves this weekend, important series. Coming into Friday, four-game lead for Atlanta and NL East.
00:25:48
Speaker 2: It's been some season. The Phillies were.
00:25:50
Speaker 4: Dead and buried, came out of nowhere, stormed back, and now here's a series that could— alter the division or at least bring them closer, obviously, with a four-game lead.
00:26:01
Speaker 2: But just talk about this series and how important it is to the Braves.
00:26:05
Speaker 8: Well, it is going to be absolutely massive.
00:26:06
Speaker 9: It's so funny because the way that the entirety of the entire baseball season works, where for the Phillies, they started just super, super bad. They played terrible, of course, had to fire the manager, and they found a way to kind of fight back. The Braves, meanwhile, seem to have re-found their focus at the beginning of the year, despite I mean, you come into the season, there was all sorts of question marks about the pitching staff and you had guys get suspended for different PDs. It just was a whole mess going into the season for the Braves and the Phillies. It felt like they were feeling good going into the season. It went the opposite direction. And now things have kind of started to move back. to the mean where we've moved into a series here this upcoming week between two teams that have aspirations, of course, to win the NL East. The Braves really have been kind of doing it through the power of friendship over the course of this season. If I could be kind of funny about that, just because over the course of the season, even going into the year, there was conversations about what are they going to do with this pitching staff? Are they going to be able to add another frontline starter to the rotation? So many other pitchers have gotten hurt. Two more guys have gone down over the last couple of weeks, but still this team sits four-game lead in the division with this massive series.
00:27:11
Speaker 2: Upcoming this weekend here at Truist Park.
00:27:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think fans, like the Braves, you got to give them credit. I mean, they just continue to win and they have a good team.
00:27:23
Speaker 2: Let's just go to their biggest star, Ronald Acuna, and just... You know, where he is, and I know Olsen's a big part of it as well.
00:27:32
Speaker 4: Yeah. You know, they have a lot of good players. I'm not just trying to say he's the only guy. But just Ronald Acuna, there are stretches when you see this guy and you think he's the best player in the league.
00:27:44
Speaker 8: He is the difference maker.
00:27:46
Speaker 9: And you mentioned guys like Matt Olsen, who is having another fantastic year. Ozzie Albies has found his way back into form this season. He's been really good. Austin Riley has found his swing recently. There's been some question marks at shortstop about who's playing the position, but the way that Marisa Dubon has been playing it over the course of this year as a Swiss Army knife for this team and You have Hassan Kim, who's been playing well recently. But at the end of the day, the ceiling gets raised when you have a guy like Ronald Acuna Jr. in your lineup, especially when he's playing this well. Even if he's not swinging the bat all that well, his ability to get on base, his ability to take pitches, to draw walks, and then become a menace on the base pass is something that has been an absolute weapon for this team, regardless if he's swinging the bat well or not. And then you also talk about the defense out there in right field.
00:28:28
Speaker 8: He may not.
00:28:29
Speaker 9: Move as well as he used to after having all the injuries to his knees, but.
00:28:33
Speaker 8: But that arm talent is still absolutely there.
00:28:35
Speaker 9: He is a guy that can gun guys down at second, gun guys down at third, and it makes it an aspect that you have to think about when you're an opposing team, kind of deciding what you're going to do on the base pass. But he is incredible, and he is a guy that can raise the team ceiling to a World Series title if he continues to swing the bat well.
00:28:52
Speaker 2: Our guest is Reggie Chapman.
00:28:54
Speaker 4: He is a sports reporter and anchor at 11 Alive in Atlanta. I always see him at the ballpark, always out there covering the Braves, stuff going on.
00:29:04
Speaker 2: So let's talk about the pitching.
00:29:06
Speaker 4: First, let's talk about Chris Sale, who's their comeback player of the year last year, correct?
00:29:12
Speaker 2: And just has been fantastic for the Braves. What a pickup. He's had an unbelievable year.
00:29:19
Speaker 9: He's had an unbelievable year and an unbelievable time in Atlanta. I mean, you make that trade a couple of years ago for a guy that people think about it now. It's like, oh, Chris Sale, it makes a lot of sense. You trade for a potential Hall of Fame talent. But at the time, he was a guy that the Braves or at least the rest of the league was kind of worried about.
00:29:35
Speaker 4: Right.
00:29:35
Speaker 9: He'd come off a whole bunch of injuries. And now in the years that he's had here in Atlanta, he's won a Cy Young. he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the course of his time here and you've got question marks wondering and when he gets to or if he gets to the baseball hall of fame if he'll have a Braves cat on uh instead of maybe hitting the other pit the other pass.
00:29:52
Speaker 8: Any war over the course of his career. He's been that good here in Atlanta.
