Bleav In Twins -EP 5- Zebby Matthews debut, Varland outing, Predicting the Rangers series

welcome in to episode number five of the believe in twins podcast on the believe Network I am your host Anders prior uh joined by my wonderful uh co-host and analyst Zach Tipton who uh is making his collared shirt debut on the show today that's a boundary that I'm I'm not brave enough to cross but what is that is that a shirt or Polo a polo it's a polo polo it's my company Polo that I work for baby adrenaline there you go okay the business representative he look sharp thank you appreciate ComEd over everything everything looks great thank you appreciate facial hair is coming back into I'm not I've I need to shave again made a pretty big leap I've made a pretty big leap since I I surprised the audience with my totally abandoned face yeah exactly it's crazy no I know like dude I've never seen I don't think I've ever seen you without any fasal hair no it's it's that was my first time going fully clean in like two years um yeah know it's been a while but uh but yeah no very um exciting episode today maybe a little bit on the shorter end just in terms of number of subjects but um but a couple quick things I we I was making a joke to Zach earlier on the show it would be a little dishonest and not dishonest but a little bit of a let down if I didn't didn't give at least a two-minute space to talk about the Vikings and this just this brutal month and just vicious week that they've had um now kind of topped off with McCarthy you know getting doing I think the smart thing which is just getting the full repair it just to create some more safety down the road instead of getting it trimmed and risking re-aggravation but Zack you can use this because I'm I'm not a Vikings fan Zach is so this is all emotional for him so it's I've definitely cried in the past not just since deie Matthews making his debut but I've definitely cried because of the Vikings news that has come about um yeah it hurts uh it's been rough man um I I I started last week's show we started last week's show talking about the Olympics and then I brought up the fact I thought we had you know the next six Super Bowls in the bag after JJ McCarthy's preseason debut only to find out that uh JJ McCarthy tours miniscus getting that game um and it was really pain it was really hard um because you know you just the potential was there in that first game and you were so excited as a viking St and the fan base was in great shape and then all of a sudden now it's like oh that's over um and then then you move on to the fact that uh Jordan Addison then goes down it's carded off the injury right is like the announcement that macau's off season happens the announcement that Jared Addison was carded off the field with an injur A Leg Injury comes out now luckily that seems more along the lines of just an ankle injury and it does not seem to be actually a significant injury at all and he should only be out for the next couple weeks probably um so that's good in that fact that we found that out but with all the injuries and obviously the sad passing away of Kyrie Jackson uh you know it's been a really rough year for us and a rough rough off season for us there but you know I think you gotta look at a little bit of positive which is we kind of assumed JJ McCarthy wasn't gonna start at all this year anyway that was the plan in general and this just makes the plan more sure makes the plan more are clear that was that was the Silver Lining that I thought of was like now it's you don't have to do this whole like political thing of like oh like Sam's darnold is not playing great but they're still winning games but then like JJ's better at practice and the locker rooms divided so what do you do now there's a super Clear Vision they go all in on Sam and as Sam struggles on you so if Sam is really bad or does not make that you wanted to make as a QB you still have Nick Mullins there that you know you can you can trust to go get 300 yards and six picks a game and call it and call it call it a day um but um no I'm I I I I think that's nice yeah I think that helps a lot this year the drama that you know you only it's Sam's team it's darnold's team Now Yep this is his opportunity to prove that maybe he wasn't maybe it was just the Jets were [ __ ] were were really bad the Jets were really bad and uh they just and they couldn't develop him um and the Jets are so bad uh no offense Anders um and's a Jets fan which is why this is fun for me um anyway um so yeah so no I think you know and this is s chance to prove himself as a QB no definitely no it'll be there there'll be kind of interesting to to watch they had a by and large I thought a pretty quiet off season outside of the Jefferson extension and and up until this point like now I disagree we made a lot of fre agent moves we made a lot of free agent moves specifically on the defensive end of the ball no right we signed Aaron Jones we signed Jonathan grenard we signed Blake Cashman we signed Andrew van GLE all four of those guys will most likely start for us um we signed uh sha Griffin um we I feel like we made a trade too I can't think well we did all the draft stuff Dallas Turner looks like he's going to be a stud um I think this is a pretty Sol this is a pretty good off season for the Vikings in terms it was good it was definitely good I kind of a lot of it wasn't very dramatic in the way that the Cowboys and the Eagles and the Niners and the Jets have had those are also big Mark of teams that are also like they're going to have a lot more that's true but they have actually also had like you know like some of the report heck I'd rather take