It was Nestor who took to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday afternoon with some observations about the new \u201clook\u201d of the ballpark and a day when all of the 42s of Jackie Robinson needed a scorecard to see who was making the errors that cost them the game. Luke Jones discusses the outfield defense and injury problems as Cleveland is next up for the Birds as .500 feels about right.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles\u2019 recent performance, highlighting defensive issues and injuries. They noted the poor outfield defense, particularly the struggles of players like Weston Wilson and Blaze Alexander. The team\u2019s record stands at 9-9, despite key injuries to players like Eflin and Mountcastle. Jones emphasized the importance of Colton Cowser\u2019s defensive contributions. The bullpen has performed well, with notable contributions from Rico Garcia, Anthony Nunez, and Ryan Helsley. Despite initial optimism, both expressed concerns about the team\u2019s ability to win 92 games due to ongoing injuries and defensive shortcomings.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Correct the reported count of playoff games the Orioles have won since 2006 on-air or in related materials.<\/p>\n
Orioles Outfield Defense and Injury Problems<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles\u2019 recent home stand, highlighting the injury to Albernaz and the Grand Slam hit by Jeremiah Jackson.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones mentions the positives from the series, including Jeremiah Jackson\u2019s performance, but notes the overall series loss.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the outfield defense, particularly the struggles of players like Weston Wilson and Blaze Alexander.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio shares his experience at the ballpark, including the lack of information on the new scoreboard and the challenges of identifying players.<\/p>\n
Defensive Challenges and Player Performance<\/p>\n
Luke Jones emphasizes the poor outfield defense, noting that even regular players like Colton Cowser have struggled.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the lack of a plus defender on the team, with Cowser being the best option currently.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones highlights the impact of injuries on the lineup, particularly the absence of key players like Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio expresses concern about the team\u2019s overall performance, including the pitching and bullpen, and the impact of injuries on the rotation.<\/p>\n
Impact of Injuries on Team Performance<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of injuries on key players like Eflin and the bullpen.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones mentions the encouraging performance of the bullpen despite the injuries, with players like Rico Garcia and Anthony Nunez standing out.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio expresses concern about the team\u2019s ability to win 92 games with the current state of the roster and the ongoing injuries.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones acknowledges the challenges but remains somewhat optimistic, noting the team\u2019s current record and the potential for improvement.<\/p>\n
Future Outlook and Defensive Improvements<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the need for defensive improvements, particularly in the outfield.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones suggests that Cowser should be playing more regularly to improve the defense.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio expresses concern about the team\u2019s ability to win without key players like Holt and Westburg.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of getting healthy players back and the potential for the bullpen to continue performing well.<\/p>\n
Overall Concerns and Future Plans<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the overall concerns about the team\u2019s performance and the impact of injuries.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones mentions the potential for reinforcements like Enrique Bradfield to help improve the defense.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio expresses concern about the team\u2019s ability to win playoff games and the impact of poor defense.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones remains somewhat optimistic, noting the team\u2019s current record and the potential for improvement as players return from injuries.<\/p>\n
SUMMARY KEYWORDS<\/p>\n
Orioles outfield defense, injury problems, Camden Yards, bullpen performance, Colton Cowser, Jeremiah Jackson, Adley Rutschman, Kyle Bradish, Taylor Ward, Enrique Bradfield, bullpen depth, defensive metrics, pitching rotation, team injuries, playoff prospects.<\/p>\n
SPEAKERS<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 00:01<\/p>\n
Welcome home. We are W n s t am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively, getting you in through the good weather to get to the bad weather, to get to the draft next week. We\u2019re doing all of this stuff around and we\u2019re gonna be talking plenty of NFL. If you are on the wnst tech service, you\u2019ll get the breaking news first brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy, and I am out doing crabs. I wear my fadleys gear because we\u2019re actually going back to fadeleys on May 13 for the Preakness crab races. I will have these Maryland treasures scratch offs to give away. We\u2019re going to be at faidley\u2019s this week. Or, excuse me, we\u2019re going to be at Costas this week, Koco\u2019s next Thursday. The 23rd we\u2019re going to be pizza John\u2019s on May 1, and then may 7, we go to Planet Fitness and Timonium, looking forward to that. Then on the 13th, back downtown at faidleys, all are brought to you by GBMC. Friday, I am walking a mile in their shoes. Meet me over at South Chapman and Towson free to do make a donation for the Safe Program. Take care of the folks over there that are taking care of women, children and men who\u2019ve been sexually abused, stuff we don\u2019t talk about in this community, but we have a great treatment center right here at GBMC, and that\u2019s Friday. Also our friends at Farnham and Dermer who keep me going with my plumbing and my HVAC. And I invited Zach Dermer to the game. By the way, thank thanks to Wendy Bron Bron fine and the curio and foreign daughter team for inviting me to the ballpark Wednesday with a couple of my drinking buddies and resig and we had a good time in the heat of the battle, but far in the Dermer will keep you cool in the heat. Good thing, my air conditioning was working in the car on the way out of there. Camden Yards, Luke, I went to the game with resig and with John Allen, my rock star buddy from Charm City devils and stone stone horses, and they\u2019re playing next week too. They\u2019re playing over at the auto bar next week. So go see that\u2019s a free show as well. With 98 rock and my buddy Brian Poole, we went to seventh grade together. I\u2019ve known him my whole life. Big baseball fan, and we got plopped down there right at, you know that at the national anthem. And it was, you know, pushing 8688 most of the afternoon, and there wasn\u2019t a clap in the sky. Toasty, yeah, I don\u2019t know. Man, my voice is even you know, I\u2019ve been out in the sun and the weather change and all of that, and whatever the spring stuff that gets up my nose is the pollen and all that. So I do sound a little dead here today, but good afternoon at the ballpark. I know you want to talk some baseball you were doing, liars, lunch and duty, the W NST press box sat seat sat open next to Steve moles and behind rock a buck go. I went up and waved at the seat that I\u2019m not allowed to sit in as a Venezuela on Jackie Robinson day, no less. So I found that to be quite poignant. I did have a dude point out he loved my Aparicio jersey. He said, not a lot of people remember him, and I\u2019m like, Yeah, I played along. I\u2019m like, yeah, yeah. I like, I like this. And they lost in a kind of 10th inning modern baseball kind of fashion through all of this. But I did have a good day at the ballpark and have a lot of observations for Katie and John and Mark and Mr. Rubenstein and Mr. Eric Getty. I have a lot of observations about the money they\u2019ve been spending on scoreboards and whatnot. I\u2019ll get to that. But you want to talk about the baseball team?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 03:12<\/p>\n
Yeah, kind of a thud to end the home stand, especially when you go back to Monday night and Albernaz get hit in the face with the line drive and Jeremiah Jackson hitting the Grand Slam. Albernaz coming back out to the dugout to celebrate with I can say that I<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 03:24<\/p>\n
saw Jeremiah Jackson hit a home run.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 03:26<\/p>\n
