Monday, June 3, 2024 I Full Show

Where are we at in society today? Come after me. I'm a man, I'm forty. Go ahead, make my day every single week. I put my freaking heart and soul into this. I don't go out there and laugh. It's not funny. Nothing's funny to me. I don't wanna go out there and get embarrassed on Monday night football fun everybody. I think that at the beginning of a beautiful friendship. So I ain't nothing changed from yesterday. Still the same person I was yesterday, and I got the same thing

for you that I had yesterday. You know why I'm here. You play to win the game. You don't play to just play it. That's a great thing about sports. You play to win, and I don't care if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you start telling me it doesn't matter to retire get out for the Nats, well, production matters too, and that's the reason the Tigers have made a significant move. Welcome everybody, and I'm Monday. Glad you're with us on this June

third, the first Monday of the month of June. I'm Matt Sheppard. Welcome to Exus and Bros. Ben is our producer. You can call him, chat him up a little bit and express what you want to discuss on the Meyer hotline eight six six eight three eight forty eight forty three, and you can text US Sports Radio to twenty one thousand, wherever it is you may be in the great state of Michigan. We welcome the input. Tiger's in winner eight four yesterday over Boston. They pound out fourteen hits, They

score four times in the tenth. Remember I was thinking about this yesterday while watching It. Was it? Ben? Was it? Two weeks ago? People were calling in. They were upset that aj Hinch didn't bunt in extra innings. They wanted the run to get home. They were hoping that you could put some pressure on the opposition. I forget exactly which game that was, but it was extras obviously, And so I remember saying that the philosophy is when you're on the road, you go for the big inning. At

least that's his philosophy. I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong. I'm just telling you his belief is when you're the road team, you go for a beginning. Unfortunately for the Tigers that day anyway, it did not work. Out. If you're at home, the other team gets the run, you know what you need to do. Detroit yesterday had the runner at second base, Mark Canna's up. He hits a little dribbler to third base. It's an infield hit. He did not advance the runner via the bunt.

He was not going to do that. Now it worked out yesterday. It doesn't mean it's always right. But just because it didn't work out earlier this year when you and I were talking, doesn't mean that it never works out either. So the bottom line is Detroit gets the win. They get the split in Boston the final eight to four. I don't want to nitpick over victories because you'll take it. You're still a game under five hundred. You're

playing five hundred ball on the road. You're gonna stay on the road now because the series with Boston is over and now you're off to take on the Rangers. He'll take on Texas, who are six nothing winners over Miami. Yesterday at do Ley, Scarcia with his thirteenth homer and a couple of RBIs

and a really nice defensive play in right field. Really good player doesn't hit for high average, but a really good player, of course, the defending World Series champions, and they too, like the Tigers, are a game under five hundred. However, as I said, don't want to nitpick, it's okay to be concerned, even in victory about certain things that you're noticing. And one of them was Casey mis and I couldn't help but think. And again, I hate feeling this way, but I'm just telling you my

thoughts. Okay, So I love your thoughts too. Casey Mii's one to one like him a lot, good dude. However, it's a struggle. It's not lights out stuff. It's not overpowering stuff. It's not let's use the cliche, go ahead, ace like stuff. There is a point in time, and he's twenty seven. Now, there is a point in time when you look at things and you say to yourself, okay, I think

I know who he is. Things can always change. Granted, we're talking about a guy who is, you know, drafted first round first overall twenty eighteen and really only three full not even three full seasons, because last year only through two had two starts, so twenty twenty one is the full season. That's when he made thirty starts in his career the one full season, and it's he just has not been I think the guy you expected him to be seven and nine is not in his lone full season, is not an

ace pitcher. He's not the top of a rotation type of guy. And I think that's why you've seen. Look, they've recognized this. Don't tell me they haven't. They'll tell you no. But come on, you go out and get Jack Flaherty, You go out and get Kent tom Ada. You've done what you've done over the last couple of years. You know damn well what you're doing. You're admitting it for the most heart. And I'm I'm not saying they're wrong, because I think they are right, but it

bums out a little bit, right, does me. I'm talking about a one to one overall, and Casey Mice is a back end of a starting rotation pitcher right now. That's who he is. And yes, people will measure him against Joey Bart of San Francisco, Alec Baum of Philadelphia, Jonathan India of Cincinnati, just to name a few guys not gonna go over the entire draft in twenty eighteen. But those are some of the guys, all right, but Casey Mice is if it's one one right now, it's been

a disappointing one to one, and he's not the only one. The other is Spencer Torkelsen. Torkosen yesterday sat out again, so he only played in half the series against Boston and then was sent down. So you know this by now. I'm not telling you anything. You don't know. His numbers are tough to swallow, and I'm wondering as much as he may have been failing is probably a really strong word, been disappointing. How much has the

Tigers hitting staff disappointed him. Here's the slash line, hitting two to one, that's not going to cut it. You and I both know that, even though we've said batting average a little overrated, two a one, the on base to eighty six, it's the same as it was when he was a rookie. The slug is three point thirty. I mean, none of these numbers are going to cut it. The power is not there. It's

just four bombs and he's driven at eighteen. On top of that, just as big a concern right now is the lack of fielding has not been what you expected, and the winds above replacement don't look at errors. Okay, it's not been there, so they send him down and rightfully, so what do you do now, Canna or Schelle? They bring up Justin Henry Molloy, another outfielder. We'll talk about that as we roll on on a Monday, Exus and Bros. Across the Great State of Michigan on the Michigan Sports

Network. We're teeming off our tenth year at the Meyer LPGA Classic for simply gives. Get ready for the best who are yet to help neighbors in need while enjoying golf, food and family fun. Join us June thirteenth through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discoveryland for kids, and of course, elite women golfers from around the world competing to help feed our neighbors. Get your tickets now at Meyer LPGA Classic dot com. Matt shepperd back

with you on Exers and Bros. Across the Great State of Michigan. Wherever is you may be listening. It could be in Grand Rapids on WMX ninety six point one FM The Game. Maybe it's in Flint WTRX Sports Extra thirteen thirty AM, or in Cadillac WKAD the Ticket ninety three point seven FM,

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forty eight forty three. Looking forward to a good discussion On this Monday morning. You could text us Sports Radio to twenty one thousand and this is the story in Michigan. I think it's one of the biggest stories in baseball. Spencer Torkelsen is demoted and rightfully so really good article about not just the numbers, because we can get caught up in numbers all we want. It's what somebody termed the quality of contact indicator. He ranks forty third percentile in exit

velocity. I know there's a lot of people. I'm tired of exit VLO, I'm tired of launch angle. I get it because there are so many numbers associated with baseball. It could be paralyzing. It's a paralysis by analysis oftentimes it really is. I think it messes with players. My time with the Tigers, people were there were a number of pitchers where they're throwing, they're turning around and they're looking at the scoreboard to see how fast they're throwing.

They can be obsessed with it because they feel like they have to reach a certain number, just like you and I do, just like fans believe. Fans are blown away by Joel Zamaya. Right, Oh my god, he's touching ninety nine on a regular basis. That's one hundred miles per hour. We love seeing that lit up on the television screen and then talking about it. We don't do that with ninety three, ninety four, ninety five anymore. I would say probably ninety seven is when people go, oh,

okay, there's something about that triple digit number. There's something about one hundred that makes us go, whoa, that guy's throw right, Okay. The exit villo isn't much different. The exit villo you're seeing, you're going, oh man, that dude smoked that ball. He turned on that one. He got all that one, hit that one on the screws, that one's laced all that stuff right. So forty third percent of the eighteenth percentile and

barrel rate and forty second percentile in hard hit rate. Those are things that athletes that hitters forget the athletes things because it's about baseball players. Those are the things players can fall back on. Well, I'm not getting rewarded, but I'm squaring it up. Folks, have you ever played golf and then you're not scoring very well? But this is the stuff that I use as an excuse sometimes because I may not be scoring well. I'm striking the ball

well. Have you ever heard while you're playing with your friends or have you ever used it yourself? I have full disclosure I have. I feel good with my swing. I'm striking it well. I'm just not scoring very well. I hit it where I wanted to, got a bad bounce. All those different things. Baseball players aren't much different in that regard. Baseball players. Hey, you know what, I'm hitting it hard. It's just right at them. It's an atom boy, but it's not there for him.

