The Roundtable | Reviewing the Wild Card Round & Previewing the Divisional Round

Summary

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The Windup: The Roundtable | Reviewing the Wild Card Round & Previewing the Divisional Round

Podcast: The Windup — The Athletic
Date: October 3, 2025
Episode: 181 – Hosted by Grant Brisbee with Andy McCullough & Sam Miller

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Episode Overview

This lively Roundtable episode brings together Grant Brisbee, Andy McCullough, and Sam Miller to break down all the action, key strategies, and narrative-shaping moments of the 2025 MLB Wild Card round. The trio then looks ahead to the much-anticipated Divisional series, delving into intriguing team matchups, managerial decision-making, and roster nuances. The episode is filled with insightful analysis, thoughtful questions, a healthy dose of humor, and memorable, at times tongue-in-cheek, quotes — all in the original, witty tone fans of The Athletic have come to expect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. First Impressions of the Wild Card Series

• Psychological Impact of Benching Stars

  • Sam Miller expresses concern about teams sitting or pinch-hitting for their star players (e.g., Detroit’s Riley Greene, Miami’s Jazz Chisholm), arguing this could erode both player confidence and team identity.
    • "You want your stars to think they’re stars. If that is how you view your best hitter, you probably are gonna need an upgrade on that." — Sam Miller ([04:19])
  • Andy agrees, noting the move communicates that even the “best” guy may not be trusted at crunch time.
    • "If the Detroit Tigers...are going to be doing things like that in leverage situations, then they need to get a new best hitter." — Andy McCullough ([06:16])

• Platoon Logic vs. Player Identity

  • Grant coins the phrase “Springfield Moneyball,” referencing The Simpsons and how stat-driven, cold-blooded moves can backfire on morale.
    • "We can't let Strawberry hit against a lefty... It's Springfield Moneyball." — Grant Brisbee ([06:34])

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2. Managerial Aggression & Bullpen Usage

• Leveraging Starters and Relievers
  • Over-aggressiveness in yanking starters early (e.g., Bello, Cease) becomes a thread.
    • "You are, it is contractually obligated that spot will come up again and you will have lost the platoon advantage." — Andy ([07:27])
  • Andy brings up Dave Roberts’ Dodgers: early recognition of leverage but long-term “cascading” bullpen costs.
    • "If you do that over and over...there is a cascading effect, there is a cost, especially in a seven game series or...even shorter series." — Andy ([09:34])
  • Sam points out the unique math and stress of three-game Wild Card sets: every manager faces tough, sometimes unsolvable compromises.
    • "There’s no margin for error, there’s no days off. And it’s an intriguing sort of math question that has not really been solved yet." — Grant ([12:16])

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3. Postseason Micro-Strategies & Team Psychology

• On “Punting” a Postseason Game

  • Grant and Andy discuss whether teams should ever consider “punting” a playoff game for the sake of bullpen management or overall series odds, recalling the Dodgers’ controversial approach.
    • "I'm not punting a World Series game. It is the World Series. You cannot punt." — Andy, paraphrasing Dave Roberts ([12:27])
  • Sam contends the postseason is still too scarce for this to widely catch on.

• Managing the Padres’ Bullpen-First Postseason Style

  • Andy describes the challenge: when your team’s identity is short outings and rolling out arms, how do you maintain that in a relentless postseason schedule?
    • "You got to play your team. You have to play with urgency but not over, like, an over anxiety to intervene." — Andy ([15:37])

• Compromise is Inevitable

  • Sam underscores the dizzying math of outs and innings when every pitch/use matters:
    • "You have to make compromises or else you get to game three...and then your bullpen is strained trying to get the last eight because you’ve used so much of them in game two." — Sam ([17:19])

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4. Offensive Struggles & Identity

• Padres’ and Guardians’ Weak Offenses

  • Andy bluntly states, “They did not hit. They lost because they did not hit.” ([21:06])
  • Grant says the Guardians “stole thunder” from the Padres as the weakest offensive postseason draw ([21:35])

• The Paradox of 'Guards Ball'

  • Sam and Grant riff on the weird charm and ultimate unwatchability of Guardians-style, low-offense, “chaos by attrition” baseball.
    • "Sometimes it's a bear market, sometimes it's a bull market. When it’s a bear market, it’s unwatchable." — Grant ([23:38])
    • Sam: “If you replace the 500 best players with 500 worst players, we would acclimate anyway... proof of that is Guardians-Tigers.” ([22:00])

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5. Tigers vs. Mariners: Are the Tigers Back?

• Sam asks if the Tigers have overcome their “collapse” and deserve to be considered contenders after righting the ship and matching the Mariners statistically.
  • Grant: “The recency bias of the Tigers — I think we can forgive now...I think they should be treated like the Mariners.” ([27:00])
  • Andy: “Psychologically, yes. I don’t think their issues were psychological down the stretch...They were collapsing. And a collapse is related to physical skill rather than mental fortitude.” ([26:11])

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6. Divisional Round Matchups & Analysis

• Brewers vs. Cubs: Defensive Chess Match
  • Sam worries if the Brewers’ “put the ball in play and profit off defensive miscues” approach will hold up versus the Cubs’ airtight defense.
    • "The Brewers are going up against the Cubs. If there was a team...with no holes and is exceptional at the key spots." — Sam ([32:51])
  • Andy expands: Cubs “catch the baseball,” with comparisons to the anti-error Pirates and Royals teams past. ([33:03])

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7. Format Philosophy: Divisional Matchups in Early Rounds

• Grant prefers old-style seeding, keeping divisional rivals apart until later rounds, but Andy and Sam note this sometimes led to unfair matchups.
  • Andy: “The old format was just so unfair though...it just didn’t function.” ([37:12])

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8. Pitching Narratives & the Complete Game

• Dominant Performances and Changing Pitcher Use

  • Grant and Andy celebrate Cam Schlitter’s old-school, “country hardball” performance and compare it to postseason folk heroes of the past.
    • "There's something really appealing about that...just to be strong enough to do that at this time of year." — Andy ([39:22])
  • Nostalgic discussion about the disappearance of deep outings and complete games. Sam wonders if conditions might again arise where a complete game is possible.
    • "Every postseason game is going to go one of two narratives...it’s either, 'why is the starter still in?', or, 'we have to ride him to 140 pitches.'" — Sam ([40:22])
    • On last World Series CG: “Johnny Cueto.” — Sam ([41:44])
    • Shohei Ohtani as the likeliest next complete game postseason candidate ([44:16])

