Gwynn & Chris On Demand
Padres Roundtable 9/26 Padres-Dodgers + HSK return impending
[MUSIC PLAYING] 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. Where does the time go from the unknown of April to the uncertainties of May, the swoons of June, the fry of July, the August of charging into the playoffs. And now, September, here we are at the end of the regular season, our last regular season round table. Welcome in to our one hour commercial-free Padres Round Table presented by Round Table Pizza. We get a little bit of a different crew today with the Gwen and Chris show not represented. But we still have Annie Halbern at the end. Hi, Annie, we have Stephen Woods. Hello, Woodsy. Hello, Ben. Craig Elston in the middle. The fry of July is on the high spread of four hours of this every day. August of August, like, yeah. Magnapique of May. At the starting, I kind of had an idea of an idea. I liked it. I had a concept of a plan, of how I wanted it, and it just didn't really pay off. And making his round table debut, the rookie, get a producer, and imaging director Paul Reindel, Paulie. What did they con you into doing? I know. And she went at this round table today. You know, for five months now, I've heard Woodsy complaining every Thursday about having to do an extra hour with Ben Higgins. And now I-- Now you know what? Did they promise you free pizza today for special? What? Did they promise you free pizza today for kids? Oh, yeah. Yeah, all the pizza and wings and salads. Well, we have to figure out, at the end of the year, when we cut up the round table share, how much Paulie gets. Post-season share? Yeah, I mean, it's going to be tough. The post-season share, it's-- I mean, it's mostly going to be split between Ben and Woods and Annie and Elston. I think we've all been here for most of them, so-- Yeah, was there an elimination? Was the Gwynden Quichella eliminated? Yeah, was there some challenge over? It's gone. They have been eliminated. All right, let's start, just with some thoughts on the last two days in Los Angeles. The clinching, obviously, on Monday. And then the tough loss on Tuesday or Tuesday and then Wednesday. I can't even keep my days straight. Annie, obviously, the high of highs and a little bit of a disappointment last night. You just overall thoughts on the Padres Dodgers so far. I think it was great, obviously, to see them clench. And that relief for them, too, just kind of like we made it. We know we're in. No matter what, we're going to be in the post-season. They definitely earned it this year. And then last night, look, I think that they played a hard-fought game. I think they tried to win that one. It didn't happen. But the thing about them is even if they don't get the division, they're still going to fall to what looks to be a good wildcard spot and be in the wildcard and be in the post-season, so they're still going to get their chance. Craig, anything in particular that you saw the last couple of days added observations? Well, I really think this is a very constructive week for the Padres front office and coaching staff, because this is the playoff before the playoff. It's a playoff without death. And that's why I called it the fun playoff this week. And so you get to learn things. I think yesterday you learned what Dylan Sees would look like in a first playoff start of his career. And maybe now he gets that out of his way. And he gets to pitch that first playoff start like it's his second playoff start. I think you've also seen LA is a really good team that's improved from the last time that we saw them and facing them in the playoffs will be a tough task if it comes together. Woods, you kind of made the point that Dylan Sees seemed a little amped in that game yesterday. He's only, I believe, had one career playoff start and lost it, pitching to the white Sox. You don't get a ton of opportunities there. You know, Craig has a good point that that can maybe just a little chance to get rid of some of the jitters before it really truly becomes an elimination situation. Yeah, I mean, it's a cool opportunity that you get to go up against, because there's other teams that are in it right now that don't have anything really to play for. And you know, you wonder how it's going to affect them when the games get ratcheted up. And yeah, I think I like how you put it. But it wasn't fun. It hasn't been fun watching either of those games. I'll tell you that. And it's not really-- when the game starts, I'm good. It's the 14 hours of waiting for the game to start every day that's been killing me. And I've rearranged things and organized things, just trying to kill time. It's the extra half hour even. Yeah, it's the half hour. All right, come on, come on. When the sun goes down, you're like, OK, it's midnight. Can we start this game now? But man, Dylan Sees, you watch him throw and you're like, Lord, like the AB, when he got Otani, masterclass. And you know that that's in him. And you know his stuff is so nasty. And same with Michael King. Michael King, I think, probably battled more through his five innings, but had a better result. But like, he didn't have the best stuff last night. Dylan's stuff last night was nasty. He just couldn't really corral it. But it's been-- I mean, it's been cool. It's good practice. He steps right short of fun. Yeah, I stop short of fun. And Polly, I would say that if there's one thing last couple of days that we saw is that even in 2022, there was a thought that the Padres needed to slay the dragon, that the Dodgers were the dragon. I don't know that they're the dragon anymore. Now, I feel like it's two equally matched good teams going up against each other. You're not the big underdog against the Dodgers that you have been for the last decade. Now, they're still a really good team. It's cranking it out. Well, they're still a dragon in the sense of World Series favorites, billion dollar roster, MVP after MVP after MVP in their lineup. I mean, they are still a dragon, maybe not so much in the San Diego to LA, a way that it's been in the past for pretty much forever. Because you've clearly shown that you can beat these guys. Whether you want to say you're the better team head to head, you are. The San Diego Padres are the better team head to head this year. And I watched that game last night, and the game on Tuesday night, and I go, either one of those games was one pitch away from going the other direction. Coin flip game, that's an October type baseball atmosphere. Craig, I mean, financially, the gap has never been bigger after the moves of the last off season. But do you feel like the Padres talent-wise have actually closed the gap on the Dodgers this year? Yeah. I mean, there isn't a team in baseball that can close the gap on the top three guys in the lineup. That's one of the top threes in the history of the sport. So one thing I think we do in San Diego and it's natural because it's kind of a tribal thing is we downplay LA, and it's almost kind of a big brother, little brother like, no, you're not so tough. LA's lineup is better than it used to be. There's no question in my mind that Edmund Lucks and Rojas in the 789 from a pesky standpoint, that stands up to Croninworth Solano and the catcher. It might be a little bit better. It might be a little bit better. That bullpen is just one, you know, slider-slinging 99 mile an hour throwing guy after another. They brought up the kid from the minors. He throws 101. 