BIG World Series preview: John Smoltz, Kevin Pillar and more!

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Ay ay. So this show always starts with a little music. I have music news. I got a lot of news on who's performing. It just came in in the last like hour or two. For MLB one, we already knew, but you want to hear some.

00:00:18
Speaker 2: Names for what world?

00:00:21
Speaker 1: Like Game one and two.

00:00:23
Speaker 2: See, I don't know anything about it.

00:00:24
Speaker 1: I'll give it to you ready, their names, you know? Game one anthem got a Canadian No, I don't know if these people are Canadian or not. To be honest, maybe somebody can look that up on the fly as we talk about it. Game one Pharrell, he's been all over all the postseason and stuff, so you know, doing the ads. You've seen him on. So he's part of some deal that they have with them. So that's solid. It's a good start, right. We like Forrell.

00:00:49
Speaker 2: Oh caned Parrell's and Americans are just look what else?

00:00:56
Speaker 1: Game two bb Rexa for the American anthem. I'm a fan.

00:01:03
Speaker 2: She's good.

00:01:04
Speaker 1: And then Alessia Kara for the Canadian anthem. She's also excellent. What about Alessia is Alessia Canadian? I'm curious because she's doing the Canadian anthem. She is really good, very talented, you would know your songs. I'm not going to attempt good Patriot boom, there you go. And lastly, I think it's mid game. Maybe they're doing a song. It's part of the stand up to cancer that MLB does a really nice job with. Jonas Brothers.

00:01:39
Speaker 2: Nice. Well, I know one of them. I think they're Jersey if.

00:01:42
Speaker 1: Oh they're so Jersey Jonas Bros. Yeah, yeah, very very.

00:01:46
Speaker 2: Have to look that one up. I know.

00:01:48
Speaker 1: I think one of them still lives in North Jersey. Yes, I know the one you're talking about. Yeah, I know him as well. Yes, there you go.

00:01:56
Speaker 2: Pretty cool. No, no, no, Pennsylvania guys singer.

00:02:00
Speaker 1: No, the Phillies didn't make it to the World Series unfortunately.

00:02:03
Speaker 3: You know what's fun about the Anthem? That's the one song they always played before I didn't play good.

00:02:10
Speaker 2: Isn't that something? Why would they always keep playing that.

00:02:12
Speaker 1: Song now again and again. You'd have a bad day and be like, can we skip it just for superstitious purposes? And they were like no, no, no no.

00:02:19
Speaker 3: When they're playing the Anthem, I'm like, I might have a good game, but every time they played the Anthem didn't have a good game.

00:02:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, I remember that one time in Puerto Rico it was raining, so they went and didn't play it, and you started felt like Tony Gwynn, didn't you.

00:02:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, you just get scared, you know when you hear your country's anthem. All right, anyway, it's Friday, as you can tell, but we're super excited. It's World Series Game one day. The World Series begins this evening, and we are going to have a post game show. We'll give you a little more info. It's very simple though. If you are watching the game, or even if you're not, you tune in to YouTube very soon after the game, sometimes on a minute after. Sometimes it's a close game, we wait a few minutes. You watch the postgame interview on the field with Kenny Ballgame, Rosen Dollar, Tome Berducci, and then we're on live discussing what happens after game one. So we'll see you for it, and in case you fall asleep or something, we're still there for you on demand on YouTube with that postgame show. Let us charge. I like this quote to start us off, Blake Snell Game one starter. Hey, Blake, what's your approach against Laddie Junior and George Springer?

00:03:36
Speaker 2: His quote.

00:03:38
Speaker 1: I can tell you in like a week.

00:03:41
Speaker 2: It's a great quote. It is.

00:03:43
Speaker 4: He's no idea, or if I was him, I would have said the exact opposite, would you know? Yeah, fastball is right down the plate. They can't hit a fastball center cut. I've seen it for years now. I've seen it for so many years, those two guys especially.

00:03:57
Speaker 2: It's the weirdest thing.

00:03:58
Speaker 4: Just forcing fastballs on ninety four ninety six right down the plate.

00:04:03
Speaker 2: That's what I'm gonna do, and keep a straight.

00:04:06
Speaker 3: Faith bold move Cotton. See how it works out for you. I love it. I love it.

00:04:11
Speaker 5: Why not?

00:04:12
Speaker 3: We got guys at second base like flapping their wings and making circles. Why can't pictures, Why can't pictures come back? But I'll tell you what they are gonna do to George. You're gonna see that slider that has been absolutely filthy for Blake, and you're gonna see change ups and everything else is gonna be out of his zone because George hits lefty curveballs like nobody's business. So and obviously he's gonna be a hit a heater. But Blake knows what he's gonna do. He's and if he forgets. He's got it in his pocket and.

00:04:42
Speaker 2: He's gonna look at it, oh yeah, exactly.

00:04:44
Speaker 3: In between pitches and then he'll hit the button on his hip and then he'll go and throw it.

00:04:49
Speaker 4: He's been nasty, yeah, And I think to your point kind of to like finish it off, I don't think he needs to change just because who's up to the plate. Honestly, this guy, whatever he's been doing, whatever signs they've been putting down, they've been synchronized, they've been in sync.

00:05:05
Speaker 2: And just because whoever's up, all of.

00:05:07
Speaker 4: A sudden, you want to change your approach to what you've been throwing and how nasty you are. Okay, if they get one or two out, then maybe change it up. But the way he's been pitching, you know, whatever sequence he wants to throw us to, righties, don't even worry about the name. Worry about what you can control, and that's throwing your best pitch at that particular time. And he has been doing it this whole playoff.

00:05:28
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. Let's talk rosters to go ahead, crats, and then I'll say.

00:05:33
Speaker 3: You definitely just got it. Basically, Blake's just gonna look at it and go dude, this is this is a hot there's a hot zone. I'm gonna stay out of that hot zone unless it's like that is my Like if somebody's hammering change ups and he's like, that's my best pitch, I don't really care. But there's glaring there's glaring areas that Blake Snell can go to. But you're exactly right, Todd. Do you want to stay with your strengths.

00:05:57
Speaker 1: Also, the Dodgers are down one of their shirt goal of trust relievers. It's a tough story. We don't have a lot of information, but Alex Vessia is not currently on the roster. There were reports yesterday that maybe he would be put on the family medical emergency or a breaevement list something like that. So the Dodgers shared that he's away from the team and he and his wife Kayla are navigating a deeply personal family matter. So first off, most importantly, hope you know everything's okay and thinking about them, there's more than just baseball on the field. We do cover the sport. Though Alex Vessier is one of their best relievers. Maybe he pops up later in the series if they figure that out. But we know for sure, he's not pitching in Game one, that is one of their better relievers.

00:06:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.

00:06:47
Speaker 4: And forget about sports, anything that deals with family, with deals with friends, anything that you hear with a heavy heart, that kind of takes it toll a little bit understanding that.

00:06:58
Speaker 2: Listen, this takes precedents of everything.

00:07:01
Speaker 4: Forget about a World series ring family over everything, and we hope everything's okay. We will say prayers and all that stuff, well wishes, and again we don't know the full story. But again, baseball does not come first when it comes to family.

00:07:20
Speaker 1: Let's take you through the Arena Club slab pack experience. This is part two because todd father last week pulled a card that he didn't love, yet he sold it back for actually more than what the slab pack cost. This time pulls a card that he likes.

00:07:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, and this is the best part of it. Ronnie Mauricio, the Mets stand out. You know, rookie sensation. He's been absolutely phenomenal. I like the itch of seeing what you're gonna get, you know, I like prospects. I don't love him, but seeing this kind of card is actually absolutely beautiful thing. I know a couple people around town that would absolutely love that card. So there's gonna be a lot of conversations going on here for Arena Club.

00:07:57
Speaker 1: And what you do is you have it in your digital showroom. If you want to hand it out locally, then cool. You ask Arena Club to send it to you and they do, or you can sell it back like you see their instant offer for one hundred and ninety three bucks. But he's keeping it. And you can do what Todd Father does by going to Arena club dot com slash foul and getting twenty percent off your first card purchase or your first slab pack purchase.

00:08:21
Speaker 2: So krats.

00:08:22
Speaker 1: As far as strategy concerns, Let's say Blake Snell isn't superhuman and gives you more of a five ish because the pitch count rides up or whatever. Right, I mean, that's more common. I mean Blake's been stupid good. But if that's the case, I mean, this definitely hurts for the Dodgers. This is the one week spot where the Blue Jays could pounce.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: I mean they have two like real relievers that have pitched only as relievers in Vessia and Trina, and that I think Dave Roberts really really trusts. I wouldn't be surprised if you give, you know, you give like a short leash to a Clayton Kershall if there is, you know, if there's a little bit of a hiccup for Blake Snow and you wouldn't expect that based on how he's been pitching. But so the World Series is, there's a lot going on. The Blue Jays are a good team, that's why they're there, and losing Vessia is it's a big it's a big loss. But I'm glad. I'm glad the organization and him are able to say, you know what, I'm gonna step away and take care of this.

