Legends & Underdogs: WBC Playoffs Breakdown

This episode dives into the high-stakes action of the World Baseball Classic playoffs, highlighting the biggest moments and standout performances. We cover the United States’ journey to the championship and unfortunate ending as well as all the other thrilling games. We discuss who stepped up for their country and how strategy played a part in every game.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hello and welcome back to episode number 26 of Two Average Guys. Today we have another different special guest. It was Matt last time to talk about pool play. Now it is Sawyer and I's other friend, Nate. Nate, you want to say what's up?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

What's up, guys? How's it going?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Um, so he will be joining us for this episode of the podcast. I know I said that there was gonna be an episode dropping right after the championship, but we were a little delayed. Um, one of the other guys that I was supposed to bring on, he mixed up his schedule and we had to postpone the episode until now when I could get Nate to join us. Um, last thing we last thing we touched on was the cool play games. And I said the next episode would be about the World Baseball Classic playoffs. So that's what we're gonna get into. Um, my initial reaction, I'll just let you guys know, Team USA won the quarterfinal against Canada. They won the semifinal against the Dominican Republic, and they lost the championship to Team Venezuela.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Um not in dominating fashion.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Yeah, my initial reaction was I was very disappointed in the whole playoff world. I don't know what your thoughts on it were, Nate.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yeah, I think uh there's so much talent that there was no excuse for us not to at least cruise to a championship. Um Dominican Republic, I can kind of understand. Um the the Canada and Venezuela, I don't think we should have necessarily had a problem with. But yeah, disappointing USA baseball very mutual at this point.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Very disappointing. Last episode when Matt and myself were talking about this, we said that the DR should probably the Dominican Republic played Canada in their first game of the quarterfinals. We said that they should probably win by five or more runs. And they actually ended up 10 running them, 10-0. They only played seven innings, and we said the United States should beat Canada by five or more runs as well. That should have been a very easy game, in our opinion. Yeah, should have been no problem. Yeah, the United States ended up winning that game five to three. Um Logan Webb, I thought looked good. Four and two thirds, four hits, five strikeouts, one walk, no runs. I thought the bullpen looked okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Maybe, maybe a hot topic. I would have liked to see, I'd rather have seen him in the championship than McQueen.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

We'll we'll oh I promise we'll get there. I promise we'll get there. Um, unlike Matt, just to put that out there, Nate is a Phillies fan. Him and I went to one of the postseason games last year against the Dodgers. That was a lot of fun. The boss. Yeah, it was it was awesome. Um, but he is a Phillies fan, so he he won't be shouting out Nolan McLean like Matt was last episode.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Well, you you don't start a Met in a big game.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

But even even in the Canada games, they only had eight hits, and Bryce and PCA had four of them. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

I mean Tarang definitely held his uh his weight the entirety of the tournament, I feel like who's that, Tarang?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I thought Bryce Strang had a fantastic world baseball classic.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, I don't think he didn't need to be a star, but I think he put himself in a position to stand out, especially among some disappointing performances.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Yeah, absolutely. I I thought that he should have been the starting second baseman because his defense is really, really good, and he put that on display. Um, in the first inning of the Dominican Republic game, I know he made uh a diving play to get the third. Yeah, yeah. Um, but I mean he hit like over 400. He he was awesome. Uh yeah, I mean there's like debate if he should he should have been playing. I know the same with like Gunnar Henderson, who hit like damn near 400. Yeah, I mean Gunnar was lights out, but we'll move on to the lineup for the championship in a little bit. Um, so in the other quarterfinal games, Italy beat Puerto Rico eight to six. Not really a surprise there. I kind of thought that game was gonna be a toss-up. Um, Italy was definitely a sleeper this tournament.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

NOLA shoved.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Yeah, I did not think that Italy was gonna be nearly as good as they were. Um, but they big game NOLA. Yeah, they they definitely surprised me. And then Venezuela beat Japan eight to five. I said that last episode. I said don't be surprised, don't be surprised if Venezuela wins that game. I will say I did not have money on Venezuela winning the entire world baseball classic, but I definitely did. Um, I mean, obviously, Matt and I, I'm sure you agree, Nate. We thought Japan was gonna move on from that side of the bracket.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Yeah, I think I was I thought for sure it was a repeat of 2023 in the championship.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Right. Uh most people thought it was gonna be USA versus Japan, same as 2023. But Japan goes out in the first round, didn't even make the semifinals. Uh very disappointing for Japan, but very, very exciting for Venezuela.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Yeah, I mean it's a new chance, especially with everything that happened in 23 with the Turner and Bram Flam. Um, they were up, what, three in that game? Definitely a little vengeance for the ends.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

What do you think about speaking of Trey Turner with the grandson, what do you think about him not even being invited to play for Team USA this year?

