WEBVTT - Marlins Have a Closer Crisis as Losing Streak Reaches 6 Games 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.120 Hey, this is Kyle Stowers and you're listening to Fish 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:39.040 on First. Welcome back to Fish on First Live, part 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.559 of the Fish on First podcast presented by Jessica Rensels 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:46.520 of South Florida, part of the Foul Territory Network. I'm 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.080 Eli Sussman, the founder of f o F. I have 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:50.680 good news and bad news. So we'll start with the 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:54.400 good news, which is we're back to our regularly scheduled programming, 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.000 you could say, having these live streams after every Marlin 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:58.959 series finale, which we did most of the first half 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.960 of the season. The schedule got a little wonky surrounding 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:03.880 the All Star break, but now we're back to having 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.960 these twice a week at pretty expected times, and we're 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:08.800 glad that you guys could tune in for those live 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.679 if you're able to. And the bad news is everything else. 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.319 If you're a Marlins fan. Everything else is pretty pretty 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:19.000 pretty bad for this team, most recently this weekend against 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.760 the Brewers getting swept in three in a row with 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:25.560 a particularly dramatic ending to this three game series. We're 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.400 gonna start right there with the man on top of 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.920 everybody's mind, I think right now, Pete Fairbanks. The Marlins 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.840 leading one nothing heading into the bottom of the ninth today, 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.120 trying to salvage a single game from the series. Coming 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:39.920 into this in the midst of a five game of 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:42.280 losing streak, which had matched their longest losing streak of 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.320 the season, and Fairbanks immediately you kind of knew things 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:47.400 were going off. The rails allows a leadoff hit, a 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.120 hard hit ball up the middle, then a walk, gets 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.640 one out and then serves up an absolute cookie to 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.559 William Contreras for a walk off, three run home run 0:01:55.840 --> 0:02:00.280 that sunk the Marlins overall. And yeah, so the now 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:01.960 find themselves having lost six in a row, and it 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:03.840 feels a lot longer than that, doesn't it, Because you 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:05.800 have the All Star break in the middle. The Marlins 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.720 have not won a game in eleven days, and it's 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:10.600 going to be at least twelve days in between wins, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.080 of course, because they don't play again until Monday. So 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:14.519 to have that kind of streak in the middle of 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:19.040 the season is excruciating for a team that actually has expectations, 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.639 for one that has performed so well for so much 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.519 of the season, and then to have this abrupt change 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.360 in performance level is understandably pretty jarring. If you are 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.600 a long time Marlins fan. Though it feels kind of familiar, 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.640 doesn't it, Because the last time the Marlins had expectations 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.160 deep into the season was twenty twenty three, and that year, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.400 almost perfectly in sync, they had a massive losing streak. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.240 That one was coming directly out of the All Star Break, 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.160 and this one is, you know, wrapped around the All 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.120 Star break, having been swept by the Guardians heading into 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.680 the break, and now three straights so far since then. 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:55.440 But wow, So that kind of shows you it's an 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:59.520 interesting it's an interesting, you know, comparison between those two 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.079 years that had quite a bit in common to this point, 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.160 and the Marlins hope that by the end of the year. 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.840 It's a reminder that this is still such a long season, 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:08.640 with so much time ahead, that there's still time to 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.120 right the ship and to get back and to establish 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.840 themselves as firm contenders before the trade deadline, to make 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:16.640 moves at the deadline that make this team better, and 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.680 to hold off and make it back to the postseason. 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.840 But understandably, there's a lot to pick apart about what 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.040 the Marlins are are are like right now and things 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:27.040 that are going bad. I didn't notice this, as Brian 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.000 points out that Marlins Man was at a Marlins game 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:31.839 during it must have been during that final home stand 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.760 before the break, and since then they have they've been winless. 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.480 I guess that was the first Guardians game of that 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:38.600 series that he showed up in the stands. I don't 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.160 think he's to blame for this, And I brought up 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:45.440 the twenty twenty three losing streak as well, because I think, 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.520 just like that, it's not like the Marlins were getting 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:50.680 blown out during that stretch either, like there were a 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.680 lot of close games that were not going against them. 