Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) 1st in MLB, Astros’ Ronel Blanco suspended & Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. struggles

Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) 1st in MLB, Astros’ Ronel Blanco suspended & Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. struggles

looking at the advanced analytics to me is almost like taking a peak under the hood at what exactly is going on and I am here to say yeah that I’m going to agree it is it is time to worry about Ronald aunia Jr byly ball under the track at the wall it’s gone home run turns on a ball deep right field and go what a game what a moment happy Friday my friends welcome to another episode of fliping bats we got a fun one today we’re going to do making a statement Ronald aunia Jr am I worried or am I not about him we’re going to do some City connect talks there’s a lot more City connect jerseys out we’ll talk all about those if we like them if we hate him the entire concept uh and also ronel Blanco ejected from a game for the Astros the other day and suspended we’ll talk about that it’s this week in sh Otani news today and name that team where I have been told for certain Alex that I am not getting a single one we have three we’ll go all around the infield where they’re from we all know the deal I’ve been told I will get zero to that I love like the morning meeting just the immediate doubt of yeah Ben this is going to be it’s going to be an L for you a zero and what did I say as a good teammate Alex Believes In Me I said no you’re going to get at least two I hadn’t seen them yet you hadn’t seen them but you believed in me and that’s called friendship that’s called teamwork now that’s team too early too early in the show to be singing too early to be singing is it though is it yeah good point do you know where that’s from though no idea Tenacious D never heard of that either Jack Black heard of him I like Jack what okay we’re gonna have a little story time after the show can’t believe you don’t know that song I love Jack Black I tell you that much all right thank you for believing in me you know who I believed in welcome who the remember the deal we had no no we don’t have a big Astros Talk plan today but it was like a month ago you your favorite statistic of the year so far has been that the Athletics were ahead of the Astros and the standings and it did not take long for that to change we record on Thursdays it’s Thursday that’s no longer the case they bumped up we got little bit a little bit I know they fourth place in so you’re just like the slow drive here we come we going to make have games out of first place but we’ll talk about it more I’m sure but not today we’re not going little Astros talk today but that’s with ryel Blanco you’re welcome you’re wearing a yordon shirt so you had to get it in I had to yeah I had a feeling that was coming and I saw all your tweets of like people giving you credit like he was right we don’t have to worry about it yet there hasn’t been a lot of he was right it’s just me sticking to it saying whether I’m right or wrong at the end of the year there is no denying there is not going to be any Den that at the end of year whether right or wrong I have stuck with they will be fine have no fear the Astros are inevitable Oh I thought you were going to say have no fear the Astros are here it was right there for you like come on okay well let’s get to making a statement you guys I’m going to give Ben some strong statements he’s going to tell me if he agrees or disagrees with them so let’s get started in Atlanta because our first statement Ben it is time to worry about Ronald aunia Jr I was very ready with this statement to say the following words are you kidding me it is so early in the year we were talking about Aaron judge the same way Aaron judge has turned it around he’s top 10 in the league in Ops at this point it’s early he’ll figured out but then I did a deep dive into the statistics the advanced analytics to really take a peak looking at the advanced analytics to me is almost like taking a peak under the hood at what exactly is going on and I am here to say yeah that I’m going to agree it is it is time to worry about Ronald aunia Jr not worry that he’s going to end up being better this year he’s a good player but he needs he’s the best player in baseball last year him him and Otani and I had him winning the MVP again this year and is he going to do that not at this pace so let’s talk about it okay just on this is outside of the hood at this point last year he’s hitting 348 with 10 homers 26 RB and 17 stolen bases 348 2024 to this point 245 with three homers 11 RBI and 14 stolen bases so the only thing even close is that stolen base number now here’s what really worried me let’s take a peek under the hood here last year this is his full season numbers and and where he ended up ranked he ranked in the 100th percentile the absolute best in XA which is these are all advanced statistics but expected weighted on base average expected batting