Bleav In Twins -EP 2- White Sox Series, Griffin Jax, Bailey Ober, Cubs Predictions

welcome in to episode two of the believe in twins podcast here on the believe Network I am your host Anders prior joined by my wonderful co-host and analyst Zack Tipton uh Zach it's great to see you to open up the week um Zach and I a little bit before the show were talking uh Olympics um and how exciting it's been and I'm I'm really happy that this year it's being hosted in a place where I don't have to wake up at five in the morning to watch the things that I want I I've I'd say 80% of what I've watched to this point has been the basketball and usually they have one game at like 11:30 and another game at 3 so it's it's a nice and easy time to watch I mean I've kept track of swimming from time to time during the reruns but Zack was just telling me about how there were some pretty important pole volting stuff that I I missed apparently yeah uh Mandu Duplantis uh LSU Brad just broke the world record in p ballting and I got to watch it I watched the entire thing it was so fun to like see them progressively go up and progressively just get closer and closer to the world record and eventually the silver and bronze who was a USA guy who that won silver but they couldn't make it past six meters and Mandu plantis kept going and he ended up breaking the world record which was 6.25 meters um just an absolute insanity and um it made me think I'm like you know I'm heading into this podcast you know this guy is pull bolting 6.25 meters can the twins Bolt the Guardians uh in a in a in in in a short amount of time or how long will it take the twins to Vault the Guardians at the top of the Central um and so that's what made me think I'm like you know can the twins do that but uh we'd love to see it if that happens but I think right now I'm happy that the twins are at and I'm excited to talk about them yeah no I I there's a lot of twins I'd love to see try do doing pole volting um I gotta tell you like I know sometimes with like a lot of these like Olympic stars like you kind of have to like you know like you kind of to sort of appreciate them you kind of have to look at like just the medals or just like the forms of athleticism but like the person itself once you kind of get into the interview stage is not super like interesting or whatever like they're you know like just they're not people that you would want to like really get to know that much like outside of like sports I got to tell you like Noahs is one of the most like is the most captivating like like one of the most captivating Olympic athletes of any country that I can recall like it's just to I I was saying like last night like the amount of money that he's gonna be able to milk out of like Gatorade for the next decade is gonna be absurd so absolutely yeah know L's one of those guys that that that that pommel horse guy from The Men's gymnastics team is another guy that just seems really C ating to me and seems like a guy that' be really fun to get to know as well uh Steve nasic yeah he seems like another guy there's a bunch of guys though yeah no though is what he did you know on the 100 meter was absolutely insane and to do that with a lot of people hate watching him I'm not gonna lie he was he's not the most well-liked Runner right now yeah I love him he's a world champion I think he's great did you see the entire USA basketball team was there hate watching did you did you the entire that no that's such an interesting dynamic between like them and like it's like world champions of what that's still such a great story I mean if USA wins gold this year maybe that kind of settles out a little bit but I was thinking too like you know Zach and I are huge baseball guys obviously and I actually seeing the Olympics now and like the Optics of it and how like crowded it is with with all the scheduling and stuff really makes me glad that baseball is not an Olympic sport and that the WBC is its own separate event um because I feel like it would be so lost and I think that for like baseball with like marketing and a lot of like the issues around that it's kind of good that it gets sort of its own thing like it's World Cup absolutely so it made me kind of appreciate that a little more like the I agree there's the argument of like if you put it on like the Olympic stage like do a lot of those like big stars from those other countries like attract you know view American viewers like to the MLB but I'm glad that it's kind of you know but you know where like you it's the WNBA model where you like you just have the break in the season I'm glad that it's not I'm kind of glad it's its own separate thing I think now I kind of appreciate that more um but it's great to have you guys in um if you're listening and not watching I am cleanly shaved uh so hopefully over the I am not Zach is Zach's not he's not there yet he doesn't have the same next episode I will be next episode I will be we yeah and you guys can watch this grow it out over the course of the rest of the season um but we have a good episode for you guys today we're going to talk about we're going to reflect on the white sock series we're going to do a little bit of previewing for the Cub series we're going to talk talk about some we're going to talk about Bailey Ober mentioned a couple other kind of underrated guys as well but and some good content coming up but I wanted to talk first about the white sock series which was an easy sweep it was a sweep Zach that if you've seen any bit of social media have now white socks to a 20 game losing streak and which is AB which is it's insane I I saw like a gra I think that the the something about how like the Boston Celtics had like fewer Collective regular season losses or like entire season losses than the white socks have had on just this streak which is absolutely