Matheson on Vladdy's impressive series in Cleveland, Brett Bateman's hot start in Toronto, and if we see Yesavage and Bieber again this season.

0:00Alright, we gotta get to our guy, Keegan Matheson, who is here on the Maple Toyota Hotline J-Supporter for MLB.com. You know what we left out as a major story of the summer? My boy Keegan getting engaged! Congrats, pal. That was a major story. Was that last week, two weeks ago in New York? A couple of weeks back, fellas. It's right up there with Kauai. I think so. Left scandalous, depending on who you ask. You know what my favorite part, guys, of this whole Kauai message? A couple of things. Number one is that statement where he says, I apologize for the lapses of judgment from people in my inner circle. I'm gonna use that for the rest of my life. The next time I make a mistake at home or I'm hungover, you know what I apologize for what the people in my inner circle have done. And I, I've love fellas listening to, especially US media talk about this, asking, how will fans in Toronto react? This guy could walk along court side punching people in the face and they'd still be cheering. Yeah, I don't care. Thanks for there to be booze for Kauai.

1:00No, come on. There's this expectation in the US, some media, I think that, that people in Toronto will be booing this guy onto the court day one. No chance. For what reason? Like, I don't understand what the reason could possibly be. Like, he wanted to come to Toronto. Is here is gonna extend. I mean, I, I just don't see how they see the, the clippers. That's a mess. I mean, of an organization when he walks into the into a dome this year, boy, that'll be a, a roaring amount of booze. Yikes. Yeah. Yeah. But I fully trust he had no idea where those millions came from. No, he's so focused on rebounds. Fellas, if a couple million went in my bank account, I wouldn't notice either. You know, I respect it. Yeah. It's the, hey, it's the show a, Tony School of Accounting, Keegan, he doesn't, what? I don't know. I'm not the money man. I don't deal with money. Yeah. Yeah. Too focused on the sport. Too focused on greatness. Speaking of, of money is Vlad starting to earn a little bit here. Signs of life over the last couple of days in Cleveland.

2:01Is there in a few bucks of it? It's overdue. And guys as much as the, the home run and the big swings are exciting. I, I just like the energy around him, frankly, I like the fist pump on a sack fly. I like that he's flipping his bat on a walk. Some people might think that's stupid. Whatever. I like that. There's some, there's some energy to that. And everyone else is going to follow that because he's locked in right now and that has not always been the case. Now everybody cares. I'm never going to say that Vlad, your another player is slacking off or not caring. But it's a very long season. The days are hot. You're with the same people every damn day. Okay, it gets tiring. There's a level above it when you're locked in. Like it's what makes sure as a res right now, he is locked in. I think we're seeing that from Vlad. He finally, it's taken a long, old time. And he has had five months of bad baseball. That does not go away. But the rest of the AL wild card race sucks right now. And if Vlad, he does anything, he's their shortcut, guys. He can decide all by himself that they are going to make the postseason.

3:03I can't believe they still have a shot. I, I cannot with a straight face say they've earned being a half game back right now, but it's where they are. They've been given this gift and Vlad, he needs to reach out and grab it, man. It's right there. Well, speaking of things, we didn't see coming, Keegan. You know, when you look at the guy that's been in the lead off spot and really injecting some energy in his own way, it's Brett Bateman. And I don't know how you feel about it, but I just think this guy's been a godsend in terms of, you know, Al's brother put it. He's almost three pro. Right? He's obviously, he's, you know, he's hitting. He's running the bases with, you know, some real disruptive energy. And he's also playing some incredible defense. I mean, did you see it coming? No, not at all. Frankly, guys, I didn't like the Gossmann trade. I think some other teams got better value with the deadline for Gossmann level of starters, but that's before I saw Brett Bateman play baseball, you know, he's been great for this team and will the battered ball luck last forever? Is he going to hit 330 on ball, sneaking through forever?

4:04No, but we can, like, let's save that for next year. I can be cranky next year, okay? It's working right now. And that's all that matters. The speed is undeniable. This is a slow team, a team that does not do much on the bases and didn't have enough chaos. Like, I even put like Kaz Okamoto in that category. Yeah, he strikes out a lot, but there's home runs. That's a little bit of chaos. The rest of this team, all year guys, has frankly been quite boring and quite predictable. Anyone who's watched every single game and had the same experience for like 140 nights this summer, I think would agree. It's been a very predictable team. That bateman is chaos and that's so welcome on this team. What he can do on the bases, the energy he brings to the top spot and the lineup, he just feels like that classic lead off guy. Now whether it lasts forever or not, we'll see next year. We'll care about that next year. Right now it's working. Right now he is a step ahead of pitchers. He's making contact and his speed is so refreshing. Guys, just even watching this team every night, it's refreshing.

5:07It feels different. I think that's really changed everything around them. He's got a guy on base now and Vladdy comes up. It just feels a little bit different for a team that's spent a long time looking for a lead off guy. Yeah, I like to like him to a bunch single last night too. He had a little stare down after that. I don't know if you saw it, but he had a nice little stare down. I appreciate that out of the kid like Brett Bateman. With Keegan Matheson, I want to go back to like Vladdy and more the big pitcher. If the J's actually do this thing and they get into October and they get Vladdy back, October, Vladdy reemerges. Like how would the J's be a team that other teams fear? I think that maybe not fear, but I think that you would look at the star power that Vladdy brings and he's a player you could fear at the very least. You need one of those. You know, we're sitting here in Kansas City. I fear Bobby with Jr. Because he's one of the best players in baseball. The Yankees, even when they're going bad, if they have Aaron Judge, they've got a shot because they're one swing away.

