Tampa Bay Rays Roll the West Coast - 3 sweeps & 9 wins in 10 days

370 BaseballBiz RAW

Mark Corbett: . [00:00:00] Welcome to Baseball Biz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett, and oh my gosh. Hey, Matt, how you doing, brother?

Mat Germain: I'm full of wins, Mark. Full of wins up to my ears, and the rest is toilet paper. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, I am telling you, brother, I'm just... Boy, I, I just flew in from the West Coast, and man, are my arms tired. It's, it was a beast. It was absolute beast. You know, it's been so great to watch the Rays out there on the West Coast, and, and coming back was really kinda tiresome after all that enjoyment.

I, I got on the flight, and as I got on there, I found out they weren't, they weren't serving anything but vegan meals, Matt. Vegan meals. And I look here, and I said, "Well, look out here. Oh. Oh, I can have a veggie wrap wrapped in lettuce." I said, "Hmm, is this the Chipotle special?" I, I, I decided, I saw the catering truck, and it was right up next to the, the jet.

So I snuck off the plane, got onto the catering truck, and they took me out, and I [00:01:00] got on another plane, the Exigent Airlines, and I flew out of there and came back here to lovely Tampa. Thank you, Exigent Airlines. I appreciate it, guys. So that was my j- my fun, but the real fun was what the, what the Rays have been doing for the last 10 days.

My goodness, it has been exciting. 

Mat Germain: Mark, I hope you wouldn't leave me behind on that other plane. That is so un- ... 

Mark Corbett: considerate. You sneeze, you lose, bud. Oh, well, the rest of the press corps, they're... I said, they told them, the, the sports guys, "You're on your own."

Mat Germain: Sometimes you can't make this stuff up. You put that in a movie, nobody would believe it. No. It's actually happening in real life. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah, we're gonna have to start a new baseball league in Greenland too as long as we're doing all that. Oh, 

Mat Germain: gosh. Lots of, of land for sale, Mark. Plenty of room for stadiums.

.. The taxes are very low on the stadium, and I hear that they're willing to, to pay for [00:02:00] three-quarters of the stadium.

Mark Corbett: As long as you get the mineral rights, it'll be fine. Oh, brother. Well, outside of all of that, it has been an exciting, - couple of weeks here. What, seeing, , nine games in 10 days? 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: Who wants to do that? Not me. Uh, 

Mat Germain: yeah- Yeah, the, the pitching's been outstanding, Mark. Like, over, let's just start there.

Like, in terms of when you're, when you're looking at the West Coast trip, or August, I guess, because it's all been in August and after the, the trade deadline, the pitch- Oh, 

Mark Corbett: by the way, we're talking about the Tampa Bay Rays, for God's sake. Right. Rays up. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: I'm 

Mat Germain: sorry. Uh, we will, we will talk about other teams.

Like, there are other hot teams, right? Uh, but yeah, the, the West Co- like, the reason why we're excited about this too, and, and I think you, you can speak to this, the Rays generally don't do well when they go on the West Coast, right? Right. And I don't know if it's because we're not watching, Mark, [00:03:00] right? That we're not-

we're not participating in the viewership and then they feel that en- energy, right? Normally that's, what was it? Angels in the outfield, he thought he had like some sort of, you know, that kind of thing. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: So- I feel like the Rays, , either got a boost from that trade deadline and the injection that they got.

, Liam Hicks' injection in a couple of games like today and in the first game he played has been stellar. Freddy Peralta has been on the up and up and, and starting to improve in terms of his performance. , I think that we're all excited with what Tyler Wells b- brings to the plate. But the biggest surprise of all is somebody, I think, that you can talk about, and, and it happened last night.

Mm-hmm. Walk us through what T-Dub- Oh ... has managed to do. 

Mark Corbett: My gosh. I mean, there we are. We're looking at a guy we've, you know, we've known to love. I mean, Mr. Shortstop, so I've picked on him in the past about some, what he's done with, uh, how he's been aggressive at the plate. [00:04:00] Well, it was magnificent. Magnificent.

Mm-hmm. Man, he hits this beautiful, beautiful ball out into space, and it is recorded as his first home run in 380 days. Oof. Woof. I mean, that is something. And, oh, and by the way, I guess he got tired of that because it was like the next at bat or so, and he gets up there and he steps on the other side of home plate and decides to hit from there and hits his second home run for the night.

S- so I love this. The Rays, they, they provide both balls to, to Taylor, and the first one says, "Oh, your first home run in 380 days," and it has a second ball. It says, "Your second home run in 30 minutes."

Mat Germain: Well, that's the, the ridiculousness of it is it, like I, I posted this on, on Blue Sky, [00:05:00] uh, just because I thought it was, you know, it had to be said. It's one of those things that is just so odd, 369 at bats. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: He has zero home runs. That's a lot of at bats, Mark. Ooh, yeah. And then in one night, in four at bats, he has two home runs and one from either side of the plate.

When you're talking about heading into the playoffs, wanting to be confident, he, like we talked about a lot, was, you know, one of those players that they were considering upgrading from probably. Yeah. They were rumored to be in on Zach Neto. There was a lot of, of uproar about wanting to amp up that position.

So- , for him to actually remain on the team- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: might have loosened him up a little bit to say, "You know what? I'm here now. I, I can actually, feel confident that I, I have nothing to worry about trade-wise, and now I can focus on playing." And Ben Williamson getting hurt doesn't hurt, uh, for him in terms of playing time as well.