Yeah, you did. And look, it\u2019s funny. I brought out a buck ism in my latest 12 Oreos thoughts, I kind of break down this series loss. And yeah, there were certainly positives, but Buck affected you. One thing that buck Showalter said over the years that, I mean, how could you not forget an expression like this? But it was never overlook an orchid while searching for a rose and Jeremiah Jackson in the midst of waiting and waiting and waiting for a large portion of this Orioles, talented, heralded, young core to either start producing or, in some cases, get healthy. He\u2019s just getting the job done, and he\u2019s swinging the bat Well, he\u2019s played a pretty good second base defensively. I mean, we\u2019ll get to the defense in a moment. Because, I mean, that<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 04:19<\/p>\n
was a, I mean, that was on the field. I mean, let\u2019s start with the starters and anybody with the Jackie Robinson thing. But I sat in the bowl of the stadium, and when everybody\u2019s wearing a black 42 on their back, and three of the guys are guys nobody in the stadium\u2019s heard of weren\u2019t on the team today. Yeah. I mean, it\u2019s it really, it was like Bad News Bears, and I\u2019m sitting with rasig, who watches every game. I\u2019m sitting with Brian Poole, my dear buddy, who loves the Orioles. There\u2019s every team. He knows everything about them. He\u2019s very current. And I\u2019m sitting with and John is enough, but not to the point where, like he would know every player on the roster. He\u2019s more football oriented than that, and we didn\u2019t know. And the new scoreboard that Katie spent all this money on did not have the Orioles lineup on. So when the Arizona is batting, there\u2019s a giant thing of, you know, whoever\u2019s at the plate, for them Arenado and there\u2019s, I don\u2019t know who\u2019s playing left field, center field, right field, like I there\u2019s, there\u2019s, I had a good experience on Wednesday at the stadium. Is my first time at the stadium, maybe my only time this year, until Wendy gives me tickets again, or somebody else gives me tickets, and I don\u2019t even get what they\u2019re doing. They\u2019re spending all of this money on all of this stuff. And when whoever, who\u2019s the guy playing left field, give me his<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 05:38<\/p>\n
name, Weston Wilson, kick the<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 05:40<\/p>\n
ball around. I didn\u2019t see the play because I was talking every time. No, well, the one that would that cost him the runs, that was a triple, yeah, the third inning, fourth inning, and I turned around and I\u2019m like, I wanted to see the play, right? They don\u2019t show the play. They spend a trillion dollars on a scoreboard. They brag about how big it is, and when it comes time to whip it out and actually use it as a television set to show me what I might have missed, too embarrassing to the young man. We can\u2019t, can\u2019t have it up on the scoreboard after he booted the ball to see what actually happened in the sun. Like I didn\u2019t, I don\u2019t get what they\u2019re doing down there. I mean, baseball aside, we talk about that 98% of the time, like, who\u2019s pitching, who\u2019s hitting, whether it\u2019s good enough, like all of that. But the experience i i John McCain, it. I just want to do this for Katie. That\u2019s for Katie anyway. Go ahead.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 06:39<\/p>\n
Oh yeah. Well, I mean, I, you know, I was talking about Jeremiah Jackson. He\u2019s been one of the few spite spot bright spots defensively. But you look at Wednesday afternoon, you have Weston Wilson, and left, you have Blaze Alexander, who is much more an infielder by trade and center, although he\u2019s played a little bit out there. And you have Jonathan Rodriguez. And right? I mean, even a pretty, even a pretty good Orioles fan, you know, someone who watches most nights, I\u2019m guessing that you would have had some difficulty picking those guys out of a lineup, regardless of the number 42 Jackie Robinson<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 07:15<\/p>\n
day, they were just big looking dudes with 42 and I\u2019m like, Who\u2019s that guy? And I\u2019m trying to get body style, and I\u2019m like, That\u2019s not Taylor ward. And I in the scoreboard didn\u2019t tell me. And then all of a sudden, in the fifth inning, we look up at cows is playing left field again. And I\u2019m like, oh, good luck. And see it<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 07:31<\/p>\n
was him. You know, cows are should have been out there. All I\u2019m going to go on a little bit of a rant here about about the outfield defense in general. I we talked about the defense a lot going into spring training, obviously, and you and I were not the only ones out there talking about the defense and concerns about the defense and cope. We talked a lot about Kobe mayo. We talked a lot about just the defense in general, what it would look like with a new manager and a new coaching staff. Their outfield defense has been awful, and that\u2019s even that\u2019s even talking about the quote regulars out there. I will say this,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 08:05<\/p>\n
we never felt they had a plus outfielder, but you felt okay.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 08:08<\/p>\n
I think Colton cows are a good outfielder. Now we can debate whether he\u2019s best suited to play center or a corner spot. He is a plus outfielder, and defensive metrics bear that out. That\u2019s not I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s Paul Blair. I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s Mike Deborah and his adequate, but he\u2019s, he\u2019s, he\u2019s better than adequate. He\u2019s a good outfielder. We can maybe debate if he\u2019s adequate and center, but he\u2019s been better than that when you\u2019ve also got<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 08:32<\/p>\n
two years so of track record<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 08:34<\/p>\n
on Correct? Yeah. So I would say this much for as much as there\u2019s been hand wringing about his his his bat and his swing and miss and his ability to hit off speed and breaking balls and all of that. He needs to be out there every day, whether it\u2019s center left, right, right, one of those spots needs to be occupied by Colton cowser If he\u2019s healthy, because you saw it firsthand. I mean, you had an outfield defense. And look, I want to stick up for Weston Wilson a little bit. That is a difficult play when you\u2019re talking about that left field and you\u2019re making your first start in that left field. That left<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:09<\/p>\n
fields weird when I showed in stadium and see how exactly it is that<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 09:13<\/p>\n
is not for someone that you just stick out there, and they just stuck them out there. So how much of that is on Craig Albernaz, and how much of that is just the organization as a whole spitting out of lineup. Obviously, they were playing a lefty for the first time, left handed starter for the first time all season old, Wednesday afternoon. But there\u2019s a situation where I look at that and say, Colton kauser, if he\u2019s not playing center, he needs to be in left or right. I mean, you cannot have three below average outfielders out there at the scene on a sunny day, on a sunny day. And you know, I mean, you look at Kyle bradish\u2019s afternoon. I mean, that was a two run triple there, and they changed it from an error to a triple, which was, right, it was a triple in terms of official scoring.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:59<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t see. Easy. I swear to God, I turn my head and they never put the play on the television side. Never seen it.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 10:05<\/p>\n