My worry for a guy like Spencer Torkolsen, who I think again, really good, dude. I think he's a tough kid. I think you have to be the one one Monikers. As special as it may be, it is hard to live up to it is man, we don't always appreciate creator understand it. I liken it a lot of times to the individual sports tennis

and golf, just to name a couple. I want you to think of the amount of it's hard for us to grasp, okay, but the amount of pressure on the best player in their sport or the among the best player ever. Tiger Woods is a pretty good example. The pressure there is just beyond comprehension. For me. Tiger Woods spent six hundred in eighty three weeks, not days, weeks as the number one player in the world. That is amazing to me, not just that he was there for that long,

but how well he played as that player. You want to make it a little bit more local, or not local, but current. Okay, go to the young lady who's the number one player in tennis, Egos Fiathek. She's twenty three and she's number one. Everybody wants a piece of her to try and prove that either she's not all that and b there better than the best. Caitlin Clark is dealing with it. We'll get to that a little

bit later on. That's a one one. It's it's a really difficult thing to deal with because why you're reminded of it all the time, all the time, every time people are are mentioning him. Look, guys will tell you I want to be one one. They will, and that's cool, and it's quite an honor. Then it's time to live up to it. So Paul Skeens has got to do that. Jackson Holliday has to do that. He was one one in twenty twenty two. Henry Davis for Pittsburgh has

got to do that. There are certain guys who have handled it better than others. There are a number of guys who've been really, really, really good with it. Adlie Rushman's been really good with it. Has Any dance By Swanson was really good with it. Garrett Cole's been really good with it. Carlos Korea, Bryce Harper, Steven Strasburg, although hurt a lot, those guys were all really good with it. There's a lot of guys who

weren't very good with it. Chris Benson wasn't good with it. Matt Anderson wasn't good with it, Matt Bush wasn't good with it, Lou Kochaver wasn't good with it. Spencer Torkelsen has been It's fair to say, I mean has been a disappointment as a one to one so far. It doesn't mean that I give up on him. Doesn't mean that I'm encouraging you to do that either. I'm just telling you Detroit has had three one ones and none of them have lived up to that billing. And it's a tough billing.

I've said that I don't I'm not looking for everyone to be Garrett Cole or Bryce Harper, but I don't expect Mickey Moniac either or Mark Apple. The phone number on the Meyer hotline is eight six ex eight three eight forty eight forty three, and you can always text us to Sports Radio to twenty one thousand. We'll get your thoughts on it, what your mood is associated with

it when we come back on Exus and Bros. After This Country's Best Plays at Sooring Eagle Casino in Resort, Saturday, July sixth Miranda Lamberton Saturday Night, August twenty four, Keith Thirditt with Morgan Way and Saturday, September seventh, the Lake Shelton with a special guest Chase Beco. Part of the Sooring Eagles Summer after our concerts series You've become. All shows on sale now at the Fox office and etics dot com. Check the entire lineup at Soorryeaglecasino dot

com. I'm back with you on X's and Bros. Monday to Friday from you six until nine. Don't forget the huge show a little bit later on this afternoon from three until six till Simon's and a staple throughout the state of Michigan for so long in the chair to talk about the things that are important to you. Tiger's a winner yesterday eight four. But it really, to me, it feels like a major loss when you have to send what we

considered before the season. We considered it to be a staple in your lineup, and probably more importantly, a staple in the middle of your lineup, you know. I mean, when you got a guy who has thirty one bombs and ninety four runs batter day and last year, you think to yourself, what, well, hey man, this is a this is a big

step. Now he has arrived and I know that's a little bit of a cliche, but you feel like he got it because he went through some I mean, look, every baseball player is going through slumps, right, So he's going through a slump, he fights his way out of it. Sometimes to me it shows more of a player. I mean, I think the character of that player, of whatever athlete is when they're going through some difficult

times. We can all be super excited and super emotionally high when you're going well, But what about when you're struggling, because that's what's going to happen. You're going to struggle more in baseball than you are going to have success. Athletes, remember, I mean baseball players, remember the two times they didn't get on base rather than the two times they did. It's kind of the way baseball is. It's so flip and hard man, it really is.

But bottom line is that Spencer Trokolsen has not performed. It felt like he turned to the corner, whatever cliche you want to use, go ahead, turn the corner, arrived gets it. All those different things. It sure appeared that was the case. Then it wasn't a great spring training and it has obviously not been a good whatever it is fifty four games of his season this year, and that's a big blow to this lineup. Man, you and I both know it's void of power anyway. And I don't mean

just home runs, you know I'm talking about. I'm talking about the threat of driving in runs. How many times growing up there were certain guys in a lineup, they dig into the box. You're rooting for whichever team we'll use the Tigers here, and you look at that guy and I'm actually, he's getting on base right now. It's just the way I feel. Just see. It's not that he's a Tiger killer, it's just that you look at him. You're like, man, how are you going to get out?

Fill in the blank, George Brett, Paul Malder, robbing you out, Eddie Murray whatever, Okay, it just seemed to do really well against your team. Well, those guys all happen to be pretty damn good players. Most recently, who was it, Josea Bray you, Tim Anderson? Sure within the division, I get it because you see them more often understood that's what you were hoping for. As Spencer Torkalsen developed, the timing wasn't

great. COVID time off leaves Arizona State. Then you've got that ridiculous situation where you've got the off site and you got guys participating in that type of program. It just did not lend itself to a very good atmosphere. Think about it. And this is no excuse for him by any stretch, So please don't take it as that. But there's really nobody from his draft class who's played a lot, been super impactful. Heston Durstad, Max Mayer,

a Slacei, Austin Marrton Emerson Hancock, Nick Gonzalez. Robert Hassel was a big name. Padres drafted him eighth overall, hasn't played a game in the majors out of high school. Porklsson's got eleven close to twelve hundred at bats. Somebody asked me on this show not too long ago, how long does it take? I said, really, a lot of people believe it's fifteen hundred at bats. You get a gauge at a player at fifteen hundred at bats. I know you're thinking, what fifteen hundred? What are you kidding

me? That is a ton of at bats? You know what that is? That is roughly two and a half seasons or two in a quarter. It's roughly two and a half seasons. I don't think that's that much. I know it's hard for us to be patient. Absolutely, I get that. I feel the same way. It's funny how we talk as adults oftentimes about the lack of patience by kids today. All they all want it right away, they all want to make their money as soon as they graduate college.

Guys, we're just as guilty as established adults were just as guilty with a lack of patience in sports. And I'm not suggesting you're wrong. I'm just telling you we are just as guilty because we want to see that success. We want to see that production right away. And I'm with you, man, I mean it's been disappointing for me too. I completely understand it. I think baseball is a little different than other sports. But with that said, when you're up there, when you're in the lineup on a regular

basis, forget the series against Boston. When you're in the lineup on a regular basis, you're getting the opportunity. There are situations that present itself that allow you to be successful. You're not doing it. This does not come, by the way from a lack of trying. It does not come from a lack of care, because that dude is there at the ballpark as the first one on that first bus on a regular basis, taking ground balls, getting extra hitting in. It is just not translating right now. I am

confident he'll be back. I still think he can be a productive hitter. But I would be lying to you if I said or I didn't say that my confidence has waned a little bit. I do believe it's different then a guy like Casey Miss twenty seven Torklo since twenty four, You, as a front office member of anything, would not give up on a twenty four year

old. Yet you wouldn't, and if you would, that's shortsighted. Now, I do believe there comes a time where, as you and I have said before, you look at a player and you say, you know what, I think we got a pretty good idea of who he is. Now, when that comes it is up to you. I don't know. I have not reached that yet, but I'm getting close. I am. I'm

getting pretty darn close to it, and it's tough to turn around. But there how many times have you looked at a player and you said, to yourself, I'm not sure how good he's going to be, and then boom he takes off. There are certain sports, in certain positions where it's a little bit more obvious, right. I think people did that with Taylor Decker and they were wrong. I know they did it with Matthew Stafford and they

were wrong. Guys develop at different levels in different positions at different times. Spencer Torkelsen has had a lot of opportunity that you cannot deny. There's been plenty of opportunities for him to make the impression and hold that impression for you. You cannot deny that either. And outside of one year last year, and it was a pretty steady year, not from an average standpoint, but

from a production standpoint. You know, one hundred and forty one hits has not thirty one bombs is really good, ninety four runs driven in is really good. Those are tough numbers to stay with and continue to pepe providing. But as a one to one, as an everyday player, as a middle of the lineup guy, that's the expectation. And how many times do you hear athletes say no one's harder on my, No one's harder on me.