104. Yeah, we only got the 101. Oh, Tony has to lead off. And how many times in two games already has he come up with a chance to do damage with runners on? It's 100%. The bottom of their lineup has been really set in the table for him. Now, the one differentiator is the rotation, because the Dodgers' great rotation is on the injured list. And the Padres' rotation is here. So I do think in a long series, that could be a playoff advantage between the two teams. Otherwise, I think they're both very good teams. You do get the sense in a long playoff series that it's a seven-gamer. I mean, you really get the sense when you watch those two teams play each other. Yeah, this is going seven, you know, in a true war of attrition between these two teams. And, you know, we have a little bit of an advantage there based on the fact that we have for even five healthy starters, if need be. Annie, do you feel like the Padres have closed the gap? Or is this a function of, hey, the Padres are having a magical season. Dodgers have been riddled by pitching injuries. And they're still perhaps, you know, a ways to go between the two teams. I don't know about a ways. I mean, I think they're getting closer. Like, the head-to-head series, obviously, that makes a difference. But I agree in the sense that, remember when the Giants took the division from the Dodgers, but then that was one year, right? And the Dodgers came right back and did it again, and again, and again. And if the Padres don't take the division this year, like, factually, you're just going to look at a piece of paper and say, look, the Dodgers took the division again, right? So they still remain, I think, the team that you have to go through, the team that you have to beat, I don't see them because they had a rough season this year being like, we're just going to fall apart next year. You know, they're not that kind of organization, right? So I think that you're closing the gap. You're definitely establishing yourself as a presence. But until you do it, and they did it in 2022, until you kind of do it consistently or win the division, it's still going to be, I think, theirs to have. Yeah, their rough season is 96 wins or whatever. It literally leads the major leagues in win percentage. They have the best win percentage. Rough season. That's their rough year. All right, it's our-- The Padres are doing a great job, I'm going to get out about it. No question. It's our '97 through the Padres round table. The fan, Padres round table, presented by round table pizza. We are 158 games in. Collectively, this group has probably missed what, a handful of those games. So we're-- can put the best educated guesses just about anyone on these last four. How they're going to play out, Paulie. The Padres could still win the division, going to need some help from the Colorado Rockies to do so. Absolutely, we'll have to win the game tonight. Obviously, the wild card is looking-- is good for home field advantage. How do you see the last four playing out here? Thinking about that, I'm looking at the next four games. And in my head, I've got three and one for the Padres. I think they win tonight, and I think you absolutely can take two out of three over the weekend. Now, it just comes down to what else happens around baseball and how many of these games over the weekend matter. Is it going to be an opportunity to bench some guys? That obviously could come into play. And maybe you go two and two instead of three and one. But absolutely, two of three from the Diamondbacks is more-- that should be expected for this Padres team. And I think they win tonight with Musgrave going up against Bueller. Annie, I think the math obviously works heavily against the Padres at this point. Yet, some part of me that says, "Coursfield" is always-- just would be the funniest thing ever for the Dodgers to go into "Coursfield." And all of a sudden, can't win a game when they go up against those Rockies and Charlie Blackman's retirement. And I'm not giving up 100% hope here that the Padres could still win. Would you not be a wreck right now if the Padres had to go to-- Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 100%. Baseball is weird things, strange things happen all the time. I think it's asking a lot, but is it impossible? No. And until they're mathematically eliminated, we've seen all kinds of things happen this year that they haven't done since 2010 or since 2001 or whatnot. So who's to say that things don't fall their way again in this situation? But certainly, too, because my understanding right is that if they win two of the next four, they lock the top wild card spot as well, right? No matter what, no matter what. Exactly. So you kind of have that as your, I think, measuring stick you've got to get there no matter what. And then maybe it'll help your way and continue to win. And maybe you get the division now. Or you even win one of four and the Mets lose one of five. And you still wrap up "Home Field Advantage." Potters are in really good shape for that now. Tonight, of course, again, must win if you want to stay alive in the division. The Dodgers clench, if you don't, in Woods, we've talked about it in our show. Paulie brought up the stat. Joe Musgrove has never beaten the Dodgers. I was not aware of that. That surprised me. I mean, do you feel like that's a concern going into this game? No, I'm not concerned about it. It just means he's due. Just like Mookie Betz is probably due. And just like Luis Horizon's probably due, these are really good baseball players that have made a lot of money in their careers by not letting things like that matter or weigh them down and force them out of the game. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. There's no time like the present. Not how you start, how you finish. All of those things, all of those sports media cliches. Yeah, man, Joe's got the best stuff that he's had in a long time. I mean, he looks as locked in as he's ever been. And as far as them going to Colorado, they've used Knack. They use Flaherty. They'll use Bueller tonight. They're going to go Yamamoto. And then what? You know, TBD, Yamamoto, and then TBD again. Those guys need to figure out a way to show how Tony could hit a 600 foot home run in Coorsfield. Will, will hit a 600 foot home run in Coorsfield. But that place sucks. We all know it's suck. It's the worst to play in. I would not want to be in their shoes right now. I really wouldn't. And especially if they lose tonight, I would really not want to be in their shoes. Craig, you'll take the emotion out of it. I mean, what do you see for these last four? Well, you know, I don't believe the Padres should exit playoff mode, which is what I thought they entered on Tuesday, trying to win every single game. Tonight, the goal should be very simple. Don't let them clench in front of your face. Correct. And if you can push it to Friday, then the goal should be to force the Dodgers to win their series in Colorado. And if they win their series, they win the division. And so be it, they've earned it. But I just don't want to see the club kind of side saddle in. Two and two is the bare minimum that I'm looking for out of this four-game set. We talked about it a little