It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. On today's show of not just the Lockdown Padres Podcast, but also the Lockdown Red Sox Podcast. We are previewing this weekend series between two teams that are on a roll and obviously it's not just going to be Javier Reyes. It's also, I'd be joined by Gabby Hurlebot of Lockdown Red Sox. Gabby, how are you doing? I am doing fantastic. This is great. I've been so intrigued by the Padres lately because they seem to have been playing good baseball, which is actually surprisingly what we can say about the Red Sox right now too, because things were looking pretty glim about a month ago. So now that they're playing better, I'm excited to chat with you and preview these two teams that are going head to head this weekend, both on a pretty good roll. Absolutely. Yeah. I would say it was looking good for a while prior to the season for the Boston Red Sox. Just one of the worst aura teams in baseball for a lot of different reasons trailing back to a while ago. And then also, this is when I reveal the plot twist I did not tell Guy before recording. I am a Boston hater, so I'm very excited about this. This is going to be a lot of fun. I am plot twist again from New Jersey. She probably doesn't know that. Boom. How about that? That is where I'm creating. Of course, you conveniently wait until right now. So this is going to be this is going to be a tough go, but we'll see how it goes. We'll make it as, you know, normal and not least acrobatics as possible. Today's episode, guys, though, is brought to you by booking.com booking.com. Yeah, the right stake can make you a fan of Eddie's City. Even your rivals check out booking.com for your state today. We're going to be talking about the biggest storylines and then also getting to pitching matchups. So, yeah, pretty straightforward. Let's start. Yeah, I beat with what is going on with the Red Sox this year, because I mean, I'm being serious. Like, this was not a team that was, I don't think they were projected to be quite bad. I think the American Lisa is just a good division, frankly, with the Orioles, with the Yankees, allegedly the Blue Jays and Reyes as well. But that has not been the case. And more importantly, this is a team that I think the biggest, most surprising thing hasn't necessarily been the offense, but the pitching. So can you talk about what exactly has been going well for the Red Sox right now, considering they are 43 and 37 at the time of this recording? Yeah, you know, it has been a whirlwind of a season for sure. I think I speak for any Red Sox fan when I say we have been in an absolute up and down of emotions this year regarding this team because they started off hot. Their first 10, 15 games or so, they were playing well and they were playing well on the road and they came back to Fenway and just could not figure out how to win at home. So they were struggling at Fenway Park and it was very frustrating to see that because I said, this team needs to figure out a way to win at home or else. This could be a very, very long season for us here as fans. And one of the biggest things early on that I was concerned about has that has been a surprisingly good factor with this Red Sox team right now has been the starting pitching going into the season. The Red Sox didn't really do a whole lot to address their starting pitching situation and the guys they did acquire are injured like Lucas Gialito, who's going to be missing the entirety of the season. And then they have guys who they were saying maybe could be in the rotation, maybe could be in the bullpen, guys who have been solid pieces out of the pen that they decided to put into the rotation. So there were some question marks surrounding their starting pitching, but that's been one of their best factors this season. They're keeping them in games, having Andrew Bailey here working with the pitching staff, I think has worked wonders for these starters. It's given them confidence out there. They're mixing up their pitches a lot differently, not relying as much on their foreseen fast balls, utilizing a lot of off speed stuff. And that's been a big factor for this Red Sox team and the other big thing and the other big reason why they're playing really well right now is they have a lot of speed in the lineup. They have three players in the lineup who are among the fastest players in the league. They are in the top five teams and stolen bases right now. And they have players who can rattle opposing pitchers with their ability on the base paths. Jarron Duran hitting in the lead off spot can run David Hamilton hitting after him can run to say down Rafaela in the ninth spot also can run. So they have been utilizing their speed to help them win a lot of games and they are resilient. They just are not backing down against opponents. They came back. They were down four runs in the eighth inning against the Blue Jays the other night and came back and won that game. So that was