00:00You know who could have helped the Mets avoid being swept at home this weekend against Boston?
00:05Oh, I don't know.
00:07Zach Wheeler, the guy that let walk after a strong first five seasons back in 2019.
00:15Listen, that's many general managers ago, many owners ago.
00:22That's the Wilpons, obviously.
00:23But Zach Wheeler should have been an all-star this year.
00:26I don't think that there is any question about that, that he should have been an all-star.
00:32You look at Zach Wheeler, you look at what he did, what he did against Detroit.
00:36Honestly, this was an incredible, brilliant, breathtaking performance.
00:40Six dominant innings, ten strikeouts, zero earned runs.
00:44This is also known as the usual here when it comes to Zach Wheeler.
00:51Listen, Zach Wheeler, we talked about this last week, should have made the all-star team, right?
00:56And I didn't get too worked up about it, his snub, because you always have starting pitchers who can't pitch
01:04in the all-star game.
01:05And then they find a way to make the team based upon substitutions and guys pitch on a Sunday, can't
01:14pitch in the game on a Tuesday.
01:16But Wheeler, surprised everyone this weekend, told reporters at the end of the day that he was not going to
01:25go and join the National League in Philadelphia.
01:30He had this to say, I'm not going to be the fifth option.
01:35They disrespected me.
01:36So I'm not going to participate in that thing.
01:38Once I feel like they kind of messed that up, I'm out.
01:41Guys do take a lot of pride in having the all-star next to your name.
01:44But for someone to take that away from me, it doesn't sit the best.
01:52So I have a problem because I love Zach Wheeler.
01:58I think Zach Wheeler is the most underappreciated star in Major League Baseball.
02:05And if I was advising Zach Wheeler, what I would have said to him, screw everybody, the haters, the critics,
02:14the social media warriors, the Twitter tough guys, the Wilpon family, the Mets, anyone who didn't vote for you for
02:22the all-star game or Cy Young for all those years.
02:26Zach Wheeler has been disrespected by everyone in Major League Baseball.
02:32Look at Zach Wheeler's numbers since he left the Mets.
02:36And I beg the Mets to re-sign him after that 2019 season.
02:41Zach Wheeler, since he joined the Philadelphia Phillies, has pitched at a Hall of Fame level.
02:48Crazy?
02:49I don't think so.
02:50Look at this board.
02:51Look at the wins.
02:53Look at the ERA.
02:55Look at this ridiculous strikeout-to-walk ratio.
03:00He has finished top 10 of the Cy Young four times.
03:05Zach Wheeler is a star, not to mention the fact this year he's 10-1, and he did an unbelievable
03:12job, as we mentioned yesterday, with the six scoreless innings and the 10 strikeouts, meaning he now has 108 strikeouts
03:18on the season.
03:19A 2-14 ERA in 15 starts.
03:2415 starts this year, coming off of that thoracic surgery.
03:29I think Zach Wheeler is absolutely, positively phenomenal.
03:34Like, when you start talking about the handful of best pitchers in baseball, Zach Wheeler is on that list.
03:41When we picked Philadelphia before the season started to be the second-best team in baseball, the second-best team
03:47in the National League behind the Dodgers, Zach Wheeler was the main reason why.
03:51So, when you start thinking about historical weight, making the All-Star team matters.
03:58Because if you have All-Star next to your name and another All-Star appearance, no one's going to remember
04:04if you were a sub, if you're Zach Wheeler, because you have all those great numbers attached to you later
04:09on.
04:10I also think he missed it, that Tuesday night was going to be his time to shine, because he's in
04:18Philly, and everyone will be talking about him.
04:21And you tip the cap, and the fans in Philly, who are amazing, they go nuts.
04:26And he gets a thunderous ovation, and John Smoltz is doing the game on Fox, and he's breaking down, and
04:32I've heard Smoltz talk about Wheeler before,
04:34breaking down what makes Zach Wheeler elite, and everyone's focused, I don't know, there's no other sports on, on Tuesday
04:42night, in the Midsummer Classic.
04:45Everyone's locked in on Zach Wheeler.
04:47Look, Christopher Sanchez is starting the All-Star game.
04:49He's obviously a Philadelphia Philly, and he deserves it.
04:52I would give him the Cy Young.
04:54So I always feel like for Wheeler, you're fighting like an uphill battle in terms of getting that attention.
05:00Look, you start playing word association of stars on the Phillies, it's Bryce Harper, it's Kyle Schwarber, they're going to
05:07be in the Home Run Derby tonight.
05:08Sanchez is starting the All-Star game.
05:11Zach Wheeler deserves to be in that category, or at the top of it.
05:16I wish he would have reconsidered it.
05:20It was garbage, it was insulting, it was pathetic, it was embarrassing, the process sucks, everything about it.
05:28Wheeler should have been on the All-Star team instantly, originally.
05:33Anyone with a brain who follows baseball knows that and understands it.
05:37But Zach Wheeler had a golden opportunity to control the narrative for himself, and he missed that.
05:45Listen, Mets fans see Zach Wheeler and they shake their head.
05:51Philly fans nod their head knowing that they have something unbelievable on the mound every fifth day.
05:57Zach Wheeler deserves all the attention and credit.
06:00This is not one of those where you ever say, man, good for him.
06:04He showed everybody.
06:06I love Zach Wheeler.
06:07I constantly defend Zach Wheeler in the court of public opinion as a true star.
