Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) on fire, Houston Astros are back, Cubs’ big decisions & more

Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) on fire, Houston Astros are back, Cubs’ big decisions & more

what is up my friends welcome back to another episode of fliping bats we got a great week obviously this episode we’ll talk Power Rankings uh June has come to an end so we have a brand new Power Rankings uh we’re also going to talk the new Home Run Derby rules which is great uh we’re GNA talk Cubs we’re GNA talk sh Otani we’re GNA talk the Astros this is going to be a fun episode but also got another one coming this week John Smoltz is coming back uh he will be on an episode later this week so a lot of fun stuff coming stay tuned for that about halfway through the season right now meaning the All-Star game is right around the corner uh but Monday was a big day my friends Bobby Bonia day in case you’re wondering yes Bobby Bonia still gets paid every single year on July 1 got another 1.19 million on Monday that will continue through 2035 so 11 more years of Bobby Bonia getting paid in Bobby Bonia day my favorite I think my favorite part of Bobby Bonia day is that this is not even close to the most ridiculous we still celebrate that because it was really one of the first and more well-known deferred contracts but why did like shohi is about to get $68 million a year when his career ends Chris Davis is getting 65 5 million from the or Orioles from 2022 to 2037 getting $6.1 million this year he’s make Chris Davis who’s not gonna do any good for the Orioles this year is making more than the entire Baltimore orol infield think about that for a second gunar Henderson Westberg Mount Castle all of them making more than all of them so and I know we still talk about Bobby Bonia day but man there’s there’s a lot of lot bigger one a lot bigger to fry out there um also shout out to Major League Baseball who had that the game at rickwood field about a week or so ago and sent me one this really cool helmet mini helmet rickwood field helmet and also this infield dirt from Rick Woodfield authentic dirt in this cup love that actually the game was the game was really really cool if you didn’t see it uh on on Fox that game was was awesome so uh let’s talk Home Run Derby new rules have been announced for the Derby I think that’s a big win big win for the Derby I I do wish that we could still just go back to 10 outs you hit a homer that’s not an out you hit anything other than a homer that’s an out I think it was Edge your seat type of stuff but alas we’re getting closer to that let me explain this year the first round there will be eight hitters the top four advance so that’s already a difference because before it was that player a versus player B whoever wins advances no this is whoever hits the most home runs top four Advance the next round is bracket style so the four seed will face the one seed the three seed will face the two seed and that is based on home runs from the first round uh obviously the top two faceof in the finals first two rounds three minute rounds 40 pitches one timeout and now this is why I say it’s getting a little closer to the 10 out thing there are three bonus outs every swing is either a home run or an out if you hit a 425 plus Homer in the bonus round you earn one more out the finals is two minutes 27 pitches one timeout same bonus rules so look basically this is 40 pitches in the early rounds 27 pitches in the finals the timer is the timer is just in place to stop guys from taking until they get the perfect pitch which is what major league baseball is trying to get rid of which is why they went away from the 10 outs in the first place but I love that so I think they’re just trying to to mesh that Gap a little and kind of bring that that back but I I love that I please for the love of God let’s just go back to the 10 outs format that was incredible uh gunar Henderson’s going to be a part of it this year he’s the the first guy to say he’s in uh who knows who else is going to be in shohi has said he wants to participate but isn’t sure if he’s going to be able to or if the Dodgers will love that or or whatever but great name to start this off already gunar Henderson friend of the pot a couple times is already signed up and ready to go um let’s talk Chicago Cubs my friends the Chicago Cubs it is just it is not pretty so let’s step back to this off season when one of the bigger signings of the offseason wasn’t even a player it was the manager Craig Council taking him away from the inner division rivalry the their rival the Milwaukee Brewers you signed Craig Council to become the highest paid manager ever ever and you get basically the same team after you resign belly but you add Michael Bush via a trade and add show at Naga who you’re not sure exactly what you’re going to get there but you feel like you have a pretty good chance of making the playoffs team on the cusp with the playoffs last year add a couple pieces this year and here they are sitting in dead last place after losing a series to the team that is at the top of the division that you took their manager away from them your division rival take their manager they lose their closer they lose one of the best pitchers in baseball their Ace they get rid of him he goes to the Orioles Devin Williams is back he’s been out all year long and all the all the Brewers are