• Manager-Pitcher Trust Evolution

  • Grant highlights how the historical “bullpen trust” has shifted to more honest pitcher-manager communication.
    • "I don't like watching guys go... it's going to be bad for me, but it's going to show I'm tough. I don't miss that." — Grant ([46:54])

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9. Player Safety & HBP Risks

• Sam, reacting to Aaron Judge barely escaping a serious hand injury, calls for harsher penalties for pitchers who hit batters in the hands.
  • "If a pitcher breaks the batter's hands with a pitch, he gets a 10 day suspension." — Sam ([47:40])
  • Grant and Andy agree it’s a worthy topic for further debate ([48:43])

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10. Quick Divisional Round Picks

Each host gives their ALCS/NLCS predictions:

• Sam: Mariners, Dodgers, Brewers, Yankees ([49:25])
• Andy: Brewers, Dodgers, Yankees, Mariners ([49:36])
• Grant: Cubs, Phillies, Mariners, Yankees ([49:40])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you're the Detroit Tigers...and you pull your star in a playoff spot, you need to find a new star." — Andy McCullough ([06:16])
• "This is like the perfect laboratory conditions for pitching a World Series complete game." — Sam Miller ([42:06])
• "Sometimes you're the Guards and sometimes you're the windshield." — Andy McCullough ([23:38])
• On the essence of postseason letdowns:
  "They scored five runs in three games... Five runs is the eighth inning against the Dodgers bullpen. That’s nothing." — Andy McCullough ([21:06])
• On changing manager-pitcher dynamics:
  "The starter was uniformly gonna go, 'good, skip, all the bullets are still in there.'... Now, more honest communication." — Grant Brisbee ([45:20])
• The “Guards Ball” paradox and existential baseball humor:
  • "When there is no Guards Ball, it's unwatchable. That is the paradox of Guards Ball." — Grant ([23:38])
  • "If you replace the 500 best players with 500 worst players, we would acclimate anyway...proof of that is Guardians-Tigers." — Sam ([22:00])

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Wild Card big takeaways – [04:19]
• Star benching and 'Springfield Moneyball' – [06:34]
• Bullpen over-usage & Dave Roberts strategies – [09:34]
• How managers are still figuring out short series – [11:35]
• On 'punting' postseason games – [12:27]
• Postseason management hypotheticals – [14:19]
• Padres as an example – [15:13]
• Offensive woes: Padres & Guardians – [21:06]
• 'Guards Ball' phenomenon dissected – [23:06]
• Tigers vs. Mariners parity – [27:00]
• Brewers, Cubs and postseason defense – [32:51]
• Discussion about divisional matchups – [36:41]
• Cam Schlitter’s dominance and pitching narrative – [39:22]
• Complete games and modern pitching philosophy – [41:44]
• Evolution of pitcher-manager trust – [45:20]
• Batter safety/HBP controversy – [47:40]
• Hosts' Divisional Round picks – [49:25]

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Conclusion

This episode covers everything a postseason-minded baseball fan could want: tactical deep-dives into recent and upcoming playoff matchups, rich anecdotes on the modern game’s quirks, lively disagreement about strategy trends, and playful but pointed takes on the game’s burning questions. The hosts blend sharp, often self-deprecating humor with earnest analysis and affection for baseball’s enduring weirdness.

Whether you missed the games or just want a sharper lens on October’s tactical chaos, this Roundtable is both primer and therapy for the postseason-obsessed.

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Transcript

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[Grant Brisby]

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[Sam Miller]

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[Jeff Bridges]

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[Dana]

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[Andy McCullough]

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[Grant Brisby]

Well, will you look at that.

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[Sam Miller]

Right.

[Dana]

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[Sam Miller]

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[Grant Brisby]

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[Sam Miller]

Delivery or pickup fees may apply. Limitations and exclusions may apply.

[Dana]

See our seven day return [e-mail].

[Grant Brisby]

This is the wind up. Welcome to episode number 181 of the Roundtable. Grant Brisby here with Andy McCullough and Sam Miller. Andy, how you doing?

[Andy McCullough]

I'm great. I'm great. Postseason's here. The new Thrice album kicks. Let's go.

[Grant Brisby]

All right. All right. I love. I love the plug. I love the plug. Sam Miller, how are you doing?

[Sam Miller]

Yo. All right.

[Grant Brisby]

You guys watch some baseball this week?

[Sam Miller]

No.

[Grant Brisby]

I know, it's weird crap.

[Sam Miller]

I watched a little bit. I do have. Every year. Every year I have to fake my way through the postseason a little bit because I'm not an ESPN haver. I'm not a Fox Sports one. Haver so it's a lot of radio for me. I did get to watch some last night because I was in a hotel, and the hotel, they sprung for ESPN.

[Grant Brisby]

Oh, man. You're like my elementary school friends in 1985. It's like we'd all be talking about MTV and they'd be all, sorry, guys, sorry. I'm watching the Jerry Lewis telethon. All right.

[Andy McCullough]

If I asked questions, delving further into this ESPN thing, would you just be sort of uncomfortable?

[Sam Miller]

There's nothing interesting about it. I mean, you can go for it if you want.

[Andy McCullough]

Well, did they used to give you access to it when you worked there?

[Sam Miller]

They would have, but I never.

[Andy McCullough]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you not have ESPN when you worked at espn?

[Sam Miller]

Correct. You don't want to pay for the thing that, you know, you could get for free, but you also don't want to ask for the, like, $4 a month subscription from, like, the corporation. Like, it feels a little awkward to ask for something so, so small. So, yeah, I did. I went through 5,5ish years working for ESPN. I didn't have ESPN Insider. I couldn't read.

[Andy McCullough]

You couldn't read your own stuff.

[Sam Miller]

My stuff was never paywalled. If it had been paywalled, I would have. But I happened to be at ESPN in a. In a blip where nothing was really paywalled. At least nothing on the baseball side.

[Grant Brisby]

I'll walk you through some of the basics. Sam, we're talking about what happened in the wild card series. I'm all excited about the division series because this, to me, is my favorite week of baseball where it's. It's like the maximum. It's like the perfect amount of chaos, the perfect amount of heartbreak, the perfect amount of drama. I love it. But first we gotta talk a little. Little ds. What stood out from either one of you? What is like your primary takeaway? You watch four different series. One, two, three, four. Yeah. And you have one big takeaway.

