Gwynn & Chris On Demand
Aug.15th Padres Roundtable
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Linked in. The place to be. To be. No matter what you're going through, you are never alone. Join me on my podcast, From the Heart with Rachel Braithin, every Friday. Each episode is like sitting down with your best friend for a cup of coffee. From self-care tips to inspiration for healing, this podcast offers the chance to return to nature, return to community, and return to who you are at your core. Straight from my heart to yours. Listen to and follow From the Heart with Rachel Braithin on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. It's that time, prior faithful. Time to discuss everything going on with the Padres. We've gathered the entire 97-3 the fan crew together to bring you the most in-depth discussion on the priors in our weekly Padres Round Table, presented by San Diego Round Table Pizza. Here's your host Ben Higgins. It's been a couple of weeks, but we are back on the 97-3 the fan Padres Round Table. It is brought to you by Round Table Pizza. It's Pizza Royalty. I'm Ben Higgins and we got the whole crew here today. Annie Halbern, Tony Gwen Jr., Stephen Woods, Craig Elston, and Chris Elo. Hey, not much has really changed in the last couple of weeks. Oh, no, wait. Everything has changed about this season once again in the last couple of weeks. As I get us started and we were just talking about this on our show, so I thought I'd throw out the topic to the entire crew and Chris, we can start with you today. Something about the Padres seemed to change at the All Star Break. They've now won 19 in our last 22 games. But what was it? What's the difference? What's the magic secret sauce that has turned things around this season in your opinion for the San Diego Padres? Well, first of all, Ben, thanks. And thanks for not throwing me off the panel today. I thought I'd be of very little use to anybody since there's nothing to complain about. I will do my best to answer your question and I don't really have a great one. One of the things they've happened to run into a bit of a softer patch in their schedule after they got done with Baltimore and Cleveland and they certainly took care of the Pirates and the Nationals. I don't really know. I mean, to me, it's just continued consistent play that has started to finally pay off for them. And I think the confidence grew after that first road trip and they've just been able to pile confidence on top of confidence. And I think one of the real big games of this stretch was actually one that they lost on the Sunday in Baltimore when they spotted the Orioles. I think it was 6-0. Got back to 6-5. Manny hit a missile into the gap and Mullins tracked it down and saved the game for the Orioles. But I think the Padres, after that game, they got on the plane home and said, "Man, we not only can win any game, we can even overcome six runs against the best team in the American League." So I think confidence would probably be the number one thing that they gained on that first road trip. Greg, there really wasn't a switch flipped. I mean, Xander Bogart's came back, obviously helpful. But it's not like there's some moment you can necessarily point at with this turnaround. Well, it's a story in multiple parts, for sure. And Chris talked about that opening road trip. That road trip began by being defined by great starting pitching. They got right out of the gate from Waldron to King to Sees, to Vasquez, outstanding starting efforts. They even won an out-of-measure game on that road trip. That got things going in the right direction. Then the deadline, of course, gave them the reinforcements they needed, truly needed, to stabilize this pitching staff and make it a real weapon. But if you're going to just say one thing, Jackson Merrill is the one thing that stands out to me across the 22 games, the heroics, contributing to every win in some form or fashion. And while it is a team game where so many guys have been great, if you had to pick one thing that I would put is the picture, it would be Jackson Merrill. Woods, you brought up on our show just a great point that, you know, it's kind of chicken in the egg, but winning was the only thing missing from the San Diego Padres. And now that they're winning, it makes it a lot easier to win. Yeah, I mean, it's funny. We sat in here, I think it was the last round table I was on. It was before that road trip. And we were talking about the Razor's Edge and how this team was just right there on it. And now they've gone from the Razor's Edge to being the Razor. I mean, just the hottest team in baseball, just slicing and dicing people, being stubborn, you know, refusing to lose. And think about, you know, five, six more wins last year. Nobody would have been upset. You get in the playoffs and you let the chips fall where they may wear a playoff team and we didn't get there. And now with a 95% chance to make it, I sure like what I've seen. They're all kind of running together for me since the break, man. I remember the first one was seven. Nothing lost. I think to Cleveland, I'm like, oh boy, here we go. Just went on this insane tear. It's been incredible. And the thing is, is like, yeah, Jackson Merrill, obviously a catalyst, but Donovan Solano, a catalyst, you know, Luis Arise has his days, Manny Machado has his days. Every single player from the lemon, they're squeezing it. And it's just perfect. It's just been amazing. Tony, they're leading the league in batting average since the break. They've also given up the fewest runs since the break. It's a pretty good combination if you want to win games in base. Great recipe to win games. I think everything that you guys said is true, but everything that you guys said has also happened before the second half began. And I say that to say, it was just a matter of time. And this is what Mike Child has really been saying the entire time, like establish who we are, start to try to be consistent. And in baseball term in a baseball environment, this is like the perfect cook up, right? It just put it in the oven at the beginning of the season. And now we're at the be almost a quarter or the quarter of the season left. And it's starting to show you what you've made. And I think this team is gelling at the right time. And you know, like I said, this team has been playing has shown signs of all of this. Jackson Merrill has won games a few games in the first half on his own. He's been doing this all year. He just happened to put it together in like a four game span where those hits came at the right time. But all those signs have been there. It's just been a matter of time for these guys to start doing what they're doing. And there's one other factor of any that we don't talk about a lot, but it's always important in baseball. It's that dirty little word ends in UCK in baseball. It's luck, luck. And the Padres have had some good luck, you know, when Odiel Cruz throws one away at the end of the game, breaks have been going away. They've made a lot of their own breaks, but Jackson Merrill has to have pitches to hit out of the park when he hits them in their clutch situations. You don't get a pitch to hit out of the park. You don't hit out of the park. Breaks have been going the Padres way as well. Absolutely. A lot of their wins lately and especially the ones against the Pirates. There was a moment where they capitalized on an error from the Pirates. And that's what you want to see from a team that expects to be in the post