doing is sitting in first place and hitting a grand slam every single day while the Chicago Cubs are here with this new highest paid manager in all the baseball sitting in dead last place they played 21 games 21 games against teams currently under 500 in the month of June they went N9 and 12 nine and 12 against those teams when we look back on the 2024 Chicago Cubs June will be the month where they dug their own grave you got Justin steel who’s a stud out there yelling at the team trying to pump them up the offense just is not working Dansby Swanson’s on a big contract get him from the Braves just hitting 217 not good out of him Cody Bellinger has been basically their best hitter he’s on a three-year Deal $880 million has an opt out after this year and after next year but he’s hitting 267 is that a is that a 2728 million doll player I don’t know maybe in in this current day and age in baseball but is he gonna opt out of those years probably not so are you gonna trade Cody Bellinger now you’re sitting in last place uh you got Michael Bush your new addition hitting 258 with some pop so really really that’s kind of all you could ask for and hope out of him um P Crow Armstrong PCA hitting under 200 he’s your top prospect this team can’t hit you got Ian hap hitting 229 Christopher Morell hitting 198 while leading the team in homers that’s a problem in itself 228 as a team they’re hitting 228 as a team that’s the 25th in baseball ahead of only the Tigers the Pirates the A’s the white socks and the Mariners 25th while playing at Wrigley Field where some days the wind blows out 100 miles an hour and you pop it up and it gets out it’s unacceptable for the Chicago Cubs to not be to to not be better I thought they were a playoff team this year I think they thought they were a playoff team this year and you step back and realize man why would we think that this team’s way too streaky this offense this offense can’t hit it man it’s just it’s tough you’re paying guys to be guys you’re paying Dansby to be a guy I love Dan B Swanson but you are not paying Dan B Swanson to be a a gold glove defensive shortstop you’re paying him to be that guy he was with the Atlanta Braves for the last couple years that can hit you you know 270 290 with some power he’s hitting 212 so if you’re the Chicago Cubs what do you do you just paid this manager all the money in the world you have the benefit of being in the National League where every team is pretty much fine unless you’re the the Rocky are the Marlins but the Cubs are dwindling fast the division lead is out of question the Cubs aren’t going to win the NL Central they’re just not do they have a chance at a wild card sure but pretty much everybody does so there’s a million teams you have to climb over or or battle it out with and somebody’s going to get hot look at what the Mets have done over in in in Queens so I don’t know you have some questions to answer what do you do with belly do you trade Cody Bellinger do you try and get something back what what direction do we go in with the future PCA was the future of this team when he came up last year didn’t hit very well hitting under 200 this year again yes he plays fantastic defense one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball but at some point this offense just has a bunch of defensive guys in it that need to step up Nico hoer finally seems to be starting to turn the corner and back to maybe the direction he was last year but yeah you got a great defense great up the middle best up the middle defense and all of baseball dare I say Dansby Swanson Nico Herer PCA when he’s playing Center that’s fantastic you got to score some runs at some point and the Chicago Cubs aren’t doing that so June was an abysmal month for them just awful and again when you look back on the month of June for the Cubs I think it’s going to be the month where they dug their own grave for the 2024 season it has not been pretty uh where things have been pretty sh Otani what a run this man is on over the last two weeks listen to this over the last two weeks and I know I talk about sh Otani a lot I don’t think we talk about him as a collective unit in baseball enough over the last two weeks he’s hitting 356 with seven homers 16 RBIs a 1381 Ops he had an RBI in 10 straight games which is an alltime Dodgers record the Dodgers have been around for a long long time sh Otani has been a Dodger for a very very short amount of time and he’s already breaking alltime records he’s got 26 homers on the Year we’re now entering July and he is the third major league baseball player ever to enter the month of July with at least a 100 hits 25 or more homers 15 or more stolen bases joining Alex Rodriguez in 1998 and Larry Walker in 1997 the terror this man is on is unbelievable and I sat here and talked about it really early on this year and said look I I I don’t know it’s never happened before but there is a path in which sh Otani can absolutely win the MVP award this year did I have it happening no not going to sit here and say that I predicted that to happen I had Ronald aunia Junior running it back not a great start to the year for him and now it’s definitely not going to happen because he is going to miss the remainer of the Season uh with surgery once again but I did believe it was a possibility and now we’re sitting here in the beginning of July when no designated hitter has ever won the MVP award in history