6:08You don't have to play a perfect baseball game. Right now the Blue J's still have to play a pretty perfect baseball without Vladdy at his best. They've got to do everything right. They need to pitch well, run well, play defense well. But when Vladdy is himself, all he's going to do is have one good swing at the right time. We saw that in the postseason where they had home runs in 19 games. I think it was. That's the best I've ever seen. A hitter in Toronto. It's one of the best we're ever going to see in Toronto. If he can get back close to that, he at least gives the Blue J's a shot to steal some games, to steal something. Right now they are built as a 500 team. That's about what they are. It's not all that exciting, but with Vladdy it changes everything. And if you have Brett Bateman creating that chaos, it changes everything. I don't think the raise or Yankees or Red Sox are looking at the Blue J's and saying, oh no, because they've seen them too much. But if you sneak in and the American League is anyone else scary. Maybe that's the way I'd look at it. Who else actually scares you? The NL does, but you don't have to worry about them until the World Series, whatever. Frankly, there's probably two or three extra NL teams that you could slide to the A.O.

7:11And it would be a little more competitive. But they have, again, been given this gift, man. It is wide open. And I think for years, guys, well, next time there's a bad Blue J's team, we'll be looking back and saying, oh, I don't you wish it was 2026. When everyone else sucked to, it's wide open, man, right now. Hey, Keeks, when you look at this Royal team where the J's start the first of a three game set tonight in Kansas City, and you can also say, hey, they stink too. They're 63 and 78. But you look at their recent results. I mean, they obviously, the most recent time they played the J's, they took two of three from the J's. They've, you know, they took two of three from the Indians. When they played the Indians, they've swept the Tigers fairly recently. What is kind of a click for them? Obviously, Bobby with junior being probably exhibit A. And why is maybe the strength, the schedule thing, something you really can't overemphasize when you're playing these games in September against teams that don't, you know, they're not in the pen and race, whether I in the wild card race, but they, but they're still

8:13winning games. Yeah, they took two of three from the J's in Toronto. They were on that winning streak. Like, this is another example of a team that's playing with nothing to lose at this point. And you get young players into games. That adds an element of chaos as well. You can't really prepare for your facing some pictures you haven't faced throughout the year. It's not like you're playing the Yankees again, facing the same reliever for the ninth time. There's a lot of newness to this when you are facing the Royals, even though the J's just did recently. They're coming off a great stretch. And I think they're a better team than their record shows this year, absolutely. And this is why when we looked back, remember when there were 30 games left? It was, you know, build as 30 games against teams with records under 500. Number one, so were the J's. They weren't very good either. But number two, I think that September is so different. And some of these teams are either past injuries. They've brought up young guys. Something's changed along the way. And the blue J's right now do have an advantage of opponents at the very least. I mean, the guardians are playing the Tigers.

9:15You look around, the Rangers up against the raise, the Red Sox are getting involved. This is an opening for the blue J's. But the moment you look at it as an opening, you get swept. And you get caught with your pants down real quick. Yeah. And yeah, tap it a couple times this year. Where it feels like they're getting going and, you know, she's themselves in the foot. I really quickly, we got a mini J's for you. The boys are back next week. So we'll get to the full J's when the boys are back. But there's been some chatter about Treyis Savage, Shane Bieber, maybe even a Tony Tater is citing at some point later in the season. What are the J's percentages that we see one of those guys back in a J's. Beautiful before the years end done. Oh, baby, let me go. Assuming the J's stay involved. Let me go with your Savage 75 Bieber 35 Taters 14. Guaranteed. I can't believe I'm talking about Anthony Santander at this point of the year.

10:20But it's just like last year, you know, maybe maybe he's going to come back late and say, how would that work? Who would he play over? Would he be any good? Good Lord. I don't know. But he's given it a go. He's apparently getting close to some game action. But you Savage, I'm very interested in. I think he's going to take a shot at that, man. I think you savages the right mix of close enough, talented and stubborn, which can be a very beautiful thing when you're trying to come back late. Yeah. Yeah. Be nice, you know, for team, if they're within a game or half a game or whatever in the final week, he comes in, provides, provides, you know, a nice starter to. That'd be big for this Blue J's fan. All right, Keeks. By the way, just so you know, there's also an air show happening in Toronto as well. So it's not just in Cleveland. So you're, you're skipping out on it by being down in Kansas City. If that makes it feel any better. I love it. I'll stay in the Midwest another week here. Good barbecue. Got a nice little barbecue joint. They're going to head to it at some point. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, tomorrow I plan on just wrecking my day with a barbecue visit, you know, like

11:22right before we're in when better to have some barbecue than when it's 100 degrees in human. I think it's going to be good. You're going to see me on sports center tomorrow, looking as bad as anyone's ever looked on sports center. I guarantee it. Oh, man, Keeks, your beauty is always pal. Enjoy the game. It's a night. Can't wait to see you on that post game. You got her. Fellas. Good talking to you. Take care. Hello, Canada. This is Brian Adams radio hosted by Brian Adams himself. We'll play a few of mine. A ton of my favorites and some must hear behind the scene stories from the world of rock and roll. Come in again, Joe. One thing about doing rock and roll so long is you end up meeting a lot of the people that you admire. Sometimes you can get to work with him. Brian Adams radio. Now available on the free IHR radio app. Everybody, how are you tonight? Sounds great.