MLB Central 09-Jun-2026

Name: MLB Central 09-Jun-2026
Uploaded: 2026-06-10T04:43:14+00:00
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00:00:01Good morning. What a wild night in Las Vegas. Coming up, we'll take you through last night's

00:00:08slugfest between the Brewers and A's. 29 runs, 11 homers, including one that you have to see

00:00:13to believe. Paul Goldschmidt helps the Yankees come from behind to beat the Guardians and shows

00:00:17some veteran presence in the process. Matthew Libitor of the Cardinals joins us. Brandon

00:00:23Gauden. Cliff Floyd is in for D-Row. Al Leiter stops by as well. And you. Roll that open.

00:00:30We're not a whole lot of numbers here, but Cliff and I are going to hold it down. Don't worry.

00:00:38Don't anyone panic.

00:00:53Don't worry.

00:00:54Don't worry.

00:00:55And I'll be central is presented by the Home Depot. Good Tuesday morning. We're glad you're

00:01:01with us. Whether it's the morning or afternoon, depending on when you're watching us. Cliff

00:01:04Floyd, Robert Flores, D-Row is off. Lauren is off. She's got her TBS hosting duties. But

00:01:10that's OK, Cliff. This is the first time that we've ever been in this situation for this show,

00:01:15right? Yeah. You know, I kind of deal with a lot of firsts in my life. I don't know how

00:01:19that happens. But, you know, we we good. Yeah. We we have our lighter, as I mentioned,

00:01:24going to join us. Yeah. Braves play TV play by the only man. Brandon Gauden is going to

00:01:29join us. And Matthew Libitor set to join us. But why I love the game. And this happened

00:01:34in Anaheim last night. Trey Mancini, who's last at bat in the majors cliff was July of 2023.

00:01:43This guy has been back down to the minors. He has been through it. But he gets to the

00:01:49big leagues last night or back to the big leagues. And all he does is throw out three

00:01:54knocks against his former team, by the way, in which a team that he helped them win the

00:01:59World Series in 2022. But that's not the toughest obstacle he's had to overcome. Remember, he

00:02:04had to overcome cancer. Yeah. Stage four colon cancer. Yeah. Several years ago. And for him

00:02:10to beat that and then beat the baseball business, if you want to term it that way. Amazing.

00:02:15Just keep fighting. Right. I think that's that's for me. When you when you look at Trey,

00:02:19I saw him in Chicago when he signed there. Yes. And with the Cubs and, you know, just happy

00:02:24every day. Yeah. You know, I was very thankful to get the opportunity. But, you know, the game

00:02:29shows you different things. Life shows you different things. You keep fighting. You keep grinding.

00:02:33Amazing. And then in the end, you wonder if it's going to pay off. And look at last

00:02:37night. Congratulations to Trey Mancini. That was a pretty exciting game. But it was not

00:02:43as exciting or as what shall we say unusual as what happened last night between the Brewers

00:02:50and the A's. Wow. In Las Vegas. That's our wake up call. Now the Athletics are hosting a

00:02:57homestand in Las Vegas. Normally they play in Sacramento, but this is going to be their

00:03:02future home. Shea Langeleers leadoff homer in the bottom of the first and the A's tie it

00:03:07at one. First pitch. Yeah. Gone. Bottom of the third. Tyler Soderstrom. He had two homers.

00:03:14This is a three-run homer. Do we have time to show these homers? No, we do not. So we're

00:03:18going to shorten it a bit. A's up seven to four. By the way, there were 16 ABS challenges

00:03:25between the two teams. Four more than any game this year. Soderstrom again. A's up

00:03:3110 to seven. The teams combined for 11 home runs, most by any game this season. In the

00:03:40ninth. Brewers are down 10 to eight. Andrew Vaughn. That is going to get down. That's a

00:03:46RBI double. Plates two. Just like that. We're tied at 10 in the ninth. Home half, or excuse

00:03:54me, top of the 10th. William Contreras with his team up 11 to 10. Make it 14. Did he get

00:04:02down on one knee? He got down on one knee. That's like some Adrian Beltre type stuff. By

00:04:07the way, both teams came back from four-run deficits in this game. Home half of the 10th.

00:04:12The big Amish. Nick Kurtz, his second of the game, cuts the lead to 14-13. Next batter, Jonah

00:04:20behind. That's a pop-up, right? Did you notice William Contreras? Yes. Slap his glove because

00:04:26he thought the game was over. Instead, it's a home run. So we play on. In the 12th, Bryce

00:04:35Terrain. Runner on third. Jeff McNeil throw home. Not in time. Brewers back on top by one.

00:04:44There was a manufacturer running the game, huh? They're playing small ball. Chad Patrick

00:04:50gets the final out. Just the second 15-14 game in the majors in the past 25 years. And

00:04:58both were Brewer wins. Just an unbelievable offensive display. So here we have it. The

00:05:10Brewers and A's, the most in a single game this season. It was the A's first game in

00:05:16Las Vegas since 1996 as the Coliseum was being renovated. And as I said, they still have,

00:05:22they got to finish up this series with the Brewers. And then they're going to welcome

00:05:25the Rockies. How appropriate is that? The Rockies come to this yard in Las Vegas for a weekend

00:05:32set. All right, let's go to Cleveland. We've got the Yankees and the Guardians. Remember,

00:05:39these two teams played a series last week at Yankee Stadium. Yeah, Paul Goldschmidt to Ron

00:05:45Homer. And the Yankees have a 2-0 lead. In the 5th, it's tied at 3. Ryan McMahon. He adds

00:05:55a solo

00:05:55homer and it puts the Yankees up 4-3. And this is how they're going to have to play, right?

00:05:59With

00:06:00Judge. You're going to have to get contributions from guys that normally aren't asked to do this.

00:06:04And not try to be Superman. Just do little things. Do what you can do. He drives the ball,

00:06:08to the opposite field really well. So he has to continue to do that.

00:06:13Angel Martinez in the home half of the 6th.

00:06:15Hmm. Man, he's back. Yeah. That's a 2-run homer. And the Guardians are on top 5-4.

00:06:23This game goes into extra innings in the 10th. How about this piece of hitting from Cody Bellinger?

00:06:30He's got 11 RBIs in his last 12 games. And Cliff. Play pepper. This is a big one right here.

00:06:35Right? You see the infields drawn in. They up the middle playing that little shift. Nice piece.

00:06:43Yankees looking for their first extra inning win of the season. David Bednar now has a 7-5 lead. On

00:06:50to close.

00:06:51Brian Rocchio. With runners at first and second. Chopper to second. And that's it. That's all.

00:06:59The New York Yankees get a win. Here's Paul Goldschmidt after the series opening win in Cleveland.

00:07:08I think we're definitely going to maybe have to win more games kind of like this with a little bit

00:07:13more of a team effort.

00:07:14I mean, the guy's probably the best hitter on the planet. And he wins games for us by himself at

00:07:20times.

00:07:20Definitely on the offensive side. So, you know, we may have to do some things a little bit different like

00:07:26tonight.

00:07:27Whether that's just moving runners or stealing bases. I mean, stuff we're already trying to do.

00:07:31But it might take a little bit of that. And, you know, that's what it's going to take until he's

00:07:37back.

00:07:40So, Paul Goldschmidt. Five of his eight home runs this season have come in the first inning.

00:07:45But, Cliff, look at what he has done in the last 31 games.

00:07:49Going into the season, it was a primary. Primarily, it was, OK, he'll hit against lefties.

00:07:54I mean, he's showing that maybe he's capable of a bit more.

00:07:59Yeah, well, I know he is. I think when you look at him, 38 years, you know, of age and

00:08:06still balling and understanding what his role is,

00:08:09he took a pay cut, a one-year, $4 million deal to come back to the Yankees

00:08:12and kind of be that veteran guy who can show some leadership, who understands that he still has something left

00:08:19in the tank.

00:08:19Don't call me coach yet. Yeah. I'm still out here trying to do my thing.

00:08:23But I think the most important thing is he's been doing this for 15 years.

00:08:26He's been doing this, you know, consistently, not just going out there and, you know, playing the game.

00:08:31He's been balling for 15 years, putting up some, you know, crazy numbers.

00:08:36And when you watch him against right-handers, you're going, wait a minute, he's supposed to be the platoon guy.

00:08:41No, he's actually playing every single day with Judge out.

00:08:43Now he's getting a chance to play first base, help Ben Rice out who's there.

00:08:47And I remember the leadership that I got from Randy Milligan back in the day in Montreal

00:08:51and how big it was for me just to understand that, hey, I can still, you know, Randy can still

00:08:56play,

00:08:57but he was helping me kind of understand first base, so helping Rice out but still doing this.

00:09:02And, Roe Flo, if you look at these numbers against left, I mean, left-handed pitching since last year,

00:09:07you're going, Paul Goldschmidt, is he still in there doing his thing?

00:09:11And you say, yes, I mean, the numbers don't lie, and it's just, you know, you can't underestimate

00:09:17how big he's been for this team, especially when you're missing two big dudes in Stanton

00:09:22and Judge, and that lineup is only deep because Goldie is doing what he's doing the last 30-plus games.

00:09:28Yeah, I'm looking, I was looking down at my phone here, seeing how many pitchers Aaron Boone

00:09:32used last night.

00:09:33He got three, six, nine.

00:09:36Yeah.

00:09:36Used nine pitchers last night.

00:09:37He needs length for Garrett Cole tonight.

00:09:39That is your pitching matchup in Cleveland.

00:09:42It'll be Garrett Cole, Slade, Ciccone.

00:09:44That's the pitching matchup in Cleveland between the Yankees and the Guardians.

00:09:48All right, let's move on.

00:09:49Where are we headed?

00:09:51We're headed to Philly for Christopher Sanchez and the Toronto Blue Jays.

00:09:58He's coming.

00:09:59Yeah, Adolis Garcia, a two-run homer.

00:10:01This is a welcome sign for the Philadelphia Phillies.

00:10:04Seventh of the season, Phillies on top, two to nothing.

00:10:07In the third, Alec Boone.

00:10:11He makes it a three-nothing game when he's going to bring in Trey Turner.

00:10:17So it's three-nothing Philadelphia.

00:10:20And then next A.B., JT Riamuto.

00:10:24Four-nothing Philadelphia.

00:10:25They jumped all over Patrick Corbin in Toronto last night.

00:10:30Now it's five-to-two.

00:10:33Yonhendrik Pinyango.

00:10:35He's been a revelation for the Blue Jays.

00:10:37This is left-on-left against Christopher Sanchez, who is flat-out filthy.

00:10:43Garcia misplays it.

00:10:44Pinyango goes to third.

00:10:46Next batter, George Springer.

00:10:49It's like Christopher Sanchez says, you know what, I'll do it myself.

00:10:52Yeah, right.

00:10:53I mean, look at the stuff.

00:10:55And look at the swings, Cliff.

00:10:57I mean, it's just, when you have the type of stuff and the paint he's doing,

00:11:01it's just, I mean, look at the last six starts.

00:11:03He struck out the side.

00:11:05How good he did.

00:11:06Struck out the side in the sixth.

00:11:08Finished with ten strikeouts.

00:11:09And Sanchez and the Phillies go on to win five-to-two.

00:11:14Now, you mentioned Adolis Garcia.

00:11:17It was not a very good productive start.

00:11:20But, in the seven games since the calendar flipped to June, the average is 269, the homers three, the RBIs

00:11:28six,

00:11:29after having just four homers in his previous 58 games.

00:11:33And as I said, they need this.

00:11:35They need it, production, especially from the right side.

00:11:38Yeah, well, you know, when you think about this team, I think when you got rid of Nick Castellanos,

00:11:44it was more from a defensive perspective, right?

00:11:46It was more to get, you know, a guy who could play better defense and then give you some offensive,

00:11:51you know,

00:11:52some offensive production as well.

00:11:55I think Adolis, when you look at him now, he's selling in.

00:11:58The defense has been night and day.

00:12:00He's been outstanding in the outfield.

00:12:01I know he kicked the ball right there in that game last night.

00:12:04But, when you think about what you signed him for, I mean, this is what you signed him for to

00:12:08get the extra out of.

