[MUSIC] Fan Morning Show of 4759 at Fan Then at a Sprank Gunning. >> Feels like everything's kind of secondary today to the Scottie Sheffler story. >> It's pretty tough to be like, maybe one day Rod Brindomor will coach a different hockey team. >> Yeah. >> It's pretty like, and you know me, I love hockey coach talk, but back burner right now. >> Again, I will just read the Jeff Darlington quote, yeah. Cuz we're having developing news happen, like by the minute here. So, Scottie Sheffler, world's number one golfer, looking to win the first two majors of the golf season. This from Jeff Darlington this morning. Actually, before I tell you this, again, PGA championship official Twitter announcing the second round is delayed in Louisville, Kentucky because of a tragedy that occurred outside of the grounds of Valhalla golf course. And we have some reporting that was a shuttle bus that hit a pedestrian. So it sounds like a horrible accident. Breaking news, this was from Jeff Darlington now about 30 minutes ago. Breaking news, world number one golfer, Scottie Sheffler has been detained by police in handcuffs after a misunderstanding with traffic flow led to his attempt to drive past a police officer into Valhalla golf club. The police officer attempted to attach himself to Sheffler's car and Sheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla. The police officer then began to scream at Sheffler to get out of the car when Sheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Sheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs. He's now being detained in the back of a police car subsequent to that, seen a tweet. So we don't have ESPN in this country. So Jeff Darlington did a live report on ESPN, don't tell Antonio Davis yet. Jeff Darlington did a live report on ESPN where it was revealed that he witnessed the whole damn thing, so had additional details, part of which, according to Kyle Porter of CBS, he said that Sheffler, the situation where he was in handcuffs, moved quote very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively. And then at one point, Sheffler, who was with police at the time, looked at Darlington who was also entering the property and said, please help me. >> Yeah. >> You have some other reporting on his report? >> Jeff Darlington just said on air that while pursuing the Sheffler story and details this morning on site near Valhalla, this is Darlington, he was told by a Louisville PD officer, quote, there's nothing you can do, he's going to jail, end quote. There's not, I'm not a lawyer, he's not, he was telling Jeff Darlington, there's nothing you can do. >> Yes, that is the way, the way I read this is that Jeff Darlington was told by a Louisville PD officer, there's nothing you can do, he's going to jail. I don't know if this was in reference to the, please help me, or if this was just him being like, hey, what's like, they deal with this, but it applies to both, unfortunately. >> Okay. >> It does, doesn't it? >> Yeah. >> Like, there's nothing you can do, like, as if Jeff Darlington was going to stand in the way of this. >> You want to talk about the first round at all? >> It feels very, very secondary, like, okay, Sandra Shockley, he played well in a major, you're probably going to play well, two and a half more rounds of this thing. And unfortunately for him, the half round that Stinks is going to come on Sunday, it's not even in the front or back nine. >> He has the lowest career, first round scoring average in majors among the players in the field who have appeared in at least 25 of these things. >> 20 does, this is what he does. >> He ties his 62 at last year's US Open, how'd that finish? >> That's fine, like, T10, but like, when you shoot a 62 on Thursday, you should win the damn thing. >> I don't disagree, okay, this is what's going in my mind here, and obviously we don't have the details and the clarity on this situation compared to what I'm about to reference it because it was like 20 years ago. But, you know, when Tiger Woods, like, and he had to have his apology, and it's like, obviously adultery is a very different thing than whatever happened with Scotty Sheffler this morning. But like, there was a turn in public perception on Tiger. He was no longer like the squeaky clean, and I don't even know that Sheffler has this like massive star turn. It's happened so quickly. But like, do you think this affects the way people view him? Like Scotty Sheffler is a good old boy from Texas. Like I would imagine there's a sub-sect to him, or people who would consider themselves Sheffler fans, although I feel like people appreciate him. I don't know that there's people that ride for him, like they do even for other golfers. But do you think this affects the way he is viewed by some people? And obviously, hard question to ask is we're having details kind of come out like right in center. >> Well, I mean, what's a fact is there's now a picture, you can, I just retweeted it. There is a picture of Scotty Sheffler in handcuffs now. Like that's, that's, that's, that's not going to be a race. >> No, no, no. >> That's not AI. That is, Scotty Sheffler was arrested. So I think we need to obviously know what happened here, and it's, I don't think it's like totally malicious. >> No, I don't, I don't discount the possibility of him being charged with like, I don't know, fleeing a scene disruption of a crime scene. >> I mean, not imagine something up the police officer. >> If the, if a cop is telling Jeff Darlington who witnessed this all, yeah, there's nothing you can do. He's going to jail. If that's where the cop is telling Jeff Darlington, then you know, imagine getting charged with something. >> Yeah. >> I imagine. >> Okay, so this is third hand reporting now, because I'm reporting on the reporter who has the report live, and now I'm reading a tweet of a golf reporter who is watching that report. >> This is true. >> This is true. >> I did the same thing. >> Yeah. >> Kyle Porter, again, Darlington just said on SportsCenter that after a somewhat chaotic and confusing exchange, as Sheffler tried to enter the property, Sheffler tried to continue driving into the golf course, and the officer started yelling obscenities at him. Then when Sheffler rolled his window down, the officer reached into his vehicle and grabbed his arm. >> I mean, again, I'm just giving you the details here. >> None of it's good for Scotty Sheffler. It's hard to envision a scenario where it gets better for him, like that