Who Is To Blame For New York Mets' Disappointing Season?
The New York Mets were supposed to be at the top of the National League, but are currently at the bottom of the division.
Video Transcript
And so, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the West Coast Offense.
As always, I'm Lucas Stackpole, joined today by Bob Houck, Bob from Philly, and Peter Pappalardo.
The team under the microscope today, the New York Mets.
And fellas, I mean, I'm just gonna be straightforward here.
I think the Mets are running out of time.
Going into today, June 10th, things are not looking good.
Right now, the Mets are fifth in the National League East.
They're 29 and 37, 15 and a half games back of first place.
That being said, they are six and four in their last 10.
They are above .500.
But 29 and 37, even that's surmountable.
You can come back from that.
But right now, that number that jumps off the page to me the most right now, 15 and a half games out of first place.
Not looking good.
It's not looking good at all, and this team, we talked about before the show, they might be, they might just be cursed.
I'm not sure.
It j- it just seems like there's something that this team just can't do right to win baseball games, and I don't think anybody can figure out what it is, really.
And so, I mean, 15 and a half games out of first place in June.
I guess if you wanna be 15 and a half out, you want it to be in June.
But the MLB record for the largest division comeback in MLB history was actually set last year by the Cleveland Guardians, and they were 15 and a ha- 15 and a half games back of the Detroit Tigers.
I mean, even in June, it's still early in the season for all intents and purposes, but I mean, 15 and a half games back, I just, I don't see it.
I mean, I, I think I said before the season, I'm pretty confident I said before the season that the Mets were gonna win the division.
Fifteen and a half games out of first place in June, I think we can put a pin in that.
I mean, there's I just don't see the Mets making up that kind of ground, and I don't see the Braves falling apart that badly.
The Braves are, like, untouchable right now, dude.
They're so good.
It's actually insanity.
Yeah, the Braves look like a wagon, and the Mets don't.
And the Phillies also look good, and even the Phillies are nine games out of first place.
The Braves are running away with it, and it's already June.
So I mean, the Mets have a lot of ground to make up.
We'll see if they can.
They are in the midst of a series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Game two of that three-game set is tonight.
They lost last night in a seven to nothing shutout.
Freddy Peralta got lit up for six runs.
He falls to four and five with a 4.04 ERA.
Those numbers don't jump off the page.
And fellas, I think it's time we have a talk about Freddy Peralta because reports came out earlier this week that Freddy Peralta reportedly is seeking a contract similar to that of Max Fried, another New York left-hander.
Max Fried got eight years, $218 million.
And I am curious to hear your guys' thoughts on that, because that is a lot of money for somebody who has pitched the way Freddy Peralta has this season.
Yeah, and I'm seeking a Shohei Ohtani type of deal.
Like no, like he's not worth that.
There's no way anybody should think he's worth that, and I'm just gonna say, if the Mets don't trade him, that's very that's just a waste.
They're just It's a waste of time if they don't trade him.
The 200-plus million contract would make sense with last year's numbers, where he had a 2.70 ERA with 17 wins.
This year, where his, he's lowest amongst qualified starting pitchers in ERA, and he's four and five, which leads the team in wins, by the way.
Four and five is the team leader in wins on the Mets.
That's just like a smack in the face to the management and the front office.
Like, "Hey guys, I provided you literally no value at all.
You went out of your way to trade for me, and I want more money."
It's basically what's going on here, and I don't like that at all.
And I mean, I think I You guys have kind of already touched on it.
I think $218 million, at least right now, is way too much money.
And he's a free agent after this year, I believe, so he's seeking that big money in the off-season.
And honestly, I think we've already kind of talked about it, but if this season keeps up the way it has for the Mets, like if the Mets are 15 and a half games out of first place come the trade deadline, I think, yeah, you move him.
I mean, because is Freddy Peralta bad at baseball?
No, absolutely not.
Is he having a down year?
Yes.
But I'm saying some teams, even teams I mean, you see it at the trade deadline, teams that are in the playoffs or teams on the playoff bubble, they will overpay for a guy like Freddy Peralta.
Teams that are in win now mode will take whatever it takes to get a guy they think can get them over the top.
And again, if the Mets aren't competing for a playoff spot by the time the trade deadline rolls around, I do think that's something you have to give some serious thought to.
Because I do think you're gonna get a better return for Freddy Peralta at the trade deadline.
