Hannah Keyser and Zach Crizer tackle the MLB news of the week, including the New York Yankees struggling with Aaron Judge out, the Tampa Bay Rays benching Wander Franco and the different paths MLB teams take to contention.
00:30 Yankees struggling without Aaron Judge
06:10 Rays bench Wander Franco for being a bad teammate
11:50 Pirates likely to trade McCutchen (again)?
16:00 MLB announces game in Birmingham, AL
18:55 The “Built Different” HR Derby
23:25 Hannah’s Immaculate Grid
27:30 The baseball Rorschach test
49:10 BANDWAGON: Seattle Mariners
Hannah and Zach kick off the podcast by talking about the Yankees offense that is struggling without Aaron Judge, who hurt his toe ligament and isn’t yet able to run.
They quickly move on to Tampa Bay Rays star SS Wander Franco, who was benched for being a bad teammate and apparently still has some sort of beef with Randy Arozarena.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are rumored to once again be shopping Andrew McCutchen and Zach envisions a scenario where they use the last few years of McCutchen’s career to add talent to a team that still needs it.
MLB played a series in London, neither Zach nor Hannah watched, and announced a game next season to be played at a Negro Leagues stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. This is great news and both Hannah and Zach can’t wait to watch it (and possibly attend).
In the final installment of “Built Different”, Hannah and Zach try to imagine HR Derby contestants who are outside the box (and could maybe fix their swing with the HR Derby).
In the second half of the pod, there is a discussion about knowing when you die and how it relates to building a baseball team. Would you rather have the big swings of the Mets and Padres? Or the steady drum of a team that wins 90 games each year?
Speaking of, we’re still unsure what to make of the Seattle Mariners, and Hannah is hoping they turn it on in 2023 to make their 2022 postseason appearance mean even more.
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