An ugly week for Brewers starters; what's the level of alert? Plus: A conversation with JoJo Romero (09.07.2026)

0:00Mississippi is breaking new ground for business at a historic pace. Amazon, XAI, Toyota, Milwaukee Tool, and GE Aerospace have all tapped into our deep talent pool, prime geographic location, and welcoming communities. This is bigger than megacytes. Mississippi offers a thriving business ecosystem with affordability, greater collaboration with energy partners, and record-breaking speed to market. Looking to expand, break new ground at Mississippi.org. Hello everybody, welcome to MicroBru, Milwaukee Brewers chatter from the Milwaukee Journal. Sentinel, my name is JR Radcliffe. I have a special guest with me, Mike, special co-host this week. He is Dom Cotronio, post-game host, pre-game host. On 620 WTMJ, you probably heard his voice, some place or another. He, of course, hosts, oh no, extra innings. What's the name of the show?

1:04What's the name of the show? There's so many different names. The live program's extra innings with the podcast. It's called Brewers All Access. We try to consolidate this. I can't keep up. Brewers All Access is the name I was looking for, of course. But yes, extra innings. He is a Milwaukee radio maven, and really what he does. Really what he does is provide therapy for Brewers fans who are in their feelings a little bit when the team maybe doesn't have the best week. Maybe this week is a good representation of that going three and four started out fine. Got a couple wins against the Cubs that were pretty important. Did not look good after that lost lost on Thursday, lost two of three in Cincinnati. Not ideal. So, Dom, what what a perfect person to have brought you here so that you can talk me off the ledge because I am I'm doing a little bit harder than normal this week. Dom, not because of the record, the records fine. They're still going to go to the playoffs. They're still going to win the National League Central in my opinion. But now I'm starting to look at this team as what is this team going to look like in October. And the starting pitching, the starting pitching that has been so special for this team all year long had just on a trosious week to really bad starts from Kyle Harrison.

2:07We'll talk about him specifically. Jacob is a rouse. He was not his best self Dustin may extend waiting circumstances with the rain, but we haven't really seen the best out of him. You know, Shane Drow and struggled. Robert Gaster's doing what he can. Logan Henderson's great, but, but. Dom, I'm nervous about this starting pitching and I don't know if this is the time of year where you kind of have to just sit back and say, hey, October is still a month away. They've got to ease into it. It's okay if things aren't clicking right now. But I guess I look at this team and think, who's going to pitch in the postseason. It's going to be Miz and Logan Henderson and and then what. So help me help me, Dom, call my fears, call my nerves, talk me on the ledge. I felt like this week was really pretty bad for them, a walkie-brewers, but maybe it doesn't matter in the long run. I don't know. Take a seat on the couch. Take a seat. Let's go through everything. How are you feeling? Are you feeling okay? Are you feeling, you know, like yourself, like you're connected to everything right now and all the things that you just said are true. They're going to win the central. They're going to flirt with the best record in baseball, whether that happens or not, Tampa Bay Atlanta, whatever happens happens.

3:11What I would try to say and what I said in my post game show on Sunday was this and I try not to frame this as an excuse. I'm just trying to frame this as sort of, hey, this is something. I'm not saying what I'm about to say is the reason they've lost all these games and these starters have struggled. But this was game number 36 of 39 games in 41 days. Okay, I mean, it has been a grind in the middle of that. You went to Williamsport. Okay, there's a lot that has gone on against some quality opponents and they are 21 and 15 over this time. That's a lot of baseball, two West Coast trips, a Williamsport trip, a stressful series with Chicago when you finish it up with Chicago here. Then you get two off days in the span of four days, which thanks schedule makers appreciate that. But the other thing about all of this is to say earlier in the year, starting pitching was carrying the relief, right? And when Uribe was out, they were getting some great starts. Now Uribe is back and ironically the starts have slowed down.

4:11Their average like four innings to start on this road trip. I think you and I both know they are not going to be a team that, you know, sends a picture out there to eat it in October because if the game is still close to becomes a different story. That being said, I think what I'm most alarmed with right now is a clear regression from Kyle Harrison, who you thought was a bona fide to at worst three when you didn't get Tarek Scouple. I think that everybody swallowed that pill so easily like, well, you know what, we've got Logan, we've got Ms and Harrison will come back and he'll be fine. And he has not been fine. That is a fact of the matter and Dustin may maybe three more starts. Maybe I was openly wondering what would you do, Jay? I mean, I'm thinking, okay, if you got gas or going Monday, you got Ms going Tuesday, you got Henderson going Wednesday, off day Thursday. Do you switch May into where Shane Drowin was on Friday, put Drowin available in your bullpen during this Cubs series and then figure it out on Saturday, whether Kyle starts whatever starts and figure it out on Sunday is assuming that's Robert Cassie.

5:21I would for two reasons. One is I would if I want them to get Dustin may write and what better opportunity than to just get him back on the horse as soon as possible. You know, get him and through an opportunity that's more than just three and two thirds range shortened innings and give him more chances to get right. I also think Shane Drowin is a reliever in October or at least if they have their druthers best case scenario, he's a reliever. Put him up, put him up against the Cubs in a high leverage situation because the Cubs that could very well be the team you see in October, it is really looking like it's going to be the Phillies or the Cubs at this rate. That's where we're headed. I think I think you want Shane Drowin now to be able to be in those situations and they got to get Dustin may write because of Harrison isn't it Dustin may I think has to be your number three, your number three option in October. We just haven't seen the best of them yet they've got to give him as many chances as they can to get back on the horse. Can I present an argument for Robert Gasser to be your three? I mean, that just pitched very well against those Cubs, I'll sweetly give you one mistake now granted it may be matchup dependent right it may be depending on if it's a Cubs if it's the Phillies and may I also throw this out there.

6:26I'm not wishing for this to happen, but I kind of want to present this to folks. What if you're the two seed and thus the two seed avoids Chicago and Philly and you would get either Arizona San Diego or LA now I know San Diego causes some pause for a lot of people given they just swept them. I think you have a better chance against LA in a five game series and you do a seven game series. I'm just openly putting that out there, but I don't think the brewers, you know, they don't care who they face. They feel like they can be one of the best teams in the national league, but I think that with a potential of opponent that Cubs being so good against left handed pitching the Phillies, you know, the core of their lineup is left handed right when you think of stop. What do you think of Harper when you think of a rise when you think of Schorber who just hit his 40 second of the day today I think so. 40 second of the day yeah exactly 42 so it feels that way it's a little bit different right so it's match up dependent maybe facing the Cubs it's us and may maybe if you're facing the Phillies it'd be Robert Gaston.

7:28I I like that. I mean part of it too is I just think the Cubs are a terrible match up for this team in the post. I agree they've got the defense that can overcome a team that slaps the ball around and puts it in play and tries to put pressure on you. If if Dan's be swanced in his healthy and playing shortstop and Nico Horners and second base that's there's just an peak or arm shark is in center. There's just not much that they're able to answer what the brewers do well Kevin Gaussman is a nightmare match up with that split finger fastball we saw it with our own eyes on Thursday. I their lineup is great sure their bullpen is is is spotty but I never really worry about bullpen to the regular season you get to the post season you're zoomed in on like three four relievers it's honestly about who gets hot I don't think the regular season bullpen really matters last year the Dodgers bullpen was going to be so bad until of course we got to the post season and it really wasn't I just feel like the Cubs are a terrible match up and if you if you're saying it'd be better for them to go to the two seed I mean I would agree with that even if it even if it is the Dodgers certain like you said five game series might be better than the seven. Especially if it's the Braves like that's a that's a fine match up for the brewers they can they can win those games so yeah I it would just be nice to avoid Chicago for like mental health reasons but also I saw those four games I know the brewers are going to win the season series but I would be very concerned with that team in an October series I worry me.

