Gwynn & Chris On Demand
Sept. 5th Padres Roundtable
"My dad works in B2B marketing. "He came by my school for career day "and said he was a big row as man. "Then he told everyone how much he loved "calculating his return on ad spend. "My friends still laughing at 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.com/results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. Linked in, the place to be, to be. - As a parent, you always wanna set your child up for success. So when they're struggling in school or they need help with homework, you try your best to step up. But sometimes you might not be equipped to answer. And it's better to leave that to the experts from IXL Learning. IXL Learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science, and social studies. IXL can help your child really understand and master topics in a fun way with positive feedback. Powered by advanced algorithms, IXL gives the right help to each kid, no matter the age of personality. And when you sign up, one subscription gets you everything you need for all the kids in your home, from pre-K to 12th grade. IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S., with one in four students across the country using the program. So don't wait any longer. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now. And listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXLlearning.com/audio. Visit IXLlearning.com/audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. (upbeat music) - 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 Roundtable, presented by San Diego Roundtable Pizza. Here's your host, Ben Higgins. - Still chewing, stuffing my face with roundtable pizza in the five minutes since we were just off the air. Welcome into another edition of our Padres Roundtable. On 97.3, the fan, we've got mostly a full house today, minus one, but to my left is Chris Ello from the Chris and Gwen program in the afternoon, Gwen and Chris. - Otherwise known as Gwen and Chris. - Yes, he's still learning, still learning that. - I have a question before I introduce everybody. - Don't ask about the shirt. - No, have the game end up last night. I turned it off, it was tied bottom of the ninth and Jackson Marrow was up, I assume he had a whole run. - It was not over. - Oh, he didn't. - He did not. - We've got Craig Elston from the Ami and Elston program. - I missed the memo on plane travel today. - They say that when you come together long enough, you start looking like each other. - Spousers, that's what we are. - Wow. - Yeah, Woods and I are, I twinsies today. We've got Steven Woods from the Woods and Ben program in the morning. - Only in my dreams, but only in my dreams, my wildest dreams. - And Amy Halberin always gets top billing with Amy and Elston. - Good morning, would any of you like to recreate Fernando's post-game celebration? - I'm actually surprised Adam has an ask me to do it. - No one wants us to, Amy. - You would actually win the vote, Anne. - You would win the vote, and that's, yeah. I think we would all get quite a amount of trouble. - All right, we're gonna do some temperature taking this morning on your San Diego Padres. It's been a couple of weeks since our last round table, so we're gonna just kinda go element by element starting with pitching. We saw you Darvish's return to the rotation last night, obviously a little off on the command, but pretty confident that he's gonna get things going here before too long. How do we feel overall about the Padres starting pitching rotation, going into September? Chris, A plus. - A plus. - Honestly, I don't, I mean, once Darvish gets it back together, which I assume will happen, Muskrow's pitching incredible, Seuss and King are confident every time. The fifth spot, maybe not, but look, to me, if the playoff started today, the way everybody's pitching around baseball, is there somebody you look at and say, "They got a better four-man rotation than the Padres." I don't really see it, so I'd give A plus. - All right, A plus is a pretty strong grade. I mean, there's no guaranteed winner every time out. Craig, but I guess no team can ever say that you know that this guy's good for a win every time out. - Yeah, you know, at my son's school, they use a different system and they have mastery and then they have progress and progress plus, and I would give this rotation progress plus, because I think there's absolutely room to be what Chris just said. - Is there a sun mastery ever? - Of like a certain subject. - I'd be like, "Yeah, Matt, you mastered this one. "You mastered sixth grade English, you know," or whatever. The potential to be exactly what Chris said is 100% there. The reality is that over the last month plus, this has been the weakest part of the ball club, and part of their amazing comebacks, and the DNA of this team's amazing comebacks is falling behind with subpar starting pitching performances. So, I'm very excited, I'm very confident, and I'm also keeping a cautious eye out, because we're projecting on some guys who haven't shown it yet. - What I was growing up, it was outstanding satisfactory or needs improvement, and I definitely think the Padres are beyond satisfactory now, in the starting rotation. - Well, you asked originally for temperatures. My temperature is 97.3. - Perfect. - That's what my temperature is right now. - Company man. - Exactly. - No, I agree with, I'd love, it's like Chris said. When Dylan Sees takes the ball, I feel confident. And when Michael King takes the ball, I feel confident. And when Joe Moscow takes the ball, I feel confident. And I will feel confident in you Darvish. And I'm gonna watch Martin Perez throw tonight. He keeps you in the game. I know the last couple of outings have been, whatever, too many walks. If he commands the zone, you're in the game. Gives up a couple solo shots, you're right there. So, he's done what a fifth starter needs to do. Probably won't see him in the playoffs. My biggest thing is, I'm just ready for the regular season to end. I wish the playoffs actually did start tomorrow, so we could get it on. That's what I'm looking forward to. - Any letter grade, non-letter grade temperature, whatever you really want at this point, pot raise starting rotation. - I think a solid A. I think, you know, at this time of the season, you're always looking for signs of fatigue, and that would be understandable. And there was a stretch between Joe Moscow who starts recently where no starting pitcher made it past the fifth inning. And the bullpen has been used a lot, but that's kind of understandable at this point in the season. And I feel like they're gonna be helped out by these off days that are happening in September. And by the coming back of you, Darvish and Joe Musgrove, and also just getting that second win as they approach what will hopefully be a playoff push for them. - All right, from the starting rotation to that bullpen, which by the way, pot raise don't win that game. If they don't get sick shutout innings from their bullpen in the game against the Detroit Tigers. People are very high on it, obviously so. I've got to imagine we all feel the same way about the pot raise bullpen. I mean, hard to find anything to complain about there. - I call him the Magnificent Seven, and that's leaving Wandae Peralta out. Hopefully he can join that group, but there's seven guys that I'll use Woodsies phrase. I mean, I'm just confident when they come into the game. I mean, sure, they can give up a run. Matsui is probably the least confident, and I still think he can be effective. The Hoing has been a tremendous find, and then everybody knows the other guys. I mean, they're all good, and the Tigers saw all of them last night. I'll say the same thing. I mean, is there a team that you go into the playoffs and go, wow, their bullpen's gonna crush our bullpen. I don't think so. So I like it. - It's