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:55.400 I remember against it was a road trip against the 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:58.680 Orioles and against the Saint Louis Cardinals, and similar to 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:02.080 this series against the Brewers, losing two to one in 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.000 extra innings the first game, second game eight to six, 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.520 although that one was more lopsided than final score indicated, 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:09.600 and then this one, having taken the lead a few 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.560 innings in, won nothing throughout pretty much the entire contest 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.440 until the bottom of the ninth. So that's kind of 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:17.520 that's a good and the bad of it, the fact 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.680 that they're losing all these games, but most of them 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:23.160 going back to that Guardian series, have been competitive for 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.360 the most part, they just ended up getting beat by 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.680 teams that they themselves have winning records. The Brewers, I think, 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.680 anyway you slice it, they are a top two team 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.560 in all of Major League Baseball so far this season. Like, 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.560 there's no shame in losing a road series against the 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.760 team that is this complete and this well rounded, the 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:42.000 one that led major League Baseball and wins last season. 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.159 That would be totally unsurprising if they did it again 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:46.040 this year. So them and the Dodgers kind of neck 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:50.040 and neck for that honor, and they Yeah, they're just 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:51.800 a really well rounded team that you can see in 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.920 moments in this series that their level of execution, attention 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:58.240 to detail, and just overall talent level two is a 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.440 step above where the Marlins are. So there's no shame 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.560 in losing this kind of series. It's just that losing 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:06.080 all three and then to lose it some of the 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.039 mistakes of the Marlins made on their end to make 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.159 up the difference when it came down to this. That's 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.839 really what bothers you as somebody that's following this team 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.400 and worried about whether this is actually going to be sustainable. 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.040 If this is the signal of bigger issues going on. 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.120 But we do have to talk quite a bit about 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.440 Fairbanks himself, because, yeah, Fairbanks in the middle of this 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.240 final loss. This is kind of the He's the poster 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.320 child for why saves and blown saves aren't really a 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.360 useful stat never really have been, but certainly not now anymore. 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.560 This is only Pete Fairbanks's third blown save of the 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.039 entire season. If you can believe that a guy that 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.400 has been an unmitigated failure in that role this season 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.960 has only blown three saves by the definition of that, 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.599 of course, that doesn't come close to really encapsulating how 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.760 much Fairbanks has struggled, especially relative to expectations this season. 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:59.400 It's been bad. The numbers have been ugly all season long. 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.960 But I think my self, a lot of our fof staff, 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.800 a lot of neutral observers would say that for a 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:06.960 lot of April, a lot of May this there were 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.560 signs of him being unlucky, that this stuff was going 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:11.760 to even out with a larger sample size. This was 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:13.320 a guy that was thrown quite a bit of strikes, 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.839 and that was the distinction between his run prevention and 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:21.920 his actual underlying peripherals. Showed that that was going to 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.479 close at some point if he was continuing to execute 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.400 his pitches the way that he had been early in 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.240 the season, things were going to even out. There's like 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.239 this really brief stretch where that may have been happening, 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.480 and then you have this most recent streak that really 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.040 it's back almost a full month at this point, where 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:38.919 he has been worse than at any other point this 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:42.120 season in terms of any way you want to slice it. Yeah, 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.360 so the numbers themselves kind of speak volumes about that 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.240 on Fairbanks. I can pull some of them up on here, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.760 and I'll take a picture of his savants sliders that 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.200 people love to look at that tell an interesting story 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.000 of a guy who still has pretty great raw stuff 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.719 overall and that is still striking out batters at a 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.720 rate as awfully close to his career averages. The thing 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:09.480 is that there are still uncharacteristic struggles going on with Fairbanks, 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.640 Like in this case, I'd say this game was a 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.960 great encapsulation of what has been so poor about Fairbanks 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.160 here in twenty twenty six. It ends in a way 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:23.800 that speaks to his vulnerability to home runs and his 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.600 vulnerability to balls in the air in general, Like of 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.160 all those sliders. His biggest weakness right now is not 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:31.440 getting balls on the ground whatsoever. This is a guy 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.720 for his career has been decent at getting grounders, Like 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:36.920 a career ground ball rate of forty five percent is 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.080 a little bit higher than average. This year, it's sliced 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:44.320 in half twenty four percent by Baseball Savants measurements, twenty 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:46.840 two percent by fangrafts. He's one of the most extreme 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.160 flyball pitchers in all baseball. And the thing is, a 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.120 lot of those flyballs are going for home runs this year. 