8:48It would be hilarious for them to after all this panic and worry and oh my god oh my god oh my god to then the brewers come out and win this series in emphatic fashion against Cubs and like calm everybody down because I think you know I have this theory J.R. That the day of the week that you lose an ugly fashion creates this ecosystems kind of like the news cycle right when you lose an ugly fashion on a Sunday and it leads the talk now granted called football this weekend is going to distract a lot of people holiday holiday yeah but I mean it's like people are going to be you know kind of locked in on like oh god they played so bad on Sunday whereas you lose on a Wednesday getaway day in the middle of the afternoon it's it's gone and you're already back in action on Thursday whereas you win on like a holiday game tomorrow it's oh my gosh yeah they're right back in it is no big so I think there's a little bit of psychology going on here of the doom and gloom of everything's going wrong everything's going against this because one of my favorite things about my other job when I work for staff for Brian Anderson for TBS and we travel around the country every team hates their team I just need everybody to remember that like we all see the flaws in the team we watch every single day the Dodgers only see the flaws in themselves not granted they do probably have some real flaws right now the Cubs only see the flaws in themselves we were just there for four days and you couldn't go 10 steps you know a side for BC a no one else on the team can hit I disagree with what happened on Monday you go to Atlanta was just there last week

10:13and I'm like well Matt Olson's been great but we don't know what's going on in the back end of our rotation like every team has flaws so I'm just trying to save ourselves from falling into this trap but yes let's talk about one of the flaws that is right now unfortunately Kyle Harrison he had two really bad starts this week that is a pattern I know a lot of people are focused on the road home split thing honestly I just don't think there's anything there it doesn't seem like his stuff is any different they're just he just hasn't been the same since he came back from this injury and discussion today after this loss on Sunday to the Reds that maybe they think of they try to limit his innings going forward maybe they make him a reliever longer reliever shorter starting stance I don't know I said something kind of kind of scandalous to Kurt last week and I should have put it in some sort of public forum I said you know what I think Brandon Sprout might end up throwing more playoff innings and Kyle Harrison this year now now I don't I don't mean well I don't yeah probably listen yeah you don't mean that Brandon Sprout as a reliever is electrifying in my opinion we haven't seen it even in AAA he's still not consistently putting together those innings

11:20but he's electrifying I think if they just get the best version of him as a like a one to two inning reliever and I just don't know if Kyle Harrison is going to make it to October this rate what we saw the first half of the season you have to still think of him as one of the best pictures on this team I wonder what you think of what you've seen from him and and What what the concern level is with him specifically because it's it's been really alarming the last few starts The number one thing that I'm concerned with is the fastball and it's not so much Velo related I know we saw him scraping 97 98 earlier in the year he he cruises at 95 like that's his normal Going speed like the speed has been there but under the hood Things are going awry. He's not getting the same vert. He's not getting the same arm angle. He's not getting the same command that he had Earlier in the season. He saw big misses with the fastball the last two games He the slurve was a little flat on sundaeg against the reds and they started the key and on and that because I see a guy that does not have confidence in his Eater right now when it's his number one pitch I see a guy that just saw it got sheld by the cubs on Monday and then here on Sunday

12:23He's nibbling. He's trying to flip in more slurves He's trying to get them off the center of the heater He's thinking about his mechanics and whether or not he was tipping He's thinking about what do I got to do here? He lets three runners deal bags I there's a lot going on in this head and the whole home rope thing I agree with you J.R Let me just read you the home opponents. Okay, people want to talk about the home roads. What about the opponents? Okay, since coming off the IL okay Pittsburgh and Seattle Okay, really two prolific offenses. They're not and by the way they face Pittsburgh without Conner Griffin without O'Neal Cruz And Brandon Lau I don't think was in the starting or I think Brandon Lau was in the starting around of that day But he was lowering the order right and he only went five innings in that game against Pittsburgh And the other home opponent was Seattle in the 22 nothing game and Seattle is on a death march And they are going to have some serious pink slips coming out at the end of the season the road opponents are San Diego Playoff caliber team New York keep it you well against and then Chicago and now Cincinnati Three really good offenses and New York so that's where I don't buy the home road stuff

13:26Yeah, I guess I just wonder he he swears he's healthy Everyone swears he's healthy So if it's not health there's something new with the mechanics the Velo has dropped That's again not the big concern but the fastball is what makes Kyle Harrison go and it's just not an effective pitch It's it's getting left over the zone in the middle middle or it's a ball that people are able to lay off of and um I I don't know if you think of him as a guy who could thrive in a relief role. I really don't I guess that's just not kind of How I feel like his stuff would play I could be convinced otherwise, but um, I I feel like you know I don't like if he goes out his next start and he's also bad I don't know. I don't know what the brewers are supposed to do here like they can't just keep they can't just keep a Sean Markham situation going Where you try to guy out who's clearly just not right and put him in position to to lose you a key playoff game Like I don't know what they what they would do Dom the other that glass half full take on this and I'm not saying he's the same guy Is this but let me give you a glass half full moment here

14:26weren't we having the exact same conversations about Jacob Mizorowski this time last year not the same not apples to apples I totally understand that but Miz was a shell of himself after he got hit in the shin He was struggling with command. He was all over the place. They tried him as a reliever That didn't really work out and the brewers just sat down and said we believe in the kid Trust us and then he turned in the best postseason of any picture on the brewers last year I'm not saying that's gonna happen for Kyle Harrison But if you find the right pocket the right role the right hey You know what this lineup you start it with maybe one time through the order with an Aaron Ashby or a Chad patch or whatever You decided to do and then you flip him with the with a Kyle Harrison one time through the order I think the brewers are going to get very creative Which is a shame because I think what made everybody so excited About the chance to beat the Dodgers this year is that this starting pitching was supposed to be so much better than last years You had TOS Quinn Priest here. You had Jose Quintana

15:27Freddie was good not great. He was Freddie and then he had Miz in relief as they threw Ashby out there for the umpteenth time I think that The brewers thought okay, well Miz Henderson Harrison and May is a pretty darn good for and now you've probably got two and a half of those names Ready and excited to be available. Yeah, I think that's exactly how I feel that the the thing that makes this team special is just not clicking on all cylinders They do have a month in theory if they if they secure the right playoff spot They'll get to skip those last three to you know last day of September first couple days of October and go right to the NLDS They'll be able to calibrate But yeah, this was just a tough week now now let's talk a little about Miz Rouski a little more Miz versus the mound has been a recurring theme this year and that was a case again in Chicago this week I Floated this to Todd Rosiac last week and he didn't seem to concern that you know like the obvious sort of Over the top cliche way of looking at this is well if he struggles with road mounds How do we know that the grounds crew isn't going to make it a problem for him? You know not by necessarily like sabotaging the mound

16:29But simply by not treating it the way that American family field grounds crusader staff treats their mound where Miz Rouski is clearly a lot more comfortable I don't know if it is just the mound I don't know if it is a mechanical thing with him What you see he that was his worst outing of the year thus far He's obvious. He's going to a nationally say young He's still going to be your number one pitcher in the postseason But like what if what have you seen from him lately and and do you feel like the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction? Where really maybe even going back to when he he came back From a little bit of a break after the all-star break It feels like we haven't seen that peak level Miz in a while. Well, I it's funny because I kind of feel Like how how quickly forget it's it's the we're the creatures of habit like we're so quick to move on This dude dominated the Dodgers a couple of weeks ago And we're acting like that's supposed to happen every single which I understand like we're again so numb To how great of a season he's having and that mound was a okay Okay, and I would argue aside from the home mound

17:29He hasn't pitched on a mound that has been to his liking since that game in LA And he wasn't great at home either he wasn't perfect But he got the job done against Atlanta even with 98 99 and I can't believe I'm saying that sentence out loud I think we all need to check ourselves like well. He was only throwing 98 like I'm worried about it He's the only 99 red flag and all of baseball is not amazing That's very funny. I think too. I explained to somebody this last week that When Miz is quote-unquote Velo drop. It's not like he's You know 98 98 and then all of a sudden he's down to 96 95 for an extended period of time It's usually one blip where it's like a blending issue We got out of his mechanics. He really sailed on and then he's right back to 99 and 100 So that's why I'm not concerned about Miz that he is definitely healthy on the mound front I did talk to a brewery source this week asking like is there anything Major league baseball can do is there anything where people can get involved Because this is obviously a precious commodity. This is somebody that everybody wants to see