a very exciting, thrilling win. So they've definitely been a surprise as of lately and they are finding themselves right in the playoff mix right now. And if they continue playing like this, I think they could be a tougher challenge for teams than people think because they've also been injured. They've had a lot of injuries this year, but they've found a way to stay above water and win games despite those injuries. So definitely a very exciting team to watch right now. Absolutely. And in terms of their overall team stats, there's seventh of batting average, seventh of that on base, 11th and runs, 12th and home runs, seventh and slowing percentage and ERA. That's where it gets fun. They are six in major league baseball, which is like again, this is also a team that treated Chris Sale prior to the season, right? So you would think after that move, okay, they're kind of saying, we're in a little bit of a rebuild phase and we're getting rid of a guy who's been a little bit older, a little bit injury prone, and he's also amazing for the Atlanta Braves right now. But then if someone told you, actually the Red Sox would be kind of doing okay without him. That would be a big surprise. Tanner Huck, who I've made many jokes about with my friend, not being mean, but just saying like it's like a goofy name, like that's how goofy talks like it's just funny that this guy has been an absolute dog. One of the best starting pitchers in major league baseball this year, it's not even really like up for debate. He's been amazing. And he's one of those guys where I feel like a lot of people have like stashed him on their fantasy teams a couple of years ago. So it's really weird to see him break out, but he has and then there's been other guys to your cutter crawfords, Justin Slightins as well, just really good up and down. And even a guy like Kedley Jansett, I mean, that's kind of the biggest name if that makes sense on this team, but he's not the best player, but he's kind of been okay. Is he overpaid a little bit? Maybe you could we could debate that? I don't know. I don't think that it matters for a team like the Red Sox as much, but he's been really solid. So it feels like this team is a little bit more complete than I think the Padres have been right now. The Padres have been a little bit better, I'd say offensively than the Red Sox this year. You have Jerkson Profar, who was God for some reason. And then obviously you have Tatis, who's been injured or he is injured now. Many of the crowd has been kicking things up. Jake Cronworth, Jackson Merrill, potentially the rookie of the year in a national league. But when it comes to pitching, it seems like the Red Sox have a distinct and very clear advantage, especially because for the Padres, Dylan sees just pitched. So the Red Sox will be able to dodge that bullet potentially instead, we're going to get into those pitching match-ups later. But yeah, it's interesting series because the Red Sox have played well, they just beat the Yankees recently, which at my area, people were not happy about that, Gabby. They weren't happy whatsoever. I'm sure they were not. I was very happy about it. But yeah, I mean, they definitely got some momentum because they earned back-to-back series wins against the Phillies and the Yankees. And that was huge because heading into that series with the Phillies, they had literally split a series with the White Sox before that and they were just not playing good baseball. I was like, this is a 500 baseball team and they are not showing that they have the capability to beat the good team. So then to go out there and win both of those series against the Phillies and Yankees was huge from a momentum standpoint. They then swept the Blue Jays and won a series against the Reds. They now are in a series that they won the first game against the Blue Jays, lost the second game, and then last night's game was suspended due to rain, so that didn't end up being finished. So they didn't really finish that series for us to really be able to say that it was another series win. But yeah, we're looking forward to hopefully winning another series this weekend. And I think it's interesting you mentioned the thing about the Padres offense because that's been a big thing with the Red Sox, that's been a challenge, has been consistency with their offense and being able to generate lots of run support for their starters. That's something that I need to do more of is be consistent in that area. And I think when you look at the Padres lineup, they have the capability of scoring a ton of runs. That's something that could be a problem and a challenge, I think, for the Red Sox this weekend is from an offensive standpoint. Are they going to be able to keep up with the strength of the bats that the Padres have? Yeah, absolutely. That is going to be the question. And there's more questions that we will be answering for this series, folks. But first, I want to take a quick break to talk about our