00:00:05
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Baseball America Hot Sheet Show. I'm Jacob Rudner, joined by Ian Cundall and Jeff Ponce. Of course, as is every Tuesday, loaded show for you. We're going to talk about the playoffs. We're going to answer your questions, so get them into the chat. And of course, before we launch into today's show, make sure you go and check out all the great content at BaseballAmerica.com.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: Subscribe.

00:00:26
Speaker 1: That is where all of our best work is. And check us out on YouTube. With that being said, let's hit that first move. Meme, meme. Playoffs underway. That's not news to anybody watching this show. We are into the division series round. We're going to start with the AL. Jeff, I will go to you first. The Rays have a 2-0 lead over the Yankees. They need one win to advance to the championship series. I'll start broad with you and then we'll go into the specifics of some of the players. What have you seen from the Rays so far that's made them so successful?

00:00:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's just, you know, executing on both sides of the ball and particularly the pitching has been Excellent. You know, they've held a very, I mean, granted it's a Yankees offense that lacks Aaron judge, but they've held a good Yankees offense, more or less off the board for the majority of ending so far in this series. And if manufactured runs and come up with some clutch hits, but I think really the selling point with the raise is just the strength of the rotation right now. You know what their bullpen can offer in particularly a seven game series and And the quality of their defense and just how they sort of use all of their players in optimal positions and situations. So I think you just really got to be impressed by what the Rays have done this season and continue to do in 2026.

00:01:49
Speaker 1: It's almost like we planned this. That was a great transition from Jeff. Players doing what they're best designed to be able to do to maximize the profile. Maybe no better example of that than Chandler Simpson, who has become a very important part of this Raze operation, a unique speedster profile. Ian, why is this working so well? And what are the Raze doing right to deploy their elite runner?

00:02:12
Speaker 2: Well, I think Simpson's just a great example of the Rays organization and just kind of the fundamentals and everything that they preach. This is a guy coming out of the draft. There were defensive questions. He had great speed. No one really knew what else he could do. And he slowly progressed through the system. And now they've made it so that, yes, he has no power. Yes, I don't think he had a barrel this entire regular season, but He also hit over 300. He'll steal a ton of bases. And you saw that he, they do as they maximize his best skill, which is his speed. He puts the ball in play and he puts pressure on the defense. And that was extremely evident on the play last night that JJ that happened right before that tweet from JJ where ground ball, the George Lombard is shortstop guy on third base and Lombard rushes it, misplays it because of Simpson speed. And you know, when you, when you have limits like he does, you have to maximize every other tool. And I think that's something the rays are just extremely good at is, They look at a player and they individualize everything where, hey, this is what we need to do to maximize the value of this player. And that's what you have to do when you have the financial limitations they do. But they do it, I think, better than anyone. And, you know, it's up and down the roster. It's Simpson. It's Jonathan Aranda. It's Taylor Walls. It's they put guys in positions to succeed. And they just they develop them in a way that gets them ready for that role. And pitching side, same thing. You know, you saw yesterday they bring in Cam Boozer. And yeah, it was a long out, but he got out of bases loaded. jam after freddie peralta gave them a good start and it's just the whole organization as a whole um they just they do everything well and i think we've seen it on display in this series the attention to detail you know the combination of the scouting the development um the stuff they do on the pro side just everything as a whole has kind of come to a head in this series so far and that's why they're up to nothing on a yankees team that has has a drastically higher payroll than they do.

00:03:55
Speaker 1: Here's a stat for you. Yankees not named Ben Rice through the first two games against the Rays are three for 52 with 17 strikeouts. Ben Rice has quite literally carried the Yankees to this point. Jeff, how much does that surprise you?

00:04:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's, I'd say, you know, if you follow Ben Rice over the last few years, certainly not a huge shock, but, you know, I do think it speaks to a little bit of, you know, his humble beginnings of, you know, being in Ivy league, not that that's an humble beginning, so to speak, but in the baseball world, I think it is right. We're not expecting a ton of great power hitters to come out of the Ivy league, but missed two seasons in college. I mean, he missed more or less most of the 2020 season. Ivy league didn't play in 2021. So really the only time that Ben Rice was getting reps in competitive games was in the summer. I remember seeing him in the Futures League in 2020, went over there to see Sal Frelick and a couple of other players. Ben Rice was kind of impressive and was like, who is this guy? Ended up in the Cape the next year, really, really hit. And it's just kind of crazy to look back on that point in time. And obviously credit to the Yankees, credit to Matt Hyde, the Northeast Area Scout for that, for the Yanks. But identifying that guy and then being able to develop into one of the best power hitting, you know, DH first baseman in the game, um, is a pretty remarkable, um, you know, turnaround or just progression. Uh, and I think you just have to be impressed by, you know, what the Yankees have done here, what rice continues to do. Um, you know, in a lineup that doesn't have Aaron judge right now, he's kind of provided that punch that they needed. Unfortunately, the surrounding cast just hasn't been able to contribute much.