00:09:30
Speaker 1: So Vessia is off for now. Ben Casparius is not on. I mean, we haven't seen him much. He was a big deal last year, but we haven't seen him. I don't know if you pitched at all. I know he's on the roster, but I don't remember if you pitched at all. I don't think so in the postseason. Maybe in the wildcard rounds, I don't remember, but I don't think so.

00:09:49
Speaker 3: Actually, I feel like I saw him warming up one time, but it wouldn't have been in the wild It might have been in a wildcard round. Now I feel like it was in Milwaukee. Was he active in Milwaukee?

00:10:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was active, I think, okay.

00:10:04
Speaker 3: Thinking about seeing him in the bullpen in Milwaukee's but it's jogging my memory. But I don't think he got in a game.

00:10:11
Speaker 1: No Tanner Scott, which is still crazy when you think about how the world really erupted the jealous world when they were like, oh, they get Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates and they are completely uninvolved in the postseason. So that continues. But the right handers activated or Will Klein and Edgardo Henriquez who has good stuff but did not have it in that wild card game. Remember again Cincinnati. He was one of the guys where you're like.

00:10:35
Speaker 2: Uh uh and he just couldn't find it. Yep.

00:10:40
Speaker 3: Part of that like sixty whatever, sixty three pitch inning that. I mean, honestly, they had a big lead, but you saw like, oh boy, Dave Robinson was like, all right, we got to go to somebody else. So hey, you might get another shot. I doubt it in a close game, but.

00:10:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's not like the Dodgers don't have options and Emma che can go multiple innings. We'll see how Blake Trining looks. But he's in the circle of trust Roki Sasaki of course, and hey, Rokie is capable of going multiple innings. Yeah, keep that in mind. Too tight game, they could bring him in the eighth. I mean, he went three innings in that extra inning affair against the Phillies, So keep that in mind. And by the way, Casparius Kratz did not pitch so far in this postseason, but last year in the postseason six and the third one run, and he was a big deal last year. That was just coming out part. Let's talk and he wasn't on the NLTS roster, but he was added back to the NLCS roster. Now let's talk. Blue Jays. Boba Schett he's on. Maybe during this show we'll find out lineups, so we'll share that. Also, ty France is on the roster. Yeah, ty France, he's in there.

00:11:53
Speaker 4: Baby. You were just sitting in spring training or wherever you are getting some reps. Oh, I'm playing let's.

00:12:02
Speaker 2: Go World Series. This is so cool, so cool. Your name on the list, so pretty unique.

00:12:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, two guys that had been hurt, right bo battling the knee issue and they gave him good enough to go right. And then for ty France, he has not appeared at all in this postseason. This is the first time that he's popping up for the team as well. I'm trying to remember. I think it was oblique for him, but I'll double check that in a moment. So ty France can give you a good at bat, and he's actually a really good first base and obviously flat he's playing first, but that has been a really good defender as well, not going to be needed in that capacity.

00:12:41
Speaker 3: Does he get in there tonight? I mean you're, you're really you're because he started against he's played against Blake Snell, and you'd think like, okay, well they're not going to start him in games two, three, four, because and then you also have like it feels like they're it feels like they're in is a little not thin, but a little like you know, they're kind of handicapping their bench with all their right handed bats. And then like ty France doesn't have a lot of versatility. Bo obviously we're gonna see if he has versatility, But then you're moving your DH if if he's if Bow's dhing which is a possibility. Then you could go George in right field, and then you got Barger third base. But Barger probably wouldn't start against Blake Snell. So I feel like I'm interested to see how how it's utilized. Obviously Blue Jays would love it if they just go nine guys, throw them out there. How you doing?

00:13:40
Speaker 2: How you're doing? I love it?

00:13:42
Speaker 1: But Ty France isn't going to start. Where would he play?

00:13:45
Speaker 3: That's what I mean, kind of kind of ham hamstrings your bench. Yeah, like you'd think they'd want a little bit more versatility than what they have, But I don't know what their other option would have been besides Ty France. So that's that's where I'm kind of misinformed.

00:14:05
Speaker 1: Well, he takes over for Joey Loperfido low Berffedo replaced santunder low per Vedo's off, and France is on. Yeah, I mean, you have Isaiah Connor Philippa who can play. Even if we made up positions in baseball, he can play them. He's just very versatile. So you've got that, and you presume he's going to be more of a bench guy for them, now, right, Krats, Well, depends on how the infield plays out.

00:14:34
Speaker 4: Which would you rather have a Bulboush at the agent even at where he is now, or having like an Isaiah Khanna Filifa or whomever out there playing.

00:14:44
Speaker 1: For me, I would like ikf on the bench as my super utility guy that can fill in any spot if needed, and you can do defensive replacements later in the game. But for me, they said George Springer's k playing in the outfield. We have to go with what they're saying, right, So if he's playing capable of playing in the outfield, then great, I'll either take that or if bo is capable of playing one of those two middle infield positions. It does make you a better offensive ball club if you can do one of those things.

00:15:15
Speaker 4: I think you put your best offensive ball club out there, have to and you take your chances. And if you look back and they end up losing, so be it. At the end of the day, you know you have an opportunity to put one of the most you know, one of the better and most prolific players in Boba Schett out there, and you're gonna leave him on the bench and all of a sudden you lose. Anyway, just saying just per se we don't know what's going to happen. Well, what if I put both Bachet out there, maybe I should have taken my chances. So the risk you take by putting them out there, I think it's the risk you need to take. Knowing his capability.

00:15:47
Speaker 1: Krats. If Bobaschett can play wherever good enough and pass to their tests, what is the ideal lineup for the Blue Jays? And we can go with tonight. I know it's a lefty tonight.

00:16:02
Speaker 3: I mean I'll have to go do that nine. But position wise, position wise, I don't watching him run, watching the videos of Bo run, I don't know that he can play shortstop for me, especially when you have a goal Glover who can play short stop at a goal glove level and Andre Samenez. So maybe you'd have him at second base. But for me, lineup wise, I'm sitting there going I gotta have the best combination of George Vladdie and and Bo. Like if Bo's ready to go, I don't care that I have three writings in a row. I'm coming out with the best, my best guns. Blaze and Bo is in there to drive guys in. And you have two guys that get on base at a monstrous clip in Vlad and George. So to me, that's where that's where I that's where I set it. That's where I set my lineup, and it's the first three boys at the top.

00:16:54
Speaker 1: We're back. There's a lot of chatter about what we were just talking about. Mikey, for example, in the chat Bashett first time ever playing second base in the World Series would be crazy. Yeah, uh oh, the Jay's left off Uriel Rodriguez. I guess we didn't get that part in there. Uriel Rodriguez is off the roster. Yariel Rodriguez, he pitched maybe once or twice.

00:17:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, seemed to be like the.

00:17:21
Speaker 1: Last man in the bullpen for them, so they said, now we're good.

00:17:25
Speaker 3: Well, he was getting significant innings during the year two for him, and towards the end it started started kind of flattening out a little bit. That Slider wasn't didn't have as much death.

00:17:37
Speaker 2: There you go.

00:17:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're they're really focused, probably wishing they had even one more lefty to try and neutralize the Dodgers. But man, Mason Fleuard, he's going to be tasked with a big job.

00:17:51
Speaker 3: Right on to me, I think they may even walk walk show hey more and try to try to get that lefty that uh, that little pocket there with Freddy and Max. I'll be interested to see where Doc, how close Doc puts Max to Freddy there. Because you can't get all three, you have to be old, you have to be willing to say, Okay, you know what, We're just gonna get this guaranteed out. We're gonna push this guy, you know, the first base, that kind of thing like you can't you can't say I'll stay in there and get six batters. Can't do it.

00:18:27
Speaker 1: Hey, We've got John Smoltz joining us right now. Of course you'll hear him tonight with Joe Davis on the broadcast, along with Ken Rosentdald Tom Berducci on Fox and on the brand new Fox one app. John, great to see you. We're excited for this one and we'll dive right in. I know you're in game mode, so I don't know if you heard anything from our last combo, but how do you draw up Toronto's lineup situation heading into this game one? I know it's also a lefty, but now we've got Bobachett back in the mix.

00:18:58
Speaker 5: What do you think, well, the number one thing I would do is try to be find a way to not get many left handed batters in that lineup. I know their left handers have been really good, but against Blake Snell, you're giving a runway. He is nasty, and I would find a way. Maybe again, I'll be interested to see what they do with Ba Shet. I mean, the easiest thing to do with dhs, but that puts Springer in the outfield, and then you can put Schneider in the outfield and maybe even maybe even Straw. But I think the biggest thing that I'm looking forward to seeing how the lineup and how many right handers are in that lineup, because it's the only game he has to worry about that many right handers. Is Blake Snell's the only left handed starter?