one point. - 97.4, Ben. - Oh, wait, are we going in or sorry? - I don't know, I just jumped in. - That's a free throw. - I'll just let you decide amongst yourselves who goes next. - I don't always have to pay. - It's one of their best weapons. I mean, we saw it in play last night. Anytime there's a close game, who doesn't feel good about the guys coming out of that bullpen? They used eight pitchers yesterday. The bullpen kept them in the game, able to come back. Like that, when they are in close games and they are in the playoffs if they make it there, that is gonna be huge for them. - I saw Dan Plessak, MLB network, had the Padres ranked as his number one postseason bullpen. Is there a difference, Craig, in your mind between a postseason bullpen and a regular season bullpen? There's definitely a difference in a starting rotation. You don't have a shorter starting rotation in the playoffs, but bullpen are kind of bullpen. Maybe you don't need quite as much depth in the postseason as you do in the regular season. - Yeah, I think what Plessak means by that is power arms because power situations demand power arms, but I thought a couple of the grades in the first round were a little high. So I just want to explain why mine was lower, was to create a differentiator. This is the best bullpen in baseball. This is the best Padres bullpen I've seen in my lifetime. And I think it's one of the best bullpen I've ever seen period full stop. It keeps the team in every game. It gives them ability to win a game like yesterday and make it feel almost like a certainty, combined with what we'll talk about next, which is a newly revamped lineup. So this is everything that AJ Preller dreamed when he mortgaged it on this bullpen. He has been rewarded. It's the best bullpen I've ever seen. - And Woods, I think Craig rings up a good point when he says postseason bullpen, power arms. And by power arms, not just people who throw hard like Robert Suarez, but it's really swing and miss that you're looking for in the playoffs. Because when the season comes down to one game or maybe one inning and it's a tie game, soft contact sometimes is not good enough. Because soft contact can be a blooper that ends your year. Ask the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks and Mariana Rivera, how good that can be. Getting swing and miss in the playoffs is essential and the Padres bullpen gets a lot of it. - They do that and the ability to get the ground ball when you need it. And Wadi Peralta, for all his struggles, he is that guy, he can get a ground ball when you need it. They can kill you in a bunch of different ways, man. This is not a one dimensional type scene. They have a lot of guy, Jason Adam has been, he's been unreal. I mean, honestly, and obviously Robert Suarez doing his thing all season long. Again, it's just a confidence that you have, which is why I don't even want to play the next three weeks. I just want to get to it right now. - I have to win and you've got to win a week. - Yeah, you've got to win. - Keeping up with your statistic, Ben, which was outstanding, the Padres, are they still undefeated with Tanner Scott? - They're still undefeated. - They're undefeated. - What are they up to now? - 18 and oh, wow, anytime he comes in. Well, then let's use him as an opener from here right now. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And the Mini Machado stat, 23 and oh, when he has, oh yeah, yeah. - Yesterday was one of the few times they actually had a chance to lose one of those games that both of those were true. And they weren't even winning at that point when Tanner Scott came in or when Manny drove in the two runs, but they found a way to pull it out. Now, Annie, in the bullpen, we've seen Mike Schill already be aggressive during the regular season. And deploying that bullpen. When the playoffs come around, assuming the Padres will be there, do you seek for see any changes in terms of that aggressive, more aggressive is what I'm saying in the postseason. - I think he can, yeah, you know, good question. I think he's gonna play whatever is in front of him, however it needs to be. I think he takes whatever opportunity is there. And I don't think he's gonna be afraid, as much as I think he values guys having their roles and being comfortable in their roles, I think he's got the kind of team where if he needs to move guys around or go match a base or put a starter in the rotation or in the bullpen or whatnot, like if it means the team wins, they're all on board. - Well, I tell you, nodding. What does that aggression look like to you? - Well, you need to buy in from the guys, number one, and you have guys like Tanner Scott that would, that Schill probably has to calm down and say, "I'm not throwing you today." Like he wants the ball, wants to be in. It's obviously a very refreshing perspective here in San Diego, one that we were not accustomed to last year. - You're referring to anyone? - No, it's true, but Michael King obviously will want to the ability to start a playoff game. But he also knows he may be best served in that first series as a long man, and he'll get his chance in the second series. You have to have buy-in from all those guys, and every one of those guys, you get the sense, they're beating down his door for the ball. And it's just not something that you've seen a ton. So obviously the make-ups there, the buy-ins there, and I think Schill can, I think you can absolutely get more aggressive with it. And I was, I don't wanna say I was surprised, but when we talked to him last Friday, it kind of asked him, "Hey, here we go." You know, the division's, you know, it's still there, you can still go get it. You know, how tempted are you to give guys a rest and here and there, and he goes, "This is why you play." September is, "This is why you play." These are the games that you want your best players in, and I liked that. So that to me says, "Yeah, he's gonna be pretty aggressive." Like he was last night. - And I thought yesterday, Craig, it was interesting. I've been getting used to the A-S-S of Ass, Scott Suarez, but he actually brought in Scott first, and then Adam, and then Suarez and then Estrada. - Sassy. - Sassy, a little sassy bullpen action. You know, he talks about those lanes and finding the right matchups. Obviously they do a lot of thinking about who they want their relievers going up against, because it's not just righty's lefty's. They're both right-handers, but why, why Scott before Adam in the game yesterday, not sure we know the answer to that. - Oh, no, it was very easy, because the Tigers had their key left-handed betters. - Better, better pitchers. They have more faith in Scott, they want it in there. - So you just use the lefty against the lefty's and use the righty against the righty's, and that's what you do when you have a dominant bullpen. When you've gone beyond ego, when you've gone beyond contractual demand to everybody recognizes this is a team that can win the World Series, to win the World Series, you have to win the first series, to win the first series, you have to win two out of three. So everybody's got to be absolutely in sync. And so I couldn't agree more, the only question I would have in terms, it's a different topic in terms of the King versus Darvish. - Yeah, who will it be? - Because if Darvish starts, I think King relieves that game. - It may be 100% in the playoffs, but maybe King should start that game because he's been so good, but that's a different topic for a different day. The point is this team now has the ability, we'll get to it, and I'm sure on offense, to be incredibly aggressive in a postseason scenario. - And you're right, the next topic is that lineup. It is our 97.3, the fan pot raise round table, presented commercial free by round table pizza, it's pizza royalty, and we almost saw the lineup but it's kind of full