average expected slugging percentage average exit V he was in the 100th percentile in all of those so 2024 expected woba 76 percentile expected batting average 69th percentile expected slugging 63rd percentile that average exit vo is pretty good still in the 90th percentile um in 2023 he was 93rd percentage in Barrel percentage 98th in hard hit percentage all this stuff has changed drastically and here’s where the here’s where it really gets me he is striking out so much more in 2023 he was 97th in strikeout percentage 97th percentile this year he’s in the 30th percentile for strikeout percentage he was 84th in whiff and Chase percentage he’s 24th percentile in that now so those numbers can’t not scare you and if if you’re not super well versed on Advanced statistics and how they work it doesn’t really matter you just know he was in the 100th percentile and everything last year and and a lot of these especially whiff percentage Chase percentage um strikeout percentage he’s dipped drastically a lot of those in the lower half of the league so his strikeout total is really kind of on par if not higher than where it had been a lot of his career which was the one knock he’s very talented he hits everything hard he can run fast but he needs to cut down in that strikeout total and he did drastically last year and this year it’s way back up and so is the whiff percentage he’s just missing pitches that he shouldn’t so it’s impossible for me to sit here right now and say I’m not worried about Ronald aunia it’s impossible so much of baseball is a mental game I like to say it’s an individual sport played in a team atmosphere right and we see players go on the mental I all the time mainly pictures and sometimes you get a weird kind of injury report as to why they’re going on the 10day I but we heard Braves manager Brian uh Snicker say he gave aunia Wednesday off because they had Thursday off so he could have a couple days to just mentally detox yeah so at this point you have to you have to kind of understand that it’s probably something mental we know he is a great play player he is the reigning NL MVP like he he can be great sometimes you just get mentally out of it and baseball’s such a mental game yeah when you start swinging at stuff you got to figure he’s got to get back to his approach um whatever he was doing last year he’s reverted back this year and those his baseball Savant page those Advanced analytics are scary to look at and you know one thing that also jumped out at me and it’s just it’s been a trend throughout his his career and I’m not saying it’s a reason for his struggles this year but I want to mention it this is his uh percentage in the league and Sprint speed Ronald cunia so many stolen bases last year we know him for his speed in 2018 he was in the 97th percentile 2019 95th 2020 96th 2021 97th percentile in Sprint speed 2022 82nd percentile last last year 67th percentile this year he’s in the 56th percentile in Sprint speed like maybe he’s dealing with an injury that we don’t know about I don’t know I mean but we did see a big the biggest dip from where it was year when last year so I’m not arguing he’s a he’s great at stealing bases he’s arguably the best in baseball at that but just something that jumped out to me is from 2018 to 2021 he was in the top 95th percentile or great in Sprint speed and since 2022 it has dipped about 20% 15 20% every year I mean it’s I mean if aun’s numbers are still this low by the All-Star break I’d say yes you you really need to be concerned but if he can kind of turn it around in the next month is it mental is it physical is he dealing with something that we don’t know those are the questions that like only Ronald Kia Jr is going to know it’s simple these numbers these numbers in in conclusion say okay he’s still 90th percentile in exit vo he still hits balls hard when he hits them where everything has train changed drastically is his whiff percentage his strikeout percentage he needs to get back to his approach he needs to lay off sliders low and away he needs to whatever he did last year easier said than done but yeah do it again man good stolen base record just just do that cut down on the strikeouts change your approach uh get back to your approach I would say and everything will be fine that that’s the big difference he’s still hitting balls hard he still rakes but he’s just got to put more balls in play and then let the let the rest work out as it will all right let’s move on to our next statement this one is getting a lot of buzz on social after a couple photos were recently leaked but the MLB City connects are lazy so here here’s what we’ll start with you can see it in the the wall right now if you’re watching the Dodgers are getting a second City connect Jersey before some teams are getting a first might I add the Dodgers are getting a second the first ones were pretty much consensus worst than baseball these ones maybe a little better but I mean it looks like a kid splattered paint on a white Dodger jersey the only cool thing