ridiculous it is but what what's before we like get into like the series specifically because you know there's only so much you can say when you're just beating the neck out of a poorly managed team but like it it's kind of ridiculous because I I feel like there were moments like last year where we kind of tarnished and trapped in you know and you know [ __ ] and feathered the O Oakland last year just because you know there were more kind of easier to PO historically easier to poke fun of brand in in recent history just because a lot of what's surrounding them right now versus like you know two years ago the white sock were an 80 plus win team so they haven't maybe gotten the same kind of meme flacking that Oakland had last year but this is obviously a far worse team just in terms of pace of you know wins um but your kind of reaction to it and it's just it's pretty like you know they're bad because you just look at the the rankings but there's some underlying historical stuff here that actually really opens your eyes as to how terrible I won't use some certain language to describe them but how terrible they I mean it's it's to the point where it's almost like are they throwing like are they physically like just throwing games at this point um and it's hard not to really see that um and I'm trying to think of who is the number one Prospect in next year's draft and is there almost a little bit of taking going on at this point because they know how bad this is and wait is is holiday is holiday's brother the number one Prospect in next year's draft Ethan Ethan holiday is this Ethan holiday's draft or is that next year I think he's got I think he's 2026 okay I'm pretty sure I mean I don't know it depends on because he's still in high school at the moment I'm not sure actually not sure what class I know he's coming up soon soon I know that if he is not this coming I know that 20's 26 I think is his latest he'll be able to go until he gets to college but I me not far behind from Jackson so maybe but I I know Ethan holiday is the consensus number one pick almost every single things ever so um but I I don't think it's this I don't think it is this J I think you're right so I'm trying to think of who would be that who they're like what they would like be getting in advantage of like losing this much but yeah I just think this team is so bad like I just think like they have Garrett crochet and they're only letting him go like five six endings like I they only pitched five innings in the Twins game uh against the Twins and he had like one run allowed and then the bullpen blew up like it usually does I mean it's just it's so bad how bad this team is from top to bottom that it's almost like hilariously funny to watch um yeah I I don't even I was talking to someone I mean the I mean I'm looking at the box score of the of the game I mean there's only one there's only one hit list perform no two yeah there the only two Hit List per people for the Twins were Jeffers and Margo who were the only were the pitch hitters everyone that opened the game in the lineup got at least one hit I I I I think like I was talking about this with someone a couple of days ago like for the white socks like I don't understand really what the free agency like unless management changes like management like like on the floor management I don't know what the selling point is because you can't say it's Chicago like the city because it is the Cubs you know with the Marlins you know at least at the bare minimum you can say oh we were injured and you know a lot of those guys are going to be back and we have a really consistent proven you know Player Development system for the Angels you at least get to pitch the market to them and at the bare minimum for the Rockies who I would actually argue at in for the past couple years have been ran even more poor than you know than than the white socks at least if you're a hitter you can make the claim or at least the selling point that you can juice your stats a little bit and even if it's unspoken I don't know what the selling point is for like a free agent for the white socks I can't I I don't think I can cogently articulate a single one um am I missing something I oh oh by the way I just looked this up just to be clear sorry sorry I'm sorry this is off topic a little bit I look it up the white socks because of their Market can't get a pick in next year's draft higher than 10 so they will not be able to have a top 10 pick next next year in the draft because their market and so they are physically not this is just absolute Insanity um sorry we ask your question again my bad no it's know I mean that's an excuse me I'm reaching over here for a quick technical thing got to make sure that my my device is fully plugged in um sorry there if the mic sounded weird for second um but no I mean that yeah like there's the element of being stuck and then yeah they don't have like a selling point as a franchise like agents I me I look at it like also I got to mention like they have a coach that is 88 and 105 in two years and they haven't fired him yet I'm actually a little surprised they haven't fired him yet no um and not to and like they have no really highlevel prospects I mean if you look at the lb top 100 prospects Liston M I think it's kind of weird like if you look at their Prospect rankings they have Kon gy and Noah Schultz Who are 16 and 18 and I and then but besides that I mean they don't have another guy in the top 70 AAR quero is the only other guy who's at 71 is the only other guy in the top 100 they had three top top 100 prospects two top 20 which is good two top 20 is not bad but it's also like you know I don't know it's just it's they don't really have a future yeah and it's hard to look at their team and say they have a future right the no I mean the I I understand the whole