strength potential. Hassan Kim still a few days away probably from returning, but why don't we start with Annie on the other side this time? Temperature on the pot raise lineup now that we're starting to see what it may look like in the postseason. - I firmly give it an A, I look, they deepened it, they lengthened it. I mean, look at what happened last night, they walk a rise, you could question that, but you understand it also on the Tigers side, but at the same time, who are you gonna get to when you move past a player or a guy in the lineup to the next guy, well, he's just as dominant, and the next guy, he's just as dominant. It's very hard to find a hole in that lineup, and when they are all feeling it and playing at that level, I think it puts so much pressure on the pitcher. - Woods, I mean, the lineup does have a couple of holes right now at the bottom. I mean, we saw Mike should aggressively using his bench, talking about the eighth and ninth slots, but I think when you look around the league, you're not gonna find too many teams that don't have at least an eight and nine hitter that you probably don't necessarily want up in a key situation late in the game. - Well, and the difference in this team and other teams of the past that we've covered and watched is that, let's say you are in a one-nothing game, and you do get to those holes at the bottom of your lineup, look what you have coming off the bench now that you didn't have before, which is just Solano, Peralta, Tyler Wade to get a bunt down, whatever it may be. I like, you know, Camposano is probably his own segment, we could probably do 10 minutes on that, but yeah, it's so deep right now, and again, we can talk lineup construction where should Merrill hit, you know, I don't know, man, it's working pretty well right now, and he keeps coming up in that time of the lineup where he continues to help us and get big hits, so I'm reluctant to change much about it, other than maybe getting Elias Diaz behind the dish and let him get, you know, his feet a little bit more wet than last night, get campy out of the air for a minute and see what happens, but yeah, man, it's certainly a deep team. - Yeah, Craig, after one day of Fernando Tetisa, well, maybe I need to put him deeper in the order so they can get back going, and then he hits every ball a million miles an hour at last night and I go, no, he probably should be batting. Second in this lineup. - There's seven elite players now in this lineup, seven guys that you're willing to bat in the top three of your order in this lineup, and that leads you to circumstances where in those middle innings when you're cycling away from your top three, you've got Croninworth Bogart's and Merrill coming up, I mean, that's so exciting. And then building off what you said, it's now an eight man lineup because after the first time through, that eight spot can become David Peralta, it can become Donovan Solano. I do think hopefully Padres fans and some folks are seeing the value of Haas on Kim as he is out because clearly the Tigers were working to get to McCoy and runners in scoring position situations yesterday and it didn't work out for the team. Kim, not that he's gonna come through every time, but he gives you a great eye and a power bat, a little bit down there and lockdown defense, and then you're just gonna have a perpetual machine. - I was nine in a row. - I was actually surprised that Solano got as many pitches to hit in that at bat that he did. I mean, he usually doesn't miss those and he did work the walk. - He still walked. - He still walked, yeah, but I was like, well, why would you throw him anything here at all? - 'Cause McCoy on deck. - So we kicked that around on our show today, the strategy, and I love what she'll said. He's like, it's not an easy call. I had to kind of make that call, snap judgment, and Solano, you have the chance to get two RBI right there, he can easily poke one in the gap easily. I mean, he's done, he's one of the best pinch hitters in the game, so I like the aggressive move, didn't work out in that case, but that's what, those are the opportunities and the options that Mike Schilt has right now at his disposal, which is great. - Chris, Padres lineup above or below 97.3 degrees. It's probably above, there's a couple of things that you guys mentioned everything, but I think one of the things that makes it perfect in Mike Schilt's mind is that it goes left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, right. I think there's two rights at the bottom. - Oh, don't forget the switch in the third spot. - In the third spot. - Yeah, but I mean, that's something that Mike Schilt has probably dreamed his whole life of-- - Every manager, every single manager. - Every single manager. - It is really incredible that they can do that. - Right, right. - The other thing is, is the eight, nine spot, be careful how weak you say it is. - Sure. - Their two catchers have been buying for 20 home runs and 83 RBIs. - That's crazy. - And we think Campusano stinks. He's got 40 RBIs. - Yep. - And he's not having a very good year. Hey, gosh, you guys got 43 RBIs, so-- - And 16 bombs. - Right, so those two guys are dangerous enough down there, and yes, Craig, I will allow that they'll be better when Kim comes back, but I do wanna say that McCoy has not hurt this team at all. I think he's done everything that's been asked of him. - I was a little surprised they didn't try the suicide squeeze with him last night, 'cause why not? Everything else has been working, and I thought that they might lay one down there. Forest play, but, you know, true enough, but to me, get a good enough bunt. It's gonna still take a great play. - As a parent, you always wanna set your child up for success. So when they're struggling in school, or they need help with homework, you try your best to step up. But sometimes you might not be equipped to answer, and it's better to leave that to the experts from Iexcel Learning. Iexcel Learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science, and social studies. Iexcel can help your child really understand and master topics in a fun way with positive feedback. Powered by advanced algorithms, Iexcel gives the right help to each kid, no matter the age of personality. And when you sign up, one subscription gets you everything you need for all the kids in your home, from pre-K to 12th grade. Iexcel is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. with one in four students across the country using the program. So don't wait any longer. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get Iexcel now. And listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Iexcel membership when they sign up today at Iexcellearning.com/audio. Visit Iexcellearning.com/audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. - My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big row as man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. 