- 6/12/2025
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00:00Jones and Keith here on WEEI.
00:03Every Thursday we're joined by Rob Bradford.
00:05Typically at 1130, but he's a busy man.
00:09Baseball isn't boring, neither is Bradfoe's life.
00:12He's brought to you by McFarlane Energy,
00:14the heating, cooling, and bioheat delivery pros
00:16that Eastern Mass and all of Cape Cod depend on
00:19at McFarlaneEnergy.com.
00:23Red Sox call up Roman Anthony, Rob,
00:25and it's almost like the McFarlane Energy
00:27flowing through the stadium.
00:28All of a sudden, it's just electric in there.
00:31You didn't hear that when he got up the plate?
00:33Everyone yelled McFarlane in unison.
00:35It was awesome.
00:37And by the way, thank you for adjusting the time.
00:39I'm seeing the Cape Cod League managers brunch
00:43introducing the managers there, all yelling McFarlane.
00:46So thank you to the fine people of the 99
00:48in the Cape Cod League.
00:49Awesome stuff.
00:51And you guys are awesome for adjusting.
00:53You know what we're going to need at some point
00:54by the end of the summer is the Rob Bradford
00:56all Cape Cod League team.
00:58Oh, yeah.
00:58Give me your starting all-time Cape Cod League.
01:01Yeah.
01:02Yeah.
01:02Literally every player in Major League Baseball
01:05played at the Cape Cod League.
01:06That's fine.
01:06Give me your list.
01:08Why don't you use a random Cape Cod League player
01:11of the week?
01:12Ooh.
01:12That would be huge.
01:14Lance Dobbins, I think, is on that list.
01:16But before we go, I had a very pertinent question.
01:20Where do we go?
01:20We just started.
01:21What are we talking about?
01:22We just got here.
01:23We're talking next week.
01:23Before you go, what?
01:27What?
01:27We just started the interview.
01:28Before you go, what?
01:29No, I said, no, before we get going, I said.
01:31Oh.
01:32That's not what I said.
01:33No, before I go.
01:34Yeah, that's enough.
01:35I've talked to you guys enough.
01:36Enough is enough.
01:38As you probably know, I had Lucas Chilito
01:41on the podcast this morning, and we had a very pertinent topic,
01:44which was I walked out of a movie the other day.
01:48Have you ever?
01:49And so I asked him if he had ever walked out of a movie.
01:51Have you guys ever walked out of a movie?
01:53I don't think so.
01:55I definitely haven't.
01:55I'm too cheap, and even if it's a bad movie, I'll fit it.
01:58The closest I came, I think, was City of Angels.
02:01I remember.
02:01I think I was in eighth grade.
02:03Horrible.
02:04The Goo Goo Dolls on the soundtrack.
02:06And we saw it, and it was like half my friend group left,
02:10but a couple of us stayed, and it was terrible.
02:13That was the closest I think I came.
02:14Was that Meg Ryan?
02:15That wasn't Meg Ryan.
02:16Nicholas Cage, Meg Ryan, I think.
02:17Yeah, yeah.
02:18City of Angels.
02:18Bradford, what'd you walk out on?
02:20The Wes Anderson movie, the Phoenician thing.
02:24That's on you for seeing that.
02:25Gotta be honest.
02:26If I'm going to walk out of a movie, a Wes Anderson movie is one that I might walk out of.
02:30Yeah.
02:30Agreed.
02:31The best way, as I explained to Gialito, the best way I can explain it is that Wes Anderson
02:36was trying way too hard to be Wes Anderson.
02:39So, yeah.
02:39It was, I love Life Aquatic.
02:41I love some of the other movies.
02:43But you get three-quarters of the way through, and you're just thinking, am I better off
02:48lying down somewhere or watching the school?
02:52It's not a good use of my time at this point.
02:54No.
02:55Can you settle this?
02:57Roman Anthony says there are three Anthony Anthonys, his grandfather, his father, and
03:01his brother.
03:01Uh, Leah Anthony was on with the Greg Hill Show today and says there are two.
03:07How many Anthony Anthonys are there or were there?
03:09Maybe there's a gray area here with how many there were at one point versus now.
03:12Like, do you have the answer to this, Rob?
03:14I feel like if anyone would have this answer, it's you.
03:16The best, my reporting skills, uh, the best I can do with my reporting skills is that I
03:21interviewed the dad yesterday, and on his pass, no, on his pass, it said Tony.