bit last week. And the Red Hot Mets, you might want to try to dodge them. Chris Sale, you don't really want to face him in a short series. And we all kind of thought, if you have to play someone, maybe it's the Arizona Diamondbacks. This ongoing drama with the Mets, Braves, rainouts, and double-header possibility on Monday, changes things quite a bit in my mind. If you haven't seen the story, postponements in the last two games and major league baseball preparing to play a double-header on Monday, and then likely sending one or both teams onto a wild card game the next day on Tuesday in another part of the country. So Annie, does this change anything about who the Padres would want to face? Would you rather face a Mets team coming off a double-header on a Monday having used all their pitching, although they've been really hot? Or are you still like, "Eh, just give us the Diamondbacks, even though they may be rested and ready to go by Tuesday?" No, if you're the Padres, you want whatever team is playing that double-header and getting the playoffs and having to fly that night probably across the country and play an early playoff game what's likely going to be an earlier playoff game the next day and have a completely blown-out pitching staff. This is good for the Padres. I personally don't think the Padres need it. I think that they can take on a team that has a day off before. And I don't think it's good for baseball. I think it's a bad look for baseball. But if you're the Padres, are you going to take it? Sure, it can't hurt, right? Craig, you're kind of nodding. I mean, it's a no-win situation for baseball. You've got to keep the safety of people in the Atlanta area in mind. You've got to keep the sanctity of home-field advantage and competitiveness for the Braves and having the opportunity to play those important games in their home stadium. Major League Baseball's biggest error was letting the teams figure this out. They should have just stepped in and said, "This is what's happened." That is it. Deal with it. That is it. Best interests of baseball clause. That's why you have a commissioner. But the Major League Baseball stopped having a commissioner decades ago when Bud Sielek became the commissioner and the role turned from commissioner to lackey. Baby sitter. 100%. And the lackey of Rob Manfred just let the Atlanta gatekeepers and bean counters take control of this. It's ridiculous. This series should be being played right now, whether it's at Lone Depot Park in Miami, whether it's in St. Petersburg. And of course, that's an area where they could have gone west. They could have gone somewhere, all right? There's a place that they could have gone to play. They could have gone to a globe-life field where they played the whole postseason in 2020. The Rangers were on the road. That's it. That's the call. The Rangers are in Oakland. They could have gone to Texas and played and had no problem. It's a complete and utter disaster. And-- Could have come to Pekko Park. Yeah, they probably aren't here. And one of them probably has to end up here anyway. Yeah, fair enough, man. That's a good idea. I mean-- You just stay, yeah. That's a good idea. Now, cynically, the Padres play a huge role in this. If they really want to-- if they really wanted to have the Mets or the Braves come to town, then they have an opportunity to do that by just pushing the Diamondbacks down, by beating them. Also, they could lose to the Diamondbacks. But you also-- OK, so this is really next level. But you need to keep the Diamondbacks in it long enough to force that double-header to have to be played. Because the commissioner's office has said, if both teams have already clinched, if the Padres like win out and the Diamondbacks are eliminated, they don't even need to play that. And then now you've set yourself up against having to face either the Mets or the Braves without having to play that double-header, maybe having to face sale, you know, probably having to face Nola and Wheeler in the first two games. You almost definitely have to keep the Diamondbacks in it to force that game between the games between the Mets and the Braves on Monday. I mean, it's like we're like a tanking situation this week. No, the baseball gods are listening to you loud and clear. You don't have to fake. They just tuned in and they were like, you had my attention, now you have my curiosity. That's what they are saying to you right now. No, in fact, the royals could make a whole decision of this by beating the Braves this weekend. The Brewers could take the Mets out of this by sweeping them this weekend. There's plenty of variables and the Padres just need to win their ballgames to stay sharp. And what's ultimately for the Padres, it feels like a day-to-day situation. You can only see what your situation is after every single day and then you make your lineup decisions and your pitching decisions accordingly based on the next day and where you are and what's still available to you. Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much a whole, that's how baseball season works, even though we live and die with each pitch. But I think you do have to be smart. I would like to see some guys maybe get a rest, get a reset, some guys that are scuffling a little bit. The Louisa rise of the world, the Donovan Solano's a little bit. Get a little breather. Not tonight, tonight I want to see our very best what we've got. But it rarely works out the way you think it's going to. Like, oh man, if we could just blow this guy out, then we can use Alec Jacob for four innings and we don't have to use our high leverage guys. And it never works that way. You know, it never does. The games it's supposed to, the games gets the white socks where we're like, just put up 12 runs and get crony in there, get him some innings. And no, man, those games are three hard fought games. Those guys played their asses off and took you to the wire, you know, in a couple of them. So it just, it never works out the way we think it's going to. So they've been really good at about preparation being ready, having guys ready, giving guys breathers when they need it. Nothing changes, we've talked to Shilty enough to know. He's preparing. He prepares every game the exact same way. So I'm excited, man. Four games left to see what actually shakes out, not just for us, but the entirety of these teams. It's going to be really fun. And it's so unlikely. It's like so unlikely based on everything we've seen from this pottery's team. But there is this tiny, tiny scenario that if things don't go well for the pottery's these next four days, they have to wait on Monday to find out who they're flying to, to play. So I mean, none of us in this room expect that to happen. And I probably know in listening. But you see how it does have like this ripple effect. Well, if we learn anything from this series, you know, Joe Davis, Joe Davis, be our teacher. It's not a matter of if Shohei's going to come to the plate. It's a matter of what's going to be on the plate when he gets there. Well, there was a 1% chance that they hit into a triple triple play and lo and behold, look what happened. Let Joe Davis be your teacher, OK? And never assume anything about this game, or the outcomes, or what you think may happen. It was a great lesson. I think 1% might be absurdly high. It