thing of you know I crochet kind of demanding an extension I I understand why that might make you a little like shaky on things but you have to trade roar like you you you have to like there are so many team like in the in the NL like if you don't want to trade him to the AL which is fine in the NL the NL like the valley of teams in the NL whose record is just good enough to where you can convince them to be where they can can either you can convince them or they can convince themselves to be buyers um especially if given the opportunity to receive a caliber of player like him is huge there's like seven of them like you're going to sit here and tell me that like the Pirates would have not g you know who have an excellent farm system would have not given you uh you know several ready now bats to in exchange like it it's it's ridiculous so that the crochet thing I understand and you know they did their job with trading you know Fetti Etc but you got to make but you need to that's the big punch to juice the system that you need to make and they failed they just failed I it's it's kind of embarrassing um if you ask me like I'm looking at their team now like and it was like like you know like a top prospect for me a team that's like gonna be a top prospect for me or a team that's like a future has a future has multiple guys on their roster that's probably like 22 23 years old you know even 21 possibly that are going to be future players for you the youngest player for the white socks is 24 on the entire team that's the youngest player they have three guys that are 24 and that's it right so for that that's just like they have no one that can be like that future that's that's the thing so like yeah like for the Royals and I know we're kind of dancing around like for like the Royals like like last year I mean this past season they made a lot of really shrewd and smart veteran signings but a lot of but last year the the team that they had outside of Salvador Perez was young and those reps that they got for both their super highlevel guys like Bobby Whit and even some of their other less unknown younger players like they got really valuable reps that they took into this year then the front office compliment Ed it with unsexy yet cognizant and smart Investments like that's the thing is that this is not the sort of young development valuable reps getting the rust off you know forming this team into shape kind of mold that the Pirates and the Nationals have kind of taken over the past couple of years like the it it's they're just bad outside verar it's just on the for the batting it's just bad players like they I I never thought that this was a sentence that I could ever mutter ever ever in my life but in they're a worse version of the Angels right like yeah that which is is such an absurd sentence to say but so obviously this twins kind of beat down right where you know scoring double digit runs twice in three games is very unsur Rising um I I think the I I I think the is there a game here of this series Zach that is the most kind of outstanding to you I know that you wanted to highlight yeah I think for me the most outstanding one was the one they won against Garett crochet uh in the second game there uh and listen they got that Homer they got early they actually were down early I think not mistaken they were tied two to2 in the sixth and then garri crochet comes out of the game in the I think G crochet came out of the game after five after no gck R lost in four innings for them they only this is still insane to me gar crochet had 77 pitches through four Innings and only allowed one run and they took him out of the game like what is that managing first of all secondly um and then they put in and then and then of course the ballpen comes in and the Twins score four runs in the seventh and eighth Innings combined and take a 6-2 lead and hold it down I think for me this was also a big game because this was like Pablo Lopez gave up a couple of bad two bad hits in like early Innings and then settled down went seven and oh no is this this actually I might be wrong here I'm wrong sorry this was bayy over's game this was Bailey eight straight quality start he wi seven Innings two earn run seven strikeouts I mean this is daily over excuse me daily over and then you have Griffin Jackson Y and Duran and a soldout Target Field crowd yep going absolutely nuts because yand Duran's entrance is one of the best entrances in baseball and it's just it's a it's a really and this was the one game where Roy Lewis didn't really go crazy but have to this was the Austin Martin Brooks League game this was the and like Ryan Jeffers had a homer Max Kepler had a homer Willie Castro had a two-run single two and the that was the one where Willie Castro had a 133 pitch at bat that he turned into a two-run s two-run single and one of the best at bats I've ever watched um so for me that was a game hugee huge shout out to Griffin Jack I think has slowly and quickly simultaneously somehow over the course of the year has become has turned into arguably the most underrated and under discussed reliever in baseball um um I agree um I and I agree here and uh the first and I really and I we are I don't know if I can show it here I think we need to keep this on the screen but um if if if you guys have a chance go look at Griffin Jack's baseball Savant page yep I implore you like if you want to see one of the greatest baseball Savant pages of all time go look at Griffin Jackson's baseball Savant page um it is absolutely breathtaking and it makes you wonder and it makes you actually curious who is really the better reliever in between Griffin Jackson Yan Duram there is a real question about it because those two are so good that there is a legit argument to say Griffin Jack is a better relever than a better pitcher than yand