Yeah. , But the [00:06:00] other guy that came up because of Ben Williamson also chipped in with his own first home run of the year. A- and he's somebody that's really needs it because of the amount of strikeouts that he has. But I'm happy for Taylor. I think, you know, we, like you said, we've talked a lot about the reasons why you might wanna improve on what he provides, but if he can get the bat going, , the Rays are so much more dangerous overall because- Oh, yeah

anything he chips in is gravy. 

Mark Corbett: Well, it was, it's fantastic to see him do that, and my gosh, the joy on his and the other- Yeah ... folks' faces. And it has been interesting, too, to see those three new guys come in on the team. I've gotta tell you, Freddy Peralta had me a little nervous the other night.

Mm-hmm. And I can't remember if, you know, I'm, it's like sixth inning, and it wasn't looking good. I guess whether it was probably not the A's. Was it the A's? Anyway. Yep. Yeah. So, um, he, it's not looking good. And I went to bed thinking, "Okay, I'm sorry. This is not gonna happen tonight. That's just the way [00:07:00] it's gonna be."

And like everything else during a night like that, I keep waking up, check the phone, check the phone, check the phone. It's like, holy jeez maneez, what the heck happened? What is it they put, put up like 8 to 10 runs in one inning? And it's like, well, I had heard the, uh, announcer say, , this bullpen sucks.

They absolutely-" Yeah. The A's, they, they may be a little bit nicer about it than that, but basically saying that the A's bullpen was just constricted. And they hadn't been able to do much, and they certainly didn't that night. They, they let the Rays blow it wide open, and man, they did. So I was- as happy as I am to see those three guys come on, I was a little concerned about Freddy. And then the other night when he pitched again, I was also a little concerned because I, I saw him in the dugout and, and he was just sitting there by himself. And I know pitchers have - a way of preparing their mind sometimes and they really don't want to be necessarily part of the group.[00:08:00] 

But I've, I've... I didn't feel like anybody was ostracizing him, but I just saw him so singular, insulated if you will and I thought, man, this is a team that loves you. 

Mat Germain: , I watched, , interviews after the game , and he was saying the exact right things. Like, he is very focused on, on, uh, changing what it is that he can change or tweaking the things that he can tweak.

, There's a lot of improvements that he had. Le- let's remember, like going to Colorado to pitch isn't easy for anyone. No. Going to Colorado pitching to a new catcher on a new team is still not- ... you know, easy to do either. So you give him a pass on that one. On the next one, I saw a lot more sharpness to his pitches and a lot better usage of pitches in certain counts.

I think that's the difference, is the, the game plan, when to use certain things, which areas of the zone to attack w- uh, hitters in is what he's working on and, and trying to build confidence in. And I think like they did with Brian Baker last year, [00:09:00] they're gonna try to, to add what they can at a speed that's manageable for him without, uh, overloading him, right?

So would I... I expect maybe two more starts like what we just saw, uh, with against the A's where he's, you know, a little bit working back in, and then a little bit more dominance in the next, in the fifth start. So, um, I, I just think anything positive that he can build on as we head towards the playoffs is a really good thing for, for Freddy to have.

Uh, and let's talk about Nick Martinez. 

Mark Corbett: Oh. He, uh- Mr. CG. Mr. Complete Game. Yes. Roll it out, brother 

Mat Germain: Yeah. Well, I, the pacing and the, the efficiency of his pitches and the conviction and this change in speeds between the fastball and the change-up is just ridiculous with Nick Martinez. The best one in the show right now in terms of the, the speed j- uh, differences.

And they had a chart that they put up during the game of what that looks like to [00:10:00] the hitter and how far off they can be in their swings, just making them silly, uh, look silly. And, and a lot of times what you end up with is, is awkward looking swings where they look like they're melting at the plate because they're trying to keep that bat going in the zone for so long.

Right. Uh, and, uh, the miss hits that he gets and, watching him pace around, around the eighth inning when he knew that he was going out again for the ninth, it was just awesome. You could see it that he wanted it. He wanted that complete game. And so the, it started a little rocky in the ninth, but he got it done.

And, , I think the Rays are, are ... Like, the positive vibes that you get from all of the things they've overcome in that nine game, , over 10 - days stretch i- is just gonna feed the machine as they head into the toughest part of their season when it comes- Yeah ... to schedule. So I hope that's only going to add, , confidence at the right time.

Victor Mesa Junior looked great in a lot of games. Uh, a lot of the players on the [00:11:00] field are looking like they're cheering each other on. They're all positive energy heading in the same direction. The Rays also signed Jake Woodford, who's, who I'm watching tonight play, uh, pitch for Durham. There's a lot of positives you can bring to the Rays right now, but- I, I don't know where you go from here, Mark.

I don't know. Like, so when they go into a little bit of a slide, , how are they gonna ride that out? Who knows? But I, all I know is that there's a lot to dream about and, and when we look at their home record, right? So when I go into standings and I look at what the Rays have, which is 41 and 18 at home, that's a great win percentage.

Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. 

Mat Germain: So if they're able to lock in that home field advantage through the playoffs, they're going to be really hard to beat because of how strong they are at home. So it's not a small thing for them to be inching their way towards that. Um, so I just wanna make sure that fans are [00:12:00] actually paying attention to that and recognizing how important that would be for the team.

