In this special, Joey talks about all things baseball-related, from the recent performances of the Red Sox to Chris Sale’s season debut tonight in Tampa Bay, and to the return of the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
He starts off the episode by talking about Brayan Bello’s first two starts in the big leagues (1:28) and what to expect in Chris Sale’s season debut (5:24). Joey updates listeners on the Red Sox current injuries and how each injured player has been progressing, including Nate Eovaldi, Rafael Devers, Garrett Whitlock, Matt Barnes, Rich Hill, James Paxton, Chris Sale, and others (6:47). He uses defensive runs saved (DRS) as a statistic to evaluate the Red Sox recent fielding struggles (12:32) from Bobby Dalbec, Franchy Cordero, Jarren Duran, and Christian Arroyo (13:24). Joey breaks down the Red Sox-Yankees series (16:30), including the Red Sox thrilling come-from-behind win over the Yankees on Saturday night (22:23) which comprised of two huge singles by Alex Verdugo: one to tie the game in the 8th inning (23:04) and another to score Rob Refsnyder and Jeter Downs to win the game on a walk-off in the bottom of the 10th (23:58).
Then, Joey transitions to news within the MLB (29:23), from Wander Franco’s injury (29:28) to Shohei Ohtani’s excellence on the mound and at the plate (30:20). He discusses Ohtani’s pitching dominance (32:01) and why he is such a generational talent (32:28). After that, he highlights the three Red Sox players who made the American League All-Star roster (33:04) and the current Home Run Derby field (39:03), which includes MLB legend Albert Pujols.
Next, Joey breaks down the Baltimore Orioles’ current 8-game winning streak (43:53), their longest since 2005. He compares the financial gap between the Baltimore Orioles who have the lowest payroll (49:03) and the rest of the MLB. He moves onto the Seattle Mariners who have also won 8 straight games and have turned their season around (58:03).
At the end, he provides information about the 2023 World Baseball Classic (1:01:07), from which countries are in each pool to what the Qualifying Round will look like in September for the four open qualifying spots, and all the way to his dream USA lineup.