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 a $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com/results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com/results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. - All right, I'll throw the rest into one bucket. Defense, speed, bench, intangibles. I mean, there's very little to poke holes at right now on this Padre's team. - The intangibles, we've been talking about-- - For the right to fit through the roof. - Right, I mean, the comeback wins, the extra inning wins, the late close wins, the style that they've got. You talked about a bullpen that, you know, gets other teams to swing and miss. Well, the Padre's swinging missed the least in baseball. This is almost too good to be true right now. - I agree, I'm gonna leave it there. - I mean, honestly, you know I'm a skeptic, I'm hard to bring across the line. I can't remember a team in my life that I've believed in more than this team. Like, this grouping you're talking about, intangibles, all-time high. What other team have you ever seen? Guys coming back, striking out, talking to the next guy, saying, let's do that, every single thing along, everything, top to bottom, Mike Schilke. - I got you, sorry, got pulled out of the game for a pinch hitter in a huge spot. I mean, went right in-- - The final line is Diaz, how to catch-- - It went right in until the last Diaz, what to do. Like, every other player went to the tunnel and, you know, been in street clothes. - Yes, bench, best bench I've ever seen in San Diego. Now, Peralta and Solano and your catcher coming off, Wade is there to do anything that you need, management. - I mean, this has been the best constructed roster and this team is all together pulling the same direction. - And once they've even corrected some of the issues, the base running has gotten better as the team is-- - That's Casas on Kim's been out of the lane. - Oh, it really is hard to poke holes. - It is, and, you know, the confidence that they inspire on a nightly basis, the ability to be able to not start your pacing and your dooming in the third, fourth, fifth inning, you know, and we all have it in us, I know. But just the ability to know that, like, they're gonna find different ways. And really, the cool thing is it's been different players. You know, we talked about all the guys that have had the walk-offs and just everybody is stepping up and buying in and, you know, you're in September, so you have the feeling that, yeah, anything can happen, it's baseball, but it's not gonna be from a lack of execution or drive or want to or buy in or chemistry. We're good, they can not, like, nothing's going to crumble this clubhouse on September 3rd or whatever. Like, it's just not going to happen. They've weathered that storm. And now, you know, you can see, they haven't lost the game in September yet, they're ready to go, the page has been turned, and they know what's ahead of 'em, and it's massively cool and refreshing to watch. - And now with Tatisse back, Annie, the defense takes a big step up as well. - How about that play last night? That is a triple. If anybody else is out and writes to everybody. - I mean, it's a gutsy play, and it took huge stones to do it, but if anybody's gonna do it, it's him, and then he makes that jump throw and almost gets Carpenter in second base from right field, it's insane. - Yeah, it's a huge presence, you know? I mean, not only is he executing, but it's just knowing that these guys on defense are so good and they will come through. And then the base running too, I mean, look, there were some blunders and whatnot early on, but you see that phrase when it shilts many phrases, championship players doin' thing for themselves, and you see now, whereas they get into what will be a lot of pressure-filled situations, they feel good about, these players feel good about making decisions and going for things and working, you know, whatever is, they see in front of them, working at whatever opportunity they see in front of them, and so you see some of these things just really come into fruition in a way that will really help them in this next stretch. - Well, and I think the freedom to be themselves and play their game is great and takes a lot of the shackles off those guys when they get to the ballpark. They know that they can go play their game. Luis or I's, should you be more selective? No, just go be you, and Fernando, go be you, and Manny, be you. Acceptance from Mike Shilt about the kind of players he has, jerks and pro far, go be you, man. Some of the things that they've done have driven me nuts this year, nuts, but they have the ability and the trust of their skipper and each other to know that they're playing for the team instead of themselves, and it's so, like I said, it's cool and refreshing. - And I just want to tack one thing onto that because last night's game, like for me was a really important game, not for me personally, but just like I viewed it as a really important game because if there was one thing, I was still kind of back of the back of the mind concerned about, it was the Ewing theory for this team. You know, the old classic Patrick Ewing theory, you take Ewing off the Knicks and all of a sudden everybody is playing a little bit harder and they find their role a little bit easier, but then when you put them back in, then there's kind of, - They relax a little bit. - Right, that look around. And last night had some of those hallmarks of the team loading the bases and loading the bases and not getting the runs in, but it was Nando who came through. - Yeah. - His first ever walk off. The guy that we're looking at are Ewing that just got put back in, and I thought that was gigantic, not just for the win-loss column, but for the psyche of the team. We can do it as a full unit. - I just wanted to ask, I'm new to this show, is this the same group that was here in April and May? (laughing) Are we the same people? - No. - Do they wholesale changes? - Oh, okay. Because, you know, it's really-- - Becker was too negative and pessimistic. - Yes, that is, we are talking, it's the same team we were talking about then. - Not really. - You know what I mean? - Not really. - It is a, we're not, I don't think anybody who's tuned in and said, "Boy, these guys are the ultimate homers. "This is obviously the Padre Station." You know, so they're gonna talk great. No, we really haven't been talking like this all year. - No. - But I just-- - They've heard-- - It's almost impossible not to talk like this level of discussion. - Yeah. - It's not projection, it's not hopeful thinking. They've earned it. Now, with that in mind, it's our 97.3, the fan Padre's round table, presented by round table pizza. It's pizza royalty. Just to put the, just tamp down the brakes for a second. The next question is, if you can think of anything, this might be the hardest question of the day. What's your biggest remaining concern about the 2024 Padre's? Annie, you're ready to go. - I think just, because I agree, they aren't, they've earned the benefit of the doubt. It's hard to poke holes. I think just the progression of a long season, you know, would any kind of fatigue come into play? Would any kind of body kind of breaking down maybe come into play? I think just never knowing kind of what, look, they've played so many games and so many intense games and so good because it's built them up for any kind of scenario that they might see in the future, but they've also put a lot of mileage on themselves. You know what I mean? In a lot of intense situations. And so that's the only thing that I think I wonder about because you have all these other teams still, the Diamondbacks, even the Mets, the Braves, the Dodgers that are all playing at the same level are close to it. You gotta keep pushing at the same, you know, fierceness. - Health, it's just health. You know, the health, the health of the players, I feel like, again, if you're one of those guys, we've talked to enough big leaders to know that if you're in this position in September, man, you're so excited to get up and you're so excited to go to the ballpark and you're so excited to go play because things are going well. You know, obviously you want that to continue, but the only thing that could derail you is injury. So I, that's the thing that maybe keeps me up a little bit at night and that I'm concerned about is health. And I think that there's no fan of any baseball team that's in the mix right now that isn't terrified about the health of their team. - I mean, the number one concern is the margin because you have four teams that are completely playoff worthy and one of them is going to be left out in between the Padres, the Braves, the Diamondbacks and the Mets. But to me, this is actually