00:05:41
Speaker 1: Before we continue, got to plug the chat. It's very quiet. If you're watching this and you have baseball questions, we are going to answer your questions live at the end of the show. So throw them into the chat. We will get them on the screen. For now, though, I want to talk a little bit more Yankees. Ian, Cam Schlittler, George Lombard, also prospects who have been impressive, who need to be discussed. What can you tell us about those two?

00:06:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's, you know, very different backgrounds there because obviously Schlittler coming out of Northeastern was, I believe, his seventh round pick. And, you know, coming out of the draft through in the low 90s and slowly but surely moved his way up the Yankee system and just started throwing harder. And they, you know, another great development story for them. Another win for Northeast Area Scout Matt Hyde. And, you know, he didn't have his best stuff yesterday. It wasn't like he was pitching against the Red Sox, but he still, you know, he got through, got into the fifth inning. And I think it just shows, though, that the different in approach when you're when you that teams are employing this in the playoffs, you know, Against the Red Sox, I think it was 23, 24 whiffs. Against the Rays yesterday, it was fewer than half of that. And the Rays' approach was, hey, we're just going to extend at-bats and put the ball in play. And that can carry you a long way in October. You don't just have to win with the home run. And I think the Rays showed that. If you're going to hit a bunch of singles, you can do that. That's an approach that can be successful, too, especially if you have good pitching to back it up. Lombard, on the other hand, that was a guy that was a first-round pick, extremely highly regarded throughout his time in the system. Had his ups and downs, took some time to get adjusted to each level. But once he figured it out, he seemed to hit all the way along. And, you know, it took him a little bit to get adjusted to the majors. But I think we saw what he can do. He's been a key part of their lineup so far in the playoffs. And I know there were some defensive miscues last night. Tightening that up obviously is going to have to be a key for the Yankees to get back into the series. But I think, you know, for a rookie, he's more than held his own in the playoffs. And that's all you can ask for.

00:07:32
Speaker 1: Hard to feel like the Chicago White Sox have not become the story of the postseason, one of the worst teams in the country. Just a couple years ago, the worst team in baseball a couple years ago, and now they're in the playoffs. They're a game away from reaching the championship series. Jeff, what do we need to watch for from the Southsiders here? This is a pretty remarkable run now.

00:07:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's just a fun team, right? Just dudes being dudes. I think it's an enjoyable club to watch. There's just an exuberance, you know, in the games. I think that's all part of kind of how we, how, you know, how they're playing at this level right now. You know, that said, I think the White Sox have done a good job of acquiring talent. Um, over the last couple of years, particularly the Garrett crochet trade, I think is kind of the turning point for that organization in a lot of ways. Maybe the winds obviously didn't come right away. but they've been reaping the benefits of that trade for a little bit. Now, I think you see chase. I draw through has been a really impressive player for them, maybe even better than a lot of people even expected him to be that we're kind of positive about him as a prospect. Kyle Teal has, as I think been a really steadying influence back there. I saw a stat today that I think he leads the playoffs and catcher challenges one, which is a new fun stat for.

00:08:54
Speaker 1: Us to follow.

00:08:55
Speaker 3: Brandon Montgomery, obviously being another one. So all of those guys are, are now contributing to this team. But, you know, there's a lot of other pieces that they brought into the organization and developed over that time. You know, they took a chance on Murakami. You know, the draft picks that netted Colson Montgomery or Sam Antonacci, which is a really good development story for them. So I think you look across this lineup. They did a good job of either acquiring these prospects in the draft or via trade. And they kind of have this young, really exciting core all up at the same time with potentially some more help coming from like a Caleb Bonham or some of these other guys over the next couple of years.

00:09:34
Speaker 1: Look at you, Jeff, scoring big again on the transition category. Ian, as Jeff kind of just said, they really do have an impressive young nucleus here that has been acquired a number of different ways, whether that's homegrown talents, which they have plenty of. There have been a number of guys that they've acquired via trade that have worked out really well for them. Why don't you walk us through what's led to this point from a roster construction standpoint?