and you go look at the National League MVP odds right now and he is the heavy favorite to win the award over the likes of uh Freddy Freeman Bryce Harper’s there catel Marte Marcel Zuna but the heavy favorite right now is sh Otani what a stretch this man is on since 1951 this is the list of players with a 10 game stretch of eight or more homers 17 or more RBI 16 or more hits and 11 or more walks I know that’s five different categories home runs RB’s hits walks two three four four different categories but here’s this list it’s crazy sh Otani this year Ryan Howard in 2006 Bobby Abu in 2005 Barry Bonds in 2004 and Jeff Bagwell in 1994 that’s it that’s the list shut it down DH MVP is well within the cards this year All-Star games around the corner he is going to be he is going to be the starting DH for the national league in the All-Star game it is quite the stretch He’s on by the way I’d be remissed if I didn’t shout out the Dodgers bat boy Javier Herrera after saving sh’s Life In The Dugout the other day don’t know if you saw the video but ball comes flying into the Dugout right at sh otani’s face bat boy Javier right there Batman might I say Batman Javier sitting right there just catches it like it’s nothing legit I’m not gonna say legit saves his life but legit might have saved him from Serious injury and it was just a funny process after that I posted about it posted about it and said my hero the guy got Javier got interviewed postgame by a huge scrum of reporters sh Otani went out to that scrum and like videoed it happening and that’s the video he posted saying my hero so shout out Javier been a bat boy for the dodgers for 18 years and uh is out there saving lives saving MVP Seasons might I say uh so sh’s still killing it you know who’s also killing it oh man am I excited about this one you know who’s killing it right now A team that I have said all year long every step of the way this season through the downs and the ups and then the downs and the downs and the Downs the Houston Astros are over 500 for the first time all year not only are they over 500 they are three and a half games out of first place first place in the American League West they went 17 and8 in the month of June the best record in baseball you want to go one step further through May 8th they were 12 and 24 that is the third worst record in all of baseball from that day on May 9th through the end of June 30 and 17 Again the best in baseball 3.34 ra as a staff that’s the big change their pitching was abysmal bottom five in all of baseball in terms of RA in this last stretch 3.34 second best in baseball 218 batting average against best in baseball 272 batting average for the offense best in baseball this team has turned it around and they have done it all in the month of June for the majority of the month without Kyle Tucker so I’m going to say it now because I’ve been saying it all year through whatever anybody wants to say you’re blinded you’re an idiot whatever anybody wants to say and I could sit here at on October 1st and we could look back at this episode right here at this show and say well Ben what do you got to say now you you’re still an idiot but I’m GNA sit here right now and say whoever out there wasn’t believing and I know that there’s a lot of Astros fans that were even down there were a lot of everybody else but I continued to say the Astros are inevitable hang with them hang with them hang with them this team is far too talented seven straight ALCS appearances that has never happened in the history of the American League and I continued to say how good this team is and that they will be fine and I came up with this with the the worry meter because I felt everybody was worrying a little too much and I would sit there and be asked well when when are you going to be worried because things aren’t looking very good and I said if they’re 10 games back at the allstar break I’ll tell you I’m worried but as of now things can turn around real quick how quick have they turned around well over the last 12 days the Mariners have blown six and a half games off the division lead they’ve lost seven of their last 10 the Astros have won nine of their last 10 screw baby steps baby steps hell no these are giant leaps that the Houston Astros are making and as I continued to say all year long while they were sitting somewhere between five and 10 games back from the division guys this can change around in in a week you can make up four games in in six days if a team goes on a skid and the Astros go on a tear well that’s exactly what happened but it’s been more than a week it’s been the course of a couple weeks and now they’re sitting there three and a half games out of first place the Astros have have been on an absolute Terror they have been the best team in baseball for over a month at this point and I hate to say I told you so but I told you so this this this doesn’t take rocket science it doesn’t take me having a brother on the team for me to say well you’re only saying this because you’re rooting for them because if your brother on the team I got news for everybody out there do I root for my brother’s team absolutely I have since I was n years old when I was born and he was playing for the Richmond Virginians and then the Old Dominion mon Mar and then the coastal plane leagues the Wilson tobs and then the Detroit Tigers and the Lakeland Flying Tigers and the Houston Astros and the