about it is there’s like an LA inside of like the de the do the Dodgers D on the sleeve yeah but I just I don’t get it somebody said it looks the Direct TV logo yeah so I could see that also the coloring the dark blue with like the Direct TV color blue in the Los Angeles it’s just I will defend the Dodgers on almost everything this I can’t we’re not this is just like there’s there’s so many cool things you can do being from Los Angeles and in the heart of Hollywood and having all of these Superstars and so much culture around the Dodgers organization and we got a spray like not even like a spray splattered like a paint splattered Jersey I I don’t get it here’s what I’ll say I don’t get it all in in conclusion or in total MLB City connects are lazy is the statement I think I’m going to be a bit of a contrarian here okay I think I’m going to be I think I’m going to be in the minority with what I’m going to say but I’m going to disagree with that there’s some that suck absolutely there’s some that I really like but to call them to to say they’re lazy or the concept has been a failure or the concept has sucked in my opinion’s flat out wrong the these jerseys a lot of them are it’s all in the detail of of the city where where your team plays in and I I think when I when I look around the league there are so many intricacies to each jersey that I find to be really cool and and I think I I I I’ll point it the Mets one because it’s a fair new one and I don’t think they were totally beloved by everyone but I look at them and I think man if I was from Queens if I was a Mets fan like these are pretty cool they have that like gothic look to them they have the purple uh the purple outlines in places the purple outline is for the the seven line Subway that takes the that takes people to the Mets stadium um and then there’s the bridge is in the jerseys so this is just one I wanted to point out with the details but they all most of them have a lot of details in them that I think are really cool so I I just think to call them lazy is just people on the outside looking at the Jersey as a whole and and saying eh boring boring they could do better but if I’m from that City I just think there’s a lot of cool parts that make me proud of say man I’m from this city there’s a lot of this City built into this jersey that my favorite team is going to wear and they they’re not these jerseys aren’t made to appeal to the other 29 fan bases they’re made to appeal to my team and my favorite city and my favorite team and I I I do think a lot of them I think a lot of them have done that some have missed the mark some have gone above and beyond and done better but a lot of them I think have been pretty pretty cool to learn the details of well I mean you picked one of the best ones like the mets has a Super Rad vintage New York City Vibe and if you’re watching and you’re looking it has a pinstripe look to it but it’s obviously different than the Yankees Pinstripes and it’s just the the font everything the hat that I think they really nailed it with the look of the city connect so let’s play a little game of lover haate we’re going to show a couple City connect jerseys on the screen behind us okay um okay we’re gonna start with this one we’re gonna start with the first of the Dodgers city connects Los DOD hey I don’t like it do you like it this is the first one you said you don’t love the second one this is the first one I I love this one more than the second one um I also it just it just feels like it’s a normal Jersey yeah like it doesn’t feel I I don’t see the difference it’s the exact same color it’s the exact same Dodgers writing they just kind of put Los in front of Dodgers yeah this one just feels like like this one just feels we have a big but I still love it cuz I love their jerseys you know and that’s like their normal Jersey yeah yeah this one just feels like we have a big Hispanic heritage you know there’s a lot of Hispanic part of this fan base and Mar cater to them with these City connects guess what you could have done a lot all they did was add L Dodgers could have put some color in there other things okay let’s move to our next okay Jersey who we got Motor City this one’s tough because it looks like it got run over by a car it’s just tire marks it is tire marks it’s just tire marks Detroit I get it um I don’t like the hats I I’m not a fan of this one I don’t like the Hat a strong word I’m not a fan of this one I just feel like with the Tiger’s uniforms the old English D is such a big part of that City it feels like you already had that done like just keep with your hat maybe do something a little different with the jerseys I’m going to say I’m gonna say hate don’t love these I get the whole they gave you mot City tition tiin but you could have done it’s really small on the arm patch if you look close the the old school de for Detroit on the arm patch above the number so that’s where you get it really small but you got to look okay let’s get the next one up okay Giants San Francisco I don’t have a ton on