And obviously, if the Mets aren't willing to pay $218 million, you wanna get some sort of trade package in return as opposed to just a compensatory draft pick.
That's a great way to put it.
I mean, you gotta You have to sell when he's at least a little bit valuable rather than sitting around on it and you're gonna get nothing.
So obviously, he's in really rough shape as a Met currently, and if it's not really improving, there's really no point to, to hold onto it, you know?
It's like drinking poison and waiting for the other guy to die.
Like, you're, you're not getting anything out of that.
And I mean, Pete, you mentioned the Shohei Ohtani contract.
Like, obviously Freddy Peralta and Shohei Ohtani are incomparable.
But the Angels had the same dilemma in 2023.
The Angels were far and away out of a playoff spot.
There was a lot of talk about whether or not the Angels were gonna move Shohei Ohtani.
And we all know, we've seen some of those mock trade packages that have come out in recent memory about, like, the Padres trade package or Junior Caminero and the Rays package.
Like, Shohei Ohtani could have been shipped off for generational wealth, and instead the Angels held onto him.
And I don't even I, I still don't understand that, because I don't think he was ever really gonna come back.
But yeah, I think if you're the Mets, you kinda look at that as a cautionary tale.
I mean, you trade him while you can still get something for him, as opposed to just letting him walk in free agency and then you traded him for nothing.
Because I mean, the Mets, I mean, Freddy Peralta did not come cheap to New York.
So I feel like if you're gonna trade him, if you're gonna move on from him, you've got to get something at least semi-comparable in returnYeah.
And I don't see a world where the Mets pay him this kind of money, especially with how this year's gone.
I just don't see a reason why you don't trade him.
I- I mean, at least shop him.
I don't 'Cause otherwise you're just gonna sit on him and then come this off-season he's gonna go somewhere else, or somebody for some reason will give him that kind of money and the Mets will get nothing out of him.
So I, I don't see a reason why they don't just make this trade.
they're in a really bad spot, and I know they can, they can still wait till closer to the trade deadline, but it's not looking good for the Mets and they, m- I mean, they're not gonna pay him that much money.
There's just no way.
I mean, obviously the Mets have the facilities to pay him that much money.
I do see a reality where the Mets do pay him that much money, but I mean, the Mets know better than anybody that s- just throwing a ton of money at the roster does not work.
You have to put the money in the right areas.
And I think the absolute worst case scenario for the Mets, like if you come the o- the off-season comes, the Mets don't trade him, he's still on the books, and you do give him that contract he wants, and he's still below average, then you're stuck with eight years and $218 million for a league average pitcher.
And the Mets, again, have had a lot of experience with that in recent years.
I mean, you look at 2023.
Hell, I mean, you can look at last year.
I mean, you throw a bunch of money at people, but you don't put it in the right areas, it's gonna come back to bite you.
And, I mean, we'll see if the Mets have learned their lesson, honestly.
And again, I mean, there's still a lot of time between now and the trade deadline.
It's still two months away, right around there, month and a half.
And I mean, again, if the Mets are still in this position, eight games under 500, well out of a playoff spot, I think if the Mets are If the Mets are at the spot in July where they are now, I think, I think you let him go.
I think you see what you can get for him and, you know, take that trade package and come back next year.
I do see that as productive.
I will say I looked at the prospects they gave away, Jett Williams and Brandon Sprout are the two guys they gave away for Peralta.
So even though at the time that was a very high price, because Sprout was, like, I think six on their pipeline, Sprout has been unbelievably bad with Milwaukee this year.
So on top of the fact that Jett Williams has also been struggling in the minors and hasn't seen the majors yet for Milwaukee, you honestly didn't lose a lot for Peralta.
So if he's not performing for you right now, then as we've already said, I feel like getting, getting rid of him at the trade deadline to see how much value you can get to try and build upon a already struggling team, I think is your best bet.
But that's just how I see it.
Right.
there is a lot of different packages and things you could work, which I personally am not a fan of building trade packages and, like, potential trades, 'cause I'm not a GM and I'm kind of just a casual baseball fan.
So whatever imaginary value you can find for him, I think is where you wanna be.
Like I said, from New York to Milwaukee, I would struggle too, so I don't blame him.
And so, I mean, I think we're all really on the same page here.
It's 'Cause we know Freddy Peralta is not this bad, but waiting on a guy to return to form per se is also a dangerous game, especially with a guy in a contract year.
