Fair Territory: Questions on Braves, Mets, Phillies, Reds & Red Sox

00:00:09
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo and Alana. I received a text this morning from a friend who posed the question which team is in greater trouble, the Mets or the Phillies. That will be the top of our show.

00:00:27
Speaker 2: Ken.

00:00:27
Speaker 1: The answer is yes, good answer, a lotta and we'll throw the Red Sox in there. We'll get to them as well later. Yeah, no doubt about it.

00:00:37
Speaker 3: Let's start with the fact though, that it is an interesting stite of affairs when the Mets have finally won a game, ending a twelve game losing streak with a three to two win over the Twins, but it doesn't come without a loss to Lindor. Ken more, can you tell us right?

00:00:53
Speaker 1: Lindor suffered a left calf train in this game, and the New York Post reporting this morning he's likely to go on the injured list. Not a surprise. He's getting an inh sorry, an MRI today. So with Soto, he missed about a couple of weeks with that calf strain he had. That was a right calf strain. That's what these things generally take. Sometimes they're worse than others. So we don't know yet exactly the severity of Lindor, but clearly, while they yes won last night, finally ending that losing streak, to lose Lindor would be a huge blow. Ronnie Mauricio, according to some reports, is coming up. They can move Bashett the shortstop, they can do some different things here. But Lindor. I know he has struggled, of course, but he's one of the centerpieces of this team, so to lose him would be a real problem. Now they're in the middle of a stretch. They're facing the Twins, the Nationals, the Rockies, and then after that the schedule remains somewhat easy. They need to get going here and no more excuses. No more oh it's early. No. They obviously are in quite a position, and they've had starting pitching issues. They've had all kinds of issues. So to answer my friend's question, which team do I believe is in greater trouble, I would say the Mets because the Phillies. To me, while they're having some severe offensive issues, their starting pitching is in better shape. They released Tyrone Walker this morning, and that was obviously a failed experiment, not an experiment, a seventy two million dollar free agent investment. But Zach Wheeler comes back Saturday, So you're looking at at that point a much different looking rotation, a better rotation, assuming Wheeler is something resembling the old Wheeler to start with. And I don't know that you can expect him to be the old Wheeler right away, but at some point at least the Phillies rotation should be somewhat more stable than the Mets. Is The question then, will be will this team hit? They currently rank twenty eight, The Phillies are twenty eighth in the majors in runs.

00:02:58
Speaker 3: Well, let's go back to the Mets for just a second, and we do have more to dive into when we talk about the Phillies. But Juan Soto and the Mets can now Wan Soto is on the IL obviously, so typically when you're on the IL, you do not travel with the team. You're not around the guys. Are we making too much about the fact that he said he didn't talk to his teammates while he was on the IL. Will Samon looks into it a little bit more A.

00:03:21
Speaker 1: Lot we me and you are not making too much of it because we read Will's article, and Will's article explains in detail why this is not repeat not a thing, and basically Will quoted three Mets anonymously they didn't want to talk on the record, basically saying this is not a big deal. When a guy is on the injured list, he's away from the team. Generally, the Mets were on the road and there isn't this daily communication pep talks from the injured guy. That doesn't happen. So while it sounded weird, and I'll admit when I first heard it it sounded a little jarring, the reality is that this is kind of standard operating PERCEPS. So it is not a big deal. And that was the point of Will's article, which was, by the way, very good because everyone was freaking out at the time. And our job at the Athletic and journalists everywhere is to provide context as well as news, of course, and in this case Will provided the context. End of story.

00:04:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is making too much out of something that's not even there, something that could quite possibly be there. Ken, and I'll ask you this for both the Mets and the Phillies managers, how in danger if at all? Mike Carlos Mendoza of the Mets and Rob Thompson of the Phillies be in terms of the hot seat, how hot is it?