these I I hate these too I’m gonna go three for three at the beginning I don’t like these I think the Dodgers and Giants were two of the worst yeah Ben woke up and chose hate today thanks hate hate hate okay yeah not a fan of this one either let’s move on to our next one there wasn’t a lot the arm was kind of cool with golden state but like yeah who do we got next oh Phillies oh my God we’re all starting with I didn’t love these either I know I didn’t either and I I I sent it to a couple Philly fans and just was like is it me is it like I don’t get it I don’t understand the color the font was really weird I don’t know if you saw Trey Turner’s like number on the back is seven looked like a question mark like it didn’t even look like a seven it was just it was tough the blue was off I would have loved it if it was like more towards the Phillies like light blue that they use so let me just say something here what let me ju this this segment idea brought to you by producer Taylor who notably does not like the city connects I come out and say you know what I stand up for him and then he throws all the bad ones out at first so I’m just like hate hate hate hate now he’s about to be like in the segment good job Ben no give me another one come on both not a fan okay another one pop it up white socks love this is one of my favorit this is one of my favorite they absolutely nailed the vibe the look the font the Pinstripes like this I vote they should wear this during the regular season all the time like this should be in the rotation as one of their jerseys probably the best thing they’ve done in in years I was going to this is the best thing the Chicago White Socks have done in a long long time this is I love these These are top these are top three for me white socks love yeah okay next Ray love top top three for me as well really I love them I really I was giving it a closer look today I do love because it’s the Rays they’re in Florida it kind of has like an aquarium feel to it they glow in the dark oh so sick love love changed changed that’s so cool I love anything glowin the-dark done love yeah those are awesome they have a they have a they have a stingray on a skateboard they glow in the dark they have so many cool I just I love these these are awesome okay men okay who do we got next Cleveland these are like one of the one of the newest that just came out these are the new I I haven’t really had time to fully process these but these are kind of the ones I’m this is kind of what I’m talking about with I I think from the outside people look at those and say Co what I don’t what is it like but it really ties in everything with you know I think I haven’t even done any research on the Guardians and what all this ties into but the team name the Guardians ties into that Bridge that’s sort of right outside the stadium and it’s like guarding the city you can see that same kind of structure in the c um I’m gonna say I like these and it’s love or hate so I guess I have to say love do I love them Love’s a strong word but I’m going to go with I love them okay sure I like that we’re doing one more I hope it’s my favorite oh no this one’s tough yeah remember what happened I know I know I didn’t know the meaning of it and I understand the meaning and like why it’s so important to the city city of Boston cuz it’s connected to the Boston Marathon it’s a funny story Alex didn’t know when we first I think this was last year we were talking about City connects and Alex is like I just hate the Red Sox City connects and I was like well Alex here’s the deal they tie into the Boston Marathon and the bombing and she’s like that’s bad bad on my part um these are same sort of thing I love these imagine living in Boston going through that as a city the city rallying around that Red Sox team and Big Poppy when he came out on the field speech then a CLE guess many later at you get a city connect that kind of just ties all of that in and and Honors that and yeah I just think the the Boston Marathon as a whole is such a massive part of that City yeah and to tie it in with the Red Sox I I like them I love them I think it’s cool I another one we didn’t get to show that’s a top favorite of mine are the Padre’s yeah thank you you thank you for putting that in I love I love that’s exactly part of the city the beach love the Astros on to so many that I I like that I just I think they I think it’s a cool concept and they did a good job I might be in the minority but sorry about it all right let’s move on to our final statement in this segment and it’s also got a lot of talk and uh controversy this week ryell Blanco should have been ejected what you think here oh boy yeah not only will I say that ronell Blanco should not have been ejected I’ll also say that it is embarrassing for the game of baseball that ryell Blanco was ejected I really believe that and I I know right now it’s funny for that to happen and everybody say ha look what the Astros are doing again but no let’s take a step back here and realize for the game of baseball