00:00Uh, Todd Derry joins us right now.
00:02He's Derry Brothers Guardians cast host in the Wise Heart Right.
00:05We Make It Right called Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:06Hello, Todd!
00:08Morning, boys. How we doing?
00:11Still doing well. Still doing well.
00:14Is there blame to go around to certain people in the loss in Game 2?
00:21Because I said, well, yeah, you could try to throw some blame around.
00:25If you're angry, fine.
00:26But, hey, we were excited about everybody after Game 1.
00:30Shouldn't we still be confident in everybody after Game 2?
00:33I don't know if we should be playing the blame game right now.
00:36No, I mean, games like this are going to happen in October.
00:40I mean, yes. Is it a shame that Jose Ramirez made that error? Yes.
00:43However, you could also say, well, if Parker Messick bears down and gets the next out,
00:49it's a 1-0 game instead of a 3-0 game, and that changes the trajectory of everything.
00:56I'm not going to play the blame game, although I will blame the turf.
01:00I really cannot stand that stadium.
01:02I mean, just go to that fourth inning, and that fourth inning basically was the story of the, you know,
01:09monstrosity that is Tropicana Field right there.
01:14Why do we have a stadium like this in Major League Baseball where, Bob, think about it.
01:20Think about it, Todd.
01:21It is a joke.
01:22And, yes, it is the fun part of baseball that all these places are different, that we make fun of
01:25Fenway for certain reasons.
01:27We make fun of Yankee Stadium for certain reasons.
01:29I like that the seats face a different way, and you have to turn to look down the first baseline.
01:34Sorry, go ahead.
01:35Yeah, at Fenway.
01:36Yeah, when you sit in the outfield at Fenway, you're staring at the center fielder.
01:39You're freaking your neck, you know.
01:40It's going to get whiplash if they start hitting balls all over the place.
01:43But the fact that balls that are hit on the ground, we rip on at Tropicana.
01:49Balls that get hit in the air, we rip on at Tropicana.
01:52There's no in-between.
01:54Well, if that city ever had gotten its act together and the fans cared enough,
01:59they would have had a stadium built years and years ago.
02:02They have had this stadium on the ballot about ten times, and they finally passed it.
02:07The new stadium's going to be great there.
02:09They're building it in Tampa, away from St. Pete.
02:13Not that this is Tampa Bay Rays baseball.
02:16No, but Todd, did you hear?
02:17They're bringing this exact same turf to commemorate that stadium and the same lighting situation.
02:22Lovely.
02:23Awesome.
02:26I don't know.
02:27Anyway, I do think, though, honestly, both teams are playing there.
02:30However, they have a major advantage at home because they're used to playing.
02:33But again, that fourth inning showed you everything.
02:36It was the second Chandler Simpson pounded that ball into the ground.
02:42I was with my friend Jeremy, and when that happened, he pounded it in the ground and went straight up.
02:46I was like, he's safe.
02:47I knew it because that's Chandler Simpson's entire game, pounding the ball into the ground and beating on infield hits.
02:53But that's what they do.
02:55They, oh, first of all, shouts to Owen, who was on our podcast, the Derry Brothers Guardian's cast last night,
03:00burning the midnight oil with me.
03:02I respect it.
03:03Thank you, Owen, for coming on.
03:04But Owen brought up, you know, a very good point when it comes to, you know, both teams have to
03:10play.
03:11We are playing with house money.
03:13So am I that upset about the loss last night?
03:18Not really.
03:19I didn't like the sloppy nature because, to Owen's point, they in Tampa, the way they play baseball is very
03:28guards ball-esque.
03:29But they do fit the little things that we do.
03:32They just had done it better all season.
03:34And they have Junior Camadero, and we don't.
03:38So that's a big difference there, too.
03:41Todd Derry joining us on the show.
03:44There will be a time that Parker Messick has to pitch without Austin Hedges.
03:48There's just an age difference there.
03:50Do you believe that that time should be later on in this postseason?
03:54Are you as agitated with Austin Hedges as some of the other fans are?
03:59I'm not.
04:00And here's why.
04:02You can't ask what you can.
04:04But to ask a guy who has been at a personal catcher all year long.
04:09Now, Greg Maddox used to use – Javi Lopez was starting catcher for the Braves in the 90s.
04:17And he was an all-star catcher, and he hit like 35 homers, and he was an offensive machine.
04:23But Eddie Perez was the backup catcher.