Than myself. This is what I expect. They all set goals, you guys, they may not share them with us, but they all set goals team and personal. And you know damn well that his personal goal was not to have at the at the quarter pole, now past the quarter pole, four homers, batting two A one, eighteen runs driven in and being sent down. It's a problem, you know. I mean that there's no way neither you nor I would have thought that when Seal Perez would have almost as

many RBIs as Spencer Torkulssen, and yet that's the case. There's no way that you and I would have thought at some point during this season, not even at some point at this point during the season, that you would look at Spencer Torkelsen and you would say, Okay, Matt Fierling has more homers than you do. What, Yeah, Mark Canna has more homers than you. I never would have thought that when Seal Perez has one fewer homer than you do in fourteen fewer games. Would not have thought that either. But

that's the situation, and that's why he's going down. Now. We're going to monitor this, you and I. It is I mean, you and I are going to go, Okay, let's see how he's doing. I'm not going to focus too much on average. I'm going to focus on well. I'm going to try and focus. I'm going to try and gather something that I think the coaching staff in the front off is probably looking at, and that is that hard hit rate that we were talking about. And now

you don't want to go down there and walk all the time. However, you do have to. You do have to get on base, all right, and that was an issue too. So his walk rates at seven percent, his strikeout rates at twenty four and a half percent. That needs to drastically change. I don't know if you read where aj Hinch said somebody had asked him about it prior to the game. Before Sunday's game, Hint suggested charcosm be demoted. Okay, could be demoted. I'm not sorry. I'm

sorry. He didn't suggest that he will be or should be, but could be all right because of his performance. When somebody asked him that a little bit to you know, probe a little deeper, he said. Before the game, he said, I knew I was going to get asked questions when he sits down two out of three days. We haven't talked a ton about things like that. This morning. You notice there's a little little something at the end there this morning. That's because they already talked about it and already

decided it. They knew damn well what they were going to do. So saying this morning is that part of the quote that you can get away with saying, well, we didn't talk about this mone We talked about it yesterday, we talked about it last night, we talked about it earlier in the series, and we'd already made up our minds. We were already deciding that it wasn't gonna happen at this level. He's got to go down. Meyer

hotline is eight sixty six eight three, eight forty eight forty three. I know this is an emotional topic for us because in order for this team to turn things around and be more consistent and more palatable to watch, this guy's really important. I know Riley Green's important. I know Trek Skoubl's vital.

I know there are certain other players too. But remember, like it or not, we compare everything to and I think most fan bases do compare everything to championship teams, and we saw a core of players in Detrid's last championship team like it or not, tired of talking about it or not? We saw a corps stay together, fight through some adversity, and eventually bring home a title. You really thought that there were certain players like it or not?

Man, I mean, you don't tell me you didn't. There was a time a few years ago you and your beudies were talking here going miz Manning, Schooble, Torklsen Green. Then you add a guy like Cole Keith, and eventually I'm Max Clark and a Jayce Young. And you notice most of those guys, except for Schooble, are all first round picks. Because you go back to what I've said time and time again about sports, you cannot miss, cannot miss on your first round pick. That has to be

a winner. If not, it sets you back. I suppose there are times where you could say, well, I missed on the first round, but damn I hit that second round, second round pick out of the park. Okay, few and far between, but okay, let's say I grant that too. You can't keep missing on first rounders and expect to recoup on second rounders. It's not the case they have missed on a couple of key first round picks as of right now, that's the precursor. As of right

now, they have missed on a couple of first round picks. And it's really important and it's going to set them back. And you notice that it to a certain extent. Has Myer hotline eight sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three Tech Sports Radio to twenty one thousand, Baltimore are a really good example. Man. They're not missing, if at all, on their first round picks. Who's leading the charge for them? Gunnar Henderson. I

think it was the second round pick. But who's leading the people? They just they drool over over Adlie Rushman and rightfully, so those guys have to be the backbone of your franchise. They have to set the standard. That's what was expected of them. That's a heavy load to carry. I get it, but you know that going into it. When you're a one one or when you're a first round pick in general. Ask Kate Cunningham, ask Matthew Stafford you're one to one, or when your first round that's come that

comes with the territory. Meyer hotline eight six six eight three eight forty eight forty three. You can text us Tech Sports Radio to twenty one thousand. We're taking your phone calls and your texts on the other side as we roll on into the second hour on exes and bros across the great state of Michigan. Right after this, Hey Michigan, let's go, baby. I'm humming more Lyons all Pro wide receiver and I'm talking real big time winning on the

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Classic dot Com. Second hour of the program Exus and Bros. Throughout the Great State of Michigan. First hour weeks talk to exclusively about Spencer Torkolsen and the fact that he is headed to Toledo. The promote lost in this, perhaps unfairly so, is the promotion of Justin Henry molloy from Triple A. Now you remember he was acquired into trade from Atlanta in December of twenty twenty two, and he is a very talented hitter. From what we were able

to gather, he's just twenty four same as Torculsen. I don't think his numbers pop at you in Toledo, two fifty three six bombs. But look at the walk rate. This is a big deal. Okay, on base percentage is really important. This is a big deal to the front office, in any front office. It's not just Scott Harris, it's any front office. His walk rate is twenty percent, his strikeout rates to twenty seven percent.

Again, marry that with Torkulsen's numbers. What did I say just before the break Torkulsen a walk rate of seven percent and a strikeout rate of twenty four and a half percent. That's a big difference. Okay, Now one's minor league ball and one's major league ball. You know, major leaguers. Look, this is gonna be adjustment for him too, major league ball is I mean, those of those guys are around the plate more and they get more of the benefit of the doubt. Molloy used to be a third baseman.

The Tigers didn't feel like that was his strength. They felt like they're going to push him to the outfield. This is a deeper concern for me, but it's not one that you have to worry about right now. You know, they don't They don't have any really good defensive players like Jace Young's a hitter, Cole Keith's a hitter, Justin Henryanloy is a hitter, Parker Metal is a good defensive player. But overall their young guys are viewed primarily

as what we hope will be offensive players. Remember, Torkolsen was drafted as a third baseman. That was the announcement at the draft. Drafted as a third baseman, even though he was a first baseman at Arizona State. He was recruited as a third baseman. There, Gage Workman was their third baseman. His ability moved Torkosen from third to first. Either way, the corner infield spot is where you expect power. That's the way it's it's kind of

always been. So you got guys like this who are coming up, and it's great. Gives him an opportunity. He's a really nice kid too, by the way. He's a tough kid. Parents did a wonderful job with him. But he is going to produce offensively for you, not defensively. He is viewed as a below average defensive player. So think about what you have with this team right now. When sil Perez is an outfielder, not by trade, they moved him there because he wasn't good enough defensively at shorter

second. They move Riley Green from center to left. Mark Canna is a guy who can play either corner outfield, perhaps either corner infield, and he'll probably get a lot more first base opportunities. Matt Erling is a guy who played a little bit of center, a little bit of right, a little bit of third base outside of the catcher spot, and not many catchers are

doubling up anyplace else other than first base. You know, you've got Salvador Perez playing catcher and first but you know he made his way in the majors as a gold glove catcher. They're only moving to first base as he gets older. Rogers and Kelly aren't playing any other positions. So outside of catcher, short and second, Bias doesn't playing any place other than shortstop. Keith is not going to play any place other than second base. Everybody else is

moving around. Yes, Green's and left. He can play a little bit of center. That's a positive. I don't view this is where my philosophy is completely different than a lot of the front off people and and the manager, and that is you know when they're they love the ability to move guys around. I want everyday guys, I want I want a third basement. I'm penciling in every single day, and they don't have that. So you

get justin Henry Maloy. Now you've got Mad Feeling, You've got Riley Green, you've got one Silp Perez, you've got Mark canna All patrolling the outfield. At times. Feeling can play a little bit of third or Sella plays a little bit of third or Sella and Canna are going to play some first base, right, That's a to me. The word Hodgepodge has slash is is maybe a little too strong, but it feels like that to me.

That's what that's the sense that I get. I could be wrong there, I hope I am, but I personally not a huge fan of that, never have been, no matter what the role may be. Want the guy on a regular basis, and I think that's where the best teams are. Don't give me that. Adlie Rushman sometimes is the DH yeah, I know, but most of his at bats, most of his games are as a

catcher. I mean, that's what the best teams are doing. Gonnard Henderson is second base every day, Rushman is catcher every day, Mount Castle's first base every day, Santander's right field every day, Hayes's left field every day, Mullins' center field every day. That's what you're getting. Westburg sometimes second base, sometimes third base. That's Baltimore and they lost yesterday four to three. But that team is I mean, that team's really good. Good.

