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00:00The playoff picture in baseball. After the long holiday weekend throughout Labor Day, the summer
00:06unofficially comes to a close. A focus on football in the fall and of course postseason baseball in
00:13MLB as well. We are in the final month of this regular season. October is on the horizon. Most
00:22teams around MLB, when you look at the overall amount of games played, were well less than 25
00:28or 30 at this moment. The Dodgers, for instance, have the best record in MLB. They've played 138
00:35games, an 83-55 record. The Phillies, more than 80 wins, as is the case for the Brew crew as well.
00:43About 25 games left in this MLB regular season. So let's start with the NL playoff picture.
00:50The Dodgers have the best record in baseball and in the league. The Phillies and the Brewers
00:56all have substantial leads in their division. The Phillies up by seven games over the Braves.
01:01The Brew crew back to a double-digit lead in the National League Central.
01:05Ten games in front of the Cubs. And the Dodgers were great in August 19-8 and take the weekend
01:12in Arizona over the Diamondbacks. So LA now looking to win the National League West for
01:17the 11th time in the last 12 years. Five games in front of San Diego, six ahead of Arizona.
01:24Yeah, three days before the All-Star break too. We have to remember the Philadelphia Phillies,
01:27they were six games clear, not in their division, six games clear of the Dodgers
01:31with the number one overall seed expected to be in the National League. Now you take a look there
01:35at how well, as you're saying, the Dodgers have played over the past month and month and a half.
01:39Now have a game lead or two games lead here over the Philadelphia Phillies. But the question marks
01:43also were coming up on the Phillies. Ah, that little malaise here. They had a monster series
01:47against the Atlanta Braves. That four-game set where they took three of those four games,
01:51which included a couple of comeback victories. That sort of put it out of reach. Now,
01:55never say never, because the Phillies, I believe it was maybe, let's say 2007,
01:59where they came back all the way with the Mets, like, you know, seven games with 17 to play,
02:03something crazy like that, which we've seen happen in baseball history. But a seven-game
02:06lead for the Phillies in the month right now, September, they're probably not going to get
02:10caught at this point. That's how big that series was overall to pick up two games over the Braves.
02:14So the Braves now singular focus here, Ben, going to be on just making that wild card,
02:19and they are getting nipped and bit on the heels by the New York Mets now. Only a half game back
02:24in that wild card race, which is going to be so much fun to watch down the stretch.
02:28Diamondbacks struggling a little bit. San Diego Padres may be cooling off just a tad.
02:32Those two teams, I do believe, will be in the playoffs. But the Braves and the Mets now,
02:36neck and neck all the way through. The good part about it is, if you're the Mets,
02:39you're going to play a lot of games against the Phillies, a lot of games against the Braves here.
02:42No fault of your own if you miss out on the playoffs. But that looks like a fun competitive
02:47matchup throughout the final three weeks or so of the season.
02:50And DRS, when you look at the National League East, the odds are off the FanDuel Sportsbook,
02:54the NL Central, the odds are off the FanDuel Sportsbook, the Dodgers a minus 6,000 favorite
02:59to win the National League West. There is also a competitive race, I guess you could say,
03:03between the Phillies and the Brewers in terms of who is going to earn that second buy into the
03:09postseason. But the Phillies do maintain a two, or excuse me, a half game lead over the Brew crew
03:15at this moment. But the most competitive race in the National League, as Donnie mentioned,
03:20only a half game for Atlanta in front of the new York Mets, the divisional mates down the
03:26stretch battling for that third and final NL wildcard spot. To the odds, we go. The Mets'
03:32price to make the postseason, plus 158. The Braves not on there, not because they're so
03:38strongly in front. The odds have been taken off. But I think FanDuel has to kind of reassess where
03:44Atlanta is, a team that entered the season with the second best price to win a World Series.
03:48Yeah, and also, here's what you have to keep in mind, too. We're already in playoff mode for those
03:52two organizations. A lot of what the Mets have done looks like they were dead and buried. Now
03:55they're back with the legitimate chance to make it in to that wildcard round in the playoffs.