might be absurdly high. Well, this can really simply to baseball is stupid. And I think just boils it down pretty follow that. It does, yeah, pretty well, actually. But also, like, I promise you this, he will never make that. He will never make that comment again on the airwaves. Never. Because that was a possibility. He didn't even think about it being a possibility. Lo and behold, baseball comes down and pops you on. Yeah, humbles you every time. It's our 97-3, the fan Padres round table. Presented commercial free by a round table pizza. It is pizza royalty. And I know we've already on this round table a couple of times discussed a possible Padres playoff rotation. But as we get a little bit closer and the specifics start to gel a little bit, I wanted to throw out a very likely scenario. If the Padres have already clinched home-field advantage by Sunday, which would be Michael King's next turn in the rotation, fully expect they're going to skip him and not use him for a meaningless game on Sunday, which would have him very rested and ready to go if you wanted to use him on Tuesday in the opener. How much consideration do the Padres give to starting Michael King instead of Dylan Cease in Game 1? And, and Polly, why don't we start with you? How do you consider using Michael King? Is it a piggyback situation with, like, a U-Darvish? One of the other pitchers, who is not going to be in that starting rotation? Or you just go immediately to high leverage relievers after Michael King is usually more of a 5-6 inning guy? Yeah, it's interesting. I'm thinking about what Enos Sarris told us this morning. He said Dylan Cease is like you could not convince him. Otherwise, that is his Game 1 starter. And it's hard to argue with that. I kind of like Joe Musgrove may be getting Game 1 if everything worked out that way. Look, it comes down to who are you playing, the matchups, and all that, I just don't know how you could go. You know, we talk about it all the time for, like, a manager, for Mike Schilt. You have to make the moves, make the decisions that you can best explain and cover your own butt with. And I think that if you were to leave out Cease, Musgrove, or Darvish, and things don't go well for you in that three-game series-- Tough one to answer. We're going, what are you doing? Yeah. What are we doing here? I think Michael King has relief experience, and he's probably the best suited to come out of the bullpen, whether it's Game 2. If you drop Game 1 and Cease, or whoever is starting Game 2, if they don't have it right away, go to King then. If it comes down to Game 3, it's all hands-on deck. King will come out of the bullpen at that point. But I just don't know how you leave Darvish, Cease, or Musgrove out of a start in this game series. I kind of thought that that was the case as well, that King made the most sense as a bullpen guy. But if they do need Darvish here on Friday or Saturday, when it was next scheduled as Saturday, I think, they needed him on Saturday. That could make the decision pretty easy in that you just got King Musgrove, Cease, King, and Musgrove, healthy and ready to go for the series. And those are your starters. I mean, how do you see-- And then Darvish is your game 1 division series starter. I think Darvish would be so nasty out of the bullpen, though, in a game 3, if you needed him. I mean, I think this is a very, very difficult situation because it's on the margin. There's an argument to be made on both sides. And for the Padres, they have to figure out, on the margin, what's better for them? And I think the margin is, how much do they think you, Darvish, could contribute in a bullpen situation versus how much they think Michael King could contribute in a bullpen situation versus our overall rankings from the beginning of who we think are our best three starters? Because I tell you what, before Tuesday, I think I was right there in lockstep with Paulie saying, we're going to go see game 1, Musgrove and Darvish as their rotation turn comes up. It would have been Darvish for game 3 on four days rest. And King goes to the bullpen. And then I saw King throw, saying he doesn't have his good stuff. A full count, one of the dirtiest pitches I've ever seen to strike out Shouyeotani. Now, the umpire called it a ball. But that was one of the dirtiest pitches I've ever seen. Situationally, execution-wise, King can handle the ball in a playoff situation. And he's got the second best stuff on the team. So him starting is great for this team. And I don't think-- Honestly, Paulie, and I thought about what you said. And I kind of agreed with you before we talked about it in here. That's the way it's always been. I'm going to go. I'm going to go Darvish sees Musgrove or some iteration of. Because, well, that's the way we've always done it in baseball. But I think Michael King, as valuable as he can be out of the pen, we talked to him. He really wants a playoff start. Seems to be ready for the occasion. Time's out pretty well for him to start a game one. And I can't see anyone in the media or anywhere going. How could you possibly go with Michael King there? How could you possibly do that? It's pretty easy to justify if you're Mike Schilt and AJ Preller and the holistic creators of the rotation. Yeah, why wouldn't we? He's been fantastic for us. And his stuff is nasty. And he match-ups against whoever it may be. I think he covered your ass pretty easily there. This conversation has kind of turned into how do we get Michael King into a game. I think the better framing is, who gives you the best possible chance to win game one? Because then, if you do win game one, you open up a lot more possibilities. Then it's a pretty easy goal. See you Sam King in game one. Yeah, your dream, obviously, is just play two games, right? You need two starters, right? That's the dream. And two days off. And do we have the team and the horses and the bullets to do it? Yeah, we do. We absolutely do. And so that is obviously the dream scenario, which doesn't really feel like a dream. It feels like it could be a possibility, no matter who we play. But they got to hit too. They got to hit. It's not just about the pitching in October. And they got to play defense, which they don't do for Michael King for whatever reason. But he always finds a way to kind of wriggle out of it, minimize the damage, and minimization in the playoffs. I mean, they've done a pretty good job at minimizing this series so far. And that's a playoff team they're facing. So they continue to do that. They're going to win. And Annie, I kind of agree with Woods in that. There are no wrong decisions here. You can't go with anyone and really open yourself up to criticism, because there's a great argument for all of those guys to get postseason starts and innings. And I mean, there's other teams, right? The Dodgers probably have been Diamondbacks that would love to have this kind of problem right now that the Padres are having. And I see it both ways for sure. I think that you do go with Sees. And hopefully, he did get some of those kind of whatever wobbles that he had yesterday out of the way, right? And I do think you go with Joe Musgrove. For me, I also say Darvish. But you could go either way. I mean, Michael King's earned it. I do think playoff experience is valuable that if you've already had the playoff