New York Mets and the Houston Astros I will always root for him but am I blinded by that absolutely not anybody that listens to this show knows that I will call out the Astros when they need to be called out the playoffs when they couldn’t win a game at home man there was nobody calling them out as much as I was that was embarrassing that can’t happen this year when they’re not playing well I’m not blindly saying ah they’re fine they’re playing great baseball no it was awful but I believed they could turn it around because their track record tells me they’re going to turn it around it’s not rocket science now here we are sitting early July and they’re fine they’re fine do they have questions that need to be answered yes the back end of the bullpen has been answered I believed that that those arms were good enough to turn it around and they have I believe the offense was good the rotation has question marks and has concerns framber is is back uh but you have a lot of guys you have some arms that are what what’s GNA happen with with Lance mccullers’s Justin is currently out with his neck injury so where do you turn let’s say Justin comes comes back soon let’s say he makes his next start you still have pitching concerns you still have a starting pitching depth issue you still have too many question marks there in my opinion to win a World Series which should be the goal every single year for the Astros so where where do you turn and then you start to look at the arms that are out on the market the biggest and the best arm that’s gonna go at this trade deadline is Garrick crochet I don’t I don’t foresee that happening for the Astros I think if if if I had to guess I would say the Dodgers are the Padres end up with him but again I don’t know and again this is this year was almost an experiment for him as a starting pitcher and it’s gone really well for the majority of it couple months have been dominant but are you giving up the farm for a pitcher that isn’t the most proven proven starting pitcher well one the Astros don’t have the best farm to give up anymore there are others that they could probably turn to but I look at the names of you say Kikuchi with the Blue Jays but again all of these I’m goingon to I I have some names that I’m going to throw out there but all of these with this extra wild card added there are so many teams that will be in it it’s all going to come down to which teams decide to buy and which teams do decide to sell so keep that in in mind when I’m saying these names I’m not saying every one of these is going to be traded or these these teams are going to be sellers it’s just teams that in my opinion are going to be sellers or might be so you say Kikuchi with the Blue Jays Jack flare with the Tigers what are they going to do with him uh you have Blake Snell with the Giants not having a great year also injured but is he going to get traded Sherer with the Rangers a couple of the Rangers guys sherzer and ivaldi Rangers have been awful um srino with the Mets if if they decide to to become sellers but they’ve been really good lately so those are some names out there I would say for the Astros maybe maybe Kikuchi flarity um and maybe one of those rangers if they sell but I doubt the Rangers do that they probably won’t go in division but there are names out there there are names possible but the Astros are hot they’re the best team in baseball since May 9th they’re the best team in baseball in June put the dang worry meter down to a two out of 10 I never got to a five we’re down to a two the Astros are rolling and I’ve said it for years the Astros are inevitable and I’ll keep saying it through the end of the year I might look like a fool but nobody can for one second say that I haven’t stood my ground all year long never waver let’s move on to Power Rankings good time to move on to Power Rankings because we’re going to start at number 10 with a team that wasn’t ranked last week a team that hasn’t been ranked in a long long time a team that I’ve been doing a lot of talking about the last couple minutes of this show the Houston Astros are back in the power rankings they’re 42 and 41 entering this new week they’re three and a half games out of first place and let me say one thing very clearly these are power rankings if you would like to look at the standings feel free to open up the MLB app and it’ll tell you the standings and everyone’s record the Houston Astros are the best team in baseball in June the best record in June the best record in all of baseball since May 9th their track record over that stretch almost two months speaks volumes are they currently in a playoff spot no are they currently better than a lot of teams that are in a playoff spot yes and I have them back in the power rankings here at number 10 at number nine also new to the power rankings the San Diego Padres five- one last week currently in the second spot for the Wild Card their offense has been a lot of fun to watch the starting pitching holding it together by the way I shout out Matt Waldren who beginning of the year just looked like we got to get this guy out of the rotation we can’t win baseball games with him on the mound I love a good knuckle ball but man I don’t think it’s working he’s been fantastic for a while now so shout out him that rotation holding it down and the offense with Lis arise now added to it has just been really really good this offense changed