03:59But the thing I really like about the Atlanta Braves, which again, they have a half game lead,
04:02which isn't much, but that's starting pitching lineup now. Chris Sale's been great. Ronaldo
04:07Lopez back off of the IEL looking decent once again. And Spencer Schwellenbach looks like he
04:12can be that third hammer down the stretch. He was great against the Philadelphia Phillies. That
04:15bullpen just gave way. So if I'm looking at those three pitchers healthy in the month of September,
04:20then I got to give the nod to the Atlanta Braves at this point, because pitching wins,
04:24particularly when you're in playoff mode. And both of those teams are not knocking the Mets,
04:27as I said, like what they've done, surprising even in this spot here. And even with all those
04:31injuries to the Braves, that one, two, three punch is really formidable from a brave starting
04:36pitching perspective here. The Mets 17 and 13 in the month of August, they ended out August and
04:44now continuing into September on a five game win streak. Quickly, quickly here, let's look
04:49at the American League. The most competitive race is the Yankees and the Orioles for the top spot
04:54in the AL East. The Red Sox trail by four and a half games for a wildcard spot, despite the
04:59Royals being on a six game skin. Donnie, if you had to bet it right now, Yankees at minus 140,
05:05half game lead over the O's in the American League East, who wins the divisional title?
05:09I would say the Yanks, but boy, oh boy, I'm waiting at that. Garrett Cole missing out,
05:13maybe on three or four starts. If he's injured, that could be the key.
05:17It very well could. Hour three on the horizon up next.
05:21RMLB insider and the host of Newswire. Craig Misch joins us live right here on this Tuesday
05:28on the early line, following a long holiday weekend where, Craig, the calendar has flipped
05:34to September, about 25 games or less for all clubs around MLB. The hunt for October is on as
05:42the regular season draws to a close. We appreciate your time and your insight live right here on the
05:48early line. Yeah, I mean, look, this has been great for me. You know, the team that I cover
05:53in baseball started off the season 0-8. The team that I went to school started off the season losing
05:59by 70. So yeah, I mean, we're just off to a great start here with baseball and now with football as
06:04well. Yeah, yeah, Craig, sorry about that. Your Forte Gator's not putting up much of a fight to
06:10Donnie's Miami Hurricanes on Saturday. Unfortunate, unfortunate. However, before we get your insight
06:17on MLB, am I hearing this correctly? Craig's son over the weekend in the biggest baseball news
06:23threw a no-no, a no-hitter in some Little League action. Craig Misch, what are the details?
06:29Yeah, it was a big moment. Yeah, I mean, the perfect game tournament. We didn't get to finish
06:35it because of the rain, but yeah, I mean, got the call, five no-hit innings, shut out ball.
06:41I mean, honestly, very close to a perfect game on a 3-2 count. Walked the kid and then also
06:48on a 3-2 count, it looked like a curveball for a strike, but the kid, you know, when a curveball
06:52comes in, you know, kids get a little scared. My son gets scared of curveballs too, to be fair,
06:57but curveball comes in and they get hit. But other than that, perfection. Yeah, perfection.
07:03That first time he's ever done that before too. So we'll have a full story coming up on Newswire.
07:12Craig, you hate doing schedule breakdowns in the National Football League, but I think a
07:16pitch-by-pitch report of your son's no-hitter would do the people well on Newswire starting
07:21at 11 a.m. Eastern. In the bigs, we go all around here on The Daily Basis.
07:33Craig, Mitch, yesterday the Yankees on the road after dropping two straight sets in their opener
07:38in Arlington. Garrett Cole, darn good. Six innings of work, striking out nine against the Rangers,
07:43only allowing a single-earn run, but did exit the game early with what the Yankees are calling a
07:50right calf cramp. He will be monitored tomorrow. Tomorrow is today. Craig, are you buying what the
07:56Yankees are selling that it's only a calf cramp? No, I mean, look, as you guys know, love leading
08:01off with the Yankees on Daily Basis, so let's dive right in. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to have
08:07to do it in an hour from now too. So, you know, I think with something like this, you know,
08:12everyone questions injuries. They question the teams for their reporting. And, you know, honestly,
08:18with what goes on in this day and age in baseball and even in all sports, you're hearing less and
08:23less about the severity of injuries just because they don't have to be reported as extensively.
08:27Latest story coming out of Houston that Kyle Tucker may have had a break in a bone or something
08:32like that from back in June, which is why he hasn't played in three months. But I think I'm
08:37going to err on the side of optimism for this one just because it's not arm-related, it's not
08:42shoulder-related. And indeed, if it is mild, then I think that Cole pitches again very soon, if not
08:47a week, two weeks, and they'll monitor this. But the Yankees are headed toward the postseason,
08:51and they need him for game one. And so that's when I believe he'll be available to pitch.
