Red Sox insider Rob Bradford joins the show to discuss the latest on Triston Casas' injury
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00:00Rob Bradford, thank you for joining us. How are you feeling today? Oh, I've never felt better
00:05I've an honor to talk to you fine folks. I look forward to both John and Andy yelling McFarland
00:10Thank you very much at some point today. You don't have to do it now, but yell McFarland. It'll make you feel a whole lot better
00:17So thank you for having me
00:21I'm actually home. I'm home. Yes, you're at home
00:25Why do you look so surprised because I thought maybe you were just like out in Kansas City, you know, I never know
00:32Three city leg
00:35Punctuated by me falling on my face in the pavement that took a lot out of me. So
00:40Yeah, and by the way, I want to thank the fine folks at the Cape Cod League
00:44I was gonna I was gonna ask you if you wanted to bring this up or not Rob
00:48Yeah, so
00:50so
00:51So first of all, they're so such nice people. I've got the chance that I did the all-star game there
00:56I'm see the home run Derby and did the all-star game for Destin and then on Sunday for the first time in my life
01:03I I would like to say I threw out the first pitch, but I don't think what I did was actually throwing anything
01:10so I didn't realize that how bad my wrist was still from my scooter accident and
01:18It is much like Joker Stiglione falling out of the chair in Houston and the Andrew Bennett tennis catch or even John F
01:25Kennedy getting shot
01:26We won't have any definitive film of me throwing the first pitch for the Wareham Gateman
01:31Are you sure because my husband showed me a video of it last night and so and said this is a rough look for Rob
01:42He showed it to me and I just said
01:45He had a scooter accident, can I just tell you it was I was doing it with a broken wrist
01:50so but it was
01:52It was not pretty it was it was about as ugly as you could the way I would describe it as long as it's out
01:57There now is that I threw it about 20 feet and about 20 feet to the left
02:03It look I don't think I could have done that again if I tried but it's good content
02:08Yeah is in the great game of baseball was a real winner by just me being there. So that's great
02:15Okay, well Rob while we're talking about injuries I wanted to ask you about a story we discussed yesterday and it's just another weird story from
02:22Tristan Cassis, I'm sure you know, which one I'm talking about
02:25Cassis giving conflicting reports over the weekend updates. I should say he tells Chris Cotillo
02:32He feels pretty fine for mass live then he goes over to the Nessun reporter and says he feels like he's getting stabbed by knives
02:39What did you make of that whole situation and what sounded like a pretty?
02:43Unhappy response from Alex Cora on the record talking about, you know them being on the same page
02:50So yeah, I was so I was there with Chris. So as it was a dual interview
02:55yes, we we both talked to Christian Cassis and and
02:58Worcester and when he he said it and I think we pulled the audio from it
03:03For Saturday's show and the quote was the pain is minimal. I mean quote unquote the pain is minimal
03:09so we get up to the press box and
03:12We see
03:14Laura based the sideline reporter for woosox Laura sickles and
03:18She had the quote saying it be felt like stabbed by knives and we're both looking at each other like what?