the corner big time when Lisa when lis got traded over to the team so I would love Luis arise is I I love that guy friend of mine had him on the Pod before friend of the Pod would love to bring him back on the show here soon and uh just talk to him about the difference he’s made for the team and how much fun it is playing with this Padre’s team so they’re here at number nine moving on to number eight down two spots I bump them up big time after uh seemingly they were back but the Atlanta Braves back down three and four last week they are still holding down the top spot in the NL Wild Card but this team is befuddling I don’t know why that word came to mind but it felt right and I think it works great this team is befuddling you know they’re a really good team and obviously we can talk the beginning of the year Strider aunia are they gonna have sa young and MVP and then you have Austin Riley and all these names they have such a great offense well Strider and aunia both go down for the year team starts playing pretty bad baseball finally last week I bump them up a good bit because they were back to playing great and then they just just lose a bunch of games this week they had no business losing three and four on the week so bumped them down two spots they’re at number eight at number seven the Minnesota Twins up two spots they went four- two last week currently sitting there in a wild card spot as we speak uh same with the Brewers who I have at number six up two spots five- one last week swept the Texas Rangers beat the Cubs in that weekend series we already talked all about the Chicago Cubs and how disappointing their season has been well on the contrast I’ll say it again and again I’ve been saying it all year with the Astros and and I’m not ready to yet take a Victory lap but I’ve been saying it with the Brewers as well on the contrast I was wrong about the Brewers not afraid to say when I was right I’m not afraid to say when I was wrong and I was wrong about the Milwaukee Brewers they’ve been really really good I had this division as a complete flip-flop I thought the Brewers would be down towards the bottom here they are at the top without their ace pitcher Corbin Burns um with not just ace one of the best pitchers in baseball Corbin Burns he goes to the Orioles you think man what what are we doing you trade away your closer and Josh hater and get nothing in return a couple years ago Devin Williams their All-Star closer now is hasn’t pitched and has back issues and won’t pitch until after the All-Star break and man what is this team GNA be this year well they’re first place team and they’re beating their division rival who took their manager away from them they get a new manager and here they are top the NL Central hitting a grand slam every single day five grand slams in the last eight days think about that five grand slams in eight days it is absolutely Bonkers some might say befuddling what the Milwaukee Brewers are doing right now in that division good for them they’re up two spots onto the top five we’ll start with the New York Yankees down three spots they’ve been in the number one spot for a while they were in the number two spot now they’re down three spots barely in the top five they went two and four on the week they were swept by the New York Mets and then split a series against the Toronto Blue Jays who just are downright bad this year so I I’m a little down on the on the New York Yankees right now do I think they’ll be fine absolutely why because they they now have Juan Sono they now have gar coack and they have Aaron judge who in the month of June LED Major League Baseball and batting average with 409 average he hit 409 LED with 37 RB nobody else was even close those are both I mean no honestly nobody’s close to those numbers 37 RBI in the month of June and hit 409 he’s on an absolute tear right now though the New York Yankees are not so I I do believe they’ll turn it around and be just fine again they’ve been number one in the power rankings for a while they’ve been number two for a while but I slid him down a good bit this week just CU their their last 10 plus games has just been pretty tough honestly since gar Cole came back uh they have not been playing good baseball but that’s not the reason why G Cole is when right the best pitcher in baseball the Yankees will be just fine they’re here at number five at number four up one spot the Los Angeles Dodgers four- two on the week they swept the white socks but they did lose two out of three to the Giants they swept the white socks you should sweep the white socks big weekend series against the Giants who trying to turn things around and they go to San Francisco and they lose that series um so really just bumped them up that one spot because I I just slid them over the Yankees they didn’t go up one because of really the way they played but up one because they’re playing better than the Yankees um on to number three the Cleveland Guardians stand strong here at number at number three that’s where they were last week they did win two out of three games against the Orioles but then they turn around and lose three out of four to the Royals so two and three was difficult for me but I ended up keeping the Guardians here at three um so so weak obviously a massive Series against the Orioles one of the best teams in baseball they win that that’s a really that was a that was a telling series for