If there's any team you'd like to be like, it's the Baltimore Orioles and who would have thought that two years ago. What they're young guys are developing, and they're really good, and they play every day, and they've got a position. Even certain teams like like Tampa. Take Tampa for example, that used to people used to pride themselves about using Tampa as a model of guys who can play all over. Jose Series every day, center field man

Yandy Diaz is for first base every day. Randy or Rosa Rainez first base or left field every day. Esak Paratus is third base every day. Those are the guys you're getting. Detroit's got two everyday players and one guy, by the way, is widely despised. And if it weren't for the contract, we may not even be on this team. So let's let's understand what we're dealing with here. I'm happy for Justin Henry Malloy. I'm excited to watch him play. I'm excited to see him take swings. I would love

to know why this organization does not develop good everyday players. Who's the last everyday player who became an All Star? Is it Curtis and Developed Curtis Granderson, Alex Savilla, Alex Savilla I believe is the answer, So it's a villa, it's Granderson position player wise, how about how about infielder? How far do you have to go back? Travis Frieman, It's not a good track record. Myer hotline is open eight sixty six, eight three eight forty

eight forty three. The text line is sports Radio to twenty one thousand. This is EXAs and Bros. Across the Great State of Michigan on the Michigan Sports Network. We're teeing off our tenth year at the Meyer LPGA Classic for simply gives. Get ready for the best who are yet to help neighbors in

need while enjoying golf, food and family fun. Join us June thirteenth through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discovery land for kids, and of course, elite women golfers from around the world competing to help feed

our neighbors. Get your tickets now at Meyer LPGA Classic dot com. The country's best plays at Soaring Eagle Casino in Resort Saturday July sixth Miranda Lambert, Oh Saturday Night August twenty four, Keith thirty with Morgan Way and Saturday September seventh, The Lake Shelton with special guests Chason Bank a part of this Sorry Eagles summer out to our concert series here. We got all shows on sale now at the Fox office and Etics dot com. Check the entire lineup at

Sorry Eaglecasino dot com. All right, welcome back, Glad you're with us on this Monday morning, seven eighteen. Got some texts that we want to get to. All you gotta do is text Sports ready to twenty one thousand to Meyer Hotline eight sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three. We welcome your thoughts. Spoken a lot about Spencer Torkolsen this morning. Tigers an eight four winner over the Red Sox. Yesterday Torkusen sent down Justin Henry mLOY

up. Maloy has been a designated hitter a few times as of late, down in Toledo and doing that on purpose, so you get that mindset, that routine, if you will. Most of his games have been played in left field, no longer a third baseman, because they just didn't feel like he was good enough there. That speaks to a different problem for this team right now. But the Tigers are in Texas tonight to start a three game series there Scott Dixon wins the Detroit Grand Prix. It's his fifty eighth career

win. Only AJ Foyd has more, and it's his thirty third road course victory, which is most all time, and it's also his fourth career win in Detroit. Did you get a chance to go down by chance? Because people I spoke to who were down there said it was fantastic. It's another event. I don't know how it looks on TV in Rise. I think it looks pretty damn good. I think the broadcast was very good. I think it's I think it's a prideful moment for the entire state, just like

the event in Benton Harbor and the Senior PGA event. Just like in a couple of weeks you're going to see the Mayor Classic take place. All these events, you know, whether you think they're big or not, I don't care. I think it's I think it's a great way to showcase the state. I think it's awesome how many people go out and support it. And that course is one of the bumpiest, one of the most challenging, one of the tightest courses on the Indy car circuit. Don't ask me to compare

it to Monaco or Long Beach or places like that. I just know Detroit does a good job and I think they should be proud of it. And I hope you were too. Last night, Edmonton beats Dallas to win the Western Conference. I'll guarantee you somebody in America right now is saying, oh my gosh, this is a nightmare for the NHL. Don't tell me they didn't want New York in Dallas. You get Florida and Edmonton. Hey, listen, you can highlight superstars. I know it helps with the TV ratings

and all that other stuff. I don't know how many people are going to watch, if they're not hockey fans already. I don't know. I'm watching because I love the sport. I love watching Edmonton play, and I really like watching Florida play. I think it's an awesome matchup. The Panthers are openings as the favorites. But here's the thing, and this was set afterwards. Peter de Boor of Dallas, the head coach of Dallas, said this

after the game yesterday. He said, we probably hit that was probably our best game, but they lost two one Edmonton had did you see the final stat line on this Edmonton had ten shots on net and yet they won two to one. Connor McDavid zach Kyman. Those are the goal scorers for Edmonton the power play, both of them power play goals. That's that was the difference. And of course the other difference is in net. And when you

get a goalie playing and nothing against Jake Ottinger, nothing against him. He was really good for Dallas all season long. He was good for Dallas in the series. It just happened to be and his team generated plenty of opportunities. It just happened to be that for Edmonton, Stuart Skinner was better. And that's a good story, by the way, it's a really good story. He was benched earlier in the playoffs. He has bounced back and he

has been really important. He made thirty four saves last night. Dallas outshot Edmonton thirty five to ten, and yet it's the Oilers that win and advance. So the Oilers are into the Stanley Cup Finals. They're going to be trying. They're going to try and become the first Canadian based team to win the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadians in nineteen ninety three. I don't know if this was an improbable run or not for them, but I do know

that it's going to be a It should be a fun series. Although Florida beat them rather handily five to one, I think in five to three during the regular season, who cares. I mean, that's that's so overrated. That's just a way for television and radio to padd some discussion about the series in general. What will be somewhat interesting. I saw this on social media

last night. The distance of two thousand, five and forty miles between Edmonton and where Florida plays Sunrise, Florida is the longest distance between Stanley Cup Final opponents and NHL history. There's your little tidbit of information that nobody cares about. What is really cool is that McDavid is into the finals for the first time in his career. Right speaking of one ones, big deep breath, he got them there. Now, Florida will be the favorite, and rightfully

so. I do believe they're the more complete team. I think they're tougher to play against, but they will. They will have to do everything they possibly can to stay out of the box because Edmonton's power play is so damn lethal. And Edmonton is so fast. I will say this. You watched the games earlier this year Edmonton and Florida when they played one another. Florida was equally as fast in those two games. And maybe it's Edmonton forcing you, you know, that kind of up tempo type of stuff. But it

was really good. Let me get to some texts. The text line is sports Radio to twenty one thousand, Ben, what do we have? Yeah, we have one back about Torkulsen. It says Madison Bumgarner, Mike Trout, Max Schurzer, and Mickey Mantle are a few players who were sent down to the miners to figure things out after being called up. Just trying to stay positive for this kid seems like a good kid. Yeah, that's a good one. Keeping it in perspective. I love it. You have to.

It's it's gonna happen to a lot of different players, and it doesn't mean that they're not very good, Okay, it doesn't. It means you've got to make an adjustment. It is really hard to make the adjustment during a Major League baseball season. That's why they oftentimes send you down to the miners. That's a good text, it really is. I mean, it's look alex Alec Manoa not alex Alec Manoa was a starter in the All Star Game. Remember they miked him up. You remember watching that bend. It

was really cool stuff and he throws strikes after strike after strike. He was fun loving that he gets sent down not that year, but something happened and he hasn't recovered. Let's hope that's not the case for Spencer Trokos. We'll get to more of your text your phone calls too, the Meyer Hotline eight sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three. When we come back on Exis and Bros. After this, ready set drop with Boring Eagle Casino and

Resorts Clinko Craze. Get in on the action. Every Friday in June, every hour from ten am to ten pm. Two lucky guests, We'll take the plunge and drop three pucks down the Clinko board to win up to three thousand dollars in premium play. Go crazy and win big with the Clinko Craze only at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. Your getaway reimagine list its Soaring Eagle Casino Dot, Comfort of Free, rules and details. We're teeing off our

tenth year at the Meyer LPGA Classic for simply give. Get ready for the best who are yet to help neighbors in need while enjoying golf, food and family fun. Join us June thirteenth through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discoveryland for kids, and of course, elite women golfers from around the world competing to help feed our neighbors. Get your tickets now at Meyer LPGA Classics dot Com thirty five after the hour welcome back. Actually some

bros. Bud, if you're Friday six until nine, I'm glad you're with us. Appreciated very much. Phone number on the Meyer Hotline eighty sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three. The text line sports rated to twenty one thousand good text just before the break mentioning some players who were sent down in their careers were not comparing Spencer procleson to certain players, certain all stars, if you will, Guys who helped lead a team to a a league

championship. John Rocker, for example, was like that, I think Harmon Killebrew actually was sent down at one point. I'm not comparing Spencer Porcosen to those guys. All I'm saying is that he's not the first. He will not be the last big name player to be sent down. And I don't even know how big of a name he is outside of Detroit, may not be very big at all. There may be a lot of people who are just questioning a little bit and saying, who is that guy? You know?

I mean, we live it because it's somebody we feel is really important to this organization. But there might be a lot of people around baseball who don't feel like that's a big name. And if that's the case, then that tells you about the disappointing start to his major league career overall. Back to the tech line and you can text as sports radio to twenty one thousand,

Ben what else is up? He says. Alex Savila was a stud I remembered down the stretch he caught every game in that human heat near were around twenty eleven and rake the ball while handling a Hall of Fame pitching staff. Yeah, I thought Alex Savilla was there was a period of time. First of all, I think he's a really good analyst by the way Radio, n TV, But there was a period of time. Look just one all start. No one's saying he's a Hall of Famer or a Tiger's Hall

of Famer or anything like that. But twenty eleven he had an excellent season. You bet two ninety five, you slug over five hundred, you drive in eighty two, you hit nineteen bombs, you win a Silver Slugger. That's pretty damn good. I would remind you this, and I need to remind myself this. Sometimes. He was drafted his third basement of Alabama and then made to a catcher. Thirteen years in the big leagues. Pretty damn good. And yeah, he handled a lot of pitchers with type A.