friends over at, we talked about them the big of the podcast, a little bit of a cameo from the beginning, booking.com with summer travels heating up, especially travel for baseball games, it's time to explore those US cities you always secretly want to learn about. Yes, we're talking about your rival cities too. I'm a Red Sox hater, but guess what? I will probably be visiting Boston for the first time this summer and I'll be using booking.com because they're really great and really helpful with hotels, bed and breakfast, vacation, rentals, resorts, and so much more on booking.com. You might just find your perfect stay even in your baseball city's rival, whoever it is. In this case, if you're a Padres fan, maybe you want to go to LA. I don't know. I might have just annoyed a lot of Padres fans saying that, but you could do it. You could do it. Maybe Colorado? Apparently that team has a lot of good vibes. They are always top level and attended. So there's got to be something over at Colorado. Booking.com can give you what you need to check it out for hotels that look overstaves to family-friendly resorts. Booking.com has so many choices across the US for your summer travel. This MLB season, the right stay can make you a fan of any US city, including the rivals book. Today, I'm booking.com on the site or in the booking.com app booking.com booking.com. Yeah, it gets me every time, but that's not all folks. We also got to talk about the good old classic friends, of course, over at Fandal. If you want to make bets this weekend, you can. I personally think that this series, this team, I refuse to make any bets on the Padres. I just don't trust them whatsoever. But if you want to do individual stuff, they have you covered. I love sports, obviously, as much as the next person. So does Gabby. And all across this summer, Fandal is looking at customers with a boost or bonus daily, every day. That's right. All different promos all the time. That's right. Something for everyone all summer long, whether you're going to be doing baseball stuff, maybe you're doing NFL futures, maybe you're doing WNBA stuff. Whatever you want, Fandal has you covered. So head over fandal.com/lockdown and start making the most out of your summer Fandal official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. And just like that, everybody, we are back on the lockdown Padres and lockdown Red Sox crossover extra have a Gads of Gabby. This has been fun so far. I think that one other thing to talk about this with this team is there's a lot of low key players. I think on this team, everyone knows about Raphael Devers, right? Everyone knows about that. Now I think everyone knows about Jaren Duran, but what are some kind of under the radar bets you think in this Red Sox lineup that could potentially keep pace with the Padres offense? Yeah. No, that's definitely a great question. I think the Red Sox going into this season were pretty adamant on developing some of the younger players on this team and being able to help them develop so that they can be part of the future. The Red Sox are very much in that position right now where they're trying to formulate their future. What guys are going to be part of the picture moving forward? So, Satan Rafaela, who's somebody who has just grown into a very talented young player for this Red Sox team, he's incredibly versatile. He plays fantastic defense in the outfield. He can also play in the infield, although his defense is far better in the outfield than it is in the infield and his bat was slow to begin the season, could not really figure things out. Lots of swings and misses, he definitely still has his fair share of strikeouts, so he's still working in terms of the plate discipline area of the game, but he has started to figure things out offensively, and it has been huge for this Red Sox lineup, especially with him hitting in the 9 hole. So, he's somebody that could be interesting to watch in this upcoming series because he definitely has been gaining a lot of confidence lately, offensively, so that's somebody who's been super fun to watch that isn't being talked about as much. Another player, too, is David Hamilton, who I mentioned briefly before. He is super athletic and can utilize a lot of different parts of the ballpark, and he's somebody also who has gotten more playing time this year, so that has been the key, it seems like, to him being able to develop into the player that he's become for the Red Sox this year, is he was playing a little bit last year due to injuries. He had his opportunity to be called up, but then got sent back down to Triple A, and then this year, he's pretty much been a regular on the team because Von Grisham's just been injured and hasn't really been able to play. He made a brief appearance and then ended up back on the IL, which is unfortunate, so they've kind of rotated between guys in the shortstop and second base positions, and David Hamilton's been a mainstay in that area, and