Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman
Roch Kubatko: There have been issues in pretty much every area for the Orioles
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With all trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently. With offline maps and on-trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. Nice! Today's episode is sponsored by Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. Nerd Wallet's experts will set future you up for success. With dependable, fact-based insights, no financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation. Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast ad. Orioles and Rays tonight. 650 Baltimore Baseball tonight. The Bone and Jim Hunter tonight at 6. And let's head down to same Pete now. Orioles, again, taking on the Rays. Trying to get off the Schneider losing 2 or 3 from the Blue Jays. Rockabaco covers the O's from Masson. And he joins us now in Iraq. Thank you as always for joining us. So lineup just came out. Interesting. I guess what, three last four. No Kobe Mayo. You think it's the back-to-back domes. They want to keep them off the fast tracks on defense. By the way, what is this snide? Ah, it's an Italian word that I learned growing up. So you're allowed to say it on the air. Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the dirty word. No, Chris Berman used to say it all the time. He did. He did. He actually did it. I don't know. I wasn't in Toronto, but I was checking the line and trying to keep up. And it is interesting that he's not getting. We're playing you every day and doing the evaluation kind of treatment here. And I don't know how much of that is what we've seen at the plate. Some difficulties a little bit in the field. You're right. This turf, you know, obviously talked to Brandon Hyde about it later. But I just assumed when he came up, I think I probably wrote because I've been wrong before. He didn't come up here to sit. And he's doing a little bit of sitting. So, you know, and obviously Arias, former gold global winner, you know, it would be an upgrade defensively. He was actually hitting pretty well there for a while, too. And also look like he was just going to be glued to the bench. But yeah, we'll check on that later. But it's kind of interesting that Mayo was not playing every single day since they brought him up here. I do wonder too now, Rock. And we talked about this at the opening of the show. If if they've got to kind of go. Defense above all else, right? Like the hitting has been. Scattershot, they've obviously lost a ton of impact arms going back to Batista a year ago. Like we got to at least catch the ball. And that means our best right fielders probably got to play right field most of the time. And, you know, and on and on it goes. I'm kind of wondering if we're reaching that point with it now more of a sprint than a marathon. Yeah, those are interesting. If we follow her and left field, we've seen them in right. And now we actually have three outfielders in the outflow. He's just sat a little bit and he's, you know, Hyde loves his defense and center. But you probably do reach that point where if nothing else, you got to help your pitching staff out. Maybe you do go in that direction. But then there are times when you do that, he might be sacrificing a little bit offense. So, you know, you know, and there are there have been issues in pretty much every area, which you can expect when a team struggling. Nothing more so nothing bigger than the injuries. Of course, but there are times that he has flat out on hitting or not getting the pitching, whether it's a short start or, you know, the relief late ending or middle relief has been weak. And sometimes they're not making plays in the field. And that's and yet here they are still tied for first place. I mean, is there a dominant team in baseball this year? No, this is like the right year. I guess they hit these kind of streaks because it's really hard to knock them out of first place. Rock, it was another rough start for Dean Kramer last night. And after April last year, he was really, really solid for them. Not the case this season. What's been off about Kramer for you? Yeah, I mean, some of it has been sometimes you just pitch a little bit of bad luck. He's had some, some starts like that. And other times it's just, you know, you make one or two pitches, relieve a ball out over the plate or a untimely walk. And it just seemed like they kept putting guys on base ahead of Vladimir Guerrero, which by the way, I do not recommend doing that was an issue. So, you know, it could be a combination of things there, but it really is magnified because, you know, this isn't somebody we're talking about. Well, you know, just your fourth or fifth starter and in the postseason, you've got these three big time arms and then you're like, they need him to really step up now, especially while Grayson Rodriguez is out. We don't know for how long and all the other injuries that we've already talked about. There's a little more pressure now on Kramer to step up and he has not really been able to do that. He's not getting deep in the games. And like I said, there's these outings where there's a couple bad pitches made and he gets burned or like I said, you know, you walk a guy ahead of a guy. He certainly can't do that. They're pitching from behind too much and he's not the only one. Guys come in and it's immediately 3 0 3 1. So I guess it's been a combination of things that just seems to stand out more right now because they really do need him to be that version of the Kramer. We've seen, you know, when he's really, really good. They need that like right now. We're talking to Roccobaco. It's inside access here on the fan. Rocco, Craig Kimbrough. How do you see them blending him back in? I guess Dominguez is the closer for now, but Kimbrough eventually will get a shot again. I would think and I'm a little surprised that has happened already. Now, you know, how many save opportunities there necessarily been. But yeah, I thought by now this most recent time, I thought he's going to be that guy because, you know, again, they've seen him when he's been really good. It wasn't that long ago. We were talking about all star snub and then the streak happened again. But once he got out of that last one, he was really good. Some kind of surprise that it hasn't happened yet and I do think eventually he gets another opportunity here. I