SPEAKER_01 6:01

I'm conflicted. I understand Bobby Witt is your starter, but he did so much for them in 23 and proven that he rises to a different level with that USA across his chest.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

So I I would have liked to see him on it, especially being a Phillies fan. I mean, he he got MVP votes last year. I don't think that's for the reason.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Like he he had his best defensive season and one of his best offensive, if not his best offensive season. He won batting title.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Like he's got that speed too, he can utilize late.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Right. Obviously, Bobby Witt's gonna be your guy, uh best shortstop, top five, top three player in baseball right now. But not even like inviting Trey Turner, in my opinion, was a little disrespectful, especially for the performance he had in place.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Yeah, I think it was a I think it was a mistake. I think a guy like Ernie Clement could have been left off the roster.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Right. You're you're inviting Ernie Clement over Trey Turner, and there's no shade that Ernie Clement means a very good ball player, but if you're putting Ernie Clement next to Trey Turner, there's no comparison.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

He doesn't make$300 million.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Yeah, I will say, shout out Ernie Clement. He set the record for hits in a single postseason last year with the Blue James. He did, he had a good playoffs, he had a good playoffs, really, really impressive, but come on now.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

It is like it doesn't he he shouldn't have been there in the nicest way possible.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Right. I'll love to Ernie, but try over Ernie any day of the week. And I think even that as a Mets fan would say that. I think anyone with some balance would say that. But we move on to the semifinal. It set up the game that everyone's anticipating, the United States versus the Dominican Republic. Uh Nate, what was your initial thought? I gave a little bit of mine because I thought this would happen. So last episode they saw a little bit of insight that I'll touch on, but I want I want to hear yours.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

I I mean I think starting with Skeens, I thought he actually looked a little shaky. Um we get up six or seven hits. I mean, he figured out a way to work around it, but I was expecting domination. Maybe that's because I'm not a necessarily a pirates fan. I don't get to watch them. So when I I do watch them, I expect shut out, sit down, sit down, sit down. Um I mean I they thought they that's a really good team that they found a way to beat. And a game like that, you just have to scratch and claw your way to a win.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Yeah, I I absolutely agree. And then of course I'm gonna ask you going in, obviously we know the outcome, the USA won two to one, but going in, did you think that the USA was gonna win?

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Or I thought they would pull through. Yeah, I did. Um a conservative yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Uh I will admit uh last episode I I honestly, if you had told me who was gonna win, I would have said the yeah, I thought I thought the starting pitching would put us over.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

I thought that's what it would be.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Um yeah, Paul Schienes threw, he went four and a third, six hits, one earned run, only two strikeouts. But once again, this is beginning of the season. Paulskins, you're not seeing him in mid-season form.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah, I mean, he was yesterday, I think he was only 95-96 in his spring training starts.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, I mean, I know he was up to 99 in this game against the DR, but that's the world baseball classic, country on your shoulders type picture. Yeah, I mean, Luis Severino was up to 99, and he's not another. He was he was shed to start the year. He was electric three in the third, five hits, one earned run, six strikeouts, but he struck out the first two batters of the game, and he got out of a really tight jam in the second inning or the third two, and it was his adrenaline was high. You saw him screaming, you saw him pumping the fist, you saw that like that celebration from the Dominican Republic that one, the USA never had, they never celebrated like the DR. But two, it kind of showed like the culture they got there, how much this means to them.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah, I think it was a little bit of like the I think the US should have had properly, they had the the business-like approach, but at the same time, you gotta have fun with it too. So I think they I think they could have shown a little bit more, but I'm not the one playing.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