00:04:39
Speaker 1: It's hot and Alon I wrote about this situation earlier this week. I listed Thompson, Mendoza, and Jospota of the Astros as guys who could be under scrutiny sooner rather than later. Now the Mets have this relatively easy stretch now. Tim Britton wrote about this in The Athletic the other day, saying ten days to make or break your season, and that's what this is. They need to get going now. Obviously, the injury to Lindor if he is out for any length of time, may get Carlos Mendoza some forgiveness. Actually, he deserves a lot of forgiveness. This isn't on him for the most part. But yes, if the Mets do not get it going, he will be in trouble. Same with the Phillies. Now, as with the Mets, the issues with the Phillies really stem from the front office. Dave Dombrowski, President Baseball Operations, essentially chose to run this team back, and that's understandable. They've got really good players. They brought back Schwarber, they brought back Real Muto. They did not address left field, and Otto Kemp was supposed to be part of a platoon there. He is now in the miners. And of course they just have not hit for whatever reason. And they've also had the bomb distraction, at least for Bohm with his family and all that he's going through with the lawsuit against his parents, almost certainly contributing to his struggles. Bryce and Scott has not played well. So beyond Turner, Harper and Schwarper, you look at their offense and it's WHOA, what is this? Where is this? Real Muto has done okay, but they've got a real problem there. Last night this told you all you need to know about the Phillies. They changed their lineup, put Schwarber in the leadoff spot for the first time since twenty four But more significantly, Felix Reyes, in his second major league game, batted cleanup for the Philadelphia Phillies. That tells you everything you need to know.

00:06:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, second major league game and he's batting cleanup for the Philadelphia Phills, as you mentioned. But you know what, the Mets and the Phillies can not the only team that is scuffling We're wondering what the heck is going on in the NL East. But the AL East is an interesting story, particularly with the Boston Red Sox. Now they've lost both of their games against the Yankees at home, They've scored just one run. They're entering the series finale with the Yanks today a nine to fifteen record. What is going on with the Red Sox?

00:07:00
Speaker 1: This one, to me, Alana is the least surprising of the three. And I'll tell you what we knew going into the season, or we expected going to the season. They were going to have offensive issues. They in my estimation, were putting way too much on Roman Anthony and they lacked punch in their lineup. Well, we've seen that play out. They're ranking last in the league in home runs, I believe, and it just hasn't worked offensively for them. And they've talked about run prevention and we're gonna pitch and as long as we pitch, we'll be fine. And that hasn't gone so well either. Crochetas struggled at times so far as inconsistent. Okay, all of that is happening, but to me, the pitching will stabilize. The pitching will be fine. It's the offense. And they have been in these two Yankee games, or two games against the Yankees, relatively uncompetitive, non competitive, and that to me is a glaring miscalculation of what this offense could have been. Remember, and I know Red Sox fans don't like Peyermid. Time and again, they had Devers, they replaced him with Bregman. They lost Bregman, and while Bregman is not a slugger per se, he had an outsized impact on that group because the young players look to him, and they really have not replaced what they lost with Devers in the first place. Wilson catreros, okay, but he's older. He's not going to hit thirty forty home runs. And this is where they are right now.

00:08:28
Speaker 3: All right, let's talk about some positives. The portion of the lead is powered by game changer. More on game changer in a moment. Lanta Braves can at the lead of Walt Weiss doing a lot better in the NL East, perhaps surprising many, surprising me. While the Mets and the Phillies have struggled, the Walt Weiss led Braves are thriving.