season and a team that wants to take advantage of a little blood in the water. And that's what they've been doing. And I agree with all those points. I think that they just continued their belief in what they had at the beginning of the season and the processes that they put in place. And then I think they got Zanderback, the trade deadline acquisitions back, and they had a little bit of success and then kept it rolling. It's our Padres round table presented by round table pizza commercial free. It's pizza royalty. So with all these wins, we've been left in a very unusual position as Padres fans and Padres media. And that is kind of looking for things to worry about. And the topic to sure this week, as Mike Schilt had in one of his post-game news conferences, was bullpen usage or perhaps over usages? So let's do short essay question. Craig, we can start with you this time. Analyze Mike Schilt's bullpen usage. Would you like to see him do anything differently going forward or is he pretty much nailing it? I think he's pretty much nailing it. We actually went through this the last couple of days on the deep dive hour on Annie and Elston. And while there is definitely advantage to certain relievers getting days off, Tanner Scott pitches much better with a day off over the course of the year. So does Jeremiah Estrada. So does Robert Suarez. When you actually look at it and kind of map it out on the grid of, okay, here's the guys he has, here's when they've pitched, here's the number of pitches that they've pitched. I think Schilt makes a pretty iron-tight argument that they've both been responsible in the way that they are trying to look after the arms overall, and that they've been aggressive in deploying those arms to convert them into victories. I think he's done an outstanding job. I understand a little bit why he was defensive. And really, you don't want to burn out those guys, for sure. But when Jason Adams throws 10 pitches and then comes back and throws 15 pitches in two dominant innings, it's not the same as throwing 28 pitches and then going back out there the next day. And he recognizes that and so does Ruben Niebla. Tony results wise, you can't really complain. I mean, you know, he's getting great results out of this, this newly designed bullpen that AJ Preller put together for him. I think he's done a masterful job all year long. I mean, this go back to before the trade, when that bullpen was very inconsistent at best, outside of Suarez, and at the time, Astrada, everybody else, you didn't know what you were going to get. And yet, he kind of piecemilled it together early, and then he got the reinforcements. And, you know, when you get reinforcements, sometimes, you know, managers, you got to learn your guys. You know, there are some guys who are just better when they're used more often, and they want to be used more often. And there's guys that you got to give some time to. And I just think he's kind of done such a terrific job. And you guys remember, he's also doing this while managing two starters innings that haven't exceeded, have already exceeded where they've been at any point in their career. So he's done an excellent job of shaving off innings from some of those starters, kind of piecemilling the bullpen. And now he's got a plethora of arms that he can go to. Not everybody's throwing the ball excellent right now, but there's a lot to like about the way Mike Shields has managed his bullpen. And Annie certainly embraced the news to the point he even called one of his wins an AJ game when they used a Perez and Adam and Scott and Suarez. And so, well, no, they was the game that didn't even need Suarez. There was all the, the new going, all the new guys. I mean, he's really embraced the newcomers to his pan immediately. Yeah, absolutely. And they fit in really well. I mean, sometimes you can get those guys in. I remember the the first day that they made those trades, the other guys in the bullpen were a little worried. What's this going to mean for me? How is this going to affect? And then quickly kind of said, Oh, wait a second, this is all going to help us, right? This is all going to be a good thing. And kind of embraced all of that. And now it seems to be working out pretty well. And you have an even stronger bullpen. And I think, I think Mike Shields done an excellent job. I think he would also admit that, and if he wouldn't, then the clubhouse certainly did on Tuesday night that they needed a blowout. They needed a laugher. And they needed to give this bullpen a little bit of a break. And that's what Zander Bogart said on Tuesday night. We got to go out in the first inning and score six runs. That's what jerks and pro far has been saying, is we got to give this bullpen a little bit of a break. And so for them to do that yesterday, I mean, you know, was probably wasn't going to go to those guys anyways, but you gave them two days off. And now you start that 18 games in 18 days. And what's that whole interaction between Kevin A.C. the UT and Mike Schill after the game the other day kind of boils down to, you know, you can't use your best relievers every single day. And Mike Schill basically going, duh, yeah, I do know that, but it's okay. Yeah, you doing okay here. And the temptation, I think for for every single manager is like, man, I got I got a chance to win this game. And there were a couple of moments early in the season where you had a chance to win a series. It's for nothing. And you're like, I'm still going to Robert Suarez, which I think anybody on this panel also would have done. Why risk it? You got a chance to win a series? The thing is about this team. And there's you can look around in baseball at over usage of bullpen. You have to have the talent to be able to overuse your bullpen. I mean, there's a lot of overworked bullpen right now. You go up and down the line and you're like, I can't even believe the selection that I have to choose from. I've also loved how he's done it. I think he's done a phenomenal job doing it. I know there's a tremendous amount of communication between those guys. You're not just going to throw somebody out there, Willie Nilly. If the guy's even half-assed going, I mean, maybe I can give you one. No, you're done. And I think he's done a really good job this year at managing those bullets. And Chris, he's had different relievers step up at different times. There was a point where Jeremiah Strata was the highest leverage guy outside of the ninth. And then Adrian Moore-Hone had a really good stretch. Now he's got some of the newcomers. That's part of this is that you need everyone to kind of ride the wave of the season to get through a bullpen in all 162 games. Yeah, I'm a fan of Kevin Aces coverage of the team. I wasn't a fan of this direction of questioning. And I totally understood why Mike Schilt found fault in it. But here's the thing to me, and Tony and I talk about this, and we all talk about this. A manager always looks good when he's got bullpen guys who come in and do the job, because no matter what decision he makes, it works. So he looks great. And this is, to me, is a product of what AJ Preller has done by building this insane bullpen where Mike Schilt can hardly go wrong. You know, Hwang, I don't think anybody even knew he was acquired in the Tanner Scott trade until he got here. And somebody said, "Well, we better make a locker for this guy." Nine innings, no runs. Jason Adams, seven plus innings, no runs. Martine Perez? How are you? I mean, I don't know. AJ Preller's