18:32Pitch at his peak and they kind of said yeah Maybe they're kind of wishy-wash. You've kind of been playing like they've already asked And I don't think this is supposed to be nefarious of saying oh some team can mess up the bottom of their mound And it's gonna ruin Jacob Mizorowski Jacob has the right to ask them to fix it every pitch he throws if he wants And I think in the playoffs you'll be definitely more eager to do so And it's a reminder of the anomaly that he is that That spot on the bottom of the mound where he extends to has been packed in with clay and with molding All season long in Milwaukee not at any other stadium a sad for maybe LA for Tyler Glass now, right? So that's why the whole mound has had such a great treatment of him It is months and months of bill. This is not necessarily something you can snap your fingers in fix But hopefully this isn't a talking point in October I mean, it's important for you to note the Dodgers mound that if there's a road playoff game That's meaningful with Mizorowski on it that Dodgers mound is probably where it's gonna be he pitched fine in Atlanta earlier this year

19:36They lost that game, but he pitched well Did he seems comfortable so uh, so yeah, that's that's all good stuff. All right. Let's talk about Bryce Turing This is funny because you know like you talked about how you feel about things based on the day of the week Well Sunday Bryce Turing was pretty good. Bryce Turing's had two really good games this week He's also been pretty terrible the rest of the games We're seeing a guy who's swinging through a lot of things You know, just even right down the middle of the plate Obviously, there's a knee issue here. We have seen it. We saw him limp in kind of his on his way the third base on the play this week Clearly, it's bothering him. It seems like the team has simply said Rest wouldn't help the situation either because they know it's severe enough that it'll need offseason You know medical attention or maybe it's just like taking him out getting him out of the groove would be just as detrimental as You know trying to get the rest trying to help out Obviously, he didn't play in that dodger series and he still has the knee problem So three days ain't gonna do it What do you see with him like they need him? Goes without saying he is probably their best offensive player when he's right They need him to be special in October and I don't know if there's a pathway to make that happen

20:40Given given that we've seen him struggle so badly So so what what have you seen with with Bryce Turing lately? I think that once we get through this Cubs series We will find out more About what the brewers plan is to give him more rest because let's also be very honest with each other here J.R This is the last important series of the year and I know there's there's divisional rounds And I know you're talking about tie breakers And I know you're talking about all that stuff like you want to win as many games as possible I understand but you are okay With losing a couple of battles down the road If you already have that Cubs tie breaker in hand knowing you're gonna win your division You're okay with losing a couple battles down the road in order to make sure you win the war And that is Bryce Turing is healthy William Contrero's got a breather or even somebody like Christian yellow stays in the order and stays fresh Jake Bauer's needs a breather as well. I think that all of this is to say Let the player tell you when he's going through too much and his speed has certainly been zapped He has not been the same player on the base paths

21:42Which is something to monitor for him And he's never really had to deal with this before he's never really had to play through injury In his career and especially a lower body injury And we all know how much that impacts somebody like Bryce with his speed and with his twitchiness I think what I look at with Bryce is Hey, it's been a really long year for him when he throw in the world baseball classic for sure He also throw in being an everyday player for essentially you know back-to-back seasons, right? I know he you know He's essentially had a full season I know there's been weeks where it's all of a sudden his ankle flares up and he takes a couple of days off whatever He's essentially been a full-time player every single that bats 700 plus PAs each the last two years and that weighs on a 20 something your body. So For me get through this cub series with Bryce. He's going to start all three of these games And then use that off day creatively. Maybe he is off on Friday up against Cincinnati coming up next week Give him that double day off that we talk about and get really creative using time off to make sure Bryce and Jake

22:42And William or as healthy as they can become NLDS time He's saying the words world baseball classic. I think they're brewers people the brewers organization They wince when they hear that after what happened with On how big would on hell's there put be on this team? Oh my gosh. He'd be so huge. See. Oh, he'd be so huge I mean one of the reasons I think they need to go get a jojo remaro at the all-star break is because they're at the trade deadline Because Sarah Braw wasn't available. Oh, by the way jojo were marrow my interview at the end of this at the end of this conversation We'll be waiting for you at the end of my time here with Dom If you kind of cut him couple home stands ago now wasn't the Ranger series before that Before he had been activated he made his debut this week. It was it was good to start couple you know couple if the games in Chicago Yeah, yeah couple good games in Chicago Bruce Bruce fans probably not loving the trade deadline situation right now between Dustin May and Tony O'Sense of Teller Romero struggling a little bit here late in the week. So But is there a team that is enjoying their trade deadline right now aside from the Dodgers? Uh, well certainly not the pogress because Casey Mayes has been a real bad right that being another guy that I thought the brewer is my

23:43The pirate's bullpen since the trade deadline. Oh, it's a total disaster. I mean Luke Weaver has poison ivy Could you be more cursed than a reliever at the deadline getting smothered in poison ivy? How does that happen? Just got smoked by the marlins on Sunday. Ryan's for John gave it up to William Contreras the other day Uh, I mean I still think it was not the cup should still feel the cup should still feel pretty good like clay homes obviously You know was really good against the brewers in a game where he didn't have to be because the cup scored a million runs But um, I would rather have clay homes than than most pitchers set the deadline and Ryan's up for Sean I think he'll figure it out, but yeah, it's you're right. It's it's always an adventure at the deadline Let's talk about a couple good thing. Well first of all the offense was awesome this week and doing what the brewers do Generating a ton of runs. Obviously you had the back-to-back nine run games against Chicago after they had after Chicago had exploded for 17 against them You know even on Sunday when it was a really ugly game. They they put up a ton of runs. So It's it's certainly a twist in the right direction Christian Yolich has sustained I would say solid play here for the last couple weeks William Contreras has really turned his season around

24:44And Joey Ortiz while I had Cooper Pratt by the way had a great great week. He got his first homeward rigley Just a ton of a ton of key moments Cooper Pratt looking great actually since he got benched by Pat Murphy I don't know if there's any correlation there, but my goodness. He looks so comfortable out there Joey Ortiz continues to do great things continues to be a player that is much better than I thought he would be at this point in the season And Joey Ortiz came up even though he didn't play on Sunday because David Hamilton made another really rough throw home We've seen a few of those from Hamilton at their base his defense is an adventure His defense is probably not as bad as people think because he is so quick But he's also made some really you know splash plays or whatever you'd call them in the other direction really flashy mistakes And it makes you wonder why just not Joey Joey sitting in the ball. He is a tremendous defender He makes almost every play So it feels strange that they're still going to David Hamilton anything other than a late reserve pinch runner You know you need a bunch or something that's that's your guy But the Brewers have been very committed to trying to make this happen Maybe they're maybe they're gonna lean the other direction now after this this game on Sunday

25:44We're Hamilton had a rough day defensively, but what do you think about that situation? The easy thing to say is just play Joey Ortiz. He's good at everything right now Obviously the Brewers look at it from a bigger picture. So so how do you see that? I think the bigger picture the Brewers see Is there frustrated that their model clearly loves David Hamilton? It clearly loves his range. It clearly loves his ability and the theory of David Hamilton And I think he's a fine utility player, right? I don't think he's a starting third baseman. I just don't I I hold my breath every time he's throwing a baseball and that's not what you want to feel on a team that has a reputation for great defense And I think for David One of the things that the Brewers are going to have to be conflicted with here is kind of like last season remember Look, Brewers had to go through the conflict of How much of Blake Perkins and Joey Ortiz at baths? Do they want to go through at the expense of You know their defense right of you know those are your two best defenders at their positions But they're bat at that time last year was a little bit lacking