[Sam Miller]

The one big takeaway, though. The thing that I'll probably most remember in like, the sort of like, ultra specific stuff is the Riley Greene getting pinch hit for, as well as to a slightly lesser extent, but similarly Jazz Chisholm being sat against a lefty. I don't know if it's true that stars win series. It certainly feels, though, like, you know, you want to ride your stars in October, and more than that, you want your stars to think they're stars. You want them to feel like stars. You want a guy on your team who's going to think, well, I'm getting up there and I'm. I'm stirring the drink, like, they're not getting me out. You need to have at least. And, you know, like, I'm not sure the Red Sox have that, for instance, because they traded. They traded their third baseman earlier this year. And as you were watching Cam Schlitler mow through their lineup yesterday, you did sort of think it'd be nice if they had, like, one star in the lineup who, you know, you'd be thinking about being on deck or who would, you know, like, make him pitch carefully and maybe he draw a single walk or something like that. So the Tigers star is Riley Greene. And I just wonder what the psychological effect is of telling him, like, well, yeah, sure, you're our star, but, you know, you're fatally flawed at a third of the game.

[Andy McCullough]

Yeah, that was. As someone who, you know, admittedly does not watch 162 of the Detroit Tigers. I saw that and kind of did the. Did the double take as. Wow. Speaking of double takes, Grant just pulled not one, but two massive dogs into the shot. And when you look at it on paper, right, using Jones in that spot, getting the platoon advantage, it, like, makes some sense. But it also, I would say, four fundamentally changed my view of who Riley Green is. Because if the Detroit Tigers, the team that knows him best, are going to be doing things like that in leverage situations, then they need to get a new best hitter.

[Grant Brisby]

That's harsh, but fair. That's exactly.

[Andy McCullough]

But, like, it's not. I mean, like, it's not.

[T-Mobile Legal/Disclaimer Voice]

It's not.

[Andy McCullough]

Doesn't mean he's not a good player. Doesn't mean, like, he. He's not having a successful career. Like. But it's just. It's what Sam said about stars. Like, if. If. If that is how you view your best hitter, you're gonna. You probably are gonna need an upgrade on that.

[Grant Brisby]

In that front, I have a phrase. I'm gonna try and popularize it, like, fetch. It's Springfield Moneyball, right where it's.

[Andy McCullough]

It's.

[Grant Brisby]

You've got Mr. Burns going, Ah, we can't. We can't let Strawberry hit against a lefty. At the same time, it's not unjustified. I mean, he. He's not. He's not great in those situations.

[Sam Miller]

So the question is, how much of an edge do you need to make that to, you know, to pull that cord and to send that signal to a player for. Because that. That signal is going to be there for the rest of the Postseason, you know, I don't know what it was, but it's probably like you probably get like 8 points of ex woba out of that move. I wouldn't do it. It also didn't help that this was pretty early in the game and green came up again. A green spot came up again. That felt.

[Andy McCullough]

Always does.

[Sam Miller]

That just felt like bad math. You don't. I don't think you would. I don't know what they were thinking. He was clearly going to come, come up again.

[Andy McCullough]

When you make that move, you are. It is contractually obligated that spot will come up again and you will have lost the platoon advantage.

[Grant Brisby]

I've watched, you know, I watched several years of Gabe Kapler, who was as aggressive of a pinch hitter as I have ever seen. He would do it in the fourth, he would do it in the fifth. He sees his spot, he's got the bases full, he's going to put his lefty masher or righty masher in there. He wouldn't have done this. I don't think, like that was as extreme. This is our moment kind of move that I've seen a manager make. So. And I kind of understand it, but at the same time, I'm Team Sam as. Yeah, it's the downstream effects that I'm more worried about.

[Andy McCullough]

The thing that stood out to me most in this division series, the thing that I will be curious to see if it continues, is the. How do I phrase this? The leverage seizing, like the overly aggressive leverage, you know, decisions by managers. I'm thinking about taking Brian bellow out after 28 pitches. You know, Dylan Cease in like the second or third inning. And I'm not one of these people who's like, you know, it's like you, you know, you got to let the starter pitch deep. Like if he's not, if he doesn't have it, he doesn't have it. But I think there was. These were not necessarily cases where the guy didn't have it. It was just that they wanted to deploy their bullpen in, you know, a short, very short series, as aggressive as possible. And it does. You know, I often come back to lessons from covering the Dodgers right in the, in the late 2000 and tens, our favorite era of baseball. And in that period of time, there was no one better at recognizing high leverage situations in, you know, the non ninth inning than Dave Roberts. Right. Like, no one was better at being like, oh, it's the sixth inning, they're 1, 2, 3 is up. I'm going to use Brandon Morrow, my setup guy, not my 6th inning guy or whatever. Right. But what Roberts learned and what I think a lot of people in the sport have learned is like if you do that over and over and over, there is a cascading effect, there is a cost, especially in a seven game series or in, in these even shorter series, if you're, you know, using Mason Miller chasing a win in game one and then you're using him for an extreme extended duty in game two, you do not have him in game three. You know, and it's, you know, the situation in New York last night where it seemed like Alex Gore stuck with Connolly early a bit longer than everyone expected. And it's not that early who really does look like Clayton Kershaw's cousin. That was a shocking visual. When I turned on television, he was like, whoa, that looks like Charlie Kershaw when he grows up.

[Sam Miller]

I was going to say we're old. Andy. You got to go, nephew. You got to go, son. We're not cousins with these kids.

[Grant Brisby]

They are.

[Sam Miller]

Yeah, they listen to different rap than we do.

[Andy McCullough]

But it's not like early pitched poorly. I mean, the defense kind of, you know, let him down in a variety of ways. But Cora really stuck with him. And I think part of that was just because he had maxed out his bullpen the night before trying to chase a win. And so I will be curious to see if any of the managers who have advanced. By the way, Mike Schultz, Alex Cora did not advance, if they are as aggressive or if that is just a wild card series quirk. That makes sense.

[Sam Miller]

Yeah, the wild card series is really the three days in a row with no margin, you know, I mean seven, seven game series has a three day set. But you can lose a game in a seven game series and that's fine. But in a three game series is really tough. And so it did seem like I'm particularly thinking of Cade Smith and Mason Miller where managers wanted to do the like multi inning fireman kind of thing, but you can't do that. And the three days in a row, you just can't. You can't do it. You throw 42 pitches in two days, you're sunk. So those game twos really set up the game threes in that sense. If they were to do it over, I'm not sure either of those pitchers would have gone quite so long in game two.

[Andy McCullough]

I think too that the people around the game are still trying to figure these series out. Right. Like it wasn't, you know, it took a, it took a Long time to get close to optimized for usage in like a seven game series. Right. And not, I mean, I don't know if they, you would even say that. But like you go through different strategies of like how to tackle this and I think probably the best strategy is to be the Dodgers and be about 20 wins better than the team you're playing and just outscore them by 10 runs in the first five innings. But other than that, yeah, it's like you're. There's no margin for error, there's no days off. And it's an intriguing sort of math question that has not really been solved yet.