Mark Corbett: It has been exciting on this road trip, and I haven't really known what to think or say on some of this stuff. Let's see. Take a quick look at the standings. Right now, it looks, we are with 74 wins and I think you have to go, obviously we're leading ours. The National League- Mm

you will find the Dodgers are only 72 wins and the Brewers are 74 wins. So we're y- we are just knocking it out 'cause right now with, uh, that gives us a 617 winning percentage, brother. That is just completely in-freaking-sane. And the- And 

Mat Germain: let's go through that for a second. Like Matt Arnold, who's the GM of the Brewers, is a Rays product.

He was with the front office under Andrew Friedman and he, he knows the Rays system and brought it to the Brewers. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: Andrew Friedman is with the Dodgers. All three of those [00:13:00] teams with the Rays are top three in Major League Baseball. So you're talking about a very Rays heavy win, like win standings.

And then Alex Anthopoulos' Braves are next, and he went to the Dodgers to learn the system from Andrew Friedman. So you could argue that the top four teams in Major League Baseball all have very heavy Rays influence right now. 

Mark Corbett: So andrew Friedman is really kind of the king daddy of all this.

I mean, he is kind of the godfather- ... of all the rest of them, right? 'Cause he was there before Neander with the Rays. Mm-hmm. Anyway. I've been doing a lot of research here in Tampa and start seeing connections.

I may have talked about this before. Saw that, , David Magadan and his, godfather and cousin is Lou Piniella. , You look around here, and we- I told you before, we had Doc Gooden here, and he's - his nephew is Gary Sheffield. And all of this, all of these connections. [00:14:00] So building talent upon talent, learning from one another, it's, it's, I'm not surprising to see that also happening in the of- uh, front office.

But I, I wanna divert here just for a moment, because I gotta tell you, I want us to win every r- game on the road, but I did feel a little guilty about the Mariners having their 50th season celebration, bringing in the top 50 players, and some of them actually active players, of that top 50, and bringing them all out there.

And then after you got all 50 of them on the field, they invite Lou Piniella to come out there as the captain of them all. Oh man, I gotta tell you, that touched me. It really did. And it was like, my gosh. And it's like, and now we're gonna hand them their lunch right now. It's like... Or take it away from them, rather.

Mat Germain: And Lou won't mind. He'll say they earned the win. 

Mark Corbett: Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Yeah, he's a, [00:15:00] he's a classy man. It was glad to see that. But that was the one game I s- I, I, I never wanna surrender a game, but if we lost that one, I wouldn't have cried about it 'cause I thought, well, they had their special time. But they were celebrating that whole week, that whole 50th season, and I thought, it couldn't go so well for you.

Sorry, guys. But, uh, the Rays did a fantastic job there, too. You always wonder when you're going to be playing at somebody else's field what it's gonna be like, and we know that some of these places have a great deal, like, of, of being able home runs and getting to hit the long ball there.

And y- they... Like, it has to hurt them. But you would say, "Would, would it measure out, Matt?" 'Cause you're thinking the local team should be able to hit more home runs there, but so will your competitor 

Mat Germain: Yeah. I think it, it evens out when you're looking at a competition in terms of a sample size of a three-game series, let's say, or a four-game series.

Both teams are playing under the same conditions. The, problem is that a lot of times the [00:16:00] roster build reflects the stadium. So what used to happen in a lot of the fields where they have pitcher-friendly environments is they usually bring in players that are small ball oriented- 

Mark Corbett: Right ... 

Mat Germain: and that are able to hit the gaps and all that kind of stuff.

Like, not necessarily don't have any power, but not as much. That wouldn't be the focus except for one big piece that can hammer it out any, in any field or something like that. So back when the, the Orioles used to play in Camden where the fence is pushed back all the way, for example, it was a lot harder for them to actually play, with just power bats.

So they used to fill their roster more with, , with pitchers that could be questionable because they can still keep the ball in the park, and they had a few hitters like Chris Davis and others that could actually knock it out , at a regular pace. So, um, I don't know. I think , when you're looking at, let's say August, right?

And you're looking at, , which teams have hit the home- most home runs, the Rays are tied with the [00:17:00] Cubs for the most- Mm ... home runs hit. , And like you said, they've played now in, against the Mariners. So yes, playing the A's definitely helps because their stadium is what it is. But when you have- And they've 

Mark Corbett: got, they've got some top talent out right now too, like Langeliers.

Mat Germain: You're right. This is, so that has a huge impact. And, but the Rays pitching is ranked second over in August, so they've got the top power lineup. It, I can go through other stats in terms of like, uh, uh, if you're looking at on base percentage, the Rays are in the top 10.

If you're looking at average, they're in the top four. Uh, if you're looking at slugging, the Rays are top four. Uh, WRC+ they're fourth. Uh, so their offense is doing the job and their pitching is best in, in the majors, for the month of August, I mean. So you cannot paint a better picture, uh, regardless of which stadium they've played in c- because when you're looking at it from that point of view, Mark, the Rays pitching had to do the job against the A's hitters [00:18:00] and, and they have some big hitters like in terms of power and et cetera.

Zack Gelof looks like a really, strong piece for the A's. , But that stadium isn't supposed to allow the Rays pitching to dominate the way that they have. So, you know, you take it as it goes. 

Mark Corbett: Hey, one thing I like though is, was seeing Yandy. Now Yandy just, did he just pass Ben Zobrist for, , number of hits?

