Scott Miller Talks MLB Wild Card Race & Team Prospects
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00:00It is always great to have Scott Miller with us, of course, from out in San Diego, longtime
00:08great MLB columnist, New York Times contributor, as he is there at the ballpark at Petco for
00:14tonight where the Padres and the Mets are going to get together.
00:19Big four games.
00:20They're all big right now for all these teams in the wildcard race, especially with about
00:24six weeks to go in the regular season.
00:27Good to see you as always, Scott.
00:29Let's actually start there, because then I'll build it out with San Diego and bring
00:33the Dodgers and Arizona into the mix.
00:35But Mets and the Padres, four games here, Severino tonight against Dylan Cease.
00:40And for the Mets, who are a game and a half back of that last wildcard in the NL, this
00:45is a big trip for them, Scott, especially when you start off against one of those teams
00:49that you're looking right up at in the wildcard.
00:52No doubt.
00:53You know, I mean, they're, what, a game and a half out of the wildcard spot.
00:56They're further behind San Diego of all teams, in Arizona lead the wildcard race.
01:02But yeah, I mean, as you said, nice to be with you as always, Carver High.
01:07As you said a minute ago, we're to the point in the season where we're like, what, maybe
01:1130, I think 34 games left or thereabouts for most teams.
01:15So you know, every day now for those teams that have hope for October, every day gets
01:22just a, you turn that pressure up just a little bit more.
01:26So we're not to must win yet, but we're getting close and we're getting, we are in the point
01:32where, you know, losses hurt more than they used to.
01:35So, you know, as you mentioned, you know, I'm looking forward to tonight, Luis Severino
01:39and Dylan Cease, really good pitching matchup really, you know, Mets have, it's a tough
01:43trip.
01:44I mean, San Diego and Arizona are two of the hottest teams in the, in, in all of baseball,
01:49you know, Padres have won 22 of 27, I think it is, and they've got everything going right.
01:56They've got it up and down the lineup.
01:57The biggest thing with San Diego is contact hitting this year.
02:02They have the fewest strikeouts in the major leagues and they have a lineup that puts the
02:06bat on the ball.
02:07I love that because when you do that, you'll get the ball, put it in play, something good.
02:13You have a chance for something good to happen.
02:16You certainly do, Scott.
02:17And let's bring that into now the bigger conversation, which is San Diego and Arizona have been so
02:23hot since the all-star break.
02:26They've really been the two best teams in baseball, but the Dodgers who kind of had
02:30that little lull for a little while have also now been smoking hot and they've gotten all
02:35their guys back.
02:36I mean, Muncy comes back, he's been on fire.
02:38They bring everybody, you know, Buehler's come back.
02:41We'll see how he goes for them.
02:42Betts has come back.
02:43He's played well.
02:44As good as Arizona and San Diego have been, they're still just, they're still four out.
02:49They got as close as two and a half, but the Dodgers have that little gap.
02:53I don't think they'll be able to catch them, Scott, over these last six weeks.
02:58But I do think that Arizona and San Diego are absolutely ticketed for postseason play.
03:02Yeah, I agree with everything you said.
03:05The Dodgers are just so deep.
03:07The biggest, as you said, they're finally getting everybody back.
03:10And, you know, earlier on, about three weeks ago, four weeks ago, when the Padres first
03:14started to get hot, the Dodgers came to San Diego for two game series.
03:18The Padres won both, and that helped springboard them toward their current hot streak.
03:23But that Dodger team that went 0-for-2 in San Diego, that was when Freddie Freeman's
03:27son was going through his health issue, and Freddie wasn't with the team.
03:31Mookie Betts was still on the injured list.
03:35Max Muncy was out.
03:37So the Dodgers team the Padres got a few weeks ago was really, to me, only about 60% capacity.
03:44And now they're, as you said, they're not completely back.
03:48The biggest issue is rotation.
03:50Walker Buehler does not look good.
03:52He got batted around again last night.
03:54He's, right now, he's a guy that'll give you four or five innings and give up three or
03:59four runs during that time.
04:01I mean, he's not the ace that he once was.
04:05That's going to be an issue if the Dodgers can't figure it out.
04:07They have so many pitching issues, but still, they have so much depth.
04:11And man, when you get Otani, Betts, and Freeman, one, two, three, and then Muncy lengthens
04:16out.
04:17As you said, you cannot be hotter than the Padres and Dimebacks.
04:23And yet, today, as we go into the games, they're still looking at a four-game deficit behind
04:29the Dodgers.
04:30What is it?
04:32Is there something to it, Scott, with them not having Tatis?
04:36Because it's a little weird, right?
04:37Like, you know, two years ago, they didn't have Tatis for the whole season, and they
04:41went to the NLCS when they lost to the Phillies.
04:45Tatis was in the lineup this year.
04:47He goes out.
04:48They get scorching hot for the last month and a half, two months, when he hasn't been
04:51there.
04:52They owe this guy a lot of money for a very long time, and he's still, listen, when he's
04:56in the lineup, he hits home runs, he gets things done.
04:59Why is it so strange, Scott, that when he's not in the lineup, they play better?
05:04That's a really good question.
05:06I wish I had an answer.
05:08What I will tell you, as part of the answer, you know, and I've been around the Padres
05:13quite a bit, living here, it would be easy if I could sit here and tell you, well, Tatis
05:21is a selfish player, or he's a divisive force in the clubhouse.
05:25You know, that would explain why they win when he's out and why they don't when he's
05:30here.
05:31But I can't say any of that.
05:32You know, the only thing I will say is Tatis, I thought, got a little bit big-headed his
05:39second or third year.
05:41But that steroid suspension quickly humbled him.
05:45When he came back from the steroid suspension last year, I have to tell you, the way he
05:52handled himself, the way he conducted himself with his teammates, the way he handled the
05:57media, he was humble, he said all the right things, and I don't mean for one or two days,
06:02I mean for the length of the season and into this year.
06:06So it's not that, you know, he's a bad guy or he's divisive or anything like that.
06:13So it's a mystery why they got so hot when he is not around.
06:21You know, I think he's certainly, one thing you could say, you just look at the stats.
06:27As you said, he's getting his home runs, he's getting his hits.
06:31The numbers still aren't as good as right before the steroid suspension.
06:38So some of his early years, as we look and watch how this plays out, you have to say,
06:45well, some of those numbers earlier, you know, were probably artificially inflated.
06:52But otherwise, good player, decent guy.
06:55I still think he can help them when he comes back.