08:55Yeah, they certainly do. Hopefully, it's not one of those things that will linger,
08:57and they can certainly handle their business. Because if you take one of the American League
09:00standings today, if the season was over, the Yanks would be the top overall seed in the AF,
09:04followed by the Guardians and the Astros. Close by are the Orioles. If we're looking at that wild
09:09card race too, is it over, Craig, in your mind, in the AL? Does it look like the Twins, Royals,
09:14and Orioles, let's just say, will be those teams? Or could you see something out of the Red Sox
09:18trying to climb back in there? Yeah, I mean, it could happen. But I think, Donnie, those top six
09:23are super realistic at this point. Yeah. You know, credit to Detroit, by the way. Ben, we're going to
09:29have to take a look at that over for the Tigers, I think, next season. I think Detroit is on their
09:34way. I can see them being very active in the offseason, getting their way back to where they
09:38need to be. So yeah, Donnie, I think you're right. It is just basically Boston at this point.
09:44But I don't know. One of those teams, Boston, Kansas City, Minnesota, one of them has to get
09:51super hot to sort of impose their will in these last 30 days or so. If Boston was able to roll
09:57off, let's say, 11 out of 12, 12 out of 13, 14 out of 16, something like that, that would put them
10:02in contention for that final wild card spot. But, Donnie, I don't see that. I see Boston kind of
10:06playing like how they have been, a little bit over 500. I just don't know that that's going to be
10:11enough to get in. Despite the six-game skid for the Royals, they still maintain a four-and-a-half
10:16game lead for that third and final American League wild card spot. In the National League,
10:22the Dodgers in front in the NL West by five games. The Phillies have a seven-game lead in the
10:27National League East. The Brew crew up by double digits in the National League Central. And the
10:32Padres and the Diamondbacks still in front of Atlanta for those top two wild card spots. So,
10:36Craig, the most compelling race is that third and final. Now just a half-game lead for Atlanta
10:44in front of New York. The Mets have won five straight. The Braves dropped three of four
10:48this weekend in Philadelphia. When all is said and done, who takes that final wild card spot
10:54in the National League? Yeah, I mean, I'll still lean on the Braves here, although I could see the
10:58Mets doing it. It was one year ago, by the way, Ben, that the Cubs had this spot and completely
11:03fell apart in the final month of the season and fell out of it. So, hard for me to endorse them.
11:08I'll say Atlanta gets it, but, you know, you can't discount the Mets. They're going to look back at
11:14the end of the season, I'm going to guess, and say if Edwin Diaz was just a little bit better in that
11:19ninth inning, maybe we would have gotten in. And you can't predict that sort of stuff. I mean,
11:23the ninth inning in baseball is the hardest thing to predict in all of sports. Predicting a closer
11:29going into the season being great is almost impossible if his name is not class A these days.
11:33So, I'll say the Braves. And if we take a look tonight, you take a look at Boston and the New
11:39York Mets. They're going to match up tonight. Slight favorite towards the Mets. And also,
11:42as you talked about the Braves, Chris Salem out as a minus 350 favorite tonight. So, it doesn't
11:47look like we're probably going to get that matchup we wanted to, where both of these teams look like
11:51they're going to win. But from a Mets perspective, they've beaten again the Red Sox tonight, do you
11:55think? Yeah. And playing okay at home, I think that's going to be the key for the Mets here.
11:59They do have a number of home games in September that can certainly help them. But, you know,
12:03I see this kind of series as a back and forth, you know, three-game series. What I saw last year in
12:09watching the Marlins very closely, Donnie, is that you can expect the unexpected in September.
12:13Teams that you think are pushing toward the playoffs fall apart. Teams that you think are
12:18out of it all of a sudden make a push. And we're just simply not there yet. But the last couple of
12:23weeks of this season, that ML East is going to be wild down to the finish. Yeah. The Mets took the
12:29opener against Boston yesterday at Citi Field, 4-1. The Red Sox on a three-game slide. Catch
12:35Craig Mishaw, Newswire, leading off with a New York game at 11 a.m. Eastern. More MLB Breakdown
12:40next. Things get a little bit wonky here in the final month of the MLB regular season following
12:47Labor Day weekend. Because it was a holiday and we saw 11 games yesterday, we saw some weekend
12:52sets come to a close on Labor Day. Some starts, some off days that continue into this Tuesday. Not
13:00a full 15-game slate. 13 games listed with odds and rotation numbers on the FanDuel Sportsbook,
13:08including inside Citi Field. Game number two of the midweek set tonight between the Mets and the
13:13Red Sox. New York taking game one, 4-1 behind a strong pitching performance out of Luis Severino.