If, if you\u2019re talking about a solid to good outfielder, they have to make that play right? And Weston Wilson\u2019s not that, and I\u2019m not, I\u2019m not trying to pick on him. He\u2019s he was with Philadelphia the last three years. He\u2019s a major league player in the sense that he\u2019s been around. He was a utility guy for the Phillies. He can play infield spots. He can play outfield spots. I\u2019m not saying, especially considering the injuries they have, I don\u2019t know what everyone expects right now in terms of what the roster is. Right now, we\u2019re, this is like, what the Ravens have three or four corners hurt, and you\u2019re, you\u2019re elevating a guy from the practice squad. Like, what are we really expecting on that front? We\u2019ll get to that in a moment, because I mentioned the first time they faced a lefty starter. But, man, this outfield defense has been a major problem. Taylor Ward is not a good outfielder, or at least has not shown himself to be that, that I thought he\u2019d be better out there. I\u2019m hoping he gets a little more accustomed to playing in left field and and look, it\u2019s not just the weird dimensions and the notch with the wall. Sometimes it\u2019s also, hey, you played in one place for a long period of time. You come, you come to a new ballpark. It\u2019s your it\u2019s where you\u2019re playing half your games. Now, there is a little bit of an acclimation period there that I\u2019ll give him some grace, but he needs to be better in right field. We\u2019ve seen we\u2019ve seen Dylan beavers have hiccups. We\u2019ve seen Tyler O\u2019Neill have hiccups before he went on the i l, of course, they have to be better as much as we talk about the pitching, and you know this rotation, and look, the starting rotation hasn\u2019t been off to a great start. We know that. But whether we\u2019re talking rotation or the bullpen. In the late innings, you cannot give the opposition extra outs, and if you have an opportunity for a play to be made, man, you need to make it. And I would say this, even if it\u2019s not a case where they\u2019re racking up errors, per se. Man, it feels like every time there\u2019s a play to be made in the outfield, they\u2019re just not making it right. I mean, if someone needs to get the good jump to make the play, they\u2019re not getting the good jump. So that\u2019s it\u2019s costing them. It cost them big time on Wednesday. I mean, there were, I mean, all three outfielders at some point in time. You could look at a play and say, Man, didn\u2019t get a great read<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 12:18<\/p>\n
on that, and you lost the game because of that play. I mean that, sure, literally, sure.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 12:23<\/p>\n
So, I mean, you know, I mean, I think, you know, Bradish wasn\u2019t great, but that play, he deserved better, right there. I mean, a good left fielder makes that play. So that\u2019s where you look at that. And I would say this, it look to pull back and look at it from a, you know, 30,000 foot look, Wednesday was the first time it really showed up. Their injuries, right? Their injuries really showed up. Because you think about what that lineup would have been against Eduardo Rodriguez, you would have had Adley rutschman, either catching or as the DH. You would have had Tyler O\u2019Neill. You would have had Ryan mountcastle. You would have had Jordan westburg. Right go down the list of the right handed bats, in addition to having Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso, who you picked up as your big offseason acquisitions, instead, you have Jonathan Rodriguez hitting cleanup. I mean, who? Right? And I\u2019m not saying that. I say that to not be disrespectful to him as an individual. I mean, they didn\u2019t pick him up. They only picked him up a few weeks ago, right? I mean, he hasn\u2019t been around long, but you just look at that lineup, and I would say this, it\u2019s not as though Eduardo Rodriguez pitched great against them, I think for the whole afternoon. First of all, they scored four times off of him. He had been off to a great start this year. I mean, even after Wednesday\u2019s game, his era still sub two, even with the Orioles scoring four times against him, but he threw 98 pitches, and the Orioles swung and missed, missed twice, right? So they they were squaring it up and making contact. I mean, there are a couple opportunities that you know you\u2019d like to take better advantage of, sure, but, but, but still that lineup, whether we\u2019re talking about the defensive alignment or just who\u2019s out there, you know, who, who\u2019s hitting where in the order. I mean, it was just that was a day where, oh yeah, they\u2019ve got X number of guys on the IL right now that really showed up on Wednesday. And it\u2019s disappointing, because you look at the Mojo and the 2023 vibes of Monday night, you have Rogers going on Tuesday, you have Bradish on Wednesday afternoon. You\u2019re thinking, man, midnight, late Monday night, you\u2019re thinking, wow, they\u2019ve got a chance to sweep here. And they lost two out of three. It\u2019s not the end of the world. Let me be clear. I mean, we\u2019ve talked about it. This team\u2019s not firing on all cylinders. 500 is about right from the eyeball test perspective, but it\u2019s still disappointing when you win the opener in the fashion that they did on Monday night, to not win at least one of these next two, to take a series loss at the end of business on Wednesday. That was disappointing, but again, you kind. Look at the lineup, you look at the defense, which is absolutely a problem. I mean, it just comes down to it. This franchise doesn\u2019t value defense. You know, we can keep screaming about it till we\u2019re blue in the face, but they just don\u2019t, I mean, just look at the makeup of their roster. I mean, it\u2019s and, but, but I will say, play Colton. Cows are in the outfield. I get it, his offense, his bat. I don\u2019t know, right? I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s going to become the guy that fully justifies being a top five pick. And you know, the the offensive player we saw two years ago. You\u2019re waiting to see that return, but at the very least, he can pick it to a higher degree than anyone else they\u2019re throwing out there right now. So I get it. He\u2019s a lefty against the lefty bat him ninth that day. That\u2019s fine, but I want to see him out there because, man, the defense we saw on Wednesday afternoon that was below the bar in the outfield. But problem is that\u2019s kind of been the case of just about any combination you throw out there so far here in 2026<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 16:02<\/p>\n
is Luke Jones. He is a Baltimore Luke. You can find him usually in the seat in the new Jim Henneman press box the third base side. He was not in the seat on Wednesday because he was liars, lunching out in Owings Mills with a new coach and and Eric dicostia, so for the Orioles now going on the road. And dare I ask you about the infirmary report? Because I did put the radio on, and Brett Hollander told me about the 12 or 15 guys, however many guys, they got out, whatever it is, what happens first and next year. Because I think you and I have spent so much time the oxygen, on efflin and on the rotation and on whatever the combination would be of we thought Suarez was starting, and he didn\u2019t start. And it was Brandon young. We thought, you know, Suarez was going to start the day before, and he didn\u2019t start. It was Kate Povich. We thought Povich was going to start, but he came out of the bullpen instead. And then all of a sudden, we finally get Dean Kramer back. Like, hey, waiting on Dean Kramer, and he stinks. And so I\u2019m looking at the rotation. And Bradish, let\u2019s talk about him for a minute. Yeah, because I do want to plug my buddy Brian pool, who works for T Rowe, who went to the game with me, because he loves the Orioles. And it\u2019s fun sitting with somebody you\u2019ve known since 1979 that loves the Orioles, right? Because you have this basis of all of this stuff. And we said, oh, man, I agree with you. And Luke, man, I thought Bradish is going to be the Cy Young guy and Rogers is going to be the other guy. And I\u2019m like, well, it\u2019s only five starts, but there is, there should be some concern that Bradish is more like Kramer than he is like Bradish from three years ago, and where the front end of the rotation is and and listen, I already said if they had a left fielder who caught the ball, brads would have won the game. And Braddock was winning the game until the last run that was scored in the fifth. And I\u2019m like, well, Bradish can\u2019t be a winner today. And I\u2019m like, and that\u2019s my old man and me, you know, winning pitcher and all that. I know you hate all that, but I do think there\u2019s something about when there\u2019s the post game shower and you\u2019re down there asking him about it, that he\u2019s the winning pitcher in the game, and he gets a win for his bubblegum card in the back of his stats and for his arbitration case. So I really feel like some of this stuff is getting vultured because of the bad defense. That\u2019s not going to get better, man, dude. I mean, we\u2019re three weeks into this. We worried about this in the spring, and it\u2019s worse than I thought it was going to be from a defensive perspective, because I don\u2019t know who their plus player is. I mean, you might say Alonzo or Henderson or or cows, or they\u2019re all adequate. None of them. They don\u2019t have a guy on the field who\u2019s a star defensive player. And I think there\u2019s some concern that maybe holiday would be that guy, that he could be a little bit of a Robbie Alomar kind of defensive player at that position. I thought Westbrook play third base group. I mean, I wouldn\u2019t have said that about some of their guys. You make a defense on Henderson being better. I\u2019m like, well, give it, give it six months, or give it six years, and then we\u2019ll look at the body of work and say whether he\u2019s, I\u2019m a Strat O Matic guy. I think he\u2019s a three, one to one to four on the maybe a two, definitely not a one. And I\u2019m looking for ones in the Tom cap Nestor Mike Schilling way of playing stratomatic baseball and saying who\u2019s an excellent defender on the team. And rushman was at the before the injuries before this and that he was thought one, one cannon behind the plate. You know, calls a great game. He\u2019s a guy you want behind the plate, not Passio, not the guy that was catching on Wednesday, who did hit a double. So, you know, it\u2019s good. Number 42 hit a double on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 19:36<\/p>\n