this is all seen as some big misunderstanding, and we all just shake hands. I can't, again, like the quote from an officer, there's nothing you can do. He's going to jail. Until I see something from somebody that counteracts that, I don't know how this isn't the story of like in sports right now. >> Let's do totally absolutely reckless speculation. >> Okay. >> What are the odds you think Scottish Sheffler's PGA Championship is done? Cuz I'll give you mine. >> 100. >> I was gonna go 90, I thought that was high. >> No, I'm gonna get 100%. >> The cop said he's going to jail. >> Yeah. >> And again, to your point, you know, not what a couple of weeks for Scottish Sheffler. Not that the PGA, man, we'll get back to that in a second, but like, not that the PGA has a ton of guys who are like super comfortable, I'd imagine doing a night in the clink and then getting back on the course. But if I had to power rank the guys who had that in them, Scotty Sheffler, pretty far down on that list, like it's just, you mentioned it, what a couple of weeks, the guys, the number one player in the world, he wins the Masters, he wins everywhere he goes, he has a new father, or he doesn't have a new father, that would really be quite a two weeks if he got a new father laid into this. But he becomes a new father, and then this, it is just a complete 180 from the way everything has been going. Yeah, I think, I think he's done, I don't, I don't think he, you can find, because here's the other part of this is now, if the, I think the thing that could change the percentage of that is if today is a complete wash. And then you have a day where Sheffler like, whatever, he pays his fine. And then he's out, if there's golf today, I think his tournament is over. And if there's not, I think his tournament continues. So either a zero or a hundred. I have more reporting. Oh, and I've changed my take. Hey, I'm, oh God, I'm so excited. I'm purposely not looking, I'm just looking at you and letting you do all the reporting for me. Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir says, just been told Scotty Sheffler has now been released by Louisville police after initially being detained, following some confusion as he tried to navigate around a traffic cordon. So, I mean, if he's released now, even if he is, you know, charged, which doesn't seem like that cop shooting from the hip, it sounds like now. Yeah, if he is now factually released, I've changed my take. Zero percent. Scotty, Sheffler's VGA Championship is done. Yeah, I mean, I was going off the cop say he's going to jail. You're going off information moments later, say it is released. I feel like those are like kind of exact opposites. And it was kind of based on my whole stance on the one piece of information. And I have to change it now, I think. So yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's move on. I guess for now. For now. Do we have more information? You know, let's say, let's say Blue Jays for Kevin Barker at 730. I want to play the Brad Marchand sound from yesterday, who we heard from for the first time since the Sam Bennett hit, which didn't look dirty. And then we finally got the angle that clearly was dirty. And apparently Marchand is potentially available for game six tonight as the Bruins try to force a game seven here is Brad Marchand on his thought on the hit and hits of that ilk in the postseason in general. I think you got away with a shot, but you know, I'm not going to complain happens and you know, that's part of especially playoff hockey. You know, I've been on the other side of a lot of a lot of plays and you know, I think you get away with one. But I mean, that that's part of the game. People don't want to say it, but part of playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team. And the more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has. And you know, people don't say that, but that's just a fact of the game. And you know, so every time you step on the ice, someone's trying to hurt someone and you know, that that's just how it goes in playoffs. He said the thing. Yeah. He said it. He went out there and said it. The thing that, you know, we talk about kind of in different, less direct tones, but that he's clearly done and felt was done to him, but said that's part of the deal. You're just trying to knock humans out of the hockey game. Yeah. I said the quiet part out loud when when Michael Bunting did what was necessary to get the Leafs over the hump and knocked your neck out of that series. You know, this is what happens. And we say it. We also do say it just, I guess, in not such blunt terms, but how many conversations do we have about getting your Lexi and early on in the series so that they can kind of, you know, wear it more at the end. I suppose that six to one or a sliding, it's just a, you know, a little lower down on the sliding scale to try and hurt somebody. But I don't know why you want to hit a guy early on in the series to bang them up to hurt them. Obviously the idea of like a sucker punch and a one specific act that's different. But yeah, this is, this is what this time of the year is. It's, it's war crimes out there. And I think that we're all completely understanding of it. It's the onion meme. So congratulations. The world's worst person made a great point. I respect the hell out of Brad Marsh and for saying it and, and saying, yeah, I got away with one, but I've gotten away with one and that's kind of the deal with playoff hockey. He suffered a concussion. Like he missed playoff games, elimination games. Like his team could be on the outside looking in because of a hit he was on the receiving end of. I respect it. Yeah. But I also, okay, to me, there is something different between like everybody implicitly knowing that that's the case and explicitly saying, hey, everybody's out there trying to hurt people and knock them out of the series, including me and, and how one the NHL might react to that in the moment and to the way he might be officiated going forward. Like, we all know that's the thing, but like there is like a party that's like, but you know, you're a human, maybe there is some thought about the other person's long-term well-being. Brad Marsh and says, no, I didn't say this explicitly, but like, there's also like, hey man, gotta break some eggs to make an omelet here. Would you be surprised and Brad Marsh and quite notably went until what game six of the series against the Leafs until you spent his first