Durant what makes what makes Griffin Jack so cool is how his so you look at a picture like clay Holmes the closer for the Yankees who has a very similar kind of like excuse me got that Seltzer burp just now I'm not doing Celsius today I'm doing an unflavored Polar Seltzer um if you look at clay Holmes who has a lot of that very similar like sweeper slider combination stuff that clay Holmes has oh wait yeah can you okay wait sorry I thought you were saying something excuse me no I wasn't I wasn't sorry no no no good um a lot of the who employs a lot of the same sweeper slider that Klay Holmes does and you know Jack's very similar repertoire clay Holmes does not get hit very often but when he does he gets hit really hard and a lot of his mistakes leave the ballpark for JA Al same thing with Holmes doesn't get hit hard a lot if you look at the Savant a lot of their whiff rates and chase you know their whiff rates and their K rates are very similar but a lot of the stuff that when JX does get hit it's not hit super hard his his his um excuse me his Barrel percentage and his hard hit percentage are both you know Barrel percentage 72 per 72 percentile hard hit percentage 82nd percentile now his ground ball rate is is is comparable to Holes his is at 80% but it's his mistake he doesn't make many mistakes and his M when he does make a mistake it's not that compr and he has that like perfect stuff where like we allow three home runs all year yeah exactly Jack only allowed three home runs all year and they're not off the same pitch either one of them is off the sweeper one's off the four SE or one's off the change up so it's not like one pitch can get hit hard every pitch is so good in Griffin Jacks repertoire um you mentioned like the Duran and Jack like Gap not being that big like you we talked about like last episode how about this the this twins Bullpen is a very clear identity which you know Durant is kind of like the anchor of that where his whole thing is basically I'm just gonna throw this cutter 103 miles an hour like good luck and like using like the cutter and the for seamer like and he has a nasty slide he has he has a nasty slider as well to go with it ja Jax is very similar too it's like ja Jax um has the sweeper which tops out at 84 which is absurd um his fast ball is not as comparable which you know his his top TI at about 100 I don't think we've seen him get to 101 I don't think he's said 100 yet this year yeah he said 100 I think he said 100 a couple times this year that's his max but the but the the thing that really impresses me the most is are the change up which tops out at 96 and then the curveball which gets which he doesn't throw a lot but I but he but it gets to 90 when he does and so he has that super unique movement and velocity combination um that you usually see from you know closers but yeah with dur there it's hard to surpass just because of the top speed um but shout out to him really one of the most underrated setup setup mans and setup guys and just relievers period in baseball in the first two games of the series against the Wes had had two two strikeout one inning performances I mean so he's been that good for he's been that good for a while I can look I'm going to pull up his game log here really quickly as as I can um but I think I have it I don't remember where it's at but he's like but like he's been so good for just like so he's been so good for so long this year and his mistakes are so rare at this point like last year he was last year he he struggled early in the year where he was struggling early this year he's rarely struggled he has up like he's had a couple times where he's like blown a save but that's been very rare this year like for example and he's given up he's only had two games since June since June he's had three games since June 13th where he's given up a run um so in almost two months he's given up four ear runs um and one of those was against Milwaukee where he allowed two run Homer and that was just how and that was just how it was so that was like um so uh but anyway so Griffin Jack agreed I I think what you know I've tried so long to kind of hype up Griffin Jax at this point because he's just so incredible but it's not just Jo and and Griffin Jack right y this year specifically go look at Jill Cara's baseball Sant page go look at Cole Sam's baseball Savon page Cole Sans is a really interesting story last year he was like the 26th man on the roster he was that last pitcher that we only used like once every two weeks but he kept a roster spot because we really didn't have him to bring up for him so he's kept the roster spot for so long he pitched like once every two weeks and this year he's become our fourth best pitcher and has basically become our high leverage six seventh ending guy as well so I mean he's just his his jump this year has been incredible and then horel call is another guy who in three straight Seasons before this year has not been able to stay healthy I think he's pitched like maybe 20 combined innings in three seasons um and this year say health he's been our number three relever like that's been who he has been I me Jala is a guy that was like four years ago was one of our top prospects and was expect to be a closer for us like he was supposed to be one of our closer guys but because of all his injuries he never reached that but if you look at his baseball Savon his baseball SA is awesome um he doesn't get a lot of Chase and he doesn't his walk percentage isn't great but his fast ball vo ABS velocity xier xba his he has a 99% he's at the 99% child and hard hit percentage like that's crazy yeah um and so H call is another guy like so I just our entire top four of that Bullpen deserves so much credit for what they've been able to do yep um and then the last guy want to bring up on underrated that I've been