just hit the jackpot this year, and Mike Schilt is, he hasn't screwed it up, right? I mean, he's got great options, and it's working. We were talking about this morning. It's actually more difficult to come up with round table topics when the team is playing well. That's right. And when the team is playing poorly, so I want to thank Chris. He sent me one this morning, and it is a good topic to discuss. Louisa Rice leading the league in batting again. He said in 307 after two more hits against the Pirates on Wednesday, and he could be getting a third straight batting title. But if you look all the way at the end of his stat column to the war category, 0.1. You know, some metrics will call him basically a replacement level player. If you talk in that clubhouse, though, they will talk about the value of Louisa Rice. So, Annie, the question here is how valuable is Louisa Rice, and how much do you want to invest in a future when he becomes a free agent after next season? Is he someone that's worth paying to keep around on the San Diego Padres? I think he is. I think he's really helped change the complexion of the strategy that they got that they're employing this year. I think that he's someone who brings a lot of energy. In fact, Tanner Scott said that when he was traded early on in the season from the Marlins to the Padres, it really like they all it really sucked for them. It was a guy that brought energy to the field every single day. And he said it was it was a big blow for them at the time just to lose him. So I think that he's someone that just absolutely like he he has his discipline. He has his routine. He sticks to his plan, brings a lot of energy to the guys gets really mad when he doesn't come through wants to compete wants to win. I think you invested in him. I don't know how much that is. Is it 15 million? Is it something like that? I don't know. But I do think that he helps this team for sure. Greg, you and I tend to lean more toward the analytical, especially, you know, the in the newer metrics of baseball, which tell you that he's not that valuable. I can't really make that argument though. I hear what Annie says. I hear what everyone in the clubhouse says. And I feel like whatever those war numbers say, we theorize is a valuable player, especially to this team. Well, his one tool, he does better than anyone, essentially, which is bad to ball, get hits. He's the best at the league at it. Yesterday, we put up, you know, his baseball savant sliders page when we were doing the deep dive. And it's just amazing because he's got bars that are all the way to the right, bright red. And he's got bars that are all the way to the left, dark blue. He's one of the worst in the league at chase percentage. He's one of the worst in the league at walk percentage, fielding, base running. He doesn't bring value to a team that it can be defined. All right, analytically, in several of these categories. But you can't define the energy he brings every single thing. And he said was right. It's not just energy. I shouldn't have said. He comes through. He comes through. He brings guys in. Of course. And you know, we were, Chris and I were talking about in the elevator, you know, same thing I was saying yesterday, like it feels like your nitpick. And if you say anything about a team that's 119 of 22, a rise could stand to chase a little bit less and pursue balls in the zone because he's going to hit 450 on those balls in the zone. He's swinging at stuff in the other batter's box right now. But he's also playing with a torn ligament in his thumb. So I'm going to give him a 100% pass for the rest of 2024. Tony, when we talked about Louisa rise when he first came and compared his numbers to your dad's numbers, you said, you said glowing things. Now, I thought your dad obviously did so many other things well also. And that, you know, that led him to the Hall of Fame, obviously, at the end of his career. I don't know that Louisa rises a Hall of Famer, no matter how many batting titles he wins. But I know that you see the value that he brings to this team without that. I think this is this is where the analytic community gets it wrong, because it's a lot more than just what the numbers are telling you. I mean, he sets a tone every game hitting in that lead-off spot, whether he's chasing or not, he's seeing a ton of pitches, even in those cases, he's also, you know, the best in all of baseball at hitting pitches outside the zone. It's not even close. It is. And so, you know, I don't take a weapon or something that makes somebody special away from them. You know, you do your thing. And I think one of the other cause and effects of this is that that lineup up and down, especially Annie brought this up for what their team approaches, they get to see it highlighted every day of every game, every at bat he's up. So, even when there's a slight, you know, disconnect, one of his at bats can get you right back in the flow of things. And I don't think the Padres are where they are. If he's not on, if AJ Priller didn't go out and make that trade. And so, what that number is, if you are, you know, when you should keep him, I don't know what that is. But he's definitely a guy you want to have on your ball club. And he's playing as, as Craig said with a torn ligament in his thumb. Hired of fine lines and wrinkles, Derma Clara has the solution. Our 100% medical grade silicone patches are designed to naturally reduce wrinkles and improve skin texture. 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My friends still laughing me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B. But with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn dot com slash results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn dot com slash results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be to be. No matter what you're going through, you are never alone. Join me on my podcast from the heart with Rachel Brayton every Friday. Each episode is like sitting down with your best friend for a cup of coffee. From self-care tips to inspiration for healing, this podcast offers the chance to return to nature, return to community, and return to who you are at your core. Straight from my heart to yours. Listen to and follow from the heart with Rachel Brayton on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, and Woods, I mean, you still play adult league ball. Yeah, I'm hitting about 200 right now. I gave up baseball because I hated the feeling even with an aluminum bat facing 65 of the one that stings at the end of the bat. I can't even imagine wooden bats, guys throwing 100 and trying to play with a torn ligament in your thumb and still hitting the ball and trying to put a bat on that ball at this level. It's like, it's just the most frustrating, hardest thing to do. Sometimes it's very unrewarding, you know, and and panic inducing and to have a guy that is like the best at it on your team. And I always go to like, all right, bottom of the night, you know, Tyler Glass now is in. He's going for a CG. And he's on hitable. Louisa rise is getting a knock off him, I think. I mean, really more importantly, who who asked those guys who would they rather face in those moments with a runner on you got to get a keep a hit from good getting out getting on the on the outfield grass. He did. He's going to be him every time. He'd be the last one that they want to pick, right? If you're a pitcher, you're like, that's the last dude because I know I can throw a slider at his at his