minutes in the penalty box? Yeah. You don't think there's like an official that sees this or an NHL head office that sees this or head of officiating or, you know, somebody that's in charge of discipline that's not like, oh, that's interesting, Brad, we'll see what you do on the ice if you play in a game six or a game seven. If it does change the way he's officiated, he will now just be officiated the same way as every other player in the NHL, instead of them just turning a blind eye to all the crimes he commits on the ice for some reason, to your point, by some miracle he didn't commit a single infraction until until game six was so weird how that happened. It's like, Marchan can afford to take that or take that risk because if he gets officiated in a different way, just officiated like everyone else is now. They're hesitant to call penalties against him. They just, they are. The other part of it, I think that your right to bring up though is supplemental discipline. If he has an incident now, he lost plausible deniability. Well, but didn't he lose it a long time ago? Yeah, no, but I think there is something different about saying it. There is definitely an element of it, but I think that it just allows them to much like Brad Marchan did say the quiet part out loud. Now they just get to say the quiet part out loud in the video as opposed to, you know, let's say Brad Marchan does something untoward next year and it's like, yeah, that should be a two game suspension. He gets his two game suspension. Maybe it becomes three and they get to say in the video, this is a player that is explicitly talked about wanting to injure opponents. But I think if he didn't say that, they would have just understood that like, hey, that's Brad Marchan, you take it into account. The players, not their technical history, not their repeat offender status, but how can you not, especially when it is such a subjective thing of how do I feel about this? How can you not take the players past into account? So I think it just, it kind of salts home everything that we knew about him. I don't know that it actually does change anything. It's all, it's all implicitly known and it's not quite the same as bounty gate. But like this is, we live in a North American sports world where there's a sensitivity to the intentionality of hitting people to injure, like not even hitting to injure. Just going out with the intent to injure, intent to injure is different. There's a sensitivity like to the point about the NHL, how do they feel about this? I mean, this is a sport that's trying to grow the game, sell it to the border. And I think the Stanley Cup playoffs are, I think honestly, the physicality of the intensity of it is the number one selling feature of it. But this is also a sport that I think for the wrong, I think they've gone about it the wrong way. It's like not leaned into this element of the sport. And again, like we have recent history of bounty gate, I mean, I guess that was a decade plus ago. But is there like Gary Bettman can't listen to that quote and be like, yay, I'm going to bring this to the table in my next media rights negotiation with the American broadcasters. I don't think so. But I don't know. You bring a bounty gate like I remember thinking like, oh, that's bad, but it actually made me like more excited for the NFL and like, oh, these guys really do like, they don't care. It's like, whatever it takes, just win, baby, I do remember having that reaction of, I don't think everyone does. I think there are some people who that's to the NFL didn't know they didn't. And as you have to take that stance, but I also think that again, much like you don't have to say the quiet part out loud. It's like you can stake that stance while going. We love the physicality and the play. And I also think there's when you hear the idea of try to intentionally injure someone, I think you, I think everyone has what that looks like different in their minds, right? Like the Sam Bennett sucker punch, that's a pretty straightforward, easy peasy. But is it trying to like clean hits, like wearing down the opponent, because a guy has a four check is different than what Sam Bennett did or what Brad March is talking about. But you know, but you know, a guy's got a bad back. And every single time you're in close proximity with him, you're giving him that shot. No, he has a bad back because that team will never tell me. Okay, but like, you know, like, but like, and also, but like, you do know, and you do see it. Yeah. Is that trying to injure someone? Yeah. Okay. And you think that's like untoward and not about it, because I think it is. I think what Brad March and said, right, is true. And I think it's kind of cool. Okay. All right. Just wanted to make sure I thought you're like being uncool about this. They were like, Brad March, and it's not not being fair or whatever. No, I think it's, it's fine. And once you, I mean, again, that's what the money's for. And it's, yeah, the Stanley Cup playoffs are about more than just money because you were, you're at more physical risk as Brad March and will tell you. I was gonna say, you know, I paid, but playoff shares, I guess. Yeah. I just wonder if the sensitivity of the, or what they, these leagues perceive the North American sports fan to be whether they're put off by this type of comment to me. And it's like, oh, yeah, I don't think that's what it's about. I think it's all part and parcel of who it comes from. I think if Brad March on says that, you go like, yeah, this is awesome. But if Connor McDavid says that, that takes the tenor of my greatness is being shackled by what we allow people to get away with. So I think they're, I think the messenger matters so much for the public's perception of this, because if this is, you know, pick your, pick your stud player, I think it have to be McDavid, but maybe it's McKinnon, whoever. If they talk about this in a way, it's different than Brad March on talking about it. Like he comes to it from a peer point of a villain. And obviously that's a little bit of my own bias, but who he is to the league at large. I think it would be different if it was a star player saying this, even if they kind of said it in the exact same way, I guess they wouldn't have the, well, I've done it too. But yeah, like if McDavid came out and had these comments, well, yeah, we know guys are trying to hurt each other in the playoffs. Don't you think alarm bells then do start ringing? That's where I think