26:48Now Joey's bat seems like an asset at the moment now granted he will as Pat Murphy pointed out He'll chase every now and then he has a weakness with sinker ballers. He has a weakness with east west but then you see Run score directly from a lesser defensive player And you're sitting here going well Joey's not gonna hurt you on offense Or not hurt you in the level that David Hamilton's defense is hurt you So I think that come postseason time. We're going to see Joey Ortiz at third base I'd be shocked quite frankly if Joey isn't starting these next two days against two lefties given their facing A void and Peterson if I'm not mistaken coming up here against Chicago So you almost definitely get the starts coming up at third base Then Wednesday Tbd since I believe that's Gossman again. So I think that Joey is going to be your starting third base in the game one of the NLS regardless if it's a righty Or lefty on the mound that they're facing because this team

27:50Knows what the sample size says and this is where I struggle so much J.R Because I I love the numbers. I try to digest them. I try to bring them to life The plus five D. R. S. for David Hamilton is one I just can't get around I don't understand what it sees I see him as a league average third basement And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I don't see him as a plus five D. R. S. and I don't understand it I think that he's a perfectly fine utility player He's going to be a weapon off the bench to run to drop down a bunk when you need it can put some pressure on a defense offensively But holding my breath on defense in October is not what I want to be doing Yeah, and the stats don't agree necessarily defensive stats on what what to make of David Hamilton You know one let's says plus five and I think it's is it OAA that's Down on him or fix he's below average. It's Ah man, I agree with you the I test just tells you this this just what are they doing with this they have the options This team that has always built itself around defense has a defensive option and they're just still trying to make something else happen

28:52Um, I want to get your thoughts on something. I This is kind of a bigger picture thing The the Brewers got a little bit of power this week. It was kind of more the same where they were able to score a lot of runs without a ton of home runs We did see Jake Bowers who is battling through shinsplints just wild that he's able to produce still at this level He hits a home run in Cincinnati on Sunday and that's nice and Jackson Churia went deep at one point again or William Couturius rather went deep a couple games ago The Brewers still dead last as we record this on Sunday night in home runs across major league baseball hilariously the Cleveland Guardians one home run ahead of them that's a playoff team the Toronto Blue Jays one home run ahead of them They are battling essentially back and forth with Cleveland Toronto was a playoff team at the end of business on Saturday and then After you skip the angels you got the diamond backs a team that is also a playoff team in the NL right now with 141 home runs the Brewers are at 133 So the correlation between how many home runs you have and whether your playoff team is not very strong Tampa Bay is 23rd Aboston is tied with them for 23rd So I understand all that but I think the general understanding is that when you get to the postseason and the pictures are really good and the defenses are really good

29:56You need some pop Funny thing is the Brewers did have pop last year that against the cubs They hit a ton of solo homers that played a huge role Big home or by Andrew Vaughn a three-run homer that really played a huge role in beating the cubs But they don't they don't have that they don't have that power threat That's not how they're built. It's not even how they operate so What do you think about that? Do you think the Brewers have just as good a shot as anybody get if they get to the postseason when they get there As a team that hits a ton of home runs or do you feel like that is a a Stumbling block I do I think it's a stumbling block I've always said that but but how do you feel about that? What do the blue jays and brewers Have in common with an issue in their lineup. I want to see if you can put together the point I'm trying to make here What do you think the brewers and blue jays currently both have in common right now about their lineup? They have a star player who is not producing a ton of home runs thing going thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing thing I mean I did it. I did it. What do I win? Vlad Vlad Jr This is the craziest out of the year Vlad Jr has not hit a home run at home this season like like what like the dude hit a homer in the

30:59Game seven of the ALCS if I'm not mistaken I think you hit one on the road in LA as well, but he did not hit one in Toronto his last Home Homer in Toronto was in the ALCS last year coming up a year and the brewers have 10 homeers this year from Christian Yellowch who hit 30 a season ago. Okay, I'm not saying they were counting on that from yelling But they would have liked 20 they would have liked you know 22 and maybe 30 doubles or something like that That just hasn't happened. So what I'm trying to point out about the brewers right now What's fascinating to me about Milwaukee and about their ability to score runs? That's the goal of the game doesn't matter if they go over the fence. You got to score runs The brewers are in the top five and run scored in Major League Baseball They're also a team that is the best run differential and I know this week took a little bit of a hit of that Of trying to see are they gonna finish with the best run differential in team history? They're gonna finish the best record in team history But what's so funny to me is

32:00Despite having the fewest homers hit as we've talked about they're actually top three In doubles and triples combined So Yes, they're not hitting the ball over the fence, but at least they're still hitting for quote-unquote slug Right if they were in the bottom half of both of those categories too and swinging a wet newspaper That's where you hit the panic in the alarm They still as a team are been floating right around a 400 slug all season I believe right now they're down to 400 or 399 the point being no team has averaged five runs per game And had a 400 slug game and less than a 400 slug and now they're not at five runs per game anymore But there's still a chance to get there There are dynamic enough offense kind of like Toronto's last year Toronto they got more production from Vlad than the brewers are getting right now from Yelli But Toronto was middle of the pack for homers last year They were a don't strikeout put the ball and play trust your defense type team just like the brewers were And they were two base running blunders and a wedged ball away from winning the world series

33:03So I I think the brewers deserve a little bit of credit for doubling down on it I know people are worried about it and I it's a fair worry because the data doesn't lie and if it happens again It's like fool me once shame on you fool me twice then we have a harder conversation this off season Yeah, I mean, that's a good point 400 slugging that's that's 18th you don't want to be there if you're the brewers but It's the difference between 18th and 6th is seven points the San Francisco Giants 4-07 and they're the sixth best slugging team You there are really five truly good slugging teams in baseball two of them are the nationals on the Rockies You don't have to worry about them in October the braves the Dodgers the Cubs those are the those are the three best lineups in In baseball and the brewers are Kind of right with everybody else. So I guess I guess that is also a good thing to know And everything too on on slugging like you would expect the team with the fewest home run tit to be at the bottom of slugging The fact that they're right around league average is it believe is 404 right now I don't I don't see it as an issue heading into October

34:04Let's let's go into some of the more granular details from the week that was it is our weekly segment looking back at some brewers baseball Here it is three up three down Don't I got a good one to start with Early in the week game two of the week. This was Tuesday I believe with Christian yellow should a home run and You hear a loud contingent of fans at wriggly field cheering for the Milwaukee brewers This always happens the brewers. I wouldn't say they travel as well as Cubs fans do here. Of course different size and fan bases But brewers fans make their voices heard it wriggly Jeff pass in a VSPN. It's nothing very funny. He tweeted out I paraphrasing but it was like you know how how do the Cubs feel about a home game turning into a road game That can't happen now that was funny to brewers fans who almost certainly remember the interview that Jeff pass and did earlier this year At the end of July with willian tautch on ESPN radio our friends in the business they They had him on and he said something similar about the brewers when the Cubs were cheering as this was a very tense loss and extra innings Cubs fans are very loud

35:08Bryce Wilson pitch for the Cubs in that game I believe He said the same exact line like that can't happen took some flak local people were like what do you want us to do with a 31st largest market next to number three And they basically overlap with us and they this happens every year et cetera et cetera And then there's an opportunity for the tables to turn he uses that line now the Cubs fans who do not listen willian tautch sad But true they did not get it there was a lot of Handering in like why would Jeff pass and be taken a shot at the Cubs are just like guys relax He's self deprecating a little bit It's more about what he said earlier But I did enjoy that very funny a little little little self-awareness from our guy Jeff passon to to point out that You know brewers fans they travel a little bit too when when when the chips are down and head out to wriggly field Um, I found that to be one of the more one of the more humorous moments of the week I agree I I loved it. I actually was chatting with Jesse Rogers ESPN 1000 and ESPN down there like he surprised at your boy passon decided to you know Stir the flame a little bit again. I can't believe he did that and everything like that. So it's uh trust me

36:09I've heard it in my tagline Whenever the brewers win at home over those Cubs My first line I always say on the program is pay your tolls because I hope they're listening on the way home back to you know Illinois so it makes me smile a little bit. That's good up So you want me to do an up here to want me something I'm positive about something I'm excited about I think I poorly named of a three up three down concept I it was one of my friends who said he didn't realize until I'm very late that we weren't actually doing like good things and bad things It's really just observations. So you can do one however you'd like We certainly do both good and bad, but it's it's not like there has to be three of each. So what whatever you prefer Trevor McGill deserves serious praise to be potentially all MLB closer and I know it's gonna be tough because you got Mason Miller You got a oldest Chapman you got worthy closers on the back end that do it But may I remind you that McGill is currently on a stretch of I believe it's now 18 consecutive saves going back to the middle of June since the wacky game in Colorado