all the signings we had than guys holding out for contract that's true yeah that's I don't be dealing with the CD L and Brandon auk stuff this off season yeah no I wouldn't either mess who the who's the Giants defensive Lan that just held out and got got traded or is is like or was it giant defensive linan that got that held out was the J who is oh it's the Hassan reic yes reic that's who I'm thinking of Giants that's Jets right yeah that's going to be yeah there's some some of the that's going to be really interesting to see how far that goes because we do have a couple of presidents situations on people holding out like into multiple games of the year but but we'll but we'll we'll see um and then obviously Matthew judon got traded and I think he was holding out for a contract and he got traded and now he and the team he got traded to can't work out a deal so it's it's great um um yeah no it's very it's been a very um lots of yeah hold outs have kind of been the main focus of the you know but you know who didn't hold out because he announc he was holding out Justin Jefferson Justin Jefferson exactly because you know why because the Vikings know how to treat their guys treat the yeah they no the way that they handled it was the I thought they did they took the correct and also I think it was also on Jefferson because Jefferson could have done the stuff on Diggs route where he deletes a bunch of Social Media stuff post cryptic tweets social media and stuff like that Jefferson never really mentioned on social media which I I was really happy with and I think he talked about that a lot being like yeah I was never gonna go that way I never wanted to make a big deal with on social media I wanted this to be kind of worked out in house and that's what they did so yeah um we love that um definitely um quick um quick just kind of usual around the league stuff before we talk twins um Aaron judge becoming the fastest player to hit 300 um home runs in terms of number of games to get there finishing I think doing it I think it's like aund 155 games faster than the second most all time I forget the I forget who it was they they showed the they were showing a graphic early today on somewhere on Fox um on Fox Sports um but the I mean the onpac stuff that judge is Ralph ker Ralph ker thank you um I for 132 games 132 games okay the 155 is referencing some other stat that is within that subject um but some of the the numbers that then the pace of play stuff not pace of play but the pace the things that he's on Pace for I know that sometimes people will use the phrase like Bond like or it's like Barry Bonds numbers you know a little bit too kind of kind of sparring l or like not sparingly but like you know like they'll they'll throw it around a little bit too casually without you know if you're going to talk about like Advanced analytics like you know really like get down to like what's really going on there but like if you look at like what judge is doing like if you look at like the intentional walk rates and like the Ops like the you know like I forget the combination of like onbase percentage and Ops at this point in the season I forget if it was it was it was 450 and like 1300 Ops is the combination but like it's only been done five times and judge is this season and the other four bond season so yeah it's a little bit more literal um but Zach you're kind of reaction to the accomplishment in in this season from Judge as a whole as he looks to kind of lock up his second MVP in yeah I mean it's crazy to think about like just the number he puts up like like you tell me that in a nonsteroid in a nonsteroid era of baseball and it doesn't feel real um like what Aaron judge is doing is on a level that we've never seen before it's on a level that we'll probably never see for a while for a very long time at least because not only is he hitting home runs but he's getting on base and he's getting like he's doing a good job of like he's not striking out like like like for example and I know it's not the same example p Alonzo hits a lot of home runs but if he doesn't hit a home run he's not getting on base at all either right um there's a lot of guys that hit home runs and just hit home runs right if they don't hit a home run it's a home Runner strikeout it's a two it's a two it's a two option game yeah judge is the opposite he's gonna do everything no that's the thing that like people and I apologize for the fire truck outside of my window hey it's fine you live in a big city big big city they're going to you know clean up in the big city I should say a big city clean up the mess that judge was left behind but no it's kind of to put it it is sort of weird to put it simply that like the like the the sentence Aaron judge hits for average is correct and I know that like maybe there's some is be on that in terms of like like stylistically people like hit for average but like he like in terms of like seeking singles and things like that and there's that whole kind of nuance to it but like if you're talking about just the metrics like he hits for average in a way that a lot of these other guys don't and I think it's just it's really unique and the combination of what he provides is so because I think at one point you know like during 20 22 the Home Run Chase was kind of the big part of it and like that was like The Narrative of it now I think more so this is it's more kind of like it's not as much of a gimmick now it's like a full like body of work over the course of a season and it's that's incredibly impressive in multiple facets rather than just kind of chasing a finite number of something if that makes sense so really really unique