13:19Tonight, David Peterson on the bump. Minus 132 in favor of the Amazons over under at eight. Two
13:25different streaks at play. Boston on a three-game skid. The Mets have won five in a row. Yeah, I
13:31think the Mets are going to be able to win again. Have to if they want to keep pace with the Atlanta
13:35Braves. You have Chris Sale on the mound, as we talked about in that previous segment here. Minus
13:38350 plus favorite, which is crazy. They'll probably win that game, which means the Mets must win,
13:42and they do have the better pitcher on the mound today, and that's in David Peterson. Take a look
13:46at this. 59 innings pitched over the past 60 days. His ERA 2.44, but as we know, that's not
13:52the end-all be-all. It is a slightly higher XFIP number at a 4.24, but still much, much better than
13:57Cutter Crawford, who on my card, Ben, I have 21 pitchers rated with a minimum of 20 innings pitched
14:02over the past 60 days. He's 20 out of 21, and you take a look at Crawford, a 5.40 number here for the
14:09ERA, but a 5.25 XFIP number, and if you're taking a look at Cutter Crawford struggling with right-handed
14:15batters, you dip right in. Mark Vientos, Pete Alonzo in the middle of that lineup should be able
14:19to do damage. Quite frankly, if you're looking at the first six batters in the lineup for the Mets,
14:24you're taking a look and saying, okay, how have they done over the past 30 days against right-handed
14:28pitching? Very well. Lindor, Nimmo, Vientos, Alonzo, Winker, and also McNeil, high ISO power
14:33numbers and weighted on base percentages. The Mets will get another victory tonight over there in
14:38Queens. Yeah, it could be a big one for the Mets. They're a half game behind the Atlanta Braves,
14:44so now we go to Atlanta. The Braves would have to lose, and the Mets would have to win
14:50to overtake the Braves for that third and final National League wildcard spot. The reason I
14:56present it as such, it does not appear the Braves are going to lose tonight at home against the
15:02Rockies. Atlanta is a minus 350 favorite on the FanDuel Sportsbook because Chris Sale gets the
15:09nod tonight. The over-under stands at seven and a half. Donnie, is there any way that you would
15:13want to play this game between the Rocks and the Braves, knowing it is such a strong price
15:17in Atlanta's favor? It's kind of crazy. Probably more towards the under. Sale, we know, has been
15:21phenomenal. His last 60 days, been a 2.25 ERA and XFIP number 2.61. But you take a look at Freeland,
15:27he's the 10th overall pitcher on the card today. Five, 56 and two-thirds innings pitch,
15:31which does include some starts here in Colorado. And how about this? An ERA of 4.29, which is a
15:37little bit elevated, but his true number, that XFIP, 3.76. Here's the issue that you're going
15:42to have. Freeland's a left-handed pitcher. The bats have woken up for the Atlanta Braves,
15:46particularly against lefties over the past month. Harris, Soler, Olsen, Laureano, Arcea,
15:51and Murphy, all high ISO power numbers. Good luck if you're Colorado. Colorado's one of those teams
15:56on offense. Like, if they're at home, you're sort of like, you know what, I'll take a flyer on them.
15:59But on the road, you just take a look at the last 30 days against left-handed pitching, and Sale
16:03has been tremendous. Doyle's got a 176 ISO, which is about average. Stallings has a 231, but only
16:08threw 16 at bats. Everybody else in that lineup, below average with their ISO power numbers. Good
16:13luck, Colorado, playing out the string against an Atlanta Braves team that absolutely needs it,
16:18and is smarting after losing 3-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies.