you worry about fan perception and how it's viewed when it's March on. You go, this is awesome. This is like part of the DNA of the school. Yeah. It's a great point. Yeah. If Connor McDavid came out and said, yeah, they're trying to knock me out of the series. They're trying to injure me severely, but that's part of the postseason. Yep. I think if you're the NHL that probably hits you in a different way than Brad March on being on the receiving end of this, like the whole impetus for this comment is, hey, I was sucker punched in the head on what looked like a clean hit. There was no supplemental discipline to Sam Bennett and like he got away with one. I didn't love it, but like I'm fine with it because the same, I've produced the same result. Yeah. And that's kind of what the postseason's about. If he really wanted to get chaotic, he would have been, you know, it's one thing when you sucker punch me and get away with it. But after he did that tonight's last year, I would shock the league and let it stand or something. That would have been the final like flourish of Brad March on greatness and media there. Before we take a break and talk to our pal Kevin Barker, I'm gonna talk about this Juan Soto story, which is emerging here is not surprisingly, the great player is having a great season with the great team. Every time I see this and I know it's true, but it's just, it's so shocking again, because he's been around for forever, he's 25 years old is Juan Soto. He's 25 years old, did he make his debut as an infant? Yeah, is very young. He's 25 years old and not surprisingly, the bright lights of New York City, not phasing Mr Soto. He looks pretty much like the same dude that turned down a $12 million, $400 plus million extension from the Washington Nationals and we're like, I don't know, maybe we're not. I was like, wow, okay, you're turning down, hey, I get it. You're a great player, but 400 million is 400 million, turns out, right move. Well done. Good job. Shocker, Juan Soto, better things than you. Smart, smart move, goes to the Yankees, they give up a haul for him, but it's paying off in spades despite this being his last season of team control. According to reports, Hal Steinbrenner has said, despite Scott Morris being his agent and Scott Morris, never really avoiding taking the big free agent to unrestricted free agency unless it's Stephen Strasburg and he's a pitcher in his arms about to explode. That was smart move by him as well. Great job. But I think Juan Soto is going to be fine here, that he would engage Soto in extension talks and that he envisions Juan Soto as a Yankee for the rest of his career. So here's where I'm at with that. Juan Soto is a Yankee for the rest of his career. Like no matter how this plays out, right? No matter whether he does in fact, like whether they really do have legitimate extension conversations during the season or whether he gets too unrestricted free, just free agency. There's no unrestricted because there's no restricted for agency. Very bad for that. But it doesn't matter because the Yankees and the guy that controls all the money said, we're going to throw all the money at the guy that you all see that we see as being one of the best hitters in the sport and having a generation of two, three, three, four hitter of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto is something that you could envision bringing as multiple championships. Yeah, it's painful to envision that. You mentioned the he has it this almost feels like when I like tell my wife I'm going to do something around the house and it's really just to hold me to it. It's like I've already put it out there in the ether now I have to do it. This is like something I feel like there's a chance Hal Stein brother looks back in September and it's like I had to be so loud about it. I think he's going to come back. I think he's going to be a Yankee, but you know, even with Aaron Judge, it was okay. Go to market. See what's out there. Remember, we all remember he was a giant for 37 seconds or whatever it was. So I think that, yeah, if this is the return to the Yankees of yesteryear and all of that, then yeah, this isn't even a question. But just the way this franchise has operated, I tend to agree with you that he's going to be a Yankee. But I think the bluster of this is very different than how he's kind of operated with other things as well, which I guess means he's more convicted. But to me, that's all I can think is just me when I'm saying like, Hey, I'm going to take out the garbage tonight. And it's like, then I'm looking at the garbage and like, I can't not take it out. I have to. >> I don't think because Barker always monopolizes the time and I don't want to lose any of our Barker time. >> If he signs in season, yeah, an extension with the Yankees, does it make you feel differently about the Blue Jays non-pursuit or, you know, that they were involved at a point. There was a report that they were involved in conversations. They got swept up in the Otani thing and the Yankees, hey, the Yankees gave up, Michael King is very good and pretty good, right? But Blue Jays could have made it happen, like maybe Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on the other side of the equation headed to San Diego. If the Yankees are able to sign one solo to an extension in season, which means that like if you play out the scenario where the Blue Jays trade for Juan Soto and they have success and man, one one Soto bat, how different does this season look? >> You could, and if the money was there that was there for Otani, does it make you feel differently about the Blue Jays not doing everything they could to land Juan Soto? >> I think they should have because I think if you believe in your program and you think you could have sold Otani, there's no reason you couldn't have sold Soto. But the idea that him getting to New York and having success there, wearing that uniform is the same as him doing it here or, quite frankly, just about anywhere else, it is different. I wish it wasn't. I loathe the Yankees like you all, but it is different and they are the Yankees. And I don't think you can look at it as apples to apples. >> Okay, we have to break because I want to get to Kevin Barker, but I also want to watch Jeff Darlington's video, which he took. There's a video of Jeff Darlington watching Scotty Jeffler be detained in handcuffs outside Valhalla. Apparently he's been released. Anyways, we'll keep updating you on