he's another one who's a major threat on the bases, and that's a big reason why the Red Sox score runs is when they get guys like that on base, I always say it's an opposing pitcher's nightmare. And you have Darren Duran and him as the one-two punch, because if Duran gets on and then Hamilton gets on, that's two easy base-stealing threats on the base path. So the way that they have that set up in the lineup, I think it's huge for the Red Sox at the top of it. Tyler O'Neill is a power bat, I mean, he hit a homerun the other guy, and he's somebody who, going into the season, I was definitely interested in seeing how his bat would fit into this Red Sox lineup, we knew he could play defense, but he was somebody who I said you know, if he can come into Fenway and crush baseballs, that would be great for this lineup, because the Red Sox didn't have a lot of power in the lineup really before, but that's what Tyler O'Neill does, he just crushes baseballs. It was pretty incredible against the Blue Jays the other night, it went way, way out of the ballpark, and I was like, that's probably still landing somewhere today, as we speak, but he crushes baseballs could be a huge homerun threat in the series as well. So those are definitely three players that I think could be huge to look out for in the series. I mean, Devers is Devers, I mean, he has his slow days, but ultimately he is clutch, he is the most clutch player on the team, he has the big, you know, franchise, face of the franchise title on him, and so he'll still hit and do his thing. And I think another interesting person is Rob Repsnider, who has been hitting phenomenally this year, especially on the road, not as much at home, so he might be a little bit cooler in the series because they are playing up in my, however, he's just a menace against left-handed pitching, and he just always comes up with that big hit when the Red Sox need somebody to have it, so that's another guy too, who I expect maybe do some damage in the series. So there are a few guys here that, you know, people aren't talking about as much that I think could be big for the Red Sox in this series. You guys got kind of lucky, Tristan Costas is still not healthy, but he is a key in this Red Sox lineup when he is. So it should be interesting, but they do need to maintain some consistency, and if they're going against some pitching that may not be the strongest, then the Red Sox will be able to do some damage, for sure, offensively. Yeah, I mean, this is like a real botly crew over that the Red Sox have right here. Like, yeah, if you have Duran, and you have, you know, Duran having kind of a little bit of a breakout season, probably going to be an all-star, I assume. And then Raffy Divers, obviously, is always a basic, but I looked at the Rob Brestart, and they were like, "What the hell is this? You know what I mean?" Why do you have a 148 WRC+ this year? Like, that's just ridiculous, but with guys like Tyler O'Deal, Tyler O'Deal is funny to be because this is a guy who I think everyone has secretly not wanted to admit that they believe in. He strikes out a egregious amount, 31% on this year, but the power is making up for it, and he's also walking a lot, so 0.4% walk rate. He's always had it. I mean, he had a great season in 2021 with the Cardinals, but then after that, there was just a bad vibe and whatnot. So if this says anything, if a player just doesn't see him, there's something to be said for a different location, and it seems to be working out for them. And I believe it was just a one-year deal, right? I think-- Yeah, he's going to be a pre-region. I don't know that they'll re-sign him. There's a lot of young talent in the outfield right now, so they might not, but he needs to stay healthy. That's another big thing that he's run into the last couple seasons, is that he hasn't been able to stay on the field. He has experienced a couple injury stints with the Red Sox this year, so fingers crossed that he doesn't have any more time on the I/O that he has to spend, and he's able to stay healthy and be playing in games. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that if there's one thing about this team, you know, Devers is great, but what they about Raphael Devers is not the best defender of the world, man. He's had one season where he was a little bit above average, and that's one advantage that the Padres absolutely have is defense, theoretically, at least. The Padres on defense this year have been weirdly not so great. In terms of outside of average, in fact, the Red Sox are 24th in baseball, and the Padres are 22nd, which is really, really weird. And I know that for sure that these juniors hurt right now, but even still before he got hurt, which is only like, you know, this week. The Padres had a platinum glove player in Tati, so you have a gold glover in Asun Kim, then you have Mae Machado at third base. You have Jake Cronworth playing a good defensive first base. You used to have your old