Sam Hoff, Hall of Famers, Hall of Fame linebacker,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 19:39<\/p>\n
Sam Hoff. Sam Hoff, I it gave me a chance to tell the stories of interviewing Sam Hoff I\u2019ve done a couple of times. And I, I said to the fellows, I\u2019m like, you know, Steadman. Back in 19 I was still at the paper, so it had to be 90 or 91 Stedman wrote a book on the 58 championship game. I have it. And he thanked me in the book, you know, but Steadman said, senior, I. I\u2019m going to write a book. I need you to call some some people. And he had me call all these guys were alive. Then, how Lee, how whoever the coach was, and Gifford. But he was going to do Gifford, but he had me call Sam Hoff. So 22 year old, little Nestor. Oh, Mr. Huff. Oh, John stepping, I know stepping, so Sam Huff was rough around the edges. So when I saw Sam Huff, I\u2019m like, Sam Hoff was always rough around the edges. And we\u2019re six, like, yeah, and that was just the Redskins broadcasts. So Sam Huff is behind the plate, but defensively for the team, I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s any I can feel good that Bradish might come along, that Boz might be the guy you want him to be, and the guy they\u2019re paying him to be. I\u2019m in on the rotation. I\u2019m the 92 win guy who\u2019s going to lose the bet. By the way. I\u2019m pretty convinced of that at this point, because I think you and I get together too often and talk about their deficiencies, and their deficiencies are myriad at this point with with the injuries, putting the injuries in, and the defensive problems, and the pitching not being great, and the bullpen being suspect, but being fine, the bullpen has been like, okay, Bullpen\u2019s been good,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:10<\/p>\n
yeah, especially considering the guys that they\u2019ve been missing. I mean, really, there\u2019s been one guy out there who\u2019s been disappointing, Tyler, wells right, who gave up, gave up the home run. Their bullpen has been good. I mean, even before Kittredge and Keegan Akin, who, by the way, Keegan akin is beginning rehab assignment, Kittredge, it was kind of concluding his and just went on paternity leave. He and his wife just had a baby, so we thought<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 21:35<\/p>\n
holiday was gonna be the first guy back. And, yeah,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:36<\/p>\n
we\u2019ll get to that. But, but, but the state of the bullpen, especially with the injuries they\u2019ve had, the bullpen has been encouraging. I mean, Rico Garcia has been fantastic. Anthony Nunez, as I said to you with three weeks ago in spring training, keep an eye on him. I mean, because I liked what I saw in the couple times I saw him in the spring. I mean, it\u2019s got a heck of a sweeper and a change up that will play against righties or lefties. I mean, he\u2019s getting eighth, eighth inning leverage situations already, but and he handles it. I mean, he\u2019s so young guy, and, oh, by the way, Ryan Helsley, in addition to the stuff that he had and hiccup month with the Mets aside last year, the guy, the guy who\u2019s been a two time All Star closer and all that, he added a splitter, and you saw him strike out, you know, three pitches, three straight splitters on, you know, on Wednesday, where it was just, you know, dominant against. Oh, by the way, it\u2019s catel Marte, who\u2019s a phenomenal baseball player, strikes him out on three straight splitters. I\u2019d say that new pitch for him is paying some dividends. So I feel way better about their bullpen. And look, it\u2019s always with the caveat. We always say it\u2019s early for the negative stuff. We have to say it\u2019s early for the positive developments too, because it\u2019s still we\u2019re still dealing with a small sample here. But I am much more heartened and encouraged by what we\u2019re seeing in the bullpen, but the defense is just and I didn\u2019t, neither one of us thought it was going to be great, and they are missing a number of guys. And there is something to be said of when you start, you know, westburg Throw out right now, because even if he comes back, is he playing third base? Can he DH you know, or is he DHing only, all of that, but in terms of, like, holiday Jeremiah Jackson\u2019s played slightly above average defense at second base, holiday has never done that. So I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re getting better there. I mean, the idea of what Jackson holiday. You hope he\u2019s going to be one day compared to what he is right now? Well, first of all, he\u2019s got to get healthy, and that risk still isn\u2019t right, as I said to you, despite the timeline of Corbin Carroll being there for opening day and Francisco Lindor being ready for opening day, Jackson holiday has been shut down again. Now I don\u2019t anticipate this being like a major thing, but they got to the end of his rehab assignment and he wasn\u2019t ready, so they had to hit pause and say, Okay, let\u2019s give you a couple days off, and you\u2019ll start hitting again, and you\u2019ll go out again. So not saying he\u2019s going to be out two more months, but it is a situation where, one, When is he coming back? To when is he going to look? Right? And that\u2019s becoming a much bigger question. But they\u2019ve been fine at second base. Jeremiah Jackson\u2019s been a godsend in that way, as much as we\u2019re talking about all the other you know, the Mayos and cows are, and all these different guys that you\u2019re waiting to swing the bat more consistently, or to swing the bat at all. In some cases, he\u2019s been fantastic for them. At some point, you remember Jeremiah Jackson\u2019s 26 and you say, hey, maybe he needs to just be included in the young corps now, because he\u2019s playing that well. But all that said, you look at the overall makeup and you ask, like, who are the plus defenders? I\u2019ll give you the plus defender. I mentioned calzer and I. Not saying cows are in the Gold Glove conversation like that. Good, but the numbers have been able to bear out that he can be an above average outfielder, but the guy to watch, and he\u2019s not going to be ready anytime soon, necessarily, but he is at triple A. Enrique Bradfield, by all accounts, is a fantastic outfielder. So can he hit enough over the next couple months at Norfolk, where, if you\u2019re looking at the Orioles, and they\u2019re plugging along and they\u2019re in contention, is there an argument to be made that come August, let\u2019s say<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 25:36<\/p>\n
they have a defensive need, and they say, You know what, he\u2019s going to hit ninth for us, but he\u2019s going to play plus, plus defense in center field. Let\u2019s get Enrique Bradfield up here, because I\u2019m not sure where the reinforcements are on that front otherwise. I mean, that\u2019s just, you know, I\u2019ll give you another name, Dylan beavers has had some major hiccups in the outfield, but he\u2019s still really young, and he\u2019s good athlete. I still have hope that he can become a better corner outfielder, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s a center fielder. You know, I know they\u2019ve tried him out there. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s that so but they they\u2019ve got to find a way to be better, because you just said it. I mean, not that. Bradish was great on Wednesday, and I know it\u2019s been underwhelming so far. Couple things I was encouraged by from Bradish on Wednesday, much better first first pitch, strike percentage. That was something that was really an issue. His first three starts, he was falling behind very consistently. I don\u2019t care how good of a pitcher you might be, if it\u2019s one instead of, oh, one man, it\u2019s just, it\u2019s not pitching. It\u2019s really tough. I mean, you can, but you\u2019re not going to do that. Do that long, like you might be able to do it in a start or two, where you\u2019re missing and it\u2019s one, oh, but over the long haul, that\u2019s a bad that\u2019s a bad formula. So he was about 70% first pitch strike on Wednesday, so that was good, and his velocity ticked up a little bit as well. And that was good<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 26:58<\/p>\n
to see. So warm day, that helps.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 27:00<\/p>\n