Personally. Most athletes are type A, but especially when you have when you have guys like Verlander and Schurzer and Fister and guys who are they want things done a certain way that can make the job hard sometimes and he was excellent about that. So that's a good text too. I appreciate the texts at twenty one thousand, Appreciate anything that might be on your mind. In the Meyer hotline eight six six eight three eight forty eight forty three. That's eight

six six eight three eight forty eight forty three. We mentioned Scott Dixon, we mentioned the NHL. The other story in sports yesterday, there's a couple of other ones, and then in the eight o'clock hour, we're going to get to a lot of NFL. But I don't know how much you watched the RBC Canadian Open. I know it's not a major, so it probably doesn't garner a lot of attention. But there are you know, there are other events in golf that are really big too. I'm not saying this is

huge, but it's been around for one hundred and twenty years. They played it at Hamilton, Ontario, seventh time it's been played there at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club. And the winner is the guy by the name of Robert McIntyre. That's not even the story. The story is ct Pan and you might be going, what what are you talking about? Ct Pan had a really nice eagle from one hundred and twenty one yards out yesterday. That's not the story. His caddy on the bag was Mike fluff Cowen. That's

not the story. The story is that ct Pan went through not one, not two, not three, but four caddies in his final round. I don't know if he saw this. But his original caddie, Mike fluff Cowen, who was the caddy for Tiger Woods for so long. He was on the bag for the entire tournament, but he fell on the third hole on Sunday and couldn't continue. So what does Pan do. It's not like you're gonna carry your own bag, right, what's he gonna do? He selects

a fan out of the crowd. I don't know how you do this. The fan gets all excited. He's like, hey man, I'm I'm your guys an it's an on the course interview. I suppose right away. So he gets this guy out of the crowd and he says he's ready for the job. He caddies on the fourth hole ct Pan bogies that hole. But that's it's not like he got rid of him off the bag because of that. It's not like he's asking this guy yardage or he's all he's asking him

carry my bag, hand me the club, I want clean it. Please make sure you have a towel to wipe the golf ball off once it lands on the green, and hold the flag. He's not asking him to read the green. He's not asking him what club he should hit. He's not asking him for yardage. Well, I suppose you could shoot it, but you probably wouldn't trust a guy coming out of the gallery even to shoot the flag at how far it is. I got one sixty three for me.

You know, I'm I'm using a seven iron here. How about you? CT Yeah, thanks, I'm going to use I'm going to use a heavy wedge, but I appreciate it. Stand over there for me. Don't move, I'm about to hit. I don't know, I don't know how the conversation goes anyway. The fan caddies for the fourth hole. Mike Campbell, who was a worker from the caddy services at the course, steps in.

He finishes out the front nine. After the ninth hole, a guy by the name of Al Riddell, who was a caddy for an earlier for a player who had missed the cut, took over on the back nine. Apparently he was watching this whole thing unfold while he was at home and knowing that his player wasn't playing the weekend, he jumped through his car, raised over the course and said, I'll help him out now. I don't know how much he gets paid. I don't know what their relationship was or anything like

that. But that's a hell of a story. That's a hell of a run. Man. Four caddies in one round. The ct PAN, by the way, finished one under for the day, three under for the tournament. So Robert McIntyre to a certain extent, at least in my eyes, to a certain extent, was overplayed by that story right there. It's really good. This is another story that's a little little frustrating to me. I don't know how you take this, but I'm gonna lay it out there.

I'm gonna ask you what you think. All right. Every league has rules that it's athletes are expected to follow, and if you don't follow them, oftentimes there's a fine. Now, a lot of these guys make so much money. Finding them is just a drop in the bucket. You can find a thousand bucks if you're a Major League Baseball player. Who cares. They lose that on the plane flying from New York to Atlanta in their card games in the back. So it really doesn't matter. The WNBA is a little

different, slightly different. They don't make that kind of money, and I'm not suggesting they should. But over the weekend, not that I expected you to follow this, and I'm not gonna lie. It's not like I sat there and glued to the television and doing all that stuff. But Chicago played Indiana. The storyline there was that there were three players who are top five picks, Caitlyn Clark who played at Iowa, Angel Reese who played at LSU,

and Kimia Cardoso who played at South Carolina. The latter two won national titles. The first, Kaitlyn Clark, was a national runner up in both those games. But during one of the games, or during that game Chicago Indiana, Caitlyn Clark was pushed shoved to the ground a foul, hard foul, not while she had the basketball, but while she was waiting for an

inbound pass, not by either one of those players. Either she was fouled by another player who's I'm sorry, whose name escapes me right now or Kennedy Carter is her name Anyway, after the game, they're supposed to be made available to the media the media policy that says postgame media availability no later than

ten minutes following the game. Each head coach in two players, the leading scorer and a key contributor based on what the team feels have to be made available in a separate press conference room for people on the media, and in case those want to join via zoom. All the other players at the conclusion of the press conference may be requested to join the media as well, so they're supposed to remain in the building, whether requested or not, until all

the media obligations are met. That's just their policy. Whether you agree with it or not doesn't matter. Somebody did ask for Carter, she would not ask answer questions about the incident in the third quarter where she shoved Clark, put a shoulder into her and picked up a flagrant one. Well, Angel Reese was not at the podium she was requested, she was not available,

so she gets fined one thousand dollars. I guess my question would be, at what point are these players in this league going to understand that they are not the NBA. They're getting coverage. They should be very grateful they're getting as much coverage as they do. And I'm not going to claim because I don't know, I'm not going to claim that it's all because of Caitlin Clark. That's not fair to some of the past great players who've played in this

league. Whether it be Sue Byrd, Tina Thompson, Cheryl Swoops, Diana Tarassi, whomever. All right, but if you're going to start having that attitude where you don't feel like you've got to meet what the league has suggested or demanded, if you're not going to start answering questions when the media asks you questions, and you're going to start pulling the NFL stuff, don't be upset when the pushback becomes super real. And if you're going to start biting

the hand that feeds you. So for example, that Carter or Angel Reese after the game starts sending out on social media, how good is Caitlin Clark? What does she do besides hit threes and all that other stuff you're getting charter flights? Now think about this for a second. How much is it to attend a WNBA game? How much money are teams truly making? There are certain games that they are And the New York Liberty had a big crowd

earlier this year and made some money a lot of money. But you better be careful, don't overplay your hand because the public interest isn't so great that you can't go away you your team or your league where everyone would be crying for it all over again. You're starting to expand a little bit. You're getting you've got the national TV rights, you're getting right ups, you're getting draft previews, you're getting analysis on a regular basis of things. You're getting

big names to do this, that and the other thing. And now you're going to start pulling this type of attitude. You better be careful. Players better recognize it. Now. There is a I want not a misconception, but there is a belief that the reason they're getting charter flights and the reason a lot of things are happening well for the WNBA is because of the infusion of Caitlin Clark and one specific player there has been You've got to be careful

with that. This is not responsible by the media. That is not proven yet. It is timing, yes, and it is is it, you know, a coincidence? Probably not. She's part of the reason, but she's not the only reason. Because what it does is it creates a vitriol, a jealousy just the way it is. It's true and players are starting to do that toward her. I don't agree with a lot of the people who are saying she is she is treated differently because she's white and straight,

which is pretty sad too. Even if that were the case, that somebody who is straight in that league is viewed as so different that you've got to push back on her, that's pretty scary stuff. And there's a very little pushback on the fact that other people have come out and said she is privileged

because she's white. That's bull crap, lop bull crap. She comes in with extreme fanfare because of what she did at the collegiate level, and what she did at the collegiate level is greater than anybody has ever done at the collegiate level. From an individual standpoint, our phone number on the Meyer hotline

eight six six eight three forty eight forty three. I was just stunned to read the so early in her career, what are they ten games in, eight to ten games in and already and you can tell that visiting players have had enough think about the stuff that she's had to deal with on a regular

basis at the collegiate level. It is a hard balance to be the focus of so much attention and still be humble and be willing to try and steer a lot of that public attention toward others on your team, while those on the team no da you know, damn well, there's a little resentment there. They want a piece of that public eye. They want to be written up every once in a while for what they felt like they contributed to a team's effort. And then the media, what do we do. We're constantly

asking about her instead of the person we're actually interviewing. It's bound to get old. It's bound to get old for a lot of people. Our phone number again on the Meyer hotline eight six six eight three, eight forty eight forty three. You could text the program sports Radio to twenty one thousand.