excited about I was talking to andw about this earlier Bailey over I mentioned him earlier in the show a little bit but Bailey over has been a l huge Lifeline for us this year in the starting pitching uh when Pablo Lopez has struggled yeah and when Joe Ryan has even struggled a couple times bayy over hasn't um right um there was in the be at the very beginning of the year like in the baseball community and then Al but even more specifically in like the analytics community and like the fantasy Community um bayy Ober was a big like dark hor like if someone had to say like who's your Dark Horse like sa young finalist like someone who could finish like top three it was him because of the extension and you know the you know you it's it's I think more it's a little easier just because of like build and like you know there are only so many things about your physical body that you can control right like so the extension we knew was going to be there and then he doesn't throw especially fast for his extension but because you know for someone of his kind of stature but that's also improved like three years like in four years ago three years ago when he first came up he was throwing like 8990 with his fast ball now he's throwing 94 so he hasn't improved that a lot sure um he yes he um he does I I want like he is a true like four pitch Pritcher like change up cutter slider like it's all there and it's all real and there's all great movement on it and none of them are especially fast but like you the the the velocity has improved I also but the the extension that he has you know a lot of his strikeout rates have been great and the numbers say that and the eye test says it as well and just in terms of like swing and Miss broadly and someone who is able to throw that many movement based pitchers like that well when you add that extension because usually guys like with have that much extension like you think of like the Paul skes kind of model where he's super tall like Bailey and he throws something like a 101 and that creates you know x amount of fractions of seconds less time for someone to react which is really valuable when you're trying to go for you know when you're trying to build through you know a six inning you know kind of game kind of game log but for him he's kind it's kind of this thing where he has the extension and not only does he not only have the kind of above average firmly above average velocity but it started out below average and you know you said it's kind of ticked up but really interesting picture just to watch on an ey test perspective but he's been really great has he lived up to the excuse me if you ask people if he's lived up to the hype it ex it it it it depends because there's a big kind of this nerdy community of baseball guys who were obsessed with him going into the year um I know yourself included you were very high on him I was I was high on him too but you were much earlier on it than I was yeah I think to to that within that group of people he's totally lived up to what people were expecting of him this is I think the high end of his range of outcomes yeah I think for me personally it's like bayy over first off let's let's talk a about biley ober's story for those of you who don't know Bailey Ober Bailey Ober came onto the scene I think it was he he came into the majors in 2021 when the Twins were at their lowest like we were at our lowest point we are bringing up guys to start for example our starting rotation at that time included Joe Ryan Griffin ja was in our starting rotation who we just talked about he's now our best one of our best relievers he was in our starting rotation uh bayy oer and other guys I can't remember their names because they were so bad um like we had like one of the worst rotations in baseball and bayy oer was part of that and he was kind of the top of that it was Joe Ryan and him and a lot of people expected bayy oer to lose his starting spot a lot of people were like this guy's not gonna be a future for the twins like he's he's only here now because he we have no one else he will not be a future for the Twins and they didn't see him that way so what did he do he went to drive line and uh Anders you obviously know I at driveel line a lot of people know about drive line now because it's become so big but he and Griffin Jackson were two of the first twins to really go to drive line and make Drive Line a big thing in their lives like drive line was huge for bayy oer and he was one of the first guys to really use it to his advantage and it kept getting better and so but the issue with him also was injuries right his first two season specifically 2022 he started out the year okay pretty good actually but he got hurt and was almost out the entire rest of 20122 um and so came in 2023 like is he gonna be that guy so he didn't even make the team in 2023 he started in Triple A immediately got called up like immediately almost because Tyler Molly got hurt so early that he immediately got called up and he was our third best pitcher throughout the entire season and it wasn't really close it was it it was well he was our third or fourth depending on how you want to put him or Joe Ryan last year I would actually put bayy overhead of Joe Ryan last year in terms of that but it was in between those two um but bayy what Bailey not to mention last year for the first time in his career by a long shot he had like aund and I foret his exact amount but I think he had like aund and do you remember I I should I think I have it here but there was a what was it I have I thought I had it I don't think I have it now but he had like 30 Innings or something like that like he reached like the most inning he's ever had in a major league career was last year when he reached that he the injuries didn't affect him that much and he's also this year again he's not