So I completely agree. I thought that the USA was was too it was dry, it was dry, right? They were they just took it like a business meeting, and in my opinion, you're not gonna be very successful in an international event in general, it's supposed to be fun, right? And you're supposed to enjoy it. By the way, the USA got out hit by the DR. They did, yeah. I actually didn't even know that.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

But so my shout out Mason Miller, though, might be the best believer in baseball right now.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Um there's no Mike, he is.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

I'm not even sure it's that close. For me, it's Him or Chapman. I think he's ahead above Chapman. If you took Chapman five years ago, that's a debate. But that's fair.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

That's fair.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

He's heads above current Chapman. Uh Paul Skins, I I will agree, I didn't think he was on his best game, but I mean, besides the one pitch to Junior Camonero, which Camonero.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

I didn't even think it was that bad of a pitch.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

I thought it was good. Yeah, and the pitch wasn't the pitch was yeah, was it a high kind of hanging slider? Sure, but it wasn't it wasn't even in the strike zone. And hold it.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

It was out there, and he yeah, he got that thing pretty good. He was he's been hot though. He's had a good he had a good tournament in general.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

That was an outside pitch that G McCaminow somehow drove 400 feet to left. I think it was left center. Uh that ball was crushed, and I didn't even I didn't even know he could get to that pitch. But I mean the guy hit 45 bombs last year. Yeah, first full season. He's gonna hit bombs.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Um he might hit for 50 or two.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Honestly, that's not a crazy prediction.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

That's not crazy, especially in that that that park that they're they're playing in.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

100%. Um, so the USA won that game based off Gunnar Henderson hitting a 400-foot home run and Roman Anthony hitting a 420-foot home run in the fourth inning.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Two of the two of the younger guys shining through, uh, I think both of them are well, I know both of them are under 25.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yeah, I think I think Ant Anthony was possibly our best player of the entire tournament.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

I I thought he would had a very fantastic world baseball classic for a guy that's for a guy that didn't even know he was on the team until Corbin Carroll goes down. Yeah. Imagine him on this team though, too. Right, but honestly, Carroll performing better than Roman Anthony? I we'll never get that answer. I don't think he performs better than Roman Anthony did this World Base World Five. I thought Roman Anthony had tough performance to follow up. Very, very good. Definitely tough to follow up. Yeah, I mean, I would agree with you. Probably Roman Anthony, Bobby Witt, or Bryce Durang, just because of Bobby Witt's incredible defense. I mean, three diving plays, uh doesn't even look at Livy Dunn like that. She hit like 280, which I guess is okay. I was expecting a little bit more, but if you're gonna make if you're gonna have like a 10 outs above average defense in like five games, I mean I guess I'll take 280. Like that plays. Yeah. Um but you know, I thought the I I really thought the young guys shined in this one. I'll take Tarang, Anthony, even Henderson. Agreed. Um and I I was also very surprised, in my opinion, when I saw Luis Severino go back out there for the fourth inning. Um the announcer touched upon it too. When you're coming off that high adrenaline inning like he was, it's a little interesting in such a big game when you have an MLB loaded roster to put that guy back out there because he's not gonna be the same. He's gonna run up to 99 in those high pressure situations. And the next inning, his adrone is gonna wear off, he's gonna show more fatigue. Uh yeah. He I think he lost a couple miles per hour. I think he was down to like 96, and that kind of that kind of showed. I mean, Gunnar Henderson definitely jumped on a pitch and took it out of the yard, tied the ball game, and then they ran him out. Yeah, that was his night right there. Gregory Soto comes in and gives up a bomb to Roman Anthony on I mean, it was a decent pitch. I thought Roman Anthony just put a really good swing on it. Oh, that's awful.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Yeah, I mean the the Severino thing, I don't know. I feel like you get him, he gets out of that. You I feel he almost kind of earned another shot. Although I do see the side of pulling him. Um, but he definitely let that one.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Yeah, uh, you're talking about a team that has you know Abner Uribe, Sr. Anthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto in the pen. I think you would have been okay pulling him and going to someone earlier. Agreed. That ended up being the difference in the game.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