37:15He's allowed three runs over that time He has been by far and away the best reliever on the brewers Really all season and that includes the blip in April now like he has essentially erased those two poor outings And I looked this up the other day. This isn't just save opportunities So he gave up seven runs in those two Outings and then he also had given up a run earlier that week to Tampa Bay and lost a tie game right so eight runs in the span of I believe it was four games He's given up six runs since That's crazy since like that's April we're talking about here and I'll go ahead and say it You know go ahead and get mad at me if you want. I don't believe in announcer jinksis Trevor McGill hasn't allowed a home run this season And I'm putting it out in the world I understand that there could be consequences for that Trevor McGill is a superstitious fella Mason Miller just gave up his first home run this past week So Trevor's the last man standing when it comes to closures who haven't given one up to go over the fence

38:19Just putting that off Did Mason Miller give up that second one that one that jumped off his left-fielder's glove? Yeah, some odd Taylor. Yeah. Yeah, tough scene Not your fault Mason Miller Trevor McGill who's given up a lot of flyballs to the warning track This year and in previous years like it's it's honestly astonishing that one hasn't quite crept out of the stadium But his eRA since that rough those rough couple starts in April it begins with a zero I don't remember what it is is 0.73 or maybe even lower than that It's crazy bonkers. He was just named reliever of the year in august alongside Josh Haydor who then made the comment and leave it Really for the month. What did I say? We'll leave it the year. Yeah. Okay. Well, we'll leave it reliever the month in august Alongside Josh Haydor who then later said I'll be cool to like go back to the brewers and get a couple saves and my past and police act for You know all-time saves like we're listening Josh Haydor. We are noticing But Trevor McGill with that hidden almost perfect game in there that we've talked about a little bit Just just mowing people down efficient like there's so many I want to say there's 20 of his outings 12 pitches or fewer In which the brew in which he locked down the game like it would not necessarily save but like in his inning that eRA is

39:220.91 by the way over his last 49 games 0.91 that is 49 in the third innings Uh, and only 10 walks in that time too. That's amazing. That's just a made a we need to give him more shine while we have the opportunity to do so That's right. I completely agree. It may seem like there's probably going to win that award all mlb But Trevor McGill deserves at least some attention Uh my number two this is a down, but it ended up not being a big deal Cooper Pratt almost died man on Tuesday It was a rough collision at rigley field a bermuda triangle situation short flyball between three fielders or T's joy or T's and Cooper Pratt collide Pratt uh, uh, it looked real bad in the moment. He obviously came through it just fine And has gone on to continue being on an offensive tear as we mentioned earlier. So Cooper Pratt rounding into form But man it was it was close You know, we've had we've had some interesting some some interesting collisions Uh, certainly over the course of any season you get that Brady Ebel in the miners with the class high A Wisconsin. He

40:23Like went head over heels on a collision that caught it gave him a concussion He missed a couple weeks. He was back this week, which is good. Uh, he didn't miss a couple weeks It was just about 10 days, but Luis Pania one of the top prospects in the organization That wasn't a collision, but a sliding play at third base where he fractured his legs So that's news as of Sunday. So he's going to be in rehab mode now his season. There's of course over so It is nice that when something like that happens everybody walks away and Cooper Pratt continues To do uh to do some pretty great things He's going to be the starting shortstop in in any meaningful game in in October And uh, I did I don't know if I saw that coming even after he was here for the first few weeks Uh, really nice to see his development so far. That has been one of the nice uh one of the one of the better developments here in 2026 So today he was hitless, but uh, he still reached base with a walk so since the benching Nine games 333 average 11 runs batted in I believe uh, I had this as well in my packet. This was going into yesterday He was uh, I believe five for seven with runners in scoring position since he got benched

41:26So response has been heard and handled I don't think they should make him blunt I think maybe he's good he's a sneaky good bunter. I know he hasn't got it down all the time He's a sneaky good bunter and it catches him by surprise he gets it down and I like it I mean he keeps the pressure going and gets hands into the next guy He's probably gonna be batting eight or ninth in the postseason game. So that's right. It means Churios coming up next You're for means to ranks coming up next like I'm I'm not opposed to him doing that. All right, so my second thing Uh, I do have to go bad as well on the injury front and I have to go down on the farm and we have to talk about Louise Pena Yeah, and that is tough news. I believe was a fractured tibia is the the wording. Mm-hmm. It wasn't an ankle He is receiving treatment. They will get more word on this in the coming weeks But it's it's a shame for a lost year for Pena to have you know He had the head scare earlier in the year He was playing fine. I mean it wasn't like he was putting up goddy numbers putting up angiophishant numbers there

42:26I say But the way that It seems like him and Jesus Mede have really jelled since they reunited in Balexi this season was Mede has spent the whole year in Balexi and Pena with all of his health struggles now finally come up and they're getting ready for a Playoff push you're coming up this week down in the double a Southern league Stinks I feel for him. This is a long recovery road now for Pena and at the same time too You can sit here and have a little bit of you know sellers remorse where Obviously he was being dangled obviously he was somebody that was openly being in trade rumors as somebody the brews We're ready to move on from saying if we get something shiny back We will give up Louise Pena and now you hope that the rest of his career can get back to that high ceiling that he Had for so long What a weird year for Louise Pena he you mentioned in April he has to be Taken by ambulance after he overheats and passes out in the dugout at a game You know the brewers called it overheating that that's all they said it was but he missed a month So either they were just trying to rule things out or try to get to the bottom of that or there was more going on

43:27We don't know but he comes back. He's still productive. He's productive the whole way He's 19 years old. He's in high A doing good things. He gets promoted to Balexi He has a hamstring thing that holds him out for a short period of time He gets taken out of games kind of a lot for for somebody of his stature Makes me think that you know like they're being either really cautious with him or he's he's dealing with stuff And then he has this serious injury which you know It's hard to know if he'll be ready to start next year. Obviously. It's just really early on in the process If if this has to happen the last game of the season I mean you don't get Louise Pena now for the suddenly playoffs But I think you know for the most part you got a full you know full issue you're out of him Of development and and he looks good. He's 19 and double A and and is if he's healthy We'll be there again to start next year right there. Oh, he's just my day. He'll probably be a bit up in triple A at that point So Or with the big leagues. We'll see but but yeah, what a weird year for for for Louise Pena All right my number three Uh, he croir Armstrong. He's coming back to Milwaukee this week He can't hit against the Milwaukee Burris and uh, yeah, you know like the same thing with Miguel the superstition

44:31Probably just spoke something into existence there He had an incredible swing against Logan Henderson a two run homer on a sinking pitch I was like six inches off the ground hit it out to center That's the difference in a two one game on Thursday So you have to tip your cap there, but like it's crazy to me how little PCA Can do against the Brewers four for 37 against the Brewers just the one extra base hit was that homerun One of those hits is off Andrew Vaughn when Andrew Vaughn was pitching as a position player on Monday He's a career 164 hitter with a 620 OPS against the Milwaukee Brewers Two thoughts there either wow the Brewers really know something they know how to attack PCA Even when he's at the peak of his powers here. He just hit home run number 40 on Sunday He's seven stolen bases away from a 40 40 season. I'm guessing he won't get there, but you might try uh Or he's just really really do and the Brewers are gonna face that wrath eventually But uh, but they have been fortunate as they go up against this very good lineup that the the sort of You know crown the the king of that lineup has not performed against the Milwaukee Brewers certainly that was the case This week except for he did come up big in that one big moment with the home run against Logan Anderson

