Baseball Expats

Eric is on a schedule. What else is new?

The boys try to beat their National League All-Star theme team by building an American League version using the same rules, then check in on Destiny Draft heading into the final weekend before the All-Star break.

We also run through the release plan for next week. We’ll be back Monday previewing the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, then after the break we’ll start diving into the trade deadline before returning to normal programming.

So don’t worry, things will keep moving pretty normally through All-Star week.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the weekend.

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Rolsey and Spoon are holding the fort this week, starting with a quick discussion about Eric’s absence and whether we should be concerned, impressed, or used to it.

From there, the boys get into the whole “first half / second half” thing in MLB. It’s not actually a true half of the season, but every year everyone gets swept up in the idea anyway, so we talk about what matters, what doesn’t, and which splits are actually worth caring about.

Then it’s a quick Destiny Draft check-in, with a massive couple of days coming up. Head to baseballexpats.com and click Destiny Draft on the homepage to follow the live scoreboard.

After that, we get into Eury Pérez being pulled after seven perfect innings, only for the Marlins bullpen to promptly implode, because baseball enjoys making everyone miserable. Rolsey adds some historical context around near-perfect games and what makes these situations so weird.

That leads us into the Marlins’ season more broadly, plus a look at some of the league’s bigger overperformers and underperformers so far.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best picks for the slate.

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Quick Weekend Pickoff this week.

Eric joins from a hockey rink in Hobart, Rolsey is racing the clock to get to the butcher before his wife’s 4th of July birthday barbecue becomes accidentally meatless, and Spoon is absolutely on fire.

We start with a quick Destiny Draft update. Head to BaseballExpats.com and click Destiny Draft to follow the live scoreboard. Ibbo also waxes poetically about leading the comp heading into the weekend, and his stream-of-consciousness text thread with Eric finally gets exposed.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the weekend.

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We start this one by asking a very simple question: what on earth is going on with Josh Naylor?

After a few of his recent antics, the boys try to work out whether he’s just playing with edge, fully leaning into the bit, or becoming one of baseball’s great chaos agents.

From there, we get into the All-Star voting, which has officially become less “who deserves to start?” and more “which fanbase can click the hardest?” We talk through why the system feels broken, a few ways MLB could potentially fix it, and whether the whole thing needs a proper rethink.

Then, because we’re helpful, we pick our own National League All-Star team to see if we can almost blindly put together a better starting group than the fan vote.

Spoiler alert: we absolutely can.

After the break, Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the week.

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Destiny Draft is back for Round 4, and this week Ibbo jumps in as the listener pick.

We start with a quick look back at Round 3, which has officially wrapped and moved the season table along nicely. There were a few wins, a few regrets, and probably a few picks everyone would like to quietly pretend never happened.

Then we get straight into the Round 4 draft. Ibbo joins the chaos, the boys work through another board of MLB hitters and pitchers, and everyone tries to talk themselves into believing they’ve found the perfect two week combination.

Round 4 runs from June 29 through July 12, with the live Destiny Draft dashboard tracking every score across the round. You can follow the full scoreboard throughout the fortnight at baseballexpats.com.au.

Eric is allegedly stuck on a train, bus, or some other very convenient form of transport, so it’s just Spoon and Rolsey for this Weekend Pickoff.

The boys give their immediate thoughts after Australia’s nil-all draw with Paraguay sends them into the Round of 32 at the World Cup, then check in on Destiny Draft before turning to two Aussies making serious noise in MLB: Travis Bazzana and Curtis Mead. Both are putting together seasons that deserve a proper place in the conversation around the best Australian professional baseball campaigns we’ve ever seen.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the weekend.

Enjoy the baseball, enjoy the sport, and love you.

The boys are all back together and, good news, Eric’s microphone is working again. His camera isn’t, but honestly, that feels like the better outcome.

We start with a Destiny Draft update after Spoon’s massive weekend, hear from the Commish as the listener spot keeps putting up a proper fight, and check in on Eric and Rolsey, who are both doing a little bit of drowning and need big weeks. Head to baseballexpats.com to follow along with the Destiny Draft leaderboard.

From there, we stay in the World Cup mood after Mbappé, Messi and Erling Haaland all scored doubles on the same day for the second straight week. Rolsey brings a few more baseball comparisons to the table and asks the boys what the MLB version of that kind of superstar day would actually be.

Then we get into a bit of CBA chat, because it’s hard to ignore the collective bargaining noise right now. This time it’s the proposed MLB Draft rule changes that the Players Association unsurprisingly hated, even if the idea itself gave us plenty to talk about.

Spoon has also been diving into other teams’ Reddit threads again, because apparently that’s who he is now, before he gives us his best bets for the Wednesday slate in Australia.

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Quick disclaimer off the top: Eric’s mic decided to have an absolute shocker for this one, but we forged on because the baseball waits for no one.

The boys are back together for the Weekend Pickoff, and before we get anywhere near the actual baseball, Eric decides to audition a brand new theme song inspired by this week’s World Cup Destiny Theme Team. It is exactly as polished as you would expect.

From there, we check in on Destiny Draft, recap where things stand, and remind everyone to follow along at baseballexpats.com by clicking the Destiny Draft leaderboard on the homepage.

Then we touch on a little bit of early trade deadline news as the season starts to take shape, before Spoon gives us his best tips for the weekend slate.

Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the baseball, and enjoy a massive few days of sport.

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The boys are all back together, and this week we get into the World Cup spirit.

First up, the Scottish fans basically take over Fenway Park on Sunday Night Baseball, which sends us into a chat about football crowds, baseball crowds, and what MLB can learn from a proper tournament atmosphere.

From there, we talk about the madness of four World Cup draws in a single day, how rare that is, and whether there’s a baseball version of a similar ilk.

Then we stay on theme and build a World Cup-inspired MLB theme team, because apparently this is what happens when baseball guys watch too much football.

Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the slate.

Head to baseballexpats.com to follow along with Destiny Draft, and we’ll be back Friday for the Weekend Pickoff.

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Round 3 of Destiny Draft is here.

The boys recap Round 2, hear from The Canary after his run as listener picker, then meet our new guest picker for Round 3 before cracking into another card-fuelled snake draft.

As always, the pack decides the player pool, the boys make the picks, and the next two weeks decide who cooked and who’s cooked.

Follow along at baseballexpats.com by clicking the Destiny Draft leaderboard on the homepage.