00:08:48
Speaker 1: Why is that they're thriving because their offense has been outstanding, that's one thing, and we thought that might happen. That seemed the reasonable expectation that their offense would better than it was last year when they had some injuries. They had some underperformance from Harris and Albie's in the first half. Especially, what we did not expect was their starting pitching to be as good as it was. And I talked about how I thought all along the Red Sox offense would be a problem. I also thought the Braves rotation would be a problem, and it hasn't been. Now. This week's been a little bit of a jumble. Ronaldo Lopez through only one inning. Tuesday, they bring up Diddy or front Days, who has a thirty nine pitch first inning. Yesterday last night, and then tonight they're going to have a major league debut from Jr. Richie. So they're a little bit of an unsettled state right now. But they have pitched really well and Weiss taking over. Brian Sticker has done an outstanding job. And I wrote about this at length yesterday. Talked to a number of people about him and just kind of who he is, and you see it here. His job has changed in Atlanta. He has gone from bench coach to manager, but his personal approach with players hasn't. I encourage people to read it because obviously it's more in depth that we can get into here. It's also a free link, so it's free for all to read. But he has had a positive impact on that team, and they just look right now as they've looked most years, except for last season when they were a bit of a mess. They look like a solid Atlanta Braves team and it's impressive to see based on where they were with their rotation. And we'll see how it all plays out. I don't know that they are comfortable with where they are in their rotation yet, but so far, so good. Yeah.

00:10:36
Speaker 3: Fifty or better in terms of a run differential, thirty or more home runs, two hundred or more pitching strikeouts, zero blown saves. In Major League Baseball history, only one team has had the following numbers over the first twenty five games. Ken, you wrote about it, the twenty twenty six Atlanta Braves. Well the lead is powered by Game Changer, the number one youth sports app that helps you coach smarter, connect live and replay the action. Learn more at GC dot com. Get those questions in. We'll be back with grillin Ken right after this.

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00:12:11
Speaker 3: All right, time out for Grill and Ken. Don't forget to get your questions in. For Ken, not often do you get an opportunity to ask him a question directly. We're going to start with the Cincinnati Reds. Can We've talked a lot about some other teams, but we want to make sure that Cincinnati is covered. So the first question here on Grill and Can if if I can pull it up here, It's not up on our screen, and so I'll find it from our chat. Hold on, Sorry, guys, let's talk about the Reds. There there's not a question that's that's my bad. So are we making a bigger deal of the Reds? Are we not making a big deal out of them? Should we be making a bigger deal out of the Reds? What have you seen so far? You know, a quarter of the way into this season.

00:12:52
Speaker 1: Well, I didn't mention Monday talking about some hot teams and received a verbal assault in the comments section. Kidding, But at the same time, they have played really well. And let's give credit to the NL Central in general. This division has been the best division in baseball so far. The Cub's eight game winning streak, want to mention it. It's built on the backs of the Phillies and the Mets, So we want to see them against better opponents. I say that kind of facetiously. But Reds are an interesting story because they have not hit. They've got Ellie Dela Cruz, They've got Sal Stewart, and the rest of it isn't all that much from an offensive standpoint. Their rotation is missing Hunter Green and Nic Lodolo, two of their best starters. And yet they have built this very strong start to their season, and they've done it with a surprising aspect of their team, the bullpen. I didn't know or didn't expect their bullpen would be this good, but knock on wood. So far it has been particularly at the back end with Tony Santhion, Amelia Pagan, Graham Ashcraft not in that order. They have looked pretty good and they've got a great manager and Terry Francona. So I expect the Reds to be in the thick of it in the annual Central and I expect the Pirates to be in the thick of it. It's a really good division right now. The Cardinals two have been a surprise, but good for Cincinnati getting off to a start like this. Let's not forget they made the playoffs last year again with help from the.

00:14:18
Speaker 3: Mets Zez Reviews. Has a question for you, mister Rosenthal, what is more likely to happen the Boston Red Sox making the playoffs after this disastrous start, or the Red Sox firing either Alex Cora or Craig Breslo if the team continues to spiral. We talked about perhaps Mendoza and Thompson on the hot seat, but his Cora.