[Grant Brisby]

Those are all really good points. When do you think, do you think we're on the cusp? Do you think it's like in 10 years it's good we're going to see a much different wild card series or will there be an Earth in 10 years?

[Andy McCullough]

So, so it's like, will you see situations in seven game series this year where teams try and do what the Dodgers did and punt? Like where they're actively not trying to win games because they are like they're thinking about championship winning percentage rather than winning tonight. And Dave Roberts, you know when, when I was covering the team back in the 2010s, like he would say, I'm not punting a World Series game. I cannot punt a World Series game. It is the World Series. You cannot punt. Flash forward to last year and he's like, hey man, sometimes it's 4th and 12 and so like, is that going to be become something that's like a norm strategy for teams that are shorthanded? Like, I think all of this is just in flux. So like, I don't think we're ever close to coming up with the solution for any of this, but I think that you will see things fade in and out of vogue and I wonder if next year the uber aggression will be dialed down.

[Grant Brisby]

I think it's a great point. Sorry Sam, didn't mean to go.

[Sam Miller]

No, no, I didn't have anything to say.

[Grant Brisby]

Wow, now you made me forget what I was going to say.

[Andy McCullough]

So this has been episode 180 of the roundtable.

[Sam Miller]

I think that the Dodgers punt situation was very specific to that moment in time. I think that the games are, they're still too scarce for any, any teams to think about giving them away. I think you're still more likely to see managers over, over manage than under manage in those situations. So. And there's this year, I mean the Dodgers last year, when were we talking About Was that the Yankees Series?

[Grant Brisby]

What's that?

[Sam Miller]

That Andy's punting Juice.

[Andy McCullough]

No, they punted. They punted in the NLCS and in the World Series, they punted. The two games they lost in the NLCS to the Mets were games they were not trying to win, and they basically punted. Game four of the World Series like they did not use their good pitchers in those games.

[Grant Brisby]

All right, Andy, you are. You are the manager of the San Diego Padres. Congratulations. You have gotten to the postseason by virtue of a strong bullpen. In the way it works is you get, you know, Jeremiah Strada in there for one inning. You've got Mason Miller in inning, and then you go to Suarez and that. That's your. That's your jam. Now you're in the postseason. You've got three days in a row you have to win two of them. Are you managing differently? Are you managing much differently? Are you managing. Throwing everything from the regular season out of the table and just saying every win in isolation is the only thing that matters. I can't think about the future. How are you managing the Padres?

[Andy McCullough]

Yes. First order of business. Luis Arias is not batting second anymore. He bats cleanup. He bats cleanup or fifth, because he hits singles, and you want him to hit singles with runners on base so they score. He's not your best hitter. Give your best hitters more at bats. What was the question?

[Grant Brisby]

You're hired. But I mean, it's. That's always fine. Passing the. The push and pull between something that's worked and then it's like, well, now I've got to get something that extra works. Like, how do you.

[Andy McCullough]

How do you thread that in San Diego, at least from an offensive perspective? It's kind of like they play a certain style of baseball. They don't really hit the ball over the fence.

[Grant Brisby]

They.

[Andy McCullough]

They small ball it, as it were. And when they small ball and it doesn't work in the postseason, people are like, whoa, that was a bunt.

[Jeff Bridges]

What the heck was that?

[Andy McCullough]

I don't see those anymore. And it's like, well, yeah, you should watch Padres games. It's kind of what they do. I think that if you are at. I personally watching Game 2, probably would have stuck with Dylan Cease for a little bit longer. I understand that Cease is someone who is probably really challenging to manage, not from a personality standpoint, but just because when you watch him pitch, like, his last two at bats, I believe he struck out guys with like 98 at the top of the zone, like, you know, just blew their doors off, essentially. Like, the stuff is so explosive, but also he really doesn't this year, has not held his stuff, you know, beyond a second time through the order or he has not had results, I should say through the second time through the order. The stuff is still impressive. And so I'm sympathetic to the idea of like, hey, you know, we got all these guys, like we can't get to tomorrow unless we win today. But I do think that at some point you, you kind of just got to play your team. You kind of have to play. You have to play with urgency but not over like an over anxiety to, to intervene. And you have to like trust that Dylan Cease, who's like been an all Star, you know, finished second in Cy Young voting before, like he's, you know, gonna make a nine figure deal this year despite all of the issues with him. Like, you just have to trust in the talent to, to carry you at least, you know, into like the fifth inning if he's not getting, you know, like, he's not getting hit. Like, he just is pitching like Dylan Cease, you know, which is like not the most aesthetically pleasing thing. But like, the results tend to be okay in the past.

[Sam Miller]

You have to make compromises. And it's tempting to tell yourself the story that, well, it's an elimination game, it's a three game series, we got to lay it all on the line, we can't compromise. We got to throw our best option all the time. But you obviously can't. There is a limited number of pitches and if you simply count the pitches that are going to be required to get to the end of a game three, I mean, you count them and you go, oh, shoot, you. Darvish is throwing some of those pitches like they knew you. Darvish was going to start game three. That's like kind of untenable. If you do it, you do it. But they had to count 18 innings, they had to get 54 outs to win. And the compromise you probably have to make is either you have to make one of two compromises, either you let Dylan Cease go a little more, even though it makes you very uncomfortable, you're not going to win every game you ever play. You're not going to win every inning. Sometimes you got to live with discomfort. You and letting Dylan Cease go a little more is going to be uncomfortable. But you either have to do that or with a three run lead, you have to trust another reliever. I mean, it's not a one run lead. The tying run wasn't on base. From innings five through nine, they could have gone to reliever four or five. They don't want to. They're going to get second guessed if they do. But you have to make compromises or else you get to game three. You Darvish is pitching which is a problem, and then your bullpen is strained trying to get the last eight because you've used so much of them in game two, which is a problem. And one way or another like they had to, they had to prepare for a path to win game three. And if the path to win game three is miracle from you Darvish, like that's like, well then you're answering questions after that game anyway.

[Amazon Business Announcer]

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[Jeff Bridges]

Morning Zoe. Got donuts.

[Dana]

Jeff Bridges why are you still living above our garage?

[Jeff Bridges]

Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you teach me.

[Dana]

So Dana oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at t mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.

[Grant Brisby]

Wow.

[Jeff Bridges]

Impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.

[Dana]

Nice Jeffrey.

[Sam Miller]

You heard them.

[T-Mobile Announcer]

T Mobile is the best place to get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible traded in any condition.

[Jeff Bridges]

So what are we having for launch?