the easiest answer. It's the starting rotation, obviously, in my mind because you just saw Darvish go out there and not be himself. We all hope he's gonna be better the next start. Joe Musgrove has pitched for five games like an absolute Cy Young award winner while Dylan sees for the last several games has not. And you've got King over his innings limit. This team has made a habit of coming from behind again because they've often been put behind by the rotation. So if there's one thing I'm worried about, it's just seeing those guys' performance walk in to that October level that we expected. - Well, and you want a little bit more normalcy for some of their starts, the delays, the, it's just been weird. Like the 18 and 18 was weird. It was a lot, they were overtaxed, the bullpen. It was just, I think it settles down. You get a lot more off days, you know, baked in and they're able to extend the rotational. You know what I mean? Like it's just a little bit more normalcy than it was in August. I still am confident when King has the ball and I'm still confident when Cease has the ball. He had those great innings and then he came out and inexplicably threw 10 balls in a row. Probably, probably only threw eight balls and then he got squeezed in a couple. But it's just like, those are the ones where you're like, all right, now this makes me insane because you were so locked in in that game. And I'm still just remarkably confident in the rotation. 'Cause I think they're gonna be able to manipulate it to get guys rest, to keep them, but also keep them sharp, which is a tough, tough thing to do. Ask Dave Roberts that every year, every year. - Chris, you're usually able to manufacture at least a little bit of connectivity. - Yeah, well, Jerkson Profar, the guy who has been the only one who hasn't been in the negative column, the first three months of the season has hit the wall. I really am rooting for his magical season to end magically. I still think, you know, when he comes up, like he did last night, tying runs, second and third, crowds electric, Fernando just hits a ground rule double. Early in the season, Profar would have driven one against the fence and it would have been a tie game. Last night, he popped up. I think, I hope he's just going through baseball. You know, it's just giving him one of those stretches. So I have a little concern, but, you know, if Profar went 0 for the rest of the year, he would still be a major reason why this team got where they are because he was so good for so long. But the only other concern I have been is baseball. And we've all been around this too long. If when we sat here around the all-star break, none of us could foresee a 19 and three stretch to start the second half. And as we sit here right now, none of us can foresee them losing eight of their next 10 games and slipping into a tie with the Mets with two weeks to go. - But it can happen. - Baseball always scares me. I think you've got to just respect it at all times. - Yes. - Don't be talking. - Yeah, don't look past it. - Don't do any videos. - Baseball can hit you in the face if you pause. - No rapping, no nothing. - Right. - That's the only thing I wanna say. - On the other side, we're talking to you. - Nothing. - The Iron Morning Show Booker quit it. - Yes. - As a San Diego sports fan, we've often rested our hopes on the fact that in baseball, the best team doesn't always win, especially in a short series. And now you're kind of wishing that the best team didn't feel like we have the best team going into a lot of these matchups that they're gonna have. Craig, you kind of took mine. The slow starts still seem to be an issue. They come back from them so often they're not, but you'd like to not fall behind three nothing and five nothing and two nothing in a lot of games that tends to happen. I'll throw one more. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But there's not a ton of playoff experience. Some guys had in the run in 2022 that were with the team, but there's a lot of guys, whether you're rookies or you've come from other organizations or you just haven't been in the playoffs a lot in this organization that you wonder how people are gonna respond when it comes to October. The Dodgers have way more playoff experience. Fortunately for us, most of that is negative. - Right. - So losing experience. - Yeah, that one doesn't really worry, man. I'm just thinking through the lineup, I mean, to Tease, but he's been through two playoffs. Machado has been, you know, to the World Series. - For the amount that he's been in his career though, it hasn't been a ton. - Yeah, I think this group has a core. That core has been, for the large part, would be going to their third playoff in five years. I'm not too worried, gosh, Yoko was with the Yankees for God's sakes in the playoffs every year. I'm not worried about it. - I've got a couple of specifics since we have the generals seem to be taken care of well. I've got some specific player questions to discuss and we're gonna start with, yet to get a start, we did finally see him getting into a game. Do you foresee an important role for Elias Diaz at all down the stretch for the San Diego Padres or will he remain just the third catcher for the Padres and used in those kinds of games like yesterday? - I foresee a very significant role for Elias Diaz. I think last night was Luis Campasano's last start of the year. I don't see any viable way that you can put Campasano on the field in a must win game when he is giving up two to four base runner advances per game on balls in the dirt, balls off his glove, balls that rattle in the middle of his glove and scored off to the on deck circle. He has completely regressed defensively to the point that I wouldn't trust him in any sense. I think Igashioka is clearly this team's won and I expect in the next three weeks for Elias Diaz to show that he is clearly this team's two and then I expect them to time share in the playoffs. - I don't disagree with Craig necessarily, although I think Mike Schilt probably values the relationships that Luis Campasano has built with a pitching staff that Elias Diaz doesn't have yet. So I don't expect him to go away completely, but I do think we're gonna see Diaz get some starts on days when Higgy's not behind the play. - No question. I mean, that's why you brought him in. Elite glove, elite ability to throw out base runners and run prevention in the playoffs. That's what you want. I mean, you got to have it. And yeah, it's a bummer about Campy, you know, and kind of what he's gone through and what he's overcome. It's tough to watch, you know, when the ball clanks off the mat, you know, and a guy advances. That guy didn't score when it happened later in the game, but you know, the block that he kind of missed early, that came back to bite you in. It just, it can't happen, man. It ain't show friends, you know, it's show business. And that's the tough part is these are human beings and it's really, really hard and the guys worked his ass off to get back, but he's had opportunities. It's not like he hasn't had opportunities. And, you know, I hope the best for him certainly. And is he like, like Chris said, does he have the ability to come off the bench and deliver a big hit? Absolutely. I'm still kind of a scary looking dude when he's up there with a bat in his hand. Still looks really hitarish to me. And so yeah, I think there's a spot for him, but I don't think it's starting behind the dish. - And you've seen Louise Camposano's kind of progression and they've always been so high on him. Is there any disappointment there, do you think? - Especially the front office. I don't know, disappointment. I am with you. I empathize with him. - Me too. - He has worked hard, he cares. He wants to do well for this team and there was a lot of expectation for him this year. It has got to be very