A lot of good stuff when it comes to the National Football League. A couple of articles out there, the favorite in the conference, the favorite to reach the title game, and one specific player has come out publicly and suggested his top five quarterbacks. Who are they? We'll get to all that and more coming up here on X's and Bros. On a Glorious Monday Morning on

the Michigan Sports Network. There's a new player in town. Hi, I'm Herman mor blyans All Pro wide receiver, and I'm talking about Eagle Casino in sports, the real Money Mobile Casino it's so easy to play. You can go from wager to winner to waller just like that. Sign up now and we'll match your deposit up to fifteen hundred dollars, or you can get a risk free bet up to one thousand dollars. Eagle Casino in Sports Maine in

Michigan, Made for Michigan. Let's think twenty minute older in Michigan, your player, We're teaming off our tenth here at the Meyer LPGA Classic for simply gives. Get ready for the best who are yet to help neighbors in need while enjoying golf, food and family fun. Join us June thirteenth through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discovery land for kids, and of course, elite women golfers from around the world competing to help feed our

neighbors. Get your tickets now, admire LPGA Classics dot com. Get some facts and come back and cebe Get some facts and come back and CEV. Don't throw out salaries or other things. Get some facts and come back and CEV. You can't handle the true now told our players you needy bit more like a doll. We don't need a bunch of cats in here looking in the mirror. I look good. I got my extra bands on, I got my other shoes. Be a doll. We don't need no meals.

We don't need no cats. We need more dolls. Time. Oh you're not At the time, we weren't good. There's no sense asking me things about the game. I'm telling you. We laid an egg. So I'm not going to break it down for you. He sucks. They sucked when he laid an egg. That's all I have to say. Guys, I'm sorry. I'm not going to break it down for you. And nothing went well for us. It's on us. We have to figure it out. And we went Yo, Dad, trying to figure it out on a Monday

with you. Final hour of Exus and Bros. Welcome Mayer Hotlines open for eight six, six, eight three, eight forty eight forty three. The text line Sports Radio to twenty one thousand. I'll be honest with the Ben. I really thought people would be tearing up the phone lines. Yeah, me too, bensertoricals. Yeah, I'm and we kept it alive for the entire first hour. I thought there was there would be more emotion from Tigers fans. Maybe there's not as many baseball fans out there as we thought.

That's a little surprising. I want to get to some football information here, but before I do, Jim Bowden writes for The Athletic he ranked just this morning it was released, and that's the reason I bring it up. I teased football going into the break and for good reason, and then this was just sent out. Jim Boden ranked the teams that will either make a move at the trade deadline to add or not. There are thirty teams in Major League Baseball, thirty. Jim Bowden ranks the Yankees, for example, the

number one team to add to their roster. You know, you go into these right around trade deadline stuff. Are you a quote buyer or seller? Now, keep in mind there's fifty seven days. It's a long time, but I can go by quick. Fifty seven days until the trade deadline. He ranks the teams he feels, based on the first couple of months of the season, will be a buyer. So he breaks it down into tears. Buyers are the Yankees and the Phillies. The Orioles would be one of

those. The Dodgers would be one of those teams. No surprise there he ranks Cleveland is fifth. So he breaks it down to various levels. Thirty teams in Major League Baseball. Where do you think the Tigers rank based on this guy he used to be a GM does good but sometime hoarlier than thou work on Major league based radio. Where do you think he ranks the Tigers in terms of buying or selling? In terms of being a buyer, they are out of the thirty teams. Where do you think he ranks them in

terms of needing to be a buyer? He ranks them so it's either a buyer seller or a team in between. You're kind of stuck, and the Tigers are kind of stuck. Based off what Jim Bowden thinks the teams in between, the Tigers at eighteen, Tampa at nineteen, Saint Louis at twenty, Washington twenty one, this Pittsburgh at twenty two, This is not a group that makes you jump up and down and feel like, yes, we're close. Now. They're not a seller. He does have them as a

seller right now. That's for the Mets and the A's and the Rockies, the Angels and the Marlins and the White Sox. But Here's what he writes regarding the Tigers at eighteen in being the first team, I guess there's two ways to look at it. They're the first team that is under his terminology, a team in between, or they're the last team who might be a buyer. Here's what he writes. Tiger's off to a slow start, ranking

seventeenth and runs scored and twelfth in teamyra very deceiving. Riley Green has nine homers, He's now got ten Spencer Torkols and only four Bett and two to one and is reportedly being option to Triple A, which is true. Javier Bias looks done his words. Rookie Colt Keith has been a huge disappointment again his words, and probably should be optioned to the Miners. Therein lies a different issue, so many issues with the Tigers. That's an issue too.

He can't He's not even be an option to the Miners. Who gonna used to take his place? He continues. Trek Scoubel has been the one real bright spot, going seven to one with a two point zero one ERA. Among the top side Young Award candidates, Jack Flaherty, Casey Meis Reese Olsen have combined to win just four games despite pitching much better than that, especially

Olsen and Flaherty, only Olsen and Flerty. I think here's what might make you shake your head a little bit while you're driving early trade deadline needs. Tigers need to improve their lineup. Thanks, Jim, appreciate that couldn't have figured that one out by herself. When you're not scoring runs and you don't have power. Thanks, very very important. Tigers need to improve their lineup, starting rotation and bullpen depth if they want to remain in the hunt for

a playoff spot. First of all, Jim and I know when this is written, but they're ten games back. They're not in a playoff hunt, all right, They're ten games back in the division. This escalated quickly. They're not in a playoff hunt. Let's get that. Let's make that very clear, can we please. I want you to think about this for a second, Jim, before you write this, instead of just being very generic.

All right, the Tigers are ten games back in the division and there are four games back in the final wildcard spot, which to you may think, oh, that's not that big of a deal. Well that is until you see the teams that are in front of them and playing much better baseball teams. I would say three teams behind them that I think are better in general, Tampa, Toronto and Houston. And that is not based on reputation,

that is based off what I believe. But to say that they need to improve their lineup is perhaps the most understated thing that you could write in an article. But what surprises me most is he's telling us based on his baseball acumen, and he's a pretty smart guy. He's telling us there's not one redeeming quality about this team. If you have to improve your lineup, improve your starting rotation, and improve your bullpen depth, what else is there?

And you and I both know when we have this conversation, we both know what they're not good defensively. So in conclusion, based on what Jim Bowden has said, they need help in the lineup, you and I would both agree with that they need help with their starting rotation. I actually kind of like their starting rotation three of their pitchers. If Casey Mice is my fourth, it's not that bad because I like what schoobl and Flaherty and Olson

have done a lot. If you want a fifth start, I make Mies your fifth start if you need a fourth starter or okay, but that's not a massive problem. The bullpen depth, it has not been as good as I thought it would be. There's no power and they're not very good defensively. It shows you, folks, just how far away this team really is in what we would all consider a very winnable division. At least that's the way it started. It's kind of disheartening. Meyer Hotline eighty six to eight

forty eight forty three. You could text us at twenty one thousand. We're back with more of your thoughts and some NFL discussion when we return on Exies and Bros. After this in the Den with Dan Dickerson. Hey, Tiger's fans, A new baseball season means a new season on Michigan's favorite island destination, Mackinawe Island, Baseball Spring and mackinaw Island things that return every year,

reminding us what a great state we live in. Shake off the winter blas, take in a game, and plan your trip to America's top summer destination, Mackinawe Island dot org. The Tigers are going to be without Kerry Carpenter for a while, and that's a huge blow to an offense ive US showing signs of life in May cold Keith Carpenter Matt Merling led the way. Now the attention turns of the players who really need to step up in the absence

of Carpenter, and the spotlight is squarely on Spencer Torclsen. After hitting three home runs in a seven game stretch. Torclsen is now married in a three for thirty seven slump with thirteen strikeouts. Last year, a high hard hit rate was an indicator better times were ahead, and he did have the big fin This year, the hard hit rate is down sharply. The bats are getting worried. His timing is off, he's pulling off the ball, he's

missing fastball toor Felson is working hard to find his timing. The Tigers really need to see results soon. We're teeing off our tenth year at the Meyer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. Get ready for the best who are yet to help neighbors in need while enjoying golf, food and family fun. Join us June thirteenth through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discovery land for kids, and of course, elite women golfers from around the world competing

to help feed our neighbors. Get your tickets now admire LPGA Classics dot Com played some golf over the weekend. What do you have to do in order to fill your bag with a golf glove, golf balls, tease some of the essentials you need, Well, you need to find the right deal for a lot of those places. Now, a lot of people go online, a lot of people try to go to the pro shop. When they show up at a golf course, a lot of people will go where the golf

range is. The best place to go is Meyer. And the reason I say that is because they give you the fair price for what you need. Folks, you and I are not trying to get on the PGA Tour. Okay, they have different golf balls for the PGA Tour than they do for you and I out of the rock pile. Let you and I understand this. Let's enjoy the game, but let's not break the bank while trying to

play the game. It's expensive enough to go out there and play a decent track, So why would you want to fill your golf bag with really expensive golf balls from a golf pro shop? Where they're making so much money off those golf balls. They're already making money off you by some of the things that you're already contributing halfway house, right with the beers and the soda and the hot dogs and the like. Make sure you're saving your money where you

can. Meyer gives you a great deal on some of your golf essentials so you can go out and enjoy the game you love with friends. You appreciate Meyer. It's more than just great produce and great meat and great experiences. It's about getting the bang for your buck, and you get it with your golf game. Only Admire nineteen after the hour, Welcome back, extras and Bros. Glad you're with us. Matt Shepherd. Ben is our producer.