00:29:55
Speaker 9: And he's a guy that they just resigned to a new deal to make sure that he stays here over the course of the rest of his career. And the reason for that, the reason he's so loved is because at his age, even at 37, he's pumping 100 miles an hour. He's moving and pitching the best in the moments that they need him the most. And he's been that good. And it's also just off the strength that he's the only guy in this pitching rotation that's That people know for a fact is going to be there coming into the season or hoping that Spencer Strider would come back and pitch. Well, he's been injured for most of this year. It's likely that he's done for the year. Spencer Schwellenbach is another pitcher coming into the season that we've come to spring training at the beginning of the year. And we learned that he has those loose bodies in his elbow and he's not going to come back for this season. And again, Up until this point, you've just had a different mix of pitchers coming in and out of the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez pitched the other day. He hasn't been very good. Grant Holmes, you just don't know. Bryce Elder was good at the beginning of the year, has gotten hurt, just had surgery. They're hoping that he comes back for the postseason. But the Braves know they've got Chris Sale, and they know that if he's out on the mound, they like their chances, and they just try to figure it out after that.
00:30:57
Speaker 2: No doubt.
00:30:58
Speaker 4: And the other elephant in the room, of course— We know Milwaukee has the best record in the National League. The Braves are trying to hang on against the Phillies. But the Dodgers, the big bad Dodgers, the evil empire, trying to go for three straight World Series. At one point, the Braves actually led the Dodgers with the second best record in the NL.
00:31:20
Speaker 2: That has flipped now.
00:31:21
Speaker 4: The Dodgers have a three-and-a-half game lead over Atlanta coming into Friday. How important would that be for Atlanta if they could– not be in the wildcard spot.
00:31:33
Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
00:31:34
Speaker 4: Because even though they win the division, they still wind up in the wildcard because they're only two division winners are able at the top to, you know, have a buy. So how big is that? Have you heard a conversation about them trying to get to that perch?
00:31:48
Speaker 9: Well, they know at least the talking talent as they know, since they're going to likely be in the postseason, they're not, killing.
00:31:55
Speaker 2: Themselves trying to get there. They'd love to have it.
00:31:57
Speaker 9: It's so funny, though, because there's kind of two schools of thought on this, just based off of how things have gone over the course of the last couple of postseason runs since they won the World Series back in 2021. They had those division wins in that first round, I guess, bye. And they found themselves coming out of those or coming into those divisional series against a team out of the wildcard that came in with some momentum, having won a wildcard series and won a wildcard game, and they seemed to get blitzed in that first game. And so the question now is.
00:32:26
Speaker 9: Whether they get in as the team that has the buy or the team that doesn't have the buy, they like their chances.
00:32:32
Speaker 8: But they do know that having an extra amount of.
00:32:35
Speaker 9: Time to make sure that Chris Sale gets some extra rest is something that they're never going to turn down to give this bullpen another opportunity to get a little bit more rested and maybe give some guys like Bryce Elder a little bit of.
00:32:46
Speaker 2: Extra time, Robert Suarez a little bit.
00:32:48
Speaker 9: Of extra time to be able to make sure they can get back both in that starting rotation and in that bullpen.
00:32:52
Speaker 2: This team would like the time off, but they.
00:32:54
Speaker 9: Know that if they don't get it, they do like their opportunity to try and win a wild card spot and try and get to the divisional round feeling good.
00:33:02
Speaker 2: No doubt.
00:33:03
Speaker 4: The Braves will be in the mix. It's going to be a very, very... The National League, to me, is the stronger league this year. The American League is down... Not as many good teams to me, but Phillies, the Braves, the Dodgers, the Brewers, the Cubs. You know, like you have some formidable teams that are in the mix.
00:33:22
Speaker 2: So it's going to be very, very interesting. His name is Reggie Chapman. 11 alive. My man down in Atlanta.
00:33:31
Speaker 4: Giving us some insight on the Atlanta Braves' big weekend series against the Phillies.
00:33:36
Speaker 2: Reggie, thanks for your insight and your knowledge, my man. Appreciate you.
00:33:39
Speaker 8: Rob, always, brother. I really appreciate your time. Thank you.
00:33:41
Speaker 1: It's time for a trip down memory lane here on Inside the Parker.
00:33:46
Speaker 8: Rob Parker has covered Major League Baseball for 40 years. Now, let's relive a memorable moment of his career.
00:33:54
Speaker 4: The worst blow up I had with a major league manager happened on a Sunday in St. Louis in 1992.
00:34:03
Speaker 3: That's right.
00:34:05
Speaker 4: I was the Cincinnati Reds beat writer for the Cincinnati Inquirer on a road trip. And I had written a Sunday column that Reds manager Lou Piniella didn't like. I still remember the headline on that column, Sweet Lou Turned Sour. Lou Piniella's nickname was Sweet Lou, and the players were not having fun playing for Lou Piniella just two years after winning the World Series in 1990. So when Piniella arrived at Busch Stadium on that Sunday morning, the column from the paper was faxed to him in his office. He read it, was furious, and ran into the clubhouse and screamed at me at the.
00:34:54
Speaker 2: Top of his lungs. It was profane.
00:34:58
Speaker 4: And while the scene in the clubhouse momentarily was ugly, Lou and I were able to work through those differences about the story and wound up having a good working relationship.
00:35:11
Speaker 2: In fact... Lou goes down as the best manager I ever covered. Hey, this is Rob Parker.
00:35:20
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.
00:35:47
Speaker 2: Until next time, Rob Parker, out.
00:35:50
Speaker 5: He can't get it.
00:35:51
Speaker 2: This could be an inside to Parker.
00:35:53
Speaker 8: See you next week.
00:35:54
Speaker 5: Same bat time, same bat station.