got injured as well either so he's just a fun guy to watch and now obviously but the main thing I was bringing oh he reached 144 Innings last year um which was the most in his career by far and this year he's already 122 and we're only like a we're only like like we're only like just over halfway through the season he's already 122 um so over is another guy that just really awesome me and obviously the reason we're bringing up now is because he just had his e consecutive quality start um and that is the that is the first time a twins pitcher has eight consecutive since Phil Hughes in 2014 so it's been a decade since he got a pitcher with eight consecutive quality starts bayy obber just hit that um last thing with bayy obber here um is you know he's been what was I gonna say uh his strikeout numbers have gone up he's been so huge in getting the Innings as well um there is a case for him for being our Ace right now and I think at this point it's hard to not say he isn't our ace at this point um with how rough Pablo Lopez has been struggling um so uh I I feel like I had something else I can say biley over but I kind of blanked out on it but biley over is just what he's done has been incredible and I just I'm very happy that he's figured it out and he is doing what he really wants what he's been trying to do for a while and that he's turning in this type of season oh that's what I was gonna say bayy over um versus the Royals has like a 19 erra and versus every other team baseball he like a 2.4 like a 2.08 it's something like that but the Royals have like he has like a 19.4 ra versus the Royals he physically cannot pitch versus the Royals but everyone else he can he's one of the best in baseall and he doesn't face the Royals that's how he he yeah there in that there's a lot of there's a lot of weird ones like that where like they have like these like super like consistent quality start after quality start pitchers who have these like ballooned like 12 or 13 eras against like certain teams um there it is bayy over versus KC 19.8 n ER versus everyone else 2.8 it's just Kansas City has single-handedly brought his ra to like the threes where I think it is right now yeah I think he's currently sitting at uh he's currently sitting 3.69 369 for the year um but no he he's been one of the more under discussed names in baseball I think um excuse me you know someone that if you know would be I think because of the market that he plays in I think certain words are used to describe him I think you know right now I think I think I think Gadget I think gadgety would be an appropriate word to use to describe him um I think that's it's an accurate description I think that that and I think that is what makes him good in a lot of ways I do think that if he played for like the Dodgers or the Astros then we would not be using that word I think we would more so be focusing in on his like physical specimens ship and things like that um because I think for a small Market team like if you get to you know if you get a pitcher who you know has that you know where physical sportmanship is a part of it your game and it's a good part of your game you kind of need to be at like paulk's level to like get that kind of discourse around you but he has been very underrated um throughout absolutely I want to let's let's let's talk about this uh let's talk about this upcoming uh Cub series um it kind of sucks because I I love Simeon Woods Richardson so much um I think I I love how I I I I really like the way that he keeps the ball in the ballpark I think that he is essentially one of the perfect pitchers for a place like Target Field um and I think that this kind of you know up and down largely on you know up and down but also largely underperforming Cubs offense you know would be like the perfect kind of game for him to mold himself back it you know into it after a not so great start against the the the White Sox only going you know four Innings and allowing six hits which you know for the white sock that's double so that's like allowing you know that's like allowing 12 hits for like a regular team basically yeah um but so I thought that this would this would have been a perfect Ser to kind of gain some stuff back but um you know the Cubs have I I picked the in my Like official prediction stock I I picked the Cubs to win the central in the National League um obviously I don't think that that's gonna I think at this point we should basically just kind of assume that the Brewers will you know scouting Department their way into 90 wins for the foreseeable future um Pat talking about the Cubs as a last place team in their division at this point I I know no it's it's it's it's ridic I I never would not have seen that coming at all but your kind of maybe broad brush uh preview tonight this is when the series starts we it's Festa versus hris which is a pretty pretty uninspiring opening to a series um I did I I kind of disagree with you here because I think F's last two starts have shown a lot to twins fans after a really bad first two starts so like he had two really first two starts of his debut got sent down came back and in two outing sents has looked really really good kind of look like top PR see I think this is a real chance for Festa to breakout and have like a signature type Breakout game for Festa uh tonight versus the Cub for for the same reasons that Simmon Woods Richardson could have a really huge game here I think besta has a chance to have a really huge game here versus the Cubs to kind of break out and possibly turn into that number five starter we've been hoping he would um so I could see that Happ I kind of like this match up a lot for Fest as well because you're you're kind of facing a Kyle Hendrick that is kind of you know gonna give up runs and this is a chance for Fest to go out and be like that guy