Takes

The Phillies will destroy the all-time postseason record for team home runs

The all time record for Homers in a playoff, it was the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020 with 34 home runs in those playoffs. These Phillies are on pace to destroy that record. And it's unreal.

I would rather the Phillies play the Rangers than the Astros in the World Series

I would rather play the Rangers. [than the Astros]

The Braves are soft and complainers after their playoff exit

This series [we learned] Braves kind of soft, kind of complainers. If you're a Braves fan, you won a World Series a couple years ago, you'd be happy with that. But now you seem pretty soft. This postseason between the complaining about a reporter tweeting out an accurate statement from the clubhouse... gimme a fucking break.

The Diamondbacks are scary and should not be taken lightly

The [Diamondbacks] are scary. The Diamondbacks are scary. They're very scary. I'm not—Zac Gallen is for real. I'm not looking at that team lightly at all.

Bryce Harper embodies the city of Philadelphia more than any superstar

I'm so jealous of Philly fans because you got a player that is a superstar potential Hall of Famer someday. And he's such a dirtbag—like Phillies fans. He is one of them. When he signed his deal, he was like 13 years, I don't want any opt-outs, I want to die here. Bury me in Philly. He embodies everything that fan base is all about.

The Astros have proven they never needed to cheat to be successful

What they've proven to me—and should be to a lot of people—is that they never had to cheat in the first place. Whether or not they would've won in 2017, that remains to be seen... but as far as getting there seven straight [ALCSs], I don't think that they needed to cheat to do that. They were talented all along.

The Phillies will beat the Rangers in the World Series

World Series prediction: Phillies over the Rangers. It just feels like the Phillies won't be denied. They feel more inevitable this year.

I only enjoy watching baseball when my team is on offense

What I said was... I like when my team is on offense, and I don't like when my team is on defense. [It's because] in the short series, every [pitch] is so important. You lose one and you're just back that much.

You would always rather give up a solo home run than a walk in the 9th

Top of the ninth, up 3-1. First batter. Would you rather give up a walk or a solo shot? I'd rather give up a solo shot. [Because with a walk] all of a sudden the tying run is on base and it's just all the nerves. Tension. I texted Dan Haren and he said 'no question you'd rather give up a solo shot.'

The Phillies losing Game 2 was a 'better way to lose' than a bad loss because they showed fight

I would much rather see go down like that than if they were to roll over. It's not a good loss. It was a bad loss... but the team showed enough fight to win that game. The Braves just played better in the ninth. I would rather see [that].

The MLB will change the rules to help the Dodgers if they get swept again

Only thing I fear is that if the Dodgers lose again, they're 100% gonna get the rules changed to make it so that the Dodgers can be like automatically in the NLCS. 'Cause this would be back to back years.

The Phillies home environment is unlike anything else in professional sports

I stand by it. I mean, I'm not the only one who's been saying... like, that video of the crowd singing Bryson Stott's walk-up song as he walks to the plate and then five seconds later hitting a grand slam is like one of the coolest sports videos of the year.

Playoff baseball at Citizens Bank Park is one of the hardest environments in all of professional sports

Playoff Baseball at the bank is one of the hardest environments in professional sports. It's different. It's different than any other stadium. I mean, you just see it, the feels different. It sounds different.

Booing doesn't work for baseball players because it's a game of confidence, but it works for football players

Baseball's a different sport. It's about confidence. Booing doesn't do anything for a Baseball player, for a football player. Getting booed gets a little driving, you get a little angry. You, you maybe get a little push on the guy next to you and Baseball. It's a mental game, it's a game of confidence.

The Paige Spiranac bobblehead night saved the Brewers' season

The Paige Spiranac Bobblehead completely turned around the Brewer's season... on June 16th, the Brewers hosted the Pirates... they were 34 and 34. They beat the Pirates that night... and they wound up winning the NL Central with a record of 92 and 70. And they were 58 and 36 after the Paige Spiranac Bobblehead night.

The Cubs will not make the playoffs after their September collapse

The Cubs have had just an epic collapse. The Cubs are most likely not going to make the playoffs because they don't have any tiebreakers. Suzuki just missed a ball, it went right by him. Easy catch. There's nothing worse than a September collapse.

Stephen Strasberg's contract was the worst in baseball history

Post World series, he was paid $460,000 per pitch. He was paid 2.6 million per out. 7.8 million per inning pitch. And he was paid $30.6 million per start. Whoa. Probably, probably the worst contract in baseball history.