03:23Like that's not what he just told us an hour ago
03:26And then so the next day Alex Cora addresses it on the record, which I was sort of surprised about
03:33I think it was in Texas and
03:35I think it was one of these things where
03:38That Tristan a lot of times sort of leans into he understands
03:44That how we have much we appreciate the drama of it all
03:47But I will say this I do think and I told Laura this I think that it was probably more on the side of
03:52The pain is more on the side of what he told her
03:56Then the pain was minimal now why Alex Cora and the Red Sox were probably upset were they say hey listen, you know
04:01We're not sending this guy out there with knives stabbing in his chest. He's okay
04:06That's okay to play
04:07I do think that this is something that he's gonna get have to get over as he has said in the in the subsequent days
04:14It's something that he's gonna have to get over. He is getting over. He's playing
04:17He wouldn't be playing if this was gonna damage him anymore
04:21So yeah, but it's just another thing where you know, he's good for business. He's good for Netflix business. He's good for our business
04:28So just to clarify you do believe he's in some
04:32Significant discomfort when I don't I don't think significant Andy
04:36I don't think significant discomfort because I don't think if it was significant that he would be playing
04:41Okay, and I think that when you're talking about
04:46There's not a lot of examples of this injury for baseball players in where you say
04:53Oh, well, look this guy came back from it here. It's rib cartilage in the middle of your chest
04:58So I got to imagine that's pretty pretty important and
05:03It's gonna take a long time to heal
05:05But all of that said I do feel like as long as they say you're not gonna rip open your rib cartilage anymore
05:12And you are feeling okay well enough and I mean he's been playing actually pretty well the last couple games
05:18He's played so yeah
05:19I mean, I think there's probably some discomfort but that sort of comes with the territory and it's good enough to play
05:25Okay, so understanding that and how well he's swinging the bat
05:28I talked to Lou the other day when I filled in on the midday show and he was
05:33Let's just say cautious in his expectations for Cossus like oh, it's gonna take a while for the timing and then who knows and maybe
05:40by September he'll be
05:42contributing what are your
05:45Expectations for him when he finally gets back to Boston
05:48I think that when he gets back to Boston now
05:50He's got the 20 days right in a Worcester and he's only what not even a weekend, right?
05:56But so once he gets back to Boston the expectations has to be that he's gonna be productive
06:01it can't be anything and I think Cassis told us this where he said I
06:05Shouldn't be there if I'm 75% if we have someone who's better than I and and this isn't the Red Sox problem right now
06:12Not having Tristan Cassis isn't their problem Dom Smith has been good enough
06:17Dom Smith has been fine and the Red Sox offense is the best offense in all of baseball
06:22so if
06:24you have to draw this out as long as you can with Cossus and make sure he's as right as possible and if he is
06:31Right, then he is a better player than Dom Smith. He is a value piece of the equation heading into the last month month and a half
06:38There's no question about it. But this idea of like, oh, he's slow playing it
06:42Oh, he has to come back early. Like what are we talking about?
06:44It first of all, it's a rib cartilage second of all
06:47it's there's no rush to get there shouldn't be any rush to get this guy back because
06:52They're the only team in baseball since the all-star break with an OPS over 900 and they've scored more runs than anybody
06:58So take your time get the good Tristan Cassis back
07:01Rob, I want to ask you about Brian Bayo
07:03He has the start tonight and after a tough few months this summer
07:07He had a good start against Seattle six and a third two runs
07:10Do you think that's the start of maybe a positive trend in this second half for him?
07:14Or do you think it's just kind of one good start and he's just having a tough year. I
07:20My guess is that he's gonna be better than certainly though when he had that downturn
07:24But he's better be this this is this is the problem with their deadline
07:29We can do we can do the whole C plus B minus thing
07:32It was probably what I would give him as well
07:34And they did a good job with a bullpen and I think Danny Jantz is useful and so impacts and obviously
07:39but they left themselves wide open if
07:42These starters take a turn for the worst and we've seen all of these starters at some point in the last couple months
07:48Take a turn for the worst including Bayo
07:51So you have to figure out who is going to be your go-to guy and and you can't have the starts
07:57You can't in other words tonight. You can't have a Brad bad Brian Bayo. You can't do that
08:02You can't have this guy fall apart because now the games matter now the games these you can say well
08:09We're you know early August whatever it is
08:11But here's the thing if you lose the next two games you lose the tiebreaker against the Royals if you lose the next two games
08:18You're three and a half back of the Kansas City Royals a team you're chasing
08:22You need these starting pitching to be good
08:24You need to have the best version of them and I do think that
08:28Fortunately for the Red Sox in the last couple times. They've actually got closer to that with Brian Bale
08:34I'm wondering as you're watching this rotation game by game
08:38Is there anything that you can see so obvious?