Mat Germain: What I, what I do know is that I got some emails and questions about, uh, whether or not he was hurt, and I'd pointed out that I think that,, it's possible he's working through some health issues, et cetera. But when you're looking at the batting average on balls in play- Yeah

the exit velocity on Baseball Savant, all that stuff, the indicators were still pointing that he was hitting the ball with authority and he, he just wasn't getting lucky. Like he was hitting it at players instead of, of, of the balls falling, which happens sometimes. So, , it's nice to see him have success now over the last 12 games.

I [00:19:00] think he has 56 plate appearances over that time, and he has a 538 slug. Jeez. So three home runs, three doubles over that time. And, uh, 132 WRC+, which is really strong. So I'd say he's back to himself. And when he hit the home run after Taylor Walls hit his- Oh. ... and they were just celebrating in the dugout, that was hilarious, Mark.

Like the reaction, he was pointing at him when he was coming across from home plate, it was just, Taylor's like, "What? You're stealing my thunder?" 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. You know, it, geez. Yeah. It reminds me of that moment when had the walk-off home run at the Trop And,, Brett Phillips hits, and in comes Randy Arozarena sliding into home, and that is the run that wins the game, and basically a walk, you know, walk off for all practical purposes. But, and Randy's there, slides in, and he's slapping [00:20:00] that hand on the home plate. But by this point, everybody's emptied out of the dugout, and they're all running out there to Brett Phillips, but hey, what happened to poor Randy?

Well, that's what it felt like the other night when I was watching you talking about, when I saw Taylor, he gets that home run, it's like, "Ah, damn, Yandy, couldn't you t- couldn't you lengthen that out just a little bit? Let him run through the tunnel all the way before you, you get your home run?"

It's like, wow. 

Mat Germain: Well, let's talk about that for a second, because, 'cause it's a really interesting point when it comes to baseball. Baseball is a game of failures, and if you're in a group that's going to pick on each other for every failure you have- Yeah ... and be, and give certain looks and not really be supportive, I would call that the Mets, right?

Yeah. They, that's the Mets personality, really. So if you're gonna be like that, you're gonna end up with a record like what the Mets have. Yeah. But the Rays are the complete opposite of that, and that moment that you're talking about, that was a team that pulled for each other [00:21:00] through thick and thin. They were on the fences watching the games, involved, dancing after the game, before the game.

It didn't matter. It, it was all good vibes. And- Yep ... like, for baseball, I think more than any other sport, that's important, because like you're going to fail. You're going to have hard times. You're gonna have streaks where you're, you're ice cold. 

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: And if you're gonna be picking on each other and drawing each other down, you're never gonna get out of that again.

Yeah. And you're always gonna underachieve, right? So I, I feel like that moment especially, 'cause Mark, there's a lot of people that were saying that they should have pinch hit for Brett Phillips that moment. 

Mark Corbett: Oh. 

Mat Germain: And then for him to come through and actually do that, and for that tandem- Yeah ... of the two dancing partners, whatever you wanna call it, to get it done, it's just-

a magical moment 

Mark Corbett: Good old lucky boots, right?

Mat Germain: I wonder if they sell them at the Trop. 

Mark Corbett: I don't know. It was... Should, they should do that. [00:22:00] They should do that. Mm-hmm. Oh, goodness gracious. So is... When they come back- So- ... they're gonna be facing the mighty Orioles, right? 

Mat Germain: The mighty Orioles, yes.

The mighty Orioles. So when we're looking at the Orioles, they're at the bottom of the division, but Mark, they're only two and a half games behind the wild card. So, and that's tied with the Jays. So with the point there being that the Rays are gonna face the Jays and the Orioles for a good portion of the upcoming,

games, they're gonna be hungry teams. They're gonna be teams that are fighting for a chance at the playoffs. Yeah. And for the Blue Jays in particular, they added José Soriano, which when you look at the way Gausman was pitching, it's an upgrade, so the, the Blue Jays did not sell at the deadline.

Like, there's a couple of pieces they moved around. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: But they more or less just kind of set themselves up for a better 2027 while still competing this year. So don't discount these teams that are coming through just because they're [00:23:00] bottom of the division and, uh, and what are they now? Only five games under .500, Mark, so they're essentially .500 teams.

Mark Corbett: Wow. You know, 'cause yeah. Too many, trying to take a quick peek here. My gosh. They're, you're right. So they're 16 games back. Wild card, they're two and a half games back. That's something. I, yeah, he's right. Don't, you can't put anybody out. We'll see how this all plays. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm 

Mark Corbett: So the Yankees, I think they're still suffering.

Uh, we, they still don't have Judge back. Ben Rice I don't think has been as effective as he's been in the past as far as bringing in some real runs for the team. Uh, Giancarlo, I don't know if he's gonna get back this year or not. I keep hearing that he's almost, uh, there, that... Uh, I don't know what, what will happen with them.

Mat Germain: The, the guy that you wanna watch with them and who c- who's coming out swinging hot and can energize their team is George Lombard Jr. He's already hit two home runs. He's got a 905 OPS through his first [00:24:00] 22 at bats. 

Mark Corbett: Oof. 

Mat Germain: He's adding youth and energy to the team, which they badly needed, and it's about time that they start pushing the envelope on some of their own prospects instead of continuously drawing on, let's say, the Pirates or other- Yeah

teams that they can trade in from. But , the big thing for the Yankees as a threat for the Rays or in the American League , is whether or not their pitching's gonna hold up and, and that's the, the big one. And the, oh, the other piece I would say, Mark, that they added that always, like, when, when the Yankees get this kind of player, you always think, "Okay, well, are they gonna be a stud or a dud?"

