00:00I guess let's start with the NL here because I think case can be made for Paul Skeens and he's being hurt by the fact that his team's not helping him too, but George and I do tend to see this the same way.
00:12We got Zach Wheeler significantly ahead in strikeouts ahead of Skeens. Wins, we won't hold it against him, but I mean, George, did we talk about this last week that there's a chance that Skeens has a higher war than wins at the end of the year?
00:28I mean, that is insane to think that that could possibly happen, but it's not that far off. Skeens has been fantastic, too. You'll see him pitch in the All-Star game without a doubt, but Zach Wheeler, we both got him as our first half guy.
00:43Yeah, and listen, if you wanted to vote for Skeens, I'm not knocking anybody. He can't get wins, but his numbers are fantastic. I joked on one of our shows, probably Rage or whatever Thursday night, that Skeens is pitching tomorrow, so we know it's going to be a 1-0, 2-1 loss, you know, and sure enough, it's a 1-0.
00:58Nothing, 2-1 loss here. And they are babying him now, by the way. He's five innings and gone, pretty much, right?
01:04So I got to save on his innings, which is fine, whatever. You're not going anywhere anyway. Make sure the guy doesn't get hurt.
01:10But yeah, once again, you and I have the same answer, which is unusual. You know, we may think, like, usually we have different answers here, but we both take Zach Wheeler.
01:17And really deserves the love. And maybe he'll get the Cy Young overall this year. Great pitcher.
01:23And I think he announced what he's done in a couple of years. He's not going to pitch as long as he can.
01:27He's going to hang it up here. So Zach Wheeler, great year for the Philadelphia Phillies, and a Philly that's going to make the All-Star game.
01:33I think he should be starting the game as well here.
01:35He should.
01:35One more Skeens stat for you, by the way. His last 25 starts for Paul Skeens, he has not given up a run in the first inning.
01:43That's nuts.
01:45Hmm. Great start to every game for Skeens.
01:49Tariq Skubal has been baseball's best pitcher over the last couple of years. That continued.
01:53So our American League Cy Young is probably the easiest you could get.
01:57Skubal will win the Cy Young Award this year, barring an injury.
02:00Hate to say it, but that's true. As long as he just pitches in the second half, he's going to win.
02:05Detroit is going to be a really tough out in the postseason because you're going to have to face this guy three times in a seven-game series.
02:10Like, that's why Detroit is the favorite to win the American League.
02:14Skubal, once upon a time, was with, you know, Casey Mize, Matt Manning. Remember him, too?
02:21Like, he was the third of those three guys that was supposed to be as talented, but he ended up being the number one.
02:27Yeah, it is funny how that worked out there.
02:29Didn't pitch all that great last night, five innings, four runs, but hey, no, it can be perfect every night.
02:34I think if I think somebody starts, he's been bored.
02:36You know, I'm going to put my time in. We win the game. Let's move on here, that sort of thing.
02:41So he's going to be a starter in the All-Star game.
02:43I could be Zach Weill from the National League.
02:45Strikeouts are coming. Ho-hum. Away we go.
02:48But I agree with you. I think he'll win the award unless there's an injury.
02:51Hunter Brown, I think, is there. Max Fried's there as well.
02:54But Skubal is the better pitcher.
02:56Yeah, no doubt. He's been the best pitcher on the best team.
02:59Okay, so how about the best reliever, George?
03:01George, I'll let you go first. There's a lot of good choices for best reliever and a lot of different categories that you could choose the best reliever to.
03:09I went away from a saves guy. I went to someone else, who, by the way, is in the All-Star game.
03:13But go ahead. Give me yours.
03:16Yeah, like I said, some of the best relievers on every team aren't necessarily the closer, by the way.
03:20I could certainly be a setup guy here.
03:21But Josh Hader's numbers are fantastic.
03:24What is he? 26 for 26 with save opportunities.
03:26Did take the loss the other day.
03:28One of those games against Cleveland where he gave the grand slam to Martinez in a pure Houston home run.
03:33I believe he was the only ballpark in Major League Baseball.
03:35That's a home run and a little high sky that got into the first row of the Crawford boxes there.