00:09:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think Chris Gatz deserves a ton of credit. You know, this was a guy who stepped into the role, didn't have any experience running an organization before. And there were definitely some lumps at the beginning. But once he got a feel for the job and started, you know, making some moves, I think you can look at his track record and it's very good. And the way their roster is constructed, they use every avenue to them, available to them to add talent. As Jeff alluded to, you know, you've got the draft, you've got Colson Montgomery, you've got Sam Antonacci. You got Hagan Smith, who's been coming out of the bullpen as an opener and been excellent. Grant Taylor was a second-round pick. You got guys like that. Via trade, as Jeff alluded to, the Garrett Crochet trade, I think I agree with him, is a big springboard. But also, you can't forget the Miguel Vargas trade. You know, getting him from the White Sox, or excuse me, from the Dodgers, where he was kind of in a weird spot, wasn't really playing for them. He's come over and made a massive difference. Then, of course, signing Murakami as a free agent. Andrew Benintendi was also a free agent signing. You know, he's not played a major role, but he's a veteran leader on that team. Tristan Peters was an all-star, was a really underrated trade acquisition before the season. Chris Getz has just done a great job operating around the margins. The moves he's made have led to this roster that is just very flexible. It's very young. It's athletic. They play good defense. They play really hard. And they've scored a ton of runs in the playoffs. You know, they've been one of the few offenses that has been able to kind of succeed in October. And they also have the pitching, you know, it's an, it's a weird pitching staff because they don't really have any starters, but they've created this bullpen where you have just a bunch of guys who throw really hard and that can work in October. You know, we've seen fastball velocity is King when it comes to the playoffs and they've constructed a team where, you know, some, some guys came via trade again, you know, like Jordan Hicks, that was, you know, they, they got him off the scrap heap and have turned him into a viable player. David Sandler came over in that trade. He's been useful, you know, Noah Schultz and Hagan Smith are draftees, but have been, and then of course, Sean Burke is another draftee who's done a great job, had a great outing in yesterday's game. I mean, it's been really impressive to watch how they've done it, and especially on a team that doesn't have the star power of some of the other ones in October. You know, this is I think they epitomize what a team really the definition of a team. And that's how they're succeeding is, you know, it's the sum of the parts there. It's not any individual that's carrying them.

00:12:08
Speaker 1: Ian, is this a reasonable model for teams to follow if they want to get good fast per se? I know that nobody in baseball was as bad as the White Sox were two years ago, but if you're the Rockies or the Giants or the Angels or one of these teams that are really at the bottom of baseball and trying to get good fast, is how the White Sox did it a blueprint?

00:12:27
Speaker 2: I think it's the most sustainable, but I think that it does, you know, they were fortunate that they did have Derek crocheted a deal to spring to kind of get every jumpstart everything. But yeah, I think that, you know, if, if your, your model is, you know, you have a limited budget and the way to do that is you optimize the draft and you optimize, optimize your player acquisition and avenues other than free agency. And that's what the White Sox have done. You know, the, the, other than Benintendi, they haven't really spent big, I guess Murakami 17 million, but that was a two year deal and, So, yeah, I think this is something that can that other teams could, you know, strive to strive for. But at the same time, you know, it does take some good fortune and some good development. You know, Sam Antonacci is, again, fifth round pick. You know, they're making the most of guys who weren't necessarily first round picks. And we've seen, you know, the hit rate once you get out of the first round, it just gets lower and lower each passing round. So it does. I think there is some luck involved. But at the same time, there's no doubt that the White Sox player development and their scouting player acquisition group is doing a great job. And that's something I think other teams, if you're looking for, hey, we have a limited budget, I think they can give those teams hope that, hey, there is a pathway to being a successful organization in baseball. You don't just need to be able to spend free agent money. You can do it from building within.

00:13:39
Speaker 1: All righty. AL, check. We'll be right back to talk about the National League side of the postseason right after this. the baseball playoffs have begun and Fox one has you covered all post-season long more on Fox one in a minute, Jeff, let's do the same thing. Now thoughts on the NL side of the playoffs. Give us the big picture here. What stands out to you to this point so far?