'cause again, we already touched on it, like Shohei Ohtani and the Angels.
It's a cautionary tale of, you know, you don't want You can't not trade him unless you're 1000% confident you're gonna be able to re-sign him.
And $218 million right now is a high asking price.
We've been beating that dead horse already.
If I'm the Mets, you know, it's, you know, hey, you know, shape up or get shipped out, honestly.
That's the way I see it.
Yeah.
And, and waiting for guys to come back to form is, like you mentioned, it's definitely a dangerous game.
you think of some names that come to mind.
Alec Manoah, just one of those guys who just lost it one day and just never got it back.
They're still waiting.
Are they still waiting on him?
I think he's in the minors right now.
Am I wrong to say?
Yeah, Triple-A, I'm pretty sure.
Like, he's been It's just one of those things, like, you just can't, you can't ever be sure that a guy is gonna get back what they had before.
'Cause sometimes guys just, they, they can go on a good, few year stretch and then just lose it and never get it back.
And sometimes guys will lose it and then get it back a couple years later.
You just, you can't bet on that.
I feel like that's something you can't be throwing $200 million and eight years at somebody for over.
Like, just over a chance that they'll be back to what they are, what they were.
Is- I mean- Is Freddy Peralta a wild thing for Major League?
Gets paid- It, I mean- and then is terrible?
As you see that with a lot of guys, but I mean, honestly, if I'm the Mets, the only thing I know for sure is that the only thing that can't happen is you can't let Freddy Per- Freddy Peralta walk for nothing.
You can't, you can't pull the Shohei Ohtani.
You can't not trade him at the deadline and then he signs somewhere else in free agency.
Maybe if you're the Mets, you're able to talk him down from $218 million, 'cause that's definitely a little s- definitely a little steep.
But the Mets do have the upper hand as they're the team that currently employs Freddy Peralta.
You know, who knows?
Maybe they extend him before the trade deadline at a discounted rate.
But again, just the one thing you can't let happen if you're the Mets front office is let him walk in the off-season for no cost.
It's about the best way to put it.
I don't know if we could really compound him on that anymore.
And so the theme of the last episode we did, at least with Peter and I, Bob, of course, you were abroad, is that this was going to be a crucial month for the Mets in their season, and so far they've opened to June at three and four, which is not good, but also not bad.
They lost two of three to Seattle to open their month, and then they won a series in San Diego.
The Padres, of course, we talked about it yesterday, how much they've been struggling, and then they did lose the series opener last night to St. Louis.
But in that Padres series, despite the fact that the Mets did win the series, there was some controversy, and a controversy in a game where the Mets did end up winning.
But Juan Soto got a lot of flack for not running out a ground ball.
He hit a ground ball to second, the second baseman kicked it, but Juan Soto was jogging to first base, and so the second baseman with that had enough time to throw Soto out.
Again, the Mets ended up winning that game five to nothing, but if Juan Soto had legged that out, he would've been safe, a run would've scored.And I mean, honestly, the, the debate here is, is there too much heat or is it reasonable to be upset about that?
And honestly, if you watch that video, I mean, I am furious for Mets fans.
I mean, if I'm paying that guy $765 million, he better run like his life depends on it, no matter what.
On the ground right side, Song will bobble it.
Wow.
Stay with it, and he still gets him.
Soto wasn't running.
Wow.
Yeah, that's just devious.
Like, you just That's just dumb.
Like, that was the Before he got hurt, that was the problem I was talking about with Luis Robert, or Robert, was that he has problems doing that.
But now Soto also has problems doing that, which I believe he's had problems with in the past.
So watching a guy that is making, I think, more money than the mayor of New York, more than likely, walking to first base on a ground ball, I am disgusted by, quite frankly.
That guy's making more money than 99% of the world's population right now.
I mean, you can run 90 feet to first base.
I mean, that's just ridiculous.
Yeah, it's just, it's em- it's embarrassing to see and, you know, when things aren't going well for a team, I can Like, guys can get like that, but you cannot let it get to that point where you're just not, not busting out of the box.
It doesn't take much to hustle.
It d- you don't, you don't have to be, not in a slump or anything.
You It's, hustling is just something you can do no matter what, and that was just about the least amount of hustle I think I've ever seen of a, of a player.
And if I'm a Mets fan and I'm the Mets front office Sorry, Bob, I don't mean to cut you off.