friend, Xander Bogart at second base, and yet they haven't been so great. Jackson Merrill has been good, so it's very weird how much talent they have defensively, but it hasn't shown up this year. So that actually isn't, apparently, going to be a big advantage for the Padres. So that's going to be something to watch out for, I think, in the series, too. I mean, the Red Sox defensively, for sure, have been, that's been a problem this year. That's been something that has held them back in games. They, in a game against the Reds last week, made three errors in one inning, and it ended up costing them the game. Just lots of mistakes, especially in the infield, overthrown balls, just not making the right play at the right time, just not being able to execute when they need to execute on the routine plays in the infield. So that's definitely a disadvantage the Red Sox have, and I expect to still have, is some of these young players just are still trying to figure it out defensively, and that's been a struggle to watch with this team overall. So I would still put the Padres ahead of them in terms of their ability to make more of the routine plays. Mm-hmm, absolutely. And yeah, man, I feel diverse, man. Figure it out. I'm just looking at the numbers right now. My gosh, dude. So everyone, Padres fans, even if you get annoyed with Mandy Machado, at least he's basically always a plus defender, but nonetheless, the Red Sox are really dangerous, and I think that this is a team that for whatever reason, the Red Sox are really good at procuring offense out of thin air. That's what it's felt like for me watching them the past few years, obviously they had that run 20, 21 was it? Yeah, 21. Yes, yes. Yeah. They beat the Rays who were very good that year. They beat the snot out of the Yankees in the wildcard game. They have this uncanny ability to procure offense out of thin air. The same way, you know, your Tampa Bay Rays have the ability to procure random starting pitchers who win sions out of thin air. It's very similar. That AL is just so weird and chaotic, but of course, we got to talk more about the pitching and I'll maybe, maybe I'll allow Gabby to ask me any final questions about the Padres. But first, I want to take a second to talk to you folks about one of my personal favorite sponsors because I've used them before. I've used them multiple times because they are great for securing the tickets. If you are in Fenway, if you're in Fenway, the ballpark that I have not personally visited yet, but I've heard the best of things, you might want to try checking out game time. It is an app that lets you get all the best prices for tickets in your area or for whatever it is. This even goes for like concerts and, you know, I assume that the era's tour is still going on. Maybe you can use it for that. I imagine Kendrick Lamar has been in the news lately, he'll have some concert, whatnot. 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Five points at ERA on the season and then going up against Nick Pavetta, who, I feel like this guy is just called his start king. That's what I feel like he's kind of known for a little bit of that Chad. It is either vibe going on with him. What can you tell us about Nick Pavetta? Yeah, sure. So Pavetta overall has been pretty good this year. His downfall is he gives up a lot of home runs constantly and the walks can get him in trouble sometimes. So those are the biggest things for him. He will eat innings. He's been pitching pretty deep into games, which has definitely been a pleasant surprise overall, but he is the type of pitcher who has had a great pitching arsenal that he's developed over the last couple of seasons and he'll be able to use his lockdown pitches very wisely. So when he's on the mound, usually you know you're going to get generally a lot of good stuff from him, but the home runs are something that has been a huge problem for him this year. And I worry about that with a lineup like the Padres who do have some of those power baths in their lineup. I could see that causing him problems early on. So he ends up giving up the home runs and the walks a decent amount. And if you have a lineup that can capitalize on walks, I could see that being something that causes trouble for him. So this will be an interesting matchup for him. I think I could see him actually struggling in some of those early innings and you know hopefully he's able to provide at least five, maybe six strong innings would be ideal. That's kind of what he's averaging this year. So that would be fantastic, but he does have command issues sometimes when it comes to those walks. And I just wish he would figure out his problem with the long ball. I really do think he's just a career, you know, number three starter, which is fine for a Red Sox team right now that was hoping that they would get good starting pitching as a result this year. I definitely am not disappointed in what I've seen from Pavetta. However, you know, he's