Yeah, I don\u2019t question. I think, I mean, I think that was probably the big factor behind that latter point I made, but he needs to be better. There\u2019s no doubt that said, whether we\u2019re talking about Rogers, Bradish, Boz Bassett, who\u2019s not a guy that\u2019s going to miss bats even when he\u2019s at his best at this stage of his career, or anyone in the bullpen, if you\u2019re not getting swing and miss stuff, what does that mean? You need to have people that defend at least to an adequate, adequate degree. And you know, I\u2019d say this, it\u2019s funny. And don\u2019t get me wrong, this is kind of a veiled, you know, back handed compliment. Mayo\u2019s defense has probably been a little bit better than I thought it would be, although here of late it I feel like it\u2019s fallen off some. He hasn\u2019t hit at all. That\u2019s that\u2019s been the problem with him, but we spent a lot of time focusing on that. But I\u2019ll be the first to admit I thought their outfield defense would be at least better than what we\u2019ve seen. Because, I mean, and Wednesday was extreme again, Weston Wilson making his first start out in left field at Camden Yards, that\u2019s a tough assignment, so I put that way more on manager, coaching staff, front<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 28:06<\/p>\n
office, whoever\u2019s when you put a guy out there and hope that they don\u2019t hit the ball his way, that\u2019s not good. My dad used to do that in little league when right field, you know what I mean, like, well, but<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 28:14<\/p>\n
that was left field, though. So little Louis<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 28:16<\/p>\n
picking daisies, put him out in right field. He didn\u2019t<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 28:19<\/p>\n
have to play Bad News Bears. But you look at bradish\u2019s afternoon on Wednesday, I mean, three of the four runs he gave up were with two outs, and two of them came on that triple, which, yes, by by the by the law of the land, it should have been ruled a triple, but we know that a solid outfielder makes that catch. I mean, they just do and, you know, Blaze Alexander got a bad read on a ball. Rodriguez in right field. You know, there were a couple balls that I thought he had a chance to make a play and did not. I mean, it just was not a good example. But this, this speaks<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 28:49<\/p>\n
to you and me, back in February, talking about this baseball team with kittridge in the bullpen and Aiken in the bullpen and Tyler wells being some sort of swing, you know, Eaton innings. We talked about how many innings efflin was going to have. We talked about rushman being really healthy this year. We talked about westburg coming back by like now after the first injury. We talked about holiday would be back around now. Yeah, we, you know, like just going through all even the problems they were having in spring training, with an efflin looking great in that last start on that Friday night in Sarasota, and just all of the things that were stacking that on opening day brought this full the optimism to think they were going to win 92 games. And now that I\u2019m into it, and we\u2019re watching it, and I\u2019ve seen the atrophy, and I\u2019m seeing the injuries and the level of the injuries, and really, I look, I\u2019m bullish on Pete Alonso, and I\u2019m bullish on gunner Henderson, and I think that they will have good years. I think they will hit 30 home runs. They will, they will be productive. Whatever\u2019s on the back of their base, the baseball card. Take the mean and the median. And I\u2019ll, I\u2019ll say gunner Henderson won\u2019t hit 38 he won\u2019t hit 20. 8032 and I\u2019ll beat Alonso, same thing. And I think Alonzo is going to struggle more here with the left field wall moving back. I think he would have been a 48 home run guy here with the old wall, the 364 I think he\u2019s going to be a 35 because I just think he\u2019s going to get robbed in the same way that mount castle and some of these other guys in recent years, especially when they move<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 30:21<\/p>\n
at least active, I was gonna say at least. It\u2019s not the the full blown all, yeah,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 30:25<\/p>\n
the John Angelos cavern. I\u2019m looking at the team and saying, look, I can make it a nice I love me some Blaze Alexander\u2019s. I mean, I was the Chico Simone fan and the Tom show pay and the Kiko Garcia. But they don\u2019t win championships. They win games, and that you want to have them, and they\u2019re nice, complimentary players, and but when you\u2019re playing Blaze Alexander every day, waiting on a one one, when you\u2019re playing Wilson, whatever that ward to left field, and whoever these guys are like, they\u2019re not what I thought was going to win 92 games. And the more of this that stacks up, and the more that the injuries hurt them. And I mean, their manager took a blind drive in the face the other night. I mean, like, there\u2019s a lot that\u2019s been going wrong here. I don\u2019t know, you know, Mr. Angelos would hear it say it\u2019s that old black cat. That\u2019s that old black cat behind the barn. He really said stupid shit like that, my good looking son. I mean, not that I missed this stuff, but I\u2019m watching Trump, and I\u2019m like, I watched that guy run the baseball team for 25 years saying all sorts of kooky stuff. You and I don\u2019t say kooky stuff, and we\u2019re not Bal and I don\u2019t have to go on like Brett Hollander and praise everything they do and and we can re show their highlights when they don\u2019t play well. I I\u2019m less bullish than I was three weeks ago on all of it, and I think the pitching could save them, strangely enough, I do think the starters I still am not, I\u2019m not, not sold on Bradish, Rogers bars, you know, in a general sense, that they can get good starts. They can, they can pitch well enough for the first four to six innings to really give themselves a chance to win if the bats awaken. But I haven\u2019t been a cowser guy, and you want him to play every day, and I think if he plays every day, it\u2019ll just expose that, like he\u2019s an adequate defender and a hitter with a hole.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 32:18<\/p>\n
What does adequate mean? I guess is what I asked. Because if you look at in terms of outs above average, if you look at it in terms of, like, those metrics, again, I\u2019m not going to be the<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 32:29<\/p>\n
guy diving and stealing doubles. He\u2019s going to make routine. He\u2019s not going to screw you, which is better than what they have in a lot of positions.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 32:36<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what I\u2019m saying. Like, that\u2019s why he needs to play. He because He\u2019s way better than but my point<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 32:40<\/p>\n
is, he\u2019s going to play and he\u2019s going to hit 228, he\u2019s going to strike out 175 times, and he\u2019s going to lead runners on, you know, and he\u2019s going to get deceived by good pitchers. I mean, I think he might feast in the seventh pitcher.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 32:53<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not saying, I\u2019m not endorsing him hitting second, by the way. I mean, like, I\u2019m talking like, like he would have hit ninth yesterday, because they\u2019re playing a lefty right?<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 33:00<\/p>\n
Clean up yesterday. Jonathan Rodriguez, yeah, I know cleanup doesn\u2019t matter anymore, but<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 33:06<\/p>\n
no, it\u2019s not that they\u2019re very injured right now, like everything you\u2019re saying, Look, if they\u2019re going to be this injured all year, then yeah, they\u2019re not going to win. They\u2019re going to<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 33:15<\/p>\n
play 490 Yeah, yeah, they\u2019re going to win 79 games. But I would also, but I<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 33:18<\/p>\n
would also say looking through the lens of how injured they are right now, they are nine and nine, and they\u2019re not six and 12. You know they\u2019re not, they\u2019re not trending in the way they were<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 33:30<\/p>\n
last year. They\u2019ve been playing the worst teams in baseball the last couple weeks, teams pirates might not be a bad team.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 33:38<\/p>\n
I mean, I think you\u2019re, you\u2019re Minnesota\u2019s 11 and eight right now. Texas is nine and nine. Pittsburgh\u2019s in first place in their division. Arizona is 11 and eight. I mean, don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not saying all those teams are going to be like number one, number two seed<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 33:54<\/p>\n