experience. But also, you got to get it at some point, no matter what. Maybe you do throw King out there. And then that way, you know, for the division series or a supposing you get there, you can depend on him. To win a World Series, you're going to need all four of those guys to pitch really well at some point. So I'm going to get him the experience. And I don't know how much you can manage looking ahead. Following-- well, what are the Brewers doing against the Phillies? And it looks like we're going to match up with them. And this is a better match up for us. You really have to-- it's live and die each day. What do I got to do to win today's ball game? We'll figure the rest out tomorrow. But with four really quality starters, you are afforded a little bit more of a luxury if you're the San Diego wide. And for that wild card game, I think that they could very well piggyback guys. Absolutely. Yeah. Get that first one. If someone's not doing well, just OK, we got someone else ready to go. That least gets real, real tight, and it gets real, real short. Come next Tuesday. And what makes it so tough for us is because it's not just a seniority thing. Oh, well, you have to start darvish, right? Moss groves from San Diego. So obviously, he has to get to start. They're all pitching really well. Like darvish, for as much time as he missed, has looked really good in September. And he's gotten better and better with each start. So you're not just giving it to him because he's the veteran, future Hall of Fame, you darvish. It's-- no, he's earned it. He's earned it as well. He's pitching really well. Certainly better than, I don't know, the last couple of times out where you were throwing a lot of pitchers in the playoffs because you had no other alternative, whether it's my clevenger or-- The Fore on the leaves. The Fore on the leaves. The Clav blue. There's four runs in the first, and you just-- Four runs, you're like, bro, just literally. Give up a run here, though. Let's get to the bullpen. No, I mean, it was 4-4. When the game put Nia, the lead, and then he tanked it too. It's our 97-3, the fan Padres Round Table, presented commercial free by Round Table Pizza. And his pizza royalty. One of my favorite moments of the champagne-soaked celebration on Tuesday night was when Manny Machado grabbed a phone and had Hosun Kim on FaceTime in Arizona, where he's continuing his work rehabbing. And celebrated, we love you, said it in Korean, repeated it. I was very excited to see him. Now, reading between the lines a little bit, if they really thought that Hosun Kim probably wasn't going to come back, he would have been with the team celebrating. That tells me that Hosun Kim is getting really close, and they want to maximize his chance of returning and being able to contribute for the Padres in the playoffs. That's just my kind of my logical leap on this one. So if Hosun, turn, Paul, how do you work him back onto the team? Is he the starting shortstop? Is he the starting second baseman, leaving Xander Bogart's at short and moving Jake Cronoworth, likely to first base? Or is he a platoon second baseman with Jake Cronoworth, with lefties and righties, and letting matchups dictate your postseason decisions? So I think defensively, it's not a hot take here, that Hosun Kim is the better shortstop defensively. But I really fall into the camp of, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And the team has played really well over the last six weeks. I think without him getting really any game time, I mean, he's going to get some complex games or whatever, low-level games going, I'm sure. But without getting acclimated to the Major League speed again, I think you have to ease him in. And if that's a platoon situation, you play the matchups, I wouldn't tinker a ton with what they've been running out there. Or Annie, I will add even a bench piece is a possibility if he is brought back to the roster. Yeah, because there's things that we don't know, right? Will he be 100%? Will he-- how will he feel? How will he be able to use just like health-wise? I think you keep Xander where he is. Look, he hasn't been getting reps at second base since he's moved over to shortstop. He is the only player-- you know, when we're out there watching the pregame drills, the only like main superstar starter that's out there doing drills every single day to get work at shortstop while everyone else is resting their legs because it's September. And you're not doing that kind of thing this time of the year. But he's had to do it to try to get himself better at shortstop, to be able to make this move for the Padres, and be the team guy. They had a move in spring training, had a move now. In my opinion, you don't have a move again. You leave them there and let that work. You ride or die with it, in my opinion. Even though-- and yeah, I think I tend to agree. I mean, I was at Oracle a couple weeks ago and was pretty surprised watching batting practice, watching the violent, violent hacks of Hassan Kim and the batting cage at Oracle. And I was like, ah, that's Kimmy. And he is taking absolutely violent hacks in this batting cage. For him, I think it's an issue of can he throw the ball across the diamond? Are you guys nervous when they hit the ball to shortstop? I am. I am nervous right now, you know? And some brilliant plays, notwithstanding. Made a brilliant play last night, really, really tough play. But those routine, you give up a run here, you give up a run there, is brutal. And you cannot have it in the postseason. So your defense is already suffering with crony at second because he's not at first, right? And I think crony's made some good plays. crony's better defensively at first than he is at second. I think Hassan Kim at second makes a little bit of sense to me. I don't know. I don't know what they do. And it's all dependent on health. And a bench piece, fine. Is he a defensive replacement late in the game? I don't know. I don't know what he's going to do. What does he bring with the bat? Not as much as Donovan Solano has the capability of bringing. I know he's on a little bit of a cold snap right now, but I tend to just kind of leave it as it is right now. Unless he's like, I'm 100%, I'm ready to go. You know, I just don't know. I don't know that you put him back it short immediately. Hold that because I got some thoughts on that. I don't want to Craig to give his thoughts on what he'd do with Hassan Kim if he comes back here. I just don't know that they're going to bring him back. I think it's a real complicator to this team, to the lineup dynamic, and to the defensive dynamic as well. You guys were chatting about this a little bit as I was driving into work. Like I was trying to piece it out because right now they got a 28 man roster. Yeah. When you cut it down and you count all the guys and you're like, of course, we're going to keep Peralta. If you're going to, Peralta Wade Lockridge would be the bench. You have to cut one of those guys to put Kim on the team. So are you going to cut Peralta for Kim? No. Are you going to cut Tyler Wade who's been there since day one? Yes. For Kim, I guess. Probably. Now. Probably. Now, do you feel brutal? Sorry, pal. Do you feel more or less comfortable in a playoff at bat or a playoff pinch running situation with Kim out there versus Wade? Maybe Kim