I mean, yeah. But I mean, managing I I I mean it costs the US, in my opinion, at at some points in the tournament as well. So I guess it's just just part of it.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Absolutely. I I I did not think that Mark did a very good job. De Rosa had a D for a tournament, in my opinion. Yeah, I did not think he did a very good job. But the second semifinal game, Venezuela beats Italy 4-2. Um, Venezuela kind of just went pitching by committee. They didn't really have a guy go more than two and a third. Their farthest their pitcher that went the most in that game through two and a third innings, they went off through less. So they just kind of scraped by, made it work. They were down two zero early. Um kind of battled back for one in the fourth and three in the seventh to take a four-two lead. Shout out, Michael Garcia, Luisa Rise, the one, two, three in their order all came through. Um Italy jumped out to an early lead with help from the bottom of their lineup, actually. Shout out Dante Nori. Uh he's gonna be good. Yeah. And then Aaron Nola looks good. Four innings, four hits, one earned run, one walk, three strikeouts. Looks good for the Phillies. Uh-huh. Very good, very good. Hopefully, we get an even year Nola. Even year Nola. Even year Nola. For people that don't understand that, the Aaron Nola seems to have his best years when the year is an even number, 2026, 2024, 2022, stuff like that. And you know, last year it was odd 2025, and he had right around a 60 RA.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

So yeah, what a 5'6 or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Yeah, and looked absolutely atrocious. So hopefully we're getting hints of NOLA going back to to even even year NOLA. Three 3-1-5 this year. 3-1-5. Will be pretty good. But no, I thought Venezuela looked good. And then, of course, that's us the stage for the championship. Venezuela versus Team USA. Um, maybe a little. I actually didn't think this was. I thought this game was gonna be a little bit more political than it was, based upon the fact that the United States kind of just took the press. Um, yeah, to put it wrongly, they walked in the trap. And then you're playing them in the World Baseball Classic Championship.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

And that's that's another thing. They have more to kind of play for if they're not happy with it, or you know, maybe they were happy with what we did, and then it didn't matter. But it will definitely external motivation if they didn't necessarily agree with the United States decisions there.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Yeah, I don't know. It was definitely probably the most interesting world baseball classic you could get. The most fun, well, actually, this game was really fun, but I think the most fun and anticipated one would have been Japan USA. I agree. Venezuela USA, in my opinion, was almost for Venezuela to win, it was almost like ironic to me. Like uh Yeah, I uh I didn't have it on my bingo card. Definitely not. I I will say I did think Venezuela could beat Japan, but I did not exceed them going all the way. Uh I didn't Italy looked hot. I thought they were gonna get through, and it was gonna be a really good one. Italy did look really good. Sleeper of the tournament for sure. Uh those Italians that that pasta will get you. But you get into the championship game, and I was appalled. Thoroughly appalled with the United States.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

They looked horrible. And then Deja vu happened, and we thought we had hope.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

They looked horrible. I mean, we'll touch upon that later, but we'll start early. They looked horrible. Uh Venezuela's throwing, I mean, don't get me wrong, they're throwing good guys, but they're not the elite pitchers. Yeah, they're not. Uh I mean, I only recognize a couple of these names.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

And the USA had three hits.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah, I think I think the Dominican staff was way stronger.

unknown 20:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Not that we, I mean, at the end of the day, we scored two runs both games, but I thought we at least put up better A B against the DR.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

You get to we had three heads and Harper had one. Or Harper had two.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Yeah. I thought Harper had a did not have a great tournament until Batman went.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

The other one was Bryce Tarang. Bryce Durang being Bryce Tarang. He ended up hitting 364, but it's a little tanked. He was hitting 467 up until the championship game where he went one for three. Brought him down to 364. Uh, Gunnar Henderson ended up hitting 400 for the tournament. Just kind of shouting out those two guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

I thought PCA actually looked like he wanted to play too.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

I was thoroughly upset seeing Bregman and Byron Buxton in the lineup. I don't know if that's just me, but I think Gunner Henderson and PCA deserve to play. They earned their spots.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

I would agree. I think PCA definitely should have been in center. Um, I don't care if it's a righty or a lefty on the mound.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Right. You can go into matchups as what as much as you want. Alex Bregman hit 143 in the tournament. And Gunner hit what? Or 20? So Alex Bregman hit 143, Gunner Henderson hit 400. Yeah. PCA hit 263. Do you know what Buxton hit? Ofer. Zero.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Zero.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yeah, he had an Ofer. That's I mean, that's DeRossa.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