I remember when I said last week that I think Heliot Ramos was gonna be, , the guy that struggled. Well- ... he's got a, uh, what is it? Uh, two hits for 23 at bats now a- as he got to New York. So I think, uh, it's one of those things where the pressure of the lights and, and the change of environment can suddenly [00:25:00] weigh on the player sometimes, and they expect a, a lot of themselves, but maybe he comes out of it.

Mark Corbett: Those, those pinstripes can get kind of tight sometimes. There's no doubt about it.

We'll see. I know, uh, looking at, uh, Caballero, he's still doing well with them, and Jazz Chisholm I think is doing well o- overall and all. But, uh, I will be interested to see how, how the other ones do. Anyway, what else you got from me, bud? Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Well, don't forget Ryan Yarbrough is also on their team. 

Mark Corbett: Ooh.

Mat Germain: Yeah. He's got a 127, um, or sorry, 1.27 WHIP and 3.60 ERA in

44 innings for them, so he's been plugging a lot of their pitching holes. , They also have, , Amed Rosario, who was with the Rays for a while. , But I think, The Yankees are, are a team that, uh, I've said for a long time I think need a leadership change in terms of the managing. , But they're always gonna be dangerous regardless of what happens.

If they get into the playoffs, [00:26:00] you know, who knows? But the team that I don't think anybody wants to play is the Red Sox. 

Mark Corbett: Mm. 

Mat Germain: The Red Sox over the last, I don't know, two months, have just completely changed their season around, and the momentum that they have going in towards the playoffs, you know, it depends now in, in how Garrett Crochet comes back, what he looks like, um, whether or not the pitching they already had in place is able to hold up.

But if they continue to, to be as strong as they are, they're gonna be hard to stop because they've got the pen to shut you down in, in a playoff situation. And I would argue now the Rays can compete with that with Taylor Wells added. So it's going to be very interesting how the, the, the strategizing in the playoff situations is gonna work out for whoever makes it.

But Mark, we're at a point now where we already have three American League East teams set to make the playoffs, it looks like. 

Mark Corbett: Right. [00:27:00] 

Mat Germain: And then the Jays and the Orioles are, are trying to make it four. You could end up with four AL East teams again in the playoffs, and I think it's happened already, but that's just ridiculous.

Like, it's, you know, it shows you that com- competition feeds competition , and the more that they keep amping up the, the playing levels in the AL East, the more that each team has to bring their performance up, and it just feeds the machine. 

Mark Corbett: Well, it has been absolutely amazing to watch the Red Sox. I mean, let's face it, 15 wins in a row, that was just completely insane.

They've broke all kinds of records. I think like 80 years since they've had something like that. But I mean, they've ... They're ... had a few bumps since that, but it still, they're moving in such a positive direction. And like you said, the, the bullpen, bullpens are gonna either keep you or kill you. Uh, I mean, rarely we had, like says the other day with, uh, the Rays having a complete game, [00:28:00] that never ever, ever happens.

It was surprising that ... It wasn't, it wasn't surprising ex- anyway, some of the broadcasters talking, "Well, you know, this is like having a perfect game or a no-hitter." Well, only because of the uniqueness of it, not so much ... I mean, yeah, it's an achievement, don't get me wrong, but it ... nobody does that anymore, you know?

And I was so glad to see that Nick Martinez, they allowed him to continue with that. I, I was watching Kevin over there at the dugout and I said, "Kevin, just let him, let him get there. Let him get there." 'Cause if we didn't have the lead that we did in the game at that point, and, and two runs came up at, I think it was in the ninth inning with, uh, Nick Martinez pitching, and it was like, "Oh, are they gonna let Nick continue?"

But maybe it was in the eighth. But, uh, either way, it was like, I was so glad to see Kevin gave him the opportunity to complete that game 

Mat Germain: Yeah. And, uh, I'll just finish it off with this in terms of the, standings talk. Uh, when you're looking at the National League, [00:29:00] uh, in terms of the, the teams that are in the hunt right now in terms- Yeah

of making the playoffs, um, for the first time, I, I, I was shocked when I saw this. For the first time in 2026, the Phillies would not make the playoffs. 

Mark Corbett: Hmm. 

Mat Germain: Hmm. And that shocked me. I was like, "What?" I, I thought they had a clear lead, that like- Yeah ... they were almost guaranteed. But them and the Marlins and the Cardinals are on the outside looking in, all within two and a half games.

Wow. So the D-backs, which have been fighting their way through the season silently, like silent assassins, have been the, the team that snuck in there and t- stole the spot from them a- as part of the wildcard teams. , And the Padres have been hanging on as well. So we're talking about divisions feeding each other.

Like they, the NL West in terms of the Dodgers, Padres, and D-backs, and, and I would argue even like helping the Giants try as much as they could to compete and invest, [00:30:00] but, you know, that's also feeding that machine to try to get as many teams in the playoffs as possible. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: Um, if the Phillies don't make it, Mark, like they invested quite a bit- 

Mark Corbett: Oh, man

Mat Germain: in, in this season, and, and what does that say for Bryce Harper and a lot of the, the m- like, I see the Phillies right now with the players that they have in place the same way as I used to see them with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, , and Cliff Lee, and a couple of other guys. Like, if you're not able to m- do it with these guys, then what's next?