00:19:43
Speaker 3: What have you seen from Blake Snell? What do you because we were talking about it earlier, like, hey, you know what, just throw your game. But then I look at some of the numbers, like I look at George Springer on curveballs, and you're like, okay, well I can't land any of those. Like what do you see from Blake Snell? Do you think even any of these scatter reports matter for him because of how he's throwing right now.

00:20:03
Speaker 5: No, his release points very consistent. When Blake Snell was not great, he was throwing too many pitches, and yeah, now the statistics look great in five innings, you know, twelve punch outs, five walks. When he's come in in his fastball and throws the change up off of it, it's deadly. And then he's got a wicked curveball top to bottom. It's all about command and release point. He's in that place right now that you dream of being as a starting pitcher. I don't know how much this layoff is going to hurt him as far as timing and rhythm, but I think that's the thing to watch. You got the best starting pitchers going against the team that controls the strike zone better than anybody I've seen in a long time in the Toronto Blue Jays. So they're gonna be up there hacking, but they're only going to hack in the strike zone for the most part and see if they can work his pitch count get him out of rhythm a little bit. But right now, no one's been able to do that. He went through the Milwaukee Brewers like they were nothing, And now the difference is the Toronto Blue Jays are the Milwaukee Brewers with power, and that's the biggest different And it's hard to believe they've led this all a postseason and home runs, you wouldn't think that'd be the case, but they played a lot more games, I get it. So that's really to me. I can't wait to watch just that cat and mouse game of attacked to strike zone against the hitters that do a good job attacking the strike zone.

00:21:17
Speaker 1: Smallta. I want to bring in, you know, some of our fan comments on this, so so two things to tie into what you're talking about right now. One they said, does it even matter for right handers with the way that Snell's new changeup is working? And two, I thought this theory was interesting even though it severely depletes the defense. They were like, what if Hi, Francis, DH, Tonight, Bo and Springer in the field, and then you can mess around later in the game. But what if you roll out a lineup like that to try and do the best you can against the south pond in this situation?

00:21:49
Speaker 5: I mean, that's again a wrinkle that's going to make him think about you know, if one of those pitches aren't on the right handers have an advantage, and it's just too big. It's just too easy of a laying against left handed batters. I mean, he's so nasty with that breaking ball. You have to be an elite left handed hitter to be able to have that chance. And right now, even though him and as it came up hugege in the series with his bat, he's not had much of the bat this year and more defense. So it really depends on what John Schneyder wants to do. I think defensively, he doesn't have to worry as much against the pitcher he's got out there. He's more of a strikeout pitcher. And you Savage, so I'm intrigued. I think I would stack as many left hand right handers as I possibly could against Blake Snell and then deal with the rest because really the left handed relievers for the Dodgers are not exactly rolling out there in the in the right place either, So it's going to be an interesting matchup.

00:22:47
Speaker 4: Talking about you Savage, this young cat coming in and doing really well. Talk about what you're looking from him? How does he get these hitters out? And if he can get the five or six innings out to be a plus in my opinion, right.

00:23:00
Speaker 5: John, Absolutely. I think it all comes down to he can't live upstairs with the fastball against the Dodgers. There's too many good high fastball hitters on their team. But if he throws enough strikes and that split finger and that release point, they haven't seen anything like this. He went through the two teams. He had one little mistake against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning. But I'm telling you, this guy he might be made for this moment only five starts coming into it, and I think his ability to throw that split at that seven foot one release point is unlike most hitters release points. They just don't see that from a pitcher. And so he'll throw enough strikes with fastballs, he'll be in the game for five innings. If he doesn't, the Dodgers have a way of making you come to them, and then that's when they're at their best. So that split the slider is actually way better than people think. It's just not a pitch he's going to have to rely on too often because if he's got the split going, that's what he's going to do with.

00:23:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we've seen a lot of those splitters work.

00:23:57
Speaker 4: I mean, Gosman circle, whatever you call that splitter absolutely felthy. So they've learned from each other. I want to ask you, it's like two part question. It's pretty much the same for the Dodgers to win this World Series. What is one key thing that they're going to have to pinpoint on or is it just the same? Keep doing what you're doing if you're the Dodgers, don't change a thing.

00:24:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the first time I've seen Dave Roberts sitting on the dugouts bench for a long time, Wathington starters go seven, eight, nine innings. That's not been the Dodgers of the past. So if that stays the same and you don't expose the bullpen, which has been a little bit of an issue going after the end of the regular season, I think it comes down to the offense not striking out too much. If they don't strike out that much, their offense is good enough to put up the numbers required to win. The only thing every once in a while the Dodgers run into is if you strike them out, you've eliminated their ability to beat you with slug and that really came into play a little bit for Otani until he hit those three home runs. So it's a battle of the best starting pitching we've seen in a long time against a really, really good offense. And then the starting pitching for Toronto has been average to good, but it's not gonna have the the the depth that the Dodgers currently have, and going against their lineup, the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen better be great, and if they're great, they got a chance to win the World Series.

00:25:23
Speaker 4: And talking about bullpen, the middle relief, how does Toronto they get to that middle relief early. I know they don't swing a many pitches outside his own and they're trying to get that pitch count up, But I believe, in my opinion, for them to have a chance, they have to find a way to get to that middle relief to put a little more pressure on these guys.

00:25:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, they have to they basically if they win the World Series, I can make an argument they went through some of the best pitching I've ever seen that didn't look great. They made the Yankees look like they weren't even that good. They made the Seattle Mariners starting pitcher look like they weren't even one of the best stats in the American League. And if they do that to the Los Ange Dodgers, that means they've knocked them out early, they've gotten into their bro pen, and they've caused havoc. That is the way that they're gonna win the World Series. They cannot, in my opinion, effectively beat the Dodgers if those starters are going seven innings, every one of them are eight. And I think that's gonna be the blueprint to try to figure out. Even though they're aggressive and they see less pitches per at bat than anybody, they have a way of making sure the pitcher, if he's not on his game and in the strike zone, then they're gonna they're gonna pile up some pitches. They're not three swingers. That's the beauty of it. They don't just swing to swing. They swing in the strike zone and really command it.

00:26:37
Speaker 2: Well.

00:26:38
Speaker 3: All right, Well, if you were to give advice to the Dodgers team, but also Blake Snell or even you know, any pitcher that's thrown what's it like throwing in the SkyDome. Obviously it's Roger Center, but when you threw in it, it was a SkyDome. You have some experience, what do you give them? And as far as advice for the crowd and the different kind of noise that there's gonna be tonight.

00:26:59
Speaker 5: Well it's going to be the loudest crowd they faced all year. I know Philadelphia is extreme and it's an outdoor stadium, and you might give them the not an outdoor stadium, but in a boat in a dome. I've never heard of crowd this loud out of my life. They're hungry, obviously, since nineteen ninety three, they haven't had this come their way. And I think the biggest thing is the Dodgers since last year being down two zero against the San Diego Padres, they're a different bunch. They rallied together, they've done things players only. They're a humble, confident team and they're probably as calm as they've ever been. So I don't think that noise is going to bother them. What they've been through. You got to remember a year change ago they were going to be eliminated and the narrative was going to be different. And since then, whether it's flying on their own, dinners on their own, players have separated themselves from the noise literally and they have flourished, and they have been through pretty much everything you could go through. So that's why they're the favorites. That's why they're confident. And I'm not so sure the noise is even going to bother them, but it's sure is going to be loud.

00:28:00
Speaker 2: All right.

00:28:01
Speaker 3: This might be a dumb question, if you did you ever throw a Game one in the World Series? I should have researched this before. Okay, what's more pressure? Game one to set a tone or Game two or like following a loss to then reset the guys back.

00:28:19
Speaker 5: I think the biggest game always is Game one, to pass the baton onto your teammate. Unfortunately, the game one I won in ninety six, we won Game two and then we didn't win another game. That's what the Toronto Blue Jays did. They were the last team to do that, lose their first two games at home and then come back and win a series, although be it in seven. And I think the other interesting thing which is crazy to stats or stats, any team that has swept coming into a World Series, team that has won their previous series in seven games, the team that has swept has lost every World Series appearance, which is crazy. That talks about the layoff, and that also talks about the team coming in that that had won a seven game series. So take that for whatever that is. But that's out there. And I think winning game one is always important and I think it sets the tone, but in this case it's probably more important than ever for the Toronto Blue Jays. They know they got to win at least one game at home, and game one would be an unbelievable lift for this town and that team.

00:29:23
Speaker 1: Hey, smolty, with John Schneider kind of learning as he goes deeper into the postseason, do you think he'll do anything funky bullpen wise in the World Series. I mean, for example, I keep bringing this up, Okay, Kevin Gosten's pitching Game two. Could we see gossmin on his throat day appear later in this series?

00:29:41
Speaker 2: Right?

