Baseball Isn’t Boring

Jonathan Papelbon is back and back big. The former All-Star closer, and current Baseball Isn't Boring regular, makes his return, this time going head-to-head with Producer Evan in offering up MLB Power Rankings. Pap, Bradfo and Evan break down the Top 10 in the majors right now, with a few huge surprises along the way. And just for good measure, Pap reveals a couple of quality bullpen stories.

It seems like a good time to talk to Torey Lovullo. So that's exactly what Bradfo did. With the Diamondbacks sitting in first-place, and their manager just agreeing to a contract extension, the two sit down to talk about exactly how Lovullo got Arizona to believe in itself. For those wondering how The D-Backs turned the corner, it's a good one to listen to.

One day after leaving his start against the Reds with a left shoulder problem, Chris Sale met with the media to offer an update on his condition while laying out what happened and what might happen going forward.

Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom started his professional existence as an intern with the Rays back in 2005, a stretch that continued all the way until he was hired away by the Red Sox in 2019 to run their organization. Now Bloom sits down with Bradfo to talk about what exactly makes the Rays the envy of the rest of Major League Baseball.

It's always a good time when Joey Votto and Chaim Bloom come on the podcast, which is exactly what happened with the future Hall-of-Famer and the Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer making their respective returns to Baseball Isn't Boring with Bradfo. As a bonus, Votto's appearance is led in by a major leaguer who idolized the Reds star, rookie Triston Casas. Votto talks his view of baseball. Bloom talks his view of the Rays way of doing things (along with some trade deadline talk). It's a great way to head into the weekend.

From 'The PBP: Voices of Baseball' (subscribe here): In Matt Spiegel's debut of The PBP: Voices of Baseball, he is joined by a voice familiar to any baseball fan. Before moving to ESPN's Monday Night Football, Joe Buck called 24 World Series as the preeminent national voice of baseball. His dad, Jack, is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame after many years of calling St. Louis Cardinals games on the radio.

What career advice would Buck give to a young broadcaster? Would he consider a return to baseball? Plus, he shares some great stories on Ken Griffey Jr., Tony La Russa and mimicking his dad's legendary call of "We'll see you tomorrow night!"

In just his second week in the majors, Reds infielder Matt McLain took home Player of the Week honors. Considering this is a player who was drafted in 2021, that's something. McLain joins Bradfo to talk about his rapid ascension from being the No. 17 overall pick two years ago while reflecting on advice he might give those ready to be put in his shoes. It's the timeliest of Baseball Isn't Boring on the Go.

Nothing supplies the jumper cables to a Major League Baseball fan base like the idea of a top prospect coming up to the big leagues for a jolt of excitement and production. It's why Bradfo sits down with MLB Pipleline's Sam Dykstra to dissect what has happened when it comes to prospect promotion and which future stars are the not-too-distant horizon. One of the names mentioned is Reds infielder Matt McLain, who also joins the podcast to offer insight into this journey that has baseball buzzing.

The voting for this year's MLB All-Star Game is officially underway, leading Bradfo to not only vote for the players he deems deserving of a trip to Seattle, but also explain his selections in an emergency Baseball Isn't Boring on the Go podcast.

Zac Gallen did it again. He dominated. And with his domination Tuesday night the Arizona starter continued to establish himself as one of the absolute best pitchers in baseball. Bradfo catches up with Gallen to talk about what it's like to be traded, the honor of Kevin Durant playing him in MLB The Show, how unusual Little League path formed his approach to his big league career and other items. He is one of the best, both on the mound and in the world of podcasts.