hip. I could throw a change up away. And he's going to get me man. And he's just he's going to get me every time. And he's just one of those guys where you watch him. And it's a marvel. If you've ever hit at any level, you look at it and you go, how, how do you do it? How do you ready and loaded? And yeah, man, he looks he takes some swings where he ends up facing the pitcher with the bat in his hand. And you're laughing, right? And you're like, but he spoiled that pitch. And he's waiting on his pitch. And when he gets his pitch, you know, like you said, if it's in the zone, man, he pounds it. And I love the guy. I really do. My kids love the guy. They love the energy he brings. So I'm the clubhouse yesterday, smiling, happy, like, just always, always smiling and happy and working. You know, I've heard from his old manager, best guy I've ever been around hardest worker I've ever seen. Love that. I, you know, just a button that I think, because I just want to make sure I say that I agree with all of you. I hope they keep Louis around. And for a really long time, I agree that his value doesn't show up. I was just trying to describe where that value doesn't show up. But when push comes to shove and contract time comes, whether that's at the end of next season or contract talks during this offseason, there is a number. And you do have to be somewhat disciplined. He's not, he's not a guy that you can just break the bank for if it means a Jackson Merrill long term extension or keeping a rise. There's some tough decisions that are coming up. I think that I think the league has already told you that that's not something you're gonna have to worry about. I mean, he's been, he's won a batting title in two consecutive years, they've moved him to a different place. So I think the market is already going to tell you kind of like, I don't think you're going to have to, you know, break the bank in order to keep them. I agree. Chris, your topic, you get the final word here on Louisa rise. Well, I'm the oldest guy on the panel. And you know that I want all analytic people off my lawn. And my scarecrow to scare them off the lawn is Louisa rise. He's the perfect example of why analytics make no sense to me, because he's a 0.1 war. I just know what I see with my eyes. And I think we all know what we see with our eyes. You put a ball anywhere near the strike zone and he's a good bet to get a hit on it. I sure like to see him walk a little more. I'd like to see him take a few more pitches in the lead off spot. But as Tony said, this is what he does. And he does it better than anyone in the in Major League Baseball. Stephen Kwan is the only comparison right now. And he's a he's I think a poor comparison. So I can't break the bank for Louisa rise if I have to keep Jackson Merrill and all kinds of other things. But I agree 100%. They just wouldn't be there without him. And I just think along the lines of a pitcher. And I just finished my warm-up tosses at the beginning of the game. And it's a fresh mound. And I'm all set to go. Oh, no. Here's this guy. He's a rise already. Here's this guy. I just I'm where am I going to throw the ball? Well, you like always going to get it. He's going to hit it hard somewhere. You like it too. Already under stress. You like it too. And like you said, they just let him be him. You know, they haven't tried to change him. There's so many players in the big leagues. And you can speak to him more than me, Tony. But and I hear a lot with pitching, right? There's a lot of guys like, Hey, man, when he came to this organization, they said, What are you doing? Throw this more and wild success. Like this is what I wanted to do. They wouldn't let me do it. And now I had to change who I was as a player. And I didn't like it. And I didn't succeed. The potteries got Louisa rise and said, You go there and be Louisa rise. We need you to be you. We're going to leave. We're going to get off your radar, right? Just go do what you do. And I think that's a testament to the organization as well. It's our 97 through the fan potteries round table presented to you commercial free by round table pizza. It is pizza royalty. So can't really find any bad problems. We're left with good problems. And one good problem that the potteries have right now is Donovan Solano might be one of the hottest hitters in baseball. But there's no spot for him most days in the lineup. You know, once or twice a week, maybe against a a lefty a pinch hitter. He's coming through every single time they need him. Craig, is there a need to get Donovan Solano more at bats in playing time? Or are you absolutely fine with how he's being used right now? I want him in the lineup against every left handed pitcher. Yeah. And I want him there for a pinch hit. And perfect. Done. As long as they're playing him against all the lefties, which means that you're sending one of the guys or which is a tough that's a tough decision. And it is. One day it's giving a rise a blow. One day it's giving Croninworth, you know, a day off. But nonetheless, it's getting Solano's bat in there. That's maximizing your efficient use of him for this team. Yeah, Tony. I mean, you had to play off the bench for some of your big league career. It's not easy to do. He's doing a great job of it. It's almost like let's not tinker with this too much. It's working so well. Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's just there's just not enough not enough spots in the lineup to get him in without taking someone out. And I think managers are good managers are always cognizant of the fact, you know, there's a reason why the guys are in the roles that they're in. And I think Donovan is in a perfect role for him. I mean, rather, I don't know that it has to be every left hander. Depending on how Louise and Jake are swinging the bat, it can be. The good thing to know about Louise is that it doesn't really matter. He's proven whether he's sitting for six straight days and give him a start then or sitting for five more days and get him a pinch hit. He's good. He's efficient. And he's figured out a way which is the hardest thing to do in that particular role. He's figured out a way to keep his rhythm and remove all the doubts because you know, typically I was just having this conversation with Tyler Wade the other day like when you don't when you aren't playing and you aren't getting live at bats in your mind, it's like, man, am I am I going to be right when it's time? And you have to be able to be mentally strong enough to remove those thoughts and just go compete because mechanics go out the window when you haven't swung a bat or you haven't been in a game for four or five, six days. And so he just does a good job going out and competing. And I think they're using them exactly how they should. Yeah, all the bench guys are Tyler Wade disappeared the beginning of the second half. I forgot he was here. They didn't use him. You know, Solano had that stretch where it was like, where is he? You know, but we've talked about it on our show Benny about, you know, he's 36 years old. Keep doing what you're doing with him. And he was so good the other day when he spelled Manny, you know, you get that win. You didn't have to use Machado at all. And he picked it up with the glove. And I don't think he actually got any hits that day, but he actually played really well defensively. And and everybody's contributing. But yeah, Tyler Wade's a really good example yesterday, gets to start it short, gets a couple knocks, almost goes yard. And