00:00Now, for the sake of the exercise, I just want to revisit the National League Central, because I think we
00:06can eulogize one team in the NL Central.
00:09There were five teams in the conversation, and all five teams were comfortably over 500 at one point.
00:17Then all five teams were over 500 at one point, maybe not comfortably.
00:21But there is one team that has fallen three games under.
00:24They have dropped five in a row.
00:25They've dropped eight of their last ten.
00:27Is it time to officially eulogize the Cincinnati Reds, Arm Layton?
00:34I just love the Reds.
00:37I love their fans.
00:38I really want to see this team succeed.
00:41You can talk yourself into the return of Hunter Green.
00:46In that division, with the way things look right now, I think you can start to, you know, I light
00:56the candle.
00:56I think you can eulogize him.
00:58I just don't see how it gets better.
01:02And they still got a little bit of time before Ellie comes back.
01:06They have, I think, two to three weeks before Ellie De La Cruz comes back.
01:10And the over-reliance on Ellie and Sal Stewart is really starting to rear its head right now.
01:15And Nick Kroll could be signing up for a big-time sell at the deadline.
01:19So, I guess I'm just asking you to look at the roster and tell me who are those sellable pieces.
01:24Like, I'm sure there would be a taker for Eugenio Suarez.
01:27Nathaniel Lowe, the way he's swinging it, there's going to be a taker for Nathaniel Lowe.
01:30But, like, I just look around.
01:32How about J.J. freaking Bledet?
01:33Yeah, how about J.J. Bledet?
01:34Yeah, that's cool, too.
01:37But, I mean, when I look at the rotation, that's the biggest reason why.
01:39This was a team that's supposed to be built on pitching.
01:42And Chase Burns has been spectacular.
01:44But Brady Singer has been horrific.
01:47Nick Lodolo just has not been himself all year.
01:50Lauder's been banged up and not good.
01:52Abbott's been better, but he's not been, you know, pitching to his standards either.
01:56And then you don't have clear-cut closer.
02:00It's closer by committee.
02:01You just don't have the leverage arms that you really trust.
02:04Shout-out T.J. Antone, though.
02:05I can't believe he's back.
02:06Like, I just love seeing that guy on the mound.
02:08Amazing.
02:08Most resilient dude in Major League Baseball.
02:11But, man, I just, I don't really know how it can get better for this team.
02:15I don't know if I really see it.
02:16And you look offensively, like, they've had a lot of fortunate outcomes.
02:19They've had some unfortunate outcomes, too.
02:20Of course, you wanted more from Geno.
02:22But, like, Blake Dunn's giving you 101 plate appearances of above-average offense.
02:28Sal Stewart, I know he slowed down, but he's been a really good bat for you.
02:31J.J. Bledet has been a godsend.
02:32He's a borderline all-star.
02:34He's performing like an all-star.
02:35Steer has been much better this year.
02:37Nathaniel Lowe has been fantastic.
02:39Like, those are a lot of unexpected pro things.
02:43Maybe not Sal.
02:43Obviously, we loved him here going into the year.
02:45But a lot of unexpected production.
02:48And they still can't put it together.
02:50I just don't know how it gets much better for them.
02:53I'm not sure.
02:53You look at the other four teams in the National League Central right now.
02:57What catches your eye?
02:58Why does it catch your eye?
02:59Is it the Cubs and Bregman?
03:01Like, that Bregman slide, we haven't talked about much on the Just Baseball show.
03:05It's been really hard to watch.
03:07Yeah, actually, I got to talk to our guy, Tyler Aki, about it.
03:09It's just great stuff to cover in Chicago.
03:12I'm so bad with the numbers in the radio station.
03:14I know you've got this off the dome.
03:16Tyler.
03:16ESPN 1000 in Chicago.
03:18Yeah.
03:18I know I always give the wrong number.
03:19I'm sorry, Tyler.
03:21But he's, like, getting really nervous about the Bregman thing.
03:24And so we're going to talk about that a little bit.
03:26But I think Bregman's going to pick it up.
03:28I think the Cubs, I'm very confused by.
03:32That's not what stands out to me as much.
03:34I think what jumps to me is that the Cardinals have not slowed down.
03:37And we are at this point now where it's like, they should have slowed down by now.
03:42Like, we've continued to say, like, they're not going to make it happen.
03:44They're not going to make it happen.
03:45And, you know, good team, a lot of progress here.
03:49When are they going to slow down?
03:51I'm waiting for it.
03:52And I think they're starting to become more and more reasons why they're not going to.
03:56Not just Jordan.
03:57Alec Burleson looks like one of the best first basemen in Major League Baseball.
04:00JJ Weatherholt looks like the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.
04:02You can go through it all.
04:03I thought the pitching wouldn't hold up.
04:05They've got just a bunch of arms.
04:07They're just going to spam you.
04:08Nobody's great.
04:09But all these guys are good enough.
04:11And give themselves a shot with the bats they have.
04:13I think that's what stands out to me.
04:14Like, they've got a shot.
04:16The curmudgeon in me is saying, oh, the slide can begin any given night.
04:21Right?
04:21Like, okay, this can happen now.
04:24Okay, this could happen tomorrow.
04:25This could happen the day after.
04:27But at the end of the day, like, you give it the stiff arm for two, two and a half
04:30months.
04:31And you're starting to really cook with gas at this point.
04:34And St. Louis, it's going to be a fascinating deadline for them.
04:38Because they're not going to buy, per se.
04:41But they could strategically add some controllable pieces.
04:45I think Heimblum is really good at his job.
04:47And this is a cool opportunity to see Heimblum be very good at this job.
04:53So Parkber, here's the bridge up.
04:53Okay, that's it.
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