candidates, but how many teams are playoff teams? I don\u2019t know. I think the pirates can be a playoff team based on their<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 34:00<\/p>\n
division and where they are. My point. Point is, and look, we\u2019re no one knows what any of these teams are, right? You know who? I feel really good about that. The LA Dodgers are great. They\u2019re phenomenal. Other than that, I\u2019m not really sure, right? I mean, you know, the Yankees haven\u2019t been<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 34:16<\/p>\n
the Yankees the last five years, because you look up and this guy\u2019s not playing, and that guy, Stanton\u2019s making a billion dollar, billion dollars, and like all of these guys aren\u2019t getting at bats. The Orioles are suffering from that. But they don\u2019t have Stanton. They have potential holiday westburger. They have these potential guys that still have never really done it, to the point where you\u2019re like, they\u2019re a star player, like we feel about rushman, or we feel about Alonso, but I\u2019m waiting on all of these guys, and they\u2019re not even on the field, and it\u2019s the season, and here we go. And I think it\u2019s very easy to find fall behind the eight ball when the manager\u2019s filling out a lineup card he does not want to fill out on a Wednesday afternoon, and the defense cost them, and that\u2019s not going to change. Tonight or tomorrow in Cleveland. You know, for any short term, I am worried about them. I have having gone to the ballpark and sort of looked at all of it. You know, I, I, I\u2019m not bullish on them being an elite team this year in the way that I thought they could be an elite team five, six weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 35:19<\/p>\n
I mean, is that solely based on the injuries, like, what\u2019s, what\u2019s the biggest thing that\u2019s changed your mind, going well,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 35:24<\/p>\n
efflin hurts me. The bullpen being injured hurts me.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 35:28<\/p>\n
The fact that we\u2019re Bullpen\u2019s been really good. I I feel better about the bullpen than I did six weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 35:36<\/p>\n
For now, I think if you lean on it too much, okay, it\u2019s going to break I mean, I\u2019m just look.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 35:42<\/p>\n
You heard me complain about the bullpen for four months. This is me acknowledging that it\u2019s been way better than I think<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 35:46<\/p>\n
their best prayer is get good starts out of the top four guys in rotation. And that was always I counted on that in the beginning they can get a good start and have a left fielder play a fly ball into a triple and cost them three runs in the third inning, and it all that. So you\u2019re<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 36:05<\/p>\n
more so you\u2019re more concerned about the defense than you already were. That\u2019s fair. I look, I\u2019m not going to sit here and defend the defense. The defense is especially, especially the outfield. The outfield defense has been horrendous.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 36:15<\/p>\n
I mean, it\u2019s just the team that I saw was rushman catching 115 games, and Messiah, catching 40. The team that I saw was Alonzo playing 152 games at first base. The team that I saw was holiday as a one, one at second base, coming into his prime gunner, Henderson, playing for a lot of money and finally being healthy at third base. It was Jordan westburg who was going to come through and be that all star he was three years ago, and be the to me, he\u2019s the pure baseball player in all of this, in all of this. I\u2019ve loved Westberg more when he plays. He is a BJ sur off kind he\u2019s a guy you could put in left field and hide because he\u2019s a ball player. And I\u2019ve never been a cows or guy, and he\u2019s always in line for 585, at bats here, because he\u2019s he\u2019s that guy. And he asked look at the other outfielders they have, but the loss of Santander and not replacing that, and Taylor Ward being maybe that, I mean Tyler O\u2019Neill pu to Mike Elias on that in a general sense, for two seasons now. And I don\u2019t know what am I leaving out here. I\u2019m leaving something out in the outfield, or the DH or the bicycles or whatever, but like that, and the five starters, and put effluent in there and put Kramer into relief, I might even talk about Povich or young or Suarez. I didn\u2019t talk about those guys, because those guys aren\u2019t the guys are gonna win 95 games with. Those are the guys that you\u2019re gonna win 79 games with. So and we\u2019re in the middle of April, and every part of this is a question mark, that when rushman comes back, how will it be? Hey, dude, you and I got into it the other day. You pee, peed on me about holiday and about the handmade bone, and where is he and is he coming back? He\u2019s way behind schedule. He\u2019s what? He\u2019s way<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 37:58<\/p>\n
behind schedule. This wasn\u2019t the plan. This is what I keep saying.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 38:03<\/p>\n
Never felt good about a handmade bone injury and him coming back. I always felt like if he does, he\u2019s not going to be what he needs to be.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 38:11<\/p>\n
Okay. I understand that, but now I\u2019m worried,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 38:13<\/p>\n
if you\u2019d be back in July and be regular, be be completely healthy, where he\u2019s not having any effect of that in the way that we saw rushman have diminished seasons. We saw Conor Henderson last year have a diminished season. The whole season, because when you come back and it hurts and it\u2019s sore, it never gets right and and now they\u2019re trying to rush him, because you\u2019re already saying he\u2019s behind schedule. He feels like he\u2019s got to get back. They\u2019re not, they\u2019re not,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 38:40<\/p>\n
they\u2019re not rushing him. Three guys in Major League Baseball had handmade bone injuries at the same time at the start of spring training, Corbin Carroll was ready on opening day and has 1000 ops right now. Francisco Lindor was ready on opening day now. He got off to a bad start. I mean, the Mets are a disaster right now, so I\u2019m this isn\u2019t including their owner.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 39:01<\/p>\n
By the way, every time that guy opens his mouth, I\u2019m like, Oh my God.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 39:05<\/p>\n
Let me be clear. And every player is different. Let me be this is not me accusing Jack Jackson holiday of anything, or the Orioles of anything. He\u2019s absolutely behind schedule. When you look at two other guys that were basically playing them<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 39:19<\/p>\n
and he\u2019s stay behind schedule because they shut him down. So when is he really getting here?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 39:23<\/p>\n
That\u2019s that said Jeremiah Jackson\u2019s been one of their best players, fantastic. This, this version of Jeremiah Jackson that they\u2019ve gotten. And again,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 39:31<\/p>\n
that\u2019s why they\u2019re nine, and nine is because they\u2019ve had overproduction from some places, the bullpen, you know, sort of Blaze Alexander\u2019s put his finger in the dike.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 39:39<\/p>\n
Yes, you know. So, so I asked you, you know, what\u2019s changed for you? I mean, really, the only thing that\u2019s changed my trajectory at this point, look, losing efflin stinks. I wasn\u2019t sure. I wasn\u2019t sitting here convinced that Zach Eflin was going to throw 175 innings for them, you know? I mean, it\u2019s hurt last year. He\u2019s coming off of a back injury, right? I mean, I. I didn\u2019t even think about his elbow, which is the possibility for any pitcher, anytime they go out there. But, I mean, for me, it\u2019s really it\u2019s just the injuries right now more than anything. I mean, I already didn\u2019t think much of their defense.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 40:13<\/p>\n
They\u2019re not playing the players that I thought they can win 92 games. Therefore, I feel differently about them, and that\u2019s fine, but<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 40:18<\/p>\n