every it's almost all those guys. Every time you see him, you know, there was that there was like a stretch of a week. He didn't do no pinch run, no nothing. And I was like, is he hurt? What's going on? Is he in the dog house or something? No, but they've used all these guys really well. And Schiltz spoke about it yesterday. And I watched them. I watched their their pre work yesterday. And what I all I know is all these guys are out there busting their tails. Cool. And Annie, he seems to be another one of those. We hear it a lot. Glue guy. I mean, yeah, Solano, Peralta, the rise. I mean, there's so much glue on this team. So much good. Sticky as well. I'm in big bro. I'm stiffing glue like elementary school right now. I'm so into it. It looks like Lloyd Bridges. I mean, it's really true. I think when you have those role players and guys off the bench, you hit on maybe half of them for like pockets of the season. And the potteries have been hitting on all of them for most of the season. I know David Peralta kind of got off to a slower start, but like look what he's been the last two months right in Tyler Wade two for four had it had to start in a week. Another guy that like flips around the clubhouse and everybody loves and brings a lot to the team. Donovan Solano. I love the fact that they've got a 36 year old and a 37 year old and David Peralta who are off the bench and don't ever seem like they like they get up and they take their ABS and they do a good job. They have success. Working like fully embraced fully embraced. And I feel like as they go down the stretch of what will probably be a lot of pressure filled games in September and obviously if they get into October, you're going to find roles for these guys. Like you're going to find places that you need them, whether that's spelling a guy, bring him off the bench, defensive replacement, whatever it is. Think about the knock he got for crony and and you know when they pinch it for crony and crony is the first guy off the bench running out there. Give him a big hug. That's different than we've seen here. That's what I wanted to bring out. I like that even though Jay Croneworth is coming out a little bit of a slump. Six six game hitting streak had the three run home run. Mike Chilt's been unafraid to use Donovan Solano even to pinch it for his number three hitter. As long as he's long as he's unafraid to do that. I think that's good usage. Now you pointed out oldest member of the panel. Craig I think your second you got the second honor. It's nice to see someone with silver hair still doing things on the big league level in Major League Baseball. When the hat comes off Donovan Solano I'm like I like that this guy is always great. He brings a lot of experience. He's great right here. You're talking about me for a second there but I realized I'm not on the Major League level. Wow okay. I just want to tuck in one thing because Craig said you know as long as he's batting against lefties in every game and Craig and I both have spent a lifetime playing Stratomatic Baseball and I guarantee you that Donovan Solano's card against left handed pitching is far superior to J. Croninworth's card against left handed pitching. So if I was playing Stratomatic Solano would be in and Croninworth would be out but this is not Stratomatic and Croninworth to me is too much heart and soul of this team to take him out too often. I would I'd rather I'm willing to go one for four and leave Solano on the bench. Just so Croninworth can still be a part of this team but I do want Donovan to get his at bats if it's once a week twice a week fine but if they if they had a stretch let's say of playing four straight left handed pitchers I can't use Solano all four of those games. Well you could you could just bet your rise once. No I can't do it. That's not a rise once and then Solano one. No yeah I mean like I said good problems to have it's our Padres round table presented by round table pizza it's pizza royalty so now I have to even dig even deeper. Now I'm looking at future good problems and a future good problem here is Mike Schild has gotten pretty consistent with his lineups of late. Oh I love it. That's a guy who has moved a full digital score keeping a nice little cut and paste. Yep I see that I see our post on 97. If you honestly just push a button and your lineup shows up now. I take my pin I circle it lasso it boom but got a future good problem then Tony is the return of Fernando Tatis Jr. Yes who say you're not simply slotting him in to David Peralta's slot in the lineup and batting him seventh when he comes back right. So it'd be the longest lineup in baseball history. How do you make that adjustment if and when Tatis comes back considering how well the lineup is is just chugging along right now. The lineup is going to have to give you to Tatis. Somewhere up being somewhere you're not going to be able to raise that. No I think I think now I mean you can you can slide him in that to spot. You can you got options in terms of where you put them. I think Manny's really settled in nicely where he's at. I think Bogey's really settled in nicely. I think it's in that to spot that we're looking at. Everyone's settled in nicely though. Yeah but you know it's tottie so you know it's somebody's gonna have to be unsettled for a little bit and move and I just think that two spot is probably where I'm looking. Craig and you got to think about the righty lefty combinations. Jerkson does a switch hitter helps you but you don't want to get all righty he's in a row so you got to separate Manny and Xander and Tatis somewhere. I mean I think it's pretty straightforward. I think Tony's exactly right. Tati goes in the number two spot. That's going to slide pro-farta three. Pro-fart is just having that year and he's a switch hitter so that means Croninworth probably drops down behind Bogart's to the sixth spot and now you've got that insane depth lineup that you've been talking about because now Jackson Merrill's hidden seventh for you. So I mean you're talking about a lineup that's just going to be crazy deep and crazy good every day. Does anyone think that Tatis should be batting first when he comes back or does everyone leave a rise where he is? Tatis swings more pitches than a rise does doesn't he? Yes. And he doesn't walk in tummy here. Yeah I think it's a wash there. I think you got a guy who sets the tone a little bit differently than Tati. You know it when Tati was hitting in the lead-off spot it didn't feel the same way that it does with Luis hitting there and I think it gives Tati more freedom. I mean it's hard to lead off. I don't think people understand like being the first guy up there and trying to collect data for your teammates. These that's the idea. I don't know that it happens all that much. That is a that's a tough spot especially when you're coming back. So I say Tati's in that two spot. I like Prof. He's earned the right to be in that three spot at this point. And then I just think it could be a help for for Cronin to slide down into that six spot and now Jackson gets to continue to do what he continues to do which is just play free. Like you can go Manny for you could go crone fives and or six Jackson seven. You can go left right almost down the whole way if you want. And one thing I hate is an argument where I know the the the the evidence is not on my side but I just know you're wrong. And for people say not you in particular. I like that. I like that. But when people say well look at 20. How does