think, you know, when you get a guy like Dominguez, it was more for like protection in case Kimbrough struggled and have like a big arm for, you know, seven to eight settings set up. So I assume Kimbrough is going to get that shot again. I don't think they've given up on him. I'm just surprised as it happened by now. Wow, does something seem a little off with Ryan Mount Castle? I just wonder if the trade rumors and him not having his best season and starting to see some of the guys he came up with either almost traded or traded. He's platooning more than before. It just, I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but he doesn't he doesn't seem maybe to be as much a part of this as before. He also only has two homers since the end of June. Right. And he's been streaking the past. That's the one thing that's kind of eluded him is that consistent, you know, productive stretch that he has, but yeah, more so now. But, you know, who knows? I'm sure he would never say that that was the reason, you know, that he was ever distracted. But I mean, he knew that, you know, he can't avoid it. He knew his name was out there and, you know, there was talking that he could go and he certainly didn't want to. And I'm sure that was a sense of relief. But I'm not sure if that really was something that distracted him that much. I just he's just in one of those stretches again. Sometimes again, it's tough luck. I mean, we've seen him hit a ball of the fence and I can the yards. And until his head back, he rounds first base. That's like his patented move right there. But, you know, he's definitely, you know, due to get on another tear. And we see that he just can be very streaky. And, you know, I don't, again, I don't know how much that really affected him or for something else. But he's definitely not a guy that's right in the lineup every night anymore. Jackson, how are they creeping up the lineup, Brock batting six tonight? Didn't have a hit last night, but extended his RBI streak to six straight games defensively. You still see some lapses there. But the bat has been really, really big for this team. Yeah, that's the guy you do right in every day. I just know that and it should be against left. It should be against right. And I know, you know, they play match up so much. So you make a pinch it for again against a lefty goal. Do you have a hot bat like that? I just leave him out there. I did know to see his creeping off. He's not hitting ninth anymore. And of course, it's a different lineup with McCann in it tonight, but, you know, he's earned a chance to move up. And he just, you know, he just looks so much more comfortable than he did before. And I'm sure to help to get that experience, even though it was a two for 34, to have already been up. And he just is able to be a player now. It's not a huge deal. He's not surrounded by media on the road or, you know, at home. It's not like there's a huge media scrum every time he walks into a room. I think it's a little more, he handled it really well. He's mature beyond his years. But I think it's a little easier for him right now to just go out and play, stay behind the ball. He's not like Brandon, so he's not as kind of jumpy in the box right now. And, you know, talent plays. He was too good to not succeed. This is going to happen. And it's amazing to have to hit this age, but he's just being jacked at holiday. And I think that's a lot more comfortable for him than being the one one 20 year old who's not holiday son. He's just a very good ball player. Rock, before I let you go, you brought up the matchup kind of thing that they like to do. You weren't in Toronto, but were you surprised by the Mayo for Calzer in the eighth, the other night? Only because Calzer's been swimming about so long. It's been the lineup pretty much every night. So it surprised me a little bit. But again, we see the pinch hitting and the match ups all the time. And it's, you know, it's not like Brandon's going rogue. I mean, this is what they talk about. They plan it that they've got all the data to support it. But yeah, it was a little surprise. First of all, just that Calzer came out, but also that Mayo was chosen in that spot. So early on, tenure in the majors is still trying to get that first hit. But Brandon mentioned it's a power batting, just hoping that matchup with one swing would be impactful. And it wasn't, but you know, more times than us seems like these decisions are working, but that one's still. Yeah, when you and especially became the same ending that they pinched it for holiday, I think that magnified it even more. Rock, tobacco covers the ocean mass and a rock great as always, man. Thank you so much for your time in joy, Florida. Hey, I'm not going to ask you before, is there any truth to the rumor that those dirty Canadians captured Steve Molesky? Yeah, you see that? Yeah. I think he got kidnapped. Yeah, they're not letting them out. He loves Toronto. I'm not sure he wants to leave. Let's be honest. I heard it was the same guys who threw that beer at Kim. Oh, wow. Yeah. They've got Molesky. That is an old school reference. Steve would have caught it and choked it. Thanks, Rob. All right, guys. See you. Today's episode is sponsored by Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. Nerd Wallet's experts will set future you up for success with dependable, fact-based insights. No financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation. Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow Nerd Wallet's Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? With North Sides and Bullion as you're not so secret ingredient, you can skip the drive-thru and do dinner at home. Nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious, affordable, and well-balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Visit nor.com to get quick and easy recipe ideas for your home-cooked weeknight dinners. It's not fast food, but it's so good. Now, with the MLB app, you can get baseball your way. Pick your favorite team, your favorite players, and get customized highlights, stories, and breaking news right on your home feed. Follow the action with Game Tip, where 3D replays add another dimension. Plus, notifications can keep you connected to every pitch, every hit, every game, the MLB app. Baseball, your way. Download it now for free from the App Store or Google Play. Blackout and other research and supply major league baseball trademarks used with permission.