04:26And every single time that Maddox pitched, he used a personal catcher.
04:31This is Greg friggin' Maddox we're talking about here.
04:33So, no, it does not bother me.
04:35And all of a sudden, by the way, I think the Patrick Bailey trade was great.
04:40He is super hot.
04:41But let's not forget that – how many percentage of his fan base was like, why does he play so
04:47much?
04:48Why isn't Hedgy playing more?
04:50I have no problem with it.
04:51If that's what your stud wants, go with it.
04:54Let's be honest.
04:55If Jose makes that play at third base and it's still a 0-0 game, is anyone talking about why
05:01was Hedgy catching and not Patrick Bailey?
05:04No.
05:04You score one run, you're not going to win a lot of games.
05:07Does Patrick Bailey feel slighted?
05:09Would you feel slighted that Parker Messick has his own personal catcher and it's not Patrick Bailey?
05:14No, not at all.
05:16Okay.
05:17These guys are such pros.
05:19He and Hedges are so close.
05:21I'm sure there are players out there that would get aggravated by this stuff, but not Patrick Bailey.
05:25Oh, really?
05:26I was being sarcastic, to be honest with you.
05:28Oh.
05:29Totally.
05:30I'm sorry, Todd.
05:31I know it's early and I know you had a late night, but I'm like, oh, I'm just making a
05:33game.
05:34It's all good.
05:35I do have a kind of a new question that's a new part of baseball that we've never been faced
05:41with before that have developed with the ABS system, which is, do you in a playoff setting go after players
05:48for not challenging or for challenging incorrectly?
05:51Is that something that now you file away in your mind as a reason to go after a player?
05:57I mean, I don't know if it's a reason to go after a player, but just go back to the
06:02last series.
06:03In Chicago, I believe it was game three, Kyle Teal used back-to-back challenges for the White Sox and
06:09they were out of challenges in the third inning.
06:11And they were bad.
06:12They were bad.
06:13They were bad.
06:13You knew them from the get-go.
06:15I mean, I believe we're talking about the 2-2 pitch that Hedges did not challenge.
06:21That would have been strike three.
06:22That would have been strike three.
06:23But again, it's the fourth inning.
06:25I think that, I mean, listen, I don't know this for a fact, but you can just tell by watching,
06:31other than the Kyle Teal debacle,
06:33the Guardians seem to be holding their challenges to later in the game way more so than they did during
06:39the regular season.
06:40You know me, I watch every pitch.
06:41There were plenty, I remember a game in, I believe it was July or August, Travis Pazano used two challenges
06:48in the first inning, and we were out.
06:51And there's no way you're doing that in October.
06:55You don't even think about it.
06:56I think it's a completely different, there's higher stakes, so I don't think you're using your challenges the way that
07:04you would in the regular season.
07:05I wouldn't go after a player over something like that, no, because you never know what's going to happen the
07:12next pitch.
07:13What do we need from Gavin Williams tomorrow night?
07:18Well, can Gavin Williams from Game 5 show up and give us that exact same thing?
07:23This is the thing, and Lyme, I heard you mention this in the last segment.
07:28To me, the top three guys in that lineup, Yanni Diaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Camonero, you get past that,
07:36and who really scares you?
07:38They hit Ryan Valade cleanup in Game 1 and Victor Mesa Jr. in Game 2.
07:45I know these are nice players and it's nice stories, but are we really that scared of that lineup?
07:51You get to the bottom, Ben Williamson and Taylor Walls are, you know, they're like shortstop and second baseman from
07:59the 80s who used to hit 230 and, you know, not a lot of pop.
08:03That lineup does not scare me all that much, but what they do with the bunting and moving runners and
08:10doing the little things, that's the difference.
08:12To me, you got to keep Gavin's, Gavin's a strikeout guy, so his pitch count is going to be higher.
08:19They're going to battle. They don't strike out the way they do.
08:23The important thing for Gavin is to keep those top three off base and particularly keep Camonero in the ballpark.
08:29I think that's what's most important.
08:31All right, now we are looking at a best of five, but we get more, you know, home games the
08:38rest of the way.
08:39Well, potentially, hopefully we can close things out. It'd be great.
08:42But as you look at this, what are the pros? What are the cons to the rest of this series?
08:47Who do you think truly has the edge? What team do you think really emerges here in the next few
08:54games?
08:55Well, if we learned anything about the last series is that home field advantage is not all that important.