00:12:09The defense, it was kind of on the forefront when you actually made, you know, made the deal with, you

00:12:16know, bringing him in.

00:12:17So, I understand that when you look at April and May, it wasn't what you were looking for offensively.

00:12:23But, like, I mean, can you really knock where the Phillies are going with this?

00:12:29Because OPS trailers by right-handed hitters around the league.

00:12:32Look at that.

00:12:33Yeah.

00:12:33So, it's not like they're far off.

00:12:35And, I think, when you look at what the Phillies are and how they're coming back, he's going to be

00:12:38a big part of the success as they move forward to try to get back into this thing in the

00:12:43NL East.

00:12:43Yeah.

00:12:44Garcia's in the 90th percentile when it comes to fielding run value.

00:12:47So, that boot out in right field, that is not characteristic of his play defensively.

00:12:52But, do you think that this outfield is set?

00:12:56So, assuming Garcia continues to improve and continues his trajectory, Brandon Marsh has been excellent.

00:13:02What about in center field and the rest of the alignment?

00:13:06You know what?

00:13:06I'm not going to – listen, you brought in Justin Crawford.

00:13:08You got to live with the ups and downs with him.

00:13:10I mean, he's a youngster.

00:13:11Yeah.

00:13:11You're asking him to just go out there and, you know, stay within himself.

00:13:15Play solid defense.

00:13:17He's been doing as good as he possibly can.

00:13:20And then Brandon Marsh, we talked about him yesterday.

00:13:22He's been outstanding.

00:13:23Yeah.

00:13:23So, I think this is as set as it's going to be for a while.

00:13:27When you look around the league, where are you going to go find, you know, a guy that can offset

00:13:32a Garcia?

00:13:33Because defensively, you need that.

00:13:35Pitchers are banking on, you know, plays going out there and plays being made.

00:13:40So, I don't know if you can knock that.

00:13:41We saw in the highlight rip Christopher Sanchez, one of his ten strikeouts, was getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the

00:13:46sixth.

00:13:47It looked like a fastball basically right down the middle.

00:13:50What does that tell you about what or where Vlad Jr. is right now at the plate?

00:13:56I think he's a little lost based on where he's at at the plate.

00:13:58And one thing as hitters we always trust is muscle memory, you know, kind of how I've gotten to be

00:14:06successful and so on and so forth.

00:14:07So, when I watch him now and he's chasing, he's out the zone, he's kind of flailing the pitches.

00:14:12I'm like, wait a minute.

00:14:13I remember doing something on him.

00:14:15And this is yesterday against Sanchez.

00:14:16Now, Sanchez will make you look silly at times, right?

00:14:18It's one of those things.

00:14:19His stuff is just that good.

00:14:21But when you're as good as Vlad is, he doesn't take these pitches.

00:14:24He doesn't, you know, he does have, you know, the ability to hit bad pitches at times.

00:14:29But I want him to go back to the World Series of last year.

00:14:32This is when I thought, okay, he was sitting there, he was clutch, he was in the zone, he wasn't

00:14:38chasing as much row flow.

00:14:40And it allowed him to do the damage that we saw him do.

00:14:43And you can't do that when you're chasing out the zone.

00:14:45It's just impossible to do.

00:14:46I don't care who you are.

00:14:47And look at 25 and look at 26.

00:14:49I know I'm going to give it to you fast, but look where he's at.

00:14:52Look at the power on the left side.

00:14:54And then look at how on the right he's kind of left his backside.

00:14:57Yeah, he's a little hunched over.

00:14:59He's a little hunched over.

00:14:59And I always said when I watch this kid, I say, hey, when he's driving the ball to the right

00:15:04side of the field,

00:15:06it allows him to stay over the plate and recognize pitches more than he is now.

00:15:11And so I would look back for him.

00:15:13If I was talking to him, I would go, hey, bro, get on the plate and jam yourself.

00:15:17Allow yourself to kind of recognize the pitch off the plate so you see that and then know what you

00:15:24can't get to.

00:15:25The problem is, you know, they're expecting him to come through because right now he's on pace for seven homers

00:15:32on the season.

00:15:32Right.

00:15:33And I know you can look around the league where he is and he is and he is.

00:15:36But Vlad for me is so good when he's staying out over the plate and driving the ball and at

00:15:41least making himself believe that, you know what,

00:15:43you can't get me out nowhere inside because I have that down pat.

00:15:46But out over the plate is where his success is, is where it's been, his bread and butter.

00:15:53Well, and the chase rate has gone through the roof.

00:15:56Through the roof.

00:15:56Third biggest increase in chase rate in the entire league.

00:16:00Well, when you're struggling, you know, the human side plays.

00:16:03Right.

00:16:03You're looking for answers.

00:16:04You're trying to figure out.

00:16:05You're trying to help the team as best you can.

00:16:07It's the opposite for him.

00:16:09When he's taking pitches, it allows him to get in the zone where he needs to do.

00:16:12So they had to deal with Christopher Sanchez last night.

00:16:14Now they have to deal with Zach Wheeler today.

00:16:17So that is a tough double dip for the Toronto Blue Jays.

00:16:20Let's go to San Francisco for the Nats and the Giants.

00:16:23The Nats offense continues to just put up runs in the second or excuse me, in the sixth.

00:16:30There is a runner at second for Luis Garcia.

00:16:32He's going to bring in James Wood.

00:16:34And just like that, the Nats take a quick one nothing lead.

00:16:38We go to the home half of the six.

00:16:40The Nats, the always intense Matt Chapman.

00:16:45He's getting hot.

00:16:46And they need it.

00:16:47Yes.

00:16:47They've been waiting on this.

00:16:49Jung-Hoo Lee, who has been scorching hot since coming off the injury list.

00:16:53He scores to tie it at one.

00:16:55What about Logan Webb?

00:16:56Struck out seven over eight innings, five hits.

00:17:00Didn't walk anyone.

00:17:01Gave up just that one earned run.

00:17:03Well, you talked about the seventh, right?

00:17:04You talked about him going deep yesterday.

00:17:06And he proved it.

00:17:07Yeah, he did.

00:17:08Home half of the eighth.

00:17:09Bryce Eldridge.

00:17:11Nice piece.

00:17:13That is down the line.

00:17:16Jung-Hoo Lee scores the game.

00:17:172-1 San Francisco.

00:17:18Now in the ninth.

00:17:19Giants have a 3-1 lead.

00:17:21Second and third for C.J. Abrams.

00:17:25What year he's having, right?

00:17:26He's going to find himself in Philadelphia at the All-Star game.

00:17:29He has been that good.

00:17:30And what a knock as he comes through to tie the game at three.

00:17:35Next batter, Daylon Lyle.

00:17:37This Nats team is interesting, man.

00:17:39Yeah.

00:17:40You know what they fight.

00:17:41Because they can score.

00:17:41It's the run prevention, which is kind of a work in progress.

00:17:45But the Nats get the win 4-3.

00:17:49All right.

00:17:49So, let's give you the season splits right now.

00:17:53All right.

00:17:54This is runs per game, 5.3.

00:17:57The average.

00:17:58I mean, this is what the Nats do.

00:18:01Road and home.

00:18:03They're nearly identical.

00:18:05However.

00:18:06Yeah.

00:18:07However.

00:18:08Hmm.

00:18:09Look at this.

00:18:10At home, they're 12-20.

00:18:12That's just weird.

00:18:13What can you account for that?

00:18:15I have no idea.

00:18:17I really don't.

00:18:18But I just feel like at home, maybe too comfortable and too complacent.

00:18:22I don't know.

00:18:23You feel like it's supposed to just happen.

00:18:25You would think that it would be reversed.

00:18:28Of course.

00:18:29You know, home cooking.

00:18:30You're at home, chilling.

00:18:31Right?

00:18:32But I think sometimes it just doesn't make sense.

00:18:34You go on the road and you're a little looser.

00:18:39I don't know.

00:18:39Because I know for young teams, for me, road flow, when I look back at some of the young

00:18:43teams I've been on, I mean, we struggled on the road because we just couldn't get it

00:18:48right, right, away from home.

00:18:49But these dudes, it's just going to spring training, we getting a chance to see them.

00:18:54We thought they were going to be good.

00:18:56We thought they were going to be better.

00:18:57Yeah.

00:18:57I was intrigued by the different cases and the young players and Abrams and Wood, established

00:19:02players in the league.

00:19:03But, you know, just talking to some people there, they were a little, not concerned,

00:19:10but they were wondering how we're going to get outs.

00:19:13And right now, at home, the team ERA is just over six.

00:19:17On the road, it's about four and a half.

00:19:20Well, there it is right there then.

00:19:21At home, over six.

00:19:23You ain't winning nothing.

00:19:24Yeah.

00:19:24I mean, you score five and then you get enough six or seven.

00:19:26Yeah.

00:19:27Like, you ain't going to win those games.

00:19:28And it's a lot of pressure on the offense to, you know, consistently keep scoring.

00:19:32Like, hey, we gave y'all five.

00:19:34You got to figure out how to get some out.

00:19:35But if for whatever reason they fall off and they're not into the postseason mix this

00:19:39year, there's a lot to like about what's coming for the Washington Nationals in 2026 and beyond.

00:19:45All right.

00:19:45Let's take a quick break.

00:19:46When we come back, coming up next, with the trade deadline looming, our insider has a

00:19:51couple of players that might be in need of a change of scenery.

00:19:55Spencer Torkelson, Jake Berger, and someone else.

00:19:59We've got the details.

00:20:00And a bit later, how the struggling San Diego Padres used some old-school tactics and speed

00:20:07to get a much-needed win against the Cincinnati Reds.

00:20:11That's on the express train a bit later.

00:20:12And later, in hour number two, we'll be joined by Braves TV play-by-play man, Brandon Gauden.

00:20:19What's sparking the Braves' success this year?

00:20:21And what's it like being the voice of the Madden video game franchise?

00:20:27We do have a little bit of feedback here.

00:20:29This one here from Jeffrey.

00:20:30No Dero, no Lauren.

00:20:32But MLB Central's Iron Man always posts.

00:20:34That's correct.

00:20:35I believe we're at 300 consecutive shows.

00:20:38I believe.

00:20:39That's you?

00:20:40Yeah.

00:20:41That surpasses the record once held by Brian Kenney.

00:20:45Okay.

00:20:46Now, granted, his record was seven.

00:20:49Seven consecutive shows.

00:20:52But...

00:20:57MLB Central.

00:21:00Time now for the Inside Corner.

00:21:01Mark Feinstein of MLB.com is here with us.

00:21:04Tarek Skubel had a successful rehab start over the weekend for the Tigers Class A affiliate.

00:21:11As the Tigers, they're starting to play better, but the question still remains, is there a chance,

00:21:16or what are the chances that they would trade Tarek Skubel at the trading deadline?

00:21:21Well, they've gotten themselves back into the race a little bit.

00:21:24Five and a half games out of a wild card spot, but in a very, very packed wild card race,

00:21:29right?

00:21:30I mean, they're still nine games under .500.

00:21:32Yeah, 27 and 39.

00:21:33Right.

00:21:34So, sorry, 12 games under .500.

00:21:35Yeah.

00:21:35A little math in my head there.

00:21:38So, they're going to have to play well.

00:21:39Look, the benefit they have of it being June 9th is that they've got seven-plus weeks until

00:21:44the trade deadline.

00:21:45They've got plenty of time to get themselves back in the race.

00:21:47But if they don't, if they're still sitting there under .500, facing a relatively sizable

00:21:53deficit with a bunch of teams in between them in that last wild card spot, it would be negligent

00:21:58not to trade Tarek Skubel if they don't believe they're going to resign him, which I don't

00:22:01believe they do.

00:22:02So, you know, you've got what will arguably be the best commodity on the trade market.

00:22:08Teams are going to be looking at him and saying, yeah, what's he worth for two-plus months?

00:22:13A lot.

00:22:14We've seen starting pitchers get big hauls at the deadline.

00:22:17So, I think if they're not really in the race, like they're not within a few games and

00:22:22they haven't really played well enough to think that they can have that second-half

00:22:26surge, I think they have to look at trading Skubel.