I mean absolutely inexcusable. I was I knew they were gonna go Bregman. I knew they were gonna go Buxton. I knew they were gonna play the lefty, righty matchup. But you just hope they didn't. But I just was sitting here going, these guys aren't performing. That's that's why you started Will Smith over Cal Raleigh. Because Will Smith, like in my you I thought both catchers had a bad tournament. I but I think Will Smith had a way better tournament than Cal Raleigh. Oh, agreed. Agreed. Agreed.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

But um I don't think Will Smith didn't stand out to me.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

No, and I think overall, at least off of last season, Cal Raleigh was better than Will Smith last season. I don't know about overall. I really like Will Smith, but at least last season, Cal Riley played better. But yet DeRossa goes, I'm gonna play the guy who's gonna give me the best chance of winning, who's been the hotter, the hotter bat that tournament, which was Will Smith. So obviously he's thinking about matchups and who's been playing well in the tournament, and but just throws that out the window when it comes. And yeah, I get it. It's Alex Brighton. He's an all-star, future Hall of Famer, whatever you want to say. Buterson was hitting over 400.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

I mean, Gunner has had some good seasons. He struggled a bit last year at times, but I mean, he's a he's an all-world kind of player. There's no for me, even one for one, I'm still taking Gunner.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Right. I mean, I don't Bregman had a really good season. I don't know if I would take him fully, but from what I saw in the World Baseball Classic, it wouldn't, it wasn't even it wasn't even a decision in my mind. Should have been gone 100%. I had I don't care about the lefty lefty. You saw Roman Anthony, and Roman Anthony's a good player, but you saw Roman Anthony go lefty-lefty against Gregory Sherman taking yards. Propelled the USA to a win. These young guys people play matchups too much, in my opinion, sometimes. I agree. It's too statistical at times. I get it. That's Rob Thompson. But I mean, come on, man. At some point, you you gotta just play the guy that's hot. And Gunner and PCA were hot. PCA was coming off, you know, that two home run game to kind of help the USA advance.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Like yeah, that was he was our only guy that gave him that was really building luck.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Right, against Italy. I I was I don't even know. Uh it really upset me to see a lineup. And then shout out Terrick Scuble for screwing the US. Yeah, just bailed. Just bailed, left us with Nolan McLean to throw, who's a good pitcher. I'll give him his props. He's a very good young pitcher. He's a Mets player, so I have my own opinions, but he's a very good young pitcher. I think his stuff is really, really gross. I think he's a good arsenal.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

But starting he's solid, but you don't start a Met in a big game.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

But not even you don't start a Met. You don't start a rookie. Yeah, yeah. He's a rookie. He's literally, he didn't even play enough games last year for it to count as his rookie year. This year, upcoming, will be his rookie year. He will be in contention for rookie. In my opinion, he'll probably win. He'll be up there. Yeah, he'll be up there. I think it'll definitely be top three in voting, assuming he has a good year. He's good, but he's a rookie. I just don't see I don't I don't understand it. You have guys what about that Joe Ryan thing? I heard that rumor going on. Yeah, Joe Ryan, I don't know, a couple injuries or something. I don't even know. Is that what it was? Okay. Yeah, he got injured, ended up not going. Uh I heard rumors that he was like replacing Kershaw, but I don't even know if that ended up. I think he ended up not going completely.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Um, I would have liked to see him throw that game as well. I mean, he's an elite pitcher in his own right.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Yeah, absolutely. I agree 100%. But even like uh even like a Matthew Boyd, in my opinion, he might he's not better than McLean. I think McLean's better than Boyd, but Boyd has experience. Agreed. You know, I mean Boyd pitched in the playoffs this this past year for the MLB. Um Mets collapsed, didn't make the playoffs. McLean doesn't have the playoff experience. I I just don't think McLean had started a big game. And the first ones, the World Baseball Classic Championship against a very, very good Venezuelan lineup.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah, I think that would definitely was not putting him in the best chance to succeed and just the team as a as a whole. And look, not for nothing, both games McQueen started are the two games that we lost. That is true. And both games he puts us in a hole early, and our bats don't wake up until it's too late.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Yeah, I mean that is true. Four and two-thirds, four hits, two or runs, four K's, a walk. It was a decent outing. I mean, it was kind of what I expected from him. I guess a little bit better. Um but the two runs, I mean, I guess I can't be mad if they only scored two runs because our bats had three hits. We weren't gonna win the game. Yeah. But it was I was disappointed with the with what ended up happening. I thought it handled better. Um even if you start, even if you start like Boyd, and if he doesn't look good, pull him early and go to McLean.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Or like or I thought he should have been on a shorter leash than he was, or start someone else and have them on a short leash with McLean to follow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