them that was a statement series and then he turn around and lose three of four to the Royals who again much better this year but on a pretty tough skid at the moment and um so I I did keep them here so at number two I bumped them up two spots again because I slid the Yankees down three and I did jump them up to number two the Baltimore Orioles they went four and three on the week over the course of the week they won four games in a row they’re back in the division lead the Baltimore Orioles are your current 2024 AL East leaders and I just have always I love this team uh I would also put them in the same category as the Astros and we were talking about starters earlier they’re one of those teams who are they going to go get they obviously have the farm system to go get gar crochet if they want but do you spend that farm system on a fairly unproven starting pitcher that I will admit has been absolutely dominant when he’s pitching right this year do they go get a US Kikuchi do they go get Jack flarity do they go get one of the Rangers pitchers and shurer rialdi um who knows but I do think they’re going to need a starter with the Kyle bradish news obviously cin Burns is a stud at the top of that rotation uh but they need some help in their rotation I really believe that but I have them here at number two because I love that team I love the offense I really like the Baltimore Orioles I think they’re a really good team I have them as my American League champions this year and in the World Series playing against the current number one team in my MLB power rankings and that is the Philadelphia Phillies staying strong here they won two out of three games against the Tigers on the week they split a series with the Marlins fairly underwhelming week here for the top five obviously the Phillies winning a series with the Tigers losing to the Marlins the Orioles losing to the the guardians but then winning four in a row Guardians winning two out of three but then dropping a Series Dodgers dropping the weekend series Yankees splitting with the Jays getting sleept by the Mets top five pretty underwhelming that’s 6 through 10 that Gap is closing it was a fairly big gap between number one and number 10 10 and number one and number six but now we’re really closing that gap between the top five and and six through 10 but the Philadelphia Phillies holding strong here with a with a couple injuries to some big time players for them um but I I just love that rotation I love what they’re able to do with wheeler Nola Suarez Suarez has been unbelievable this year wheeler and Suarez are top favorites to win the NL sa Young Award the offense despite missing their guys despite Harper’s uh just despite his injury they’re just they’re rolling and they’re a really really good team they are my 2024 World Series champions that is absolutely not a victory lab because it’s July 2nd and that means absolutely nothing but as we currently sit my world series matchup is the number one and number two teams in my power ranking Power Rankings but the Phillies rounds that out so the power rankings back in the top 10 the Houston Astros at number 10 Padres number nine Braves number number eight twins number seven at six the Brew Crew five the Yankees Dodgers at four Guardians at three Orioles at two and the Philadelphia Phillies are number one in this week’s Power Rankings fun episode my friends uh a lot to discuss a lot going on uh again I said it earlier John Smoltz though is back on Flipping bats this week we’ll keep you posted there again make sure you’re following everywhere uh on all social medas that really helps and it helps you keep you up to date with what’s coming out I know the schedule is a little bit different right now than it was a couple weeks ago but things are starting to get you know starting to get back to normal and and a lot more shows are coming out so this one obviously Tuesday JN smz coming out a little while later this week make sure you subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast follow subscribe it’s free to do that it also really helps and it’ll alert you in a new episode comes out so uh fliping bats po anywhere you listen to your podcast we’re on all social media you can watch watch every single episode on YouTube as well at fliping bats pod there but I am just really appreciative of you all for listening and really appreciative of Major League Baseball for sending me this cup of dirt it all means a ton to me I appreciate you all we will be back very shortly with the Hall of Famer from the Atlanta Brave John Smoltz who joins this show every single week so appreciative of you all for listening as always uh Midway point of the Season my friend’s All-Star game is around the break uh allar break is around the corner we’ll be back very soon so remember everyone find your bat and flip it

Ben Verlander discusses the new MLB Home Run Derby rules for 2024, Bobby Bonilla day and what the Chicago Cubs need to do at the trade deadline. Ben also updates his weekly MLB Power Rankings, talks about Shohei Ohtani’s incredible two week stretch, and whether or not the Houston Astros are officially back.

#FlippinBats #mlb #shoheiohtani #ohtani #shohei #baseball #houston #astros #houstonastros #chicago #cubs #chicagocubs #powerrankings

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Shohei Ohtani (大谷翔平) on fire, Houston Astros are back, Cubs’ big decisions & more