03:29So, uh, so maybe that's factoring into the equation.
03:33So maybe there's a Tony, and then she's factoring the other Anthony Anthonys.
03:38I don't know.
03:38That's the best I can do.
03:39We may never know.
03:40It may just be an unsolved mystery throughout the year.
03:42We gotta get to the bottom of it.
03:43But where do you come down, Rob, on, you know, we see Roman Anthony two nights ago is
03:47fantastic.
03:48Marcella Meyer, two home runs yesterday.
03:52And the Yankee series, as we all know, three lefty starters going for New York.
03:56What do you do?
03:57Like, Jones and I want to play the guys.
03:59We know they're lefty, and I know, you know, Ref Snyder hits lefties or whatever.
04:02You gotta jumble stuff around, but I want those guys in at least two out of three of the games.
04:07I heard you guys, and I, boy, at 5 a.m. this morning, I was going down the rabbit hole
04:13and trying to figure out exactly what the right answer to this.
04:16Um, so the right answer is that you integrate them against lefties, but not all the time.
04:23I mean, you can't, listen, you're still in it.
04:26No matter what everyone says, you're still in it.
04:28You have two right-handed hitters who are both having OPSs of over 950.
04:33Um, so you start right there.
04:36You can't ignore them.
04:37You look at this month in baseball, the Red Sox against left-handers are, their OP team
04:43EOPS is number one in baseball, 100 points better than the next level.
04:48So when you have that type of success and you have those type of options, you can't ignore it.
04:52Now, all of that said, I think that there's creative ways to keep, get these guys some
04:57at-bats against lefties.
04:58Like, we so focus on just the, you know, the Roman, or the Romy Gonzalez or, you know, or
05:05whatever, Robert Schneider.
05:07Like, okay, like, what's wrong with putting Marcelo Meyer at second and not letting Christian
05:11Campbell play?
05:12What's wrong with, like, saying, Jaron Duran, take a night off, because you aren't that great
05:16against lefties.
05:17Yeah, or Raphael.
05:18There's a way to put them in there.
05:19Yeah.
05:20Raphael, yeah.
05:20So there's ways to do it.
05:22Now, I wouldn't just roll them out there against the Yankees.
05:25I wouldn't roll them out there against Rodon and say, go get them.
05:28We want to develop you against one of the best pitchers in baseball.
05:31But I do, there are times, especially in the games they're starting, I would like to
05:36see them maybe get one more at-bat.
05:39Maybe it's in the fifth inning or something like that.
05:41And then save the pinch hitter for later in the game.
05:44So I don't know if I answer your question.
05:45I don't think I'm all in on just saying, go get them, guys, like I think you guys were
05:49saying.
05:50But I do think that there's ways to integrate them a little bit.
05:54The bigger question, guys, that nobody's talking about, is all this Roman Anthony hype, you
05:59know, with the family and the sister and everything else and the player.
06:02Well, it can all come to a screeching halt here in a couple of days.
06:07Okay.
06:07So this actually dovetails into what I was just about to ask.
06:09You're saying when Abreu comes back, they could send him down.
06:11Is that what you're implying?
06:13Yeah.
06:14Okay.
06:14Wow.
06:14So that actually, I was just going to ask you how it all fits together when Abreu and
06:18Bregman come back.
06:19Not to say it's like a great problem to have or anything, but I was just going to ask you
06:22that.
06:23When Bregman and Abreu were back, how does it all fit together?
06:26But why would they send him down when Abreu comes back?
06:28Why would they do that?
06:30Well, because they've landed at that same spot where they were before.
06:34The same spot where I said, hey, Red Sox, I'll give you the solution.
06:37Move Sedan Raphael to the infield.
06:39Send Christian Campbell to minor leagues and you have Roman Anthony.
06:42That's my solution.
06:44But they dug in on not doing that.
06:46And when Abreu comes back, they'll probably have the same exact situation.
06:51There's no easy answer to this.
06:53And I know that people will be twice as up in arms, probably, especially if he does
06:58anything, by the way, in the next few games.
07:01But to answer your question, Adam, nothing's changed.
07:06Unless they make a trade, unless someone else gets hurt, whatever it is, nothing's changed.
07:11And I do think, though, if we're going to look at the next few games, the importance of
07:15this conversation, if Roman Anthony pops a couple, as Keith so eloquently describes them
07:23as dingers, socks dingers.