I but I would also say this holiday, I\u2019ll give you that one westburg We\u2019ve known since the start, since what, I guess we didn\u2019t know at the very start of spring training about the elbow, but we knew early enough in spring training that that was going to be a major question mark, at best. But rutschman, by all indications, this is not supposed to be a long term injury. I mean, it\u2019s just not. I don\u2019t know if that means he\u2019s exactly back 10 days, but I don\u2019t get the sense like they\u2019re not expecting him to be out a month or six weeks, or anything like that. Mount Castle\u2019s out, you know, is already on the 60 day I\u2019ll. Mount Castle\u2019s barely playing<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 40:56<\/p>\n
as it was. I wasn\u2019t counting on him, yeah.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 40:59<\/p>\n
So I, you know, I, I\u2019m less moved about the impact of that, although Wednesday afternoon was the kind of day where you want Ryan mal castle in there against the lefties. So, so there is that. But you kind of look at their injuries, yeah, it\u2019s concerning right now. And if they have this volume, and I don\u2019t even mean these specific individuals, but this volume of injuries throughout the year, then there\u2019s no way they\u2019re going to win 92 games or 90 games, right? But if they get healthier, right? Not that, not to say you\u2019re going to be perfectly healthy. I mean, let\u2019s, let\u2019s not make this a pipe dream where no one\u2019s on the i l the rest of the year, right? That\u2019s not realistic, either. But if you get the bulk of these guys back, and you can find a higher degree of health, good health, then they should be better.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 41:45<\/p>\n
God forbid they lose Alonzo or Henderson for a month. I mean, of course.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 41:49<\/p>\n
I mean, you know, Gunner Henderson\u2019s one of the best players in baseball. If you lose him, then, yeah, you\u2019re probably sunk. I mean, it\u2019s just that simple, if you lose him for more than a<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 41:58<\/p>\n
couple weeks, baseball, it\u2019s not like Lamar Jackson, it\u2019s not like you know, but, oh, but<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 42:03<\/p>\n
there\u2019s still guys that are that, you know,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 42:04<\/p>\n
this is adding up for me to be very concerned about their playoff propositions and their hopes. And I do believe that the four starting pitchers that they have still have that potential to go out there every night, I have become way more concerned about them kicking the ball around.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 42:20<\/p>\n
Okay, that\u2019s, that\u2019s, that\u2019s fine, that\u2019s fine. I mean, I guess for me, other than the injuries, there isn\u2019t necessarily something I\u2019m seeing that\u2019s drastically changing how I felt three weeks ago. I guess that\u2019s my point. But the injuries, like, if those guys aren\u2019t on the field, and they have multiple guys missing throughout the season, then yeah, it\u2019s going to have a major impact. But where I do take some consolation is they are nine and nine right now, compared to being six and 12 or five and 13, or getting off to a really lousy start. So they\u2019ve been able to tread water. They feel like a 500 team right now, where there\u2019s been some good, there\u2019s been some bad, there\u2019s been a lot of mediocre, right?<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 43:01<\/p>\n
It could be a lot worse. But I would<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 43:02<\/p>\n
also say, I mean, look at the state of the division since the Yankees got off to what they were. I think they were six and one, seven and one, whatever they were, they\u2019ve been very mediocre since then. Tampa Bay has played quite well actually, of late. You know, maybe this is one of those years where the rays? You scratch your head and you say, How the heck are they in line to win 90 games? Or do they come back to the pack? Because on paper, they don\u2019t exactly look over the top, formidable, right? I mean, yeah, I get it. They\u2019re getting some pitching back and some, you know, they\u2019ve got some starters healthy and what have you. But I\u2019m still not looking at the rays as good enough to run away and hide from teams. So you look at the state of the division. Toronto is a mess. I mean, you want to talk about injuries and pitching woes. I mean, look at, look at the state of their rotation right now, the Red Sox are playing a little bit better of late, but they got off to a bad start. So all this talk about how great the Al East is right now, you look at it, and it feels pretty mediocre. Now we\u2019re 18 games in, you know, we\u2019re 20 games into this thing, depending on, you know, when someone\u2019s listening to our conversation, but you know, they they\u2019ve got, they have to be better, and they know that. And I have to think, as they get some of these bats back, the offense can and needs to be better, and will be better, because we\u2019ve kind of said that all along, right? If they don\u2019t hit the ball, then, then they\u2019re probably not going to win. I mean, it\u2019s just that simple. So there\u2019s that the pitching, like I said, I\u2019m more encouraged about the bullpen, way more encouraged about the bullpen than I was four weeks ago. Does that mean it\u2019s going to stay that way? Who knows? But they\u2019ve done the job, and that\u2019s without Kittredge throwing a pitch, or Keegan akin throwing a pitch. And those are two guys that you know say what you want about Keegan Aiken, whether you want to pitch in the eighth or the ninth inning, but he\u2019s he\u2019s proven himself useful over the last few years in some degree to some degree, and kittridge is a high leverage guy, so Rico Garcia is. Been great. Anthony Nunez has been really impressive. Helsley, for the most part, has been really good. So there you go. I talked about it. You need four or five baby even six guys out there that can pitch in a variety of situations. Tyler, Wells has been the disappointment. Can you get him back on track? Or maybe you don\u2019t have to put him in high, higher leverage, because you have those other guys, and maybe he can be a guy that comes in with one out in the sixth inning and he gives you an inning in two thirds, if he can do that for you. Man, that\u2019s some value, right there. So point is, I feel better about the bullpen rotation. I\u2019m not panicked over the efflin thing, but the rotation has to be better. I want to see a way better version of that, of Kyle Bradish. I want to see a better version of Boz Trevor Rogers. Fifth inning aside, the other night has been Trevor Rogers, so I\u2019m not concerned about him. And you know, Kramer can\u2019t give up the long ball. He actually had really impressive swing and miss stuff in that game. But you give up three three pitches that go out of the ballpark, that it\u2019s going to ruin any stat line. So you know the rotation, they lost the depth piece, obviously with ethlin, bullpen, I feel better about offense has to pick it up. I think it will pick it up, assuming they get most these guys back sooner than later, holidays becoming a bigger question mark, I will. I will absolutely give you that, just because his timeline has been behind some of the other contemporaries with that injury, and you\u2019re talking about someone who wasn\u2019t a complete product anyway, as a 22 year old. So I\u2019m more concerned there. But Jeremiah Jackson has eased at least the short term concern. So you know, the offense we\u2019ll see, but the defense, I\u2019m disappointed with that. Not that I thought it would be great, but I think right now, for things that we blamed Brandon Hyde and the coaching staff, well, it\u2019s a different manager, and it\u2019s a different coaching staff right now, and yet that part of it looks very similar. And that\u2019s where I look at it, and say, well, then you just say, like michaelias, does he care about defense? Do they care about defense? And look, once upon a time, 25 years ago, Billy Bean flat out, said he didn\u2019t care about defense. You know, they put Scott hattieberg at he<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 47:20<\/p>\n
never won anything Well, but, but<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 47:22<\/p>\n