00:29:41
Speaker 1: He appeared in Game seven for them. It seems like Chris Bassett had a nice inning for them. Maybe you see more of him. I would imagine that there's a key, And I know you're always big on this to limit looks right, You don't want to see Louis Barland in the same spot every damn game against the same guys or eventually you're gonna get.

00:30:01
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree. I think Barlin is his most trusted right hand or in trouble. But I believe that what John Schneider and every manager that they go through, they learn that trusting your players doesn't always work out because the execution doesn't work out, but you have to have trust. I don't think he can go away from little the left hander, even though that environment really got him in the eighth inning. Maybe that's not the scenario to put him in. But he's big, very big on trusting his players and the roles that they're in. He trust trusts his picture that if he brings in a starter to your point, he's going to trust him. And I think that's great. But I think the biggest thing that you'll learn about players and pitchers when they're in a moment that's too big their eyes or whatever their body, you start seeing things that you might have to throw caution to the win. And I think for Barlin, he thinks and he's unbelievable. Eve though he's giving up some home runs, he's faced some really really daunting tasks. If you think about all the times he's been used, he believes that every day that he puts him in that fastball and slider is gonna play. So it's a great question, and what he's learned over the last seven games, he hasn't had to answer in a negative way because they've moved on, but he knows he's always a moment away from being asked a question. When your starters don't go deep, which they're not going to go deep for Toronto at least we haven't seen it. You're gonna have to rely on that bullpen, and that bullpen is going to have its hands full big time now with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the ability for them to sluck.

00:31:33
Speaker 3: John, can you confirm that this is the last World Series you'll do for a few years because you're going to put your name in the hat for the brave job.

00:31:42
Speaker 5: No, No, I barely get to go to the Braves game and be in that. I think we're so far removed from that organization. I don't even know if they know that we're in the Hall of Fame. So now that's going to be somebody else that follows a different criteria of they're going to manage that baseball team moving forward.

00:32:03
Speaker 3: What do you think? What do you think? What do you think they need. What do you see them them needing to put in that position based on what they already have on that roster.

00:32:12
Speaker 5: Personally, I think they need somebody that can convey to some of their star players what that star player needs roll to be to be successful. I think they need to handle the inside of that clubhouse better than the numbers that everybody seems to be focused on in the analytics. And they got to get guys pulling in the right direction so that there guys that they signed are there for a long time. And yes, health is the number one reason they'll be successful this year. If they stay healthy, they're going to be successful. But you still have to be able to pull in the same direction and guys do the things you got to do to win baseball games. You can't just rely on awestruck talent that looks great on paper and looks good on the back of a baseball card.

00:32:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's got to happen from the jump. Obviously, it was a slow start. I get that they had the rough road trip at well, but they never recovered after a week of baseball. It's just crazy. Until the end of the season they got in a roll. But anyway, we'll folks on the World Series. Smulty, great stuff. Thanks for coming on. Really appreciate it. Obviously. Everyone can catch you on Fox tonight and the brand new Fox one app.

00:33:14
Speaker 5: Have fun, all right, thanks guys.

00:33:17
Speaker 1: This episode of foul Territory is brought to you by Fox one. Fox one is now live stream all of your Fox favorites together in one place, from MLB postseason games to the NFL on Fox to Big Noon Saturdays. With Fox one, you get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. We have the website in the description of this episode. It's Fox one. It's streaming now for the baseball fans here on FTE and we know you love baseball if you're listening to the show. The entire World Series every year is on Fox. So if you don't have normal cable or you can't get the channel, Fox one is the solution for you, now, the app that solves it all again. Go to Fox one and start a seven day free trial to see for yourself how money it is Haw Corner. Let's sizzle Baby. We got the umpires announced for the World Series and we're going to show you. Thanks to Umpire Auditor their season rankings out of ninety two umpires. Will Little ranks thirtieth, Adrian Johnson in Game two ranks seventy fifth, Mark Wegner in Game three ranks thirty eighth. John Tom Payne ranks thirty first. He's doing Game four. Clap it up for Alan Porter, who was epic in that game. Five of the Alds going to billion innings and he's ranked third. Adam Hamari's ranked fifteenth out of ninety two, and Jordan Baker is last. He's ranked sixty fourth out of ninety two. Isn't Baker the dude that's a monster, the tallest it's like six billion. Yeah, he's good, dude, right, very good, but he's very tall.

00:35:06
Speaker 2: I'm surprising.

00:35:06
Speaker 4: Sixty four that's a little it's a little low for I mean, I review said, I think it's it's too high.

00:35:12
Speaker 2: I would say for him, I want him lower. So pick it up, Jordan, let's go. Man. Nah, that's my guy. Good dude.

00:35:19
Speaker 4: But yeah, I don't know how they pick him.

00:35:22
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:35:23
Speaker 4: I thought you would go by top seven, but what are you going to do now? Top seven gosh, why I would have one guy in the top ten.

00:35:30
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like a broken record crats because we do this all the time, and we do this for every round, and I feel like the league gets pissed that we talk about this. But this is why we're an independent show. I don't We don't have to answer to everyone. And really, if someone told us all about the system and provided more transparency, I think it would be a really big deal for a fan base, for all of Major League Baseball fans to understand, Hey, I just want to know, like what went into this, What happened to the number one guy? What happened to the number seven guy?

00:35:55
Speaker 2: Right?

00:35:55
Speaker 1: Like what he wasn't nice? Like what did he do wrong?

00:35:58
Speaker 2: I don't know. That's very curious.

00:35:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, he doesn't have enough sin already. Okay, neither does tray Is Savage and he's starting Game one.

00:36:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like, to me, the equivalent of this is saying, Okay, I know, I know what just I know, the Mariners lost, but man cal Raley had a great year, so he's he's gonna get to play in the World Series two. Like That's That's what it kind of feels like with the umpires, sometimes these guys want this. These guys definitely want to be in the World Series one. They get a you know, it's prestigious. It's like, hey, you know what I did this, I did the twenty twenty five World Series. I did you know? My first ever championship series was twenty two. They talk about that stuff and they get bonuses for this. So why can't we tie it to success and failures in the season. And it doesn't have to be one through seven. It just has to be more transparent. Like you said, just tell us how you picked it. And to me, when you don't tell us how you picked these guys, it just means it's random. It just means they pick guys that have some seniority. The thing that I think is cool about this whole group, I was in the minor leagues with every one of these guys before they were full time big leaguers. Like Adrian Johnson. I saw him in the minor leagues but he had big league time, Mark Wagner, same thing, everybody else, Like we came kind of came up through the minor leagues together and then they've been they've been established. So for me, I like seeing all these names it's really cool because you don't have the you don't have the old guard, many of the old guard in there right now.

00:37:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, the problem to me is that it appears as if there is an everyone gets a metal situation, like you can't be umping in the show for a long time and not get certain playoff games or even World Series games, And that just doesn't make sense. I mean, we're in sports. It's about competition. It's an honor just to be an umpire in the major leagues. So once you got that, great, Now, if you're not one of the best behind the plate.

00:37:55
Speaker 2: That's okay.

00:37:56
Speaker 1: You don't have to call pitches behind the plate. It's okay. You can do that in the regular season, but in the postseason, I just don't think that's the time. But again, I feel like a broken record on this, but it's true.

00:38:07
Speaker 3: If everybody wants a medal, if they want to do it where everybody wants a medal and you know what, you want to be behind a dish on one of the games, We're going to continue the same route that we have right now, where it's kind of random's kind of seniority kind of thing, like I need everybody got it top seven Top seven get all seven games behind a dish doesn't mean you're gonna work in the field, and the guys that are working in the field not necessarily going to work behind home plate. You earn it, you get there bout a being it's over.

00:38:36
Speaker 1: And if you're the worst in the league, you get the celebrity softball game next year, relegation. I'm kidding, but like I just I don't out of words for how this works where you don't look down and and I don't need one through seven, Like even if it's just, hey, we got the top twenty five in here, because maybe there's some issue or sceniarto whatever, it's just like the fact that we have some guys that are ranked, you know, pretty low, like we've got a seventy five out of ninety two. That's just that's not cool.

00:39:05
Speaker 2: And they can make their own rankings for it, like they do.

00:39:08
Speaker 1: I think that's part of the die. They have their own rankings, but they don't all.

00:39:11
Speaker 2: Have to do it.

00:39:13
Speaker 4: Maybe these are the rankings that came out with the top seven transparent tell us that all right, all right, I'm not saying let me see, I mean, maybe something they've seen the whole year, Like you know, this guy his numbers transpired to be number six.

00:39:27
Speaker 2: We don't know this. They don't go by this. What you know.

00:39:30
Speaker 1: I agree, show it, show it. I would love that it's not the FBI. Show us the results. Thank you very much. Time for an MLB nine innings twenty five conversation about the World Series with our guy looking fresh for Kevin Polar Yeah, he's fresh, he's got it and he's ready to go.

00:39:46
Speaker 2: Kp.