07:25I love when you say that.
07:26It's one of my favorite things.
07:27Socks dingers.
07:28Socks a couple dingers.
07:30Then people are going to be screaming and yelling, and rightfully so.
07:34I mean, you see the presence of the kid.
07:36I know he's one hit, but it just feels different in the middle of that lineup.
07:40But to answer your question, though, there's not a lot of easy answers.
07:44No, there isn't.
07:45And your Raphael one, I think, makes sense, moving him into the infield, and then you
07:49get your guys going.
07:50Another one that I don't think is going to happen, but it's got a little bit more, I
07:55guess, info on it.
07:57Last night, Sam Kennedy saying that, you know, when the time's right, Raphael Devers will
08:01play first.
08:02Breslow pretty much dumped water on that this morning on Greg's show.
08:04But wouldn't another scenario be, if Willie or Abreu comes back, Raphael Devers plays
08:11first, Toro plays third, Meijer plays second, and now DH is open for whatever combination
08:19you want to use, whether it's Ref Snyder against a lefty, whether it's Roman Anthony doesn't
08:24have to worry about the field because Abreu's back, whatever you want to do, you can open
08:27it up that way, and you can even keep Toro.
08:30As long as Toro's hitting, you can keep him at third.
08:31And then when he eventually cools off, you can, you know, jumble it up again.
08:35But is that at all a scenario?
08:38Devers grabbing a glove?
08:40In the tradition of a Raphael Devers press conference, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no.
08:46I mean, and the no is he's not probably going to play first base.
08:51Right.
08:52And that's the problem.
08:53I mean, we all know this.
08:54This is why we wanted him to pick up a glove.
08:57This is why we wanted him to work out.
08:59This is why you wanted to at least introduce that, because that exact scenario made a lot
09:03of sense.
09:04And you're not even introducing Yoshida, who is probably going to be ready in early July
09:08to function.
09:09Probably is right now, to be honest with you.
09:12But, you know, I think that when Sam Kennedy says that, he's saying he's like, he's fielding
09:17ground ball.
09:18No, he's not.
09:19He's goofing around at shortstop.
09:21I mean, this is a lot different than doing what Christian Campbell was at first base.
09:25And until I see Raphael Devers seriously take, like, some hardcore instruction as a first
09:32baseman, even in the warm-ups, then, like, it's not going to happen.
09:37And there's no signs that it's going to happen.
09:38And we've litigated this a million times.
09:41It's unfortunate.
09:42Raphael Devers is an awesome DH.
09:44He's having an awesome year.
09:45He's going to be an all-star.
09:46But it's two different conversations.
09:48It would mean a whole lot if you at least saw what that looked like, like you saw what
09:54it looked like with Christian Campbell for two weeks, just toying with it in pregame
10:00because of all the scenarios that you laid out.
10:03Stick with Campbell for a moment.
10:06And maybe this applies to more players.
10:07They won't sit Story down.
10:09And Story started to heat up, but he was really scuffling for a while.
10:13Raphael has started very slow.
10:14They wouldn't send him down or demote him.
10:17Campbell in the same way.
10:17All those guys have their contracts.
10:19Would they hesitate or balk at sending Christian Campbell down because he has a big league
10:24deal and they're paying him all this money at the big league level?
10:28I hope not.
10:29I mean, that would be, you know, I've heard that floated.
10:32I mean, it's not floated in terms of a fact.
10:35I mean, this is just like, why aren't they sending him down when you have the worst production
10:40in all of baseball for the month of May and then you're really trying to figure out the
10:44position?
10:45Well, why are you doing it?
10:46Well, is it because of the contract and people brave that?
10:49But I'm like, no, you know, I've seen guys get sent down with contracts before.
10:53I can't imagine that's it.
10:54But it's to me, it's still the thing that is bizarre to me is that we kept hearing about
11:01Roman Anthony, about how he had to fine tune things and work on things.
11:05Well, Christian Campbell is the same thing, like, and he's had less time in professional
11:11baseball than Roman Anthony.
11:12So, like, he has to fine tune things.
11:14He has to work on things.
11:16He has to understand, like, what it's like to be actually pitched on the inside part of
11:20the plate.
11:20All that.
11:21He has to learn how to feel this position better.
11:23It's okay.
11:24We've said it a million times.
11:25Mike Trout did it.
11:27Jackson Holliday did it last year.
11:28We could go down the list.
11:30But for whatever reason, they're still really hesitant.
