Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman
Buck Martinez: I love this Orioles team
Worried about letting someone else pick out the perfect avocado for your perfect and press them on the third date guacamole? Well, good thing Instacart shoppers are as picky as you are. They find ripe avocados like it's their guac on the line. They are milk expiration date detectives. They bag eggs like the 12 precious pieces of cargo they are. So let Instacart shoppers overthink your groceries so that you can overthink what you'll wear on that third date. Download the Instacart app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last, minimum $10 per order additional term supply. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. 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. Nothing is more important than getting a good night's sleep and when you don't get the rest you need, your whole day is thrown off. That's why it's so important to choose the right mattress. Sleeping on a purple mattress is truly a unique experience because purple mattresses are made with a gel flex grid. The gel flex grid is an innovative material that moves with your body to relieve pressure in areas like knees and hips and support in others like you're back. It feels soft where you want it and supports where you need it. Purple mattresses instantly adapt when you move. You don't sink in and get stuck like with memory foam. And thanks to over 1,400 air chambers in the gel flex grid, you will sleep cooler on a purple mattress. Purple has a wide variety of mattresses from the original purple mattress to the Restore Hybrid Collection that combines gel flex grid with coils and the Rejuvenate Lux collection, the height of luxury, with over 112,000 to five star reviews to prove it. Visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast 10 to get 10% off. Orioles coming off an off day yesterday start a three-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays and joining us now to talk about it. He's on the call for Sportsnet in Toronto. With Dan Shulman, it's Buck Martinez, former Orioles broadcaster and Buck thanks as always for joining us. If we can, let's look back a little before we look ahead. The trade deadline has passed. Were you surprised the Blue Jays didn't do more at the deadline? No, I wasn't. I thought they did exactly what they needed to do with the expiring contracts. The only guy that wasn't on an expiring contract was Nate Pearson. And they got a pretty good prospect for Nate Pearson and Charles McAdoo. So yeah, I know I wasn't surprised. I mean, everybody said, well, I should have gone deeper, but I think they still have a core that they can certainly build around, including the three starting pitchers, Bassett, burrios, and Gosman. So yeah, you know, in Brady's body right now, I mean, he's his hardest Colton Cowser. So it's a pretty interesting core they have to build around. So Buck, I mean, with Laddie, Boba Shep, both of them, their contracts are up in 2025. You believe they're going to be able to retool and compete with that group next year. Yeah, I do. I think, you know, they've got a lot of hosts to fill. There's no question about it. But with the roster they have right now and the oil fan, Sy Addison Barger, have a good series against Baltimore last time. And, you know, they've got Spencer Horowitz, who's a local guy there in Maryland. And he's a guy that we think a lot of. And I think Spencer's going to do a good job. So you have to find out what you have right now. And obviously, you know, losing Jordan Romano. To me, Mesa didn't have a particularly good year now. It's in the Yankees farm system. And it's just been one of the seasons where everything didn't click. And I think the core is still pretty strong, but they certainly have a lot of work to do before they get back to that contending status. Talking about Martinez inside access here on the fan, not just this year, but like the last few years, I picked the Blue Jays to win the division before last year. I thought they'd be a playoff team this year. What like in this last few years, like, what did what do you feel like has gone wrong here? Well, they didn't hit this year. Last year, they had a terrific pitching staff and it didn't hit much all year long. And they couldn't really make the most of the great pitching they had. This year, the pitching hasn't been as good across the board, bullpen and the starting rotation. And they got up to a very slow start. George Springer, he didn't do anything earlier in the season, he got up to slow start boat, never really got into a groove at all. And, you know, Daunton Virgil, he's hitting around 200. And, you know, offensively, you have to score more than four runs a game to compete in American League. There's no question about that in the oil, sir, or testimony of that for sure. Bucky, you mentioned George Springer got off to a brutal, brutal start, but he's got a 964 OPS over his last 33 games. What's led to that turnaround? I think he's a little bit more ready for the fastball. I think growing this season, he was getting beat by the fastball and he's playing catch-up. And when you feel like you have to catch up, you're going to start way too early and be out in front of a lot of pitches. But now, it's timing is good. He's hit some balls really hard lately. And he, like, glad he is there in a pretty good spot right now. So, I think that's what's encouraging for this team. You know, I think George is under contract for two more seasons, if not three. So, he's going to be here for a while. And, you know, glad he, of course, as you mentioned, his contract expires next year. But I think Bucky wants to stay here. I think he wants to be a Bluejay for the rest of his career. And hopefully, they can get that done. Bucky, you got a chance to see the Orioles and the Yankees on this last Bluejay's road trip. They're tied for first place with 49 games to