45:36You know what I mean they were I had people screaming at me a month ago When I was openly saying PCA is my MVP I think he's gonna be oh just wait till show here comes back show is gonna prove his pitch and I get it like 14 starts Is nothing to sniff about and everything, but it's kind of getting to a point now of The Cal Raleigh Aaron judge debate from last year We're now the rate stats and the counting stats are better than showhays And everyone's hitting it. Well, but but show is pitching too. It's like and same thing with Cal Raleigh's Cal Raleigh's catching too and I get that I get that but it's like But he's still got more homers better batting average better on base better selecting better OPS better stolen bases I get all that I get he but he's pitch like that can't be an automatic rubber stamp Become MVP like PCA is doing something That is worthy of an MVP and we can't just automatically and show he's not gonna pitch again the rest of the season You know, I think PCA is going to be your MVP and it's quite an anomaly that he's had some struggles this year against the brewers It has certainly been noted in our graphics department over on brewers that TV. We have some stuff cooking up here this week

46:38But we shall see what happens there. So my last third one here. I got a lot of choices to do here Um, I think what I'm gonna go with here. I'm actually gonna go away From the brewers for a second. All right, I like it. I want to talk about the Cleveland Guardians The weekend that they just had oh Tell me about it. We got we got Detroit fandom in this house. It's been it's been real tough Three walkoffs Brian rocio two and went like the walkoff homer the double header two walkoffs I know you're the walkoff guy J.R. I know you're struggling with the Detroit household But you're the walkoff guy. I thought you would appreciate this to win a series against the division rival who you bounce in the player You know struggled in the playoffs against last year but he kept them from a division title me There is some history. There is beef between Detroit and Cleveland. It's pretty fun to watch I was there for the ALDS in 2023 when scuba will give up the homer to Lane Thomas or 2024 I should say and then the of course You get three walkoffs and they win in the I don't know walkoff today

47:39It's like Cleveland rocks man. It's gonna be a fun finish between them and Toronto down the stretch Toronto has the tiebreaker on Cleveland by the way, so keep that in mind Three walkoffs in four days in three days in four different games like that that's crazy stuff Yeah, Brian rocio had a grand slam in one of those games before hitting the walkoff So it was just a crazy day for him in that double header tigers or snakebitten all to death But but what an interesting Opportunity here and we'll have plenty of time to talk about this But Cleveland and the race Cleveland might not make the playoffs. They're right there on the cusp But the race will Cleveland is Cleveland the race and the brewers are three of a kind these are the three teams that are in the smaller markets Who are competitive even without spending and what a world series it would be to get one of those teams against the Milwaukee brewers On the cusp of a workstopage in 2027 where a salary cap and competitive balance is supposedly the issue at the heart of all of this I just I just need to see it. I it probably won't impact anything that comes next I want to see it because it's great for our coverage Milwaukee brewers in the world series, please but it is

48:42Just the idea of that happening. It tickles me to death. It probably won't I mean the whole point is that these guys supposedly can't succeed in the postseason It man I would I would go crazy for a Tampa clea look slash Cleveland world series against the walkie brewers every time I see Ken Rosenthal because he just did the game on Thursday I say aren't you ready for this Cleveland Milwaukee world series aren't your executives at Fox so excited about all this and he laughs and chuckles Ah, You down like could it save baseball that might be my final take here coming up Very excited for a dumb Katrina to take a week that that is coming up shortly What did not we talk about on three up three down bo naler and jojo romero both made dare debuse with the brewers this week mentioned romero coming back after an app in deck to me Some goods some bad bo naler caught on sunday He is added to the roster both of those guys when rosters expanded on September first Avenue you repay back like you said, but brace Wilson he was injured so he is no longer on the active roster. Not sure if that marks the end of his season,

49:42one walk and all those innings, just incredible filler of his role. He was incredible for the Brewers. So his numbers are pretty good. I'd be curious to see if he still pitches this year, but he now is on the injured list. Craig Council suggesting that maybe Christiane Alchist-Humran wouldn't have been out at other parks. We know with the various data visualizations it would have been out of the vast majority of parks, but you know, then we had a Basket shot to center field with the cherry on top of that. So good. So good. Similar, I think both of those would have been out of like 20. No, Alchist was all but one. All but San Francisco. Yes. PCA, there were a few others that it wouldn't have gone out of, but I think he meant more of the wind aided thing, but a lot of Brewers fans had fun with that. Like actually, there was another home run in the same game, Joey Ortiz, that was a unicorn, only would have gone out at Rigglyfield. So like if he'd been talking about that, I think we would have understand. Self-freelic almost homerid on Friday got robbed by Dane Myr. Second time we've seen Dane Myr's make a crazy defensive play against the Brewers this year. The other one he had to leave the game. He's smacked into the wall in American Family Field,

50:43but robbing Self-freelic of all people of the home run, that was kind of interesting. Also Jackson Churia with two outfield assists on Saturday, an identical plays from the identical batter. Both soft doubles down the left field line that just kind of tucked inside the line and trying to stretch for two and Churia threw him out. Second time it was overturned on review. Who's the last one? I'm going to have two outfield assists in one game. Oh, that's really good. Is it someone random or is it someone that makes sense? Don't think too hard. Carl Schoam has two old more recent play Perkins. Nope. So on the active roster. Oh, well, Freelic is the guest. Yeah, there you go. Okay. Okay. That seems right. Self-freelic's arm. I can't believe a five eight guy can produce that kind of throw from the right field corner. There was a throwing pit for a glass here that has seared into my brain, that he held a runner from tagging from second to third on like a moderate depth fly ball to right field. And he just unhorked a literal perfect throw to third and the runner was like, oh, I am not going to. I'm not going to. Yeah. Yeah, he's got some serious talent.

51:44It's better rough here for him offensively. So that home run would have been nice. We didn't see it. Thanks to Dave Myers. All right, let's go back in time real quickly and spend some time in Brewers Pass. This is my weekly segment, Remember When. We're going to kind of, it's in the minor leagues to a degree. And it's actually not in Milwaukee. This is in Sacramento. But I wanted to talk about Andrew Fisher, who's up to 46 home runs at double A. Biloxi. That is now tied with Ryan Howard for the most home runs by a minor league hitter this century in a single season. Ryan Howard, of course, with the Phillies did it back in 2004, reached 46 home runs. Fisher's got one more week of regular season with the shuckers. And then he could break that mark. He's not going to catch, though, the two top guys on the list of minor league single season homers. This is since the 1963 minor league reorganization. So a couple of people did more than this. But you've got 55 by Bill McNulty, a brewer's farm

52:46handed in 1974. And you've got Gorman Thomas, a name that's much more familiar to us, who had 51, that same season in Sacramento, 55 in 51 homers. Now you might think, was that it like a mile above sea level or whatever? And people probably know Sacramento is not. It is a sea level city. But here was the issue. Here's what was going on in 1974 with the Sacramento Salons. I believe that's how you pronounce it. They had just moved from Eugene, Oregon. The franchise was picking up stakes and moving to Sacramento. They did not have a field that was ready for them. So they had to use a football field. Is it a local college, Sacramento, oh shoot, I should know that Sacramento City College? Yeah, okay. So Sacramento City College. So it's built for football. The left field fence is 233 feet from home plate, 233 down the left field line. This was, they had to get special approval because the minimum fence requirement is 250, even back then for minor league baseball, because it was like a one year thing. They're like, sure, for 1974, since you just moved,

53:47you don't have a stadium, you gotta make repairs to the stadium you got, but whatever. Here, you can do the 233. So obviously everybody had home runs in Sacramento. Bill McNulty was a guy who'd been with the Mets and he goes to the Mets because he's from Sacramento. The team is moving there and he's like, look, can I just, can you just like, let me go to the Brewer's, they'll purchase my contract and then I can be in my hometown and they said, yes. So for the 1974 season, Bill McNulty was with the Brewer's and he hit 55 home runs that season. He actually didn't even get up to the Brewer's. He had been to the big leagues before. Brewer's different Gorman Thomas up eventually, but they didn't with him. So he ended up starting 75 with the Brewer's, went to Japan. I mean, I think he was a pretty good home run hitter. I just don't think 55 was kind of fair to speak to his talent. So the fence eventually gets fixed for future seasons. I think they raised it quite a bit in addition to trying to send it back a little bit. Never did we have anything like that again, but Andrew Fisher in terms of like modern baseball, modern minor league baseball, he's chasing Ron Kiddell