that work with the Shelley 20 22 when Tatis was out and how well the Padres played and then Tatis was back in 2023 and they didn't play well. Now he's out now and they're playing well again and they see correlation there and they say this is a better team without Fernando Tetis Jr. And I say well record wise you're right but I know you're wrong. I know you're wrong about this correlation does not equal causation here and this team is better with Fernando Tetis Jr. in that lineup. I don't know what the numbers say. I don't you know I don't even look at that. I don't know I'm sure you're right about all that in the record but he is a dynamic player. He's an excellent player. You want him in there and you want him to be able to help this team. And I think one tenant of Mike Schultz identity right has been no matter what I normalize everything. So it doesn't matter where you're playing what you're doing road home if I heard of elephants you know when on the field he'd just be like okay yeah kind of weird but make the play around the trunk you know like he's he's just like that like it's very normalized. So even if he has to move that that lineup around I think they treat it very like less nothing this is winner's fine solutions. Chris you're not one of those people right with the think that they're better off without Fernando right now. All right what I just want to make sure the ones that aren't that old. All right I was making sure not that old fine just making sure I'd have nothing more. We're all happy to have that. All right any day I need a volunteer we get our it's back the draft our round table draft is coming up before I read the question does anyone want a volunteer to go first and last in the draft today. Tony's going to go first takes the easy spot and who wants to go last. I always go last. All right we'll figure it out. All right today's round table draft and remember the rules you can't pick anyone who's already been picked even if you disagree with you would like to take them they're gone they're off the board. Oh okay here's the question. You have one hundred dollars but you have to bet it all right now on one team to win the 2024 world series. Who are you picking and why. Oh what is this like. And so Tony gets to pick the Padres. Why exactly. And then the rest of us have to pick someone else. Right. Oh my. And yes for a while. Here I put my hand. I am sure I am short circuiting the whole year out there is going to clip your question and our audience are without the contact. If I just asked that question and we all said six Padres. That would be really homoristic and really boring radio. So we're making it the draft. I'll use my homer pass. Let's go get it. At a hundo. Just how they're playing. I think they have the guy. One of the things that happens in the playoffs is that your guys have to perform and when they don't perform you lose just as we've seen the Dodgers go through this last year we saw the Braves do the same thing. I think that Manny, Toddy, Bogey, who am I meant Jackson now. I think these are guys that are all guys who do their best work when the lights are at their brightest including Luis in that fashion. So and they got the kind of staple of bullpen arms that that you need to do it. So that'd be my case for them when in the world. I'm gonna let you go second because I don't want you to be sitting there when the Dodgers and the only team. I wouldn't pick them anyway, bro. I wouldn't pick the lights. Go ahead and take them. You can't pick the pod right now. I can do it. Just light it on fire. Just just light the money on fire. I do that a lot actually. I like the odds here. So I want a big number. So I'm gonna go with maybe a surprise pick for you guys. I'm gonna go with the Seattle Mariners. Okay. How about that? I'm gonna make Hunter Bucks is gonna make me a decent amount of money. They've got really good starting pitching. They've got Randy Rose Arena. They've got Julio Rodriguez. They got Cal Raleigh. They have a we have a pretty sour taste in our mouth after last season. You know, and I think that's helped this team win a lot this year. The embarrassment of last year. All the expectations. The Mariners, man. That's why we are simpatico with the Seattle fans. There's been a lot of similarities in the organizations and talking to Brett Boone last week was talking about basically five number interchangeable number ones. Well, one of those guys is going to go to the bullpen. You know, and so they've got the arms in the arm barn to get it done. I know the odds on that. If I bet 100, I'm probably winning. How much? Good money. Yeah. I get good money on that one. So that can you can the baseball world and can the media world handle the kind of attention that would be on America any better. The geographic rival that we've been waiting for. It'd be so tough. The Mariners, Padres for the whole world to enjoy. The earthquake would happen. Yeah, the big one would take place. There'd be some folks on these bars, Solona and Madrid would have to, you know, step aside. I'm gonna, I would make some good money on that. So I'm gonna take the M's. All right, Annie, there are some big names out there on the board for you to choose. Okay, I'll go with the Padres in the Mariners. Not the Padres, not the Mariners, although I liked both of those answers there. I'll go with Phillies. I'll go with Phillies. I know that they're not doing well post all-star break. They're in a pretty much a slide here. But I think they still have a good team. You know, they've got a good bullpen. They've got a good starting staff. They've got good hitters. They've got guys who have been there before who get the grind of it all. So I think the Phillies, I think, could still have some surge here at the end and some surge going into the postseason. I'm gonna steal the fourth pick here before everyone else goes. And I don't know why, but most most years the Houston Astros do really well in the playoffs. And boy, they've been playing really good baseball since their slow start. They have come on extremely strong. And I think they're going to be a team. No one is looking forward to facing in October. And whether you like them or not, whether you hate them from the cheating scandal, they have proven themselves several times over the last five or six October's that they are always going to be a team to beat. So they're still on the board. I'm going to take the Houston Astros and the beginning of their season. What they, you know, that's, yeah, dead and buried. It's a good story too. Craig, I look at the last look at us all avoiding the NLS team. Oh, yeah. And here I was prepared to say Astros. That was going to be my pick to continue with the theme. But the second scariest team in baseball, right? I'm in back. And I just looked up the World Series odds. And I'd get plus 2000 on Arizona, which is similar to the plus 2,500 on Seattle. And I mean, right now that yeah, I mean, thanks to Google. I mean, you know, as maybe, I don't know which book you go to, but it had the pods at 1600. Yeah. And it had the the guy. Yeah, I mean, let me pay no which way it's going. But I mean, I think they are a team that has come together. They're dangerous in all facets. And you have to look at them as a scary team. And I think from a value standpoint, scarier than the Dodgers of the Yankees. Well, Chris, we've had five picks and still sitting out there are the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Orioles are still sitting out there. I mean, teams that were