I mean, if I'm a Mets fan or if I'm the Mets front office, I mean, this guy's making $765 million.
For $765 million, I mean, I want this guy to damn well be the President of the United States, right?
I mean, I'm, I'm pouring a ridiculous amount of money to this guy.
You know, you're making more money than, again, most people will ever see in a lifetime.
I j- I just don't understand it, honestly.
And you compound that with the fact that the rest of the team is underperforming.
I mean, I think we all agree that the Mets, at least on paper, are so much better than 15 and a half games out of first place, eight games under .500.
So if I'm the Mets and I've been watching an already frustrating season on the field, and I see my bonafide clear-cut superstar not jogging to first base, ultimately costing the team a run, like I don't care if you win the game.
I see that happening and, you know, I'm, I'm tearing him a new one in the clubhouse after the game.
I mean, that is just unacceptable, and I don't really think there's any other way to put it.
Yeah, 1,000%.
And I mean, just because also on top of the fact that you can't get away with that, even if you get paid that much.
Like, everyone has to be held accountable.
And the fact that he's He wasn't benched or pulled.
That's I, I've From what I was reading, a lot of people were angry about that.
Like, that's, a lot of cases, that's immediate pulling.
So outside of that factor, it's just I think, I think we've already said it.
Like, it, it just can't happen.
That's just bad.
That's really bad baseball, and he's doing that in June.
We are one week into June.
It is the third month of this What, third or fourth?
I can't count my months.
It's third month of the season, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, we're third month into the season.
We're not even to the dog days of the season, so who's to know how he's gonna be acting when it's like mid, late July, early August, when it is like 95 out and disgusting and the baseball means almost nothing.
And the, the worst thing you can do as a manager is let a guy do that and then not do anything to reprimand him and make him think that it's okay that he's doing that.
'Cause if you don't show him that it's not okay to be doing that, it's like trying to t- it's like trying to train a dog.
You can't like, you can't let the dog like chew up a shoe and not like, like make it clear to him that that's not something that's okay to do.
He can't be jogging to first, screw up a play where he would be safe, and then just not get any sort of reprimand for it.
It's just, you're, you're not, you're not creating a winning culture with that.
100%.
And I mean, I'm sure I'm hopefully Mendoza, you know, talked into him behind closed doors, 'cause obviously Juan Soto wasn't pulled from the game.
But I mean, Pete, you touched on it.
I mean, hustle, you know, you can't coach that.
Hustle is something that you, the player, always have control over.
And I mean, we play, Pete, you and I, we play Division III baseball.
Bob, you're with us all the time.
I mean, we have seen guys on our team get pulled for stuff like that.
Like, that's gr- no matter what.
You could be playing Little League baseball.
I mean, you see guys not running to first base.
You see guys not hustling out to their spots, stuff like that.
I have seen people get pulled for that across any level of baseball, and obviously I have played nowhere close to Major League Baseball.
I mean, that's just, that's the precedent.
And again, I think the biggest thing for me is you look at how underwhelming the Mets have been as a unit this season, and I see my $765 million guy not even taking the effort to run to first base.
I mean, that is just a massive slap in the face.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, if I can make a point to- Go, go, go, go ahead Pete's.
Just a quick point, 'cause I, I hate Carlos Mendoza that much, and Pete had mentioned Mendoza, and you just mentioned Mendoza.
He more or less rewards Soto for doing that, and reports just came out today that after Simeon just went 0 for 3 yesterday, he got moved up a spot in the lineup.
So one's to also ask, what the hell is Carlos Mendoza doing and why is he not fired yet?
And we can turn that into our next talking point.
Sorry, Pete.
Yeah, Pete, go ahead, and then I'll ask my question.
Yeah.
I was gonna say, it, it was gonna be, it was gonna be real quick.
but I was just gonna say, in a sport where so many things are out of your control, like hitting, you can put a perfect swing on a ball and you'll be out.
You can pitch and you can put a pitch in exactly where you wanna put it and the guy can dunk it in for a hit.
In a sport where everything is so out of your control-It's ni- a guy who hustles is nice because that's the one, like you mentioned, Stack, that's the one thing you have control of and you can control, 'cause that can change the outcome of a play.
You being, you running hard out of the box changes things.
And so go ahead, Stack, my bad.