to see and it's really really I'm really excited to see kind of how it all comes to to fruition um yeah um well one thing I will say though is you know one one thing I will say to keep us on little Twin's topic is yeah what Royce Lewis is doing in the Home Run area is absolutely incredible I mean I don't know if you've seen the stats that he's put up um but Royce Lewis is the fourth only the fourth guy in I'm trying to find the exact stat I go looking at here Royce Lewis is only the fourth player is only is ranked is only the fourth player in MLB history with more homers and more RBI to 110 career games um he has 32 homers and 91 RBI and 110 career games only three guys have higher stats than that through their first 100 cure Gam so to keep that on a level of like you know crazy home run Paces Royce Lewis is on a 162 game 61 home run Pace um right to go along with that and he had another one I think this last series against the Royals which allow to keep going but yeah no Roy Lewis it's not just to keep there no what what Aron judge does is unbeatable and no one will over top that but Royce Lewis is him himself is doing something yeah no Royce is I think he is the I think Royce I think is the biggest example of like um of all the people that like I like where it's like man like I wish this guy just like stayed healthy I think Jacob deg Grom is probably first on the list for me but I think Royce is probably second um that's fair honestly and I think I think we all Jacob De gr his whole career no I that's yeah um and before we get to the twin stck I also want to just before we get to the I also want to give a shout out here Christian Vasquez uh not Christian Vasquez uh is officially hit his 10y year mark in the majors today uh so they uh they did a big celebration for him today because this is officially his 10th 10 year in the major Mark today so shout out to Christian Vasquez we'll talk about him here later because he's absolute Terror recently right but no this was a very good it's huge to see that they uh they brought in a mariachi band today into the locker room to celebrate Christian vasquez's 10y year uh 10 year as in the majors we love that so shout out Christian Vasquez no he was he this was a really good series trim um so the kind of main subject line of this uh uh of this episode is going to be the the the pitching and More in two in particular um guys that we talked about a lot last episode um talking about zebie Matthews and Louis varland um and kind of looking at each of their starts as as you know this is kind as we're kind of getting into the home stretch like kind of what this last chapter of the Twin Season looks like um and kind of going through each one and just talking about what we saw because obviously last week we had a essentially a sermon on zebie Matthews and zebbi and all that um but I want to start with that Zach because I was incredibly impressed um I thought the the cutter was as good as advertised um I thought the I thought yeah the the control and the placement was really spoton and it looked it looked very refined and I think and the you know the the the broadcast they mentioned that multiple times um and kind of hammered that in I thought they did a very good job at kind of advertising him to the community that you know a community that might not know him on that extent but yeah I was I would I thought that yeah I thought the fastball cutter combo was super effective and again I thought the the cutter I I do think that that is his best piit um you know the the placement was great you know it the movement you know it's not it's it's it's on the slower side but it's not slow to an extent where you need to kind of you know like ding ding ding hit the red button I thought that you know the change up he doesn't throw it a lot but he throws it enough to where you notice it as a part of his repertoire I thought it was a little passive I think I didn't feel like he was using it to try and get swing and misses out of the Zone I thought he was just kind of using it to throw balls and manipulate the count I think that that's something that will change as he gets more big lead starts and gains more confidence and understands the Optics of like of a approaching a major league opponent but but th those are my kind of main notes Zack you're yeah know his Cutters incredible uh he throws that slider a lot too I really like that slider he throws um not not a lot sorry yeah no is slider he throws second most um he so for example so on that day he threw 38 fast balls he threw 16 sliders 15 Cutters and four change UPS four curves so it wasn't a ton but the curveball kind of came out of nowhere I think they they were also surprised by that even threw that at all yeah um so but anyway so the cutter he was the whole one he allowed the home run on but that pitch they allow that home run on MJ Melendez was not a bad pitch no no that thing was moving and it was inside and MJ Melendez just got his hands around on it um it was a good pitch it was a great placement of a ball that MJ M just made a better swing on that's really what it was it wasn't a fault to zebie at all that was a great pitch um there was a little of hard contact stuff I was a little worried about I feel like he kind of got hit hard uh early in that early in that game um that was a little scary at first but I thought he played I thought he did amazing um no even the ones that were like caught as fly balls or like whatever or or even the ones that were like lined out in the infield like they left the bat really hard that was very easy to notice yeah no absolutely and so and there's a reason his XC is now 5.79 I mean it wasn't like