considered the absolute favorites for much of this season. Who are you going to wrap up our draft with? Braves, were also considered favorite at the beginning of the season. A couple of things I find very interesting about the season in its entirety is that each of the last six full seasons of baseball, we've had three or more 100 win teams, each of the last six full seasons going back to 2017. This year, we're likely to have zero 100 win teams. So if that doesn't open up the whole scramble for the World Series, I don't know what does. But I'm just going to play the odds and what's been left given to me. I am not going to pick the Dodgers because I don't want to be vilified more than I already am. I am not going to pick Juan Soto because that I couldn't stand if that ended up happening. So I can't go there and crow to do that one. What's that? You'd have to eat a little crow to do that one. I would too. But you know, Padre fan really wants to see him get the World Series this year. So I will go again. You know, the last two years, it's been five seeds, six seeds. This year, a higher seed is going to win. So I'll go with the Orioles. Learn from their mistakes of being swept last year in the first round and things go their way. Wouldn't it be delicious, though? Padre's Yankees World Series, not only for the 98 rematch, but the stories of because the Yankees won't get there without Juan Soto and the Padres won't get there without all the players they trade to get, you know, from Juan Soto's trade. The ultimate win-win-win-trade scenario would be those two teams facing off in the World Series to determine who actually did win the trade finally at the end of the year. Major League Baseball will never let that happen. If they're going to go for Padre's Mariners, they'll go for Yankees Dodgers. All right, it is time for the seventh inning stretch. We'll take a brief break from baseball with our off-topic question for the day. I'm in the middle of a San Diego staycation. I don't know if you heard, we're staying at the Lafayette and North Park a couple of days. The question today is, Annie, what is your favorite vacation destination? Staycation or vacation or vacation destination? On vacation. It's on the company, Odyssey's paying for it. Totally. I will go to Hawaii. I will go to Big Island. I will say, you know, out there potted boarding with the Dolphins, lovely time. Tony, you were just in Tahoe. It sounded like it was nice, but what's your ultimate favorite vacation destination? Yeah, give me back to Kauai. That's why we got tuba-wise. I don't know about, don't know about swimming with the Dolphins or doing any of that. Tony won't go near the water. You don't have to do that there. That's the great part. Yeah, give me Kauai. People don't understand. They say, you're from San Diego. Why would you ever need to go to Hawaii? It's totally different. You were just in Hawaii. I was just there and I'm not your answer to it. It's also my answer. This is Hawaii. This is the Hawaii Department of Tourism. This is Hawaii 5-0. Odyssey could save money by sending us all in the same flight, you know? Man, it's the most... We can be it. The good news is we can all go. No, we were in Honolulu Bay and it's just the most magical. I was telling Tony yesterday when I went up to say hello before the game. It's the only vacation that I've ever gone on where I didn't want to leave. I always am ready to come back and get back to business and I was so depressed on the last day. I didn't even want to get out of bed because I knew we had to leave the next day. I finally relaxed and everything was totally present. Then I went I got a pack and I got to leave again and I got to go back and talk on the air and I just it was so magical. So Kauai hands down for the rest of my life. Craig, do I only have to pick some will you say Ben? Or can I pick some place you have to go? Yeah, I'm picking some place you want to go. I'm picking some place I kind of want to go. All right, I want to go to Fiji. Fiji? Send me to Fiji. I mean it's only a couple hours farther on the flight. Tropical people. I heard it's great. I heard it's great. I heard it's great. I heard it's great. Chris? Cleveland. No. The ultimate contrarian. No, I'm not going to be a contrarian, believe it or not. Toledo. Here's the thing, my wife loves to travel far. She thinks that it's not a vacation unless you've been on that plane for at least 15 hours. So any of those destinations are out. I've had it with Africa, Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, China. I've been lucky to get to go to a lot of places. I can't stay on the plane that long and the most relaxed I've ever been on any vacation was Kauai. Unbelievable. Three years ago is the best week and a half ever. It's unreal. I don't know how to explain it. There's something and it's not Hawaii because I've been there. I like it, but it's Kauai because I think that's just another level of relaxation. I love the islands too, but I think you guys are all missing a major part, at least for me, of travel. That is the food and Hawaiian food is fine. A lot of fish. It's just kind of repetitive. I don't like spam, so I'm not eating the sushi. My ultimate travel destination is Italy. I want to go and eat Italian food. I want to go to Lake Como. I've never been there. I had been to Rome. I've been to Florence. It was amazing. I want to see the rest of the country. I want to eat my way through Italy on my ultimate travel destination. I got to do what you said, Paris, if you're going to say Paris. Now Paris doesn't get big enough portions, Craig. Little French food. No, I want big Christmas, big little side plates. No, I love Italian food. Italy is going to be my travel destination. Probably me going Italy is if I just ate Italian food, I would sleep the whole time. The carbs would just have me. I'd be drunk on the ice. You don't have vacation. You walk, eat. You sleep. That'd be a good one though. All right, last few minutes. I want to look a little bit ahead. We've all been so impressed by what Jackson Merrill has done in his rookie season. It's hard when you compare numbers, you immediately go to some of the greats of all time. I mean, Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie season. People who ended up as Hall of Famers. So the question here is, what do you think Jackson Merrill's career arc is going to look like? Craig is rolling his eyes? I mean, I don't know. I know you don't know. That's the job here. It's speculation. It's guesswork. I don't ever want for him not to be on our team. He's made such an impression on me, and I've said this, but we haven't had a roundtable the last couple of weeks. So I'll say my bold outlandish thing about Jackson Merrill. The player he reminds me of is Pete Rose. That's who he reminds me of, Charlie Hustle, without the crippling gambling. Take away all the bad stuff. I'm only talking about it. Yeah. I'm only talking about between the white lines and by that, I mean, they're watching HBO documentary Jackson Merrill and the kid in the case of Jackson Merrill. I don't know. But listen, we all know Pete Rose did some terrible, terrible things, but the hit king was defined. He came up as a rookie of the year for a Cincinnati Reds team that didn't even want him to be there. Jackson Merrill is in a way better situation, but both came in with a confidence that some people thought was a cockiness, but it was, he loves the game. I kept thinking about Merrill saying, I just love playing in a great baseball