And just now, Bob, you brought up an interesting point, 'cause obviously you've been a big critic of Mendoza since we started doing these episodes with, honestly, I mean, 2024, I think bottom some time, that miracle playoff run.
Not a miracle playoff run, because I mean, the Mets were good that season.
They had a really good playoff run.
But last year, obviously you bought them out.
This time last year, the Mets were 20 games over 500, first place in the division, and then we all know how last year ended up.
And then they still seemingly haven't gotten out of whatever funk they got into to close out last season.
And so now you see moving Simeon up a spot after going 0 for 3 or Juan Soto not being at least reprimanded for not running to first base.
How much longer is the leash for Carlos Mendoza?
not short enough, quite frankly.
I wouldn't be shocked if he's gone by the All-Star break, but we're really holding onto him for some reason.
and it's a really bad team because the hitters are hitting fine, and the bullpen is fine.
The overall rotation is not bad.
Like, the stats on paper are not bad.
The team is just not performing.
And at a point, you have to just wonder if the losing is on the coach.
'Cause more often than not, winning is on players.
More often than not, losing is on coaching staff.
So at a point, you have to question, like, what are we, what are we doing in the clubhouse?
What is going on?
Why, why is this happening?
Why can we go out and win a series on the road against the Padres and then get smoked the next day by the Cardinals?
Like, what, what exactly is going on here?
And I mean, Bob, that's-- I like that point a lot just 'cause, again, how much, how much longer do you let this happen, honestly?
'Cause I'm not sure, like you said, everybody's-- The Mets have the star power.
The roster, I mean, we've touched on it a million times ever since the season started.
The roster is really good.
I mean, this is a really well-rounded roster.
On paper, this team should not be eight games out of first place.
So I'm not sure if the Mets are just snakebit, which, you know, over historically, they very well could be.
But I mean, I don't At some point, it's not on the players anymore.
I mean, obviously, you know, those are the guys on the field.
But at some point, you just need a managerial change, I think.
I mean, we saw it with the Red Sox, we saw it with the Phillies.
I mean, those Cora and Rob Thompson got canned in the first month, month and a half of the season.
I mean, those guys got fired in April.
And I think this is the point we made right around the time Cora and Thompson got fired is I think those two guys got fired for a lot less.
I mean, Alex Cora and-- Alex Cora's a World Series champion.
Rob Thompson took the Phillies to the World Series, I believe in his first season at the helm.
and those guys are out of a job.
So, you know, again, obviously, we don't see how the sausage gets made.
We don't get to know what goes on behind closed doors.
But you see guys around the league getting fired for less.
And again, it just begs the question, you know, what are the Mets Not what are the Mets waiting for, 'cause I'm not a fan of calling for coaches' heads.
I think it starts with the product on the field.
But again, with everything we've talked about, I'm just, I'm curious to see how much longer the Mets let this happen.
Yeah, and I mean, it's just, I'm not one, like, like you mentioned, I'm not one for, I think there are a lot of managers that get blamed way too early for team problems that might not always be their fault, and they get, they have to be the fall guy for it.
But in this situation, it's-- he's been around long enough where it seems like it might just be more than a team problem.
It might just be a him problem.
So I-- you just gotta, I don't know, you just gotta The Mets just have to figure out if he's the, if he's really the problem or if the team It, that, that whole Juan Soto thing really, s- sells it to me that it might, this might be a Mendoza problem, wouldn't they?
And Pete, it was the point, it was a good point you made yesterday with our Padres episode, is the Padres are 34 and 31.
They're a good team.
We've had these talks.
We had this talk whole yesterday.
But in a nutshell, the Padres offense is the worst in baseball.
It is objectively the worst in baseball.
You know, their bottom literally last in the league in a whole bunch of offensive statistics.
That might be a coaching thing.
That might be you need to look at your hitting coach and like, "Hey, what are you doing with these guys?
I mean, you have this really good lineup, and we're somehow league worst in a lot of major categories."
Like, that is probably a coaching issue.
But the Mets, you know, the Mets aren't dead last in major offensive statistics.
I mean, the Mets hit the ball.
They have guys capable of hitting the ball.
On paper, they have a really good rotation.
The bullpen is so-so at best.
But it's, it's the opposite of the Padres.
I mean, the starting rotation and the offense should be good enough to carry the bullpen, and obviously this Mets bullpen isn't good enough to carry the rest of the team.