I wouldn't have minded seeing Boyd against Canada either, and then having Webb throw the championship.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Right. And if or start McLean against Canada. Well, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

He was on short rest, I think, at that point.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

He threw again, but once again, that comes down to scheduling, bro. Like schedule it correctly, like, come on. But I don't know. I I I really don't think the pitching was handled very well, which leads me to my next point. When Garrett Whitlock came in the ninth inning and walked the first batter, I thought he should have been pulled immediately after that. Is there no three-batter minimum rule? I don't know. Let me double check that real quick.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

But I I thought that's where it originated from. I could be completely wrong though, I'm not gonna lie to you.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

I don't know, to be honest. Um but it was I thought he looked okay. Yes, the three-batter minimum rule is enforced for world baseball classic.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Yeah, so I mean, it's a it's a tough call to even put he'd been lights out in the tournament, to to be fair. Um but I think after that that third guy, I thought he looked erratic and shaky. I don't think he made him in there.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

They pulled him after the third guy. He means he faced the minimum. But I guess, okay. Well, knowing that there was a three-batter rule, you can't pull him after the walk. So let me go to this. Why wasn't Mason Miller throwing the ninth inning?

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Yeah, I don't know. I heard it was something with like the Padres ass, but I I really don't know.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

This is what it really gets me upset because these the MLB teams, bro. So this is what happened. The Mark DeRossa talked to the Padres and told them that they would only that he would only use Mason Miller if it was a save opportunity, and told the Red Sox that if it was a tie game, they were gonna go to Whitlock. Sure, whatever. In a game that is two to two.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Your bats haven't been on.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

So the bats were not there. We had momentum following Bryce Harper's home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game. You have momentum, you throw your best pitcher, screw what you said the MLB teams, throw your best pitcher, and then coming up, you had Schwarber, you had Gunnar Henderson who pinched hit, and Roman Anthony. Those are three guys that can end the game. Can end the game, but all three of them had really good tournaments. I mean, Kyle Harbour had a really good tournament. He didn't hit bombs, he only had one home run, but he ended up hitting 320. He was getting hits, he was hitting the ball, and then Gunnar Henderson looked really good. He had 400. Roman Anthony ended up 280. All of them can run the ball out of the park, all of them were having really good world baseball classics, and you had all the momentum, you had all the momentum, and they they they ruined it because they threw Whitlock, and Whitlock's a very good pitcher, but at that point in the game, you throw your best, and I you throw your poser out there. I don't like the MLB because the Padres are the reason they didn't throw Mason Miller, yeah. And it's like, yeah, I get it, but Mason Miller's a one-inning guy where 20 what's 15 pitches.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Yeah, either way he's not either way, he's not going out for a second.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

He got he got a rest day yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Like, what's let Willock throw the 10th if it gets there?

SPEAKER_00 31:17

What's 15 pitches gonna do? Like, and then at that point, like, what are you playing for the walk-off in the ninth inning? You gotta have pitchers that can throw the 10th, 11th, 12th, stuff like that. Was Mason Miller never gonna get in the game? Like, I mean, it's your best guy. I was just, yeah, how can you leave your best guy in a chance to win the championship? You leave your best guy on the bench. Yeah, I thought that was a horrible move to I DeRosso, and I think it is fully due to the MLBC and they care too much.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah. I mean, even like obviously the USA hockey team just won the medal, like they let their guys go.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Right. And that was embarrassing to where the USA showed up to the championship game in game-worn USA and got embarrassed. Embarrassed.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Not half the performance that the hockey team just put on.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

The hockey team went and played their hearts out, and team USA, team USA looked like they they didn't even want to be there. Yeah, it looked horrible. Bryce Harper, I was gonna touch on this. We're both Phillies fans. He had two of the three hits in the championship and hit a game-tying home run, bottom of the eighth inning, two-run home run. I I was going crazy.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