, Th- they have a next right now. Like, it's really just riding the coattails of those players until you can clear the salaries and then move on to the next thing. So I, I don't know. I, I ho- I hope for their owner, who invested a lot in the team and is very passionate about it, I know that, that they actually do still make it back into the playoffs for his sake and, and the fans.

Mark Corbett: Well, keep our eyes peeled for that. [00:31:00] Hey, something crazy's going on here.. I see where s- a, uh, school system in the Southwest has decided to have, oh, like 120 books that kids need to read. They, uh, mandatory, I think, have to read in school. So I thought we should probably come up with a list of mandatory baseball books that people should have to read.

Mat Germain: Oh. 

Mark Corbett: You know? Interesting. But, uh, yeah, yeah. I, I love the whole idea. They came up with this. I think, "Oh, is the school year starting tomorrow? Yeah, well, why, while you're at it, here, here's 120 books or whatever that, that need to be in the curriculum across all the grades." But, it would be interesting. I, I look right now, one of the people I, I'll try to...

Well, there's a couple of them. Okay. I try to most days see what Craig Calcaterra has to say on Cup of Coffee, and he's- Mm-hmm ... got a good book out there. I look at- Mm-hmm ... like Lou Schiff and what he has to say on baseball and law, and his book, [00:32:00] or books actually, I believe. And then I looked to, uh, looked to Brent Cardy to kinda give me some insights what's going on with the Jays.

That's always fun. And then when I look to books, though, it's, I've, it's, it gets, gets a little difficult. Sometimes while I enjoy a good book in my hand, it's easier for me to either listen to one or, or whatever. So I, I find myself listening to, well, a biography of Lou Piniella, which shouldn't be a surprise.

And, uh, so let's see, and Joe Maddon, he's been on there. But I'm trying to think what I would have to say should be on a mandatory list for 

Mat Germain: people. So, so I have... I'll, I'll list you the books that I'm reading, and I, I'm a jumper. I'll, I'll be honest right now, like I- Yeah ... I don't focus on one book for very long.

Like un- unlike my wife. My wife starts a book, she's like a machine. She needs to get to the end. She needs to know what the ending is. [00:33:00] But we read totally different books. I'm all about, , nonfiction for the majority of it. Right. Not all, but, and, uh, you know, politics, uh, a lot of, uh, spiritual, uh, improvements, things like that.

Um, so here's what I'm reading right now, like, um, the books that I'm jumping through. Okay. So I've got The Art of Meditation. 

Mark Corbett: Hmm. 

Mat Germain: That's number one. I've got Neil de C- deGrasse, , Tyson, uh, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. So that's my, that's my space interests, right? 

Mark Corbett: Okay. 

Mat Germain: I've got The Daily Stoic, because every good leader should be very well-versed on stoic.

Uh, I've got Super Life, which is all about your, your gut and, and how you can actually improve your wellbeing through food and nutrients and vitamins and- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: [00:34:00] cloves and a whole bunch of... 

Mark Corbett: Cloves. 

Mat Germain: Ooh, that's 

Mark Corbett: a good one. I've 

Mat Germain: got... And then I've got some, uh, some French books, and these are, are my mainly gifts that I, that I've received recently.

But, uh, they're in French. I'm not gonna... Well, Promets-moi que tu reviendras vivant, for example. And then Maison de Guerre, which is a military book in French. And my favorite one that is kind of like if I'm in need to be picked up and in a good mood, then The Book of Everywhere- What is that? ... which is, yeah, it's, it's a fun book.

It, it's, uh, it's by Keanu Reeves. Uh, and it's just a, it's one of those, , you know, if you wanna turn your brain off and just have a, uplifting kind of read, then, then you go through that. So depending on the- Keanu Reeves? Yeah. Depending on the mood, I'll pick up a book and, and decide, "Okay, well tonight that's the one I'm reading."

Okay. And usually I'll do that for a half hour, 45 minutes. But baseball-wise, yes, I've read [00:35:00] a significant amount of baseball books over the years. Not, not so much recently- Mm-hmm ... um, for whatever reason. But I'm fully in for doing that list with you, Mark, if you want. I'd be curious to see the list of titles that they've decided on for Florida, because I don't think that there's a lot of diversity that would be included in there if I get the politics of Florida right.

Uh, but I could be wrong. I, I would love to be wrong. I'm hoping that there is a, a good solid- 

Mark Corbett: I was looking at one- Yeah ... which that they were talking about, about Texas, and there were a few books that surprised me, 'cause I thought it was all gonna be very conservative. I can't think of them at the moment, but yeah, I would think that the width and breadth of diversity is not gonna be there in, in Florida.

I could be wrong, but- Mm-hmm ... anyway. It's, yeah, we'll have to pull some things together. I have to say, uh, uh, oh, one other thing, and we kind of go into this a little bit anyway- [00:36:00] When it comes to what I read online, I've started reading in the last few weeks Mary Mustard. I love her name already. And she covers the Women's Pro Baseball League And what I like about her coverage is while she's excited about the game, she's excited about the teams She's not afraid to stop and criticize too.

You know, it's, and it's poignant stuff. It's not like it's, "Oh my gosh, this is terrible, and this is whatever." But she points out things, and, and, uh, I, I liked reading her for that. I actually sent her a message this morning trying to catch up with her and see if I can get her on the show. We'll see about that.

But she's doing a pretty good job covering the WPBL and talking about the strengths of some of these teams and what could be done better, et cetera. But there's a, there's a whole lot going on there. And folks, if you're not checking it out, please do. You know, the, the challenge is I think a lot of people thought it was gonna be free on YouTube, and then about, uh, a few [00:37:00] weeks before the actual league started, it came to find out that you're going to have, like, ESPN to, to see it.