11:33And every time that Christian Campbell gets an opposite field bouncer, you know, for a
11:39couple of hits, we're like, oh, there it is.
11:41No.
11:42Like, no.
11:43It's still, to me, the logical progression for Christian Campbell to take a breath in the
11:48minor leagues, free up this spot, and then go from there.
11:52So, but they seem to think that he's going to keep developing with a third deck, which
11:58just seems like the way they're going to go.
12:00So, it seems like Hunter Dobbins' dad completely lied to him about his baseball career.
12:05And, you know, really not the biggest deal in the world.
12:09However, Hunter Dobbins gets these flashy headlines for saying how he'd never played for the Yankees,
12:13and here's why.
12:14And then it's quickly disproven.
12:16And then he has to do this kind of awkward Q&A yesterday where he's trying to clarify things,
12:22and I guess, you know, stick up for his dad in a way.
12:24But what was your take over these last two, three days for Hunter Dobbins?
12:28Well, first of all, my take is how are we not making the t-shirts right now instead of, like,
12:32say I'm not in the business of fact-checking my dad?
12:36I mean, what a great line.
12:39And how much does that ring true for everyone?
12:41Oh, sure.
12:42You know, if Bill Bradford's listening right now, I'll do apologies.
12:46But, yes, we were not direct descendants to Governor William Bradford.
12:49We were second cousins.
12:51So, I honestly felt bad for him a little bit because, like, listen, I mean, it's, you know,
12:58he said what he said.
13:00He heard it from his dad.
13:01He just says this thing.
13:03And the weird thing is, and I kind of want to get your guys' take on it,
13:06the obsession that the New York media immediately had to this, like,
13:09how great offense they had that somebody didn't want to play for the Yankees.
13:12I kind of put the shoe on the other foot.
13:14I'm like, if someone said they didn't want to play for the Red Sox,
13:17they're going to be like, okay, that's cool.
13:19Yeah, I wouldn't believe it either way.
13:20I'd be like, if they were offering you money and nobody else was,
13:22you wouldn't play for them?
13:24I'm sure.
13:25I don't buy it, but, yeah, I don't think it would be as big of a deal.
13:28I think it also just sort of says the state of the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry,
13:32where it's pretty dead, and they're like, oh, one player who no Yankee fan
13:36had ever heard of until this weekend says he doesn't want to play there,
13:39and then they get all fired up.
13:40It also says something about the state of, you know, just, like,
13:43an athlete can say whatever and we'll just run with it.
13:45If I'm as guilty of this as anything, like, if Christian Gonzalez told us
13:47something when we had him on during football season, I'd run with that.
13:50He didn't, though.
13:50No, it's not like I'd fact-check him.
13:53So, like, I don't know.
13:54I mean, on some level, I get Joel Sherman credit.
13:55He's like, wait a minute, is this even true?
13:56I went to baseball reference.
13:59I don't see this guy anywhere.
14:01It could have just started there.
14:02And let's be honest.
14:03I mean, how much do we miss the back pages in Boston like that?
14:06They put the back page of the New York Post.
14:09I mean, like, that was – they did a lot with a little right there
14:13with that headline and that graphic.
14:16But, you know, I just think that, you know, this is a kid where it's –
14:21you're right.
14:22I mean, I think it was a perfect storm where you did it in the New York media.
14:27ESPN, oh, my mackerel.
14:28I mean, they latched onto it and ran with it.
14:30They just happened to be pitching that night.
14:33And another thing is I think that the Jazz Chisholm tweet, like, amped it up.
14:37I was there, you know, driving to Yankee Stadium,
14:39and Jazz Chisholm tweets, like, hey, you know, like, something about –
14:45we'll get ready, get all the smoke.
14:47Yeah.
14:47And so immediately in the clubhouse, Jazz Chisholm comes out
14:51and everyone asks him about it.
14:52And so when someone responds, they're going to – it's going to get amped up,
14:56which it did.
14:57And, you know, I don't know if there's any more meat on that bone,
15:00but we're about to find out, I guess, tomorrow.
15:03You think these last, I guess, seven games or so is a turning point,
15:07or is this still, from what you've seen, the same old Red Sox
15:11that are going to be kind of hovering around 500?
15:13Well, they're going to win three in a row for the first time since the end of April.
15:17I mean, the facts are facts.
15:19So I watched that game yesterday, and I felt like, okay,
15:23it felt a little bit different.