and be a guy that can go you know six Innings no run ball or even six Innings one run ball or two run ball I think would be a really big outing here for Festa um and so that's kind of my prediction I think he'll go six Innings two earned runs I'm gonna say seven strikeouts uh is my prediction for fasta night and I think he gets the win you think he gets to okay that is my prediction for V tonight I want to see I mean I want to see the I I definitely not you know obviously smaller sample I want to see just like for like younger pitchers like or younger pitchers with not as many with not that many like starting you know reps like big league starting reps I I kind the first thing I really look for is like kind of just fast ball placement not necessarily speed me he he he got he's at 98 which is you know good right like that's above average um you know not as much speed because like you know you use the same whether your fast Ball's at 95 or 102 you're going to use it the same way it kind of holds the same role in terms of how you navigate an app bad and how you kind of construct a repertoire and an Arsenal as a pitcher but I want to see placement I want to see I and I want him to kind of setup and I an identity with it that we can see not just in this start but over the next like few starts like especially when he does decide to throw it at that top 98 maybe even getting to 99 can he you know is he is he a painter is he someone who is not afraid to throw it dead in the middle in a certain count is he some does he does he trust his defense is he someone who likes to challenge people over the top like is he someone who you know pitches into a strike zone depending on the height and whatnot of the pitcher or does he kind of keep the same rhythm in between there's a lot of I'm I want to kind of see how he uses that right like we see you know he has a slider and a change up th those are complimentary things that will kind of just formulate themselves as you get more reps but I want to see the IDE identity that he has with the fast ball and this is I think and this is a really good um Team to do it against as I the Chicago Cubs if you look at Fan graphs if I'm looking here are yeah they're 20 yeah they're 21st in home runs and are 21st in Ops so this is not a team that's going to punish you that much if you make a mistake so I want to see some Fearless fastball usage tonight yeah okay I agree um yeah know I think I agree with that I think you know I I I'm I'm excited to see what fesa can do tonight versus a weaker offense and versus a team that I think he can really you know punish I think he like I mean he looked really good versus the Phillies you know a series ago when he did that right that was his last game his that was his big start with he went um he went 4.1 Innings against the Phillies had one run and had seven strikeouts and then against the Mets he went five innings had two earn runs had six strikeouts like those are two good teams in a row that he's had really good performances by after having not good performances versus the Tigers and the dond backs um I would hope that um that now that he's facing kind a weaker team he's kind of gotten into the majors he's had a couple good starts this is his chance to really shine on a scale for twins fans that I think you know we're getting we're excited for um and so this is a guy that I'm excited for so we will see we will see I am hopeful I am very hopeful but um right now um right now I'm just hoping that the uh that that he has to get out yeah the the the two guys that we men Festa and then Woods Richardson I'm a big Zach knows this I mentioned I'm a big fan of woods Richardson um I I think you know the the story going into the year with the twins was this idea of like okay so Sunny gray is leaving right like the kentay I thought the kentay leaving overall pretty benign I think well no no twins fans are really upset about like we knew stay yeah the but the gray thing in terms of the rhetoric part of it was we knew that there were guys that we had that could slide in up spots so like Ryan taking a slide up and you know like Varin oh yeah obber taking a slide up Varin taking a slide up and you know what have you um the question being is how does the bottom of the lineup kind of get fleshed out obviously varland sent down very early not the answer um and I think forris P Chris Paddock never really looked like the answer either yeah his small I think so I think for a while like people thought the answer was Woods Richardson in in that first kind of thre Monon kind of stretch you could see even in his not great STS you could see things clear and then he did pepper that in with really quality one run or two run starts um and now you know maybe surfaced in a little bit but I'd still think is is a very clear person like in terms of he he's our clear number four right now and it's not really a question yeah he's been the icing on the cake absolutely the icing on the the the the Lopez and Ryan and obber cake I think last year obber kind of moved himself into cake territory if I can keep using that silly sort of way to picture no 100% now so this is the opportunity for Festa to be the sprinkles to be like the sprinkles and be the yeah be a fifth starter that we need throughout the rest of the stretch right um and listen I like seone interon as well he's been incredible for us this year there's still a part of me that's like is he gonna fall back to Earth at some point um and I'm starting to kind we've kind of seen in the last his last couple starts have not been very good does Festa have that ability to jump what Woods Richardson has done and obviously I love Woods Richardson don't get me wrong but you can't you have to a little scared of won's numbers a little bit um and so does Festa have that ability to possibly jump Woods Richardson into