[Dana]

Dude, my work here is done.

[T-Mobile Legal/Disclaimer Voice]

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[Andy McCullough]

To be clear, like, Mike Schill's managing is not really the reason they lost this series, right? Like, it's just. It's more interesting than saying they didn't hit. They scored five runs in three games. They did not hit. They lost because they did not hit. And so you could view Schilt's sort of aggression as a recognition of, like, shoot, we are not hitting. But at the end of the day, like, you need to hit. You need to score more than five runs in three games. Five runs is like, that's the eighth inning against the Dodgers bullpen. I mean, that's nothing.

[Grant Brisby]

I will say that the Padres coming in, that was. That was the flaw. That was easy to clock. And I feel like the Guardians stole some of their thunder because. Very easy to just point. The Padres go like, man, these guys, they're like a below average offensive team. They can't hit. But then you looked at the Guardians and then it was very easy to point and go, oh, I hope I don't have to watch them for more than three games. And look at us, living the life, living the dream.

[Sam Miller]

There's an old Bill James bit where he. This is one of the ones that people don't like where he says that if you took all the players and got rid of them and replaced them with new players, like worse players, no one would care because they would just enjoy the competition anyway. I might be slightly misphrasing this, but his idea is that, like, the, the personalities or the, you know, the whatever, like, people just like baseball. And if you replace the 500 best players with 500 worst players, we would acclimate anyway. People don't like that idea. And I think the proof of that is Guardians Tigers, which was like, the Guardians Tigers. Like, on paper. Like, if you were playing Strat and you were playing this game, you'd be like, this is so tense. This is like high quality, close, tense baseball the way that the founders intended it. But, like, watching it, you're just like, well, these guys are all players I know aren't very good and they're not playing very well. And so it. It switched from being like fun baseball to get it over.

[Grant Brisby]

Andy would text after every regularly scheduled instance of Guards ball, and he would text all Caps Guards ball. Because when it happens, it's funny as heck. It's just, you know, there's a chopper off the plate and then there's a guy that moves over. Then there's a walk which the other team screwed up. But then there's something else that happens. It's funny as heck, but I got to tell you, when there is no guards ball, and that is, that is the paradox of guards ball is that sometimes it runs, sometimes it's a bear market, sometimes it's a bull market. When it's a bear market, it's unwatchable. It is unwatchable.

[Andy McCullough]

So sometimes you're, you know, you get the guards and sometimes you're the windshield.

[Grant Brisby]

Or what is it.

[Sam Miller]

Yeah. I just want to again bring back the tautological nature of guards ball. When they described guards ball last year, in its original year, things that were listed as guards ball, walk, walk, double, double was listed as guards ball. That's just normal offense. Austin. Austin Hedges said guards ball was the three run, three run homer. Being around the corner.

[Grant Brisby]

That's baseball. Baseball, baby.

[Andy McCullough]

Wait, so I've never. Okay, I'm going to think about that for a lot. I'm going to think about that for a long time.

[Grant Brisby]

When you're thinking about it, make sure you remember that it was Austin Hedges who said it. All right. Sorry. Go on, Sam.

[Sam Miller]

I'm pretty sure it was Austin Hedges. All the quotes are Austin Hedges, he does all the quotes for that team.

[Andy McCullough]

Is it like around the corner? Like, like Robert De Niro is trying to direct Lorraine Bracco into the, into the. Yeah, into the garment shop where there's someone waiting for her. Like, is that what's around the corner? You know, that's very harmful. Yeah. I sent this to you guys during that, that series and like, I don't mean to be rude, but like, I think neither of these teams need to advance. They should just play a best of 21 series all October and just enjoy each other's company.

[Grant Brisby]

Oh, shadow postseason. I love a shadow post.

[Andy McCullough]

I've watched a lot of Tiger's guards, I would say in the last two or three weeks.

[Sam Miller]

Yeah, they really made a mistake showing us that series at the end of the year because this was just such a repeat. It the Tigers have rallied around the 15 and a half games is in the past now that like they have now righted the ship, turned the momentum around and they, I think they're telling themselves that they are the team that was in first place for most of the year near the top of the AL and that the collapse was a blip. But they have proven that the collapse doesn't define them. That it, that they've gotten past it. Are we willing to give the Tigers credit for being a real playoff team now or have we just baked in that they, they're the collat, they're the team that couldn't get it done and the next failure is just always in Austin Hedges words around the corner.

[Andy McCullough]

They won a three game series over a team with a negative run differential, didn't they?

[Sam Miller]

I think the, the case for them would be that for four months they were good, for two months they were bad and they now like at least like the psychological, they put some psychological distances. Distance between the two Padmens.

[Andy McCullough]

I think psychologically, yes. I don't think their issues were psychological down the stretch. Like they were not choking, they were collapsing. And a collapse is related to physical skill rather than mental fortitude.

[Grant Brisby]

Sure.

[Andy McCullough]

Yeah. They, they, you know, they were understandably like puffing out their chests and enjoying the victory as they should. They're rolling in to play the Mariners, a team who, they have the identical, you know, pythag. They're both 88 win teams on paper. Then I guess Google's going to pitch once or you know, we're going to see some real old school and maybe he'll be available for game five, but we shall see. But yeah, I mean like they're, they're the dogs in this series but like it's a five game series with a team of at least on paper equal sort of ability.

[Grant Brisby]

The Mariners have scored 4.73 runs this season. On average. The Tigers have scored 4.688. The Mariners have allowed 4.28 runs this season. The May, the Tigers have allowed 4.27. I honestly have never seen teams with like just straight down the road, this is even Steven matchup and I, you know you could flip a corner, you just say home field's going to decide or whatever. But the recency bias of the Tigers I think we can forgive now. I think we can overlook and just say okay, complete package there in 88 win team. And you know, they have blips. They have not blips. I think they're back in the regular postseason pack is what I think. I think that they're, they're, they should be treated like the Mariners.

[Andy McCullough]

Yeah, I mean and I think the Mariners and the Tigers are probably, if you had to rank the remaining eight teams, they're probably 7 8. But that doesn't really.

[Sam Miller]

I feel personally, I feel personally targeted with that comment.

[Andy McCullough]

Why is that?

[Grant Brisby]

Because the Mariners were his pick.

[Sam Miller]

The Mariners are my pick. Preseason The Mariners were my pick this postseason. The Mariners are a team that I have described as a, as a sleeping powerhouse or something like that. I think the Mariners, I mean on paper, like, are way stronger. And then a reasonable person would say why didn't they perform better at the baseball games they've already played? And that's reasonable.