But that's where I think it's a coaching issue ver-- like a real coaching issue, and this I think is just on the manager, if that makes any sense.
I mean, this isn't-- The Mets aren't underperforming statistically.
The Mets aren't dead last in any major categories.
This is just something's not working.
It does get to a point because it's, it's strange with baseball because of how I wouldn't say how little the coach matters, but also baseball is one of the most, like, player-centric sports, 'cause at the end of the day, the coach is-- The manager, the manager in the front office, they can do, they can make whatever moves.
They can extend Peralta, they cannot.
They can trade whoever, but they're not the guy holding the bat.
They're not the guy throwing the ball.
So it's like, yes, the, the team is what's losing.
The guys on the field are who is losing.
But you also get to a point to where at what point is the system and the guys on the field losing?So that's where I'm at.
It's like, obviously none of us are with the Mets.
We're not in the clubhouse.
We don't work there.
None of us play pro ball, so it's kinda hard to figure out.
But as just pundits, it's like, what is going wrong here?
What are we doing?
Like, we have one of the best players to ever touch a baseball.
We have a lot of really high-end names.
We have solid prospects.
We are-- As you said, they're not Like, on paper, they should not be doing this poorly.
So it's like, what exactly are we doing?
I can't really add anything to that.
I think it's just there's a lot of holes in the boat, and I think it's time, I think it might be time to think about hiring a new captain.
That might be, yep.
And so, and so a major talking point of, again, the last episode that Peter and I did about the Mets is how June was going to be the massive make or break month for the Mets.
Like, the Mets have to do above average in this month to, I think, just set the tone for the rest of the season.
We talked about it again before the episode, and even in the last episode.
The Mets right now are three and four to start June.
Not good.
They have two remaining games against St. Louis, and then a three-game set with the Braves at Citi Field, and then further on later in the month, they have a three-game set with the Phillies, and then another three-game set with the Phillies, this one in New York.
And then I was looking at the Mets' schedule, and the first full series in the month of July for the Mets is a four-game series against the Braves in Atlanta.
So in the next three, four calendar-- So we'll say in the next four calendar weeks, the Mets have 13 games against the Braves and the Phillies, and I'm looking at those, and that Braves series wraps up, I believe, July 6th.
And I'm looking at that, and after July 6th, I think we are 100% gonna know how the rest of the season is gonna go for the Mets.
This is a big month.
They're playing a lot of good teams, a lot of teams floating around the playoff bubble, and a lot of them are division opponents.
A lot of them are two really good division opponents.
I mean, I don't think we can bet on the Mets to come back from 15 and a half games.
But again, you have seven games against the Braves in the next four weeks.
That's a good chance to make up some ground, at least in the playoff race.
And again, I mean, a theme of last ep- a theme of last episode, definitely a theme of this episode, the Mets have to find a way to do well, especially in those intra-division games.
And if they don't go well, I mean, I don't think it's a stretch to say at this point the season's gonna be over.
Yeah, and 15 game, 15 and a half games back, we have 13 games against divisional opponents, I believe you just said.
So that's literally the difference between being last right now and being in second and competing for a wildcard spot.
So that is a massive I mean, I'm kinda catching up on what you guys probably touched on the last episode, but that is a humongous, like, jump here.
Like, that is kind of a make or break segment of the season.
And if, if stuff's already going haywire and we're already getting fried, then we gotta lock in.
Somehow, some way, you just gotta find ways to win.
100%.
I mean, the Braves scare me.
I'm-- If you're the Mets right now, you're not trying to come back from 15 and a half games, 'cause you need the Braves to start losing.
And with how the Braves have played, you can't bet on that.
So the Mets are 15 and a half games out of first place, but they're only six and a half games back of the Phillies, and the Phillies are currently in second in the NL East right now.
The Phillies are sitting at 36 and 31.
So you're six and a half back of Philadelphia for second, and you have six games just in June alone against the Phillies.
I mean, you're not trying to get all the way back to first place in one month, but at the very least, you can start putting one foot in front of the other.
And I really think that by the end of June, at the very least the end of that Braves series, so we'll call it July 6th, by July 6th, we will have a really good idea of how the rest of the season's gonna go.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, that is all we have for today's episode.
As always, I'm Lucas Stackpole, joined by Peter Pappalardo and Bob Houck, Bob from Philly.
Thank you, as always, for listening, and we will see you for the next one
