00:00That was a very professional radio call from Dave Jagler.
00:04I think this is how my call would have sounded.
00:07Crushed to right.
00:08It's got a chance.
00:09It's gone.
00:11Everything sucks.
00:12Back to you guys in the studio whenever you're ready.
00:15I mean, that game yesterday was an all-time pull-your-hair-out-you've-got-to-be-kidding-me-this
00:23-is-not-okay loss for the Washington Nationals.
00:25Final score, 11-10.
00:27Here's what you need to know, though.
00:29They led the game 9-1.
00:31They led 9-1.
00:34Not like in the second inning or the fourth inning.
00:37That was going into the eighth inning.
00:40They led 9-1.
00:41They even, after giving up a five spot, so the lead shrinks to 9-6 going into the ninth,
00:47get an insurance run from Curtis Mead, who's been fantastic.
00:50Hits a home run.
00:51Gives you a four-run cushion.
00:53That's not even a safe situation yet.
00:5610-6 lead.
00:57And for the second time in as many innings, a five-run inning for the Giants.
01:01They win 11-10.
01:03And maybe what's most amazing is there was still nobody out at the moment of that grand slam.
01:09I know.
01:09That was a five-run inning.
01:11The Nats give up their four-run lead, and they didn't have any outs.
01:16So let's say that had tied the game.
01:17They would have just had to start the inning over, still with nobody out.
01:21And it was Bryce Eldridge from Northern Virginia out in Fairfax, where he played at Madison High School,
01:29for Pudge Jorman, who did the dirty, who hit the grand slam to beat the Nationals.
01:37I thought everyone was pranking me.
01:39So I'm driving down after the show yesterday.
01:43I just get outside of radio range.
01:46But at that point, from 1-6-7 the fan, before I kind of switch over to different things,
01:49I'm trying to navigate and make sure I'm finding all the different stuff I need to find.
01:52I think it was 8-1 when I kind of left the range.
01:56And I'm, you know, following loosely as I'm, I putz around, I charge my car,
01:59and I, you know, stopped here, there, and everywhere.
02:02And then I started to get the text.
02:03They start flooding in.
02:04I'm going, cool, cool joke, guys.
02:06That's impossible.
02:08There's no way that happened.
02:09Dot, dot, dot.
02:10And, of course, looked it up, and I was in utter disbelief.
02:14That, those sting more than the average bear, I would say.
02:1814 hits, 10 runs, and they lost.
02:22Little bit of a microcosm of the season for this team,
02:25because the Nationals are the number one offense in the sport.
02:28They score at a rate that you would think would lead to, like, 107 wins.
02:32And yet, they find themselves a 500 ball club at this point.
02:36How is that possible?
02:37Well, your starting rotation, substandard, statistically, and your bullpen's not good.
02:42And the bullpen yesterday, Paxton Schultz came on and gave up four hits and five runs earned,
02:47walked the yard, three walks for him in his inning.
02:50He pitched the seventh, so he gave up those five runs.
02:53But it was a million-run lead, and you go, let's get him some work.
02:56We'll just get him through the inning.
02:57We're not going to try to play matchups here.
02:59They bring on Orlando Robolta, who's been their best reliever.
03:01Him and Brad Lord are the two guys right now on the bullpen that are both trustworthy and reliable.
03:05Kind of sticky carrying this thing, yeah.
03:06Yeah, you can count on them, right?
03:08Those are the two guys that you kind of can set in stone.
03:10They're going to pitch well for you.
03:12Robolta pitched the eighth, and he did so with elite efficiency,
03:15to the point where he only threw 10 pitches, seven strikes.
03:20So, hindsight, wisdom here, Monday morning quarterbacking.
03:24You could have left him in the game to finish and just let him pitch the ninth,
03:27but he's not commonly going to be used with up-downs.
03:31He's not going to be getting back up for a second inning.
03:34But they could have done that.
03:35They chose not to.
03:36They went to Gus Varlin.
03:37He faced four batters.
03:39They all reached a walk and three hits, including back-to-back doubles to start the inning.