00:22:29It's unclear when Tarek Skubel's next rehab start will be, but the Tigers are hoping it's

00:22:34just another, it's not going to be too much longer before he returns to the mound.

00:22:37Speaking of the Detroit Tigers, you have an article on the website right now on MLB.com

00:22:41in which one of Skubel's teammates figures prominently.

00:22:45The title of the article, or the gist of it, is basically players who are in need of a

00:22:50change of scenery.

00:22:51And let's start with Spencer Torkelson.

00:22:53Give us a little details on what you could possibly see for Spencer Torkelson if, in fact,

00:23:00the Tigers are indeed sellers at the deadline.

00:23:03Right.

00:23:03So, let me preface this by saying this is not a prediction of who's going to be trading.

00:23:06Right.

00:23:07But, if there are some teams out there looking for trade candidates, not the necessary prospect

00:23:12list that everybody looks at, or the impending free agents like Skubel, there are players

00:23:16out there who could probably benefit from a new scene, a new scene for themselves.

00:23:21Torkelson's one of those guys.

00:23:22If the Tigers do decide to sell, if they trade Skubel, why stop there?

00:23:26Right?

00:23:26Let's go into a full reset.

00:23:28Let's not necessarily go into a full rebuild, but let's try to find some guys who are going

00:23:32to help get them to that next level post-Skubel.

00:23:35So, Torkelson's had two really big seasons for the Tigers, 23 and 25, 31 home runs each

00:23:41season.

00:23:41Yeah.

00:23:41They've alternated with very uninspiring seasons, and it just seems like he has not been able

00:23:46to figure out how to make that happen on an annual basis.

00:23:50This year, he's got nine home runs.

00:23:52Five of them came in a five-game stretch.

00:23:54So, half of his production this year has come from one week, basically.

00:23:58He's got two years of arbitration left, so that's something that's going to be appealing

00:24:01to other teams.

00:24:03You know, maybe that's a guy they move.

00:24:06They've got a first-base prospect in the pipeline that's coming up.

00:24:10So, you know, just something to think a little bit outside the box rather than just trading

00:24:14your top prospects or your free agents.

00:24:16You have another first baseman on your list in the article, and that's Jake Berger of the

00:24:20Texas Rangers.

00:24:21Yeah.

00:24:21So, the Rangers have traded away a lot of their prospect list in the last couple years.

00:24:25The McKenzie-Gore trade, I think it's five prospects alone.

00:24:29Texas is playing well.

00:24:30They're going to find themselves, you know, likely in the buying mode.

00:24:33Yeah.

00:24:33Right now, they're in that final wild card spot.

00:24:35So, if they're looking in the buying mode, and you don't have a deep system from which

00:24:39to deal, you're going to have to maybe trade off of your roster.

00:24:42Berger, we've seen him have some big years before he got to Texas.

00:24:46It hasn't quite worked out in Texas the way that they had hoped.

00:24:49Yeah.

00:24:49They were hoping he'd be that big sort of power bat at first base.

00:24:53They're playing well despite him having sort of a mediocre season, which he had last year

00:24:59as well.

00:24:59Could be a guy who put him on another team, maybe a change of scenery.

00:25:04We keep talking about that phrase.

00:25:07Maybe he's a guy they can use to acquire some bullpen help or whatever they decide they need

00:25:12come the summertime.

00:25:14Like I said, they are playing well, and they will probably be buyers, but without a loaded

00:25:18system that they've already really dug into, you know, you're going to have to give something

00:25:22to get.

00:25:23Our next player, you know, Bo Naylor.

00:25:25I was surprised when the Guardians ended up making that deal with the San Francisco Giants

00:25:30a couple of weeks ago.

00:25:31Where does that leave Bo Naylor, and why is he a candidate in your mind as a change of scenery

00:25:37guy?

00:25:37Well, I think he's kind of lost on that team right now.

00:25:39He's in the minors.

00:25:41You know, the Bailey acquisition pushed him off the roster, and, you know, we've seen

00:25:46enough from Bo Naylor in his career to know he can be a productive big league catcher.

00:25:49Yeah.

00:25:50But right now, he's wallowing away in AAA.

00:25:52Left-handed hitting catcher as well.

00:25:54Left-handed hitting catcher, and who's shown the ability to call a good game and play with

00:25:58good defense behind the plate.

00:25:59I just feel like if they like Bailey, if they're committed to Bailey, they've also got hedges,

00:26:04they've got Fry, they've loaded catching the situation.

00:26:06Cooper Engel, one of their top prospects, also a catcher.

00:26:09So, you know, Naylor could just be a situation where he's been squeezed out in Cleveland and

00:26:14other teams.

00:26:15We know catching is not readily available around the league.

00:26:18Right.

00:26:18It's a hard thing to inject into a system for a contending team at the deadline because

00:26:23you've got to learn a whole new pitching staff.

00:26:24But for a young team, a rebuilding-type team that might see him as a potential catcher of

00:26:29the future, he's got a couple years of arbitration left, so he's still under control, could be

00:26:34a potential candidate.

00:26:35Let's wrap it up with a guy that's a favorite here on this show and also a favorite for the

00:26:40fans in Toronto, and that's David Schneider.

00:26:41Again, not a good year this year, down in the minors, and sort of being squeezed out

00:26:47by a very crowded outfield situation.

00:26:49He does offer the positional versatility, which I think a lot of teams would certainly

00:26:55be attracted to.

00:26:57It just seems like he doesn't fit into their plans long-term right now, but, you know,

00:27:02he was a piece of their World Series team last year.

00:27:04People know he had some big moments.

00:27:07He had some big moments, and that's a guy who a team looks at him and says, we like

00:27:11him as either a super utility guy or a regular piece of our lineup.

00:27:16You know, the Blue Jays, they're going to be looking for help this summer for sure, and

00:27:20you know, when you can trade a guy or offer up a guy who has shown the ability to perform

00:27:25at the big league level, who doesn't necessarily fit into your plans, there could be a match

00:27:30there somewhere.

00:27:30Mark Feinsand, our senior insider from MLB.com.

00:27:33You can read the article right now on the website, MLB.com.

00:27:36Always great to chat with you, Mark.

00:27:37Pleasure.

00:27:38Talk to you soon.

00:27:38All right, when we come back here on MLB Central, there may be bigger stars in the

00:27:43Mariners lineup.

00:27:44Cal Raleigh, when healthy, J-Rod, but coming up, Cliff is going to tell you why, right

00:27:49now, Josh Naylor is the straw that stirs the drink for the Mariners.

00:27:54Stay with us.

00:28:06Welcome back to MLB Central.

00:28:08We're presented by the Home Depot.

00:28:10Express train time.

00:28:11No three box, but a two box.

00:28:13Hey, man.

00:28:14Let's go.

00:28:15We here.

00:28:16Robert.

00:28:16At some point, it might be a one box.

00:28:18Padres.

00:28:19Yeah, you're right.

00:28:20If you got, if something goes down wrong with you, it's just a one box.

00:28:23It's me, ready for me.

00:28:25He has homered in three straight games.

00:28:27Padres take a one-nothing lead on the Reds.

00:28:28They'll take what they can get, right?

00:28:30But in the seven, they talked about this inning, Cliff, that they got back to some small ball.

00:28:36Although Gavin Sheets, that's an RBI double.

00:28:39Sheets and giggles, but.

00:28:40It's so funny how that small ball works, right?

00:28:43Yeah, Samad Taylor, I'm un-single.

00:28:45Do this stuff.

00:28:46If you have it in the clubhouse, do it.

00:28:48You can make things happen.

00:28:50Make that, make that defense do some uncharacteristic stuff.

00:28:54And then Samad Taylor just recently called up, comes through with an RBI knock.

00:28:58Padres go on to win six to two.

00:29:01It was just their third win in the last 14 games.

00:29:05Mason Miller struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth.

00:29:08All right, our top story in Houston, I'm sorry, in Anaheim, Angels, Astros.

00:29:14We mentioned it at the top of the show, Trey Mancini, first A.B. since July 31st of 2023.

00:29:21He had three hits against his former club, Zach Nero.

00:29:25How about that?

00:29:26Cero Nero.

00:29:28That's a solo homer to give the Angels a 4-3 lead.

00:29:31But in the ninth, Christian Walker.

00:29:34He's had a good season for the Astros, man.

00:29:36And ties the game at four.

00:29:39So we go to extra innings.

00:29:41Jake Myers at the plate.

00:29:43Jose Altuve says, this was a bad play, but it worked out.

00:29:47He's tagging from third, Cliff.

00:29:49He's going to make you make the perfect throw.

00:29:51And it worked out.

00:29:53But play of the game might have been here.

00:29:55In the home half, Mike Trout looking to score.

00:29:58Bryce Matthews, who replaced Lamont Wade Jr., who had to leave with a sore hamstring.

00:30:04And the Astros hold on to win 5-4.

00:30:08Maybe a better tag.

00:30:10Yeah.

00:30:10Good tag there.

00:30:12Red Sox raise Connolly early.

00:30:14Yandy Diaz.

00:30:15Got it.

00:30:17Yeah.

00:30:17That's his 12th.

00:30:181-0 raise.

00:30:20That's his 25th career leadoff homer Yandy Diaz in his fourth of the season.

00:30:26Marcelo Meyer.

00:30:27His third.

00:30:29Red Sox tied at one.

00:30:31Home half of the fifth.

00:30:33We talk about underrated players.

00:30:35Yeah.

00:30:35This is one of them.

00:30:36Jonathan Aranda.

00:30:37Right.

00:30:38So good.

00:30:38Left on left.

00:30:40Smack it to the other way.

00:30:41Get yourself a ribby.

00:30:42Then Diaz in the eighth.

00:30:45Did it again?

00:30:49No, that was fast.

00:30:50Sack fly.

00:30:50Rays go on to win.

00:30:513-1.

00:30:52All right.

00:30:53Kind of an unusual game last night in Baltimore between the Mariners and Orioles.

00:30:57It had everything, including a grand slam.

00:31:00In the fifth, Josh Naylor making friends across the league.

00:31:08343 clip with bases loaded.

00:31:11Okay.

00:31:11Let's lock in here.

00:31:12Home half of the seventh.

00:31:13Bases loaded.

00:31:16Polar Bear Pete thought he had drawn a bases loaded walk.

00:31:20Instead, a great challenge by the catcher, Johnny Pareda.

00:31:24That overturns the call.

00:31:26So then, in the home half of the eighth, Samuel Visayal thinks he has a sack fly ribby.

00:31:33But, Blaze Alexander was caught trying to tag up from first to second.

00:31:39Run does not count.

00:31:41Can't happen.

00:31:42Wow.

00:31:42You have to be safe in that situation.

00:31:45A great challenge and a great replay challenge as well by the Seattle Mariners.

00:31:52It was awesome.

00:31:52So, the Mariners right now without the big fella, Cal Raleigh, J-Rod is hitting well.

00:32:00But you've said that for the past couple of weeks, it's really been Josh Naylor that has

00:32:05been really the focal point and the most important part of this lineup.

00:32:08Well, when you look at early in the season, you're like, this is not Josh.

00:32:11And then, you look at some of the things that's happened.

00:32:13We looked at the stuff that happened in Detroit.

00:32:16And you're saying, I didn't know Josh was that dude.

00:32:19I didn't know he could be a little bit of an annoying type player.

00:32:22But, you know, whatever floats the boat for you.

00:32:25But I will say, when you look at the right side and you say, this is the Josh that I

00:32:29remember.

00:32:30Because not only can he slug, he can steal bags.

00:32:34He's got 12 stolen bases.

00:32:35There you go.

00:32:36So, all the things I've talked about with the Seattle Mariners team about hitting, he's

00:32:41a big part of it, right?

00:32:42And all the success that they, in my opinion, should have is going to go through Josh Naylor

00:32:47until they get the big dumper back.

00:32:49So, I just like where he's at.

00:32:51I just like when he gets into a zone, he can literally carry you.

00:32:56And when I threw that clip out with bases loaded, I mean, that's real hitting.

00:33:01That's .345 with the bases loaded.