better with Kim? I mean, maybe it's like. Maybe it's like, base running Wade slightly, but not big enough. Not big enough to make me see to overcome the difference in the potential. And this is the point that I was, because we've been talking mostly like defense and keeping Xander comfortable and where Kim could be most valuable. Padres have quietly, half of their team has started struggling offensively, including Donovan Solano. Yes. Jake, looking a little bit better, but that really ragged, you know, last couple of years. Terrible September. Even Manny's cooled off a little bit. Arise is cooled off. Hassan Kim, while he's been dealing with the shoulders, what's said? He's been swinging, and Danny, while he has not had a great offensive season, you don't have to have a good offensive season to have a good offensive playoffs. And we've seen a Hassan Kim, a version of him that is a top 10 MVP vote-getting player. You know, Tyler Wade is not going to happen. You know, he is not hot, but Hassan Kim could get hot enough where he actually is a difference maker offensively for you in the postseason. Is it likely, probably not, would you like to have that opportunity, though, of, you know, Grisham got hot. Hassan Kim could easily get hot and be someone that helps you win a World Series, even with his bat. And I think Solano's got a much better chance of giving up. Probably, probably, probably. Who can't handle what he said. Me and Hassan Kim to get in by the Arizona Series, then, for that to have it. It would be helpful. Yeah, that would be helpful. Yeah, I need to see something. That's fair. Just not coming in cold from the complex, running out. I need to go down, mid-August? Early on? It was August 25th. August 25th, OK. So I mean, that's a whole month plus of being cold. That's certainly a wrinkle. There's also the-- and I don't totally understand it, but there is the Hassan Kim vibes of the energy and the love that he brings to that team, that you kind of inject that at time. When I know the playoffs, everyone's got high vibes, but come on. Overcharge them. Bring back that love. Tyler Wade brings that, too, though, and he's beloved. He's the guy in the clubhouse that speaks. He is a speaker in the San Diego Padres club. It may be Lockridge. I know everyone says, no, he's got it locked up because he stole two bases, and he's a good defender. Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. But maybe you keep Tyler Wade for that instead of-- Lockridge is certainly the easiest one. Like, that's the easiest one to say. OK, but if there's one player in the outfield that you might be a little worried about in the ninth inning of a clinching playoff game, it's the guy who just made two incredible diving catches on Tuesday night. And Brandon Lockridge is indisputably a better option than Wade going into the outfield in that situation. So I do see the value of keeping Lockridge. That's why I kind of keep falling on the well. If he's out, they can just keep saying he's still hurt. And then they do-- How about this? Expanded playoff rosters for everybody. Ferrisment of riches. An embarrassment of riches. 30 guys. I believe you still need 13 pitchers and 13 position players. Do you have to whack it up like that? I don't feel like the Padres need 13 pitchers. But let's talk about the pitchers while we're on this because they're going to have to make a decision as well. I mean, you don't necessarily need Alec Jacob. Wadi Peralta got big, big outs. You know, at the end of the game in a one-run game yesterday, he has playoff experience. Sean Reynolds, if he's healthy, has an electric arm. Of course. What do you do, Annie, with the back of the Padres bullpen in your roster decision for the postseason? They get to reset it before every-- Yes, right. So I think that that's how you play it, right? I think that you look at who you're facing, who's the opponent. The three-game series is going to be a lot different to me than the five-game series. It's going to be a lot different if they make it to a seven-game series, right? So I think Sean Reynolds is more dominant, has more of a presence on the mound. Maybe, obviously, has a heat. But yeah, you know, Alec Jacob has done well for them. Craig, can we kind of agree? We'll see Yuki Matsui next season. We're hopefully a little more acclimated. Yeah. Could be an important part of the bullpen in 2025, but we may not see him again in 2020. No, simplest move that you make is you leave Yuki off the postseason roster, and you put Martin Perez in that bullpen spot where he can be an extra innings weapon for you. That was a huge point. A.J. Castville made it that I haven't even thought of, with no extra runner, manford runner, you need someone who can eat four innings for a third. Oh, yeah, they can keep Martin Perez in the postseason. In case you got one of those games that can throw up some zeros and extra innings in the-- Oh, yeah. --but you don't need in the regular season. But Martin Perez would be the perfect guy for extra innings. Wonderful series last year, you've come out of bullpen before, left hand to pitcher. Quality innings, yeah. To the second one, I'd love to see Sean Reynolds activated this weekend and to pitch in Arizona because I need to see it. Again, he's a converted infielder who's never even touched the playoffs. If he comes walking out of the playoff bullpen, I'm going to be scared you know what, Liz. And honestly, I will be the same with Jacob because he's got lesser stuff. So I need to see it from Reynolds. Otherwise, honestly, in the first round, I would be fine with carrying neither of those guys and adding Kim Wade and Locke. If you end up facing the Dodgers, you try to get Tom Cosgrove back just for show-hay-o-ton. No. OK, no. Paul, any thoughts on the bullpen? I agree with everything I was just said. Perfect. Yuki. He's not the best round table to replace for nothing. Paul. Agree? All right. Paul, you too, as well. Time for your very first seventh inning stretch of our round table. I think this is a good question for Paul, especially, but all of us, really. I want to thank, again, round table for being the sponsor. All season long. Round table was the place I went to as a kid for pizza and to play arcade console games, to put the quarter in game. So the question for the seventh inning straight, what was your favorite like, have to put the quarter in game that you played growing up at the arcade? Well, go ahead, Paul. We had Godfather's Pizza in Burian Wash's round table pizza. And at the redacted pizza place, they had a Simpsons game that was really fun, but I think my all-time favorite arcade game was Area 51. We had the plastic guns and the aliens or whatever. You're going through it. You could play with a partner or the friend, it was so much fun. I am of the age that arcade games were our video games. Didn't matter until I was in fifth, fourth, or fifth grade, went home consoles, first came to be. So this is near and dear to my heart. We had a pizza place, a local pizza place that was a short bike ride away from my house. And tell you what, RBI baseball was my favorite. Playing the old-- they'd have all these old timers. I think it was Rubois Dell on the giant side. I'd pick him because he had this crazy screwball that could always strike out my buddies with that pitch. Woods? I remember when Top