in the middle, I'd say about in terms of ability in the pitching rotation. Absolutely. And Gabby, yes, this Padres team, they love doing walks, fifth at our base percentage, second and batting average. And they're also eighth at home runs. So yes, this is a team that can absolutely get a guy like Pavetta. And I will say kind of similar to Randy Vasquez, the only difference is not as much of a long stretch of time as much as Nick Pavetta has been showing consistency for a while. Randy Vasquez, oh man, um, did you know opponents are slugging 692 against a singer and then 815 against his change up? Yeah. It's not fun. It's fun. So while yes, Nick Pavetta has been walking a lot of batteries and whatnot, that's kind of the only advantage that Randy Vasquez has as his matchup is that he's not walking too many batteries. He's actually an 80 second percentile in terms of walk rate, but man, um, don't Padres fans pull up this man's baseball. Look, I will say one thing, he is new. He's still young. He is part of the, he was part of the Juan Soto trade. He needs time. He just feels like he's a spot starter right now with Joe Musgrove and you Darvish on the IL. That's a big reason why. So it's not necessarily a shot at the team. It is an injury related thing. I think he has talent, but as of right now, this is the type of game that could get out of hand for the Padres. The key is going to be if he can just give them innings because the Padres bullpen has been a bigger issue this year so far until you get to Robert Suarez, their clothes are one of the best in the sport. So we'll see how that pans out, but in terms of the Saturday game, a little bit better of a matchup. Thank God. Michael King versus Tanner Hook, Michael King for the Padres. He has made strides lately. He had a bad start in his last game, but otherwise just really, really solid all year. And what has been interesting with him is he was a former reliever. So a little bit of the Tanner Hook thing, right? Like he did have his money innings under his belt before this season. Michael King, kind of the same thing, has been giving up a lot less hard hit lately. At the beginning of the season, I think first month of the season, him and Joe Musgrove led the league and home run surrendered. Not anymore. He's been solid lately. And one of the things that's interesting is he's using his pitches at a more even balance. So that might be it. He seems to be tinkering still and adjusting to be a starting pitcher. So he's been very good, 3.75 ERA, not the best, but really good strikeout rate. He's really solid. He's very much capable of the, oh my God, like this guy is a so young guy. It doesn't come out very often, but it is possible for those who might remember his start against the Braves and then his start against the Dodgers when he had 12 strikeouts. I think it was like the best start they've had since PV and SNL. So it was pretty nuts. What can you tell us, though, about Tanner Hook? Yeah, you know, I think it'll be interesting with Michael King. I think the key there for the Red Sox is going to be to try to get him out of the game earlier. They have been known to really work pitch counts. They have a lot of guys who will take walks, who will be patient at the plate who will really find their pitch. And Connor Wong, who I haven't even talked about, is great at this. He has very good plate discipline. And for a catcher, he's having a fantastic season at the plate this year. So he's another one to look out for in this series, but he is somebody who really knows how to work pitch counts until he finds his pitch. And I think that's something that is going to be key for the Red Sox offense against King if they want to try to get to that bullpen that you mentioned is not very good this year. But Tanner Hook, he's who I trust 100% the most in this Red Sox rotation. He has been nails this year, certainly well deservedly in the Saigon conversation. He's been very consistent. And for the most part, just gets the job done. And the biggest concern with how going into this season was how deep into games could he go because he always struggled when he saw a lineup the third time through and that was a lot of times when he would get pulled in the past from games. So he would get, you know, a couple rounds through the lineup and then get pulled earlier on in the game in like the fifth inning or so. Now he's providing a lot more depth in terms of his ability to pitch deeper into games, pitch to lineups a third time. He's added a couple more pitches to his pitch arts and all he really only relied on his fastball and his slider in the past, but he's added a couple more really nice pitches into that arsenal that he's able to use in there now. His slider still has best pitch. That is his lockdown pitch that is very hard to hit and it's funny because a lot of times hitters just know they aren't hitting that. So they just give up on it. That is his best pitch, but he has a lot more pitches that