15:24I think in large part because you did have young guys making their presence felt.
15:29I think that's a big part of it.
15:30But the biggest part of this is, you know, why we obsess over the Anthony family
15:37and Marcelo Meyer hitting jacks all over the place.
15:40You know, really it comes down to can you get starting pitchers through sixth inning?
15:44And can you get that Giolito?
15:46Can you get that Bueller?
15:47But I have the answer for you on that.
15:49There's a reason to maybe believe in these young kids.
15:51There's no reason to believe in Walker Bueller and Lucas.
15:53No offense to the Baseball is a Boring podcast, friend of the podcast,
15:56but, like, I don't believe in those guys at all.
15:58I at least have a chance of believing in these young kids.
16:01Well, I would challenge you to listen to the podcast.
16:05Okay.
16:05Maybe.
16:06Maybe I will.
16:07I'm usually pretty dug into my ways, Ron.
16:09But, like, I get your point about the pitching.
16:12I just, I don't think there's much of a prayer of the pitching, personally.
16:16But if they turn it around, that would be a big factor in why they turn it around.
16:18I won't argue with you on that.
16:20Yeah.
16:21I think that that's going to be the straw that serves this rink.
16:24Whether, you know, because they were wearing out the bullpen.
16:27The bullpen's already been thinned out because of Slayton.
16:30You know, this is how this whole thing can work.
16:32And, yeah, I mean, I don't, like, believe me, listen to Lucas Fiolito talk about how he went back
16:40and looked at this thing where they show his skeleton.
16:42He had me convinced.
16:44When you're talking, when you get the skeleton talk.
16:46I'm sorry.
16:46What are you talking about?
16:48Oh, it was unbelievable.
16:50I said, what?
16:51You did what?
16:51He's like, yeah, they showed my skeleton.
16:53Like, oh, they showed, like, the stick figure?
16:55No, my skeleton.
16:57I'm like, oh, my goodness.
16:58Yay, baseball.
16:59Let's go.
17:01I think I'm in on this.
17:02Yeah, I still don't get it.
17:03But, okay, well, I'll have to give it a full rip.
17:06Hey, here's the good skeleton when you pitch well.
17:10Here's the bad skeleton when you don't pitch well.
17:12I understand now.
17:14Now I get it.
17:14Okay.
17:15I was thinking, like, x-rays.
17:16I get it now.
17:17Okay, well, I'll have to give the full thing a listen.
17:19Baseball is a boring podcast.
17:20With Rob Bradford, Odyssey app, A-U-D-A-C-Y.
17:23Get it on your phone.
17:24Free.
17:24Easy.
17:25Take it with you wherever you go.
17:26And check him out on WEI.com as well.
17:29And, of course, Thursdays here with Jones and Keith Bradfoe.
17:31We appreciate it.
17:32Thanks so much.
17:33All right.
17:34Thanks, guys.
17:34I'll talk to you.
17:35See you.
17:35Rob Bradford joining us here.
17:37We do need his full.
17:39You were asking for his Cape League baseball team,
17:41meaning the most productive players on the Cape
17:44or the best players ever to come from the Cape?
17:45Best players ever to play in the Cape League.
17:48Okay.
17:49Which I know is, like, all Hall of Famers.
17:51I get it.
17:51I'm not saying, oh, that's an obscure guy.
17:53I know studs play there.
17:54I'm just curious, like, of all the years there,
17:57who would you say were the nine best players?
17:59And then, like, was Kituit had, like, three of them.
18:02And you go, oh, wow.
18:03Yeah.
18:03Like, ooh.
18:04Well, that was a good year.
18:05Should have seen that.
18:06Oh, I wish I was there for that game.
18:07Oh, I wish I was there for that game.
18:07I wish I was there for that game.
18:08I wish I was there for that game.
18:08I wish I was there for that game.
18:09I wish I was there for that game.
18:09I wish I was there for that game.
18:10I wish I was there for that game.
18:10I wish I was there for that game.
18:11I wish I was there for that game.
18:12I wish I was there for that game.
18:13I wish I was there for that game.
18:14I wish I was there for that game.
18:15I wish I was there for that game.
18:16I wish I was there for that game.
18:17I wish I was there for that game.
18:18I wish I was there for that game.
18:19I wish I was there for that game.
18:20I wish I was there for that game.
18:21I wish I was there for that game.
18:22I wish I was there for that game.
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