54:49who hit 50 home runs back. Shoot, I should have that written down. Oh, I do have that written down. That was back in 1982. I don't think he can get to 50. Well, I don't know in a week who knows. He's capable of hitting four home runs in a week. Playoffs. Longer you play, more home runs. You know what? That's a good point. The Southern League playoffs kick in the week after that. So they got at least two more games after this week. Could he get to 50? That would be the third most and the third most in modern league history and the least fraudulent because it wasn't played anywhere where there's a fence. That was 230 feet from home plate. Incredible stuff. A great article if you're a baseball America subscriber written by JJ Cooper about the investigation into modern league baseballs this year, having 2019 like trampoline effects. Because remember, in the minors, double A and below, they use especially, you know, cheaply made in China baseball and then triple A and above use major league baseballs. And there is something wrong with the modern league baseball this year because offense is up across the board. So something to monitor. The Southern League used to be a pitchers paradise

55:50and everybody in the Southern League is hitting the ball well. Certainly the Baluxi shuckers are hitting the ball well. That is something very important to keep in mind as you try to evaluate what happened in the minors this year. Bruce Pictures had a rough year. Bruce hitters were awesome. But okay, great assault because what you're talking about the baseball, something was fishy this year. My guess is it's going to be corrected, maybe in part, maybe in full in future seasons. That's something to pay attention to. And I just wanted to point out you sent me on a wild goose chase here. The Sacramento Solans, it is named for wise law givers in ancient Athens. Now of course Sacramento is the capital of California. So it's meant to be a law giver and to nickname it to go to Greek mythology all this stuff. So you sent me on a goose chase here and appreciate you let me do that. S-O-L-O-N-S. Yes, if you are curious. Yes, Solans. Solans, the Sacramento Solans. Love a Greek reference, love that. Great for the podcast, great for baseball. Now let's close this puppy down the way that we do every week with our special guest host, Dom Cotronio, with his take of the week.

57:00Oh boy. OK, if I'm going to do a shameless plug here for a moment here, J.R. Of course. Of course. I also do a side personal project called the Service Time Podcast. And what we have been doing this year is going deep dives into the history of baseball labor negotiations. We just finished the time eighties episode. We're getting ready to do the nineties episodes. So we are five episodes in. I think you would really enjoy their deep, deep, deep dives. They're like audio book style conversations about the history of baseball labor. And what I have learned doing this research that when there is smoke, there is fire. And what did we see happen in the last couple of weeks in Major League Baseball? OK, the Padre sale has gone final. The Angels, already in Marano, has officially said, I am done. I am selling the angels. Now we have some smoke coming from Colorado that the Montforts maybe want out. And they might maybe sell a portion of their stake and maybe even a majority stake of their team.

58:01Why would there be smoke coming from the ownership cam right now? Well, because they maybe deep down know they're not going to get that salary cap that they want. And Dick Montforts on the competition and on the PRC committee. He would know how these negotiations are going better than anybody. And if he wants out, that kind of tells you how negotiations are going. We are still going to have a lockout. Like that is that is a for sure thing. But from what I've gathered from my industry sources, remember I've talked to, they agree on a lot more that they're letting on in the public. In your episode last week, kind of talked about the past ring and everything that everyone else is going on with right now. But everything I've seen and everything I've learned, I'm telling you what, the owners have never been invited in, I should say, the owners have never been united in the history of baseball labor negotiations. Never, never, never. And if you're already having guys sell their teams all of a sudden, they're all the sudden wanting out in the middle of a contentious labor negotiation to me that is a really important smoke signal that the Los Angeles Angels, the worst run franchise in baseball

59:02can still sell for $4 billion. The sport is healthy. Let's get the adults in the room. Let's make sure we don't miss any games next season. That's my take. I love that for me, Don. That gives me, it's just a nice ray of sunshine here. Here, you have talked me off the ledge. I feel better having had this conversation with you. Now, let me ask you about what last week's podcast tried to touch on. My thesis is that the brewers are uniquely injured by what's coming next. Cleveland and Tampa in the same boat as a small market team that has taken advantage of the system and will lose some of those advantages in addition to it or there's no salary cap in the Dodgers can still rule as they will. I don't know if there's a middle ground that serves that particular customer. And I feel like, and I'm speculating purely, but do the guardians and brewers and rays want a salary cap? I don't know if they do because they're not spending a lot of money as it is and they're thriving. Why would they care if there's a salary cap? It's not helping them. It's helping other teams that now are competing with them. So I guess I wonder what you think about that. My thesis that the brewers are just in a really bad spot for this labor issue.

1:00:04But maybe there is a middle ground that I haven't thought of that they haven't thought of even that can sort of serve them and help them come out the other side feeling okay about things. The brewers trust their process enough that yes, an international draft could impact them. But I think a quote that has stuck with me since the last off season, I had this conversation with Matt Arnold and he said it on the record, he's like, we don't care if there's a salary cap. Like cool. Our job is to figure out how to succeed in the rules that exist and they know they're never going to be on the top end of that salary cap. And obviously people will point out, well, that means there will be a floor in the brewers that have to spend money. Then they're going to spend more money, right? That's just that's what the rules state that they have to do. Whatever the rules stipulate, the brewers have to do, they are going to do it. That's when the words of Matt Arnold, it's not their fault to figure out, oh, how are we going to get this? Are we lobbying to try to get a salary cap? Are we like, whatever the rules are, let us know. We'll throw out our team out there against your team, see how you do. I mean, I look at the health of this sport, the money the tiger spent, the money the med spent,

1:01:05the money the rangers have spent, they're not in playoff positions. The mariners are a team that like the brewers have asked, I can't the brewers spent 30, 40 million more dollars to get into these races. Cool. The mariners are probably that right now. They're at about 170 million. They're going to miss a postseason, right? I just, I'm just sick of the money argument without the infrastructure because the brewers have the infrastructure. And I really, really, really, maybe it's the optimist in me. I'm a naturally believing class half full person. That's not me. Baseball is not that stupid to let games be missed. And arguably the most popular it has been since the 1998 home run race. Yeah. He is downcatronio. Well, he was talking, I was downloading service time podcast. Man, these are, these are episodes that are one of the times, but I'm in court trips. If you got labor day weekend travels, if you're heading somewhere soon, like these are put it on and I hope you enjoy some story time. I am, I'm really excited to dive into this. I love to know more about this stuff. A lot of it happened, of course, before my time.

1:02:06And I am, I'm curious how the scene has changed a little bit. Of course, you can hear him on 620 WT MJ before games, after games. He is on TBS sometimes to do in stats for Brian Anderson. He's all over the map. And I'm sure you know him and Dom can't wait to have you back on. This has been Edelite. Thank you, sir, for joining the microbrew podcast. Appreciate you. Always a pleasure, J.R. I will see my fellow Bolt brethren in the press box soon. I love, love a bald, love a bald. All right, here's my conversation with Joe Joe Romero, newest member of the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff. Again, chat with him before he was activated. That will do it for this episode of MicroBrew. We'll chat with you again midweek. Bye everybody. My guest is Joe Joe Romero, a new relief pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. You haven't seen him yet, but you will soon. Joe Joe first question, where are we going to raise? What do parents do for a living? Yeah, born in Oxnark, California. And my parents worked in the fitness industry. Okay. So worked out, you know, gyms and then my dad, you know, is Coach baseball. Coach me growing up and still does it to this day. What, so like in the fitness industry, did they own their own gym or their own? No, they, my dad managed to gym for a long time.