00:39:47
Speaker 1: Happy World Series day to you. And what do you have for us tonight? I mean, you've been a little nostradamis in terms of predicting what's going on with the Blue Jays. So would you like to make one fan base happy and pissed the other side off?

00:40:03
Speaker 6: First off, all I want to say, I'm just this is exciting for me. I mean, as you guys can attest, you work your whole life to play in a World Series and unfortunately I didn't get an opportunity to do that as a player. So me kind of being able to hop on the back of this Toronto Blue Jays team kind of be brought back into that ecosystem, Like it's exciting for me, you know, my heart's kind of beating fast. I got a room right here looking at the Rogers Center, and I mean the line right now just to be outside the stadium is crazy. Like the fact that I'm going to get to step foot. I never went as a fan either, so like this is really exciting for me in terms of predictions. So I've been getting a lot of questions from friends at home and for the audience out there that don't know. I grew up in southern California. That's where I was born. I was a Dodger fan my whole life until I got into professional baseball. So I got a lot of friends and family still back at home that are Dodger fans. Some of my family converted to being Blue Jay fans, and then I took them through the Ringer the league, so they're.

00:41:00
Speaker 7: Actually very confused.

00:41:02
Speaker 6: But I think more than any series that I can remember, I think this has got the biggest randomness to it. I mean, I could see the Dodgers winning in four, and I could see the Blue Jays winning in seven, and pretty much anywhere in between.

00:41:15
Speaker 7: But I need to I want.

00:41:17
Speaker 6: To see the way they deploy this lineup before I kind of make a prediction because I'm even though that I'm kind of in that inner circle with the Toronto Blue Jays, I don't know entirely what bo is.

00:41:28
Speaker 7: Capable of doing.

00:41:30
Speaker 6: You know, I think he is the great equalizer when it comes to just adding pure talent to the Blue Jays lineup. So I'm curious to see how he's used tonight.

00:41:39
Speaker 3: All right, Well, if you're kind of in the inner circle, maybe just on the outer circle, and you're looking, have you seen him run? Have you been on the field always seen his like videos from like the roof of the Rogers Center.

00:41:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, I've been. I've been in there.

00:41:52
Speaker 6: I saw him running Seattle. I saw him run the other day. I've had a one on one conversation with him. Obviously, the injury has it's it's it's public knowledge, like it's not an injury that's going to heal in this short amount of time that he needed in order for it to heal. But he's feeling confident every day was a step.

00:42:12
Speaker 7: In the right direction.

00:42:14
Speaker 6: What he's been doing behind the scenes in terms of you know, his routine hitting and keeping his arm in shape and kind of recreating that speed of the game in the box and if there's one guy that I would bet on out of all the players in Major League Baseball, he's near that top of the list of guys that I would feel comfortable rolling into a batter's box, not playing in over, you know, a month and a half, almost two months. I think he's that good of a hitter. I think his hand eye coornation is that good. I think he's born to be.

00:42:44
Speaker 7: A professional hitter.

00:42:45
Speaker 6: And he might not be the same guy, but I think his you know, sixty seventy eighty percent, whatever he feels like he is, is better than you know, some other options that they have.

00:42:55
Speaker 3: Did you see any change in the running because the running videos I've seen again they're from long distance away, maybe from your hotel room, I'm not sure, but it didn't look good. It didn't look like somebody that I'm like, Okay, I'm not debating the high eye hand coordination traject getting his at bats. He's going to be able to He'll be ready with a stick. But did you see any change from Seattle to hear.

00:43:18
Speaker 7: I think it's the way he's been bouncing back.

00:43:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, he looks a little hobbled when he's running, but for someone who's also you know, had to come back from some injuries and never like an injury.

00:43:28
Speaker 7: Like he's had.

00:43:28
Speaker 6: But you have to kind of check the boxes when you go out there run the field. No one's really going out there, you know, making the tightest turns around the bases. You know, the the risk reward of him going out there, and you know, showing he could run at one hundred percent is not worth the risk of injury.

00:43:44
Speaker 7: I think, and as you guys know, you guys.

00:43:47
Speaker 6: Played a game. Adrenaline is a crazy drug. You know, he gets out there and he's able to kind of move around, you know, how well is he going to be able to move side to side? Where does he fit in into this Blue Jays roster? Is it at second base? I don't believe it would be shortstop? And I think the big thing to also remember with this too is Georgia isn't one hundred percent either. I don't feel confident with him kinda and I don't think the Blue Jays feel no confident en rolling George out there in right field. I think of a situation, you know, you know what happened where you know that was the last case scenario and they needed George to go out there for a couple of innings, he would do it. But for him to start out there, given what he had just gone through, you know, less than a week ago, getting hit off the knee. I mean, he was even uncertain going into game six. In Game seven, and as you could tell early on in that game, his swings weren't great. You could tell the knee was bothering him. He took that swing, he fell to a knee. You could see him grimacing in pain. But once again, the most amazing drug in the world, adrenaline. Playing in front of forty seven thousand people. Did you see how high he got off the ground running the first base with a guy with the bum knee. So only imagine what Bo would feel like if he was able to, you know, not only run out of the ugo out for maybe the opening ceremonies, but maybe get a chance to pinch it or maybe even play second base. Like I think, you go out there and you see what he has to give you. And obviously he's been on the field the last couple of days, they have a better indication of where he's at. But game adrenaline is a crazy thing, especially on the stage.

00:45:20
Speaker 2: Love adrenaline, love it, eat it up.

00:45:21
Speaker 4: I know you ate it up with all those nasty catches you had there in center field.

00:45:26
Speaker 7: One.

00:45:26
Speaker 4: Talk about how this atmosphere is going to be in Toronto. I know you kind of talked a little bit about it a while ago. Talk about the atmosphere and talk about how they get on Blake Snell early and often, because when they score early, they really find ways to win ball games.

00:45:41
Speaker 2: That one talking about the blue Jays.

00:45:44
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think there's no secret in baseball anymore. When the Blue Jays are in the playoffs and their teams are very good, they have a true home field advantage, especially when the roof is closed. I don't think there's a louder place in baseball than the Rogers Center when it's rocking. And you know, credit to the Seattle Mariners, you know, in that Game seven, they were able to score a little bit early and that and and baseball is a weird sport. Baseball is a very reactionary sport. Like it's hard to just kind of manufacture noise, and you know, people that come to watch games, it's hard to be loud and be excited when the game is not that exciting. And when the other team is winning and you don't really have much to kind of show for it.

00:46:25
Speaker 7: But what the Blue Jays did.

00:46:26
Speaker 6: A really good job is crawling back into that game. Then obviously the Springer moment, you know, I'm surprised the roof is still on that stadium with how loud it was in there. It was one of the best scenes that I had ever seen in baseball.

00:46:37
Speaker 7: And I was a player and.

00:46:39
Speaker 6: Got to witness Jose Batista's batflip in Game five, and there was Honestly, I think the difference was there was this There was this build up to Jose's home run, like there was the airs, The stadium was kind of loud, loud, loud.

00:46:53
Speaker 7: And then the roof blew off.

00:46:55
Speaker 6: George Springer's going into that inning, that stadium was almost dead silent, and then there was this very very slow bill to Obviously, when Springer hit the home run, it was probably the loudest I'd ever heard of stadium. But I've been talking about this and you like me coming out with crazy predictions and crazy thoughts.

00:47:11
Speaker 3: Right.

00:47:12
Speaker 7: As great as it is to host the playoff game and.

00:47:14
Speaker 6: Especially a World Series, I always feel like the pressures on the home team. When you're playing at home, you're expected to win. You have all these people coming to watch you. This is the first World Series game in thirty two years held in this great city. I think you saw the effects of that in the CS Series, when you know, they had all the rest, they had their starting pitching lineup, they had a fresh bullpen. You know, they got to the they finally won a playoff series since twenty sixteen. Seattle's coming off this very long emotional series. You know, every reason to kind of bet against the Seattle Mariners and hop on the Blue Jays bandwagon, But I always feel like the pressures.

00:47:54
Speaker 7: On that home team. For that reason, baseball is very reactionary.

00:47:57
Speaker 6: If you don't give the fans something to kind of react to, you know, then you start to feel the tension, You start to feel the nerves. And I think you know, seeing that first hand in the Rogers Center and pretty much everywhere else you go in baseball, you feel that as a home team. I felt it when I played in Atlanta. When we were there, we didn't give them a lot to cheer about, and then you could kind of feel this nervous energy into the stadium.

00:48:19
Speaker 7: And not only now are.

00:48:20
Speaker 6: You trying to battle the team you're playing against. You're trying to find a way to energize these fans again. So I'm always a little skeptical to like put a lot of stock into the home team early on in the series. I feel like as you kind of get into the flow of the series, I think home field advantage plays a little bit more.

00:48:38
Speaker 3: So did you purposely duck Todd's question?

00:48:42
Speaker 7: Which?