It was deja vu.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

It was deja vu back to the padres game, Harper, the swing of your life. Um, I was absolutely going crazy with that. And then not even 15 minutes later, I was like almost in tears because Whitlock blew the game. And that pitch to A Eugenio Suarez was atrocious.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

That was bad. It was bad. There was nothing good about it.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

He literally threw a ball. A changeup, right? I think it was a sinker. It was a sinker or a change up. It moved from outside right over the middle of the plate. And the answer goes, you know the pitch that you don't want to throw to Eugenio Suarez. He really likes the pitch that, and there's a double to left center. Yeah, the pitch that he really likes is the ball that goes back into the heart of the plate, and that's exactly what you threw. Read the scouting report. Like, come on. Yeah, it's it's just sloppy.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

I don't see it.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

Really, really sloppy. Um, another guy who I thought was sloppy. The captain.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yeah, playoff judge, you know, falls asleep.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Um he came up after Harper in that in the eighth inning.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Just stared at striker.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Okay's looking. Uh uh. He ended up hitting 222. He had two home runs. I don't love it. But like I needed more from the captain. I needed more from Judge.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

I didn't get supposed to be the MVP, the first or second, depending on who you ask player in the world. You need to perform like it.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

You look at these teams, Venezuela's top three, Acuna, Michael Garcia, Luis Arrayz, those three led them to the championship. You look at the DR's um big like first three batters, they had Fernando Tatis, Catelmarte, Juan Soto, and then their fourth guy was Vlad Guerrero. They did a lot in leading their teams. Yes. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 34:42

Like Sleeper Jumer Caminero there, too. He had a great game.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

Like they all they all helped propel their team. And you see our one, two, three, Bobby Witt, he was good. I wanted more offensively. He was way better than I wanted, than I expected defensively. I wanted more offensively. Bryce Harper, I he had a very good championship, but outside of that, it was not a good he was quiet, the rest. Very, very quiet. The entire world baseball class is leading up.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

People are gonna forget about how bad he was to start that tournament now that he hit that home run now.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

And then Judge 222 over four in the championship didn't really have any of those. Our top three did not do what they were supposed to do.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

Yeah, there was no real wow moments for me outside of the Harper home run.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Had a lot of production from the bottom of our lineup, and I I had a lot of promise when Judge first home run of the world baseball classic goes yard. I was like, I was like, you know what? Maybe we just found our guy. And then dude went into hibernation, it was dormant. Yes, snooze fast. Uh really, really bad. Really, really bad. I I don't know. The this was a tournament that the USA, it was the USA's tournament to lose, and they did just that. They lost. Yeah. They green more. They had the best team on paper. They, you know, this was getting comparisons to to the dream team that played basketball for the USA in the Olympics. Yeah, that's the comparisons that this team was getting. And they absolutely did not live up to the expectations, they did not live up to the heights. They crumbled, really.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

It's it's unfortunate, but uh at the same time, it's kind of the same old story. 23, I think we had the best team.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

23, you lose to the you lose by the same score in both championships, three to two.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

Yeah, I mean, I think and talk about someone that deserved to be on the roster, Mike Trout. I don't care. Yeah, but I it's it's a harder, it's a harder case.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

I think all of our outfielders performed. I love Mike Trout, best player of our generation, but but all of our outfielders were better than him. Yeah, I think not the same guy.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

I he's not the same, but I think he deserved a little bit more of a look, being for what he's done for this sport in general. Like, take example for like a like Brock Nelson on the USA hockey team, three times three-generation Olympic gold medalist family. Right. That's the only reason he makes that team.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

Right. And like you saw Kershaw going, but obviously he's a pitcher, so that's a little bit different. I mean, you can kind of take an extra pitcher with the with the staff that we had. Um, and even he ended up leaving eventually in the playoffs. But yeah, no, I mean, there's not really much else to talk about. The USA, very, very disappointing, ended up, I guess, second place. You saw there was a video circulating, Kyle Schwabri got his silver medal and immediately took it off. Yep. Proper response. Because they were they were expected to win and they didn't. I won't say it was embarrassing because they played good, but it was it was a little disappointing. It was disappointing. It was definitely a disappointment.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

I think I if they went out guns blazing in the championship, it's not as hard of a pill to swallow.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

Right. They they fell over and laid an egg.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Like if they if they hits if they lose 10-9, I'm okay with it. Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

If they put up at least put up a fight, like yeah, literally, literally did nothing.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

They had one moment that entire dance.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Really, I I don't know. Just poor, in my opinion, really poor. Biggest moment of most of these guys' lives. They kept they crumbled.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

I mean, unfortunately, we've seen Judge do it time and time again. It reminds you of being a Phillies fan a little bit as well. Here, yeah, uh silent silent bats when you need it.