that's not great uh but I I was having was happy I was very impressed with his ability I I really like him um I think the twins do obviously too that's why they kept kept him in the majors and sent down Louis burland instead Y which I don't know if you saw that but that just happened uh Louis varlin was sent down uh in order to bring uh another believer Ronnie henriquez he got called up so anyway but zeevi was awesome and I loved it I got to enjoy that I watched every pitch I there were some good pitches in there like you said that cutter he threw one really nasty cutter kind of later in his outing I thought was really nasty and you know in my opinion he could have kept going they took him out after five I'm guessing that was just to save his arm be like great Ting um but he was only at like 73 pitches so he definitely probably could have gotone another inning no no he he definitely could have I mean I I don't you know you try to if if it's not broke like don't think and the twin the thing is like the Twins were up I I maybe the Twins were up we big we were all big at that point and so there's like the argument of like okay so like do you just preserve the arm and let the bullpen take care of the rest or there's maybe there's like the other argument which is like okay like this is a guy who's making his like debut and you want him if he has any kinks that he wants to like kind of work out or or get refined like you want to do that as soon as possible so do you know we do do we have a big enough of a lead where we can afford for him to make a mistake abely I but I mean either either way was fine I don't think they I don't I think keeping him to five I'm totally okay with that yeah I was very impressed with this placement his fastball there are a lot of times in my opinion where he got into like 3-1 counts or or two counts and didn't allow walk like he obviously saw he had zero walks allowed in that game which is his specialy but his ability to like be like 31 down on a guy and not walk him yeah and get the out is incredibly impressive um his ability to just find the Zone when he needs to find the zone right with good pitches is incredibly impressive right um so I was very impressed to Z Matthews I'm very excited about him obviously I'm guessing his next start will be probably this series honestly I'm guessing he'll probably pitch that Sunday my guess is where the lineup is taking him I guess because I guess we're going over tonight and we go back and we like we go over Woods Richardson Pablo zebi I'm guessing this has it listed as Ober Woods Richardson Festa Lopez okay maybe I'm wrong one maybe I'm I guess that makes sense because they sent barlin down so I guess he right so they have to reshuffle so yeah they s work them back down so it would have been really cool to you know like you're right it is it is that exact yeah so then so that means why is why am I why okay sorry I'm looking at my app right now I realized that I had the Rangers favored for some reason but then we but then we get uh it it's cool because then we're gonna get Matthews to open the Padres series on FS1 that's going to be a really cool spot for him yeah yeah on FS1 versus the Padres who are really hot yeah that will be a little bit scary for me I'm not going to lie I'll be a little scared but I'm be excited I was going to say this this this you you would mentioned I think that the what was it the the the Rangers have won five games since the 26th of July yeah um so this would have been maybe 13 in the last 18 that Royals you know the Royals lineup is a really hard lineup to navigate and you know he was pitching in a very pitcher friendly environment in in Target Field it would have been a nice transition because for I think I think the Rangers would have been a perfect second opponent for him because the Rangers you know have been a little bit more spotty offensively and you know been struggling as of late in comparison to the Royals um but you still get that you know pitcher friendly environment in Globe Life and so he could have let that too where you know he it doesn't put too much pressure on him to kind of fix those hard contact mistakes you know what it's good that he gets to face really tough opponents early because that just only helps him um and he's going to face one of the hottest team baseball oh I don't know if it's the I don't know if you consider them or the dback sasian baseball but it's one of those two in my opinion I I would go the Padre's maybe but but yeah it's between those two though but the Padres um you're gonna face one of the hottest scenes in baseball in your second start and you're gonna be forced to go in there and just get outs and you're face six the best hitters in Fernando tatis uh in um Trent G not Trent gam I always said Trent gam why did I say Trent Grisham definitely not Tren Gish Anders can agree definitely not Trent Gish not Trish uh the Padres are currently number one in average and so you know they they have a lot of contact seeking guy not just guys that hit for high average but contact seeking guys so I I I think what I kind of want to see here you know with like you know oras and proar and going up against those kinds of guys like okay so can he get himself into a multibase runner Jam or if he obviously if he doesn't that's great but if he does get him I think it is likely just based on the kind of line the way that the Padre's lineup is constructed can he get himself into if he does get himself into a multi-base runner Jam can he get those strikeouts and get them get those numbers you know strike guys out with Runner stranded I think that's that's going to be something because you know