Gun came out. I don't know if they called it Top Gun, but were you just going to the arcade to meet girls or-- Well, I did. I mean, there was at the mall. And there were a lot of girls there. But we loved video games. You get a trough of quarters, and your pockets are so full. And there was a game. And you actually got in, and it had the joystick. And it would turn. And you could do the barrel roll. And I can't remember for the life. I want to say it was like a rip off of Top Gun or something. But you're in the F-14, flying it. That was-- Top flight. Yeah, something like that. It was great. And then Silent Scope. Was it-- remember Silent Scope? I do remember that. It was incredible. You were a sniper. And then you were just like, you had the scope? And there was a brilliant, brilliant game. But the old school games-- I mean, obviously like Donkey Kong. Pac-Man-- I always hated it. It was always too stressful for me. It was too anxiety-ridden. This ghost chasing, trying to get the strawberry. No thanks. Annie, were you a video game player? Are you a game player? Mine is a video game. But when I was a kid, we went through many pockets of being poor in our household. And when we moved into a rental, we didn't have any couches or any furniture. But my dad did some work at Chuck E. Cheese. And when they closed, they sent him home. They let him take two ski ball machines. And some picnic tables. So we had no couches, no furniture, no dining table, or anything. But we had the ski ball machines and the picnic tables. And we were kids. And me and my sister, so I got really good at ski ball during that time. And then we would go play in high school and stuff. And just hustle people and just hustle people. Yeah, yeah. So it was a good time. So we get it in the one, the top left. Stop there. You mentioned my choice was I was going to pick Donkey Kong. Because I like games where you could get past a level. And then it would up the difficulty. And you're trying to keep that quarter alive as long as possible without dying out. Because you want to save as much money as possible. But Pac-Man is an interesting choice. Not the one where you stood up. But remember when they had the one that was the flat? And he gets a table to have the table. Your pizza was over here. Yeah, and you had your pizza on the flat. It was great. Pac-Man was always a lot of fun to get to sit in one of those games. All right, we're bringing back the round table draft today as well here in our final regular season round table. Remember the rules? You cannot pick something that has already been chosen, just like a regular draft. The order this week is reverse alphabetical order by last name. So Woods, you have the first selection in today's round table draft. And of course, it is focused on the post season. Padres have played themselves over the last big day. The Padres have played themselves into being, I think everyone would agree, legitimate World Series contenders. So the question on the draft is which team presents the biggest obstacle to the Padres winning the World Series now in 2024? Could be national, could be American League, which team in your mind might be the worst match up, the one you don't want to face, the biggest obstacle to the Padres winning the whole thing, the World Series? The Padres. Ooh. Oh, you see. Really? Yeah. They play their game. That's a bit of an arrogant answer. It is, well, it is. They play their game. They can beat any of those teams. If they can, they have, they will. They're the-- I mean, listen, you've got a lineup that's as deep as it's ever been. It's as deep as anybody else's. If they play clean baseball and their bullpen does, what they're capable of doing, and their starters give them five, they're their own worst enemy right now, honestly. All right, Reindel, you are next up in reverse alphabetical order. Thank you for leaving the field for me. I'm going to go with a nationally team because, honestly-- I mean, everybody's going to be a good team in the playoffs, but the American League does not scare me as much as maybe it should. I don't know. I'm going to go with the Philadelphia Phillies. That's the team that knocked you out in 22. That's the team that has major star power. Home run threats up and down the lineup. Great pitching, but it's personal. That's the team, not the Dodgers. That's the team that you need to beat. And I don't know how the playoffs are going to shake out if they would see them in the DS or the NLCS. But I think, right now, my bar has got to win a pen. Get to the World Series. After that, we'll see what happens. But I do think that the Phillies are probably the team that you have some history with. They play everybody tough. That's the team that I want to see them take the next level and get past. It does mean you're a next level team. If you beat a team like the Phillies, you're next level, like you absolutely. In a series? Yeah, yeah. Higgins sneaks just in front of Hyalbron for the next pick. I thought the Phillies was a good selection. It was probably reverse alphabetical order. I was probably going to take the Phillies with Nola and Wheeler both being pitchers that give the Padres in particular a lot of trouble. So I think that's a really good answer. And I kind of agreed with you on the American League. However, if we're really talking about winning the World Series and it comes down to it, maybe they won't ever have to face them. But having to go up against Judge and Soto in a potential World Series and having to go back to Yankee Stadium just like in 1998, where-- yeah, the world's probably going to be against you for the most part in a series like that. Different Yankee Stadium, though, all together. Yeah, but that might to me be the biggest obstacle, the final boss, just like in an arcade video game, that you've got to get past and having to face the guy you traded away. What unbelievable storylines that would be. Soto-- I just don't think they make it. That's the thing. I don't know that they do either. But if they are there, they would be a pretty big obstacle to stand in the way of the Padres finally-- Whoever's there is going to be a big obstacle. Yeah, sure. You don't just cruise into the World Series or luckier way. So someone's playing well at that point. If they've gotten to the World Series, Judge is scary. Soto is scary. I mean, I'm going to pick the Yankees. Annie? These are all very good answers. I'm going to invoke the spirit of Chris Elo and ride your coattiest a little bit and say baseball. Just going through a-- Getting into a cold stretch out of nowhere. An injury popping up out of nowhere. Just weird baseball-y things, weird errors. That's a piece of equipment malfunctioning. Baseball, I think baseball will be-- Because I agree, I think they can beat-- I think they have a chance to beat any team. Craig's going to fight you the next three hours on your show. [LAUGHTER] This entire situation is a trap. The last time you trapped me, it's been held against me on every show. Well, every show, which one? Some putty in the chat says, oh, well, you're a diving bag's loving, because you picked a diving bag. So you think the diving bag's going to win. And then half the panel cheats. You cheated, and you cheated. You both cheated. You did not follow the prompt. All right, I'll take the buzzer. You're a cheater, and