Shohei Ohtani will sign with the Mets and fail to live up to his contract

[Ohtani] goes to the Mets and then does not live up to the contract. It would be very funny though if the Mets signed him and then he just pulled a deGrom and just like every year in June, had to get shut down.

Shohei Ohtani should become the best closer in baseball history

Why doesn't Shohei Ohtani become the best closer in the game? I was thinking about that. I went up, looked up Smoltz's history. He was a great pitcher for the Braves. Moved into the closing role and then dominated for a few years, then came back and started. He would be a lights out closer. Imagine if he was just like ding every day and then closing games. That would rule.

The Yankees should extend both Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman

I think they should extend Aaron Boone. Yeah. I think he's the steady hand and Cashman. I think Aaron Boone is a steady hand that the Yankees need to control their franchise. ... We official vote of confidence as they should extend both of them. Yes.

Signing Aaron Judge to a mega-deal was a mistake

Build around Aaron Judge. ... I don't know if you wanna build around Aaron Judge. He's like 32 isn't he? They just signed him to a mega deal. I know that was a mistake. ... He's gonna be 32 before next season. Okay. Whew. And he's got like 14 years left on his contract.

The MLB pitch clock is more of a hitter's clock than a pitcher's clock

I kind of think it's more of a hitter's clock personally. It speeds them up. You know, it seemed like we were always waiting on the hitter. You know, they had their walkup song and they were stepping out and calling timeout all the time. So I think as a pitcher, for me personally, it'd be great because I think it speeds the hitter up and kind of keeps the game moving.

My sleeper pick to win the World Series is the Texas Rangers

My sleeper this year is Texas. You know, I'm staying with, I'm, I think I'd love the odds on Texas this year, you know, if I had money to bet, I'd go down and at least make sure I put something on them.

Celebrating a regular-season no-hitter is lame

Celebrating a no hitter in the regular season. Like who would do that? ... [Lorenzen] is basically did the Josh Hamilton to himself. He's not gonna be the same pitcher after this match.

If the Orioles suspend their announcer for stating facts, they should also suspend the production truck and PR team

You're suspending the broadcaster for stating those facts. Where did he get those facts from? The truck. ... Where did the truck get those facts from? The team's pr game notes in that case. Suspend all of them. ... If you're gonna just suspend him, you gotta suspend everyone else involved with making that decision of making these facts come to light.

Shohei Ohtani's recent hitting slump is caused by the Drake curse

My Hot Seat is Shohei Ohtani. ... Drake a week ago was spotted out wearing a Shohei Ohtani jersey. And since then he is gone two for 12. So the Drake curse is back.

Matt Olson is a future Hall of Famer

I now welcome on a very special guest in person. It is Atlanta Braves Allstar... I'll say this too. Future Hall of Famer Matt Olson.

Hitting a home run foul is a sign that the batter will likely strike out later in that plate appearance

If anybody ever hits a foul homer during that bat, they're fucked the rest of that bat. ... There's three options from that point on: it's another homer, which is like a small percentage, or a punch out or a walk, and the punch out is the highest percentage there. ... You're like, 'Damn it, that was my one chance. I'm fucked.'

Baseball should allow mutual combat fighting like hockey

I like seeing guys square up. This needs to happen in baseball. It was awesome. It should be like in hockey, it should be like in lacrosse—if two guys engage in mutual combat, I love the umpires stepping back... let the boys swing.

Philadelphia fans giving Trea Turner a standing ovation is strategic and genius

Philly being the big sports town that they are... rallied together and said instead of booing [Trea Turner], we're going to give him a standing ovation every time he gets to the plate... all of our boos are strategic... that's just like us being a very smart sports town and knowing that.

The Yankees treated Anthony Rizzo poorly by playing him through a concussion for two months

In the 53 games before this concussion, he had 11 home runs, was batting .304. In the 46 games since this concussion... he had one home run and was batting .172. It's just interesting the timing where it's after they're pretty much done for the season. They did my guy Rizzo wrong.

The Mets will be World Series Champions in 2026

The team is not going to be pursuing free agents this off season or assembled team that can compete for World Series next year... 24 is looking to be more of a kind of transitory year... Definitely Mets all in '26. Remember this Uncle Stevie on this, on this podcast with the first report, Mets World Series Champions 2026.

The Mets will not contend for a decade

I also have a report from someone inside the Mets organization who contacted me and said... I'll never see a Mets playoff game won't contend for, for a decade.

Steve Cohen will buy Shohei Ohtani this offseason

He's gonna buy some people. Let's get [Ohtani]. Even though He is not a free agent.