00:14:02
Speaker 3: More pain for Padres fans, man. Like I think we're going to have a great series here between the Braves and the Dodgers, but I want to park in the first part of this conversation with, on this, this Padres brewer series, because it kind of feels a little bit like, you know, they've, they've kind of snatched defeat out of the, you know, the clause of victory or whatever that funny expression is, but it really feels like they've had two games here where they could very easily with just a stroke of good luck one way or the other be, you know, going back to San Diego up to, Oh, and you know, they're going to end up facing elimination. So, that to me is the, is the story on the NL side of things, because though it's a two Oh lead for the brewers, it does feel like a much closer series than we've seen. And yeah, I think, you know, you look at that type France home potential home run. I don't care what the EV numbers say, what the launch angle numbers say that none of those have left the park. We don't know what the batted ball spin is. There's a bunch of properties. We don't understand that. We can't say that definitively. From where it dropped, it looked like it was going out, right? I think we can look at that. We can look at how the game ended. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's the Brewers hanging in these games, believing and ultimately making the plays that they need to make. So credit to them. But I do feel like if you're a Padres fan, you kind of came into the playoffs on a hot streak. Team looks good out the chute. And you're sitting here now like, is this going to be, you know, another disappointing October?

00:15:43
Speaker 1: Ian, how have you felt about some of the prospect performances in that series, namely Jackson Churio, who I think has impressed, but why don't you tell us how you feel?

00:15:53
Speaker 2: I think that Churio, um, you know, when we had him, he was at the top of baseball America's rankings in the past and he's had some injuries have slowed his major league career so far, but when he's played, he's performed. But I think this is kind of his coming out party for a national audience. Um, You know, we saw that at bat against Mason Miller is just one of the most impressive things. And maybe he was getting some help, maybe not. But the way that he, you know, missed the first couple of fastballs, timed it up, got that foul. And you could see he was locked in from there. If he got another fastball, he wasn't going to miss it. And then, you know, obviously he did get another fastball after taking just a ridiculous breaking ball. Line that into center field and, you know, baseball's a game of inches. You know, if that's a little bit one direction, maybe the fielder can make the play. Same thing with the Ty France thing. But Churio, you know, he had the home run also in the series. You know, it's superstar tools. And I think he's starting to show that this is this is kind of his scene now. You know, he's he's had the regular season success and now it's time to translate into October. And so far in the first two games, he's made pretty much all the difference. You know, it's it's him and William Contreras are kind of the two pillars for their offense. And yeah, I mean, it's a lot of fun to watch. And I think this is the beginning of a very long and fruitful career for him in the playoffs because the Spurs team is built to last for a long time, I think.

00:17:08
Speaker 1: Another top prospect in that series, Ethan Salas. Jeff, where does he stack up on the impressive meter, the breakout meter?

00:17:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, the fact that he's the age that he is and is in the playoffs and sort of At least defensively, you know, sort of doing what he's done. I mean, he hasn't really done anything at the plate, but I think you just look at how he frames, how he handles the position, the value, of course, in big games like this of really good catcher defense. And I think he's given you that. And, you know, when you consider the fact that he's 20 years old and it's not– it's different being a 20 year old and lacking like that lifetime of experience behind the plate and being as good as he is versus, you know, being, you know, a third baseman or a corner outfielder or a center fielder, even a shortstop. There's just, you know, a ton of responsibility with that position in every single play. And it's just so impressive that, you know, a guy who just turned 20 in June is handling this at this level.

00:18:21
Speaker 1: Ian, let's go to the other side of the NL bracket. Dodgers, Braves, it's tied 1-1, game three tonight. Game four will happen tomorrow. So we'll have three baseball games guaranteed, potentially four on Wednesday. What have your thoughts been so far about this Los Angeles-Atlanta series? It's been an interesting and competitive one.

00:18:40
Speaker 2: Definitely. And I think the Braves, they did exactly what they wanted to do, which was they stole one game in Los Angeles without pitching either of their two starters. And Now it's basically a three game series. I mean, we've got Chris sale and, and, uh, Yamamoto facing off. And that feels like what should have been a game one start, but obviously with the way the schedule worked out, that's not how it went, went down. But yeah, I mean, it's a three game series. Um, the Braves, you know, ton of credit, I think has to go out to rake her, um, just an incredible story. Um, you know what he's overcome and it just shows, you know, baseball players, there's no, there's no linear route to the majors. You know, there, there's going to be, uh, different roads for different people. And, and Kerr obviously had one of the more unique routes, but to see him go out there and have success for the second straight time and not open a role was just so impressive. And yeah, I think the Braves deserve a ton of credit for, um, the way they've handled those first two games just to get one. And now you have Chris sale on the bump. I mean, it's, it's poised for just to be a really, really fun next two to three games with the series. And I think it can go either way. Um, you know, there's the Dodgers. We'll see if the offense can start coming alive. They change the lineup a little bit tonight which will be interesting it's gonna be weird not seeing shohei otani hitting lead off but uh yeah i mean it's poised perfectly if you're a neutral party for what should be just a lot of fun tonight and then going forward for the rest of the series.