00:48:45
Speaker 3: Yeah? Because is it because of all your elite success? Kevin Pilar is going to be active, You're gonna rip your jersey off and you're batting third tonight. You got three bangers, You're ten for twenty five. You own Blakes. So that's why you're not saying anything, but we need to hear how how can the Blue Jays own him?

00:49:04
Speaker 6: Yeah, much like the first pitch, Like I said, I'm a team guy. I don't like the attention on me. Yes, I am well aware of my success of Blake Snell, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be asked about it on Sportsnet tonight to kind of talk about what I would do. Blake Snell is an elite pitcher with elite stuff. I think what the Blue Jays offer is the ability to swing at strikes put the ball in play early. I think if they can eliminate strikeouts. And I never pitched, and obviously Kratsey, you probably have a little bit more knowledge in this department.

00:49:32
Speaker 7: When you have a guy.

00:49:33
Speaker 6: Like Blake Snell that is an elite competitor that loves punching tickets. If you don't allow this guy to punch tickets, does he try to reach back for more? Does he start trying to throw wipe out pitches earlier? If he's not getting a lot of swing and miss. Does that kind of affect the way he feels about his stuff even if he's getting outs with those things. You know, I don't know Blake Snell personally, but I would love to get your take on that. If you have a guy who loves his stuff and he's you know, one of the best pitch in baseball punching tickets, getting swing and miss, and he's not getting those things, even though he may be getting out.

00:50:06
Speaker 7: Does that affect him? But what I think the Blue Jays.

00:50:08
Speaker 6: Do in order to counteract Blake Snell's aggressive or greatness, it's continue to be aggressive, don't allow him to get deep into counts. Don't allow him to get two strikes where he can start to throw his wipeout stuff. I think the Blue Jays, and I've talked to the hitting coaches there with the Toronto Blue Jays, what they are really good is they want you to be you. They want you to stick to your strengths. For me, against Blake Snell, I usually tunneled the inner half of the plate. I wanted to battle the fastball slider. I wanted to avoid the fastball and the change up on the outer half. I felt like I had more success trying to pull the ball against Blake Snell. Every once in a while I could get that change up that started middle in and kind of leaked over the plate and maybe I can, you know, ass out it, flip it over the shortstoff head. And to me, the curveball is like the trap pitch with him. It's nasty, it looks like a strike, and I think if you could try to eliminate that, I think the Blue Jays can, you know, have some success off.

00:51:04
Speaker 1: You're going up.

00:51:05
Speaker 6: Against one of the game's best whose seers you know, uh, you know, pitching at his best right now, and I think that is the most interesting storyline in this series is the elite starting pitching versus the bat and ball skills against the Toronto Blue Jays.

00:51:19
Speaker 7: It's gonna be very interesting to watch.

00:51:21
Speaker 3: You check two boxes, you know, Blue Jays fans and your boots on the ground. Right now, There's two guys on the Dodgers, Roki Sasaki and Shoheo Tani, who were rumored or maybe just used as a manipulating, you know, tactic of going to the Blue Jays. We'll never know until they honestly are on a lie detector test if Roki and show, hey, we're going to be coming to the Blue Jays or not they seem destined to the Dodgers. Are they gonna get loud enough booze that they're not going to be able to hear their name being said when they're announced.

00:51:55
Speaker 7: I mean, maybe one of them.

00:51:56
Speaker 6: But there also is a large Japanese population here in Toronto, so I think there's going to be kind of mixed reviews with it. But regardless if those rumors are true or not true. And like you said, we're not going to know the entirety of the story until maybe many years later. What it did for the Blue Jays brand was very important. I think the fact that they went out and at least what we do know certainty is they did have one of those meetings with show A. They had it with Roki I believe they had it with Juan Soto. The fact that they are finally in a position with ownership, with Mark Schapiro, with Ross Akins, with everyone involved with the stadium renovations, that they want to be a team that is willing to go out and spend money on these type of free agents. That they want to be this destination for players to come. I think is part of the reason that they're here. I think they are a team that is willing to they want to go down the same path that the Los Angeles Dodgers are going down. Is we want to be a destination that players want to go and play for. You know, their selling point is, you know, obviously Toronto's a great place, but it's a very international city. It also is the only place you represent an entire country. But it shows that they want to win year after year after year and hopefully this is the first and many successful seasons for the Blue Jays. And obviously going out and signing Flattie to that fourteen year deal in spring training shows their commitment to winning.

00:53:22
Speaker 4: All right, real simple question here, should Bobashett play every single game in order for them to win this World Series?

00:53:30
Speaker 2: Wow?

00:53:31
Speaker 7: It's a great question, Todd.

00:53:32
Speaker 2: Do you want like my thing? Get?

00:53:36
Speaker 6: I thought my initial thought process, you know, as he was trending in the right direction, and like I said, me getting a chance to talk to him, I don't know what goes on behind closed doors, you know, I've only seen what I've seen. I've had my conversations with him. But I thought, as the series went on and the Blue Jays won, I thought, without a doubt Bobashett would be on the playoff roster and what capacity what they use them at the very least, I think Boba Schet sitting on the bench as a right handed bat, you know, with you know, his name on the back of the jersey, with the type of hitter he is, with the type of you know stage he commands, with his ability to put the ball in play. The one thing he did tell me is he believes in his ability to put it a great at bat together. Right now, and that might have been a week ago when he said it like that is his greatest attribute as a player is he can put together a great at bat, whether he plays second base or he DHS, or he's sitting on the bench. I think him being on the roster just makes decisions that Dave Roberts may may have to make later in the game a little bit more challenging. Does he go to that left hander like in the seventh inning in that var Show Barger window, knowing that there's this Boba sheet guy sitting on the bench, and they also have a guy by the name of Type France that they added to the roster. If you don't believe that both of those guys were added to the roster, you know, as right handed bats that could kind of counteract some of the left handed pitching that they had coming out of the bullpen, you're crazy, you know. I would personally like to see Bob Baschett maybe in Game one man, if he could DH, that would be like the ideal situation. But I think finding him a window where he gets a pinch hit in a game to really kind of see where the heart beats at, where the body's at, where the swing is at, where the timing's at, and if he's able to get on bass. How does he actually look running down the line?

00:55:32
Speaker 7: You know, I don't believe.

00:55:34
Speaker 6: He's a guy that if he pinch hits in a game, is he going to stay in the game to run the bases and play the field. Maybe there's this you know, slow entry to the series, and maybe by game two or three, if he's really trending in the right direction, maybe we see him out there. But it'll be interesting to see a bobashet And I haven't been around the team all year and I didn't really get a chance to play with Bo.

00:55:59
Speaker 7: Is he a guy that.

00:56:00
Speaker 6: Comes out for BP? Is he a guy that comes out takes ground balls. I'm certainly gonna be over there during batting practice, and that's what I want to look for. Is Boba shut out there hitting with this team? Is he out there taking ground balls? And how does he freaking look?

00:56:13
Speaker 2: You know?

00:56:13
Speaker 6: Does he look the part? Does he look like he can play nine names today? But I think it's regardless of what capacity is in, I think it's gonna make decisions on the Dodgers a little bit more tough.

00:56:25
Speaker 3: I think the good number to set is seven hits over under. That's how many Schwarber got when he came back and came back from his acl So we'll see. But the big problem for the Blue Jays is they don't have the length and they're starting pitching, so they're gonna rely on this bullpen. Scott had brought it up earlier in the show. Do you think they're gonna go with kind of like a Hey, Chris Bassett, you're gonna give us a little bit. Hey, I know you don't Trey you Savage. Maybe because he's young, they wouldn't do it, but hey, today's your side day. We're gonna go and we're gonna give you two innings just because of what we've seen from their best, second best reliever in Louis Varlin. He's just pitched every single game and once these guys see guys, it is lights out. So how are they gonna deploy this? And where do you see some of the other guys that you're like, I don't know how they're gonna use them being used in this bullpen?

00:57:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, I highly doubt you see like a Kevin Gosman maybe before later in the series. I think you keep him fresh for you know, a game six start obviously subject to change, you know, if the Dodger or the Dodgers get out to an early lead in the series, and Game six is in a guarantee. Most definitely you'll see Kevin Gosman out there. But I think Chris Bassett is the biggest X factor. You know, he didn't get really any run. I think he pitched in Game two when the game was a little out of hand, pitched a little bit differently, you know, he had to pitch for length a little bit more in that game. But to no surprise, what John Snyder's done all year is kind of think outside the box. He talked to me, you know, on the field, you know, during Game three of the CS. You know, we had a long conversation and his message in spring training was be you and we are going to find a spot to maximize your skill set. And right now Chris bass bassett skill set is being in that trust circle of trust with John Snyder. I don't think anyone really predicted, maybe outside me, because I said, you know, Bassett was gonna get into Game seven, But I don't think anyone predicted him pitching the eighth inning of a two run game. But he's been there, He's done it. He's got a slow heartbeat, you know, you know Cratsy and Fraser, you know, these games is so much about controlling the emotions, controlling the heartbeat. And you know what I was talking to Caleb Joseph about, you know, when we're texting there in the game, about you know, when guys come in, you know, we're talking the game, and we.