this is embarrassing why well I’m going to I’m going to explain why trust me first off this substance was on his glove arm we’re talking about a substance on his glove arm ronel Blanco asked the umpires in this meeting right here if you’re watching you can see it happening he asked the umpires to check his hands because if there was something sticky on his arm or on his glove it should be on his pitching hand right yeah he asked them to check his pitching hand and they wouldn’t do it they wouldn’t even check his hands he said it was rosin and that he didn’t know it was illegal for it to be on your non- pitching arm and hand which makes a a lot of sense he also said that he usually goes through three jerseys per game because he sweats so much thus he needs rosin this has happened since the beginning of time since before these rules started happening since all of this to put something on your non- pitching arm not get it on on your hand and just have it so that you’re you’re not sweating down your arm yeah is is important and also we haven’t established that rosin is illegal in fact what we’ve established is that the only thing you can use is your sweat and rosin yeah so we need to find a baseline there needs to be consistency there needs to be and and look Brent Rooker came out after I think the day after that game and on a a radio network said Rooker handled it so yeah this tweet says Rooker handled it perfectly saying that the stadium was more humid than normal and he feels it was likely just sweat and Rosen becoming too sticky he said it was no big deal to him and then if you go look at there’s there’s pictures of the opposing pitcher JP Sears he had to change his jersey mid game because he sweat sweated sweat he sweat through the look at this we were there during the postseason and one of the games the air conditioning broke and it was like a full like it felt like you were just like everything was soaked even if you weren’t playing Just In The Sand so imagine being in that scenario but all eyes on you like all lights on you the heat the humidity and also like this is this is what you’re like what what you’re told is legal if that’s what you’re doing I I have a hard time wrapping my head around how we’ve seen a few different umps do a few different things we’ve seen different umpires tell guys to just go get a different glove go wash your hands or you’re going to get ejected and suspended 10 games and fine so that’s where there’s an issue especially when it’s just something that we are all under the impression is a legal substance when it’s rosin people sweat differently like I we need there needs to be like a code we need to find a baseline we need to find a consensus for two different things number one what is too sticky what is too sticky how can we figure that out it’s 20124 we have to have a better way than an Umpire walking out to the mound saying well by golly that’s too sticky yeah we we just have to you’re rejected too sticky get out of here we have to do better than that we have to find a way to to be able to take his glove after a game and test it we can it’s again it’s 2024 you can test anything test what the substance on it was they know and I guarantee you by now they know they were wrong they know okay sure it was sticky and the Umpire came out and said it was the stickiest I’ve ever felt since since we started doing this well that’s fine maybe maybe it was more humid and than any game you’ve ever done maybe he needed more rosin because he sweats through three jerseys a game than he’s ever done that doesn’t mean that it was necessarily illegal and he wouldn’t even check his hand which to me is an ego getting in the way saying no no no this substance is too sticky well why don’t you check my pitching hand where I touch the baseball with uh so that’s number one number two is what are grounds for an ejection because ronell Blanco’s glove was apparently too sticky he was immediately thrown out of the game let’s go back back to Domingo germon who was told that he had too sticky of a substance on his pitching Hand by the way twoo sticky of a substance needed to go wash his hands and change his glove and was allowed to come back in the game Clark Schmidt same sort same sort of thing told to go wash his hands Max Scherzer told to go wash his hands now all of these guys are are aren treated differently why is that the case is it an Umpire by umpire decision and I I’m not saying that ryel Blanco if he was doing something too sticky shouldn’t have been ejected what I’m saying is we need to find that Baseline and find the way to and find a baseline for grounds for an ejection and say okay if if a substance is too sticky and it’s on their hand ejection immediately if a substance is too sticky and it’s not found on their hand but it’s on their their glove hand or glove arm or glove the consensus is go wash your hands after this inning go wash your hands and change your glove and come back but not grounds for an ejection and if there’s a substance that doesn’t meet a certain