you're a cheater. I'll take the buzzer. Cheating to the angels. I am scared of the angels, Ben. OK, come at me, folks. Come at me. I'm scared of the angels, OK? Game. I'll do the Dodgers. I'll change my game. Thank you, Woods. Someone had to pick up. I'll do the Mets. Yeah, they got the Mets. You know. Yeah, I love you. I love you. I'm a goodness. I'm a goodness. I'm a goodness. I'm setting me up so I can spend the next week here. Oh, there's the Dodgers over again. There's a guy who picked the Dodgers. I guess you better have a Dodger fan in the middle. I love the limit. No. Seven years. There's a Dave Roberts sound bite, but I will never escape. I'm not going to take it. Not taking it. Not taking that bullet. There's some tension. I think, honestly, every team that's in the playoffs, you are your own worst enemy. If you got there for a reason, and if you pitched like you did to get there, and you hit Padres 2, or overthinking things, I didn't honestly hear, I missed it if you said a team. I thought it was a generality, but I'll go with Mets. They're scary, but I think, you know, overthinking, even strategizing, who knows any of that could ruin you. Yeah. They raves are scary, by the way. They are. They would see a pitch. They would, and they would dwell in the boc. They would scare me. You can make an argument for literally every team. Every team. That's why the playoffs. Everyone of those teams could win the World Series. I'll go with. Oh, my God. I think our team is cool. Who knew that after six months of the roundtable was going to end in a giant pizza throwing a food fight brawl between the five of us legs on this panel. And then Elo just skates by, Tony just skates by. No, I wasn't taking that dodge of bullet. No. I wasn't doing it. Is it? Yeah. What about what was yours? I picked the game. Yeah. You know, way in the future. Yeah, a little bit. What, we didn't even say the Brewers. No, I didn't say the Brewers. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. We didn't even ask for it. Well, the Padres have handled most of these teams over the course of the season. They won the series against the Guardians. They won the season series against the Brewers. They have handled playoff teams quite well. And honestly, if you want the fake answer from me, it's a math is always the hardest thing to be in a postseason. In NCAA tournament, there are 12 teams and only one of them is going to win the World Series. And honestly, Annie's right too. And you're right. Dumb baseball. Two out of three. Two out of three. White Sox could beat the Yankees. Two out of three. Like the Braves set up well for a two out of three, but do they set up well for a five or seven? And I made the point yesterday. If you won three out of every four series all year long, you'd probably be right around a hundred win team, best team in baseball. You win three out of four series in the playoffs. You know what you are? Loser. You're home. You have to win all four. You have to win all four series to win the World Series or if you get it by three, but still there's no. No margin for error and it's set up where 11 of the teams will be eliminated. No matter how good they are playing, there could be three teams that are playing out of their mind. Great baseball. Two of them at least will not win the World Series at the end. It's why it's so hard. It's why the Padres, one of the reasons they don't have one. It's really, really hard to do it. And that is the really biggest challenge to overcome in any postseason. It's also true and this is going to be a blast. And here's the other thing. You guys ready for this? I mean, clearly, we're already cannibalizing each other. I mean, no, but well, no, it's really all your fault. I mean, you set the trap, I mean, good to say, these guys just jumped over. They're smart, but I had to call them out. No, this is why baseball playoffs, Billy Bean was right, okay, and he's still right. Like the playoffs are, it's not a true representation. The regular season is a true representation because here's something I was just thinking about today. All year, what do we say to everybody? It's one game. It's one series. It's one month. It's one half. Don't overreact. The game is long. It takes a long time. Everybody overreacts every game now. If Manny Machado goes over four with four strikeouts in Game 1, he's a loser who didn't show up and he had a terrible year in Berber Berber Berber. And contrastingly, if, you know, Elias Diaz hits two doubles in Game 1. He's the greatest thing ever. So, you know, the randomness of this sport, writ small, means that we need to try and find a way to exalt our players, love our team, enjoy the experience, and accept the result, whatever the result might be. Yeah, no question. It's the beauty of that game is that, you know, you may take your foot off the gas for the eight and nine hole hitter who comes through and has a huge, I mean, think about Rosario in the postseason, think about the Shane Spencer's of the world, think about the Scott Brochus. David Eckstein. David Eckstein. All of these. All of these. David Fries. I mean, just like, you look, Steven Pierce, you're like, you're joking. This guy is locked in. He got hot for two weeks, World Series Champion, World Series MVP. And I love that about base, but I love that because it's not just, I've got Tom Brady and I've got the greatest receivers and I've got the best running back. It's no, no, I got nine and I play great defense and I pitch well and I got a little lucky and our nine hole hitter came through, got a bun down, whatever it may be, that's what I like. But there are also years where really good and deep teams just play really good and good baseball for a month and they win the World Series. Yeah. There's sometimes the World Series Champion pretty legitimate as well. So you can't just say it's a crapshoot, it's a coin flip. You have to go out and do it and some teams, you know, I'd rather have the deeper team with the better lineup and the better pitchers staff, all things being equal, almost, almost guarantee you nothing though, as Rangers one last year, Rangers home, right? Last year was not one of those years. I don't know. Yeah, no, it really was. There are years like that, but not every year. So we'll find out what kind of year this is. After a few threats by Stephen Woods and foot stomping, I believe he did agree to continue roundtabling as long as the Padres are alive. I don't remember agreeing to that with that. Can you wait for next weeks one, one game three, bro? Check local listings, but we will keep you informed as to any future roundtable events involving all of us. Pauli, thank you for coming in. Thanks for having me. I'm signing off season. Good to be with you guys all season. We'll see you next time. Take a contract. Talk to my coaches. It was up to Adam. We have an off season roundtable. Oh, Larry, because we never, ever, ever, ever, ever end. Thanks to all of our crew that helped us put it together, you know, Braden's usually in the studio. Adam, GR is here today. Mike, who's having a grand kid today. Congratulations to him and everyone who's helped out all season long. That's it for us for Annie, for Woodsy, for Craig, for Paul, I'm Ben, Annie and Elston coming up next live here on San Diego's number one sports station, 97-3 the fan. [music] [music]