00:33:03I mean, that's a career.

00:33:04So, it was a reason why Seattle needed him in this lineup.

00:33:08And watching him of late kind of settle in and kind of be that big bat in the middle,

00:33:13I think it's just allowed Dan Wilson to have a little bit more length, you know, in that lineup.

00:33:18Josh Naylor, third Grand Slam of his career yesterday.

00:33:21The Mariners have won 10 of their last 13 games.

00:33:26And Josh has, as I said, you know, he had an interesting weekend in Detroit.

00:33:30He did.

00:33:30And he's one of those players where if he's on the other team, you hate him.

00:33:33But if he's on your team, you love him.

00:33:35You love him.

00:33:35Because he does a little bit of everything.

00:33:37He does.

00:33:38And I just felt like, you know, even in Detroit, I mean, he just took that.

00:33:43He wore 97 by his neck and just went the first base.

00:33:47I actually tapped the catch and was like, hey, that was cool, right?

00:33:49But, I mean, hey, you know.

00:33:51He is fun to watch.

00:33:52And the Mariners are playing very well.

00:33:54We're going to break down the crazy American League postseason picture a little bit later with Al Leiter.

00:34:01But first, Vlad Guerrero, Jr., he has three home runs this season.

00:34:05Coming up, how much should the Blue Jays be freaking out by the lack of power from their all-star

00:34:13first baseman?

00:34:14We're going to be playing the Freak Out Factor and give you a new Freak Out Factor open on the

00:34:20other side.

00:34:34Freak Out Factor.

00:34:49Yeah, that fever dream was edited and produced by Brendan Warner, who does a great job in the back.

00:34:55We've got a new open for the Freak Out Factor.

00:34:57I'm not sure how he installed a camera in my house last Friday night, but he did.

00:35:02And Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com joins us now everywhere for the Freak Out Factor.

00:35:08If you're unsure how this works, I throw out topics.

00:35:11And Anthony tells us where they fall on his Freak Out Factor scale.

00:35:15Anthony, what did you think of the new open?

00:35:18Yeah, I think the MLB Central purists will be upset that we tweaked a probably 10-year-old open.

00:35:24But I don't know, Road Flow, we sat at that Emmy ceremony, the sports Emmys last year.

00:35:28It was a rough one, you know, didn't get the outcome we wanted.

00:35:31That's right.

00:35:32I smell a sports Emmy in our future for that.

00:35:34Me too. This could put us over the top.

00:35:36However, we weren't nominated this year, so we may need to...

00:35:40What are you guys laughing for?

00:35:42We really were not nominated.

00:35:43I didn't...

00:35:44Hey, let's start with Manny Machado.

00:35:46He does not like analytics.

00:35:48He recently came out and gave those thoughts over the weekend as the Padres are struggling.

00:35:53Where does that fall on your Freak Out Factor scale?

00:35:57I'll put that at 7 out of 10.

00:35:59And that's how many years, how many seasons after this one that Machado is still under contract with the Padres.

00:36:06And yeah, interesting rant there by Machado, who's, you know, he's come of age in the analytics age.

00:36:13But he says, I just wish we can get analytics out of the way.

00:36:15I think there's too many stats out there.

00:36:17Too many stats.

00:36:18Way too many numbers.

00:36:19I've noticed 15 years of a lot of fastballs.

00:36:22When I came up, it was 91, 92, 93, maybe.

00:36:25Now it's just 101.

00:36:26The game's evolving, man.

00:36:27It's definitely getting harder to play.

00:36:29It's definitely getting more strategic.

00:36:30He's not wrong.

00:36:31It's definitely gotten harder to hit, specifically.

00:36:33And it shows with his numbers this season.

00:36:36You know, Machado's in his 30s now.

00:36:38His bat speed has slowed down.

00:36:40And I think partially this shows what a, you know, natural talent he is and was in that, you know,

00:36:48he wasn't caught up in the numbers by any means, but he had tremendous success.

00:36:50But, you know, as you get older, it's adapt or die, especially in the analytics age.

00:36:55And, you know, 166 batting average, I can understand why he's freaking out about analytics.

00:36:59Traditional and newfound.

00:37:01None of them look good for Manny Machado this season.

00:37:03Well, back of the baseball card would suggest, hey, he's about to get scorching hot, and those numbers will eventually

00:37:09look like we're accustomed to.

00:37:11Let's talk about the Chicago Cubs.

00:37:13Where are you on the Cubs, and where are they on the freak-out factor?

00:37:18The Cubs are an 8 out of 10.

00:37:20That's how many series they've lost just since the beginning of May.

00:37:24And, man, I mean, talk about freaky.

00:37:26What a freaky season for the Chicago Cubs.

00:37:28Two 10-plus game winning streaks, a 10-plus game losing streak.

00:37:32And, overall, I mean, you take away those two streaks, and obviously you don't, but they've just not played well.

00:37:36And, you know, they have many problems with the pitching staff injuries.

00:37:39Justin Steele, Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, and now Jamison Tyone had the hamstring strain on Sunday.

00:37:44So they're really beat up from a pitching perspective.

00:37:46But the bigger, you know, more jarring thing is just the offense.

00:37:49The offense has struck out 172 times with runners in scoring position.

00:37:53That's more than any team in MLB.

00:37:55We saw Alex Fregman's comments the other day about, you know, he's the first to say that he's been awful

00:38:01this year.

00:38:02I mean, he's on pace for career lows in all the triple-slash categories.

00:38:06And it's just, again, a really strange season because there was a few weeks ago where we were feeling like,

00:38:11man, you can't stop the Cubs.

00:38:13But now you can stop the Cubs.

00:38:15Their offense is stopping them plenty.

00:38:17Freaky and streaky.

00:38:18That's definitely been the Chicago Cubs season thus far.

00:38:22What about Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.?

00:38:23He's got three home runs.

00:38:25Where does the power outage of Vlad, Jr. fall on your freak-out factor scale?

00:38:30Well, I'll put it at a three.

00:38:32I'm not going to freak out.

00:38:33Three because he has three homers and they're three games under .500.

00:38:36But it's low just because this is Vladdy, Jr.

00:38:39I tend to believe in him.

00:38:41And, you know, he was making some comments to reporters the other day that indicated he feels like maybe he's

00:38:45getting there.

00:38:45Although that was immediately followed by another 0-4 with a couple Ks.

00:38:48But this guy's on pace for seven home runs, Roflo.

00:38:52So, he hit eight in the postseason last year.

00:38:54Yeah.

00:38:55It's hard for me to believe that Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. is going to come out of this thing with seven

00:38:59home runs.

00:38:59So, you know, he does get in these ruts throughout his career where, you know, he's more defensive at the

00:39:04plate,

00:39:04not generating the power from his backside like he's capable of.

00:39:07Now, this is an especially prolonged rut at the start of the season is even more jarring.

00:39:12But I tend to believe it's in there.

00:39:13So, I'm not going to totally freak out.

00:39:15Yeah, I shortchanged him some homers there.

00:39:17So, that's on me.

00:39:19But Jacob Mizorowski, he's throwing up like jazz stations up there.

00:39:27103.7.

00:39:28And where is Jacob Mizorowski and the VLO, where does that fall on your freak out factor scale?

00:39:37Yeah, he's playing the hits.

00:39:39He's not giving up the hits.

00:39:40And he breaks our brains, so he breaks the scale.

00:39:4345 out of 10.

00:39:4545.

00:39:46That's how many 101-mile-an-hour-plus pitches he threw on Saturday in another tremendous start against the Colorado

00:39:54Rockies.

00:39:55I mean, starting pitchers aren't supposed to do this.

00:39:56And this is the whole thing, Roflo, where if you spend too much time on social media, please don't.

00:40:02But if you do, you're going to find a lot of old-timers on there claiming that, you know,

00:40:06Nolan Ryan threw harder than this because of the way VLO was measured back then.

00:40:10Sure.

00:40:10It was, you know, closer to the plate instead of out of the hand.

00:40:12And if you adjust, you know, for that adjustment, Nolan Ryan threw like 108 miles per hour.

00:40:19No, he did not.

00:40:20I'm sorry.

00:40:21It did not happen.

00:40:22And Jacob Mizorowski, he might throw 108 miles an hour by the time he's done.

00:40:26It's not just that he throws as hard as he does.

00:40:28It's that he's maintaining it deep into starts.

00:40:30And I think he's learned how to dial it back earlier in starts and then, you know, kick it into

00:40:34gear later, too.

00:40:35I mean, he's just been absolutely sensational.

00:40:38This guy was a real curiosity last season because of how hard he throws.

00:40:40But now he's a legit Cy Young contender.

00:40:43He's tremendous.

00:40:44The American League award races have been impacted because of injury.

00:40:49You've got Aaron Judge.

00:40:50He's definitely he's always in the mix for the AL MVP.

00:40:54And then Tarek Skubel, the presumptive Cy Young award winner for 2026.

00:40:59He's missed some time.

00:41:00So where does the American League award races and how they're being impacted by injury?

00:41:06Where does that fall?

00:41:08Yeah, these injuries stink.

00:41:09And it's great to see Tarek Skubel coming back quickly.

00:41:12You know, a month from an elbow scope is incredible with that new Skubel scope, as they're calling it.

00:41:17But we'll put this at a one just because whoever wins the MVP and AL Cy Young this year will

00:41:22be one in a row.

00:41:23And so we're going to have some fresh blood.

00:41:25And there's a lot of interesting candidates.

00:41:27You know, Bobby Witt Jr. is the best all-around player in the game.

00:41:30Power a bit below his norm.

00:41:31But, you know, you watch him for a series, you can really appreciate he's just one of the greats.

00:41:35Yordan Alvarez, full-time DH.

00:41:37That's unusual for an MVP bid.

00:41:39But Shohei Otani did it.

00:41:40And I don't see why Yordan Alvarez can't do it this year.

00:41:42His fangraphs war is second in baseball despite his being a DH.

00:41:46Ben Rice, breakout seasons, proved he can hit lefties.

00:41:49Nick Kurtz, another great season.

00:41:50I don't know if they're going to adjust for the Sacramento factor, you know, the way you have done for

00:41:55Rockies players in the past.

00:41:56But I still got my on Julio.

00:41:58You know, he was my pick before the year.

00:42:01He's had a really solid first half.

00:42:04He always seemed to have a tremendous second half.

00:42:06And he had that huge may to get the Mariners back in the race.

00:42:09And then you go to Cy Young with Skubel out.

00:42:10Cam Schlittler is the favorite right now.

00:42:12Yeah.

00:42:12Despite never having pitched a full season yet.

00:42:14So we see how he holds up in the second half.

00:42:16Jacob deGrom is back to being Jacob deGrom.

00:42:19So he's in the mix.

00:42:19Dylan Cease has come as advertised for the Blue Jays.

00:42:22You got Gavin Williams, Brian Wu, Shane McClanahan, Davis Martin come out of nowhere to be in the conversation.

00:42:28Joe Ryan with the Twins.

00:42:29I mean, it's just it's a really deep group.

00:42:31I don't know if we're going to go to like the you look back at some of those votes in

00:42:34the 1940s when like 40 guys got MVP votes.

00:42:37I don't know if we're going to be there this year.

00:42:39But we are going to have a deep class.

00:42:41And it's going to be fascinating to parse it all out late in the year.

00:42:44All right.

00:42:44We'll get you out of here on this one.

00:42:46Reds fan in St. Louis.

00:42:49Father of the year.

00:42:51Freak out factor.

00:42:52Where where should this what score are you giving this?

00:42:58Yeah, we got it.

00:42:59We got to break the mold again here.

00:43:00Road flow.

00:43:01That's a twenty four point nine five out of ten.

00:43:03Twenty four point nine feet five being the cost in dollars of an MLB baseball.

00:43:09Just go baseball.

00:43:10I've held my kids upside down before.

00:43:13I don't do it.

00:43:13You know, ten feet above the warning track.

00:43:16I do admire the, you know, the ingenuity.

00:43:19They want they wanted that ball ingenuity.

00:43:21Exactly.

00:43:22But I almost worry about the security guard, you know, could have caused a mishap there when he's tapping him

00:43:26on the arm.