parameter that it’s it’s not quite as sticky as what’s illegal you’re fine please continue but right now it just feels like there’s so many different factors we could run into an Umpire that just got cheated on by his wife and he’s having a bad day and he’s like ah you’re out of here we could run into ANP ire that found a $100 bill on the street and allows the stickiest substance of all time to to continue and there it just it seems like it’s two up for grabs and I’m not okay with that find the consensus find a baseline go from there but I’m tired of seeing a team that’s trying to make a push have a pitcher that they need that’s been their best pitcher all year get suspended for 10 games because an Umpire comes out and says nope you’re out of here substance is too sticky one was it too sticky how do we know two wire other pitchers with the New York Yankees or or with another team allowed to do different things I don’t get it it’s not right it’s a bad look for the league I think that’s embarrassing and it’s something that needs to get fixed breathe I hope no umpires are getting cheated on by their wife so it’s just an analogy like that was that was personal that was harsh Ben had to get something off his chest all right yeah good one that was a good one thank you and now we’re going to move to some positive positive news here because uh sh Otani is not slowed down this season so it’s time to give him your favorite segment it is time for my favorite segment of all time this week in show Otani news we’re going to talk about how good he has been at the plate offensively which feels like a theme in these segments we’re going to talk about another Homer he hit this past week we’re going to talk about his bobblehead night from yesterday there’s a lot to talk about today Alex because Shi just seemingly all but like maybe one or two days of the Season all one or two weeks of the season so far has been absolutely raking yeah he has I mean he almost hit a home run into the water in San Francisco the other day like it was the farthest point of the stadium on the walkway just before the ledge before going into the water 446 foot home run he’s going to hit a ball out of Dodgers Stadium I hope so soon I hope so you know this is a this is a a funny story but I’ll tell it here in this week and show Otani news but a couple years ago it was 2017 okay World Series I’m in dodg stadium um with a little bit of a name drop here um but Justin was pitching Justin’s not the name drop uh game two okay so I’m like super locked in in the sweet edge of very last seat bottom row of The Suite on on the aisle yeah and I’m like super locked in Justin’s about to throw his first pitch the World Series and there’s somebody just standing right here next to me and I’m like chewing my nails you know you know what I’m doing I’m like dude what get out of here are you kidding me Dodger Stadium World Series and I finally look up and it’s Reggie Jackson and I’m like all right well jokes on me here’s Reggie Jackson sorry Justin I’m gonna stand up and talk to Reggie Jackson so he starts long story short he starts telling these stories of when he was playing in Dodger Stadium and when he was playing there in the World Series and he goes there one game I hit three homers in one game the first one went out of the stadium over there the second one went out of the stadium over there and the third one went off that scoreboard over there and if you don’t Reggie Jackson loves him some Reggie Jackson he was loving telling this story but I was loving every second of hearing it and when I think about sh’s homers and how far he hits the ball I really do believe there is no doubt that sh Otani is going to hit baseballs out of Dodger Stadium so the point of story was to say it is possible it has happened it does happen I think Shi is going to do it and uh it might happen sooner than later I hope so I mean if anyone can do it it is Shi what a um leaning that way and John Carlos Stanton did it I believe um I don’t know if he’s the last to do it but I know he did it years ago I believe he was still on the the Marlins but he can do it Shi can do it as well this past week just another week of him hitting over 400 he had 429 with that Homer you’re talking about RB Ops of 1.14 it’s just I I don’t know like I you all know I I love sh we’ve had this segment here for a long time we obviously talk about him every week but if you talk about baseball how are you not talking about him EV every single day every single week this guy’s now hitting 364 on the season with 12 homers 30 RB 10 stolen bases a 1o 107 Ops by the way he got his 10th stolen base of the Season while he was sleeping literally overnight they changed one of uh they changed something from a prior game to a stolen base so overnight while he was asleep went from 9 to 10 stolen bases becoming the first player in major league baseball this year to double digits with both homers and stolen bases might I add a little bit of a call back here I called a higher number than at any point in his career