00:19:57
Speaker 1: All righty. MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox One. The postseason is here and we have your front row seat to the wildest walk-offs, lights out pitching, and clutch plays all playoffs long. Stream each NLDS and NLCS game, then the 2026 World Series live on Fox One. At home or on the go, live or on demand. Never miss a moment. Stream now. Start your Fox One three-day free trial today at foxone.com. If there's one trend, fellas, that's been quite interesting to me throughout this postseason, it's how teams have been deploying their relievers. Atlanta is a great example of this. They have used guys in opener roles, in situations that you may have seen a traditional starting pitcher in yesteryear. And it brings me to this. This is our question answering segment. So get them into the chat from uncle Ted. Do you think the future of pitching could be a staff of three inning pitchers versus starters and relievers? Ian, you can go first.

00:21:01
Speaker 2: It's an interesting question. And I think it's something that with the way the regular season schedule is set up, you can't really do it, especially with the limitations on the number of pitchers you can have on a roster. But I think in the playoffs, it makes a lot of sense because you just want to maximize the innings of your best pitchers. And With the Braves, for example, Didier Fuentes is their best reliever. And by getting him, you know, having him for two or three innings is just extremely valuable. And you see it with the White Sox, the way they've employed Grant Taylor. Yeah, I just think that it's something that in the playoffs we can see because, you know, you want to limit basically you want to limit the innings of the guys who are the lower on the totem pole and throw as many of your best guys for as long as possible. And yeah, I think that it's something that's viable in the playoffs. I just have a hard time thinking of how the math would work during the regular season. when you don't have as many scheduled off days, when you know when you're in a stretch of 15 or games in 15 days, it's it's going to get guys are going to get burnt out doing that. But in the playoffs, definitely when it's all hands on deck, something that I think we've seen succeed this this playoff so far with the Braves, the White Sox, even the Rays. And yeah, I think going forward, it's something we're going to start to see more of as teams, you know, have more of the guys max out for two to three innings.

00:22:09
Speaker 3: I had written something about this like a few years ago and went to front offices about it of like, could we get to a point where so many of these pitchers go three to like four innings in the minors that we just end up seeing guys that are almost like part-time starters pitching multiple times a week and could be deployed in situations. I think the biggest issue that front offices see is that like agents and players will never buy into this. There's just, there's too much money in starting. Like they want to be starting pitchers. And I think, At the end of the day, it's just not something that they're going to be able to viably be able to change. I'm sure they could make the math work in the regular season. That's probably not an issue. But ultimately, I think guys want to start games. They want to go five, six, seven innings. And I don't think that they're necessarily going to be able to change that without full-on mutinies. But I guess you never know.

00:23:03
Speaker 1: All right, we got another question here from C Carrera 951, maybe just Carrera with two C's 951. Who can say? I've been watching the Sox closely over the last month, and I'm just wondering, how are they going to crack? What is their weakness? They go ahead in games. They come back. They aren't losing. Ian, back to you.

00:23:21
Speaker 2: I think that the one thing that could catch up with them is when we get into a seven-game series, their lack of starting pitching. They just don't have anyone who really you would trust to go six, seven innings. And, you know, when you're going against the Rays, they've got Rasmussen, they've got Peralta, they've got Nick Martinez. They've got guys who you feel pretty comfortable are going to be able to give you length. And I think that can work to an extent. But, you know, you can't throw Grant Taylor in five of the seven games. Or if you do, he's probably not going to be as effective. And I just think that that's the one concern I have is the lack of starting pitching depth might catch up with them in a seven game series. So far, it has not. But we've also seen this is a short series. The first one was a three game series. You want to see what it looks like when you get to a seven game series. I think that's the thing that would concern me about them.

00:24:06
Speaker 1: All righty. Well, if you like the stuff that we talked about on today's Hot Sheet Show, may I encourage you once more, head on over to BaseballAmerica.com for all of our best written content. Check us out on YouTube where we have lots of great stuff going up all the time. And of course, we'll see you again next week on Tuesdays on the Hot Sheet Show. For Jeff Ponce, Ian Cundall, I'm Jacob Rudner. We'll see you next time.