game. And that reminded me of Pete Rose Game 6 1975 World Series. They lose the game to Carlton Fisking. He's like, that was a great game. Great game. Let's go get him in game seven. You know, and so I'm just talking about the best aspects of one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Tony, I think this is such a hard question because when I was whole dreaming on Jackson Merrill and he started this season, pretty much who he is now is who I hoped he would be in a few years. So now, what do I do? I mean, this, I like, I thought, will he ever get to be a 15 to 20 homerun guy? Probably in a few years. Well, he's there in August. And now what so where? I mean, guys get better. They get more experience. They get bigger. They get stronger. They get better at this game. Where's he going, Tony? This is, this is, this is, these are always tough questions because the league is so difficult. And for as many great stories as there are, there are a ton that yes, the flash and then you don't see that guy moving forward. And so, I mean, Jackson, should he stay healthy? I think this is what you should be expecting. This is the type of player I think he's going to be. I don't know that he's going to advance until 25, 30, homer guy. I don't, but, and I don't know where he's going to end up defensively when it's all said. And then I know he's playing the spot now. I know probably in his heart of hearts, he wants to find his way back to the infield. But how will he progress defensively as a center fielder moving forward? There are, because his, his situation is, is unique in the stand from the standpoint of he came up to fill a spot and then like took off. Like, I don't think even the Padres imagined him playing at this level this soon. So I, I'm going to say, should he stay healthy? This is what you can expect from him. I don't think there's a ceiling that's even higher than this form. But I think, you know, 280, 300, it's pretty damn good, good ball player. Chris, I think that, that power aspect is very intriguing about what else there may be in there with Jackson Maryland, not that he needs more or should he even try, should he even be trying for more than he's got at this point right now or as Tony said, just kind of be this player going forward. No, he, he told us that he hasn't really tried to hit a home run all year. Yeah, he just happens and that's just the way he goes. Um, I just want to remind everybody that the guy from ESPN still has him six on the rookie rankings. I really, I really, yes, it irks me so badly. Day to day. No, it was, he doesn't think this way. All right, Bradford, do little. Mad who I believe somebody wrote back to me and said, Hey, Bradford, do more. Yeah. Anyway, look, I wouldn't piggyback a little on Craig. The Charlie Hustle things are really cool comparison because he seems to have the same reverence for the game that Pete Rose did. He loves it. He plays it the right way. He cares about it. He appreciates it. It's like, what can he do for the game? Not what can the game do for him? So, uh, and in a, in a era of look at me guys, he is the complete opposite of that, which is another incredible trait about Jackson Merrill. So I like that. The other part I like is hopefully he'll just stay in San Diego. So let's be the next, you know, Mr. Padre and have 20 years of, you know, 20 years of this in a Padre uniform. That's what I'm hoping for. Annie Jackson Merrill's career. I mean, I would never want to put a ceiling on it, but every time I talk to, and I think this guy's a limit for him, every time I talk to guys like Xander Bogart or Manny or whoever who have been in the game for 10 plus years, jerks and there's ups and there's downs, man. And, and you know, and so how can predict what those might be for him? I also think a big part of his success this year, and I think he'd have it no matter what, but it's great that he was allowed to be a rookie. I mean, yes, this is a team that has aspirations, and he's part of a team that wants to compete, but he was given the runway to be a rookie and not to be the big superstar quite yet. He just built himself into that, you know, he's given a little bit of that cushion. So who knows? I think he could be end up being one of the absolute tremendous players of our game, and it's going to be fun to find out. That's for sure. I need to say this, all-star, like he's going to be a multi-all-star type one down, like exactly, but he's the type of guy that if he's healthy, he can, he can get the double digits in that. Woods, you get the last word here. Let him be Jackson Merrill, man. He's not, yeah, in a different era, certainly, Chris, but he's also not just some boring, eyewash guy. He's got, he's got a lot of flair. He's got a lot of swag. He's attracted the eyes of many, many six and seven-year-olds who now want to wear number three. You know, I'm getting requests from parents. Hey, can I put in a request for number three? And, and there's a reason for that. I mean, he does everything the right way. Let him be Jackson Merrill and see where that goes. I think, go ahead, Tony. We're, we're quick. And I think this is important. You know, we harken back to the beginning of the season where people were clamoring to move Jackson up into that top portion of the lineup. This is why you don't, because he's been able to just, as Annie said, be a rookie. He doesn't have to be the guy. It's a lot different expectation for Jackson Merrill than it was for, say, Fernando Tati, Jr., who was really expected to come up here and be a savior of this organization. So I think he's been allowed to just be Jackson in a 2021-year-old kid. I think we got 90 seconds left. So I just want to ask you, Tony, because I don't want to temper any expectations on Jackson. But some of the things that other guys learn in their first three or four years that helped them take that next step, he already seems to know that, that calmness, that confidence that usually comes with success is born with it somehow. And he already has it. But, you know, that means he doesn't, he's not going to find it and click to a next level. Right. And so, you know, that's what I think attracted the Jerricksons, the man he's when he was in spring and spring training is like, in the same way that it did for when Tati was that that guy coming in. Like, there's just something about him that stands out and you recognize it real quick when you're around him. So yeah, this guy is the limit for him. But, you know, I think it's been aided in the fact that he's just been able to go out and be him. All right. Coming up for the San Diego Padres, 18 games in 18 days will be six or seven in when we talk to you on the next round table next week. Padres will be back home after a weekend in Colorado with a very big home stand, Minnesota twins and four against the New York Mets. One of the only teams that could theoretically kind of catch the Padres from behind and they'll be looking to do it after they swept the Padres earlier this season. So that'll be a big topic next week. That's it for us. Thanks for joining us on a 73 the fan Padres round table presented by round table pizza. It's pizza royalty for Annie Halbrun, Tony Gwen Jr, Stephen Woods, Greg Elston and Chris Ello. I'm Ben Higgins. Have a great rest of your day. Thanks for joining us here on San Diego's number one sports station, 97 through the fans. So long everybody. One natural way to produce fine lines and wrinkles, Derma Claire has got you. 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