00:43:27Careful.

00:43:27You know, that could have.

00:43:28Yeah, it could have really thrown him off course.

00:43:30So thankfully, everyone survived.

00:43:32Even the baseball.

00:43:33Hey, Anthony, we appreciate the time.

00:43:35Hope you enjoyed the new open and we'll have you back on real soon.

00:43:40Thanks.

00:43:40I love it.

00:43:41All right.

00:43:42That's Anthony Castro Vince all around me of MLB dot com.

00:43:46Joining us for the freak out factor.

00:43:47That pretty much puts a bow on our number one of MLB Central ballpark cam taking us to.

00:43:53By the way, we're going to get phone calls from that open.

00:43:55You think was it a little too much, Cliff?

00:43:59I liked it.

00:44:00All right.

00:44:00Hey, how about this pitching matchup?

00:44:04Tonight in Pittsburgh as Paul Skeens and the Pirates welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers.

00:44:10A little bit before 7 o'clock Eastern time.

00:44:13That is 340 Pacific time, L.A. time.

00:44:17Hour number two of MLB Central rolls on.

00:44:20Please do not.

00:44:22Like, where were you at?

00:44:23That was at my house.

00:44:24Filling.

00:44:24Yep.

00:44:25Yep.

00:44:25I had some of, you know, some more stuff.

00:44:32A bit more menacing as a pass rusher than he is there on the mound.

00:44:36It's a Vegas bomb!

00:44:37It is an absolute home run derby.

00:44:40What a moment for Trey Mancini.

00:44:42First major league at bat in nearly three years.

00:44:45It's true love when they share popcorn.

00:44:47For me, it is in his third home run the last three days.

00:44:51Yeah.

00:44:51See ya.

00:44:52Ain't one no doubt about that.

00:44:54Started to rain and they broke out the trash bags.

00:44:56Another fine outing by Christopher Sanchez as he goes seven strong with ten strikeouts.

00:45:05Now it's time for Coming Into Focus, presented by Esselor.

00:45:10All right.

00:45:10This is where we blur out the batting stance and Cliff or D. Rowe tries to come up with a

00:45:17name.

00:45:17That's Lee.

00:45:17Yeah.

00:45:18Jung-Hoo Lee.

00:45:18That is correct.

00:45:19The Jung-Hooligans loving what they're seeing from Jung-Hoo Lee.

00:45:23He's been raking.

00:45:23Yeah, he has.

00:45:24He's gotten multiple hits in seven of 11 games since he came back from the injured list.

00:45:31That was back on May 29th.

00:45:33And he has come back on fire.

00:45:36Look at this.

00:45:37Jeez.

00:45:375.87.

00:45:39Five extra base hits.

00:45:41He's slugging over 700.

00:45:43Fortunately, the Giants lost to the Nationals yesterday.

00:45:47Here's what's coming up.

00:45:50And Olsen throws his first leg in.

00:45:52And it's gone.

00:45:55Drill is magic tonight.

00:45:58A walk-off winner for Olsen.

00:46:01Up next, we're going to be joined by Braves TV play-by-play man, Brandon Godden.

00:46:05What are the keys to the Braves' success this year?

00:46:07And what's it like being the voice of the Madden video game franchise?

00:46:13Brandon Godden joins us on the other side.

00:46:16I'm mine.

00:46:16When I'm around you, how I go my life.

00:46:36Step up to the mic is a segment where we chat with the men and women in the booth and

00:46:40on the field covering the teams across the league.

00:46:42And we're pleased to be joined by Brandon Godden.

00:46:44He, Brandon, is the TV voice of the Atlanta Braves.

00:46:47He calls college basketball, football, you name it.

00:46:51He's also the voice of the Madden video game franchise, which you know I'm going to ask him about.

00:46:56But first, Brandon, thank you very much for joining us.

00:46:59How would you describe this Braves' season thus far in light of some of the recent challenges that this team

00:47:05has faced in years prior?

00:47:08It's been nothing short of magical.

00:47:11Now, obviously, this franchise, Robert, has been established for a long time.

00:47:14But I think given all the injuries that they had from spring training to the pitching staff to now with

00:47:20their young superstar, Drake Baldwin, being out the last couple weeks,

00:47:23you kind of keep waiting for this team to have a hiccup, and they really just haven't.

00:47:28They continue to find ways to win.

00:47:30And people have asked me repeatedly, what's the biggest surprise?

00:47:33And you could point to a number of things, I think, Robert.

00:47:36But chief amongst them for me is the fact that this team has the second best ERA in baseball.

00:47:41And that, if you would have told me, that that would be the case in spring training, given all the

00:47:46issues.

00:47:47Really, they only had one healthy starter to begin the season at Chris Sale.

00:47:50So to have that ERA and where they're at right now is really, really impressive.

00:47:55When you watch Chris Sale doing what he's doing, what comes to mind?

00:48:00What does it remind you of?

00:48:03I think we all thought the same thing when he was getting towards the end of his tenure there in

00:48:07Boston.

00:48:08Is this it?

00:48:09Are injuries kind of going to take over the rest of Chris Sale's career?

00:48:13How is the end of this story going to be written?

00:48:15Well, he wanted to write it a different way.

00:48:18And I think you can call it a renaissance over the last few seasons.

00:48:22But what I've been most impressed with about this guy is actually, yes, on the field is incredible.

00:48:26What he provides this team in the clubhouse is equally impressive.

00:48:31He's the guy that on the team plane is coming back to chat with everybody.

00:48:35He's the guy that's in the clubhouse rallying the team when he needs to at the right times.

00:48:40And so, yes, what he's done on the field is incredibly impressive.

00:48:44The fact that his VLO just continues to maintain as he ages.

00:48:48He's like a fine wine, honestly.

00:48:50And if you said that four or five years ago, I don't know that anybody would have believed that Chris

00:48:55Sale would have been able to have this resurgence.

00:48:57But he's done it both on the field and off the field.

00:49:00And he has been one of the greatest pickups.

00:49:02From my recollection of following this team as a fan and an announcer the last 30 years, he's been one

00:49:07of the best pickups the Braves have ever had.

00:49:09You know, Brandon, I grew up in the 80s and TBS and the Atlanta Braves on 605, the whole thing,

00:49:16or 705.

00:49:17And I remember the moniker America's team would be, they would apply it to the Atlanta Braves and kind of

00:49:23ruffled some feathers.

00:49:24But it's not that far off because this team enjoys a national profile.

00:49:30It's not just in the greater Atlanta or Georgia area.

00:49:33What's it like?

00:49:34What's your interactions like as you tour the country and around various parks about Braves fans from all over the

00:49:42country?

00:49:43It's been eye-opening.

00:49:45You know, I was one of those TBS kids, Robert, back in the 90s.

00:49:48I grew up in southern Indiana.

00:49:49So that was my connection to the team.

00:49:51And that's why I believed it was America's team because it had an impact on someone like me so far

00:49:57away that I could watch them every night.

00:49:59And back then, you could either get the Cubs on WGN or the Braves on TBS, and then you had

00:50:03to wait for Sunday Night Baseball.

00:50:05So I just fell in love with the Braves through TBS.

00:50:08And now, all these years later, this was my dream job as a kid.

00:50:12So to be able to do that is awesome.

00:50:13But what is equally rewarding, to your point, is going coast to coast and hearing the stories from people my

00:50:21age and older and now how they're passing on that Braves fandom to their kids.

00:50:24And it all dates back to watching this team and its meteoric rise on TBS through the 90s.

00:50:31And it's really – look, I understand that the Yankees and the Dodgers, they're the bigger household names when it

00:50:38comes to franchises, 100%.

00:50:40But you do see Braves fans coast to coast, and I think it directly correlates to those days and those

00:50:46TBS games back in the 90s.

00:50:48Hey, I want to circle back to the – on the field, rather.

00:50:52Austin Riley, what are you seeing from him?

00:50:55Yeah, so Austin Riley's talked a lot about trying to be more consistent.

00:50:58He's had a couple of good at-bats, and then he'll have three or four where he is swinging and

00:51:02missing pitches that he doesn't normally swing and miss.

00:51:05You know, you saw a throwing error there.

00:51:07His defensive third, though, all in all, has still been solid.

00:51:11For him, it is about trying to be more consistent at the plate, and he is pressing.

00:51:15I followed this team even before I was calling their games, and he's pressing as much as I can recall

00:51:21back to his rookie year.

00:51:22But you still look at where the team is at, and despite Riley and also Acuna having some struggles,

00:51:29I think that they've got enough depth to where they can withstand it,

00:51:33and I don't think Riley is going to go the full 162 without hitting the baseball that he has.

00:51:39As we like to say, there's too many good numbers on the back of that baseball card for him

00:51:42that I think at some point in time he figures it out.

00:51:45Brandon, you've been the voice of the Madden video game for several years now.

00:51:50I believe you replaced Jim Nance as part of that video game franchise.

00:51:54What has that experience been like, and do you ever get recognized by just your voice,

00:52:03maybe from kids that are hardcore Madden gamers?

00:52:08It's usually when I'm in an Uber, Robert, and I start talking to the driver,

00:52:12and they look at my name like, now wait a minute, you're not the guy that does the Madden game,

00:52:17are you?

00:52:18But look, it's been a thrill.

00:52:20It's hard to believe it's a decade now that I've been doing it alongside my good buddy Charles Davis,

00:52:25who to me is the best NFL analyst out there, and we have a great time with it.

00:52:30It's interesting.

00:52:31The first five years we did it, we had to go down to the Orlando studio every week

00:52:35where they make the game, and they give you scripts,

00:52:38and you just read through a couple hours every day.

00:52:40But when COVID hit, we couldn't go down there anymore,

00:52:43and so now Charles and I record from our house.

00:52:45So I'll wake up.

00:52:47I had a session yesterday, wake up at 8.30,

00:52:49and I could just sit there in my robe and slippers and flip the microphone on,

00:52:53and no one could see me, and they send me the scripts, and we get going.

00:52:56So it's been a thrill.

00:52:58It really has.

00:53:00It's not something you ever see on your bucket list

00:53:02because it was just so far off my radar,

00:53:04but to be able to do it and to be able to replace a legend like Jim Nance

00:53:09when I did a decade ago, it's really, really been special.

00:53:12Well, Brandon, you're living the dream, man.

00:53:14You're calling play-by-play for one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball,

00:53:18and you're one of the voices of maybe arguably the best video game

00:53:24in the history of the genre.

00:53:25So congratulations, man.

00:53:28Thanks, Robert.

00:53:29I appreciate you having me.

00:53:30You got it.

00:53:31Enjoy the rest of the season, and thanks again for the time.

00:53:34That's Brandon Godden, TV Play by Play voice for the Atlanta Braves.

00:53:38When we come back with his team in desperate need of a win tonight,

00:53:41Chase Burns takes the ball for the Reds.

00:53:43Coming up, Al Leiter tells you what he's looking for from this emerging Cincy ace,

00:53:48what he has to improve on,

00:53:50and why there's a whole lot more to come from Chase Burns.

00:54:00Chase Burns is becoming a problem in the National League.

00:54:04Oh, my, is he fun to watch pitch.

00:54:07Struck him out!

00:54:09That was pretty dominant.

00:54:11This guy's stuff may be as good or better than Hunter Green.

00:54:15Struck him out with 101.

00:54:16There's some guys that you watch him throw, and you just go, that's different.

00:54:20When you've got a guy that throws that hard with that kind of stuff,

00:54:23that's going to get really fun.

00:54:24I know I keep saying his future's bright,

00:54:26but I think the present's going to be okay, too.

00:54:28He's been unbelievable.

00:54:32Well, the Cincinnati Reds need a win,

00:54:34and Chase Burns hopes to give it to him tonight

00:54:37as he takes the ball in San Diego against Lucas Giolito,

00:54:41940 Eastern, 640 San Diego time.

00:54:44Look at this.

00:54:45Since Chase Burns debuted in 2025 in June of last year,

00:54:50he's got the third-highest strikeout rate in baseball at just over 32%.

00:54:57That is third-best over that time frame

00:55:00behind only Jacob Mizorowski and Dylan Cease.