difficult if you are looking at another catcher coming into your organization. I hope that they're because they are big on communication. I hope that they're talking to him. I hope that they are explaining. And I understand this is not you can't make hold hands. They're in a playoff push. They want to win games and whatever. However, you probably will need them all at some point. You really don't know exactly what you have with Elias Diaz. I agree, Mike Schultz is a fundamentally sound guy. He does not want to give up things like pass balls or not being able to throw a runner out or whatnot. I don't know. This is a hard one for me. - Luckily we have the one person in San Diego who has paid any attention to the Rockies ever. We're not sitting right next to me. What do the Padres have in a league of Diaz? Why did they let him go? - Well, what I understand honestly is because his defense is slipped. So I think he is an elite defender who's not an elite defender anymore. His bad is slipped considerably from last year. I felt the same thing though. When that ball clanged off Camp Usano's glove and then he got pinched for right after that. I felt like that was the message that this is the end. But I don't think it's the end. And I think Mike Schultz is smart enough to know that there's a little bit of a jewel there in Camp Usano that may still show up. There's four weeks left. I don't think he buries him for the rest of the season but I understand the thinking. So I think we'll see Elias Diaz a little bit. He'll make a few starts. But I'm not ready to give up on Camp Usano but it was tough to see last night. - The other player that I wanted to ask about is actually not even on the roster right now. But I wonder if he should be and will be in the postseason. And that is Sean Reynolds. Is there a spot Craig in the bullpen for Sean Reynolds? Given how deep it already is but you look at some of those metrics and what he has done since he came up and you wonder maybe he should be with this team. - Trying to count. - Yeah. - It would be for Peralta. - Yeah. - It might be after Peralta they could have him as a ninth reliever and not carry fast. - That's true. Okay, that's true. You could not carry Perez in the first round. And at that point I would be all for having Sean Reynolds as the ninth reliever. But you couldn't, I think you probably can't in the first year of a four year deal. - Can't get Peralta to eat it now. - That's how good the team is that he would be the ninth reliever Ben. - He is a scary pitcher. - Not bad. - He is a scam. - Like one of the gnarliest. - Not bad, menacing. - Yeah, one of the, like you put yourself at the plate and you're like, "Uh-uh, forget it, forget it." No chance. Like he is nasty, he's menacing. He is swinging missed stuff, which again, so massively important, the playoffs. He also has that look about him, that he's like, "I'm a psychopath and I will strike you out." Or, "I will scare the pants off of you." Like, "I love, love, Sean Reynolds." Had good feedback about him from Skip Schumacher who had him and said, "You guys absolutely love this guy." Once he can harness it a little bit, he's just done. - Every once in a while I just have, and I do this with Annie all the time. I just have to stop and point out that the first time this year, the Padres had an eighth inning. They picked Stephen Colick and the second time they pitched Johnny Brito. - Yeah, so like, how far we've come? - Remember that? - Where our second best reliever was Johnny Brito. - Johnny Brito. - To now he's like number 16 on the list. - Yeah, Johnny Brito was your high leverage, eighth inning guy early. You know, and again, we were on the air talking about, "Well, you gotta figure out what everybody's role is." And I asked Ruben Niebel of the same question. How do you know? He goes, "What did he tell me?" He's like, "It's about two months." And then you kind of know where guys slot in and kind of new early on. Johnny Brito is not gonna be your eighth inning guy for much longer. - I do think that this is where, though, what you were talking about with playoff experience will come, there will be discussions of like, what will a guy who has maybe never even pitched in a ton of intense situations? Like, there's gonna be those discussions. Who can we put out there? - Who's got the makeup? - I think that when you brought up, what they could do with the playoff rotation is fascinating because Martine Perez pitched in a world series last year. He actually has recent experience, yet the cold reality of baseball is, is that you don't need Martine Perez. You wouldn't be here without him right now. You may not even be in a playoff position at this point. You may have lost three or four more games without him. And you'd be fighting for a playoff spot. Yet when the season ends, it may be a handshake and go, "Thank you, Martine, but we really have no use for you in the playoffs." - It will be because you have Musgrove, Darvish, King, and Seas. And those are your four playoff starters, period, and a story unless someone gets hurt. Perez will be there in case someone gets hurt. And he'll be there in the dugout every day. And just like Matt Waldron, he's one of those guys that picked up the baton when it was needed at the right time and delivered exactly what this organization needed. - Yeah, not Waldron too. I mean, that doesn't seem to be an avenue to even get him back on the team, unless of course there are injuries. And even if there was an injury, you wonder whether a fourth, a bullpen day might be a stronger option in the playoffs than giving four innings or five innings to Perez or Waldron. - Of course it would be, right. - We could give all nine guys in the bullpen one inning. I think it would be a pretty happy one. - They want a playoff game against Mike Schilt doing that. - They sure did. Probably drove shilty crazy, man. - Craig Stanman was the starter. - Yeah, Craig Stanman, that's right. - All right, it's our 97 through the fan pot raise round table presented by round table pizza. It's pizza royalty, says so right behind me. Let's do our seventh inning stretch here. You saw last night, our friend Welsh Fryer, you probably have seen his story, he was in studio with us, had pretty good seats. They're right behind between the pot raise dug out in that first row. My question is, if assuming you don't have the owner's box seats right there, where's your favorite place to sit? To watch a Major League Baseball game as a fan. - I'll go. - Yeah. - I sat on the wall that one time against the Dodgers and Mookey Betz came up and robbed a home run right in front of me. Sitting on the wall out there was one of the coolest-- - Like in the Adirondack chairs out there. - Yes, in the Adirondack chairs. - Trey, right, like a shelf right in front of you. I was like, this is absolutely an elite way to watch a baseball game. It was incredible. I've sat in the home plate club, second to none. That's mostly for the snacks and stuff, but you can, it's also cool down there because you can hear the pitches, like you can hear it. It's bananas, so either one of those, you cannot lose. - Annie, where do you like to sit? - If you're not in the Gucci seats, I think that you are, like next to the dugout, I think is really cool. You can hear the conversations. You can kind of see what's going on inside the dugout, right? But I'm with you. I sat out of right field last year for a story, watching Tatisse and it was fun. It was a great crew out there and you get to see the game in a whole different way. It's entertaining. The Outfitters are entertaining. - Yeah, they are. - Yeah, you know when I was growing up, I was always in the outfield bleachers. - I was out there with you. - Yeah, I mean, that's where I was all the time and I loved it out there. My current seats are in the upper deck, but down with the perfect view of