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.360 Today was the eighth home run he's allowed this season. 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.000 That's already a new career high for a guy that 0:07:57.040 --> 0:07:59.680 has been in the league for parts of eight seasons. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.880 Set a career high this early in the year speaks 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.760 to the fact that this is such a different, different 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.880 type of player than he was his previous few years. 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.560 To be that vulnerable, to be hit that hard. It's 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.160 not only the home runs. Average exit velocity in the 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.800 second percentile in all of baseball, one of the very 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.160 very worst, meaning he's lying some of the very hardest 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.800 hit balls on average, not just the homers. And today 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.160 was again not only the home run by contraras, but 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.920 also the leadoff single by Cheerio that ended up getting 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:31.040 that rally started in the ninth inning. Hitters are just 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.479 getting a really they're getting their a swings off against Fairbanks, 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.080 and when they're when he's not in the zone, then 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.400 they're drawing their walks too, So he's been walking batters 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.880 a little bit more often than he has previously as well. 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.360 It's just a guy that's not an effective picture right now. 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.480 His commands in general has been just really bad, like 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.079 a guy that it's not only the strike throwing, it's 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:52.480 that when he does throw strikes, it's a lot of 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:54.600 cookies down the middle of the plate that are getting 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.560 absolutely demolished for a guy that there was an excitement 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.480 of course heading into this year, not only about his 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.440 track record but the fact that he was expanding his 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:03.840 pitch mikes a little bit. He was going to try 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:05.960 to become a four pitch pitcher this season, and you 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:10.880 can see he's sorta has been this year. Occasional change 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:12.599 ups in there, but he has settled into more of 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.599 a three pitch guy, a fastball, a cutter, and a slider. 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:17.920 The cutter was supposed to be an interesting wrinkle in 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.160 here to help him, especially against left handed hitters, and 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.000 hasn't really made much of an impact in this particular 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.000 game though. It was the slider that ends up allowing 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:29.800 the home run to Contreras, and it's been the fastball 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.959 overall this season that's just posted some really gruesome numbers 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.599 against it. It's a guy that still throws hard. He 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.800 still has an average fastball well, i'll say a ninety 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:40.880 seven point three. That's as high as any pitcher on 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.000 this marvelin staff. And it doesn't really matter if you 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:46.440 have all these other shortcomings in various other parts of 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:50.160 his game. You can see the fastball value there minus 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.120 ten runs of run value on his fastball. That's one 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.840 of the very worst fastballs in all baseball, despite throwing 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:58.000 it as hard as he does, and you could watch it. 0:09:58.000 --> 0:09:59.840 You can just tell by watching it like you don't 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:03.480 need him. He don't really need the stats and measurables 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:05.360 behind it to know that it's an ineffective pitch for him, 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.839 despite how how hard that he throws. So I think 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.800 we'll touch briefly before going to break about Clayton McCullough's 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.240 role in this, because Fairbanks has been the Marlins essential 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.160 full time closer for this season. He missed a little 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.280 bit time due to injury, but that was a minimum 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:21.079 il sent. He missed a few days when he was 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.320 on the paternity list earlier in the year. Outside of that, 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.600 he's been the go to option as long as he's 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.040 been on decent amount of rest. He's been in there 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.480 for all these safe situations or even all these tide 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:33.040 games that are also where you call upon your highest 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:37.319 leverage reliever. And he's not only has he been the 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.760 closer throughout all this, but he has the vote of 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.160 confidence from Clayton McCullough moving forward. That it was a 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.520 question that had to be asked postgame. Who was Stephen 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.720 Strom of Marlins Radio that at least broached the topic 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.040 For a guy that is so out of sync, he's 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.960 still the guy in safe situations, and McCullough said that 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.040 they still have a lot of belief in him. At 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.720 the same time acknowledging that it's more than bad luck, 0:10:57.720 --> 0:10:58.839 that this is a guy that has a bit out 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:00.520 of sync, that he needs to go back to the 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:02.880 drawing board with their pitching coaches, and so that to 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:06.280 me is a contradiction, like to say, that your utmost 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.520 belief in the guy, but at the same time you 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:11.680 feel like he needs some sort of intervention with the 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.360 coaches to actually figure out what's going wrong. That would 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.120 tell you that he's not in He's not necessarily on 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:20.720 the cusp of flipping the switch and becoming a reliable 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.680 option for this team right now. The other side of 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:25.400 it is that if you take him out of that role, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.520 who do you put into it? Right now? This is 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.800 Marlin's bullpen that we shouldn't have super short memory for 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.560 the month of June in particular, I think the biggest difference. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.480 It was really a lot of things going right for 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:40.000 this team, just going back a few weeks, but a 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:41.560 big part of it was the bullpen. At a time 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.000 when their rotation was super thin due to injuries at 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:46.160 times going with like a two and a half man rotation, 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.640 they were filling it with bullpen games. They were leaning 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:51.959 so heavily on their relievers, and a bunch of different 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.000 guys were doing really well in those positions, including Fairbanks 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:58.480 in his that was I guess his best stretch of 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.640 the season the early part of June. So how does 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:02.960 that go from a strength to all of a sudden, 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:04.920 this big point of concern. I think that is just 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:08.800 the way baseball is. Sometimes there is that unit in particular, 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.480 you can go from one high to an extreme low 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.880 in terms of your confidence level over a period of time, 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.079 just because the samples are really small. And with this 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.319 Marlin's bullpen right now, like there's not an obvious place 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.880 to go when it comes to who would be the 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.040 better option as a as a closer. You could go 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.559 through the list right now. Due to injuries. Anthony Bender 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.520 I think would have been the next name to come 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.600 to minds if he was healthy, but he's been out 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.120 for several weeks due to a shin injury and the 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.600 Lays update on him it's going to be several weeks 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.040 more until realistically has a chance to return. So with 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.960 him out, it's been a lot of la like Baker 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.440 in a variety of roles, including as an opener, and 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.079 that's a guy that's he's been up and down, and 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:51.679 you know, there's there's a lot of consistencies with him, 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:55.440 especially with his strike throwing in general. Calvin Fouche is 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.960 somebody that he is probably thinking in the back of 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.120 his mind, thinking banks for blowing up today's game, because 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.520 Fouchet was the culprit in the middle game of this 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:07.719 series on Saturday when they had I believe it was 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.600 a three to two lead when he came in into 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.320 the sixth thenning, and he allowed a crooked number in 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.120 that performance. Chet has been a huge disappointment for a 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:18.120 guy that also had relatively high expectations coming into the year. 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.960 His ERA is now north of five. It's been a problem, 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.280 the same combination of bad control and getting hit harder 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:28.320 than you would expect from Fouche. Aside from that, yeah, 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.520 like you're not expecting much from Ryan Gusto of course, 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:36.880 or Tyler zuperg has been somewhat of a bright spot 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.480 to this point as a guy that was called up 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.480 right around that June point when they just needed as 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.800 many arms as possible out of the pen. But injuries 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:46.680 again are taking a pretty big role here when it 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.680 comes to William Kempner going down with an elbow injury 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:51.400 just as he was having a promising starts to his 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.400 major league career. John King has looked great this season 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.439 for the most part, and then had a pretty fluky 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.679 ankle injury that he's not quite ready to come back 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:02.640 from yet. So The next man up, realistically is Michael Peterson, 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.559 somebody that just barely made the opening day roster in 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.200 the first place for this team through another score to 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:10.480 ending in a third in the series finale to drop 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.680 his ERA below three. He does have the power fastball, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:18.760 his control has improved. He's like there are some actual 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.840 profile similarities between Peterson and Fairbanks, except Peterson's been a 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.000 much more effective version of him. But it's a guy 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.360 without much of a track record at all. He's almost 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.240 as old as Fairbanks at thirty two years old, and 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.800 he's basically done nothing at the big league level prior 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.920 to this year. So like he somebody that is steadily 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.680 earning higher leverage opportunities. But if that's the best option 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:39.760 you have in your bullpen, I think that just speaks 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.560 about the bullpen thing in a really unfortunate spot right now. 