[Andy McCullough]

They played their best baseball in September. I think they went like 17, eight. They, they ran away with the division. They, you know, slayed the dragon that is the Astros. But now they are running into the famed Atlanta Braves memorial layoff discourse.

[Grant Brisby]

Ah, the layoff discourse.

[Sam Miller]

I don't even remember the last time they played.

[Grant Brisby]

I think they got a buy for the whole season.

[Andy McCullough]

Yeah. So, yeah, we'll see. We. We shall see. They, they, they have to slay the, the layoff discourse, you know, beast. They're gonna have to deal with Scubal at least once. But yeah, like their, their rotation, to me, like if you look at their, if you look at their names, you're like, whoa. And then you look at their numbers and you're like, huh? You know, and all those guys are going to be. Some of them have pitched in the postseason before, but it's kind of like they're getting the full freight of a, of a five game series for the first time. Like that'll be. Be intriguing to see how they handle it.

[Sam Miller]

The top four guys, they look better in paper. They also look better in 2024 than they, they do in 2025. I will say Brian Wu. Like, I think I watched every start he made this year because I was, it was a little confusing, but I was incentivized to root against him. So I watched him, I watched every start he made this year. And he is inevitable. That guy just never has a bad start. Never has a, he's six innings. Never, never has a bad inning. He's like really, really, really steady. So I would, I would lock in those as like, those are at least competitive games. Gilbert, Massive stuff can get a little shaky. Kirby was probably the best of them coming into the year. Had an off season. But the fip, the FIP is good. And then Luis Gonzalez, I mean not Luis Gonzalez, Luis Castillo is just sort of your, your steady veteran who's probably had slightly better days.

[Grant Brisby]

Sam, I'd like to go back to where you said that you are rooting against Brian Wu. I don't think that can be made on a podcast that comment without at least some follow up. Is it personal?

[Sam Miller]

No, it's fantasy two team fantasy league. You know, so he was on the other guy's team.

[Grant Brisby]

We have to do an off season episode about Sam's myriad fantasy excursions because they're weird.

[Sam Miller]

Only one. I only have the one.

[Grant Brisby]

You're not doing the bullpen stuff anymore?

[Sam Miller]

No. That was good stuff though. I missed the bullpen leagues. Yeah, that was reliever only leagues.

[Grant Brisby]

Only fantasy leagues. Sicko.

[Sam Miller]

I don't know.

[Andy McCullough]

Sick.

[Sam Miller]

I don't know if this is too, too, too sharp a jag, but since we're talking about guards ball, the Brewers. You know, one of the reasons I've been a little bit nervous about the brewers is that their offense depends on putting the ball in play and the other team making mistakes. And it was very successful this year. The numbers prove it. And I've worried that teams that were playing post season level defense, better defenses and you know, perhaps more, you know, focused, more urgent defense would and more.

[Grant Brisby]

Bat missing from the staff.

[Sam Miller]

More bat missing from the staff would make that a harder strategy. Mike Petriello had a [e-mail] that pointed out that BABIP batting average on balls in play drops 20 points in the postseason, which probably has something to do with weather, something to do with pitching quality, but probably also something to do with better overall defense. So that would seem to support that fear about the Brewers. But you know, anecdotally watching these four series defense a didn't look generally crisp at all. And a lot of offense depended on just plain flat out miscues. I mean, that's what guards ball was. But lots of, you know, like the Yankees won yesterday basically on an inning where they had a pop up to center field that the center fielder took a bad route, a weak grounder the other way that just got past the second baseman and then a grounder that ate up the first baseman. And that's it. That's the offense. That was the postseason offense that won the series for the Yankees. And I think that the brewers are going up against the Cubs. If there was a team that you were going to say would be the worst fit for the brewers offense, it would be the Cubs. Their defense is, has no holes and is exceptional at the key spots. And so maybe this is not the right time to say that the brewers will continue to find shaky defenses to do their work for them. But in the aggregate, I mean, I watched the postseason with that idea in mind, like trying to keep a close eye out, like our defenses sharper and more urgent and they are just so far flat out not like defense is.

[Andy McCullough]

It's a combination of things, right? Like the Pitching stuff is elite and close to unhittable. And the defense is flawed, so balls in play are more valuable, I think, just because, like, it's just so hard to make contact. And, you know, the fundamentals are just down across the sport. But the Cubs, as you said, are not that team. And I think that they match up really well in terms of suppressing the brewers offense. I mean, they. Imonaga and Matthew Boyd are both really good in the running game. You know, part of the brewers skill is they were the best baserunning team in the sport this year. Right. I think they were second in stolen bases. But the Cubs, you know, their top two guys really hold runners pretty well. You know, Pete Crow, Armstrong has a. Has a huge arm and center. They'll probably be able to run a little bit on Ian Happ and say a Suzuki, but you also got to get the ball play. And then Dansby Swanson, like, was playing just incredible defense in the. In the wild card. And so, yeah, I mean, Milwaukee, like, it's a. It's a really interesting matchup because this is a team that, you know, can catch the baseball. And it's like, it, you know, reminds me The Royals in 2015. The team that they did not want to play of all the other teams in the sport was the Pittsburgh Pirates that year, who were like, that was the year they went. I think they won like 97 and lost in the wild card games, the Cubs, but they were just like, the Cubs catch the baseball. We cannot beat a team that catches the baseball. I think the brewers have a little bit more, you know, offensive thump, but it's a. It's a huge part of their game is like taking advantage of mistakes and, you know, infield singles and forcing errors. And the Cubs are not, you know, expected to do a lot of that.

[Amazon Business Announcer]

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[Jeff Bridges]

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.

[Dana]

Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?

[Jeff Bridges]

Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T Mobile commercial like you. Teach me. So. Dana.

[Dana]

Oh, no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly AT T Mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.

[Grant Brisby]

Wow.

[Jeff Bridges]

Impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.

[Grant Brisby]

Nice.

[Dana]

Jeffrey, you heard them.

[T-Mobile Announcer]

T Mobile is the best place to get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible traded in any condition.

[Jeff Bridges]

So what are we having for lunch?

[Dana]

Dude, my work here is done.

[T-Mobile Legal/Disclaimer Voice]

The 24 month bill credit is on experience beyond for well qualified customers + tax and 35 device connection charge credit send and balance due payoff earlier Cancel Finance Agreement iPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs $1,099.99 and new line minimum $100 plus a month plan with autopay plus taxes and fees required. Best mobile network in the US based on analysis by OV Speed Test Intelligence Data 1H 2025 Visit t mobile.com Skip.