He's manning the Meyer hotline eight sixty six eight three, eight forty eight forty three. He's also handling our techs sports radio to twenty one thousand. Let's get to the phone lines, Ben, Someone's called him waited through the breakforst Who is it? Yeah, we got truck or B on the line. Truck or B. What's going on? Not much, just playing in this little fun traffic here, Noby. Okay, hopefully you get through it quickly. What's going on? What's your it's on your on your mind? Here?

I Tim Bowden, Oh my gosh, what a newsfly. I was shocked when you said that. It's like, are you kidding me? Really? Boy? I didn't think I had the brains to figure that out myself. Yeah, that's it's pretty obvious, don't you think. I mean it's something that you've probably already come to the conclusion for. Yeah. Yeah, we've already talked about this how many times for the last two three weeks. Anyways, Now Forres has been a or p res. I get so confused

with that now it's been such a delight. And he was not on the twenty six man roster of the year, but now he's worked his way on. Now. I know they like to wait till people people are ready in order to pull ho How do you know if they're ready or not? Because maybe they're not sunning the world on in the miners, but maybe something would

click. I mean, is there a way to find that out? I mean, right now we're ten out and like I said, four back, and yeah, Houston, Tampa and Toronto behind them, and they don't learn how to score runs with clarity. And also they're not getting anywhere anyways, So is there a way to figure out, Okay, he's not doing badly, he's not doing great, but let's give him a try with that.

You think that would work at all a specific player, No, I don't know, because it's hard to follow the miners because you don't know who's putting in the effort. Really hard because you can't see from a day to day on who's doing what you know, and you can't I even live in a Grand Appetis and go to West Michigan game and say, Okay, he's gonna end up going somewhere and you can see it, but you're not gonna pull from you know, Lakeland or West Michigan up in the up in the Tigers.

That'd be insane. You're just gonna throw development right out the window. Then, yeah, that's nice. It's only something A and and stuff like that. You know, when when Mice and Manning and Turnbull when they were down there Eerie, they were just totally dominating, and I, you know, and I was kind of hoping at the time they'd pull them up just to see what they would do. But because the three of them back to back to back. You would see it night after night after night after night.

All three of them were dominating. Granted it's double A, but still you get a lot of players that get pulled up from double A. Oh sure, yeah, I mean double A. A lot of people would tell you a lot of people would tell you the double A and thanks for the phone call, appreciated, Trucky. A lot of people wouldell you Double A is where you really make your mark, because there's a lot of Triple A

guys who've they're just not good enough to play in the majors. They're hanging on and so they're they're gonna play in triple A to keep a the dream alive, the opportunity to be, you know, a kind of an up and down guy, and trying to expose themselves to other teams. You know, I would remind people it's not like wins Hill Perez was tearing up Triple A when he was brought up from a number standpoint, who do you bring up? I don't know. It's not as much even the twenty six man

roster trackerby as it is the forty man. Because if you're not on the forty man, you have to the team has to make a move to send somebody off the forty man. All right, you can protect forty guys. Twenty six guys are on the major league roster, but you can protect forty from any other team coming in and getting them. So I'll give you an example. The Tigers have three catchers on their forty man. Dylan Dingler who's at Triple A, Carson Kelly, and Jake Rodgers, both at the major

league level. That makes sense. They have two catchers and they have a guy waiting in the wings in case one of those catchers goes down. All right, Okay, From the position players, the guys who are not up with the big league team but are protected on the forty man are Buddy Kennedy and he's been up, Ryan Kreidler, Eddie's, Leonard Parker Meadows, and Ryan Valet. Those are the five guys carry Carpenter's on the IL. That's the reason Perez is called up. He's done really well. You wouldn't expect

him to be sent back down. There are certain guys if you try to send them down, they would have to clear waivers first because they don't have minor league options. Right, So you're not sending a guy like Geo Rochelle. Not that they would, but Geo Roscheller or Mark Canada, that's that's not happening. How your bias those guys don't go. When Carrie Carpenter comes back, what do you do? Well, it's probably you know, justin Henry Molloy, Spencer Torkleson if he were to come back, who would it

be. Well, then you get into a little bit of a dilemma. My guess it would be is if the guy's still struggling, it would be Cole Keith because he has minor league options and he might need some more seasoning. Like when Jim Bowden I just read that article to you about his assessment to say Cole Keith has been a major disappointment. Look, guy comes up from from Double A. It's gonna Jim Boone shouldn't as well as anybody. It's going to take some time. Guy was a really good hitter. I

think he's going to be okay. But there is a there is a growing period. There is a learning curve that you have to have and that most major league players have to adjust to. Right absolutely, The Meyer Hotline eighty sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three. We do have another text that I want to get to here in a moment, we got to take a quick time out. It's an appropriate text. I'm glad they did it.

It's something that somebody told us. I guess it's it's the same individual from a couple of weeks ago and strongly suggested we follow it and wanted to know why we weren't talking about it. It was a legitimate gripe. We're going to fix that when we come back on Exus and Bros. Plus, I want to get to some NFL couple of primary stories that are out there involving the Lions and get your thoughts on that too. The Meyer hotlines open

for you eight sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three. You can text the program Sports Radio to twenty one thousand. We're back with more in a moment on Exus and Bros. Imagine this winning big and Soaring Eagle. The Senecong Bestro is now serving breakfast and lunch every day of the week.

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competing to help feed our neighbors. Get your tickets now, admire LPGA Classics dot Com at thirty five after the hour as we come down the home stretch here, get your thoughts on some of the things that we've discussed. Baseball heavy this morning, for sure, but there's also something else that, well to a certain extent, went under the radar and it needs to be trumpeted

for this program and throughout the state. I think it has to do with a recent text the text line sports Radio to twenty one thousand, Ben, go ahead and read it. Yeah, it says big shout out to the Saganaw Spirit, Saganaw's OHL team who won the Memorial Cup tournament last night with a four to three win over the London Kings. This was also the first time the Memorial Cup was hosted in Saginaw, Michigan. Yep, it was

over the London Nights, actually four to three with the final. As you mentioned, Saganaw the fifth US winner in the one hundred and four year history of the Memorial Cup. The fifth Portland Winterhawks wanted in nineteen eighty three, nineteen eighty eight, and the Spokane Chiefs wanted in nineteen ninety one and two thousand and eight. Hats off to Saganaw. Somebody had apologized I had forgotten

the name, but somebody in Saginaw had called us. Do you remember this been a few weeks back and said, you know what I do, but I don't remember who it was. Yeah, but they did mention that we to give them some love and they were absolutely right. So we appreciate anybody listening on the mitt WLUN one hundred point nine serving Midland and sagan On Bay City and I'm sure you went to a lot of Saginaw Spirit games, and I hope you were at the event last night. I hope it was as

thrilling for you as it was for us to read about it. So good for them. Hats off to them, congratulations, that's fantastic stuff. All right, let me get to a couple of football notes before we get out of here. ESPN came out with the NFL Power Index this time of year. It's always rather amusing to me because we just we're just not sure what the team looks like. However, if depending on what the team, if you're looking at the team right now, if everybody's healthy, that's the assumption,

right San Francisco is the favorites. And I don't have a problem with that, and I don't think you should either. They're intact, they've got great depth, they're well balanced. They have a legitimate quarterback in Brock Purty. I'm not saying it's a top five I'm just saying he's legitimate. He's a good player. You got Christian McCaffrey, you got Brandon Ayuk, You've

got Deebo, Samuel, George Kittle. There's plenty of offensive weapons there right defensively, Fred Warner is a hell of a linebacker, Nick Bosa up front. There's more, can't name them all, but they're legit. So they right now have the best chance of winning the Super Bowl, and that best chance, by the way, is only sixteen percent in terms of the Power Index. Where do you think the Detroit Lyons sit? According to this power

index? They are fourth the NFL Football Power Index rankings, the Lions are fourth, and yet it would also indicate that the Lions have the third best chance to win the Super Bowl, not playing it, but win it.