this is not going to be like the Royals where you know he hits a you know solo home runs and like you know you just kind of move on right like there's gonna be a lot of guys getting there's gonna be more it's gonna be a more complex absolutely so I'm excited I'm excited for that um and I was very happy how the twins did this in my opinion by not letting over face the Royals I don't know if they thought the same thing but when I saw like because originally were supposed to play play yesterday yesterday vo of the Royals and I'm like I kind of I tweet out I'm like is there way to figure out a way to not let over pitch this against the reals is there way to like figure out a way to not let over pitch against the Royals and move his start like back a day question mark and they did and they did did uh which I'm very happy with because obviously as you guys know bayy over is been really bad against the Royals um so I'm glad he gets to kind of continue his streak here against the Rangers tonight I don't know if you saw but MLB uh MLB posted it um MLB posted the stat line on Bailey over that I saw and it was um here we go Bailey over's MLB ranks since June 16th 1.76 ra second in all baseball 73 whip second in all baseball right 0.152 opponent batting average second and all of baseball and a 488 opponent Ops third and all baseball um so basically what they're saying is since the middle of June bayy always been the second best pitcher in baseball right I actually don't know who they have as number one I'm trying to who's gonna get I don't know who who would who would be number one in those rankings do you know uh no I would know um was this mlb.com Network that posted on network um but no I mean of all of those things that the whip the low whip is the thing that stands out to me the most because if you're like a strikeout seeking pitcher or strikeout heavy pitcher the way that obber is having a you know like getting those you know the low whips to keep your pitch count down and being able to stay in the game and you know not just pitching strikeouts just you can but you're letting up runs so that that that to me is the most impressive part of that absolutely no I agree um but anyway that's what I saw um I saw that sat and it was like yes since June 16 I don't know how they figure that out for them to be able to figure out I'm trying to figure out how they figure that out but I'm it is it is crazy just how you know um good they've been AB good he's been and so he pitches tonight versus the Rangers um and yeah no I'm just I'm very very very very excited um no I yeah so yeah no absolutely um so yeah overall zebie Matthews I'd say nine I give it a nine out of 10 I think he had to give duck duck him a point for the home run um but I'd say nine out of 10 yeah absolutely I would as well um yeah um more I think you know multiple home runs I think you may be duck him two two points two and a half points for you know if it was his second third fourth start but first start I'll duck him a point so nine out of 10 which you know it's it's great as you know we've been talking about for a bit now the twins trying to kind of structure like flush out and locate the their identity for the back half of this starting rotation and this I think what you saw from zebie was a great step in the right direction for that but um but now to touch on you know maybe not less impressive start necessarily but maybe a less exciting less aesthetically pleasing start in uh Louis varland who did for all his credit give you know give the twins a quality start um to pull up his exact stat line I got you um I he five innings three eight hits three six Innings eight hits three earned runs three strikeouts one walk two home and with with two home run two solo home runs yeah um so I mean so your reaction Zach I I thought for me personally I thought that they kept him in um an inning longer than they should have I thought that you could the the throwing outside of the zone you know the the command I thought clear was clearly slowly depleting inning by inning and so I thought that you know they didn't he didn't get punished too much for it by the Batters but I thought they let him in um let him stay in an inning too long personally yeah I agree um I would I would have to agree Al I figured it out I believe um gosh I think I believe I'm not mistaken I think Blake Snell might be the one that's number one um I I I could be wrong it could be him or could be Dylan CE it's one of those two but um not sure exactly uh but anyway so uh yeah no I would have to say um yeah they probably they didn't I would say let inning too long have was so home in the six but yeah I'm happy that he at least wins six he never goes six so for him to go six was a good sign they sent him down so I'm a little confused on why they not really confused actually I'm not confused at all I know they're not gonna have a six person rotation right brought Louis barland up I think to start that game to possibly move obber off I wonder if that's the real reason why they did it was to like not let over pitch against the Royals um but no I'm I'm happy how Vin did and like I said uh this team is going to need depth and pitching and they're gonna need their pitchers when they play to step up and be that depth so for it to be you know and it looks like right now that Z Matthews might just won the fifth starter job for right now um which is great um but I also saw a stat I saw a thing on Twitter that I really agreed with which was people are forgetting people got so lucky last year at the twins that we forget what a true like a fifth starter really is right because last year we were so lucky with our with