00:55:04So, let's bring in Al Leiter, who joins us now.

00:55:07And, Al, let's take a closer look at Chase Burns,

00:55:10what you like, what he needs to improve on,

00:55:12and what's the ceiling for this young arm.

00:55:14Okay, Roflo.

00:55:15And, Cliffy, I might need you at the end of this.

00:55:18It's just in comparison of guys that –

00:55:20I start out with this, and I remember when he was at Tennessee,

00:55:24he then transferred to Wake Forest,

00:55:26and immediately, as we just had those sound of all the guys in this studio

00:55:30about this is different.

00:55:32He's got different stuff.

00:55:33And I think the biggest thing to take away of this breakdown is

00:55:36here's a major league pitcher in a time with absolute –

00:55:39a ton of metrics and a lot of different statistics

00:55:42and angles and degrees.

00:55:44He is a old-school gunslinger.

00:55:46He's a two-pitch pitcher, essentially, throws some change-ups to lefties,

00:55:49but there's nothing tricky or cute about this guy with respect to his repertoire.

00:55:54All right, let's go into this.

00:55:55I'll tell you, it's so fun for me.

00:55:58Wait a minute, I'll stop.

00:56:05He's a gunslinger.

00:56:07He's a gunslinger.

00:56:08Look at this right here.

00:56:09Roflo.

00:56:09Hey, Cliffy, look at this guy at Wake Forest.

00:56:12This is like – you ain't hitting it.

00:56:14I've got a fastball up in the zone at a power slider.

00:56:17I try to throw it as hard as I can.

00:56:19When I watched this, I said –

00:56:25Our commissioner with the second pick in 2024.

00:56:28Guys, we are getting guys up to the big leagues so quickly.

00:56:31But I want to show this.

00:56:32I don't know what this is going to look like in 10, 15 years from now.

00:56:36This is the 2024 draft.

00:56:38This is only a couple years ago, folks.

00:56:40Look at this.

00:56:40We got brand names right there.

00:56:42Bazan is already up with Cleveland.

00:56:44I mentioned Burns.

00:56:44Kurtz, I think he's going to MVP in his or two in his pocket.

00:56:47Look at all of these guys.

00:56:49Connor Griffin just signed a long-term deal.

00:56:52Christian Moore, you know, amazing of what's transpired with a lot of these guys.

00:56:56And I want to show that because every bit of what was deserved for the second pick overall

00:57:01is Chase Burns.

00:57:03All right, here it is.

00:57:04What has he done?

00:57:04Why are we doing this?

00:57:05He's pitching today for the Reds.

00:57:06And boy, can he throw it.

00:57:08So I think that this is an impressive arm, and he's only going to get better with respect

00:57:12to understanding what he's trying to accomplish and do with command.

00:57:16These are great numbers right here.

00:57:17No question about it.

00:57:18This is all-star material.

00:57:20Let's go on to what makes him special.

00:57:22And I mentioned that he's a two-pitch pitcher.

00:57:24This is, if you look at this delivery, there are guys that have to command, and there are

00:57:30other guys that go, okay, fastball away.

00:57:31When I land my foot, I'm letting it rip.

00:57:3498, 99, 100, numerous times, four-seam fastball at triple digits.

00:57:39There is nothing cute about this.

00:57:40This is my reference to cute.

00:57:42You look at his delivery.

00:57:43You look at his attitude.

00:57:44This tells me, hey, this guy's a closer.

00:57:46This is a back-end arm the way he goes about it.

00:57:49If you watch here, the delivery, watch him come through here.

00:57:53He's got decent extension.

00:57:55It's not an elite top extension, but he gathers greatly.

00:57:58You talk about the power on the back leg.

00:58:00Great angle coming out the land, and here comes the pulldown.

00:58:03He comes off a little bit, clears his head, which allows him to be very high.

00:58:07His release height is one of the higher in baseball.

00:58:10Here it is.

00:58:11Four-seam fastball velocity.

00:58:13This is, folks, right here.

00:58:14We've got right-handers up here, all the right-handers.

00:58:17It's induced vertical break.

00:58:19So here's what I want to accentuate.

00:58:20We keep hearing, now, Mizorowski might be in a whole different category because we're seeing

00:58:24102, 103s.

00:58:25But we see a fair amount, not a lot, but we see a lot of guys now in 96, 97,

00:58:3298.

00:58:32A guy like Cliff Lloyd's going to get it going a little sooner.

00:58:34You've got to have something else.

00:58:36What makes his special is this induced vertical break.

00:58:40It basically defies gravity.

00:58:42It stays through the air higher.

00:58:44The average is about 16 inches.

00:58:46You can see the top elite velocity, guys.

00:58:49He's got the best induced vertical break.

00:58:51So it makes a guy like Chase Burns, who's going to throw two pitches, gas upstairs and

00:58:55a power slider, even that much more harder to hit.

00:58:58Okay, let's go to next.

00:58:59So we are establishing fastballs.

00:59:02This right here is nasty.

00:59:03And when I look at his delivery, again, it'll depend on the count.

00:59:07There's the bullet spin and it's power.

00:59:11These are 90, 91 miles an hour.

00:59:1493 to Corey Seager.

00:59:16This is crazy.

00:59:17So there's nothing about feel, and I'm not saying he doesn't have an idea to throw it

00:59:23in the zone or out of the zone, but when he gets to foot landing, it is massive pulldown

00:59:28with unbelievable break to it.

00:59:30All right, highest whiff percentage on a single pitch.

00:59:34Well, these are all different variety of pitches.

00:59:36You see Cruz with the Yankees with the splitter.

00:59:38We've got changeup down there with Christopher Sanchez slider.

00:59:41He's it.

00:59:41But the slider, this is amazing.

00:59:44You've got closer, reliever, closer, and a starter.

00:59:47There's only two starters on here with the highest swing and miss, and he having it with

00:59:52the slider.

00:59:53So it is that special.

00:59:54And I want to accentuate that because we talk a lot about pitch pairing and a lot of different

01:00:00ideas about how you exploit a hitter's weakness.

01:00:03He doesn't care a whole lot about that.

01:00:05Hitters know he's going to get a fastball slider.

01:00:07All right, let's see what batters look like here when we see about what he actually does.

01:00:12All right, we've got Bobby Witt Jr.

01:00:14He's a first ball fastball hitter.

01:00:16Casey's up 2-0 in the third inning.

01:00:18Go ahead and play it, Lucas.

01:00:20Third base side of the rubber.

01:00:21He goes slider off the plate.

01:00:23See, Bobby wanted it.

01:00:24Foul late on 97 miles an hour.

01:00:26High cheese.

01:00:27That's what he throws.

01:00:28The 1-1 to 1-2.

01:00:29He's seen if he's going to tease him on the slider.

01:00:32He liked the take.

01:00:33He came back with it.

01:00:34But again, it comes down to arm speed.

01:00:36If you have a special secondary pitch.

01:00:38Hold up right there.

01:00:39Thank you, Lucas.

01:00:40You've got a secondary pitch, even though it's off speed.

01:00:43You know, fastball kids, little league, high school, college, minor league, big leagues.

01:00:47You think that because it's a slower pitch, you slow it down.

01:00:51Cliffy, come on over here if I've got a chance.

01:00:52Here I come.

01:00:53These guys hit that.

01:00:55They could see that.

01:00:55If it's 98 gas with a certain arm speed, and now I'm going to slow down to get a slower

01:01:00off speed pitch,

01:01:01that's what makes his slider so much harder to hit.

01:01:04There's not a whole lot of time between the separation of 98 and 91.

01:01:07All right, go ahead and play this.

01:01:08We've got Brandon Nemo, cheese down and away, gas 98.

01:01:13He's trying to get him to chase 99.

01:01:15Right.

01:01:15That was a tempted slider there, Cliffy.

01:01:18That's right.

01:01:19He's still late, right?

01:01:20Yeah.

01:01:20And then boom.

01:01:21Unbelievable tilt.

01:01:23But what I like about Cliff, and I'm curious.

01:01:26All right, real quick before Cliff.

01:01:28This is pretty good.

01:01:29I asked, you know, research with respect to what we're doing here, and Seth, who does a great job.

01:01:34I said, maybe he's spraying it.

01:01:36You know, if you're a two-pitch pitcher, yes, he's throwing 98.

01:01:39This is pretty good, Cliff.

01:01:41Basically, just look at the red, folks.

01:01:43The red is the primary where the pitches land mostly.

01:01:46He's an elevated high fastball with a bully fastball down the middle.

01:01:49But this right here, there's not a whole lot of spraying right here.

01:01:53This is sliders on the plate and then chase.

01:01:55Like you just saw with what he did with Nemo on the plate and then Bobby Witt, Jr.

01:01:59All right, Cliff, you played what, 15 years?

01:02:0217.

01:02:03No shortchange.

01:02:04Boom.

01:02:05All right.

01:02:07Who reminds you of this?

01:02:09You got in the box, and there was a guy saying, you know what, Cliff?

01:02:12I know you're a good fastball hitter, but you ain't hitting my fastball.

01:02:14Who were some of those guys?

01:02:15Well, one, if I go back all the way.

01:02:17I mean, Curt Schilling, when I first got in the league, was that dude.

01:02:20Tommy Green was another.

01:02:22When you think about these dudes that were just coming at you, when I was in the minors,

01:02:27I got away with so much, right?

01:02:29I could get away with, you know, you missed location, I'm getting you.

01:02:33I got to big leagues, I'm like, well, and the catcher's like, hey, how far are you coming

01:02:36back, right?

01:02:37Start talking to you differently, because things change.

01:02:39So you'd be back in the box.

01:02:40Back in the box.

01:02:41I'm like going as far as I can, because now I'm trying to catch up.

01:02:44Now I'm trying to figure out how much time I have, because normally I was up here, I

01:02:48was easy, everything worked.

01:02:49All right, so let me stop you there.

01:02:50So this is good.

01:02:51You got fastball slider, the percentage of, he's a 60-something, almost 60% fastball.

01:02:55So are you eliminating, by backing up, you're talking about you need a millisecond more.

01:03:00Yeah.

01:03:00All right, so when you back up, are you now going to just disregard the slider?

01:03:04You get the slider.

01:03:04Okay, so you're looking here.

01:03:05Well, I'm not hitting that.

01:03:06What you just showed right there, I'm not hitting that.

01:03:08All right, if I get to that point, then I've kind of, I'm not tipping my hat ever, but I've

01:03:13given up on trying to hit the other pitch, because I know it's dirty.

01:03:18So when I get the two strikes, I'm battling.

01:03:19Now I have a game plan, but my plan is, as I'm walking up to the box, I'm going, you

01:03:25cannot miss the fastball.

01:03:27It's imperative that you look at this fastball and go, boom, I got to get on the ace swing,

01:03:30got to come off quick.

01:03:31Mindset, change everything, because he's different.

01:03:34So when we had J.J.

01:03:36Weatherholt from the Cardinals yesterday, he goes, you're thinking here, the ball's, and

01:03:41the ball's down there.

01:03:42That's how hard these guys are throwing when you're facing mids, when you're facing burns.

01:03:46Like, these dudes are coming at you differently.

01:03:47And I think, for me, Al, I think you have to eliminate and get that ace swing off as quick

01:03:53as you possibly can on the fastball.

01:03:55All right, let me ask you this, because the other thing that makes him special, and it's

01:03:57one of the best pitches, I think we have a board on his batting average against and

01:04:02the numbers that we look at on the slider.

01:04:04But secondary pitches, change-ups, splits, curveballs, all the pitches that are out there.

01:04:11What makes it difficult for you as a hitter to identify, here comes the change-up, here comes

01:04:16the splitters, curveball, slider, whatever, difficult to hit.

01:04:19What do you see and what don't you see?

01:04:21The one thing you said when you were talking about him is command.

01:04:24Location.

01:04:25If you're locating the pitch that is wherever you want to say in the box, we're taught to

01:04:34hit your best pitch.

01:04:35For me, it's like, hey, what's your pitch that you like to hit?

01:04:37Well, I like to hit.