00:14:42
Speaker 1: Cora is in the second year of a three year, twenty one point seventy five million dollar contract that alone gives him some security. He would be owed, I don't know what ten million or so if they fired him right now, and they gave him that contract because they believe in him, so I don't expec him to be on the same kind of hot seat now. The question was, what is the greater likelihood of them making the playoffs or one of these guys Breslow or Core getting fired. They can make the playoffs. The American League is not all that strong, as we've seen. So if they get their pitching together, find some offense, and they're gonna need to add at some point, it would seem to me then the playoffs are not necessarily unrealistic. If they don't, We've seen Red Sox ownership before, what do they do? They look for scapegoats, and certainly Breslow in this particular season is, if not on the hot seat, certainly it's time for them under him to take a step forward in the playoffs. Last year that was good, but now they've taken at least to start the season a step back. So there's going to be heat there if this team indeed figures to sputter the rest of the way. Yeah.

00:15:52
Speaker 3: More on the Red Sox and dumb moves coming up later in Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Wicked Better has a question for you, Ken, do you feel like the d Backs will be able to continue to play the way they have to this point? Any early concerns going into today? They are third in the division and have a fourteen and ten record. Are you buying the d Backs?

00:16:12
Speaker 1: I'm buying them because I believe they're going to get better as the season progresses. They're going to get players coming off the injured list. That should help them Lord Escuriel Junior from the position side. Then on the pitching side, they're waiting on aj Puck, They're waiting on Justin Martinez, and they're waiting on Corbyn Burns. Now, injured players might not come back in the same form that we left them at before they got injured, but the Diamondbacks have the chance, as I just detailed there, to improve their pitching as the season goes along. So far, what I have liked is the sheer spunk that they've shown and getting contributions from guys like Vargas, from Jose Fernandez unexpected sources. They have done a great job in that regard, and they they've got some really good players at the top of their food chain too. Corbyn Carol and Coutel Marte and Heraldo Perdomo are three of the better players in the game. So yes, I like them. Do I like them to win the Division over the Dodgers or even the Padres. Probably not, But I don't rule them out for a playoff spot because there is a lot there.

00:17:20
Speaker 3: Dodgers scuffling a little bit, a bit of an early season gut check for them. Ken Right now, the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers are tied for the top spot in the NL West. They're sitting at sixteen and eight is six sixty seven winning percentage. So right now the Padres are a top of the division if you you know technicality technically, if you will, are we buying the sixteen and eight Padres and what makes them different than the sixteen and eight Dodgers.

00:17:46
Speaker 1: I'm buying the Padres to an extent. And like the Braves, they enter the season with big time questions in their rotation. They still have those questions. Paveta is out, Darvish isn't coming back, Musgrove is still out. They've taken a lot of hits to their rotation. Now. They signed Lucas Giolito yesterday. He won't be part of their group probably for another month or so as he builds up, so that has been a question. But they have this unbelievable bullpen, of course, led by Mason Miller. They have an offense that at times has struggled, but with Loreano and others doing some things, they've looked pretty good. And of course they've got Machado and Tatis and all of the big names. What I like about them is that they seem to find a way. They almost remind me I was thinking about this this morning of Milwaukee. Now, Milwaukee's a much different kind of team, much lower payroll. They're more of a scrappy, overachieving unit every single year. The Padres aren't that, but they play better than we expect in the regular season, at least quite often, and that's what we're seeing so far. There's a lot there and I don't know if they can overtake the Dodgers, But at the same time, they've played really well amid difficult circumstances and again have shown to be competitive. And we know at the deadline perhaps excuse me, perhaps with new ownership coming in with more financial flexibility, aj Preller is going to fire. So they're an interesting team to watch for sure.

00:19:21
Speaker 3: Absolutely it's better when there's competition in the division anyway, all right, coming up, we have Dude and Dork of the Week after a few words from our friends at.

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00:20:48
Speaker 1: Dude, dude, dude.

00:20:55
Speaker 3: All right, it's time to give a person or an organization some props. I will go first on this one. My dude of the week Ken is Jake Mangum. I always have a difficult time saying his last name, so I need to say it slowly. Jake Mangam, What a guy. I don't know if you guys saw this, but he the other day had a moment with a fan. He threw his baseball to a young fan there in Pittsburgh, and this young man caught the ball with his glove. That's why you bring a ball to the park, Ken, And then he gave it to his little sister, and his sister was so incredibly emotional. Look at her. I mean, what a moment between siblings and Jake just made that entire family's day. And Jake's own mom went on X and said that she just warmed her heart to see her son be able to do that for that pair of siblings. So good on you, Jake Mangum. Proud of you. That is my dude of the week.