16:23Sale and the Braves, not only a minus 350 favorite tonight on the bump, Chris Sale is minus 550 now
16:28to win the National League Cy Young Award. And really, how could you knock it? He only trails
16:33Tarek Scouble, who is going to run away with the American League Cy Young Award, and the odds,
16:37not even posted at the moment, in wins and ERA. Scouble's got 16 wins and a 2-5-1 ERA. Sale has
16:4515 wins, a 15-3 record, and a 2-5-8 ERA second best in both categories around MLB. The Braves
16:53did drop 3-4 this weekend in Philadelphia, no doubt, and has tightened that race in the National
16:58League wildcard chase. But Atlanta, prior to the weekend in Philadelphia, had won six of its
17:04previous seven. Now we go out west. A divisional series this week between two teams in different
17:11spots. The Diamondbacks still in that wildcard position. Two and a half games in front of the
17:17Braves at the moment for the second of those three wildcard spots. Only a game behind San Diego
17:22for that top spot. The D-backs looking to bounce back from dropping 3-4 against the L.A. Dodgers
17:28at home this weekend. Now in Northern California, a slight road favorite, total of 7-1-1.
17:33Good bounce back spot here for the Diamondbacks. As you said, always tough to play. The Dodgers
17:37are playing their best baseball right now. But I do like the price point there at the
17:40FanDuel Sportsbook at a minus 116. The reason being is, you might just see the name, Ryan Nelson.
17:45Ah, not that great a pitcher here. But when you take a look at his statistics, particularly over
17:48the past 30 and 60 days, they're pretty impressive. If we go by the last two months, 63 and a third
17:53innings pitched. How about an ERA band of 2.84 and an XFIB of 3.27? It's not a great lineup that
17:59you're going to take on with the San Francisco Giants. So I do put them in that category of,
18:03I like that price point they should win. If we flip it over from a Giants perspective,
18:07Harrison has been a decent pitcher on the mound. And we do need to see that Arizona
18:11Diamondbacks lineup bounce back against left-handed pitching, which they haven't been
18:15great over the past month. I think they're the better team. I think it's a good spot to bounce
18:18back. And I expect a pretty good performance out of Ryan Nelson. Not one of those big name guys,
18:22but boy, he's been putting work in over the past two months here. No doubt about that.
18:26The D-backs have lost six of their last eight, almost unheard of for one of the,
18:31if not the hottest teams since the all-star break. In fact, they've lost two straight
18:36series against the Mets. And then again, losing three or four this weekend at home
18:40against the Dodgers. The first time DRS Arizona has dropped two consecutive sets
18:45since the end of June, losing four of six and two consecutive series against the Phillies
18:51and the Twins. Almost unheard of. Skeens Day number 19, that's XIX in the history of MLB.
19:01It will be interesting to see how the Buccos deal with Skeens today inside Wrigley.
19:07Minus 130. The Pirates, a favorite. The over-under, seven and a half. But Skeens DRS
19:13really just going about five or six innings, not throwing more than a hundred pitches any longer,
19:17as Pittsburgh is out of playoff contention. The Cubbies had a six-game win streak,
19:22snapped yesterday, still three and a half back of Atlanta for the third and final NL wildcard spot.
19:28Crazier things have happened in the final month of the season.
19:31Now, bats have really heated up for the Chicago Cubs, which makes it an interesting matchup
19:35against Paul Skeens. But if we're just going from a pitcher to pitcher ratio here, that ratio is
19:39much better on the Pittsburgh Pirates side. Take a look at Skeens' last 60 days and quite frankly,
19:43his entire season has been very good. 56 and two-thirds innings pitch in ERA of 2.38 and a
19:49very manageable X-fifth number at 3.09. We flip it over to the veteran pitcher on the mound,
19:53Kyle Hendricks, and he, over the past 60 days, 41 and a third innings pitch, much different
19:58scenario than then. 5.66 ERA, 5.03 X-fifth number. Questions always come up. You know Skeens is the
20:06better pitcher. At the end of five innings, they're probably going to have the lead.
20:09Why do you want to risk Paul Skeens throwing a hundred pitches over five and two-thirds innings
20:13and leave it up to that bullpen only to see the Chicago Cubs come back in that environment? Maybe
20:18a run line first five inning is the most appropriate number because Skeens should have a good day.
20:22Hendricks should get hit. And by the time he leaves that game, talking about Skeens,
20:26they should have the lead. And why leave it to chance? Because put it this way,
20:29if Skeens is down four to one when the game is over, what's the big deal? They probably
20:32weren't going to win anyway, but there's a chance they have the lead and can blow it late against
20:36the Cubs. Again, DRS in August, Pittsburgh was really, really bad. When you look at the overall
20:43record, they were eight and 19. They were two games above 500 at the end of July. So then you
20:49look at Skeens' starts here in the month of August, a hundred in his first one. But when things started
20:56to go really bad in terms of pitch count, he hasn't thrown more than 93 pitches in his last
21:01four outings. Think about the last game he had last week at home against Chicago,
21:06five innings of work, three runs scored when he was in, but only two of those earned,
21:10did strike out six. When he left the game after five innings, Pittsburgh had an eight to three
21:15lead for the Cubbies to score 11 unanswered in the final three innings, including I think six
21:21in the top of the ninth. So just to keep that all in mind for where Chicago is, we'll have some more
21:28baseball breakdowns on the other side of the break. As we look at the wild card standings
21:34in the National League, again, this is really the only place where things are interesting.