the third baseline. And just like in the press box, I always like having that one line where you've got fair and foul locked down. - Yeah, this one is mine. I've got it. - No, you see the spin. You're like, nope, that one's going foul. I know I can see it. So I'm happy with any of those. I'm fine with a lot of upper deck views, but I think personally in baseball, the closer, lower you get, usually it actually distorts. I think second deck is where you get the best perspective of whether a ball's going to go or not. - Toyota Terrace is pretty sick. - There's a reason why they charge so much for the Toyota Terrace. It's not just the waiter service. It's also a really great perspective. Just about that level, just either right behind home plate or just off home plate is a great place to watch. - Do you ever have your feet up on the dugout? - That's a good one. I've only done it once and I did it in Texas and my feet were up on the dugout. You got your beer up there. I mean, it's also really good. - I was at a concert at Petco Park Friday night. Journey, Journey concert. And one of the patrons put their beer on top of the dugout and the usher came rushing down to have them remove the beer from the top of the dugout. - What kind of world do we live in when you can't put your beer on the dugout at a journey and death leopard show? - Where do you want me to put my beer, pal? Thank you, Liz. How was that show, by the way? - Quite good. - My wife went and said she had a blast. - Quite good. They were all really excellent. Better than I thought all of them would be. I just wanna arrogantly answer your question 'cause I got to cover the Lakers for two years for the newspaper up in LA when they had magic and Kareem. And with that came the ability to sit on the floor every night. - Holy cow. - And I don't think, I don't think anything will ever beat that in my life. - Sure. - The first five games I covered, I forgot to write my story. I was just so enamored with watching these guys. - This was really cool. I had such a great time in the Lakers' plan here. - You had a table in front of you though. When I was growing up, my grandfather became a factor. - Yes, you were the best. - I was starting up. - Feet on the floor of the whole top of it. - It was incredible. - I guess my point here is if you ever wanna totally splurge and you want a front row ticket to a sporting event, make it an NBA game, you'll never forget that experience. And there's just, I don't know what to say. You're so close to them and they're so good. - I have a nostalgia growing up at Jack Murphy. We used to sit behind first base. It's just like three or four rows behind the dugout. I did love it there because you always get to see the action coming towards you, like on the ground balls on, how the third baseman, the shortstop are playing and then when the innings over, the team would all walk towards you in the dugout and you'd see them as they're coming in and it was a really fun way to watch baseball growing up. One of the things I absolutely loved. All right, let's move on to some bigger National League picture issues here in our last few minutes. Craig mentioned it earlier. There are a lot of, not just hot teams, red hot teams in the National League right now. So Craig, why don't you start us off here? How do you kinda see these last three plus weeks playing out in the wildcard and division races in the National League? As you said, someone's playing really well and as a good team is gonna get left out. I'm not gonna lie, Ben, I'm gonna look at it as an all-out sprint and I think the team that stumbles falls and it's gonna be that simple. I can't believe I'm saying this and I wanna harken back to some of those past shows where it was like, well, 81 wins and we might still make the playoffs. Oh my God, right? Big deal, you know, no problem. 90 wins might not make the playoffs in the National League this year. That sounds insane, but somebody's gotta start losing and the Diamondbacks are loaded for bear and honestly, the Mets, I've watched them a good deal. They're a red hot team, like they're a red hot team. The Braves, I don't know how, except that they've got great pitching and great pitching is also deadly in October. So it's wild that one of these teams will miss the playoffs and I don't believe the Cubs or the Cardinals or any other team has a ghost of a chance. I think these four teams are gonna be in an all-out sprint. If you remember the end of the gold medal 1500 meter race where four guys are just busting their ass, tired as can be, that's what it's gonna be. These four teams down the stretch. I will throw out the math for you. I did it in my head this morning on the drive-in. If the Padres go 500 from this point out there, 19 games above 500, so they have one game. Let's say they sweep the White Sox and go 500 the rest of the season. That would get them to 92 wins. Should be. I love that's enough. Should be. 500 right now, you're losing a lot of ground playing 500 baseball to every other team in the national league. 500 doesn't feel like it's gonna get it done. It's not gonna keep up with the Dodgers, but it's gonna get you in. I think the Mets are gonna fall by the wayside. I'm looking at their rotation. Tyler McGill last night, Jose Quintana still in that rotation. Kodai Singa's coming back. They're going with David Peterson who's pitching out of his mind. He's out of his mind. Out of his mind. Sean Manai has been out of way. Out of way, yeah. I think if any team is gonna hit a wall with three weeks to go to be the Mets, 'cause I think one of these teams is gonna fall by the wayside, as you said. So I do think the 92 that the Padres get will be enough. I'm really hoping it'll be enough so that we get the first round series here. 100%. Three games, I want it to be in San Diego. I want these fans to get to experience it. The format is a little weird to me. I understand because of the time crunched. I don't have time to travel. But for your team to make the playoffs and potentially not get a playoff game at home, it's frustrating to me. Based on what this fan base has seen all year, they deserve some postseason baseball here and I hope that, I hope the Padres are good enough to get at least the four spots. Well, the good news is it's in your hands, not in your hands, but in their hands and in your hands, Chris. So get to it. In your hands. But I deemed it so. Don't let us down, right? But like Ben said the other day, so far where you are right now, your score bar is watching, sure, but you're not going, oh God, please, Lou, like we have to have your help. We have a little room right now. Not a ton. Not a ton. But you handle business? You have no issues, none. Yeah, this whole time I've been thinking since they got on this great stretch out of the All-Star break, all these teams that it was going to, there was going to be some parody. There was going to be some like three games up, three games down, teams flopting over each other a lot. And I was wrong. So at this point, I don't know. I think you, if you're locked in a spot, in a playoff spot, which the Padres are, they're in a much better spot than anybody looking in. But at the same time, I just have a hard time knowing baseball is baseball, thinking it's just going to stay like this the rest of the way out. So I don't know. - I said Braves a couple of months ago when we did this. - Are you almost hit? You might still get ache. They might still be the one. Their pitching has continued to be good. If I'm the Braves though, I'm going like, "Hey, if we can just survive a little bit more albies, "we can get some of our injured guys back." I mean, and they could be very dangerous if they get to the postseason. - Well, yeah. I mean, they're one team. - No, I know. - They're one to know with Chris sale. I mean, you're pretty much one to know when you start a playoffs