our with our starters that like our fifth starter was still like a top 30 starter in baseball top 40 starter in baseball last year because we were so lucky but it was like that's usually not what A fifth starter is a fifth starter usually guy that's gonna be an inning eater or he's gonna be a guy that just goes out there and keeps you in a game and I think that's what people are kind of forgetting like last year our fifth starter was Louis vland but it was a Louis vland that was on a pace we've never seen before like he was going crazy early in that year before he eventually fell off the brakes and he fell out and then Kent to took over as our fifth starter um back again but so like I don't know that's just where I'm out with it personally um I thought go had a great start and I will say that although I just I don't know I guess we'll see how it goes from here on out with him yeah it was I thought the I thought it was kind of neat or interesting in informative that zebbi star and Lou star came right one after each other um because I think like you like I I think I think that Louis uh varin's strongest pitch might also be his cutter um but I thought like zeb's cutter looked what clearly was better both in terms of movement and placement and all that kind of stuff um and I also and the the the the difference in command I thought was incredibly Stark and I yeah so I I don't blame them for sending him down I thought you know I I thought that having them go back to back was really informative and and so I feel com able in the meantime with having zebi based off of one start kind of just you know because it's not like you know they're trying to find the identity of that last part but they they have infrastructure in place like collectively I think that I'm fine with zebi taking the fifth starter spot um and you know whatever happens with Varin we'll see um but but yeah I I thought it was cool that they went back to back because that we got to see a more direct contrast yeah I agree um no I agree I think and I think that was It was kind of weird to see because like you knew is kind of the varin's always in the bubble of the majors I think he at this point he's kind of turned into quadruple a guy for us um and so I think at this point I think he's kind of on that bubble of the majors and stuff but he got out pitched by zebie Matthews in my opinion um yeah and I think zebie looks the part and I think he's a lot more exciting of a prospect I me you're bringing up a guy that is top 100 in baseball I think I they just came out with that's another thing I want to bring up here eventually is and I'll do it now because we're here the brand new MLB top 100 just came out and the twins are one of three or four teams I think it is that has six prospects in the top 100 um and that is at number four Walker Jenkins no shock there he's a beast he's gonna be Inc for us in a couple years Walker Jen's number four Brooks Lee is still at number 16 I don't know if Brooks Le actually graduates from from Rookie from Prospect status but he's hurt now so we don't find out for a while but assuming he's getting closer to probably graduating from Rookie status from Prospect status I mean um we yeah Brooks Lee at 16 Emanuel Rodriguez at 22 and then you drop down down and those are your top three we know that's our top three and then you drop down and Luke Kel's at 67 zie Matthews is an 87 and David Fest is 89 so we have so we have four of the three of those three of those six players are in the majors right now and you know we've asked a long time and banders you have not been round for long enough to know this as a twins fan but we've asked for a long time like Derek f promised a long time ago that he was going to develop our pitching Pipeline and we were going to get a pitching pipeline built um and he promised that for a very long time and we've been asking for years like when's that pipeline gonna get here when are we gonna eventually see the results of like the pitchers and we're finally seeing it right we got Woods Richardson up we got Fest up we got Z Matthews up we got barland there um bayy over is another guy that was part of that pitching pipeline um I mean Joe Ryan was technically I guess he's Prospect for us he wasn't a homegrown guy but neither is wood Richardson so wood Richardson and wood Richard was was he was in a doublea when we got him but he's not homegrown Joe Ryan I would say is pretty much not the opposite homr he's basically a major league picture when we got him y um but like zebie eighth round pick 2022 he's in the majors varland was like a ninth round pick in 2020 in 2020 something like that I don't exactly remember when but he's like a ninth rounder he's in the majors um Festa was like a ninth rounder out of out of seed and Hall um he was in the majors uh yeah know and then um and then uh yeah and then you got um saying and you got uh yeah so I mean it's just and then obviously you have guys coming up right you have Andrew Morris he just made his triaa debut a couple days ago had a really good outing in Triple A uhy Lewis just pitched really well and he's coming up soon CJ Co pepper he's back he's getting ready to kind of be in that mix as well yeah um and you got other pitchers down the road that are like looking really good like Charlie stto our first round pick two years ago in the same draft was Walker Jenkins Soto in in that competitive balance a round or whatever it's called and he looks incredible and he's only 19 so um for the twins right now the pitching pip is finally starting to really show its face and it looks incredible um so huge shout out to David Beth to uh to to Derek FY huge shout out to th