Shohei Ohtani took the coward's way out by staying with the Angels

After the pressure of the trade deadline gets lifted, he decided to stay with the Angels. A team that has no expectations on it. That's interesting. He took the coward's way out. Is he afraid of the bright lights? If I was Shohei Ohtani, I would be demanding a trade to the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I will likely never broadcast national baseball again

The National Baseball stuff, I don't see how that ever comes around again. Like I said, it just, you're gone, you're done. You're, it's, it's beyond, I, I think doing, and I, I got, you know, this got headlines click bait crap in the New York Post... but I don't see it anytime soon.

Shohei Ohtani's viral bat flip against the Yankees was awkward and forced

I'll stand by this take. I didn't think it was a good flip. He looked awkward. It looked like an awkward bat flip. Everyone was freaking out about it. I thought he looked awkward. It didn't look natural. It looked like he forced that bat flip.

MLB has the most competitive All-Star game of any major sport

Somehow Baseball does have the most competitive All-Star game when you look across every sport. Yes. They all sucked. They all sucked.

The Home Run Derby should replace the kids in the outfield with fat, drunk adults who we can laugh at for getting hit

I'd rather, if it weren't kids out there, why not just get a bunch of fat like college 20 to 30 year old kids, guys drunk as hell. Fat, like sloppy fat, just falling on their face, getting hit with balls, all that stuff. Cuz then we can laugh as a country, we can laugh at them.

Players caught using steroids should be able to win their freedom back by winning the Home Run Derby

I was thinking that they could incorporate a rule change where if a player gets busted for steroids, they could then elect compete in the home run Derby to win their freedom to win their way out. If they win the home run Derby, they get to come back for the rest of the year and they get to continue using steroids for the rest of the year.

The stamina-based Home Run Derby format is inferior to the old 'out-based' format

They've screwed it up. I know what it used to be with the 10 outs. It took forever cuz guys were just taking pitches. But yet again, we have a home run Derby where we just, it's essentially a stamina competition of who can hit the fastest home runs and it has nothing to do with the long ball. I want that back.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is a 'vibes guy' you want in your clubhouse despite the PED suspension

Tatis is a vibes guy. I mean, that's a guy you want. That's a guy. I wanted my clubhouse... Tatis is a vibes guy. I mean, that's a guy you want. That's a guy. I wanted my clubhouse. [PFT: He's always suspended] Nah, he's a great guy.

Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball player to ever live

I think we can say Ohtani's the best baseball player to ever live.

It currently pays to be cheap in MLB because teams with the highest payrolls are all failing

The Mets fucking suck... everyone's pissed off at [Buck Showalter] and it kind of like speaks to a larger trend in Baseball This year, which is that the teams with the highest payrolls, they are all underperforming. Yeah. So you it pays to be cheap in Major League Baseball.

Luis Arraez chasing a .400 batting average is as electric as a home run chase

Luis Arraez of the Marlins... he was hitting 401 as of Saturday... if he ends up like, I mean hitting 400 would be insane in this day and age. Going down the stretch... those are gonna be electric games to watch. Yes. It'd be still close to 400 every single at bat. That to me is, that to me is almost as good as watching like a home run chase.

A team that missed the playoffs last year will play in the World Series this year

My take is a team that didn't make the playoffs last year is going to appear in the World Series. We have a lot of new blood. If you look at the standings This year... the Rangers are 47 and 30... and the Diamondbacks are in first place over the Dodgers. So there's gonna be a lot of fresh faces in the playoffs This year.

Shohei Ohtani is having the greatest baseball season ever and might be the best player to ever live

It's not unfair to say that [Ohtani] is having the best Baseball season in the history of Baseball. And when you look, when you, when you break it down, he might be the best Baseball player to ever step onto a diamond. It's insane.

Las Vegas residents should boycott Oakland Athletics games in solidarity with Oakland fans

If I lived in Las Vegas, I would not go to an Oakland Athletics game once they moved to town. I think Las Vegas needs to stand, or at least threatened to stand with Oakland fans. It just feels dirty. I would not be comfortable supporting that.

The Oakland A's are getting a raw deal and owner John Fisher is a piece of shit

It just dawned on me that the A's are getting such a fucking raw deal and the city of Oakland's getting such a raw deal... John Fisher. Fuck you John Fisher. Piece of shit. You fucking dick.

Aaron Judge is cheating and stealing signs again

My other hot seat was Aaron Judge got caught cheating, stealing signs again, Yankees back at it again.