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[Grant Brisby]

How do you guys feel about divisional matchups in the early rounds? Like it used to be before the Wild Card series, you couldn't have the Cubs and the brewers play in that first round. They could play in the NLCS and that would be a different ball of wax. How do you feel? I feel like it lessens a little bit just to see Yankees Red Sox in a best of three as opposed to maybe a best of seven. Yankees, Blue Jays, Cubs Brews. I actually like the old format, but again we're I'm just an old person who likes the things I'm used to.

[Andy McCullough]

The old format was just so unfair though. Like it just was just, it just didn't function. It was just not fair to the teams and like elite divisions insofar as.

[Grant Brisby]

Like if you're making sure that the divisional matchups aren't happening, that you all had all of a sudden just have wildly unbalanced first round matchups.

[Sam Miller]

Yeah, you would occasionally get really distorted seating because of that.

[Andy McCullough]

But I will say that this is a very exciting DS slate.

[Grant Brisby]

Oh I love it.

[Andy McCullough]

Cubs brewers is going to be great. Like you know, that's going to be, you know, some good Midwest fun. Dodgers Phillies is. You know, you'd love to see it over seven games, but over five is going to be really good. These two teams have been two of the best in the sport for the last three or four years. Haven't met in the postseason. They kind of missed each other. And so getting a chance to see them, you know, bang heads is going to be, you know, really, really exciting. So those two matchups in particular, I think we. We lucked out on that front.

[Grant Brisby]

It's wild that the last time, because I think the Dodgers and Phillies, as the two teams of this era in the National League, I mean, you have other contenders, the brewers, obviously, but if you're talking about deep into the postseason, it's Dodgers and Phillies from the National League. And the last time that they met in the postseason, Greg Maddox was on the Dodgers. You know what I mean? It's like, I could not get over that because it just feels like these guys have been banging heads the whole time. That that's the matchup. For me, personally, I just. I can't get enough of it. But I. I mean, we have to pivot to Yankees, Blue Jays. Brian, I want you to roll the clip from last episode. We talked about it. Here we go. This is me from last episode. Yeah. So I think Cam Schlitter is going to go off. I don't think the Red Sox are going to have a chance against him. Like, 12 strikeouts, 13. I don't know. He's. He's as good as gold. Thanks. Yeah, so remember when I said that last episode? That was pretty good. Pretty good pick. But he was so good. He was so good. I mean, it was. It was one of those things where you. If you're a Red Sox fan and you're not yelling at your guys necessarily, like, what are you swinging at? How you're, like, yelling at the existence of the other guy. Just like, what? No, you can't. No, this shouldn't be fair. So camp Schlitter. Good stuff.

[Andy McCullough]

There's something really poignant or just enjoyable about just watching a pitcher locked in with relatively simple stuff. I guess, like, watching Yamamoto face the. The Reds. He is, like, his stuff was insane, but it was not straightforward. Like, the sequencing was really challenging. He's got so many options. He was, like, carving up the Reds, you know, just like, this doesn't seem fair. But watching Slitter just being like, dude, it reminds me, like, Madison Bumgarner, you know, when he's like, I am throwing this country hardball. Good luck to you. You know, like, that is. There's Something really, really appealing about that. When you can see the guy who's like, spent his entire life, his entire season building up to just be strong enough to be able to do that at this time of year, it's really, really fun to watch.

[Sam Miller]

And the easy velocity too. It's just so sexy.

[Grant Brisby]

Yeah, it's true.

[Andy McCullough]

It's true. You're just like, whoa.

[Sam Miller]

I love that. Every postseason game is going to go one of two, two controversies, one of two narratives. It's either. It's either I can't believe the starting pitcher is still in the game, it's the second inning and he's got a 20 count. You gotta get someone up. Or it's his career high is 101 pitches, but I think he's got 140. We can't trust the bullpen, Katie Barr. The bullpen. The bullpen's evil. They're saboteurs. We only can trust one man. And watching him go out for the eighth, watching Crochet go deep, watching Boone get ripped for pulling a starter in the seventh inning, I love it when the game. Well, I mean, first of all, it just reinforces that manager cannot win. There are, there are no safe options. But when it gets to the, the controversy is, is about whether you can, whether you can pull the, the starting pitcher. And everybody in America is just rooting for the starting pitcher to stay out there.

[Andy McCullough]

Right, right.

[Sam Miller]

It's like the one thing we can still rally around is like, if only starting pitchers could still goes seven like we all wish. And to see it happen in the postseason, I mean, one day we might, we might actually see a postseason complete game.

[Andy McCullough]

Do you know when the last complete game in the World Series was?

[Sam Miller]

Johnny Cuaito.

[Andy McCullough]

Johnny Cuaito. Yeah. I don't want to say you'll never see that again, but like, I'll go.

[Grant Brisby]

On record as saying I feels unlikely.

[Sam Miller]

I think we'll see one. I mean, you give, you give a pitcher an eight or a nine run lead and now you've got. Well, I guess there's always a seventh man in the bullpen that can eat those innings. But I think we'll see one. I do think we'll see one.

[Grant Brisby]

I think the Yankees and with what Schlitter did got close. Yeah, you know, I mean, I think that's like the perfect laboratory conditions for it.

[Andy McCullough]

Sorry, I meant in the World Series.

[Sam Miller]

In the world. He did say in the World Series.

[Andy McCullough]

I'm in the World Series.

[Grant Brisby]

I mean, it's, I do think that if you are the Yankees, you get to the World Series and you have an efficient starting pitcher who is dealing with listen, David Bedner has been, been really good. The rest of the bullpen, not so much. I, I think maybe you can say to yourself we've got Bedner, we're good. Right. But the Yankees are a really good laboratory conditions for this sort of thing you're talking about because I, I do feel like without Bedner maybe Bedner's thrown two games before and he's not available. You might lean on on Slitler for an extra 10 pitches or 15 pitches.