here. He's with the way that guy's pitch this year. - The one team no one has talked about on anywhere is the Brewers because we don't believe in the Brewers. - No, but you should. - But remember, they're locked into the playoffs. They're not going. They're going to be in. - Yeah. - And they've been playing terrific ball. - They lost their last two. I wanted to ask. - So did they? - Who do you think? - I didn't even notice that. - Actually, Cardinal's got him and had 12 innings, I think, but so they're now three back of the Dodgers. Phillies are half a game back of the Dodgers. How do you guys see the race for the two buys playing out also the rest of the year? - Who do you want to get the top spot after the Padres? Because remember, if you're in the four or five, there's no recede. So four or five winner plays the top seed. So do you want the Dodgers? You want the Phillies? - So pick your poison. I don't care who wins that. - I still would take the Brewers. If they could-- - Yes, if the Brewers could find a way in, that would be cool. I guess I'd rather play the Dodgers, man. We have a little bit of a history on our side there as opposed to history on the Phillies side if it goes the other way. So I'll root for the Dodgers. - Yeah, I mean, I'm really glad you brought up the potential of Milwaukee getting one of the top two seeds because I think it's the single most time to discuss thing in the National League in the second half is how well the Brewers are playing and how well Churio is doing as well. But I still believe that in the end LA will be the top seed, Philadelphia will be the second seed and the third seed will be Milwaukee. And I think that they will all win well over 95 games. - It's probably a conversation for later in the season but you also will have to start to think, as you said, you might want the Dodgers in the second round. That's the five game series in the Division Series or would you rather play the seven game series against the team that you're more confident against with more games, how that's going to play out because ultimately you want to go all the way, not just get to the NLCS, you want to win the NLCS and get to the World Series and win that too. - Well, that's right. And so this is the point where I say I think this team can beat any team in the bracket on the road and because of that, it doesn't matter as long as our team takes care of their P's and Q's, they can match up with anyone. - I mean, obviously I won't play off games here so bad but if the first round ended up somewhere else, that just means the opportunity for us to score first and to keep them from putting two on the board. You know, a big fan of first licks, big fan of a rise, Tatisse Profar or a rise, Tatisse Machado, whatever you want to do, big fan of that going against that gallon or anybody, you know, whoever. Who doesn't matter? Those guys with an opportunity to score in the first inning, forget it. - Yeah, as cliche as it sounds, I mean, I really believe like no one wants to face these Padres. No way that they're playing right now. They have so many ways to beat you and so many ways to hold you down. If they keep going at some rate of this, they're just a team that I don't think anyone's going to want to meet. - I mean, I could point out, Padres lost five of six to the Phillies and have won seven of 10 against the Dodgers. And I think won four of seven against the Brewers. - Means nothing less. - I don't know that those are the same teams at all. - No, it's just. - That they would be facing in awesome habits. - I'm going to lose to the Dodgers two years ago. - Correct, right, right. - Just wipe it out, man, when the clock turns to October. - There is a scary shoe is on the other foot aspect of facing the Dodgers. - Oh, yeah. - Oh, you owned us in the regular season, but we get to face you in a five game series. - Bring them on. - Good for us. - We don't want to have to face you, but we will do it in a shorter series. - You have to rather face the Dodgers. They're starting pitchings nowhere near you. - I'd rather get them in a seven game series because they don't have the depth of starting pitching. I mean, you kind of want to face the Dodgers in the seven game series. - Let's just get to the playoffs. - Settle down. - Yeah, we're going to settle down. - We're getting away. - We don't get to pick, so it doesn't matter. - Yeah, it doesn't matter. - I did say it's probably a discussion here. - We have two minutes left today. Who do I want to place in the World Series? - Why not? - Just go all the way. (laughing) - Give me the, give me the Royals. - No, the Royals, I can take the Royals in the World Series. - Lock a showdown. - Yeah, and Lugo, just dominate. - Fox executives jumping out window. (laughing) - Wait a minute, the long I-70 World Series. You have never, they will do everything in their power. - It doesn't make that not have the balls. - Fox executives are just like, well, it is an election year. I guess we'll get some at. - Oh my God. (laughing) - That would be tough. - I think the only thing worse might be Kansas City Milwaukee to totally regional lot. - Regional lot. - As well, it's a World Series that absolutely could happen this year. - Yes. - And then they're, of course, cheering. No doubt, 100% for Yankees Dodgers. - Oh, yes. - Or Dodgers Mets is like the secondary possibility to that. - We have one minute left. Do you want to ask us where the parade should be? - No. - Since we're going completely bonkers here. That's more of an October 17th round table question. Hopefully when we're still doing this. - If we're still doing the round table October 17th in the post year, we asked Adam today. So is there a post season round table? And he goes, well, as long as the post season is on, there's a round table. - So now we have probably a round table wrap up to the season. - That doesn't mean it's a group against the team. - So we all have to cheer for as many round table. We hope we still have eight or nine more. - Yeah, I think you more about the round table. - Round table, round table. - 100% - Yeah, November round table. - Let's go. - It's gracious. - I'll still be drunk at that one. Just so you know, at the November round table. - Just going to be carrying this right into spring training. All right, Padres Giants this weekend. Obviously six games that are going to be really critical, not for the Giants anymore, but for the Padres. I bet they'd love to be spoilers. Bob Melvins, that's the last thing that he's got. - That's cool. - And we'll have a lot to talk about those series when we come back next week. - Yeah, I agree with that. I don't know if they have the roster to be able to do it, but I think all these teams that are kind of out of it would like to go out with some wins in these spoilers. - I think the crazy thing is I was doing the math. Blake Snow is likely going to miss the Padres again, and maybe in both series. They will never face him. - This year, what a darn shame. - Five by me. - Miss Scooble in the Detroit series. - I was in the Pittsburgh series. - I was factoring it out. If we get to the division series against the Phillies, we'll miss both Wheeler and Nola. - We're going to miss it. - Who are you going to miss in the White Sox? - We're working out that way, so why not? - That's it for us, for Annie, for Woods, for Craig and Chris. I'm Ben Higgins. Thanks for joining us on the Roundtable Pizza, Roundtable. It's pizza royalty. - As a parent, you always want to set your child up for success. So when they're struggling in school, or they need help with homework, you try your best to step up. But sometimes you might not be equipped to answer. And it's better to leave that to the experts from Ixcel Learning. Ixcel Learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science and social studies. 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