09:01I've been watching, listen, I'm 50 years old and I've been watching baseball my entire life.
09:06I think in baseball, of all sports, home field advantage probably means the least.
09:11I mean, it's great when you have a great home field advantage, but the Guardians were a much better team
09:16on the road than they were at home this season.
09:18I mean, they, if you include the playoffs, I believe now they are, last night was their first loss.
09:24They're eight games over 500 on the road and they're two games over 500 at home.
09:30It's, you know, when you play at home in these playoff games and it's the finding tickets for people and
09:34your family's in town, it's a different set of nerves, I think.
09:38I think guys get a little over amped, especially pitchers sometimes.
09:42I actually, to be quite honest with you, and I know my brother agrees with this, I prefer being on
09:47the road because it's the us against the world mentality.
09:51Steven Vogt said it after, I believe it was game three, you know, there's nothing better than, you know, making
10:0040,000 fans go crazy, except for shutting up 40,000 fans on the road.
10:06So, I honestly think that there is no advantage there.
10:12I don't expect that the Guardians are going to win three in a row against Tampa at home.
10:17They were the best team in the American League.
10:19They did win the AL East, which was by far the best division in the American League, and by a
10:26lot over the Yankees and the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, three of the biggest market payrolls in baseball.
10:34So, at the beginning, I was concerned that this series wouldn't reach, you know, go back to Tampa, but at
10:41least I know we got three home games.
10:44I would like our chances, but I do see, if I'm making a prediction here, they go back to Tampa
10:50up 3-2.
10:52Does your bar for success change with every game that they win in the ALCS?
10:58I mean, for like this season?
11:01No, because they made it to the ALCS.
11:03So, it's already a successful season?
11:05Yes, if they were to lose here, I, listen, you tip your cap, Tampa was the best team in the
11:12American League for a reason, and that's that.
11:15But, with that said, guys, we've got to get to the World Series.
11:20I mean, when you're this close, you've got to get there.
11:23I remember in 26, go back to 97.
11:27In 95 and 97, they made it two times in three years, and we thought, well, we'll get back.
11:33It won't be a problem.
11:34And then they went from, you know, 1997 to 2016 before they made an appearance again.
11:41So, you know, in 07, you were right there up 3-1, and when you have these opportunities,
11:47these opportunities don't come around every year, especially in baseball and the 162-game grind,
11:55when you have these opportunities, you've got to take advantage of them.
11:58What specifically would you like to see lineup-wise for this team in Game 3 as the series shifts?
12:07I think this is a leading question of, will I take Brian Rocchio out of the lineup?
12:11That's what he's leading you to.
12:13That's what he's leading you to.
12:14Do you have the guts to say it?
12:16Do you have the guts to say it?
12:18Because I'm going to be very upset with you if you do.
12:21I will not take Brian Rocchio out.
12:23Do you want Angel Hannau, who's a free swinger, who's going to swing it, you know,
12:27who is Angel Martinez 2.0 at this point?
12:30You're going to send a...
12:31No, no, no, no, no, no.
12:33Hold on.
12:33No, no, no, no, no.
12:34Don't get me wrong.
12:35I think Angel Hannau is a hell of a player, and he is in the future plans of this team.
12:40But right now, am I sending him up instead of Rocchio?
12:43I am not.
12:44I like having him come off the bench as a potential defensive replacement for Bazzana late in games.
12:51He's a switch hitter.
12:52You may need him.
12:54Brian Rocchio, at times this season, carried this offense, and arguably your most clutch player in September.
13:01How many times have we talked about October Rocchio and Roktober, and the guy had three walk-offs in September.
13:07Remember, I am riding with Brian Rocchio the rest of the way.
13:11Now is not the time for rash change.
13:13It was one thing with Angel Martinez, who was 0 for his last 24, and swinging it at pitches on
13:21his shoe tops and his eyeballs.
13:23And defensively, it's a major upgrade with Petey Halpin.
13:26I understand that.
13:27This move, I'm keeping Rocchio where he is.
13:29Todd, thank you very much for the time.
13:31He is one half of the Derry Brothers Guardians cast.
13:34You can find it on the free Odyssey app.
13:35Todd, you take care now, friend.
13:37Anything for you guys.
13:39Todd Derry, Derry Brothers Guardians cast.
13:41One half of it with his brother, Matt.
13:42On the Wise Heart Right, we make it right.
13:44Call Kyle, right?
