00:00I think it's sort of appropriate that we start with the hottest team in baseball because a lot
00:04of folks thought they would be good at the beginning of the season, but certainly their
00:07odds are changing and rapidly moving on the upside here. The Cubs, Peter, have gone from a team that
00:15we thought may make the postseason to maybe now a team that could win 100 games. We saw Imanaga
00:21pitch well. I mean, they're bringing Conforto off the bench every time they do. He seems to hit.
00:26So, I mean, look, no team is winning every game this season and they have a nine-game winning
00:30streak and they've won all these games at home, but I suppose they're a little bit overachieving
00:34from what we thought at the beginning of the season. Is that fair?
00:38I think it's moderately fair. I think they're definitely overachieving for a team who already
00:43lost Cade Horton and then just recently lost Matthew Boyd to a, I think it was a knee injury. He's
00:49getting meniscus surgery because unfortunately he was playing with his children and something
00:54happened. So he's going to miss the next six weeks. So you look at the current Cubs rotation
00:58and you say, how are they going to continue to do this? Well, I think they're at least
01:02going to be really good because of their offense. And a big change from last year to this year
01:08is introducing Moises Ballesteros, who has an OPS near 900. He's this 5'8", 200-pound slugger
01:16with a beautiful swing. I want to shout out the Baseball Tonight podcast. Paul Hembekidis
01:20was actually coming up with some comparisons. So Moises Ballesteros reminds him of Adrian Gonzalez,
01:27if we remember his time, you know, great MLB hitter. And just for his ability to hit
01:32in all four quadrants, right? He can hit up and in, low and away, up and away, low and in.
01:38He just
01:38has a really, really smooth swing. He's got a big leg kick, but his ability to stay on time
01:42is really, really impressive. And the Cubs already had a great lineup yesterday, or last year,
01:48excuse me, right? They were a playoff team last year, but this year, this lineup is just
01:54unstoppable.
01:56Now, I think what makes them such a solid team also is the fact that they seem to be
02:03really playing within the confines this season, meaning Wrigley Field. We know when they've had
02:07those playoff years and those championship years, or that one championship years, they played very
02:11well at home. And as of right now, as you can see, they're currently favored to win the division.
02:16Unfortunately, the Reds, who I liked a lot, are falling back here a little bit. The Reds have
02:19gone down to 11 to 1. Peter told us before the season, don't sleep on the Cardinals. I told him
02:26I'm deep asleep, and he was right. I mean, thus far, they're having a good year so far. All right,
02:30now let's get to the American League East, Peter, where once again, it's another season where the
02:34team that nobody talks about is the hottest team in the American League. That's the Tampa Bay Rays.
02:40They appear to be on a collision course to me with the postseason. Again, I don't know if it's
02:43division. I don't certainly know if it's wild card, but they're back at home in Tropicana Field.
02:50They're playing great baseball. Looks like they're in the 85 to 90 win range this season if they keep
02:55it up. McClanahan is back and pitching well. Caminero is having a great year. What am I
03:00missing? It seems like they've pressed the right buttons again. I totally agree with you about
03:05pressing the right buttons, and I think getting back their stadium is enormous, right? We have to
03:09remember that this team played their home games at George Steinbrenner Field. Not only is that a
03:14minor league park, it's the park for your rival Yankees. Imagine going to your home ballpark every
03:20single day, and half the fans don't even care to root for you. They're just there to watch a ball
03:25game, and they might be Yankee fans altogether. This year, they're back at the trop where they have
03:30always dominated. I think right now they're what, 14-4, 15-4, and a big reason they've been so
03:36dominant is their pitching, right? You already mentioned it with Shane McClanahan. 16 and two-thirds
03:42straight scoreless innings. Nick Martinez, the free agent that nobody wanted except for Tampa,
03:48is pitching to a 1-7-1 ERA, and during this stretch where the Rays have won, I think, 13
03:54of 14 games,
03:55he has thrown 20 innings and only allowed two runs, and it's really the entire pitching staff.
04:01The bullpen in this stretch has a 1-0-7 ERA, 42 innings, only five earned runs allowed, and they're
04:08only allowing 1.3 runs per game going into yesterday's ball game, and the offense is doing
04:14just enough, right? Yesterday they had a good game, but ultimately 3.6 or 3.7 runs per game in
04:21that
04:21stretch. The thing is, the pitching has just been uber, uber dominant, and it's that classic style that
04:27we're used to with Tampa. Great pitching, relentless execution, and they'll beat you by playing small
04:34ball. It's a team that nobody wants to face.
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