08:42That the rest of us are missing on what they need to do to get Tanner Houk back on track
08:46Not even to be the guy that he was in the first quarter or third of the season
08:51But just somewhere that's more of a middle ground
08:55The thing is mega. I don't understand
08:59Why they don't do what they used to do with starting pitchers, which is give them a sort of a built-in break
09:05Like with Tanner Houk you have a guy who was entering we all knew this was foreign territory in terms of workload
09:12We all knew this was coming. So and sure enough, you know, he hasn't been awful
09:18But he certainly hasn't been the guy that they need him to be which is we don't need a number one starter because we have
09:24So you have to find a way to recharge his batteries
09:28I mean this yeah pictures are gonna go through this but the biggest thing is is this a bump in the road?
09:33Is this just like a little bit of a spell and he's gonna come out of it just in the nick of time and go
09:38On and run in September and then in October like we don't know that either
09:42But I would suggest that the problem here is is pretty obvious to me
09:46Which is the guy has pitched more than he has ever pitched and and pitched at a level and pitching deeper
09:53Into games than he has ever pitched. So that's gonna catch up to you at some point
09:58I don't know if he's gonna catch a second wind, but if you're asking what the solution for is for me
10:03I'm like, okay
10:04Just find some ways to give the guy some rest and then see what you have because we're not only talking about September
10:10This is maybe the most important guy if you want to actually win a playoff series
10:15This is where you win it
10:16You line up your starting pitchers and you have people who can go up against their best starting pitchers and that's Tanner Houk
10:22All right. Oh and he's got one more
10:24Yeah, you brought it up. So I wanted to follow up on it because it was something I kind of forgot about this whole Netflix thing
10:31Have they stumbled into something that I'm really gonna because I had no interest coming into this season
10:36I was thinking it may not be a great season
10:38I might not enjoy watching it once never mind watching it again in documentary form afterwards
10:42But have they stumbled into some really good material here?
10:46Well, I would say that did you see have you seen the last chance you once on Netflix?
10:51No, I heard that. It's just like
10:53Something I'm gonna get way too invested in
10:57Stupid stupid fun good series
11:00Yeah, and so there they they basically
11:04Then you know this but they follow the juco teams
11:07Yeah football team and basketball teams and this is what I always said even going back to spring training where we're like
11:12You're really picking this team to fall around
11:14This is this they can make anything interesting and really like what we were bracing or what we said
11:21You should be bracing for Boston Red Sox. Is it when things go bad? They're not gonna dis
11:26Oh like look at how hard they're working. No, I mean you watch those series
11:30Not everybody comes out looking like Rosie, right? So they're gonna make anything look interesting
11:36I see any of these constructs on Netflix or whatever and like oh my goodness
11:41I want to watch the Canelo fight on you know, HBO. I want to watch you know
11:45I all of a sudden want to watch tennis. I mean any this is a great construct
11:50So it was gonna be interesting no matter what but I think to your point
11:54I think that they have I don't know stumbled upon but they have gotten very very fortunate
12:00I mean you have an interesting team a team with good storylines with the chorus stuff
12:05You know the deadline that even the all-star game. They were out of the all-star game
12:10Like on with Jaron Duran family and the guy wins the all-star game MVP. So are they around all the time?
12:18No, they weren't around they missed the boat in Colorado
12:21They missed the boat and the whole Reese McGuire drama and all that they weren't there for that
12:25You can't be there for everything and I think that a lot of those guys on that crew have no idea had no idea
12:32How long a baseball season is?
12:34But so far I think that this if you're gonna ask me what I think it's gonna be
12:39I think it's gonna be really really good. All right. Well, I guess we'll see that like next spring, right?
12:44I don't know how
12:47Next break like it's the same time. You'll see my first pitch. Okay, so
12:51I might have to dig that up
12:53Now, I know I know I know how you saw it. So I did
12:57That yes, I do
12:59But much like I have seen Joe Castiglione fall out of his chair in the Andrew Benintendi coach catch
13:05But everybody has been very sympathetic to Joe and not showing anybody. I plead with you Meg. Oh do not show anybody
13:12We'll talk off-air he's Rob Bradford of baseball isn't boring