21:38Atlanta, a half game up over the New York Mets, three and a half in front of the Chicago Cubs.
21:44No price on the Braves to make the postseason. The New York Mets at a plus 158 number. American
21:51League Central teams in action and plenty more on the other side of the break. More MLB best
21:56bets to come up next on TEL. Live right here on the Early Line on Sports Grid, we continue going
22:03through the mostly full Tuesday slate in Major League Baseball. Can the Royals snap a six-game
22:09skid at home tonight against divisional mate, the Cleveland Guardians? The odds maker is not
22:14necessarily expecting that to be the case. Total of eight in Cleveland, a slight road favorite at a
22:19minus 116 price. The Guardians winning yesterday, four to two. The offense for Cleveland,
22:25two two-run home runs out of Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor. That's the difference for the Guardians,
22:31who have opened up a three and a half game lead in the American League Central. What happens today
22:36inside Coffman Stadium? Yeah, showing their coin flip basically there from the fan's little sports
22:40book bringing these two teams together. But I'm saying the better pitcher on the mound tonight
22:44is actually on Kansas City's side here, Ben. Brady Singer's last 60 days, 58 in a third inning's
22:49pitch, a very manageable ERA at 3.86, an even better exit number at 3.21. What do we like about
22:55Brady Singer, the right-handed pitcher? Over his last 124 batters he's faced over the past 30 days,
23:0026 percent of those batters have struck out. Lefty batters, that increases to 31.4 percent.
23:06The reason I bring that up, take a look at the lineup tonight as we anticipate for the Guardians.
23:10Lefty Kwon, Lefty Jimenez, Lefty Ramirez, Lefty Naylor, Lefty Manzardo, Lefty Naylor, and Lefty
23:17Roccio. So if those guys are going to bat from the left-hand side, which quite frankly you're
23:20supposed to do against a right-handed pitcher, that feeds right into maybe that strikeout numbers
23:24here that could be a very big difference in the game tonight. Give me Kansas City to fight off
23:29those bad demons tonight and finally pick up a victory. Come on now. Yeah, Donnie, as we learned
23:34late last week, our guy Vinny P, Vinny Paz-Quintino, was going to be out for probably close to two
23:39months. Was it a broken hand that was his ailment? Unfortunate for KC. The Royals still a four and a
23:46half game lead though. For the third and final American League wildcard spot, they're only a
23:51game behind Minnesota for that second of three wildcard positions. Minnesota on the road once
23:57again in Tampa tonight. They won the series opener yesterday, five to four. Trevor Larnik, three-run
24:03home run. Brooks Lee, a solo shot for the rookie, good enough to outlast the Rays. The Rays at home
24:09today, a slight favorite, but again a virtual coin flip. Minus 112 on one side for Tampa, minus 104
24:15on the other for Minnesota. Total at seven and a half, and the under has the juice. What do we
24:19see tonight in the trough? We're going to enjoy the festa tonight down there at the trough, and
24:24that's taken under seven and a half. Why David Festo on the mound for the Minnesota Twins. A guy,
24:28one of those names that you need to get involved with here. 37 innings pitched over the past 60
24:33days. How about an ERA of 4.34? You say, Donnie, that's high, but the underlying metrics tell you
24:37that XFIP number is at 3.11, and in a true pitcher's ballpark tonight, that should certainly
24:42help him out. You're also taking a look on the opposite side. Springs, not a lot of work here,
24:47but over the past 30 days, he has gotten in 100 batters, a 144 iso against, and a weighted on
24:51base percentage, right around average of 328. I think both of these teams in this environment,
24:56those pitchers on the mound, I'm not too sure. We get eight runs tonight. I'll go to the under
25:00seven and a half. Yeah, Jeffrey Springs gets that start for the Rays. Was great to start last year,
25:06missed a considerable amount of this season. Hasn't been bad for Tampa in the spots. The Yankees,
25:11who had dropped two consecutive sets before their first game last night in Arlington, did rally
25:18against the Rangers. Eight to four, the victory for the Yanks. Garrett Cole, good, but did leave
25:23early with what the Yankees are calling a right calf cramp. We'll see if we have any updates later