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.440 Something I'd like to see you see Tyler Phillips. He's 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:48.320 on the major league roster right now. He's lined up 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.360 to make another start during the s upcoming series against 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.360 the Astros. He felt like such an obvious thing to 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.280 me to move him back into the bullpen and to 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.520 give somebody else a chance to start. Whether that being 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.360 an internal option or to make a trade, and I 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:01.760 still think that is coming. I think you're going to 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.840 see Phillips back into this bullpen between now in early August, 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:07.600 which is a matter of time. But all of a sudden, 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:09.040 that doesn't feel like it's going to be enough, right 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.280 like just having one good arm rejoined this bullpen from 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.240 a different role. Increasingly, I'm starting to think of that 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.080 going outside of the organization and require requiring a reliever 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:22.560 is going to be pretty high on the Marlin shopping lists, 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.240 assuming that they even stay in firm contention for these 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:28.400 next couple of weeks between now in the deadline. So yeah, 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.680 it's a pretty rough outlook. I just want to remind 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.120 you guys that this stuff is cyclical, even in the 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:35.160 course of a middle of the season. As low as 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:37.400 things seen right now for this bullpen, it was in 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.520 a great spot in just a few weeks ago. It 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:41.480 was such a central reason for why they were doing 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:45.920 so well on the overall performance side when it came 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:47.680 to that month of June. So it's still possible for 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.760 them to bounce back, but they're going to need a 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.120 little bit better luck when it comes to the health side. 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.080 They're going to need to get some combination of King Bender, 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.320 even josh Acknes he's been out with injury for a 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.160 while and getting relatively close to return. You need most 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:01.480 of those guys that come back, and you need to 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:05.560 hope that nobody else gets hurt. Right now. To me, 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.600 I think that you just prepared to be frustrated with 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:12.200 this next step of these Pete Fairbanks situation as this 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.720 team remains committed to him. They're only invested in him 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:19.040 for this year, and you think that this might be 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:20.920 somewhat of a breaking point when it comes to their 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.600 level of trust in him. But he's not going to 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.640 get released anytime soon. I think he's still going to 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.560 get opportunities relatively high, high leverage situations for the time being. 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.200 And uh, it's I can't say for that. I have 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.320 a whole lot of confidence in him turning things around, 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.600 but the stuff is still there, and it's it's still 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.280 a long season. So it's it is unquestionably, as the 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.960 thumbnail for a Zeppso says like the moments have to 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.040 take an l on this as a signing as a whole, 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:50.800 like it has there's nothing he's going to do the 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:52.840 rest of the season. That is going to make this 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.320 look like it was worth the cost. There's nothing that 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:57.960 he's going to do in terms of adding win probability 0:16:57.960 --> 0:16:59.360 the rest of the stretch that is going to cancel 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.440 out all the damn that he's done so far. But 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:03.040 it doesn't mean he can't be some part of the 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.040 solution down the stretch if he continues to get some 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.440 sort of opportunities. It's going to just take a whole 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.800 lot of elevated performance from his teammates in order for 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.199 the Bullpens to become somewhat of a strength of this 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.280 team again. But it's still possible that they get to 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:19.680 that point. So yeah, we're going to take some final 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:21.439 thoughts about this Brewer series. I'm going to take a 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.520 much closer look at the live chat as well, and 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.800 a whole lot more to get to here on FLF 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:28.600 Live when we come back from break. But first a 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:30.119 word from fan Duel. 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.560 This episode is brought to you by fan Duel. 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See terms at sportsbook dot FanDuel dot com. 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:29.840 Gambling problem call or text one eight hundred gambler. 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.200 I want to highlight this sentiment that I've seen plenty 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:37.199 of times in the chat and I'm sure I'm going 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.080 to continue to see over these next two plus weeks 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.560 until the actual trade deadline about why don't the Marvels 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:44.639 make trades now? And the simple answer is it takes 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.120 two to tango, at least two. Sometimes it takes even 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.200 more than two. Teams to make a trade get done, 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:51.760 and there are a lot of teams out there that 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:53.399 are still on the fence about whether they want to 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.560 buy or sell. That's the reality of living in this 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.520 world with three wild cards in each league is that 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:03.639 twenty plus teams are still relatively close to either the 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.159 wild card spot or to contending in their division. There 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.320 are several divisions this year that are very muddled and 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.840