that story throughout the day, but Kevin Barker next, with Blair and Barker, as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, sports at 590 the fan. >> Unrivaled insight, analysis, and opinions on all things blue jays, Blair and Barker, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. >> Fan morning show, sports at 590 the fan, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, was Jeff Blair along with Kevin Barker. I'll show I like to call Blair and Barker. Coming on Tuesday, it moves from 4 to 6 PM on sports net, 590 the fan in sports net. Time now for our insider. Brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley North Lexus dot com. Kevin Barker. How's it going, Kevin? >> Boys. How we doing? >> Doing all right. Your guy was heated the other day. Yeah. >> No, that's nothing. So that's child's play. >> No. >> Yeah, you listened to our show before? >> Yeah, I did. >> Yeah, that's nothing. >> Enjoy it. >> It's just, that's -- >> It's just usually at each other, not always at the Blue Jays. That's the difference. That was why I was so jarring. That's all. >> Yeah. Sometimes I think you got to say it out loud for people to start to believe it. And look, it is disappointing. You would expect it from the way the season ended last year to the way the season offensively started this year. You would think they don't have to be exactly like the pitching staff or the defense, but a little bit closer would be nice. That I think was what the frustrating part is because they're in last place. And that's a shame. Like they're, you know, they should be way better than that and they're not. It's very confusing. >> Yeah. It's not just being in last place. It's how they're doing it and how they look and like how little reason for optimism there is with the offense, for me at least. I don't know. Like, can you find a reason to believe that the offense is going to turn it around to some degree? >> Well, bow and bloody. I think that those are two races. >> Sure. >> They're around right now though and like they score two runs in the second game of the Orioles series. >> Yeah. Look, I think they, you know, we could hope for a little bit more from both. You know, bow is starting to do, I think what bow is expected to, flatty, look, it's always been a point of contact and it'll continue to always be a point of contact. And you know, it's, it's, I think us getting excited about the 114 mile an hour, 17 hopper to the right fielder. Look, that's exciting for some. It's not for me. And that I think is the, the element of where you would like to see a little bit more. And, you know, we're just not seeing that. And that's why again, we have in this conversation in every show in Toronto and, and most shows that we're talking about the Toronto Blue Jays, we're saying they needed three turners, not just one Justin Turner. They needed three of those in the off season to sort of fill in the blanks for, you know, what they're not doing well and the run producers don't grow in trees. You know, it's Justin Turner that I, you know, he had a career year last year at 39, can you ask him to do it back to back years? It's a lot to ask, right? The bat looks slower to me right now that that may be because he's been sick for a little while and I, I don't take his temperature, but it seems to me like, you know, him having his hoodie over his head and sitting over there on the bench seems like they way went through it. Like they're trying to fight through something, whatever that something is. And you know, this is again, it's just, they had a golden opportunity, the organization did in the off season to figure the offense out and for whatever reason, they're banking on the same old, same old, trying to turn it around and be something that quite frankly maybe they're just not capable of being and that's sort of frustrating. And I'm sure if you're on the pitching staff, especially in that rotation, you're chapped, like enough of this man, it's like, we go out there and do our job every single day and give that line up a chance to have a big inning and just consistently they just don't have it. I've run to two games, the best team in the American League. I mean, come on, man. It's like, it's just, yeah, it's, that's the frustrating part. And you know, it's just, it's a lot to ask when you're bringing in four or five pitchers to all be perfect to not throw, which for me, it looked like Jordan Ron through a cutter. I didn't know it through a cutter, but that, that looked to me like, you know, it was a two one, whatever that was, basically center cutter, a little middle end to a do that's trying to get frisky, have party out front and get a ball in the air. Like it's everyone's, while somebody's gonna throw a pitch like that. That's why, you know, the offense, is it capable? Yeah, maybe we'll see. But everyone's in a while. I imagine you get a pitch like that thrown to you and you, you can also deposit it into the seats. You know, I know, I know they don't have nine Adley Rochman sitting there in the order and that would certainly make things easier. But yeah, I mean, that, that, I want to get back to the point you made there though about the frustration that's got to be stemming from the starters. I mean, Kevin Gossman made this point, I think it was at some point last year of, you know, we think of high leverage innings for relievers. Every single inning, the Blue Jays pitchers pitch is high leverage this year because they either hold on to a one run lead or trying to keep it within one or two. How much do you think that affects the pitching staff? Be it from a fatigue standpoint as the year goes on of having to, you know, be so ramped up and it's never easy for them or how much from a kind of clubhouse chemistry perspective. Do you think it could affect things? I have had very close and serious conversations about that and I have gotten basically the same answer every time I ask that question, which is they never think about it. And I chuckle and I say, you guys aren't human beings like you guys don't. What are you robots? Like, it's like, again, you know, the clubhouse chemistry thing looked at that clubhouse. Things ever rated. I know everybody wants to raise their hand, jump up and down, run around circles and go all man, there's 26 guys that all want to go to dinner together and let's go hang out. Yeah, I hate to break the news to you guys. Don't work that way. Like, it just does, you know, you got your little group of two or three