00:21:45
Speaker 1: Ken. What about you? I've got Mudatakia Mirakami and Murakami was a guy that we all questioned at the start of the season. Teams were like, he's not going to be all that. There's a lot of swing and miss. He didn't get the contract we all thought he would, and yet look at him now, home runs in five consecutive games. That ties a record for a rookie two fifty six batting average, four four on base Now he is striking out a lot. That was expected, But the potential here was the thought was by the White Sox and by his agency excel that he could be another Kyle Schwarber. I don't know if we're gonna see quite that, but so far, so good. We're gonna Takamurakami due to the week runner up, and this guy could easily be due to the week as well. Jordan Alvarez eleven homers leading the majors. He's off to a red hot start. Yeah, that is awesome.

00:22:35
Speaker 3: It's nice and we have a lot of people to choose from. Sometimes we have a lot more dorks than dudes. That is not the case this week.

00:22:41
Speaker 2: And speaking of.

00:22:42
Speaker 3: Dork, is now time for dork of the week. All right, I think I'm probably going to get crushed for this, but I'm going with this anyway. I am one of those people that probably is like old old lady yelling at clouds get up off my lawn. But I cannot stand stadium proposals. I think it is one of the most just lazy, boring, unoriginal proposals you can do. Not only did this person take it to that level, they took it to a whole other level. Because this is a major League Baseball player. This is Austin Hedges, Ken of the Cleveland Guardians, their catcher. On his own field, he asked his beloved girlfriend Lexi if he would if she would marry him. She said yes, obviously she loves baseball. She's out there wearing an Austin Hedges coat and he is in full uniform. Ken Rosenthal after the game on bended knee, asking his beautiful girlfriend on the jumbo tron if she will marry him a lot.

00:23:46
Speaker 1: I've got no problem with this, problem with this, and let's face it, she said yes. She obviously was not that offended. So more power to Austin Hedges. I'm not going to name him do to the week for this, but I'm certainly not going to go in the door.

00:24:00
Speaker 3: Like I said, I'm probably going to get crushed. Who is your dork of the week.

00:24:03
Speaker 1: My doork of the week is Lucas Giolido. And let me explain, we are hard on teams all the time when they misread the market. Now, Lucasgiledo is a really good picture, and he's a guy who saw his value a certain way, and he, as a free agent, is absolutely entitled to do that. And if I were him, I would have wanted what I perceived by value to be as well. But at some point, and I don't know what point that was, in the off season, it was almost as if he had to cut his losses. Now, if he was looking and I'm just throwing a number out there, if he was looking for, say, fifteen million, which I think for a picture of Giolito's caliber and background, was not a unreasonable ask. Well, he ends up with a three million dollar guarantee, so somewhere between fifteen and three maybe he could have compromised. And listen, I don't know all the particulars of the negotiations. I don't know everything that went on. But at the same time, as I said, clubs they misread the market, we rush them. Sometimes players do as well. And I don't know how you can interpret it as any other way right now as him misreading it and his agency. So a mild dork of the week, not crushing Lucas Gilido for this, but I wish you would have done better, and ultimately he ends up where he does and hopefully in his case he has a great year, goes back in the market and gets what he deserves.

00:25:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know who could have used him as live at Boston Red Sox, who have every single starter on the aisle that is neither here nor there that is going to do it for us On Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. Ken, of course, is back on Monday. Fair Territory is next to Foul Territory rather as next Daniel Murphy Buck show walker Jonathan Papelbon will join Eric Kratz, Kevin Polar and Scott Broun. We will see you next time.

00:25:46
Speaker 1: Have a good weekend.