But then somebody else was telling me about a pr- a TV, uh, CTV. Anyway, it was like th- be able to... It almost seems like, what do you, what was it years ago before your time, Matt? Um, trying to think. Napster. Napster, that's it. Napster. I 

Mat Germain: remember Napster. 

Mark Corbett: You're too young to remember Napster. 

Mat Germain: No, no, no. I lived through the whole thing of- Oh

of the... They were the first file sharing program that came online and allowed people to share music and, um, was it U2 and Metallica that had a real hate on for- 

For Napster, and they thought they were gonna kill the entire industry. And, um, you know, they're not wrong that, that it hurt, but I don't think it killed it.

Mark Corbett: No. So it 

Mat Germain: morphed it, right? Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: It morphed it, and it was, it was like a [00:38:00] lot of technologies and everything else, it needs to be a part of r- the evolution of it to the next level. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And the mi- business model was not there ready to handle all this being done digitally. Right. So somebody was able to come in, sweep in, uh, do some things maybe a bit questionable as far as copyrights and rights to music, et cetera, and b- but it also forced the business to come up with a model that made sense afterwards.

Yep. And, like, I think that's just... I don't know where I was going with all this except to say that with a lot of things we're gonna find where we like something, and it has to go through, uh, a birthing process, if you will, to be, become what you want it to be in the end. It's, it's not gonna- Mm ... be formative immediately, and sometimes it takes other people to actually hold it and handle it for a while before it changes.

Oof. Boy, am I fooling myself. Yeah. Oh. 

Mat Germain: No, no, it's all good stuff. [00:39:00] 

Mark Corbett: Oh, gosh. No, man, it- I gotta tell you, Matt, it has been absolutely enjoyable time. You know, I, I know you've been out there enjoying the, the nature and the woods. I thought, I'm glad you got to see some of these games 'cause it has been- Mm

exciting, exciting. You know, 10 days with the Rays, nine games in 10 days. That's a struggle in and of itself wherever you're at, and you put travel on top of it. It was funny, I'll leave you with one last thing on this, is, uh, I guess it was from the Mariners to the A's, and I heard Neil Solondz say, "Well, they've got a day off."

I thought, "You might wanna check your calendar." I don't think you do. I don't think you do. But, uh, maybe wishful thinking. , Who was it, though? Just jumping from that for a second, too, is I was listening to a Yankees broadcast. And was it McKay? Is that his name?

Yeah, he, he was going on and he said, "Well, you know, I was planning on coming."

He says, "You weren't here yesterday, were you?" I said, "No." I said, "Well, the Yankees played, but, [00:40:00] uh, ES- ESPN had the game." He said, "I came here and brought my family." He says, "One of the other guys showed up for work not realizing that, you know, the Yankees network-" "... wasn't actually doing the coverage that day, that it was another network."

And it's like, eh, you know, it's, with all the schedules, it's, it's, as a fan, it's difficult. And that's one of the things I, I'm jumping all over the place. But when coming back to the Rays stadium, I was looking at commentaries on Tampa Bay Times today about some of the talk, and we're not gonna get into it, into Carlson, but, um, one of the things was the guest said, "Well, if you're gonna have a stadium here, not gonna put any money into it, I need to be able to find it on the airwaves.

It needs to be something I can turn the TV on and, and see on local television. And it should be free." I said, "Okey-dokey. You know, I don't know what world you live in, but it sounds nice." 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Le- let me go up here and fix the rabbit antennas on the TV. I'll be right with you 

Mat Germain: So the, the, there's a lot of thoughts that I have [00:41:00] on that, but I've been watching a lot of the Ukraine war.

God 

Mark Corbett: bless you. And 

Mat Germain: you know, how, how, uh, how close are we to people just getting their own drones- Hmm ... to fly at a certain distance over a stadium and watching the game through the drone? 

Mark Corbett: Hell yes. Hell 

Mat Germain: yes. You know? Much better angle than you can get from any TV station and a lot 

Mark Corbett: of- These snaps are all over the place, man.

That's it. See, that's it. It's, it's the independent individual coming up with something unique and they sell- Yeah ... it for, you know, from, oh, 100 bucks a game to dive bars all across the US. Yeah. You 

Mat Germain: know? They can get them to fly in formation, do the entire ring around the stadium. And then you have every angle coming down onto the stadium.

You pick which one, and you just have some, you know, college kid coordinating which camera is on when, and you're, you're, you're good to go. 

Mark Corbett: Oh. 

Mat Germain: But the, the, the point is, like, the, the, I think the fandom is changing. [00:42:00] Uh, the whole stadium payment thing is ridiculous. I, I still feel like it should be 50/50 or a payback system that also- Yeah

gives the, the people back their money. Um, but the Rays, I mean, I don't think they're gonna go anywhere. The only place, like we've mentioned before, I can see them transferring to is Orlando. Um, unless, you know, the Rays ownership ends up being cash needy, in which case it could change ownership again. Did you hear the Lakers selling price?

Mark Corbett: No. 

Mat Germain: $14.5 billion for a basketball team, Mark. For a basketball team. That is just mind-blowing. 

Mark Corbett: It is 

Mat Germain: mind- Like, I- ... boggling ... I think, if you consider the Yankees, are they worth 14 billion? I don't know. Like, I don't even know... Anyways, I, I, I look at the money in sports in general, and I just, I look at, [00:43:00] you know, the what people need and I'm just like, this is getting to a ridiculous level.