25:28on this day. Carlos Rodon gets the start tonight against Andrew Heaney. The pinstripes a road
25:34favorite in Texas once more. Total of nine. What's the play? Yeah, I think you're going to look at
25:40the Yankees, then it's the right side. You take a look also at the pitching prospects here of
25:43Carlos Rodon. Not a great pitcher this year, but his last six days, 4.10, should be able to keep
25:48you in the game and a manageable XFIP number of 3.72. He is tonight, at least analytically,
25:53the better pitcher over Andrew Heaney. If you're looking from an RBI perspective,
25:56Heaney's a left-handed pitcher, has struggled at times with right-handed batters. You look
26:00right to that leadoff guy tonight in Glabra Torres and maybe Aaron Judge. He still has
26:04sizzling numbers against left-handed pitching. His last 42 at-bats, a 583 iso and a way to
26:10base percentage of 616. If we're looking at that Texas lineup, the one thing that we do know,
26:14they don't get left-handed pitching all that well, but they will have a ton of right-handed
26:18batters in that lineup. That's the way to attack Carlos Rodon. A left-handed pitcher,
26:22his last 29 at-bats and quite frankly, his 115 left-handed batters he's faced on the season,
26:26he's been dominant, but a little bit leaky against right-handed batters.
26:30Still going to go with the Yankees. We're not saying they need this game more than the Texas
26:34range. It's not really the right way to approach it with roughly a month left to go in the season,
26:37but I think Rodon will be able to step up to the plate and the Yankees superstars
26:40be able to carry the tide. I think the Yanks handled their business tonight.
26:44Texas eight games below 565 and 73 for the reigning World Series champs. They are going
26:51to miss the postseason more than likely. Jacob deGrom expected to return this week for Texas,
26:57see what he's got, ending 2024 into 2025. The Astros, by the way, six games in front now of
27:04the Mariners who have lost three straight games and are an even 500. Not much out of the American
27:10League West this season. By the way, Aaron Judge in RBI yesterday, Giancarlo Stanton, a home run.
27:16Judge has not hit a home run in seven consecutive games. The horror. He had a six or a seven home
27:23run run in a six game stretch prior now being blanked seven straight games plus 190 to record
27:30a long ball tonight against the Rangers. DRS, the American League Central is such a funny division.
27:36You got four teams now above 500, including the Tigers, who are a game above 570 and 69,
27:43and more than likely three teams making the American League postseason. The Guardians,
27:47more than likely the divisional champs. You got the twins in the Royals and wildcard spots. And
27:51again, Detroit, a game above 500, but because the White Sox are 31 in 108, the division and the
27:58whole five teams, 36 games below 500, despite four of the five teams having a winning record,
28:05all to say some fun facts in trivia as we get ready for tonight. I don't know if Cade Povich
28:11will ever be booked as a three dollar favorite once again in his life, but he's minus 310
28:15for the O's tonight as they host the White Sox. And by the way, if we are just looking, look,
28:20it's obvious that the White Sox have given up on the season. They don't care about wins and
28:23losses at this point, but there comes a point where sometimes numbers actually don't make
28:27sense. Now hear me out on this. Povich is on the mound. I don't know how much longer Povich
28:31should be pitching for the Baltimore Oros if they want to stay in that pennant race and win
28:35that division. 21 out of 21 pitchers today, he's 21. His last 60 days, he's got an, listen to this,
28:41he's a 300 or better favorite tonight, Ben. He's got an ERA that's almost 10 over the past 60 days.
28:4610, that's not one start. It's 25 in the third innings pitched. His exit number works on the
28:50card at a six. Now you look at that Chicago White Sox lineup, one through nine, they can't hit
28:55left-handed pitchers. But I'm just telling you this right now, don't even make them a parlay
28:59piece. Should they win Baltimore? Yes. But you're talking about by far the single worst pitcher on
29:03the card is a three to one favorite tonight. It tells you how much the Chicago White Sox have
29:08quit, but you can't take that price. That's ridiculous. The O's won last night, 13 to three
29:13in the opener against the White Sox.