1:03:08Okay. And then he works. Now he's doing some coaching. Cool. Awesome. Give me a sense of your college journey. Start in Nevada. And then is it tell me how to pronounce it. The college in Arizona. Yeah, the pie. Yeah, the pie. What was the decision making process there? Yeah, so this was before all the transfer portal stuff. Yeah. So my head coach, I Nevada was going to the University of Arizona. Okay. So, it's a couple of me and one of our outletters were going to follow him over there. Okay. But before transfer portal, so they had the school had to release you and I don't know the ins and outs of, you know, how all that stuff goes down, but they weren't going to release us. So if we wanted to go to Arizona, we would've had to like sit out a year for whatever kids might be. And so we went to Juco Raukes. If you went Juco, then you got to play, you know, that full year and then transfer over that following year. So I ended up out there and with the intention of, you know, going to Arizona, be your after and then it ended up getting drafted out there. Sure. Okay. That makes sense. There are a lot of guys have gone to the kids that's Yavapai. Yeah.

1:04:08They have like a lot of baseball players. So that must have been part of the soccer players for that matter, which I know you're a soccer player too, right? I didn't know if that was part of the equation. I don't know how that's true, not. But where your grandfather's my understanding gave you the name JoJo? Is that how that, how did that work? Yeah. I mean, that was just something growing up that, you know, he doesn't really speak a whole lot of English. Sure. And so, it's from Mexico. Yeah. I was just a little pronouncing my name and so one of my birthday cakes he'd put yo-yo on it. Okay. Because it's either the wise or Jay's and so. Sure, sure. He'd put that in and I just kind of, I think I don't remember what, how old I was, maybe four to fifth birthday or something like that. Sure. And for baseball, we got to get our names embroidered on the hat. Yeah, yeah. And it was just easier doing that. So that's cool. That just kind of ran with that and ended up being my baseball name. So you were Jo before that for a second? JoJo's. JoJo's. Okay. And then you got to play for the Mexican WBC team and the company members go right now. I assume that's because your grandfather's heritage. What was that experience like for you? Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, it was something that, you know, I've always dreamed about as a kid,

1:05:09especially watching, you know, with the literally classic coming up. I always watched the literally growth series and, you know, that was always, we had a, our, I think, 11 year old season. You know, we had a pretty good run and we were close to getting to those qualifiers and, so that was kind of a cool little journey and then, you know, as you grow, growing up, you know, being able to see that and then, you know, understanding, you know, how the WBC, you know, operated. So being able to represent for, you know, my family, and all that was awesome. And just a little experience was really cool. It's, you know, play off baseball in March, which is tough for a pitcher. So, but that was awesome. What is your impression of the Bruce Cardinals rivalry from the Cardinals side of it? Because you've been there for two years. I've been there for a few years. Yeah, no, I mean, it's, it's one of those things that's, you know, frustrating team to play against. Yeah. And I think it's just, you know, we see it, you know, playing on this side, just the way they play the game, you know, playing hard, you know, every single time. They have a good game playing going into things. They understand, you know, the ins and outs of, you know, how to get guys out, how to get runners over, how to put the ball and play, you know, things like that. So I think from pitching sample,

1:06:09being on the other side, you know, coming in those later in, and not only, you know, having to face a tough lineup like that, but also that mister that they have here, I mean, you know, fans get into it. It's, it's awesome. Okay, so that happened to, that happened to me. I don't, I wonder what point did you think that might be what's wrong with you? Like I would never think about it. I'd be like, I got a stomach ache or something. I don't know how, how did that come about? Yeah, it was, it was one of those things that, like weird things that, you know, suddenly woke up and it was Wednesday over the all-star break. Yeah, yeah. It was like six in the morning, just stomach right away. And then, once you are one of the other bedrooms to lay down, because, you know, the kids were in the bed and it was just, pretty much curled up in bed all day long. And then, probably about like four o'clock came around that day and was able to kind of stand up a little bit and walk around, but was like hunched over, couldn't stand up straight. And it was just like a weird feeling. Probably around that time I was like, okay, it doesn't feel like a normal stomach ache or, you know, anything like a stomach bug or anything.

1:07:10And then, as a night went on, that kind of settled in. And then everything kind of, I felt like a bowling ball on the right side of my, of my stomach and I was like, okay, like there, I know there's some stuff over there. And then, start doing like, you know, the Web MD searches. Yeah, do it. I'll see you later. Never want to do that, but it was like, okay, well, I had all those symptoms. I was like, well, if I feel like this tomorrow, you know, reach out to our training staff and felt a lot better, but it came to the point where I was like, going to get up to do activity because I, yes, the Wednesday would have been like, workout, play catch, all that. I couldn't do it. So, okay, well, let me see if I can move around and start to do like a little activation prep and could not move. I was like, yeah, this isn't right. So, reach out to our staff and they sent me to the hospital. So, like, this is how emergency was this for you? So, I mean, honestly, I didn't really know much, have much expectations. I drove myself to the hospital and got there about noon on Thursday. And then by the time I got my CT scan,

1:08:11I've been like about 3.30, something like that. By five, I was in surgery. So, they cried about like 30 minutes after the scan. They were 45, however long it takes. They had me going for more blood work and, right, we just want to make sure that there was no infection. And then, doctor came out and said that they were prepping a no-r to kind of get it taken out right away. I was like, oh, damn. So, right. As you come back from that, is it just pain or is it, I mean, the situation, of course, up to heal on everything, but... Yeah, I think the first couple of weeks it was, I mean, I don't think this really, I mean, I understand how important, like, you know, your core isn't everything, but not being able to really use it in any capacity. Those first couple of weeks was awful. Yeah. I mean, I couldn't go to bed, I couldn't really move around. Took a little bit of some core work and everything just to kind of get that comfortable enough to move around. And then, after that, it's really just been, almost like spring training. Once you're jumping into spring training, breaking out that rust, feel good one day,

1:09:13then it's like a little soreness. So, it's kind of managing that, but in a different capacity, your arm has felt great, which has been good. But now, just a matter of like, understanding like, well, this is how I need to rotate, not having that, you know, thought in the back of your head, like, okay, now, maybe I can't, you know, get over my front side, whatever it might be, but it's got to be pretty surreal to have gone through all of this. And then also to have been traded at the same time. I don't know, I don't know, that's something you expected or start coming at any point, but that's, that's why. I knew it was a possibility, especially coming into the year. Sure. And not knowing, you know, what our season was going to look like, you know, we obviously had a couple of good months together. They had started to, they struggled a little bit leading up to the All Star Break, so I was like, okay, well, maybe, and then when this happened, I was like, I'm probably good here. Right. And then, I can trade somebody's under the next day. Yeah, and then I was actually in St. Louis rehabbing at our, at the stadium, and sure. Our GM was, you know, was there doing all the, or finishing up the deadline stuff, and then our, my rehab PT had gone to call.

1:10:13And so, just came in, you know, kind of, let me know, like, might want to hold off. Because I was in the middle of a workout. Right. And then so, at that point, I obviously knew. And so, shut everything down, and then it was just kind of the, we had to wait like, a little over an hour, just to figure out any details. I knew I was going to, just didn't know where or anything. And so, yeah, and then after that, it was just figuring out everything out. Okay. So last question, is there anything else that you're passionate about that does? There's nothing to do with baseball. Maybe one more thing people should know about Jodder or Merl. I mean, I love collecting cards. Okay. You got Mr. Rosky down there. Yeah. I've been doing it for a long time. I mean, obviously collecting when I was younger, but it's really big into it probably, since last like 10 years. And, yeah, as far as like, you know, sports, recently got back into Pokemon stuff. Okay. So, what is this creature in your locker? That's not a charge. Charge, charge, charge. Okay, for good. And then I got my kids into it, so they love it. And, you know, they have a bunch of their own little toys.

1:11:16I mean, they're gonna fit in great. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, I'd say that's probably one of the big things I like to do on big hobbies. Awesome. All right, Jodder or Merl, thank you so much, sir. Thank you. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Kitchen and bathroom professionals know what goes behind the tile matters. That's why trade pros trust fiber cement, party backer board to keep tile firmly in place, resist cracking, and help block moisture. Chosen over 40 million kitchens and bathrooms, party backer board, what the best build on. Shop now at participating Home Depot, Lowe's, and floor into core stores. For more information, visit JamesHearty.com slash HeartyBacker. So, if you've ever furnished a restaurant, hotel, or an office, you know the drill. Five vendors, five invoices, five delivery windows.

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