[Sam Miller]

There's two ways it could happen. One is that the lead is safe and you figure out the guy's cruising. Let's have let him have his moment. Everybody's gonna rally around this performance and we'll save the bullpen and it's an eight run lead. The other is we don't trust our bullpen and the guy is shoving and he's the only person I trust. I thought Skubal again this was not the World Series but Skubal in game one they pulled him with Jose Ramirez on deck. And I was really surprised at that. I thought there's only one man that I trust to face Jose Ramirez in the ninth inning of a one run game. I think he doesn't live in the Tigers bullpen. And Scubal had, I think he had probably thrown a season high in pitches and it got me wondering like well what is the range? We, we know that sometimes you'll see a pitcher, you know chasing a no hitter. They'll let him go 130. Will we ever see a postseason pitcher go 130 because he is defiantly the best option that a team has and Scubal is also potentially lab perfect lab conditions for that. But they pulled him, they brought someone else in to face, I don't know whoever was batting second for the, the Guardians it might have been like the ghost of Michael Bourne. I think it was George Valera and then Jose Ramirez. But it seemed plausible that you would let Scubal go like maybe 120 a start and what it crochet through a season high pitches and then Schlitler of course through I assume a lifetime high in pitches at any level. So managers are kind of experimenting with this. They're toying with it and it could become a thing that becomes the popular thing to do if a pitcher is really pitching. I also think as far as World Series complete World Series complete games go, it obviously is, is not going to happen this year. Shohei Ohtani is not Stretched out. But I have thought a lot about what Shohei Ohtani has left to live for now that he's done 50, 50 and won the World Series and had the greatest single day of all time and, you know, broken all the Babe Ruth, you know, dual performance records and, and one of the things would be egot a. A World Series complete game. And Shohei Ohtani does get to seem to dictate his own course more than the average player. So again, not going to happen this year. But if he makes a few more World Series and he's healthy and he's stretched out, it would not surprise me to see him throw a World Series complete game before his career is over.

[Grant Brisby]

This might be oversimplification, and this, this might just be a painting with too broad a brush. But it feels like when the death of the complete game starter started happening, baseball was still in this mindset to where if a manager went out and asked his. This starter, hey, how you feeling? That the starter was uniformly gonna go, good, Skip. Yeah, all the bullets are still in there, right? Like, it was just that you didn't admit that. I, you know, and then since then, we've gotten more honest communication, I, I believe between managers, players, trainers, saying, you know, yeah, I can get one more out. Like, it's more of a. We're both on the same side. Like, there's a little bit more trust involved. Like, it's not admitting defeat to say, my arm just doesn't have it now. And I wonder if it's going to horseshoe around to where managers and pitchers have this trust, where they're in the eighth inning and the pitcher can look in the manager in the eyes and go like, no, no, no. I feel great. I don't know what's going on. And I feel like it's going to. Brian, just cut this whole thing. I don't even know where I was going with this. Were you guys picking up what I was putting down?

[Sam Miller]

Yeah, I don't know. I. I mean, is it worth reacting? You just deleted it. So.

[Andy McCullough]

Leave this all in. This is good stuff.

[Grant Brisby]

Yeah, this is like, honestly, leave it in. This is minute 45. What do you. All the sickos that are here.

[Sam Miller]

This is what, earlier this year, there was a game where Cole Reagan's was cruising, cruising like, no, no problem. Nobody on base. And, you know, it was around 100 pitches or so and he gets an out. And then he just sort of like turns to the dugout and gives a nod to the dugout. And like, the manager's like, oh, now. Oh, okay. And the manager hopped out and got him. And I thought, wow. Like, it's a completely different era, so it should be.

[Grant Brisby]

I mean, honestly, like, I don't know. I like that better. I like, I like, I don't like watching guys go, like, if I, if I have to throw 140 pitches here, it's going to be bad for me. But at the, it's going to show the manager I'm really tough. Like I, I don't know. I don't miss that.

[Sam Miller]

We're probably about to wrap up. But one last thing that I would like to mention from the wild card series. Late in the game that the Yankees had in control with the series in control, a Boston reliever threw a pitch that came about a half an inch from breaking Aaron Judge's hands and putting him out for the rest of the postseason. Fortunately, it clipped the forearm and was no big deal. But I don't know what my realistic suggestion is here, but I would like to see some sort of situation where if a pitcher breaks the batter's hands with a pitch, he gets a 10 day suspension.

[Grant Brisby]

I don't mind that. That, that's like a whole podcast episode.

[Sam Miller]

These guys are throwing these like there's so many injuries now. Are fastballs riding up and in and clipping the batter's fingers or hands or wrists and putting them out for you know, four to nine weeks. And I just feel like the, the cavalier way that pitchers can throw near a pitcher's hands with like high movement, high velocity stuff. The cost to the batter is just so disproportionate to any risk the pitcher faces. And 10 day suspension. Probably not realistic. I'm probably engaging in hyperbole here but like seeing just this like I'm going to throw an up and in fastball and maybe Aaron Judge will be out for the rest of the postseason. I saw, I saw very bad news cycles flash before my eyes. I didn't like it. I would like to see baseball do something to make batter's hands safe. I don't know. Not a, not a well thought out position yet. Just reacting from last night.

[Grant Brisby]

This was the whole discourse about. Not the suspension part, but when the Pirates there was a pair. I don't even remember. It was like five years ago. Just like the Pirates were there is just the enemy of all hitters because they hit so many batters and they had all these tussles and stuff. I don't disagree with your position. I think having some sort of payment for like if you, I don't know, some sort of penalty. I'm with you. I'm. I'm. I'm team Sam. Andy, what do you think? You got to go to the ballpark, don't you?

[Andy McCullough]

I do have to go to the ballpark, yeah.

[Grant Brisby]

What are you planning on watching at the ballpark today?

[Andy McCullough]

I don't know. Probably some poker.

[Sam Miller]

Yeah.

[Grant Brisby]

Hell, yeah. All right, we'll be back on. Do we do quick projections before we go on? Who's who's moving on who's who's in the nlcs, alcs, Sam.

[Sam Miller]

Go Mariners, Dodgers, Brewers, Yankees.

[Grant Brisby]

Okay, that was a very awkward way to do it, but thank you. Andy, you split the leagues. You can't split.

[Andy McCullough]

Brewers, Dodgers, Yankees, Mariners.

[Grant Brisby]

I'm gonna go Cubs, Phillies, Mariners, Yankees.

[Jeff Bridges]

Keys.

[Grant Brisby]

Let's go. Let's go. All right, we'll be back. We won't have answers for you on Friday, but we'll be back to talk to you about it.

[Sam Miller]

See you then.

[Grant Brisby]

Wait, Will we have answers?

[Andy McCullough]

Well, we'll be here Monday.

[Sam Miller]

We'll have two games down. Son of.

[Andy McCullough]

Today's Friday, Grant.

[Grant Brisby]

Monday. We'll be back Monday. See you then.

[Andy McCullough]

I was very wrong.

[Jeff Bridges]

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.

[Dana]

Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?

[Jeff Bridges]

Well, I dig the mattress, and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you. Teach me. So. Dana.

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Oh, no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly. At T Mobile, we'll get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.

[Jeff Bridges]

Wow, impressive. Let me try. T mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.

[Grant Brisby]

Nice.

[Dana]

Jeffrey, you heard them.

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[Jeff Bridges]

So what are we having for launch?

[Dana]

Dude, my work here is done.

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