LaVine uh David um David I said David Popkins I don't think I think Popkins are is our is our pitching coach but uh not our pitching coach our hitting coach but uh it's um no it's awesome so I'm I'm very very happy with how uh the twins pitching pipeline is kind of built right now um so yeah um that's really exciting for us uh and yeah if I'm and so yeah that's that that's the twins pitching pipeline right now uh obber was drafted in the 2019th here's 15th round in the 2019 draft for Louis varland um which is just crazy first off um but yeah so anyway that's that uh that's our pitching Pipeline and um I'm very excited about our prospects coming up very excited about the ones we have now as people have already kind of heard from me Z Matthews is incredible I'm excited David Festa he looks really good I'm hoping he can kind of see that way um and yeah we'll see how it goes but for now we've got we've got a pitching we got a pitching no it's it's the it's the culmination of a lot of work and you know I don't want people no you know like Paul SK like is not the same like it takes you know it it takes time and if for you know for staff like a whole like to flesh out a whole staff like you know you can isolate a singular Prospect and some take a year some take four but and so you know the pieces need to kind of fall together perfectly to like flesh out a staff that's essentially you know rooted from the ground up so um and zebi I think is the sort of is a is a good microcosm of that and I hope that he I hope he sticks because you had brought up the warrior I like okay is this a spot start or like whatever I'm glad it's not I I I I was kind of relieved when I when I saw his name on the schedule for for for the next week so it'll be great yeah I'm Al so glad I was not I was think I was SC B start but I think he I think it was all he won the job versus Lou arand and there was six pitches on lineup and he won it so I'm happy that was great for him l r not sent down so that means he can't be called up for I think I think it's 10 days I think is the rule is once you send a player down they can't be brought back up I think it's 10 days after they sent down unless an injury um which I think so yeah U speaking of injuries I I unfortunately I did bring that up um I think now was a good time to probably mention uh Byron buckon who left the game a couple couple days a few games ago ated injury kind of out of the blue no one really saw it happen but kind out of the blue but he has officially gone in the I the IL however they really do believe it's the most short-term i s you'll probably see probably a Max of the 10 days I'm guessing before he's back just to get a rest um and probably get him ready for the last month of the year um which it looks like right now he's gonna make that 100 game Mark for the first time in his career um yeah I think um I don't know if we have rumor on that but uh I think if I've done the math right I think he's already a 90 so I I don't think he he doesn't have a long way to go before he's back yeah before he's there um Let me let me make sure on that quick though uh Byron buckon this year has yeah 90 games played for Bay buckon this year so he only has 10 more games left before he hits the Mark for only the second time in his career I guess sorry he in 2017 he played 140 games but um even then yeah so it's only second time in his career he's gonna reach 100 his max besides that big one 2017 year is 92 uh so if he gets three more games he'll pass the second highest game total of his career so shout out to the twins front office and the twins like medical staff for figuring something out how to properly workload buxon to make sure he doesn't get hurt for long periods of time um so shout that um but with Bing going down uh Ed Edward julan Eddie julan is coming back up to the majors um and what's been one of the most disappointing sophomore years a player probably could have yeah Julian's found it um I mean it's been very bad uh I can tell you the exact stats it's not pretty I don't I feel bad saying it to the kid but in in 63 games Edward julan has a 204 batting average a 311 on base percentage a 354 slugging a 665 Ops all insanely down from last year he only has seven home runs um 17 RBI uh and it's just been bad I mean it's just been I mean he's got sent down twice now uh this is his uh third time this is his second time getting called up um so we're hoping this we're hoping that he maybe figures it out now and that he has a good good outing now but for right now Edward Hulen is back in the lineup and he's back in rotation I again I don't think he's back in the lineup but um yeah so Edward julan is back which is very nice to see him no it's he's not starting today but he's back in he's back there for death rotation the question really is is then I guess probably stick with Margo and Center or whoever we even really going center with which is kind of disappointing honestly uh because you know I was kind of hoping a person I could get called it could be deshun kiry who is the center fielder for the Saints uh I was kind of hoping he'd be one of the guys that possibly got called up for play center field um but we'll see um we're gonna have a different different guys I think today they're putting uh they're putting Austin Martin in center field uh today so um we'll see how that goes but we're gonna be waiting a bit but before we're all fully healthy again I any we don't have any updates on Korea yet uh I'm assuming he's not far away no there something from the Star today that I thought that that I think pointing him being close but um yeah there's I mean yeah I think uh yeah I don't know um yeah I