with stolen bases this year because he was only going to be focusing on the offensive side of baseball so I look at those 2024 stats and think man those are pretty good where do they rank you ask first in batting average first in hits first in slugging percentage second in war second in homers third in on base percentage those those are his rankings in all of Major League Baseball first in Ops it is it is incredible why we had the conversation I think it was last week what does shi Otani need to do to be in that mvp conversation because we have never had a like a straightup DH win MVP he’s won as a two-way player as a DH and a pitcher but it’s this is what he needs to do what’s it GNA take I was like what are you pointing at what am I looking at oh just finish this way leading the end the season leading the league and hits average sling Ops keep doing exactly what he’s doing and I don’t know I don’t know what exactly what he’s on Pace to hit I I know he’s on Pace to hit 364 that one’s not hard to figure out but he’s on he’s got to be on Pace for close to 50 plus homers and and 50 plus stolen bases I mean he’s got to be on Pace for 50 50 season at this point um that would certainly do it and you know I I just if you look at his numbers across the last 162 games so I know I know he missed time at the end of last year but if you were to look at his numbers as a whole over the last 162 games which last time I checked y That’s a full season of baseball here they are hitting 321 with 52 homers 28 stolen bases a 1092 Ops a 10.7 war 111 Innings pitched on the mound with a 3.57 ER 140 strikeouts in those 111 Innings pitched a WRC plus of 191 100 is League average 91% above League average these are his numbers over the last 162 games played it’s historic it’s remarkable and uh he’s going above and beyond this year and we have more good news because as you know he is still rehabing his elbow and his throwing program has increased with no setbacks so that is the best news possible for Otani in his journey to get back to the mount yeah I I’m I’m honestly I’m not expecting I’m hopeful there there’s going to be no setbacks but his throwing program at this point has reached he’s over 70 throws from about 50 feet uh and he did that the other day in San Francisco so he keeps ramping up he keeps ramping up um you know that’s that’s just the natural progress progression of a throwing program he’s not going to pitch this year no matter how much no matter what people say about where his arm is how it’s responding how his recover is coming he’s not going to pitch this year but it is good to see things continue to progress I also love that photo of them it’s like hey guys thanks for having the segment about me I really appreciate you guys talking about me every week you’re welcome Otani welome also Alex big night Thursday night at Dodgers Stadium Otani bobblehead night his first Dodgers bobblehead they’re giving away uh to the first 40,000 fans which is funny just because there are some St some stadiums that don’t even hold 40,000 how many how how much does Dodger Stadium hold it’s either 52 or 56 56 6 is6 16,000 not going to make so first bobblehead Knight I also saw yeah it’s in this tweet as well 1700 surprise Road gray uniform Otani bobbleheads I’m GNA be honest I don’t know if I want one of those surprise ones I like the home whites no home whites are where it’s at they’re just probably you probably worth a little more because they’re more rare but there you go but I I’d keep you know um I have a box of all of my angel Otani bobbleheads yeah what do I do um what what do I do give them away put them out to someone like I’ve given I a lot of the giveaways we’ve done on Flipping bats were mine from that I would get at Angel Stadium uh so yeah Thursday night at Dodger Stadium was bobblehead night by the way tickets uh tickets skyrocketed for that game oh yeah but get in the building price you know the nose bed that top top section that no other stadium has but Dodger Stadium where you can barely see and your nose is bleeding $191 just to sit up there that’s close to opening day yeah that was close to their opening day that I went to that was good week great week for him and that does it for my favorite segment this week in sh otan news guess what no not ready yep you have the music where’s the music not only have been told I’ve also been it has been a guarantee that I am going to get zero and that this is virtually impossible that I’m we are name that team infield Edition meaning I’m going to give been either the Name of college or high school that the player got drafted out of or the country that they were signed out of in the infield and then he has to guess what team it is okay we get a minute okay you got a minute on the clock oh God are you ready for team one I think I’m G to embarrass myself but yes hey hold on Tio you need to have some confidence going into this if you are going to win something when people are telling you you can’t what you have to do is you have to change your mindset tell yourself