00:58:51
Speaker 7: Both kept asking for the curve ball because I believe.

00:58:54
Speaker 6: In big moments, when the game is at its highest moment, people can hit a rigging fastball shot out of rifle. You know, we're all moving fast, our heartbeats beating fast. I think sometimes slow is most effective in those situations. And sure enough, Chris Bassett, you know, has the cahonas to throw that seventy two mile out kurbball in there, and I expect that to be a factor in this game. Although the Dodgers have been there, done it, they have a little bit slower heartbeat than maybe the Toronto Blue Jays. Tonight, expect John Snyder to you know, stay on script with like the Louis Varlins and the Jeff Hobbins and the Sir Anthony Demingis. But I don't think what happened to him with you know, Brandon Little in Game six is going to affect the way that he uses Maybe he finds a different pocket for him.

00:59:40
Speaker 7: But I expect all hands on deck.

00:59:43
Speaker 6: I expect some out of the box thinking and really just trusting his guys because I think that's what's gotten to this point.

00:59:49
Speaker 7: I don't expect John.

00:59:50
Speaker 6: Schneider to change the way he's managed up until this point.

00:59:56
Speaker 2: KP.

00:59:56
Speaker 1: Hitting question for you, and we're going to cover this a little bit in our segment so you can help us kick this off. What do you have on the bat speed conversation? And Dave Popkins as if you know he's bringing this concept to players, like, hey, if you swing the bat faster like that, that could create an advantage for you. But there's also the balance, of course, if not striking out too much. So that plus I'll add a story from Mitch bennon The Athletic that I read last night, and Popkins, who is beloved by the players, said in the first two games against the Mariners, they were owning the zone and he said they needed more slug and they were able to turn that on with their game plan. So I don't know if those two things that just asked are connected. But just curious to get your thoughts.

01:00:40
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I know it sounds kind of like an elementary thought that you know, more bat speed would egal more velocity and more power, But it wasn't probably something that was talked about a whole lot. And maybe the previous regime of hitting coaches here, and that's me maybe speaking, you know, out of turn. I don't know that definitively, but I do know that the new hitting coaches they brought in, you know, implemented that.

01:01:03
Speaker 7: And you know, I wish it.

01:01:05
Speaker 6: Was as easy as, you know, just saying, hey, we're going to alter our game plan, We're gonna slug more. But the strength that the Blue Jays do have is that they do put the ball in play. And I think they just had to kind of recalibrate what they meant by putting the ball in play. Didn't mean just hey, move advance the ball, like, let's take our shots early. I think when you have a team that doesn't strike out, and is that a really good contact team is you allow them to take bigger swings early in the count. You allow them to hunt pitches in certain zones and allow them to quote unquote maybe swing for the fences a little bit more early on in the count, because as you know, they get deeper in the count, they have that ability to maybe shorten up a little bit, you know, use the opposite field, just put the ball in play, you know, talking the front office, talking to you know, Mark Shapiro. They've talked about you know, Popkins and his staff as being you know, ranchise altering decision then bringing in you know, I've been around a lot of hitting coaches. I've had a lot of great hitting coaches. I've had some very average hitting coaches. My conversations with them is the exact type of guys that I wish I would have got a chance to, you know, play for what they what they're big on is stay with your strengths. You know, we don't necessarily there's obviously a biomechanic aspect, but what they really want you to do is be the best athlete you can be. Being around them during early BP, I mean they're just having these guys launch, and you know, does that translate into the game. No, But they want these guys to feel free and move fast and you know, have big lay kicks and move athletically and then they can always kind of narrow that kind of you know thought process, game planning, you know, mechanics stuff. But really they're just trying to get the best athlete out of every hitter, you know, and getting their big guys. Getting Glady and George was a big part of getting those guys on board. And you know, I from what I had heard, Carlos Korea maybe reaching out to George Springer and being like, hey, these guys are the real deals, like give them a chance, you know, put let us let them, you know, trust these guys.

01:03:08
Speaker 7: And obviously George, you know, was able to.

01:03:11
Speaker 6: Kind of trust these guys and and and move forward from you know, a couple of rough years and you know he's gonna get MVP votes this year. So a lot of credit to obviously the players, but behind the scenes having great hitting coaches that are always constantly preaching positivity and getting your swing off, and you know.

01:03:30
Speaker 7: You guys could attest to it too.

01:03:32
Speaker 6: You know, you get a lot of hitting coaches that say like, hey, I want you to hunt here, but I don't want you to go here, and don't chase here, and and this and this. They're really big on Hey, if this is your zone, you want here if the pitch starts here and you know it's a breaking.

01:03:45
Speaker 7: Ball fit and you get fooled.

01:03:47
Speaker 6: Good, I want you to hunt this zone and get your swing off. And there's a lot of times they try to make an approach seem like it's so easy, like, oh, just hunt this pitch. Don't don't, don't don't Like you know, guys don't tunnel pitches. Now, they are good with you staying in your tunnel and getting your swing off. Type of guys that I wish I could play for, because a lot of times when you go up there with the idea of yes and no and no and yes, like you know, it starts to become a math equation as opposed to let me just be the best rigin athlete I could be. Let me grab this bat, let me swing it fast, and let me try to do some damage.

01:04:21
Speaker 1: Hey, real quick, what did you say about Korea and Springer? So you're talking about Popkins? How you went from the Dodgers actually to then to the Twins Twins let them go, whoops, they're bad? And then Crea said, hey, this guy's really good.

01:04:35
Speaker 2: Yeah.

01:04:35
Speaker 6: I mean, as you know, like anytime you whether you're a hitting coach, whether you're a sports psychiatrist, whether you're you know, pitching coach, getting players like being able to come into a new environment. The hardest thing you can do is try to earn the trust of players. And if you have players maybe in an other or your previous organization, that are able to reach out to players, you know, in your current organization, and you you give them, you know, their blessing, and you say, hey, this guy's the real deal, you know, and you get kind of cut through that, you know, that little dance maybe early on in the off season or spring training of like, you know.

01:05:12
Speaker 7: Why is this guy calling me?

01:05:13
Speaker 6: I don't know him? You know, what's he have to offer me? When you can get a player's blessing and be like, you know what, this this hitting coach was unbelievable. And there was places that I went, you know, and I was able to either reach out to players or players reached out to me and was like, Hey, coach X is the real deal, and like you don't have to go through that bs of like what's he have to offer?

01:05:35
Speaker 7: You know?

01:05:35
Speaker 6: Can I trust him?

01:05:37
Speaker 2: You know?

01:05:38
Speaker 7: You know, can I be vulnerable with him?

01:05:39
Speaker 6: Is he going to run in the front office? Is he going to tell someone, you know, does he really know what he's talking about? When you get that confirmation from a guy like you know, Carlos Korea, who's obviously good friends with, you know, George Springer, and George Springer is able to hop on from day one because he heard from his buddy that, hey, Dave Popkins is the real deal. And then you know, Springer maybe can convey that message to a Boba Shed or a Vladie and you get your big boys on table and then everyone else kind of follows. I think that's what you're seeing there, you know. And obviously I wasn't around in spring training, but if you talk to these guys about them, they smile ear to ear with confidence in what that hitting departments being able to do for a lot of these players, and what they're able to do game planning, And you know, I asked them questions before the game about, you know, how you guys going to game plan for them, and I'm like, do you have a backup plan and a backup plan?

01:06:29
Speaker 7: And they just wink.

01:06:30
Speaker 6: So I think they're always, you know, one, two, three steps ahead of maybe the counter that the picture or the opposing team has, so.

01:06:38
Speaker 5: It's been fun.

01:06:38
Speaker 6: It's been a lot of fun to watch, and uh, it definitely seems like a place that I would have thrived as a hitter.

01:06:45
Speaker 2: Last question before we let you go, fun little question.

01:06:48
Speaker 4: There's a lot of song songs that are gonna be sung here, a lot of artists that are playing.

01:06:53
Speaker 2: Give me your favorite one out of us.

01:06:54
Speaker 4: We've got Pharrell, we got a Lessi, Akara, Bibi Rexa, Jonas Brothers.

01:06:59
Speaker 2: Who are you most excited to hear? Uh? Either play the answer?

01:07:04
Speaker 6: Where's the Jonahs Brothers? Is that confirmed in l A already? Because I think that the first two were confirmed here where the Jonahs Brothers? Like a, they're confirmed to do it at the point?

01:07:13
Speaker 4: Right, I thought it was Game one and two. Let's all I forget about Jonas Bright how about I.

01:07:17
Speaker 1: Got it taking place after the fifth inning of games that'll extend the moment with a special This is they're part of the stand up to cancer, which is always kind of one of my favorite parts that I heard.