06:12He's so disrespected.
06:14He should have seized that moment and instantly had the ability to be on the All-Star team to go
06:22out and kick ass and take names
06:24and let everyone know Zach Wheeler is the man.
06:29You know who else is not going to be pitching in the All-Star game on Tuesday?
06:33Cam Schlittler.
06:36The staff's had a lot of injuries this year, you know, so between Garrett and Max and now Carlos, just
06:42don't want to put that risk in there of just, you know,
06:45kind of letting the team down.
06:46And if I were to not recover the right way and I'm dragging a little bit, then, you know, that
06:50wouldn't benefit anyone.
06:51But, again, I'm on the roster, and if they need me, then, you know, I'll throw.
06:54So, that's a conversation I'll have within the next day or two.
06:58When you made the decision, did you know that Cease was going to be a starter, or did you know
07:03that after?
07:05I found that out after.
07:07Yeah, I walked in today.
07:09You know, I had a conversation with Booney, and I thought about it.
07:11I think he was confident that I wanted to throw in it, and that kind of was a game plan.
07:15But, yeah, just kind of leaned, you know, away from it.
07:19But, yeah, congrats to Dylan.
07:21I mean, he's been great this year.
07:22He deserves that.
07:23So, yeah, that's really it.
07:26Yeah, that decision had nothing to do with my decision.
07:29Cam Schlittler is going to join the festivities, but he's unlikely to pitch.
07:34And Blue Jays and All-Star manager John Schneider told reporters that he's going to be starting his guy, Dylan
07:42Cease,
07:43regardless of Schlittler's decision.
07:45Well, the process needs to cease and desist.
07:49Cam Schlittler should have absolutely been named the All-Star starter.
07:53I don't think that there's any question about that.
07:57Dylan Cease, who's been on Blue Jays for a hot second,
07:59he'd be the first one to tell you that the best pitcher in the American League this year,
08:03the Cy Young favorite in Vegas, is Cam Schlittler.
08:06So, this whole process is screwed.
08:09It's wrong.
08:10And as a Yankee fan, I'm kind of thrilled because, I mean, first of all, look at the numbers.
08:19There is no debate who has had the better season.
08:23By every measuring stick, including strikeout-to-walk ratio, Cam Schlittler is ahead of Dylan Cease.
08:32There's no argument.
08:34As a Yankee fan, I'm thrilled because Cam Schlittler uses anything and everything as real motivation, fake motivation.
08:43Remember, he told Meredith Marakovich from the Yes Network, who played the clip on Shine Time,
08:47that he was done with the haters, and people said he was done after one bad start?
08:52No one with a microphone said it.
08:55He's reading the Instagram replies!
08:58So, if that's going to motivate him, you think that John Schneider, the Blue Jays manager in the division,
09:04they beat him in the playoffs last year, Blue Jays beat the Yankees in the playoffs last year,
09:08you think that's not going to motivate Cam Schlittler to be even better, more dominant than he was?
09:12And please, Dylan Cease, and this is why, by the way, you always manage a team based upon
09:19who was in the World Series the year before.
09:21I mean, this guy right here is last place manager!
09:24A last place manager!
09:26I mean, if Don Mattingly, if they mess this up with the Philadelphia Phillies
09:30and don't give Donnie baseball the long-term deal, which they should in Philadelphia,
09:35bring Donnie back to manage the Toronto Blue Jays.
09:38Get John Schneider the hell out of here.
09:40I mean, please, I mean, if he says, if he's the nerve, the chutzpah, the audacity to say
09:46that Dylan Cease would have started anyway, please, that is awful, embarrassing, pathetic, amateur hour.
09:54That means the entire system needs an overhaul.
09:59And really, and I always defend Dylan Cease.
10:02Love them with the Padres, love them in Chicago, love how he eats innings.
10:06I'm a bit, it's 200 strikeouts every single season.
10:10I love Dylan Cease.
10:13This is not even a fair competition.
10:15And if Schlittler was going to pitch in the All-Star game, you know what America wants to see?
10:20Cam Schlittler.
10:21The young stud ace for the New York Yankees.
10:24Not someone who's won a handful of games for the last place team in Toronto.
10:31Amateur hour.
10:32But I just love that Cam Schlittler is going to use that as motivation.
10:35Yankees end the first half on a four-game winning streak.
10:39They sweep the Washington Nationals this weekend.
10:43You know, the games were weird.
10:44The results were awesome.
10:46Yankees able, from the eighth inning and beyond, to come back in all three games.
10:50Friday night, Jazz Chisholm, the hero.
10:52Saturday, it was Trent Grisham.
10:55Sunday, Ben Rice.
10:56Not going to sit here and go nuts.
10:59Not going to sit here.
10:59It's better to win than lose, right?
11:01Not to go all yogi on you.
11:03But I'm not going to tell you the Yankees are back.
11:05Yankees have found it.
11:06Beats the alternative in terms of going into the All-Star break on a down note.
11:11But I just love that Cam Schlittler is going to be so damn fired up by this.
11:17This is an insult.
11:19And he's going to take it as such.
11:21And I think that Cam Schlittler is going to come out of the second half
11:25and kick ass and take names.
11:27And be reminded every single day of the blatant, over-the-top, nonsensical disrespect
11:36that John Schneider showed him by saying Dylan Cease would have started the All-Star game.
11:40No matter what.
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