00:00Now, National League Central's got another very interesting two teams
00:04going to battle here this weekend, Tom,
00:06with the Pirates and the Cubs getting ready here at 640.
00:11That'll be the next game on the board.
00:13You got Matthew Boyd taking on Jared Jones.
00:16And Jared Jones, by the way, he's been phenomenal.
00:20I don't know what all of a sudden was in the water for him,
00:23but, I mean, he's been on some sort of heater here.
00:26Six shutout, no-hit innings, I believe, against the Braves.
00:30He had eight Ks back on July 8th.
00:33And then he comes out of the break.
00:35He goes up against the Guardians.
00:37One-run ball, nine strikeouts there.
00:40He's been really, really good.
00:42But you know what?
00:43Matthew Boyd's been pretty good for the Cubs, too.
00:45The question is, which one of these lineups do you trust more,
00:50the Cubs or the Pirates right now?
00:53You know, frankly, I don't know how many times I've said this,
00:57but I think it's the Cubs just because they're riding hot right now.
01:00And the Cubs are just an immensely streaky team.
01:03They're a road closer.
01:05If they're at the peak, you can look to back them.
01:06So over the last few days, you know, they lost 5-1 to Detroit.
01:10They won 11-2.
01:11They lost 8-6.
01:13They beat the Twins 10-1.
01:14And they beat the Twins 6-2.
01:16So they're scoring runs right now.
01:18Like they are in the good part of the streak,
01:20where they're actually scoring on offense.
01:22So I actually like a first 5-under in this game
01:25because the pitchers have been pretty darn good.
01:27Jared Jones, coming back from injury,
01:29he really needs to emerge as this, as I continuously say about him,
01:33he needs to be the Robin alongside Pat Skeens being Batman.
01:36They need a true number 2 behind Skeens if the Pirates truly want to compete.
01:41This is the prospect that he was supposed to be after all the injuries.
01:44I like what we're seeing from Jared Jones.
01:47Boyd's been serviceable.
01:48I'm not going to say he's been great,
01:49but he's been good at least recently.
01:51And the Pirates are still not an offense that I trust.
01:53So unders to start, but I think the game's a toss-up overall.
01:57Good point.
01:58And by the way, I mean, both teams were off yesterday.
02:00Both bullpens are rested.
02:03Cubs have been much better against lefties as of late than righties here.
02:09And the Pirates, I mean, kudos to them.
02:11Actually, I mean, over the last month, Tom, they've been really good against lefties.
02:15And they got a lot of left-handed bats that are, you know, hurt right now.
02:21So some of the guys that have stepped in to replace them,
02:24they've been hitting them pretty well here.
02:26But I tend, I'm with you here.
02:28I think fewer runs, although, you know, we talked yesterday on the show.
02:33I'm just, I am not sold on the Pirates making this big push down the stretch.
02:39I think it would be great to have Paul Skeens pitch in the postseason.
02:43Do you give him a puncher's chance with all this mediocrity in baseball being played?
02:49I think so.
02:50There was actually a report earlier today that this is the plan for the Pirates' deadline.
02:56This is just per Colin Baisley, one of the Pirates' reporters.
03:00Ideal Cannon is a right-handed relief pitcher.
03:05They also want to pursue another starting pitcher or right-handed bat.
03:08And they're willing to deal from their major league position player depth.
03:11And they haven't had conversations about trading O'Neal Cruz and aren't motivated to do so.
03:16So at least they're forming a plan, which is a spot that the Pirates really haven't been in.
03:22They need pitching help.
03:23And if they can get healthy with some of their hitters,
03:26then I think they'll be good enough at the plate.
03:28Not amazing, but I would address the pitching help first.
03:31So I think they'll make a push.
03:32I don't know if it'll actually come to fruition, if they can get a deal that they like.
03:36But I think they'll at least try.
03:39I think it would be great.
03:40I think it would be a step in the right direction to try and keep Skeens, too, as well.
03:45Although they never win any of his starts anyway.
03:47But it would be great, I think, if they could say, hey, you know what?
03:52One of the three wildcard teams making it into the postseason.
03:56And they lost a lot of guys here on Pittsburgh to injuries this year.
04:02The bullpen has been trash.
04:04And O'Neal Cruz, I don't know what to make of him.
04:07I think the guy's got all talent in the world.
04:08But it sounds like maybe the Pirates front office thinks, hey, if we can get a couple of back-end
04:14bullpen arms and make a run at this thing, it's either a home run or a strikeout for him anyway,
04:19no?
04:20It seems that way.
04:22And just given the dynamic of where the standings are right now for the NL wildcard, why not is the
04:29real question.
04:30Why not do it right now before some uncertainty happens with the CBA?
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