he's been utilizing now. And I do credit Andrew Bailey for some of that for helping him out with mixing up his pitch selection more. I do expect, you know, a dominant performance from him. I think I could see this being a game in which, you know, we might not get a lot of runs and it could be more of a pitching match up because I could see the Padres lineup struggling against him. He just is very locked in this year and he has just been solid on the mound in so many different ways. He gets a lot of swings and misses too. So he's definitely been great to have out there this year. Absolutely. You know, just in terms of Tanner Huck's numbers, he's currently first in Major League Baseball. I don't personally like to use wins above replacement for pitchers, but even still 3.6 in that regard. He's first in all Major League Baseball, not just the National League, all of his expected stats are great. The only thing if you're a Padres fan to hope for is it's not like he's the biggest strikeout artist in the league. He could certainly do that. He's got great control for sure, but home run five ball rate of 2.8%. If you're just like me and you're like, at some point he has to have a bad start, maybe you could glee about to that, but otherwise this guy has been pound for pound, basically the best starting pitcher in baseball. Would I take him over some other guys? Not necessarily, but that's not the question, right? So he's been amazing. They definitely have a disadvantage, but at least it is Michael King going up against him. That should be a lot of fun. And because we've been talking about how good both of these pitchers are, I imagine the final score will be eight to 10. Then lastly, we have, yeah, right? That always happens. It literally happened the last time I had to cross over. It's so true. Like whenever you're like, "Oh, we're going to get a great pitcher's duel," it ends up being like the highest scoring game in the series. Exactly. But it's just baseball so dumb. You know what I mean? Baseball so dumb. It's such a tough word. It really is. In a lot of ways. Sunday, the final game of this series, it is Josh Wenchowski. Hopefully, I said that correctly. Going up against the Knuckleball legend, Matt Waldred, not too much to say on my part. Matt Waldred has been one of the best developments from the Padres pitching development side in a long time. They are not known for being able to turn water into wine or whatever the phrase is. They have not been able to do that for a while. But Matt Waldred has been a success story. Ruben Ebel, a pitching coach for the Padres, has done an excellent job, I think, with plenty of guys, helped Blake Snow win his Cy Young last year, Dylan Cease doesn't walk as many batters. And in the case of Matt Waldred, the Knuckleball is the biggest thing. It sometimes is bad, which I feel like is just kind of occupational hazard with throwing Knuckleballs a lot. But for me, it's more that his off speed sweeper slider combination is what's really good. And I think, in general, that's why batters are having trouble. I don't know if Matt Waldred could be a regression guy because people just aren't used to hitting Knuckleballs, but I'm enjoying it right now. Having a guy who could come up there and throw a pitch that everyone thinks is extinct, practically. And then hit everybody with a sweeper that has great movement and great location, that's what makes Matt Waldred really effective. So I think this is probably on face value. I don't know much about Mr. Josh over here, probably the most even pitching matchup in the series. And I think that that's going to make it an interesting one. And I'm really excited. I'm really excited. What can you tell us about this Josh fellow, though? Yeah, you know, he's been an interesting one because he's a type of pitcher who the red sacks have had conversations about both being a starter and being in the bullpen. He's had experience doing both. But the interesting thing with him is he was sent back down to Triple A and just got called back up the other day, pitched the other night out of the bullpen and was absolutely fantastic. And so I'm excited to see what he can do now that he's starting again. But this is being used kind of as a bullpen game for the Red Sox because they have somebody named Cooper Criswell, who is hanging out in Triple A right now and was the fifth starter for this team in place of Garrett Whitlock, who's been injured all year, then they decided to send him back down to Triple A. So now he has to be in Triple A for, you know, a certain amount of time before he can get called back up. So they are utilizing this game as a bullpen day instead of going with one of their other starters. And so it'll be interesting to see what he brings to the table because he has had days where he's been absolutely lights out, especially when he pitches out of the bullpen. So him as a starter, I haven't been as wild about he hasn't had as much experience as a starter as he