they won a lot of games in the regular season. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re I don\u2019t know if the defense what you know, but that said they\u2019ve got to find, they have to find some combination that\u2019s better in the outfield than what they\u2019ve gotten. Whether that\u2019s just meaning man. Jason bourgeois and the coaching staff, they really need to coach them up. But my starting point, my jumping off point, and again, this is not me being a Colton cowser fanboy. This is me acknowledging he\u2019s the best outfielder you have as your roster is currently constructed. I want him out there every night, whether it\u2019s in center, whether it\u2019s in left, whether it\u2019s in right, he can hit. He can bat ninth. I\u2019m not saying you have to feature him and and treat him like, you know, like celebrate him and all that. He\u2019s got his warts, just like a lot of these guys on the roster. But my starting point on improving the outfield defense is cowser needs to be out there and not not worried as much about the platoon advantage, because, well, you could put Weston Wilson or Jonathan Rodriguez out there, and if they can\u2019t catch the ball, whatever they might, might be able to give you that night offensively, which is hardly a foregone conclusion, is just going to get wiped out by the defense anyway. So that\u2019s something where I want to see that altered, because otherwise I just don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going to get it. Maybe beavers, like I said, maybe Enrique Bradfield come August, but that\u2019s something that Wednesday was particularly glaring. But let\u2019s face it, Taylor Ward has had his issues. Dylan beavers has had his issues. So it\u2019s not as they\u2019ve<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 48:58<\/p>\n
all been embarrassed at one point.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 48:59<\/p>\n
So yeah, I mean, it\u2019s, you know, their, their outfield defense has especially been problematic. And that\u2019s, that\u2019s a nice way to put it. I mean, the outfield defense has been playing bad, and that\u2019s something that has to they\u2019ve got to find a higher level. It\u2019s not going to be a Gold Glove level. It\u2019s not gonna be great. Probably it\u2019s not even gonna be good. Actually. Can you get get closer to average? If a play is out there to be made. Make it doesn\u2019t mean a diving catch, but if you can make it by getting a decent jump on the ball, go make the play. And that those are the plays that they\u2019re not making right now. That\u2019s really hurting their pitching staff.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 49:32<\/p>\n
Luke is here. I was at the ballpark on Wednesday. Our press box seat was empty because Luke was in he\u2019s the chosen one from the the organizations. I don\u2019t know what I am. I don\u2019t know what they they got mad at me for calling them neophyte with the words I use, neophyte, bush league. And there\u2019s another word. One of them got mad at me and I said, You should hear what I call you privately. You should hear what I say about you off the air, what I. Say on the air, is sanitized. So I\u2019m sitting in my seats down in the fourth row curio and Wendy bronfine and foreign daughter gave me their tickets. It\u2019s really hot. I mean, it was really hot, like when I left, I wear the shirt that I wear in yoga, and I could have rung it. I mean, it was I was drenched. I drove home with my shirt off in my seat belt on me because I was just drenched, and a beer vendor came up, and I\u2019ve never met him before. It wasn\u2019t like Clancy or beer vendor Phil who I took a picture with my old friends that are still there. I still miss mark, the shaky lemonade guy who left us a few years ago, but walking around, saw some friends. I sat back in my seat. Beer fender came over, like, third inning. He\u2019s like, Hey, man, you\u2019re the union guy. And I\u2019m like, You sure? He\u2019s like, Yeah, man, you\u2019re the one that got everybody together, got him united to walk out. And I\u2019m like, Yeah, that was me, yeah, yeah, yeah, thanks, man, you know. So I talked to him, so he remembered free the birds, but he like union guy. I\u2019m like, sure that\u2019s me, you know, like, but, but he meant fan union, which I thought, Oh, that\u2019s a neat way of looking at it. 20 years later, so somebody defecated upon me. Imagine that on Facebook. This was a real person. They\u2019re not like the bots that come when I shit on Trump. This was like a real fan that I\u2019m in love with myself and like all this stuff. So I thought to myself, it was a free the birds post, which dude it\u2019s this is the 20th anniversary. So if I\u2019m ever gonna get all excited about free the birds, that September 21 will be my day. But the picture that my buddy took me had an empty section 388 all those seats are empty, and I always sat in 388 like it wasn\u2019t a joke to sit there. You could see the strike zone better there. Like, that\u2019s why I liked sitting there. And they were cheapest seats. They were eight bucks or whatever. At the time, seven bucks. And you could go out sit in those seats. There\u2019s always room out there. And I like the view of the stadium from those seats out in 388 and there was the closest to the strike tonight. I feel like, even with Wendy\u2019s amazing seats and all, they can\u2019t see the strike zone most places in the ballpark, and when you sit at home all day, we went through this the other day. Like sitting at home watching Game On TV is way better than being there. It just is. I\u2019ll tell Katie that Don any of them, they have their hands full trying to get all this money out of people that like baseball when you can\u2019t see the strike zone. So free the birds being the 20th anniversary guy deficates Pub me on social media. I\u2019m like, fine. I\u2019m used to that. My wife\u2019s not used to it, but I\u2019m used to it. My family doesn\u2019t like it much, but I get used to it. I googled, how many playoff games have the Orioles won since I did free the birds, it\u2019s been 20 years. Do you know how many they\u2019ve won playoff game, not series, just games that they\u2019ve won in postseason less than I thought six, five was the number you might be better than the than the it\u2019s they won the 2012 wild card game.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 52:55<\/p>\n
They won two games in that division series, and then they won three games against the Tigers so 2014 so<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 53:04<\/p>\n
they lost three to two and it added it wrong. You\u2019re right. It is six. It added it as one. The AI got it wrong. Imagine that. Hallucinate it. They lost the series three to two to the Yankees. When we were up in New York that night, they had two wins in that series. So there\u2019s been six. Okay, so five was the wrong number six in 20 year either way is like, I<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 53:23<\/p>\n
mean, we\u2019re splitting hairs<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 53:24<\/p>\n
on that\u2019s what they\u2019re trying to sell to people, and that this year would be different. And I was the one selling that this year would be different and they win 92 games. I\u2019m not selling that anymore. I\u2019m selling it that the foot race is on with all the injuries they\u2019ve had, the poor defense they have, the bullpen we\u2019re all praising three weeks into it that I think if we were to give each other the saliva, if we if we were bet, bet, bet, bet on baseball. And I had to hose with big Poppy, if you\u2019re going to bet on or against the bullpen the rest of the year, you bet against it. Come on your baseball guy, Luke, even it looks okay right now. I mean, I wouldn\u2019t bet on it. I would bet on the starters based on and I am based on their track record. I\u2019m betting against Colton cowser Based on what I see. I\u2019m betting against Blaze Alexander. And tells me whatever those awful tells me you didn\u2019t<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 54:10<\/p>\n
have a lot of conviction about how you felt three weeks ago, if you\u2019re already jumping off the bandwagon. I mean, like, and that\u2019s fine. Like the bandwagon is a<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 54:18<\/p>\n
different bandwagon. If Jackson holiday is going to have three under lousy at bats this year instead of five under good at bats, the bandwagon is different with Richmond injured again, the bandwagon is different when I saw that outfield yesterday and and I mean, like I don\u2019t, I am not as bullish on this team as the team I told you on paper with westburg holiday. You know, around I\u2019m seeing what the cavalry looks like, and I\u2019m not even against Cade Povich or Brandon young. I mean, God bless them. But if those guys have to take the ball and make 1618 starts this year, in a general sense, I with this defense and with these injuries, okay, I\u2019m worried about them, and they\u2019re nine and nine season, I\u2019m worried about that. Then it\u2019s football season. He is Luke Jones. I am Nestor. We are W NSTA in 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stopped talking. De\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was Nestor who took to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday afternoon with some observations about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-677021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-orioles","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-orioles","10":"tag-baltimoreorioles","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-orioles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116415246203478261","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}