03:43And then they did the thing they've been doing that I just can't abide,
03:47that I just can't keep pretending is okay.
03:52They did the, there are two lefties batting.
03:55Mitchell Parker is our lefty.
03:57Let's go get Mitchell Parker.
03:59Left-hander faces left-handers, and we have left-hander ready.
04:02And then I want to go, but it's Mitchell Parker, dude.
04:06And they go get him.
04:08First lefty gets a base hit.
04:10Second lefty hits a grand slam.
04:12Let's all get on the plane.
04:14That bullpen performance was just a disaster.
04:20Robolta, thank you.
04:21Everybody else, go sit in the other room.
04:23We're going to have a quick conversation.
04:26There's no, this is the downside.
04:29The couple people were, Twinty, I'm Ed, Fundy Danny, Grant's at Grant H. Paulson.
04:33Sort of the, you know, like, this is on Blake Butera,
04:36and they're kind of pretty upset, and I get that, kind of post this loss.
04:40The way I think of this one is this is the downside of playing to the spreadsheet,
04:46to your point, where you said it.
04:48It's like when you do the Manager Tron 3000 voice, where you're going,
04:54computer, it says, lefty approaching.
04:56Must summon lefty from bullpen.
04:57And you do that AI bit, you're stuck in it, because that was the plan.
05:01There's got to be some balance.
05:03And, you know, you lose a couple of these games.
05:05There are tons of these that happen.
05:06We lose, you know, an eight-run lead.
05:09But when you get burned a couple of times, maybe the computer ain't right every now
05:15and again.
05:15There is still some feel that's needed to manage a ball club.
05:18And I'm not ripping Blake Butera at all, because, again, look where they are.
05:21Look what's happened.
05:22Look at the improvements in a million different areas.
05:25But that's one of those where, God, I wish there was a little bit of feel there.
05:29You know what I mean?
05:29I'd probably rather have a lot of other options.
05:32And, again, this isn't, you know, the nasty boys of Cincinnati in 1990.
05:37Well, let me ask you this, because I think you're on to something that's interesting here
05:40as a talking point.
05:42Divvy this pie up.
05:44What percentage of that collapse, a 9-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning,
05:51turning into an 11-10 loss after 10 runs and two frames, what percentage do you put on Butera?
05:57And what percentage do you put on the pitchers themselves?
06:03This is a great philosophical question, because it's more than just, you know,
06:06the answer to the question, right?
06:07I mean, this is the, you know, if you're in the Chris Russell school of coaches don't matter at all,
06:11the players do everything.
06:12And if you're of a reasonable, you know, sound mind and body, you would say,
06:16well, maybe putting them in good spots probably helps them.
06:18Putting them in bad spots maybe hurts them.
06:19But specific to yesterday.
06:21Yeah, 50-50.
06:22Really?
06:23Yeah.
06:23Wow, okay.
06:24So I'm like 95% player, 5% Butera on this.
06:30When it's 9-1, you pitch whoever you want to pitch.
06:35You can put a position player in there, essentially.
06:37But at that point, Paxton Schultz is your mop-up guy.
06:40He gives up five runs.
06:42You're not just going to start running through your bullpen as he's struggling on a getaway day.
06:47So I had no problem with him in the seventh basically getting obliterated and being the guy that gave up
06:52the five.
06:53Then Meade goes out there, and he ends up hitting the home run.
06:56So it's a four-run lead.
06:57It's 10-6 going in to the bottom of the ninth, to the, well, even before that, the eighth inning,
07:03Robolta pitches.
07:04First time you can critique Butera is say, Robolta should have pitched the second inning and pitched the ninth.
07:09But, again, that is not how they normally do it.
07:12He has not been asked to be a two-inning reliever.
07:14It's not really the plan.
07:16I just think because they had the off day, you could have reasonably made the case.
07:19Running back out there, it was only 10 pitches.
07:21So if you want to put 5% there that he didn't stick with Robolta, even though that would be
07:25abnormal for a guy who hasn't done a lot of that, you could do that.
