Blake Murphy hosts the first episode of Jays Talk Plus and opens the show by outlining what's on tap and sharing his baseball background, before getting into former Blue Jay catcher Russell Martin announcing his retirement, and what it takes to be a good game caller behind the mask. Ben Shulman, who made his play-by-play debut for the Jays this weekend, stops by to chat about his first experience working those four games, when he knew he wanted to get into broadcasting like his father, and calling games for the Fort Wayne TinCaps (26:25). Later on, Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith shares his thoughts on Jose Berrios' latest outing cut short to just under three innings, the bullpen's weekend workload, if its time to carry three catchers with Gabriel Moreno's looming call up, and if Nate Pearson has a path to help out the pen (50:26). Finally, PUP guitarist Steve Sladkowski jumps on to discuss the creation of the Jays Talk Plus theme music, how he keeps up to date on his favourite sports team while touring on the road, and his encounter with former pitcher John Axford (79:47).

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.