a playoff spot into a spot in the playoff rotation um hopes that we get there obviously I'm not going to jump the guns that we don't like with the thought that we're gonna make the playoffs right does pra jump with Richardson at some point for that fourth starter position or does or does w just hang on that will be the battle come down the stretch is who's going to take their place as the clear number four right now it's woodon but if woodon continues to struggle like he is kind of the last couple starts it's gonna come a lot clearer if Fester kind of goes on a run and this could be the start of that run that Festa needs even if like and I apologize to the audience my I've I've my my computer is like totally frozen so if I look weird at all while I'm talking then that's okay and I might even ask Zach to to end the recording or close out the show if he can but so I apologize or maybe it's totally normal and I just sound ridiculous but even if like just for the end of the regular season if Festa can make the level in jump to that cancels out wood Richardson the downturn like if they if he just if he's gone down this much does fesa go up this much then it all kind of works out in the end you don't need you know yeah you don't need um oh I think I'm back here on on my my computer you've been here this whole time by the way just to be clear okay sweet cool um even if like you don't necessarily need Festa to go on some like Bailey oer like eight consecutive quality star kind of streak to close out the year well you really just need him to do is to make up for the ground that Woods Richardson has lost a little bit which is not a huge bar to reach and if he reaches it that's great but as like Zach was like pointing out like the kind of hope for him if he exceeds that then it's even better and it gives you more kind of optimism about potential options and combinations going into the playoffs absolutely and like I said and like I said I'm a huge bsh fan as well I love what he's done for us this year um but there also is a little concerned about like is he going to be that guy going forward and is he GNA be that guy and like and so I I I have to look at it like you know Festa was supposed to be that guy that was eventually like when we first came to the season Festa was supposed to be the guy that kind of made that jump early and often into the rotation he take him a little bit but he didn't but he finally out here does he make that jump now um so that's really where it's at but I mean all of Sam wason's number just look so like's baseball Savon page is not as pretty as Griffin Jacks I'll say that yeah but um no so I think right now that's kind of where we're at I'm excited to watch F tonight um so final question of the show yes how many wins the Twins win of these three games in this series what do the twins go um this is in Wrigley so I'm G to say I'll say two out of three um and maybe that game that they lose is tonight you know like Festa even if fest's like box score is not great because of some kind of blow up at the end you can see things there so maybe that is I I'll but I I I feel pretty comfortable saying two out of three just in terms I'm gonna also say two out of three just because I think I think imaga versus Lopez tomorrow is a little scary for me uh in terms of I don't know how we'll do versus them uh but I'm gonna say two of three as well um I I think the one we will lose if we do lose one this series will be tomorrow versus imog yeah no I can I can buy that for sure because I mean even because like know Festa like tonight like it he's going against like Hendrick right which is like not a super that's not you know that's that's a very easy and comfortable opponent to kind of establish yourself against absolutely and obviously Hendrick's been a legend of the game for a very long time and obviously he's getting washed now and he's kind of no longer the great serter he once was but he still is a legend of the game he still is a legend of the game and stuff and so to get a win here it' be great for Festa um to win against to win against Kyle Hendrick would be great um even if it is a wash to Kyle Hendrick um but yes um well Anders this has been an absolute pleasure I'll you I'll let you close it out for us perfect timing because my I'm that my tab that I was trying to click on to get back to the stream is now just it just hit so perfect timing um this has been episode two of the believe in twins podcast on on the believe Network thank you for tuning in thank you for um for allowing us at believe to be a part of your week and oh we lost him uh so how's it going I'll finish off yeah thank you for letting us be here um please subscribe please uh subscribe if you can or comment let us know your thoughts on the WIS um but thank you again uh we do really appreciate all that you have done and Anders is back I just closed it out for us there Anders so oh he did you stole my but I leave for five seconds I know well I was like well I didn't know you're make it back in time I was like yeah so I just please we appreciate all of you here um Anders hopefully we'll have his technical stuff figured out by Thursday we're hoping to do our shows Monday and Thursday just to be clear on Monday and Thursday will be our Showtime so uh look for our next episode coming out Thursday uh this has been believe in Twins episode two uh good luck to the Twins versus the Cubs and we are excited to watch D Festa tonight y excited yep ex see you guys we're excited uh take care have a great week um you can catch us Apple podcast Spotify um obviously this will be going on YouTube if you're watching us there and we will see you guys Thursday uh to recap this series and we will see you all soon thank you for tuning in Zack always great to see you always go 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