go. How would you handicap that race? Well, it's really interesting because the Yankees have a very soft schedule the rest of the way. I believe they only play 22 games against teams over 500 and the Orioles, excuse me, the Orioles have a challenging schedule. So, I think it's interesting, too, that they play the last week of the season. They play the Orioles play in New York for three games and then in Minnesota for three games at the end of the season. So, it's going to come down to that. They'll always have played very well against the division. Obviously, only the Red Sox, other than Baltimore, has a winning record against the division. So, you know, I love their team. I love their manager. I think Brandon's in a terrific job. And obviously, he's the right guy to lead this young court. And they just keep bringing up great prospects. Probably tonight, we'll see this lineup. They'll probably have seven first or second round picks that the Orioles drafted in it. And it's pretty impressive what they've done. But can a team win going all young? Like, that's what the Orioles are trying to do. We had talked to heading into deadline. The Orioles maybe should try to bring a veteran bat in. They did not really, Eloy Jimenez, if you want to count that, but they're trying to take a flyer there. But can they win with an all-young lineup? No, I think they have a pretty good veteran hitter in that. Then he stands down there. Yeah. He's a very steady hitter having a heck of a year with the long ball. And you know what? You're young players. They're not typical young players. I mean, you got one of the best leaders behind a plate in Adley Richmond and Gunnar Henderson. And there's no one that watches him play. I think he's 22. He's got so much poison, so much confidence in the BM. So I think with the coaching staff and the manager leading the way, I'm not concerned about their inexperienced, the starting staff and the veteran pitching staff is fairly experienced. So I think they're a pretty good agent. But were you surprised that the O's didn't do anything in terms of bringing in a closer or high leverage reliever? I'm sure they tried. You know, Tanner Scott moved from Miami to San Diego. And he's really on a roll. He's just named the National League Picture reliever of the month. But that, you know, everybody says, well, they got so many players that you trade some of their outstanding minors. Unless you really get somebody that you rock solid confident in, I agree with him. Just keep those other guys. And you know, everybody's looking at Craig Kimbrough. And he starts 23 saves. He's not the Craig Kimbrough that we saw earning his career. No question about it. But I think Brandon can do a good enough job of picking his spots. And you know, he still has that great curve on his velocities and the same as it was in his friend. But you know, he's you can't be experienced. And I think you just have to lean on these guys. Obviously, you can't do much about it right now. And you have to just go with the guys you got. But the prices for players, it was a seller's market. And the Blue Jays took advantage of that. Everybody in baseball seems to be raving about the Kakuchi trade. I'm sure the Blue Jays are pretty happy. Yeah, I think so. As I mentioned before, I think they did a great job of dealing the expiring time tracks and picking up some very important pieces. And they got a lot younger. They're very thin in the mind of the system, but they brought in some guys, including Billy Wagner's kid. He's an infielder stringing about really good at Buffalo right now. We mentioned the Macadoo kid from the Pirates. He's a pretty interesting player. And also, they got a kid cross A from Seattle who's got power and speed. So they did a pretty good job. It's not slam dunk as far as turning themselves into contenders. But I think they had a nice start. Buck, I want to get your thoughts on Jario Rodriguez who blanked the Yankees over four and two thirds on Sunday, just 73 pitches. How impressed have you been with Rodriguez since he got the call? Well, obviously had that horrible start against the Orioles. You couldn't get out of the first inning and couldn't throw any strikes. You threw 43 pitches and just 21 strikes. So he was wild and we haven't seen that before. And then in his start against New York, kind of had the same start to the ball game. He just couldn't get anything over the plate. And he actually settled in pretty well. And he was disappointed when he had to come out of the game. But they brought a relief pitcher in to face the soda was just for a third time. And you know, they help him in check. But yeah, he's been impressive. This is his first year as a starter. So, you know, they're going to be very cautious with him. And he's got some back issues. He's been on the eye out a couple different times. So, you know, they're not going to push him deep, but he's got a good assortment of pitches. And he wants to be a starter. So I think he's going to get every opportunity to start this club going forward Orioles and Blue Jays start a three game set tonight in Toronto. Buck Martinez will be on the call for sports net buck. Always great, man. Thank you so much for your time. You're welcome. Thanks for being such a great host. Thanks. We appreciate you 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 through 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. This season, the W is going to new heights. And that means the Queens are ready to take it to court and the court. Welcome to Queens of the court and Odyssey original podcast. I'm your girl Cheryl Swoops and I'm Jordan Robinson. All WNBA season long. You can count on us to bring you interviews with some of your favorite WNBA stars, analysis of all teams and hot takes you can only find in this courtroom. Listen to Queens of the court, a WNBA podcast presented by AT&T on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.