where you're going and grinding it out in the batting cage. You have similar thoughts and swings and lower halves that you have that you can compare to and, you know, you're just getting a groove, the grind of the 162 game season. And that's the guys you hang out with and then there's everybody else. Like, it's just, it just doesn't work that way. So that part of it, yeah, I might into that. I don't even know if they care about the other guys, but yeah, it is looked, you have to have a little of that man. Come on. Let's. Can you or can't you? Like, I, and I think there's a big, big enough sample size. And Jeff said this yesterday, maybe it's just not enough talent in the lineup. One through nine consistently because, you know, what it is is when you're not hitting homers, I think I looked it up here. So they've got four homers with runners in scoring position. That's the worst in baseball. Those places, the Brewers with 19, like, you know, there's just a such a big separation in that part of their game from other parts of their game that it's just, I don't know for how you make that up, how you get better offensively where, you know, they're hitting what I looked it up again, 207, I think with runners in scoring position. And to be top 10, which, if you're not going to hit homers, you're going to have to be top 10 and average in that stat. And you add 70 more points to that 207 to be top 10. I think top 10 is somewhere in the mid 260s. Like, man, that's a lot. Like you're asking a lineup to string together a bunch of hits and have dudes who have that game plan and can walk the plate, not vary from the plan. And it's just, this is why, like we were saying this and I was saying this, they don't have a cleanup here. They don't have a thumpers. They don't have a dude that can change the game with two run homer and a three run homer. How are they going to win and come to find out they're in last place. So, you know, what I was saying and what I was thinking and the people that I were talking to and just trying to do this, the American League East with the Orioles and the Yankees being better. It's just, I mean, it's predictable. It's not predictable guys that you can predict that, you know, the lineup is going to continue to look this way. The pitching was going to, you know, have a hiccup, maybe take a minor step back, which they have and still be competitive enough to give them a chance to have the beginning and win more games than they lose. It's predictable. And that part of it, I just, it's, it's very confused. I just find it impossible almost to think that they, all they did was think about them getting no tawny. That's it. Yep. And in the last resort is we got to hurry up, go get just a turner. Okay. What? Yeah, I just, that, that part of it, I think if you're a fan of the Blue Jays, you got to be very frustrated about that. Yeah. Because this team wasn't good enough offensively and then they got worse. So like, yeah, it makes sense that they would be second last in Major League Baseball in runs scored. So I'm not saying that there's an answer within the organization, but, and I understand it's, it's only May, haven't hit Victoria day yet, but like, John Schneider's got to be feeling the heat here. Like, I, I just, why is he not acting with more desperation? I know he moved. No. Like, okay. So the one thing, the most obvious thing is the, the George Springer out of the leadoff spot, and I, I know he's not roster decision guy, but, and I know a Ralphus Martinez is an, like an error a week at second base, but like, he's hit some home runs, the minor leagues. I know Addison Barger looked, uh, overmatched at times in his brief little foray into the major leagues, but go ahead. I thought some, some pretty good contact on, on some swings and I don't know, he gives you at least the potential to hit a home run. Why, why is there not more, more urgency happening within this organization right now? Because it's getting away from him. Yeah. Look, I think they move bow around. I mean, that's not urgent enough. Look, the George Springer thing will be here a couple more years, say John was going to be here. I'm sure the conversation said, you know, again, I, I laugh and chuckle at that clubhouse thing, but I'm sure there's a little bit to that when it comes to relationships between the manager and players that are going to be around for a while. And you got to ask yourself, what, you know, it's not like when David Schneider, and I'm not saying you're wrong, because I'd have done that a long time ago. I mean, he's hitting the bottom of the order he playing like it's, it's getting to the point where it's that. But you also got to ask yourself, is there, is there a 2021 Marcus Simeon that forced the hand of the manager to say to George Springer, hey, dude, stay on like this guy's way better than you are right now. Like, I just can't move him. Is there one of those? Like it's just, and you got to remember to do makes $25 million a year. Like I don't care about that. Yeah. Why should I care about? They do. No, no, but that's not the way the world works. I mean, that should be. Work that way. That should be more reason why it's easier to move him out of the leadoff spot. It's like, yeah, that's what the money's for, you know, like, I don't understand why that is working in the opposite direction. To me, that's like, oh, well, you know, that's what you're, you're going to have to have a really good reason. Who's the other reason? Like, who's the other option? It wasn't Bob Bechette. Yeah. I mean, you'd like to put Bob Bechette up there. That would he'd be the perfect guy, line-to-line, bat the ball skills, the velocity. I'd be talking about it. He had been doing that. So you could, that's not an option. You know, the Davis Schneider thing, like that's in and out, right, he's got giant holes in his swing. He can take a walk. Like, it's just, there's not a, oh my gosh, there's the, look, they're beyond trying to take walks. Man. Like, really? Like, they're not. It's not the point of that. It's the point of you're trying to get the best sitters. Again, I'm not disagreeing with you. I just don't know the conversation as as easy as we think it is. And if you hit him seventh, he's still hitting seventh. Like, and who's leading off? Like, I, it's just, I, look, we've had that conversation till our heads are about to pop off. And it just seems like they're married to the fact that your sprayer is going to lead off. Whether it's a, whether it's a handshake between the manager and the player, or there's a lot more to it. Who knows what the answer or the right answer that is? I just know if you look at their lineup, it's not like there's an obvious answer to replace it. If there was, maybe they would have done it already. Yeah, I don't know. There's lots of guys, I think, do a better job. Are doing a better job, you're watching a different lineup than I'm doing a better job. He watches a buffalo every night. He's like, come on, Nathan Luke's. Yeah. A real small tiniest in a position. I mean, he's got, he's got the same amount of errors I'd have. Yeah. It's a lot. Like at second base, too, I need to see how those are happening. Like, what's going on? Given them a glove. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. But again, like don't you have to be desperate here? Like, I don't know if he's ready and I don't know if he has a position and yeah, I don't know if he's just somewhat asked is it his fault? Is it his fault that the team stinks at the big course level offensively and he's still trying to figure it out. And we, you know, we've seen guys occasionally get called up and and look like, you know, they're still not ready to be at the big league level or calling a Rebels Martinez up is the is the savior of the Toronto Blue Jays. You got to be desperate. He'd hit eight or eighth or ninth in your in your lineup. That's going to help. I mean, they got a bunch of eighth or ninth all the way. If somebody can hit a home run, if somebody's capable of hitting a home run, they should be in the lineup, no matter what, they give you defensively or don't give you defensively like this team. I think they think they're capable. They're just not doing it. Okay. Yeah. Look, I've watched batting practice a lot. I've stood around the cage a lot. I see dudes going third deck cross center all the time. It's just like, it's just like when they when they get in the game and the and the bats with traffic is different. Like it's obvious. Yeah. Again, I'm not stat heavy, but when you look at stats of how, you know, the stats look with nobody on base and then the stats look with people on base like that, you know, it's those are the things I think if you're standing around and you're, you know, you're, you're Donnie baseball, which, you know, it's kind of funny. Nobody's talking about him being the manager anymore. Boy, it's just, you know, it's funny when you take over the offense and the offense looks this bad, how that just sort of all of a sudden the that falls off the cliff. And now everybody's wanting Donnie baseball fire. Well, how would you like to be a coach and made you think baseball in 2024? Yeah, it's it's a it's not the easiest thing. So yeah, look, until the at bats get better with traffic and, you know, if they're not going to hit homers, they got to get a bunch of hits. So the the the combination of of the communication and how simple it is with Chad Matola on who's the hitting coach for the the race on our show yesterday, and he's talking about how they can make it as simple as possible as close to sea ball hit ball as they can. Because not everybody can can, you know, computerize it between their ears on the on deck circle and just the, you know, the the ears are laid out sideways trying to figure out how they going to, you know, lay off this, that and the other it's it's impossible. Sometimes that's the way the blue chase look with runners runners on base. So hopefully fingers crossed that can get a little bit better because if it don't, this thing's going to go real south. Yeah, no, I'm I'm real south. I'm with you, Barker. Like we can sit here and talk about the approach or the order of things, but it does come down to a certain point to the nine guys that are standing in there and just a matter of if they can kind of get it done or not. We have seen a resurgence here from from Vlad and I'm not buying that he's this of like four 15 hitter in his last 15 games. I don't think it's that, but if this is some kind of normalization, I guess the best way to ask it is when Vlad is going, again, not like this, because I expect there to be some coming back down to earth, but in a good lineup, what is Vlad, where does he hit? Like we have got so bogged down to the idea and rightfully so that he has to be a two or three hitter here, just be cut or four, I suppose, just because of the lack of other options. But on a good team, what's it got where, where is somebody like that hitting in the lineup? Yeah, he's hitting somewhere in the 180 range with with runners on base to like it's not the the best with traffic are way different than they are with nobody on like it just seems like it's a little bit more free and easy mentally with nobody on. I look, I have no idea like I it's it's again, I've said this forever. Every once in a while, the league will tell you when to tweak mechanical things. Me, I've said this since his 20, 21 season and he's had those, whatever season you want to call them that point of contact because of the path of his hands and where he has to make contact to get the ball in the air. It's very hard to do that with all the things he tries to do with his lower half. It's impossible. The reason why he hits the ball so hard is because he is oozing talent like it is he has more talent offensively than most humans do. That's why he hits the ball that hard, but consistently having the ball end up where he wants it to end up is a challenge because of the mechanical issues. So, you know, would you stick him in the Dodgers and he sees he hitting second? Probably not. I mean, he got three Hall of Famers in a row. Would he be hitting clean up? Probably not. We'll Smith's pretty good cleanup hitter. After that, is he a five hole hitter or is he a run producer or is he a six hole winner? Oh, look, you know, right now you would say he's not a run producer. So he's more of a, you know, get it started, spark the line up with a hundred and fifteen mile an hour line drive and, you know, somewhere maybe in that five spot on, I guess, if you had to force me to pick a spot on a really good team, maybe somewhere in there. It's, you know, it's impossible to tell again. They have their khakis just like we do, like it's, you know, they're going to figure out bat pass and trying to line up every guy right to have the most amount of success they could possibly have. So, you know, again, it's, he don't have to hit a ton of homers here. He just got to get a bunch