SPEAKER_00 39:22

But like I said earlier, this is a home run dominated lineup. And you know what? They didn't they didn't get their home runs, and I thought for sure someone was gonna hit five. You you you knew that you knew that was a home run lineup, and they didn't get their home runs and they ended up not winning. I mean, yeah, I don't think that's my issue with home run lineups is they're entirely dependent on home runs. You don't have base hit guys, and in a game like this, I think you needed base hit guys, and they were not.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

I think I think you need three base hit that are might hit one out here and there, but as a base, I think to be purely successful, you need you need three guys that are gonna consistently get on.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

In my opinion, I completely disagree. I think you need I think you need six base hit guys or seven base hit guys, two or three home run guys. I think that's what it means. If you can I can see that if you can have two guys that have like whole like if if you had Schwarber and Raleigh or something like that, and the rest of the rest of the team is base hit guys, that plays because you know, in my opinion, hitting is contagious. I was told that from a young age by my dad. When people hit, the rest of the team hits. And if you have a bunch of base hit guys, you have a much higher chance of getting and getting the team going than if you just have a bunch of guys swinging for a home run. A home run, it's gonna get people excited, but it'll eventually die out. If you got two hits in one inning and then three hits in another inning, and then four hits in another inning, and then two hits in an inning, that's gonna keep a team pumped up the whole game.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

That adds up, it adds up.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

Home run lasts two, three innings, you know. I I really, really think that base hits win game, win games in an era that's dominated by home runs and games.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

I agree. Especially I think that shows true in playoffs and big games and such. But the pitching's so good nowadays.

SPEAKER_00 41:30

Right. You you gotta be able to get some hits and you're not gonna be able to just rely on home runs. And um that is, you know, we Sawyer and I, when Sawyer's able to get back on the podcast, we we plan on in inviting Freddie back for kind of a post World Baseball Classic talk, and I will be asking some of these questions towards him. Uh, what was her thought, what were his thoughts on stuff like that, pitching, um kind of kind of getting some basic guys in there. Uh I will absolutely ask him some of these questions, so we'll hear what he has to say being a coach on Team USA. But yeah, I mean to kind of wrap up, underwhelming world baseball classic, but I guess I still can't be that mad. USA got a second.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Yeah, I mean, I'm still a little disappointed being like with USA, I expect to win. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 42:26

Def definitely disappointing. However, to switch the topics, MLB opening day is in two days.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

Yeah, Thursday, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

So uh this won't be posted until tomorrow, which will be Tuesday, March 24th. But the first regular season game starts Wednesday, March 25th.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

They're Wednesday?

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Yeah, Yankees, Giants. One game. One game, Yankees, Giants on Wednesday, and then Thursday you see uh kind of everyone play. Everyone else, yeah. So Thursday is like opening day for everyone, but Yankees, Giants, Wednesday starts the MLB season. I'm really, really excited. Um I think after this week, Sawyer has some more free time. So maybe in the next week or two, we'll get the episode with Freddy out, and you'll see some episodes about opening day, stuff like that. Uh the Phillies have named Christopher Sanchez as their starter for opening day. Rightfully so.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

New contract as well.

SPEAKER_00 43:31

Yeah, he got extended. We'll we'll have to make an episode on that sooner with the Phillies extensions with their pitchers and stuff like that. But, anyways, this has been a pretty long episode covering about it. Nate, thank you so much for coming on, giving some of your time to talk about the classic with us. And yeah, guys, we'll we'll see you in the next episode. Hopefully, with Sawyer. If not, maybe with another special guest. Nate might be coming back. Um we'll definitely get something going in the next week. See you guys.