07:28So then Meade hits the top of the ninth homer, and it's a four-run game going to the bottom
07:31of the ninth.
07:32Varlin pitching in the bottom of the ninth is normal.
07:35You and I typically complement going to Gus Varlin.
07:37I don't even know how good he is, but I like his stones.
07:39I like that he kind of throws strikes, attacks.
07:44Generally, he's been pretty good attacking downhill.
07:46Absolutely.
07:46Lives in the strike zone.
07:47He did not have it yesterday.
07:48So the one time that I was frustrated, the one time that I didn't love what Blake Butera did, was
07:55when he went to get Parker.
07:57But at that time, Varlin had faced four batters.
07:59He had allowed all four batters to reach.
08:01All had reached.
08:02So you probably have to go to somebody else there at some point anyway.
08:05And the play is the lefty for the lefties.
08:08I believe the issue is not really Butera going to Parker.
08:12It's the plan before the game started.
08:14When you are doing this bit where you're opening with Richard Lovelady, one of your lefties, and so he's thrown
08:19consecutive days and can't only throw a third straight day.
08:22He's only going to face one batter yesterday.
08:24Or from yesterday's yesterday.
08:25So two days ago, right?
08:26But my point is, you're probably trying to stay away from him.
08:29Yeah.
08:29Right?
08:29So the lefty to get the lefties and leverage at the end of the game is Parker.
08:33He's the only other lefty you got.
08:34Alvarez has become a starter.
08:35Had just started.
08:36He's down.
08:37Lovelady, you're probably trying to avoid, is essentially down.
08:41The plan is wrong.
08:42If you're going to do this have-to-get-lefty-for-lefty thing, then you need another lefty.
08:48I don't care if you call up P.J. Poulin.
08:49I don't care if you claim someone off waivers.
08:51Mitchell Parker is a multi-inning, kind of the Paxton Schultz guy from yesterday, honestly.
08:57Now, it's on the left side, not the right side.
08:58But he is your, it's a 9-1 game, let's let him go pitch to two and a third, whatever
09:03it is.
09:04Right?
09:05He is not a guy to come into the game to slam the door, to get the big out, to
09:09pitch in high leverage.
09:10They're acting like he is, but I just think it's because of the personnel that they don't have.
09:14So that brings us then to the philosophical question of, well, why don't they?
09:19And that comes back to, they didn't try to build a 100-win roster.
09:22You know, we're all watching this game yesterday because they have a chance to get to 3 over 500,
09:27and they're in the wild card spot, and we're living and dying with every pitch.
09:30But the fact is, Paul Tapponi put together a roster in a rebuild where he's like,
09:35eh, maybe we'll win 78 games.
09:37And you had your 78-win bullpen blowing up yesterday.
09:40You see what I'm saying?
09:40I do see what you're saying.
09:41It's a good point.
09:42It's a good counter.
09:42In the moment, and it doesn't make it less painful, I was livid.
09:45I lost sleep over this.
09:46I was furious last night.
09:48I was apoplectic in the moment.
09:50I almost broke my phone.
09:51I was at my kid's little league game when the ball flew over the wall,
09:55and Dave Jagler was like, professionally, like, what a moment for Bryce Eldridge, the Virginia boy.
10:01I wanted to slam my phone so hard against the concrete wall three feet from me,
10:06and all these little league kids would have looked at me, and I'd been like, sorry, kids.
10:11Do as I say, not as I do.
10:13Right.
10:14Don't look at me.
10:15Daddy lost his temper there, son.
10:16But having said that, when you take the step back, you go, we're in over our skis a little bit
10:23here.
10:23We're starting to have the juice of, like, every inning matters, every game matters.
10:28We're looking at the wild card.
10:30I'm looking at the Padres score yesterday, like, are the Nats going to keep the wild card spot?
10:34I need to just smack myself in the face and wake up and be like,
10:38Take it easy on yourself, Grant.
10:40Wait a second.
10:41What are you doing here?
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