01:04:38Well, you can't miss that pitch.

01:04:40Well, if he's locating middle away, now, what chances do you have to be successful in

01:04:45that bat?

01:04:45But that's the advantage these guys have when you talk about pitching.

01:04:48And so when you look at usage, you're saying, I'm saying to myself, I'm like, well, like

01:04:53our hitters meeting is change with velocity-type guys.

01:04:57So here, I just want to end with this, Roflo.

01:05:00His slider, it's awesome.

01:05:02I'm basically, he's got the highest average velocity.

01:05:07But see what I'm saying, though?

01:05:07Fourth highest.

01:05:08Like, you're not hitting it.

01:05:10So if you get into a point where if we're having a hitters meeting, I'm telling my guys,

01:05:16I'm like, well, I'm going to give you this sheet of paper.

01:05:19It's going to tell you this opponent's average is hitting buck 26 against his slider.

01:05:23It's a long night if you get into a slide piece.

01:05:25So, Roflo, you're not looking for the slider tonight.

01:05:28No.

01:05:29Period.

01:05:30Reds and Padres this evening.

01:05:33Chase Burns, Lucas Gialito.

01:05:35That is your pitching matchup after the Padres got a come-from-behind win against the Cincinnati

01:05:40Reds yesterday.

01:05:41Great stuff, fellas.

01:05:42Up next, we're going to be joined by Cardinals pitcher, Matthew Levitore.

01:05:45What's working for the Cardinals so far this year?

01:05:48Why he changed his number?

01:05:50And why this appearance on Central is going to be much different than his last?

01:05:55We'll explain next.

01:06:10Welcome back.

01:06:11MLB Central is presented by the Home Depot.

01:06:15Live look at Citi Field.

01:06:16We're a little bit later this evening.

01:06:18It will be the Cardinals and Mets in a series opener.

01:06:21Dustin May and Freddie Peralta.

01:06:23That is your pitching matchup.

01:06:24Dustin May has pitched very well recently for the St. Louis Cardinals.

01:06:28He's obviously hoping to continue that trend.

01:06:30Mets coming off a pretty successful series in San Diego against the Padres.

01:06:35We say good morning to Matthew Levitore of the St. Louis Cardinals.

01:06:41He joins us now from the league offices in New York City.

01:06:44Matthew, from your perspective, what has gone so right for you and your Cardinals this season?

01:06:49I think we just really got a good, young, energetic group.

01:06:53You know, kind of started in spring training, all of us getting together and sitting down,

01:06:57just having a few conversations about who we are and what we wanted to be this year

01:07:01and how we wanted to take the field every day.

01:07:04And, you know, I think we've done a really good job of holding ourselves accountable to that

01:07:08and going out and playing the game the right way and, you know, playing all 27 outs.

01:07:13And so far, we've had some pretty good results.

01:07:16So, right now, we're just looking to keep that momentum rolling.

01:07:18Matthew, this is not your first appearance on MLB Central.

01:07:22What, if anything, do you recall about your last appearance on this show?

01:07:27If you don't remember, we do have some video evidence to refresh your memory.

01:07:31Do you remember this?

01:07:33Yeah, I do.

01:07:34I remember having the umbrella held for me, standing in the rain,

01:07:37and we talked about tying my tooth.

01:07:40Well, thankfully, you're indoors.

01:07:43No umbrella needed for this appearance.

01:07:46Hey, Matt, we saw you in spring training, man, and were you 32 at that time?

01:07:51Did you just change your number?

01:07:53Yeah, he had changed it.

01:07:54You changed the 32.

01:07:55What's behind the number change?

01:07:57Yeah, I changed – I asked for the change last year.

01:08:01Okay.

01:08:01Shortly after we traded Steven Matz.

01:08:04But I wore 32 my whole life growing up.

01:08:07When I hit originally, the comparison was for Josh Hamilton.

01:08:11And on the pitching side, it was Fandy Koufax.

01:08:14Nice.

01:08:14And when I got to the big leagues, I was given 52.

01:08:16I think Flaherty wore 32 at the time, maybe.

01:08:19And it was handed over to Ponce de Leon and then to Steven Matz.

01:08:23So, I never really had an opportunity.

01:08:25It was kind of out of my price range at that time.

01:08:28But when it got freed up last year, I tried to jump all over it.

01:08:32And, you know, it just feels right wearing it.

01:08:35And that's the number that I resonate with the most for sure.

01:08:38Matthew, can you take us inside that process?

01:08:42Not necessarily the particulars, but the process of what it's like negotiating

01:08:48with teammates for numbers and things like that.

01:08:51Yeah.

01:08:53You know, numbers have a price tag on them.

01:08:54Yeah.

01:08:55And the more highly paid the guy that wears the number,

01:08:58the more expensive it is to take it off his back.

01:09:00So, you know, when Steven Matz came over here,

01:09:03he was definitely one of our more highly paid and respected players.

01:09:06And I was a rookie on league minimum.

01:09:08So, I figured it probably wasn't worth a couple of my paychecks

01:09:12to change the number on my back.

01:09:15Hey, you know, let's go back, right?

01:09:17So, in spring, we talked about you adding another pitch to the arsenal.

01:09:21And, you know, whether it's going to be good or bad,

01:09:23you said it depends on how it worked in spring.

01:09:25So, how has it been going for you?

01:09:28Yeah.

01:09:29I've used it maybe a handful of times in games so far this year.

01:09:32It's still something that I'm toying with behind the scenes.

01:09:35I'm still working on.

01:09:36I do see the value in it, and I understand how value it could be

01:09:40if I'm able to consistently throw quality ones.

01:09:43But it's just something that hasn't clicked for me yet.

01:09:46And I feel like I got a good six-pitch arsenal outside of that pitch.

01:09:50So, you know, still working on it behind the scenes,

01:09:52but haven't thrown it a ton so far this year.

01:09:55So, it is a splitter that you added, right?

01:09:57And so, when you think about adding a splitter,

01:09:59what does that do for the rest of your pitches to be more successful?

01:10:04Yeah, I mean, I think, put as simply as possible,

01:10:07it kind of completes the triangle for me.

01:10:09You know, I can go up north to south.

01:10:11I can go right or east, I guess.

01:10:14But the direction I struggle going with the most is west,

01:10:17and that would definitely complete that triangle for me

01:10:21better than my changeup currently does.

01:10:23So, there is value in it, and it would be awesome to, you know,

01:10:27have it every time I go out.

01:10:28But right now, that's not the case, and that's fine.

01:10:30I'm going to keep working on it, and we'll see what happens.

01:10:32No doubt.

01:10:33Matthew, after some off-season changes,

01:10:35you're one of the longest tenured pitchers on this roster.

01:10:38What do you make of the rotation group that you guys currently have in St. Louis?

01:10:43Yeah, we've got a really close group of guys.

01:10:46I said it the other day, sitting on the bench,

01:10:48but I think it's the most fun I've ever had, you know,

01:10:50being a fan, cheering on the other four guys every time they pitch, too.

01:10:54I just feel like we all bounce ideas off of each other.

01:10:56We're all usually in the same place at the same time,

01:10:59talking about the same stuff,

01:11:01and I feel like we all really pull for each other

01:11:03when each of us takes the mound.

01:11:05So, it's been a really fun rotation this year,

01:11:08and hopefully we can continue trending in the right direction

01:11:10and helping out our team.

01:11:11We had McGreevy and J.J. Weatherholt in the studio yesterday,

01:11:15and we had the scribble segment,

01:11:19and Roflo tried to do the deciding factor

01:11:23and drew an iceberg.

01:11:25Did you, by chance, see that?

01:11:27I did not.

01:11:28I missed that part of it.

01:11:29Okay, well, check.

01:11:29Can you see this right here?

01:11:31I can, yeah.

01:11:32All right, now, do you think that's the iceberg,

01:11:33or is that Bart Simpson?

01:11:36Yeah, it's...

01:11:37Probably closer to Bart Simpson.

01:11:39It's not great.

01:11:40It's not great.

01:11:41Mine wasn't better, but you know what?

01:11:43I felt better when Roflo did his.

01:11:45You know?

01:11:46Well, it was probably one of the low moments of this show.

01:11:49It's all good, though.

01:11:49And that's saying something.

01:11:50Hey, Matthew, before we get you out of here,

01:11:52what do you have for breakfast?

01:11:54Ooh, bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel.

01:11:58Oh, there you go.

01:11:59There you go.

01:12:00I think New York breakfast.

01:12:01He's a veteran.

01:12:02Yeah.

01:12:02And that's a veteran's breakfast right there.

01:12:04Hey, Matthew, great catching up with you again.

01:12:06We appreciate the time.

01:12:07Good luck this week.

01:12:08Likewise.

01:12:09Thank you guys for having me.

01:12:10You got it.

01:12:10That's Matthew Libitor of the St. Louis Cardinals.

01:12:13They're in town taking on the New York Mets beginning tonight.

01:12:15Dustin May, Freddie Peralta, that is your pitching matchup.

01:12:18All right, Cliff, there have been wild nights in Vegas before.

01:12:22But in baseball terms, last night, that was unique.

01:12:27Coming up, the A's welcomed the Brewers.

01:12:30And what followed was something you have to see to believe.

01:12:34We'll unpack next.

01:12:44Keys to the game presented by Meineke.

01:12:46Ballpark cam up and running in Pittsburgh.

01:12:49Nice little matchup here tonight as the Dodgers and Pirates begin a series.

01:12:53Paul Skeens will get the start for the Pittsburgh Pirates,

01:12:56and he has to deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

01:12:59So that comes your way a little bit before 7 o'clock Eastern time in the Steel City.

01:13:04Keys to the game presented by Meineke.

01:13:06Your pitching matchup, Eric Lauer, Paul Skeens.

01:13:09And then for the series, you got Shohei Otani, Jared Jones.

01:13:14That's tomorrow.

01:13:15And then Thursday, Mitch Keller, Justin Robleski.

01:13:19Great matchup.

01:13:20Yeah, some really good matchups in this series.

01:13:23And if you're the Pirates, I'm wondering if you're thinking of this as,

01:13:26is this some sort of litmus test for us?

01:13:30You know, a measuring stick against the two-time defending world.

01:13:33I would say yes.

01:13:34I mean, when you think about the Pirates and who they are,

01:13:37and, like, it's never been about their pitching.

01:13:39Yeah.

01:13:39And they consistently hit.

01:13:40Right.

01:13:41All right, time now for Around the Bases.

01:13:43And speaking of pitching, Christopher Sanchez,

01:13:4610 more strikeouts yesterday against the Toronto Blue Jays

01:13:50for the Philadelphia Phillies.

01:13:52By the way, the Blue Jays now have to deal with Zach Wheeler

01:13:55a little bit later this evening.

01:13:58But as we welcome Al Leiter back, Cliff Floyd, Robert Flores here with you.

01:14:03Christopher Sanchez, he has, as good as he was last year,

01:14:07am I crazy to think he's gone maybe a tick above?

01:14:10He's taken an even little bigger jump.

01:14:12Yeah.

01:14:13I think it's fair to say that he's in the lead.

01:14:16I know we got Otani.

01:14:17We're going to talk about Otani as a pitcher.

01:14:19But what he's done, I think you're right on row flow.

01:14:22Look, when you have a guy that has an exceptional fastball just coming off

01:14:25of Chase Burns, his breakdown, but his changeup, the separator,

01:14:30is tremendous, not only for velocity, but the movement on the changeup.

01:14:35He's just making major league hitters look really bad.

01:14:38That's the thing.

01:14:38The swings that he is getting from George Springer.

01:14:42I mean, these are excellent, great ballplayers.

01:14:45And, Cliff, he is making them at some times, at some point,

01:14:49look, you know, not like themselves.

01:14:52Right.

01:14:52No, and I think the big thing with me when you look at the last seven starts

01:14:55is how much swing and miss would his chase.

01:14:58Like, he's not in the zone and out the zone, as you see.

01:15:01It's like out the zone, but you get in the swings that you wouldn't typically

01:15:04see from big league hitters.

01:15:06And I guess he hides the ball really well and from, you know,

01:15:09wherever he's throwing the baseball from that the guy just can't pick him up.