that you can do it and you’re going to be a winner see I love the pump up but I subscribe to the philosophy of under sell and overd deliver rather than the opposite of that I’m going really under sell here you know okay let’s go are you ready ready team number one behind the plate Venezuela first and second base High School in California shortstop Dominican Republic second base New Mexico State University okay Venezuela behind the plate it’s not salvi because Short Stop would be Bobby Wht and it’s not him another Venezuelan catcher um Venezuela behind the plate H this is tough man two High School guys from California on the right side of the field 20 seconds um I’m going to go no I don’t think that’s right either 10 seconds left I’m just going surprise team doing well um I don’t know I’m going to go with the well they’re not doing well I was going to go with the Marlins the Marlins are going to be my guest Brewers the Brewers yeah okay I thought that was going to be an easy giveaway Willet short turang Jake Bowers Joey Ortiz did not know New Mex uh New Mexico state William contras dang yeah I feel like there’s a world in which I could have gotten there but not in a minute all right 0 for one okay well let’s change the let change the mindset okay let’s get a little more positive okay and let’s get team number two University of Miami University of San Diego New Mexico State University Dominican Republic and University of Houston name that team so the one no I don’t know why my mind keeps what’s the first first base is University of San Diego yeah USD wait University of San Diego yeah H man 20 seconds producer Taylor could stop talking trash in my ear during this minute that’d be nice is he yeah univers I’m I’m going to go with I’m just going to stab in the dark and go with Pittsburgh pirat yeah come on I feel like I was like T going I was like same division same in my mind was I was saying to you same division Miami was the Miami got me there yeah Monty grandall I knew Miami okay um so yeah that was right here we go I can I can feel the energy different let’s go to team number three you guys behind the plate out of Venezuela first base Mexico second base Dominican Republic shortstop High School in Georgia Third Base University of Tennessee name that team Mexico at first base I don’t like this camera angle I love this camera angle Deep Thoughts with then University of Tennessee at third base um hi school out of Georgia Tennessee at third base who is that come on feel like I’m kind of close um 20 seconds no it’s not I was thinking maybe the Cardinals but that’s not true Mexico at first base Joy manessis but it’s not the 5 Seconds maybe I’ll go the yeah I said you were going to get two out of three I said two out of three baby with one second to spare I feel like that was a win for me too oh man positive mentality I was really talk into existence I almost I had I got to the Nationals really quickly and almost talked myself out of them that’s why you go with your gut but then but then went back to them obviously they wow yeah take that uhhuh haters hey two out of three baby under sell overd deliver it’s classic you should do it in every scenario in life hey in any scenario you’re dating I’m 6’2 just kidding 6’4 in any fa of life I mean come on my positive pump up was also a good lead in speech to get you going yeah but like then you believed in me and I met expectations I set expectations really low didn’t and overd deliver behind the scenes set low expectations well let’s end on that what a great show great Friday episode enjoy the weekend everybody Saturday with Smoltz you guessed it tomorrow Saturday we’re back Monday with a recap of everything Wednesday next Wednesday Kenley Jansen one of the greatest closers in baseball history and uh that’s going to be a great episode so thank you all for listening to this one make sure you like subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast Apple Spotify wherever you can also watch on Spotify you can watch watch on our YouTube channel flipping bats pod there and follow us on Tik Tok we’re getting closer and closer to 100,000 followers and we put some really cool stuff out there so appreciate you all for listening have a great weekend everyone and remember until next time find your bat and flip it peace [Music]

Ben Verlander and Alex Curry bring you everything you need to know about Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani in ‘This Week In Shohei Ohtani News’. Ohtani became the first player in MLB with double digit steals and home runs. Ben also talks about the state of MLB City Connects after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ second city connect was leaked. Ben also discusses Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco being ejected and suspended for sticky substances & more.

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Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) 1st in MLB, Astros’ Ronel Blanco suspended & Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. struggles