I've- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: I'm going home to Montreal in October, and I was considering looking at getting tickets to the hockey game. We would be, like, eight people, and I was like, I might as well sell a kidney if I wanna go to the game. Because there is no way I can pay the price to go and get decent tickets- Yeah ... that would be, you know, for that many people, 

Mark Corbett: so.

What, what was it approximately per ticket? 

Mat Germain: Uh, $176 a ticket. 

Mark Corbett: Good Lord, man. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, Karen and I went and saw a game at the Trop last week, and, um, the tickets we got were probably around 45 to $50. Hmm. Now, we were not sitting up, up close. We were sitting right pa- past the walkway, s- but we were, we were right along, what was it, third baseline, Karen?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we had, we had nice seats. It was, it was pretty good. Se- maybe... Yeah [00:44:00] I think it was third base line. Anyway, when we got the, bought the tickets it said obstruction. I thought, "Okay, I'm not sure what that's going to be." Mm. Well, we got there and all it really was, the obstruction was the net when I dug a little deeper.

So the net. But then we had, you were talking about the drones earlier, they had the little, uh, camera that went, z- z- you know, whizzed by, right? 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Going back from one end to the other on the, on the t- on the wires. The drone. The drone. The w- the drone, yeah, drone on wires, whatever that was. But, um, I still like that- So-

I, your idea of- 

Mat Germain: Yeah. It, it's different. I, I don't know. The, the cameras are so easy to plant everywhere, like- ... there really should be angles all over the place. But the, um, the point is more like I look at that, that would've been like 1,600 to $2,000 depending on the meal before parking, all that kind of stuff.

Sure. So if you pay $40 a steak, Mark, and you go to the butcher, you say, "Cut me some [00:45:00] $40 steaks for eight people." And you say, "Okay, uh, I'll buy that television, and I'll buy that stereo system to go with it. And, uh, I'll buy a very comfortable chair," you're probably getting to that same price point, and you get to keep the chair, the television, the stereo system, and you've had a great meal, right?

So, uh, I definitely think we're leaning more towards that than to go and s- you know, watch a game with the, the rest of the fans. 

Mark Corbett: That's 

Mat Germain: for sure. And my dad lives very close to where they practice anyway, so we get to go and yell obscenities at them while they're practicing and-

Tell them what they're doing wrong and what they should be doing right. 

Mark Corbett: I love it. But- I absolutely love it. Well, I'm glad you get that aspect of it, you... Yeah. Wow. No, uh, sports has gotten to be insane, and it's the reason why there's so much pushback in part here in Tampa, uh, the idea of billionaires getting money from [00:46:00] taxpayers, uh, who don't necessar- who aren't necessarily as enthusiastic about baseball as most of us are.

It, uh, it makes it difficult, so... And i- but I understand it too, you know? Yeah. And it's... I do, 'cause a part of me is like, "Eh, I really don't... If I'm, you're not gonna give me anything back, I don't know if I want to give it to you." So we'll see what happens. But yeah, I think I'd take that $2,000 and do the steaks and the TV too.

Mat Germain: Here's a question for you, Mark. Mm-hmm. And I'm just throwing this out there. I don't wanna jinx anything. If the Rays win the World Series- Yeah ... in the Trop as it has been rebuilt- Right? It has a new roof. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Right? There's a new aura over this team now. If they win a stadium, uh, sorry, a stadium, a World Series in that stadium with the new roof, how do you move to Tampa?

Mark Corbett: Oh, geez. Y- 

Mat Germain: you've now christened, you know, one year in that stadium with that roof, one World Series. Let's say they go and they win another one next year. [00:47:00] Like, you know, then you can't move. You have to, uh, cut up any deal that happens between now and then, and you have to stay, and you have to renovate the inside, and it becomes a whole debacle.

Uh, no. Oof. I'm just teasing, but you know, there will be a little bit more sadness, I feel like, if the Rays do win a World Series in there. Yeah. And then very shortly after end up in a new stadium. It kind of feels weird. But hopefully for St. Petersburg fans that have stuck it out with the team in that location, they can pull it off and win their first one there before they move.

Mark Corbett: It would be a nice goodbye to that stadium. Mm. Yeah. Wow, Mat. You come up with some of the craziest ideas. But I love them. It's, no, it, it's good. It, it really is. Well, that's about all I got, brother. You got anything new and exciting that we need to share with folks? 

Mat Germain: Shane McClanahan's on a rehab assignment, and the, uh, the team is [00:48:00] fully locked and loaded when it comes to talent.

Like, watching Durham and watching, uh, Montgomery, and all the options they have in guys they could call up. The Rays are in such a strong place, it's, it's... I don't wanna say it's ridiculous, but it's very encouraging to see what they have and, uh, there's a lot of talents that are impressing me also in the lower minors.

The promotions are coming in. I'm still waiting for Grady Emerson to get his first game. So we'll see- Yeah ... if that happens, you know. I'd like to see it, but, uh, as soon as it happens, Mark, I'll let you know. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I appreciate... I, I will say on top of that, I was glad to see, and you brought it up earlier, Carson Williams come back up.

Yeah. That was, that was good. All right, brother. Well, having all the fun we can this week. We'll have to come back next week and, and share some more. So thank you all for joining Mat and I today, and we look forward to talking to you again real soon. 

Mat Germain: Bong.