01:15:13And some dudes just can't.

01:15:15All right.

01:15:15You bend the box.

01:15:16You go back to the dugout going, bro, I don't have nothing for you today.

01:15:19Some guys have invisible.

01:15:20This changeup isn't invisible.

01:15:22It is.

01:15:22Five of his ten strikeouts were on the changeup.

01:15:25And he's got three fewer strikeouts than Jacob Mizorowski.

01:15:29Mizorowski's at 116.

01:15:30Christopher Sanchez.

01:15:31He can't sleep on Miz.

01:15:32He's at 113.

01:15:33This Cy Young race, it's going to be fascinating for sure.

01:15:36Speaking of fascinating, last night in Las Vegas, you know,

01:15:39the A's, they've got a homestand in Las Vegas.

01:15:41Normally they play in Sacramento.

01:15:44But this homestand began last night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

01:15:47And guys, give me a back.

01:15:49It was a 15-14 finish as the Brewers won in extra innings.

01:15:54The teams combined for 11 home runs.

01:15:57That's the most in any game this season.

01:15:59There were 16 ABS challenges.

01:16:01That's four more than any game, any point this season.

01:16:06I mean, it was a wild, wild scene.

01:16:09Al, as a former pitcher, what do you make of what we saw in Las Vegas yesterday?

01:16:13Man, you hope you pitch like the day before you go into it.

01:16:16I thought that would go into Colorado.

01:16:17Look, I never played in the PCL.

01:16:21I know that it was the worst league for years for pitchers, ERA.

01:16:26Las Vegas will be the second highest altitude to Denver.

01:16:30Third is Arizona Phoenix.

01:16:32So, I know there's going to be a roof and all that.

01:16:34But if this is any prelude, I know every night they're not going to have 10 homers.

01:16:37But this is, the ball flies.

01:16:40Yeah.

01:16:41You're going to have to get pitchers that understand that you elevate.

01:16:45I don't care if you throw in 100 and a guy like Cliff Floyd can barrel it.

01:16:48It's going to go far.

01:16:50And I'm curious, obviously, these next couple of games.

01:16:52Well, you know what?

01:16:53Batting practice changes.

01:16:54You're lifting.

01:16:56I don't care if you hit balls on the ground.

01:16:58You know, BP, you're just trying to elevate.

01:17:00I mean, you're bringing extra balls.

01:17:03You're getting a launch.

01:17:03You're launching everything you possibly can.

01:17:05If you look at this home run here, you look at the catcher there, Contreras.

01:17:08He got up like, yeah.

01:17:09He thought the game was over.

01:17:11Instead, Jonah Heim tied it.

01:17:13Look at the catcher.

01:17:14He's like, yeah.

01:17:15No, and the other thing is, Al, look, as we know,

01:17:19the A's are playing their games normally in Sacramento until the new yard is ready in Las Vegas.

01:17:25The home ERA for the Athletics, 5.81 this season.

01:17:30The road ERA for the Athletics, 3.67.

01:17:33That's more than a two-run difference.

01:17:36Home and away, by far, the biggest difference in Major League Baseball.

01:17:41So, I mean, wow.

01:17:42Yeah.

01:17:44Meantime, you know, the A's right now, they figure prominently in the American League postseason picture.

01:17:50Because as we take a look at the standings, I mean, Cliff, it's wide open.

01:17:56Wide open, man.

01:17:57Right?

01:17:57You know, yeah.

01:17:58And you know what?

01:17:58It's different.

01:17:59When you look at the AL Central, I think there have been, you know,

01:18:02they kind of have been the vision where you're looking typically and saying, well, you know,

01:18:07close to 500 is going to give you a chance to get in the postseason.

01:18:10But now when you look around, it's wide open.

01:18:11And I do say, I have a couple teams when you look at the wild card.

01:18:14I got the Jays, Tigers, and Astros are teams that are dealing with a lot of injuries.

01:18:20Yeah.

01:18:20But you also look at it and go, can I push the pause button for a second?

01:18:24Just kind of give them a chance to get healthier and get guys back in rotation.

01:18:29Those are the three you haven't given up on.

01:18:30I haven't given up on it.

01:18:31And I feel like they still have a shot.

01:18:33Right?

01:18:33And, you know, early in the season, I was like, well, maybe your Don Alvarez is time to trade.

01:18:37Maybe it's time to, you know, retool.

01:18:39Not rebuild, but retool and get yourself in a position where you can still win with some youngsters that you

01:18:44have offensively.

01:18:45I still don't understand what's going to happen with the Tigers because I do believe with school bull,

01:18:50you can't be in a position that the Angels were in with Shohei Ohtani.

01:18:53Okay.

01:18:54By letting him go and try to finish and get in the postseason and then lose, you know, the value

01:19:00of him.

01:19:00He's got three teams he's not giving up on.

01:19:02You've got a couple.

01:19:03Yeah, I do.

01:19:03I mean, look, real quick, the Twins are seven games under 500.

01:19:07We're three games back from being one of the wild cards.

01:19:09So, let that digest.

01:19:10There's ten teams that are under 500.

01:19:12We are now in a pretty significant portion of the season, right?

01:19:15We're beyond a third of the way.

01:19:17So, there's a big snapshot here.

01:19:19I'm looking at teams that the Chicago White Sox have been an awesome, pleasant surprise.

01:19:24Yeah.

01:19:25And Murakami was, I don't know if anybody thought that he was, he got 20 home runs.

01:19:29Yeah.

01:19:30I've always liked Miguel Vargas.

01:19:32Yeah, he's hurt.

01:19:33But, I mean, you've got Thump.

01:19:34You've got guys that can hit across the board.

01:19:37Colson Montgomery.

01:19:39Miguel Vargas.

01:19:40Vargas.

01:19:40There's Thump.

01:19:41There's guys that can hit.

01:19:42And I'm talking about, you know, when you have Davis Martin, looks like he's going to be on the playoff,

01:19:46an all-star.

01:19:47And then the Rangers.

01:19:48They're a playoff team right now.

01:19:50And, you know, you've got Corey Seager back.

01:19:53You've got Wyatt Lankford back.

01:19:54They needed offense.

01:19:55They have good pitching.

01:19:57They do.

01:19:57They're third or fourth in the American League in the R.A.

01:19:59So, like, this is an interesting group.

01:20:02You know, they're dancing around a little under .500.

01:20:05And it's a playoff team right now if the season were to end right now.

01:20:08The lighter kid's good, too.

01:20:10Come on, Jack.

01:20:12Keep the ball down, son.

01:20:14You know you can make the argument who's been the most valuable player this year?

01:20:18Ezekiel Durant.

01:20:18Yes, thank you.

01:20:19I'm glad you mentioned him.

01:20:20He has been so good for the Texas Rangers.

01:20:22But offensively, maybe they get some pieces back.

01:20:25But you're right.

01:20:25That pitching staff is good enough to get them.

01:20:27I find this full board right here fascinating, guys.

01:20:30Yeah.

01:20:31And I'm glad you mentioned Houston and Detroit.

01:20:33Yeah.

01:20:33Because if you're looking at it, you're like, come on, Cliffy.

01:20:35But I don't know.

01:20:37We'll see.

01:20:38They'll bounce.

01:20:38And Detroit's playing a lot better late.

01:20:40So, you get some guys back, it changes a lot.

01:20:43It's going to be a pretty interesting stretch run to see which teams are ultimately,

01:20:49in the postseason, especially in the American League.

01:20:52All right.

01:20:53We've got to put a pin in it for now.

01:20:54When we come back, as Ballpark Cam, I believe, takes us to where are we?

01:20:58St. Petersburg?

01:20:59Yeah.

01:21:00Best team in the American League.

01:21:02How about that?

01:21:03Tampa Bay Rays.

01:21:04Yep.

01:21:04They continue their series against the Boston Red Sox.

01:21:07It comes your way just before 7 o'clock.

01:21:10Peyton Tolley, friend of the program.

01:21:13Nick Martinez will get the start for the Tampa Bay Rays.

01:21:16That comes your way a little bit later this evening.

01:21:18We'll be back to walk it off next.

01:21:30Hey, coming up at the top of the hour, it's MLB Now with Brian Kenney.

01:21:35Among the topics they're discussing, is Shohei Otani having an underappreciated season?

01:21:41And Joe Maddon on the baseball we saw last night in Las Vegas between the Brewers and

01:21:46the A's.

01:21:47That's top of the hour, MLB Now.

01:21:49Prop bet time, FanDuel odds and trends.

01:21:52Jose Ramirez to get at least two total bases.

01:21:56Now, Cliff, he's facing Garrett Cole, and there is some ownage here.

01:22:02Okay.

01:22:023-59, three doubles, a triple, and three homers against Garrett Cole.

01:22:06I'll say evade me to say yes.

01:22:07I'm going to say yes.

01:22:08Okay.

01:22:09All right.

01:22:09He's that good.

01:22:11Next up, Dodgers Pirates on the money line.

01:22:14Eric Lauer, Paul Steens.

01:22:16Who do you think gets the win tonight?

01:22:19Hmm.

01:22:20What's interesting is that the Pirates are just 6-7, and Skeens is 13-7.

01:22:25I know.

01:22:25We put those numbers up yesterday.

01:22:26He's going to say 6-5 with a 3-9, 3.09.

01:22:30He's due.

01:22:30So, I'm going to go with Paul Steens.

01:22:31Okay.

01:22:32Yeah.

01:22:33Lastly, Brewers A's over-under 13 total runs.

01:22:39Remember, last night they combined for 29.

01:22:44I'm going to take, if I could, I would take the over.

01:22:47If you could.

01:22:47And if I could, I would, too.

01:22:49All right.

01:22:49So, we both going over.

01:22:50There you go.

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01:23:15All right.

01:23:16Time to walk it off.

01:23:17We do have a, wait, there's a look.

01:23:19Oh, man.

01:23:20At the latest crop of MLB Network interns joining us.

01:23:25Hey.

01:23:26Al Leiter, not part of the intern class.

01:23:28No, Al, get out of this.

01:23:30All right, I'll talk.

01:23:30Sorry.

01:23:30Let them sign.

01:23:31But we are thrilled that you guys are here.

01:23:35I hope you have a tremendous experience this summer.

01:23:38And can any of you host Quick Pitch on Friday?

01:23:41We're going to, there we go.

01:23:43All right.

01:23:43I like your attitude.

01:23:45I like your gumption.

01:23:47Hey, but seriously, we're glad you're here.

01:23:48I hope you enjoy the summer.

01:23:50Look forward to it.

01:23:50And feel free to stop and say hello.

01:23:53Stay hydrated.

01:23:53Yeah.

01:23:54You know what I mean?

01:23:54Not necessarily to me.

01:23:56Not necessarily to me, but if you see Cliff.

01:23:58Yeah, if you see me.

01:23:59Well, you won't see me, you know, those days old.

01:24:02Yeah.

01:24:02Well, I understand we've got this element here with Paul Skeens.

01:24:05I'm not quite sure what it is.

01:24:07Oh, yeah.

01:24:07Okay, so Paul Skeens is an awesome human in case anyone was wondering.

01:24:11He was driving by the Franklin Park Little League Baseball Fields last night

01:24:16and saw the lights on and just pulled on in.

01:24:19He was there for over two hours taking pictures and playing catch with the kids.

01:24:25That's why it's different.

01:24:26That's why it's different.

01:24:28How nice is that?

01:24:29You just, you know, you can't put nothing past, you know, certain dues.

01:24:34And I think, no, I actually couldn't for those kids who probably are sitting there going,

01:24:38is this real?

01:24:39Yeah, is this real?

01:24:40This can't be real.

01:24:41Oh, no.

01:24:42It's got it, right?

01:24:43No, that's really good job by Paul Skeens.

01:24:46We do have a little bit more feedback here.

01:24:48I believe it's from the Freak Out Factor New Open.

01:24:51This from Jody.

01:24:53Hey, Roflo, did you have some of daddy's medicine before filming that open?

01:24:58Jody, there are interns here, excuse me, within earshot.

01:25:01But the answer is yes.

01:25:04Oh!

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