01:07:29
Speaker 6: About the game one Game two.

01:07:32
Speaker 7: I didn't hear the Jonas.

01:07:33
Speaker 2: Brothers, but.

01:07:35
Speaker 6: I mean not not not not my most favorite type of music. But I think Pharrell is kind of an icon in the music industry. You know, I love I love hats, and he's got a sweet hat game. So I imagine his hat is going to take up a big part of the stadium wherever he's at. And you know, I heard I heard that. Uh, it's more than just him. I think it's a it's gonna be a full blown show. So I'm definitely excited to see what he brings pregame today.

01:08:04
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, Ifreg wants to stop by, then he's invited. I'm sure. But we'll see, we'll see. This is his moment.

01:08:11
Speaker 5: What do you guys got? What do you guys?

01:08:13
Speaker 6: What's your guys predictions? I listened to a little bit early on, but I was coming back. What do you guys got.

01:08:19
Speaker 1: In terms of the music or the game?

01:08:21
Speaker 7: No? No, no, no, the game, the game, the series.

01:08:27
Speaker 1: At the beginning, no, we didn't do our predictions that we're gonna do him at the end. I like what you said at the beginning, Like I don't see the Blue Jays winning a short series. I think the Blue Jays either win in like a game six or seven or the Dodgers. The Dodgers can win in a six or seven, but they also could win in four or five. I don't think the Blue Jays are winning in four or five games. The Dodgers are too good.

01:08:47
Speaker 2: Do you agree? No, he's not gonna like my prediction, so I'm gonna be quiet. We're gonna.

01:08:54
Speaker 1: Too early in the show. On the show, tune for slap Pants.

01:09:01
Speaker 3: Log in the foul Territory in Canada. We're in Canada, Japan, Dominican, everywhere. KP. You'll see our picks.

01:09:09
Speaker 2: I can't wait.

01:09:11
Speaker 1: Okay, well, KP, great segment. You're the man. You're crushing the broadcast game. Have fun out there, enjoy it, and we'll talk to you next week.

01:09:18
Speaker 7: Ali, see you guys next week.

01:09:20
Speaker 1: See uh, that's Kevin Pilar And also on the screen now Ken Griffey Junior and Mike Trout part of the free to download MLB nine Innings twenty five. Scan the QR code on the screen you can nowload the game. Subscribe to FT We're flying, press that sub button. Baseball the way it should be covered, covering both teams doing our best, and a shout out to the team behind the scenes just bringing it. First class production, first class guest list this week too.

01:09:51
Speaker 2: KP.

01:09:52
Speaker 1: Smoltz Bieber, and the list goes on and on. We have some word from Rokie Sasaki on how serious his conversations with the Blue Jays were. Remember, the blue Jays actually have Miles Straw on their roster because they were freeing up space. They took that money on from Cleveland, and good for them. They actually got themselves a player who's having his best season ever. I think it's either number one or number two from him. He's been a really valuable part of this team and he's on the roster here. He's fast, it's a good defender. Anyway, we can show you here what Rookie said he was strongly considering the Blue Jays and was definitely close to signing with Toronto. It's actually really hard, this is the quote. It's actually really hard to express why I eventually chose the Dodgers. Really, this is no slight too hard to express, because yeah, I don't believe.

01:10:47
Speaker 3: You so hard. It's so hard I can't even come up with the words. Maybe I'll ask my agent why for the years before that I signed here, he was pushing me for the Dodgers. It's so it's just I can't I can't figure out why. But I'll put together a statement at some point to tell you why I chose the Dodgers.

01:11:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a tough one. I mean, I don't believe him, but that's okay, that's me. It's not a conspiracy either. At the time when people are they already was a pre cut deal, a pre cut deal for what every team was paying him between like five and ten million dollars. This is not Yamamoto's contract. So I'm like, it's not that he just he wanted to go there to a team that's very good at recruiting Japanese players. They happen to have the best player of all time on that team. He's Japanese. They're really good. It's not a surprise.

01:11:40
Speaker 3: There's too many there's too many statements that are like, wait, what of course they knew where they were going to go? Be a bad agent if he didn't tell them.

01:11:56
Speaker 1: I like the com waves on a Friday. We're looking ahead to see the waves right now. It is a little chilly day of but outside a little bit. Haven't use that in a minute, haven't used that since last winter.

01:12:08
Speaker 5: Okay.

01:12:09
Speaker 1: So we talked a lot about Game one, and we'll continue to talk about Game one in the series. But let's spend a few minutes on game two. Why because Foul Territory is a Monday through Friday show. Now we are going to be on after the World Series Game one, so we'll still talk about game two. But I just want to bring up Kevin Gossman specifically, Gossman is pitching game two instead of game one. Makes sense, give him an extra day. He pitched in game seven, he Savage did not, so he's lined up. Shi to VD posted the quote from Gossman. I just want to get the player perspective from you guys, and I'll read it for you if I can see it. So he was throwing aside yesterday and he said he went into Game seven of the ALCS knowing that quote if I did get in that game, that maybe Game one would be kind of a stretch ch That was hard for me to swallow, to be honest, he continued, but quote, I would hate to go out there not knowing exactly what I'm going to get out of myself. That played a big part in the last couple days. Krats all, let you start as the catcher where somebody's got to do real talk. I keep bringing up Matthew Boyd from that CUB series when he went on short rest against the Brewers and it didn't work out, And to me, I think it's a very similar case.

01:13:28
Speaker 3: Very similar case. You have to understand your body. I'm not saying Matthew Boyd didn't understand his body. I'm saying Gosmand knew that for him to fully commit to his outing, however long it was going to be in game seven, it would probably be a detriment to him being able to start Game one. And good for the Blue Jays and understanding that and not saying you're our best, we gotta go, we gotta push you. You saw what happened. You see what happens all the time, Not just Matthew boy but you see what happens all the time. Differences in the Matthew Boyd game, they were up against it. The Blue Jays are not up against it. He throws Game one, he throws again, in game four, Game five, he throws, Game two, he throws again, game game six. Matthew Boyd throws Game two. In the NLDS, there's no game six, so that's a tougher. They were up against it a little bit differently, but This isn't just a Gosman thing, because every player wants to get out there and throw in the game. If you think you're the best player out there, you're gonna pitch, you're gonna hit. It's the organization that has to say, Okay, we're we're good, We're gonna, we're gonna We're gonna push you back because what you gave us in Game seven.

01:14:40
Speaker 2: And I think it's this bulldog mentality.

01:14:42
Speaker 4: I think that's the other issue he You know, he wants to be out there, he wants to help out as much as possible, but he also understood like it kind of I feel like he want being that game one starter kind of sets the tone and I feel like that's where he's at with it. I think he's understanding about it and knows that's the possibility if I came in and it was so. But for him, I think he wants the ball now. He wants to be that number one guy, and you know, he don't to prove anybody, but to prove everybody that he is one of the top starters.

01:15:11
Speaker 2: In the league.

01:15:12
Speaker 4: So that's where I'm at with it, and I think it's, you know, water under the bridge now. It's time. It's go time tonight. But for him to say that it ate him up a little bit, of course, But I think he understands going Game two will be just fine as well. If they win Game one, I think he's going to be.

01:15:28
Speaker 2: Even more hyped.

01:15:31
Speaker 1: Hey, coming up next. All right, let's slap we got two orders of business number one. I just love that graphic foul territory post game after World Series Game one live on the FT YouTube channel, Be there, Dodgers, Blue Jay's Baby, it's happening. It's tonight. We're watching and then we're talking to you. We're excited about it, and we want to give a special shout out right now to our buddy Calvin. He's a fan of FT. Actually, his little league coach is a big fan, his coach Marty, and he's got his own YouTube channel, New York Sports Wire. So if you want to give him a little bit of love, Calvin Tome right now battling cancer. He's nine years old, he's out of school. He's doing his thing. Big big sports fan, tons of personality, got a great left handed swing, loves playing the outfield, can handle a little first base. So this is a baseball lifer. He loves the game and he is doing his best. He's battling it right now. So Cavin, we're thinking about you.

01:16:43
Speaker 2: Man.

01:16:43
Speaker 1: Keep trucking through that. You've got this and a little side hustle while he's doing it. That's that's a superstar nine ers shot. Yeah, well, raised Mets fan watched.

01:16:56
Speaker 2: You, so enjoy the World Series.

01:16:58
Speaker 1: Two, kid, we're thinking about your Calvin. You're the man. And for everyone else, enjoy the World Series. Who's winning the series?

01:17:06
Speaker 2: Dodgers and five?

01:17:08
Speaker 1: Okay, I ow Dodgers and six. I don't feel great about it. I like my heart thinks the Blue Jays are going to be this crazy story. But man, the Dodgers are so dominant.

01:17:17
Speaker 2: They might win one these first two games, but they're not winning at home.

01:17:20
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