does in the bullpen, but he's the type of pitcher who has the capability. I just don't trust that we're going to get a lot of innings from him. I think this could be the type of game where they are just hoping that he can get a few innings under his belt and then they kind of treat it as a bullpen game the rest of the way. But he definitely has the stuff to be able to be dominant. It's just a matter of what version of him are we going to get? Are we going to get that lockdown guy that we saw out of the bullpen the other day? Are we going to get the guy who goes out there and doesn't have his command and kind of just throws the ball around? So it's a question, Mark, what we're going to get from him, but overall, as a pitcher, he definitely has that stuff there and that potential. I just think the red Sox are doing a little bit of too much playing around with him in terms of sending him down to triple I bring him back up, having him pitch out of the bullpen, having him pitch in the rotation. I think they just kind of need to pick a spot for him and stick with it and that to me over the last couple seasons has been an issue is there is not really a defined role for him. They just kind of have him pitch wherever it's needed. But him being back down in triple A and coming back up now and looking very good the other night out of the pen is a promising sign for him going into this start. Absolutely. And in terms of Matt wall just as recent stretch, he's been great. They have not had an issue with innings from him. He's a little bit of quality start in his one, two, three, four, five, less seven starts. He is a little bit of quality start. He has not given up more than two earned runs since May 5th. So Matt Waldron, a little bit of a heater lately. So we're going to see how that pans out. Hopefully he'll be great. Hey, he has the blessing of one Sir Patrick Mahomes. So what else could you ask for Gabby? Do you have any final questions, final takes, final observations that you'd like to share for the good people out there? Yeah, you know, I think based on everything we talked about, it should be a really good series, probably a competitive series. I think both teams are catching each other at a fun time when they're both playing. Well, so this could be great in terms of the match ups for both teams. I think, you know, the Padres are going to have to focus on limiting that run game that the Red Sox do have. They are known to just steal a lot of bases and use that to their advantage. Alex Quora has been great at managing the speed on this roster. So that's something that I think the Padres are going to have to be aware of going into this series is the fact that the Red Sox will run. And I don't know, you know, how confident you are in your catcher's abilities to throw out base dealers and their ability to limit that damage. But that's something that the Red Sox like to do is play small ball and they like to steal bases. So that's a big thing for me that I would say, you know, you need to be aware of as a Padres fan that the Red Sox will do is just if somebody gets on base for the most part, they are a running threat and I think your pitchers and your catchers just have to be aware of that and know that's something that likely will happen and they are not shy about it. They're actually very aggressive about it. They set a franchise record nine stolen bases in a game against the Yankees. So they will run and they're not afraid to do that. So that's definitely something that to me could give the Red Sox a leg up if the Padres are not good with managing that. Absolutely. The Padres have speed on the base paths, not as much stolen bases aside from Hassan Kim and now with the injury to Fernando T. Schunier, don't expect that. But they are fast at times when they're in the mood, I guess. They can be fast. Jerks a pro far. If you are lucky enough to see his cartoon run that he does sometimes what he's like really run it. He has like a like that. It's hilarious. Maybe you'll get that this weekend. I want to see that. Yeah. Hopefully we'll get it this weekend. It appears every once in a blue boot. It's like it's very rare, but it's great. Gaby, this has been so much fun really looking forward to the series. Once again, unfortunately, I talked to someone cool from Boston, which hurts my agenda. But nonetheless, everybody go check out Gaby on Twitter at Carabihor, but 10. Check out me on Twitter @Havapeno, J-A-V-I-I-P-I-I-P-E-N-O, the best handle in the game. And then of course, go check out Lockdown Red Sox and Lockdown Pieders, respectively, wherever you get your podcasts from. Until next time, stay safe, fire faithful homies and stay, what's a good R word? Radical Red Sox? What's a good word for them, I don't know. Rad. Just stay rad. All right. Just stay rad, Red Sox. Until next time. Take care. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to this Lockdown podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. (upbeat music)