don't know there's not really been any updates it's a little scary but hopefully um Korea's back soon um I'm assuming it's not g to came out for much longer yeah I'm assuming he'll probably back for September at least so that's the Hope right now that's where the kind of hope is hope that he's back for September um but yeah that's that with the injury topics Andrew let's discuss this Rangers series here quick and then I think we uh I think we're good um so yeah and oh one quick thing that I forgot to mention uh the twins I think if I saw right they clinched the season series versus the Royals um with their two wins already with their two wins on in that Series so that's a big Series win especially when it comes to like uh the Wild Card race and a possible like um uh denominator I can't think of the term right now but uh I can't think of words but um it's a good thing to have that Series win in our pocket yeah yeah no no definitely I mean the the Rangers are a team that has been I think started off as a prettyy blistering disappointment and have kind of stabilized a little bit but in their past 10 games are three and seven and obviously you gave that set earlier Zach um and but this is a team you know we've seen this team also be hot at points in the year and you know this is you know this is an important series down the stretch to kind of just give that last little push at the end for a tiebreaker for when you're fighting for wild card spots and you know so so so stuff like this is really important um the Rangers are you know offensively in you know a little better than the Cubs territory you know in in our first episode talking about them and sort of the inconsistencies of of their offense but right now that you know the Rangers currently you know yeah 20th in average 22 in Ops um and not you know not providing a ton of power um 16th in home runs the staff is up has been up and down the bullpen has been atrocious they they it's probably been the most disappointing Bullpen one of at least one of the most disappointing bullpens in in in in baseball um I I'm expecting personally um a a three over you know I'm I'm going to probably lean towards a three out of four I think the Ober game against Bradford we win I think the W the woods Richardson game against HEI we win so both of our televised games nationally we take those and then I think I think we drop the Uvaldi game against Festa and then I think we kind of close it out with the with Lopez against Molly um so I'm be really which will be a really interesting one to do that that Lopez Molly game will be a really interesting one to watch because obviously Molly is a former twin was very disappointing with the twins for what we gave up for him um so it's I'm very excited to see if the twins can kind of you know get to mly here he's actually not been terrible for the Rangers no um so I'm excited but I think uh I'm gonna say three I'm going to be optimistic here and say three uh I think our pitching is better than their hitting by a long shot and I think our pitching out pitches they're hitting and I think our hitting has the ability to get to good pitchers as we saw in the last series uh I don't know if anyone you guys saw we got the Seth Lugo aggression which was much needed in our lives as we needed to see we needed to get to Lugo once this season I was very upset with how good he was he was pitching but got good news also Seth Lugo is over three er I think for the first time this season so that's a that's a major dub for twin Sands um but yeah no so um I I say three I say we win the over game I say we win thew game and then I kind of also agree I think we lose the evaldi game I think we win the last game so I'm gonna say three um but there is definitely a play for I think three here I think that's kind of where I'm leaning if we if we if we really play well in four games I'm happy if we play if we barely lose that Festa yaldi game or vea pitches really well we still lose because we can't hit yaldi I'm not going to be upset that yeah no for for Festa for Festa I trust the rest of our lineup for that for Festa and zebie the result of the game is not as important to me as just their development like for Lopez and obber and woods Richardson like winning the game is like what you want to walk in with for like at Le I think for the rest of the month at least like until we get to the end of August for Festa and Matthews just their development I think is the most important part of their starts given the consistency of the bullpen so it's G to be a really really good series um I'm very excited I'm glad we're on National Television um Al so glad I am as well yeah that that it's always it's always nice to see um that's going to do it for us uh today um went a little longer than expected but there's no issue with that at all um I don't have any issue with it I don't no no no no no nothing nothing wrong nothing wrong with overtime nothing wrong with free baseball nothing wrong with Extra Innings um this has been the believe in twins podcast on the believe Network I've been and prior alongside Zach Tipton uh if you are you know you can listen you can keep on listening to us on the believe.com website or check us out on Apple podcast and Spotify or wherever you get all of your listening and if you are watching us on YouTube uh subscribe and put on post notifications um and we will see you guys to start the week on Monday after the Rangers series go twins Zack great to see you as always great to see you guys and hey thank you go twins uh hopefully we can win the series against the Rangers absolutely very important stuff we'll see you guys on Monday see you guys on Monday