of hits with second and third, second, third with hit doubles. That'd be nice. Yeah, I don't know. Hinsom homers would also help though. My goodness. He has his 10 extra base hits this season. Aaron judge in his last two games has six like that's, that's ridiculous. Well, how they're a shame on you for comparing the two. I know, no, I shouldn't. I shouldn't. Well, shame on you. I know doing that. Bad, bad job by me. No, God forbid the greatest prospect in the history of the sport, you know, be compared to every hit 60 homers. Nope. He hasn't. Then why are you comparing the two? No, I shouldn't. I, again, like you're right. This is not a guy that hits home runs. It's pretty clear outside of the one season where he did. I mean, it had. Boys and line drive hitter. He's a flat swing. You get balls to pitches that some can't like that's sort of his thing. It's just, you know, again, you got to adjust in the willingness to he's moved around. The batter's box is healthy. He's free and easier. You guys who like seeing walks and and seven pitch outs. I mean, you guys love that like that's, you know, that's a, that's a great thing, right? It's almost a good 15 mile an hour symbols. I love those singles. Member Kevin Bichio when everybody was raving about the eight pitch out. How's that going? Not so good. How would I get now? Yeah. I like when the ball goes out of the ballpark, which this team doesn't do like try doing that. I don't know. What do I know? I mean, they traded. They traded away some pretty, pretty big time bats that got hit in the middle. I mean, one dude's hitting cleanup for the Dodgers. Yeah, might have been a mistake. And you know, the return on that, like out of my code, striking out some guys. But yeah, Eric Swanson, I had a good season last year and maybe you can figure it out. But I don't know if you were the one that one of the people that were saying to Oscar was baseball IQ and run all over the place and, you know, talking to fans, catching baseballs and didn't. I don't remember. Were you one of those? No. Like I was the guy that said you can't have nine defenders who are going to make the Hall of Fame doing that. I said, you got to have that guy that, you know, all he does is thinking about get that thing, get down and get it singing and crack concrete and left field. That's what I was saying. And, you know, everybody sort of made fun of that. Now everybody's going, Hey, it'd be nice to have that guy that occasionally look like he's playing limblig on the basis. That'd be nice, you know, add a little energy to the mix. I don't know. Look. Yeah. Yep. It's not not great. Hey, maybe change is around starting tonight against the Rays. Be a good time. Are you excited about that? Doesn't sound like you're not but boy, I'd be taking the under in these white Sox games too. The white. Wait, what? Yeah. Thrilling games. Hey, get it above 500, man. You take two or three. I think optimistic here. Okay. You can't be that you can't be that arm chair quarterback coach and one man, you're happy and one man, you're not. You got to have a little confidence here. They're in the salt part of their schedule. They're going to get 10 games against the tigers and the white Sox. You get you get the next three against the Rays. You take two or three from the Rays. Say you go eight and two in those 10 games now you cook with gravy above 500. I'd say going to be being you got to be positive, man, like you got to, you know, fight, fight and claw. Right. Yeah, sure. Yeah, maybe maybe one of those hundred and fifteen mile an hour line drives will, you know, somehow find their way over offense one one of these days. Yeah. Laddie's the only reason why they're not hitting well. No, he's and he's been better. He's been better, but Justin Turner's like two first, less than 30. Oh, I know. And Elahondo Kirk looks like me, offensively, you know, we go down, we go down the list Danny Johnson. Don't play all the time. Like we go, you know, we could go down the list here on guys who you just talked about George Springer. I mean, George Springer's. Yeah. So there's a lot of dudes not getting the job done like, you know, and again, it just gets back to that thing that Jeff said yesterday. Do they have talent enough to turn this thing around or is it just information overload to the point to where it's just, you know, bow and flatty look like they're going to do whatever they're going to do this year and then it's just going to be filling in the blanks everywhere else. Yeah. We'll see. All right. Maybe they'll have a good clubhouse. Maybe that's something we keep for. Yeah. That'd be nice dudes. Yeah. Maybe they're fun to have a beer with. Everybody wants that. Yep. All right. Kevin. Great job as always. Goodbye. Glad we solved that. Glad we came up with the answers. Thanks, buddy. Thanks for having me on. Kevin Barker, Blurren Barker. Moving four to six starting on Tuesday. He was our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, North Lexus, North Lexus dot com, not a surprise we went long. Kevin Barker. All right. Time to have the wake and write presented by sports interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. We got a Vancouver Canucks team attempting to punch their ticket to the Western Conference final on hockey night in Canada, game six on Saturday, eight o'clock on sports net and CBC, the Canucks on the road in Edmonton, heavy underdogs plus 170. The Oilers minus 208 after the Canucks winning a pivotal game five at home, the total six and a half brand. A very quiet Conor McDavid and Lee on dry side of the past couple of games. That bodes the over for me. It's six and a half. You got to pay a little juice minus one 20, but that's what I like in this one. I mean, there's no more lead pipe lock than the Oilers winning this game by multiple goals. I think they went over five on the power play in that game five, Oilers minus a goal and a half plus one 20. I also like the Oilers on the series line plus one 50 to win this thing going back to Vancouver for a game seven. That was the wake and rake presented by sports interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. All right. When we come back, Sam McKee is waking up to the news that Scotty Sheffler was in handcuffs. Um, I made sure it was the first thing you saw. Like I sent him a text before the sun had really broke up. So I made sure he joins us next of real Kipper and Born is the fan morning show continues Ben and his Brent Gunning Sportsnet 590 the fan.