Niners number one, Chiefs number two, Lions number three at ten percent, better than Cowboys, better than the Ravens, better than the Eagles, better than the Bills, which is interesting considering the Football Power Index ranks them fourth number one, the Niners number two, the Chiefs number three, the Ravens, and then the Lions. So I found that rather interesting, wondering how close you think that is to a reality. Do you believe that the Lions

would be the third favorite to win the Super Bowl? And do you think that's quite the compliment that I would be receiving it as if I were in the Lions front office. Doesn't guarantee anything. I'm just saying. Here's the other thing. The most likely Super Bowl matchups. The Lions are at number three and number seven. The most likely is a repeat of the Chiefs and Niners, and then the Ravens and Niners. Number three would be Chiefs and Lions, and number seven is Ravens and Lions. Okay, maybe get a

little too caught ahead of yourself. Here's the thing that encouraged me. Most likely conference title game matchups Chiefs Ravens would be an easy one on the AFS East side. That's at nine percent, equal percentage for a rematch of last year's in the NFC side with the Niners and Lions. Isn't it fun to just have the national media glowing about your team for the first time in a long time, since the early nineties that I can recall. It may just

there's something about it that makes you feel pretty damn good. Usually it doesn't matter to me what national people say, because we're closer to the situation than anybody. You and I have lived it for crying out lot. But to be to finally get recognized and it is pretty important. Just talks of the relevance of it nice to have your team in that mix where you're quote unquote respected. Another story that caught my eye yesterday or over the weekend, I

should say, is somebody asked CJ. Stroud, who had such a much better rookie season than I ever thought he would be. I think there's too often we look at labels of programs, college programs and we just associate past failures slash successes with draft picks and thinking they're going to be as good or not as good or as bad as some of the guys who played that position in the past. Ohio State quarterbacks is a pretty good example of that.

Right, Why should CJ. Stroud be penalized just because Haskins and Barrett and some of these other guys were not as successful as you thought they might be. He shouldn't be. On the other hand, do you just take an LSU wide receiver because of the success of Odell Beckham or Jamar Chase. No. But look, there is something to be said for a certain type of style and a certain type of system in which they teach certain positions at certain

programs. So I get it. But c J. Stroud, who was, like I said, much better than I thought he would be as a rookie. Was on a podcast recently and they asked him, who are the top five quarterbacks in the league in order? Strouds, any quarterback is probably going to say themselves, right, gunnerments you probably not, but certain guys are are going to mention themselves if they feel like, you know, they've

had a really productive season. And I understand that. You know, I I probably a guy like Jared Goff if you asked him, he would place say, well, I'll take myself out of it. Here are the other guys, you know what I mean? And with all due respect, I doubt Mac Jones or Aidan O'Connell or you know, certain Nick mullens are not going to sit there and say, yeah, I belong in that conversation,

but you're probably not asking them that question anyway. I mean, as good as Jake Browning was for Cincinnati once in a while, you're he's he's not a top top five guy, even he would admit that, I would hope anyway. So you look at what c J. Stroud said. He said, Patrick mahomes, Lamar Jackson, c J. Stroud, Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts. I read that and I thought, well, really, you're kidding me. You're trying to tell me that you don't have a guy like

Joe Burrow in that conversation. You're telling me that there's no Josh Allen or Justin Herbert like I get Mahomes for sure, I get Jackson. He's the MVP. And I guess I should be a little bit more understanding of why C. J. Stroud would pick himself. I love the confidence. He was pressed a little bit knowing that Dak Proscott is probably a little polarizing,

especially from Cowboys fans. He said, Dak is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the world, which then kind of forced me to beg the question, is that more important than winning? I mean, Prescott the Pro Bowler in twenty eighteen, he's did a hell of a job. He really did thirteen and three former Offensive Rookie of the Year, right the Pro Bowler. At one point, he took some heat. Let's put it that way. He took some heat and then he had to update it. He had to

update his list on his Instagram account. In other words, he wasn't true to his conviction. Look, if that's how you feel, that's fine, it's all debatable. There are probably two guys who aren't debatable in there. I mean Mahomes and Jackson. Now, you got have the same argument about Lamar Jackson that he hasn't had the playoff success when you win two MVPs, there's something to be said for that, right, absolutely, But there's no

debate about Mahomes. He would be on everybody's list. The other four guys, the other four members of that list, whoever you may have, will be debatable. So if that's how you feel, don't cave to the pressure. Man stand your ground and say this is my belief. There's too many times in life where we're sitting here going I'm sorry, I don't agree with the masses, so I'm going to change. So I can't agree with the masses. No, So he takes some pushback, so he updates his list,

kept the top three in there. So he kept Mahomes and Jackson himself, he feels like they are the top three quarterbacks. He adds Josh Allen to number four and moved Prescott to number five and takes Jalen Hurts out of it. He also added that Joe Burrow is among the best top five, but he missed half of last year, so there's the out. That's why he left him off his list. It's not like Justin Herbert had this great year last year, but I would take Justin Herbert. Is it too early

to say on Jordan Love? Because I thought Jordan Love was better than C. J. Stroud, but he didn't have him in there. If you're going to go by numbers, and I'm not saying you should, but if you're going to go by numbers, brock Purty has to be in the conversation, and so does to a tongue of aloa. Nobody threw for more yards than tongue of a loa in twenty nine touchdowns. There's nothing wrong with that, right I was fifth ranked in the NFL, and he doesn't turn it

over a whole lot. Now, if you're going to use numbers like that, your comment to me right away would be wait a minute, man, I mean chef, you said, Josh Allen. He threw eighteen picks, second most in the league, right, so it's a knock on him. I hate to tell you this, but Patrick Mahomes through fourteen interceptions, same as tongue of Aloa and Trevor Lawrence. You're not going to quite shian Patrick

Mahomes, are you. Hell no, nor should you. And a lot of that has to do with, by the way, we don't know a lot of those interceptions. I don't know if you watched him every single weekend. I did not watch him every single weekend. I don't know those interceptions. Some of those are not all on Patrick Mahomes. Some would be on his receivers or tight end. Some are tip passes by his receivers, tight ends or running backs. That's the way interceptions work. Sometimes they get thrown

on the quarterback, but a lot of times it's on somebody else. Not always, but a lot of times we're just not always aware of it, and we conveniently forget it. And I'm guilty of it too. But I found that interesting something that you may discussed with buddies of yours moving forward. Any time, if you want a debate, I say this a lot. If you want a really good debate, if you want to open up a conversation, you're just standing there at a party and you're just kind of wondering

up the conversation is at a pregnant pause. Hey, who do you think your top five quarterbacks are that'll get people going like right away. Try that one time, or do the best of all time type of discussion. Top five players of the NBA of all time and start naming a few and you watch how that conversation turns depending on the age of the person. It's really fun, it really is. I mean, you just sit there and you're

waiting to dive into something and then boom. That conversation will not explode in a bad way, but it will carry on for a long time, and by the way, pause for a little bit, and then it'll pick back up. Quarterbacks, probably more than any other position or sport in general with the NFL, will absolutely carry a conversation for an extended period of time. I was at a gathering on Saturday night and we started talking about the Lions.

We weren't talking about quarterbacks per se, but we started talking about the Lions, and the conversation between us four guys was we're cooking out, we're eating outside, we're having a chipping contest. We go inside to watch a little of the hockey game. That conversation lasted from the time it was brought up while we were grilling or making pizzas in a pizza oven till the time that the hockey game was over, you know, picking it up here and

there every once in a while. It was fascinating and it made me think of this article right here, because even though our discussion wasn't specifically about quarterbacks, the NFL stirs up that emotion, doesn't it. And then you dive into the collegiate and the three guys I was hanging out with are all Michigan State spartans. The Jonathan Smith conversation, the great MSU teams of the past. How good were they compared to some of the other rival teams that they

put It was fascinating and really good. It shows you that shows like this kind of mirror I think what you and I have conversations about and with with friends of ours, and I hope that's how you take this show as well. We appreciate Ben for his producing, We appreciate you for your input as well. Well. I hope you have a great rest of your Monday. Hope you can join us back here tomorrow morning, Tuesday six till nine,

right here on X's and Bros. Throughout the great State of Michigan. We played for the three of them that rush you field, but the game won the line. I'm Herman Moore, Lions All Pro Wide Receiver. Now your Eagle Casino in Sports the new sportsbook Action sore an Eagle anywhere I'm at. I'm still in the game. Sign up now and get up to one thousand dollars That's right, up to one thousand dollars for a risk free bet on

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They're already making money off you by some of the things that you're already contributing halfway house, right with the beers and the soda and the hot dogs and the like. Make sure you're saving your money where you can. Meyer gives you a great deal on some of your golf essentials so you can go out and enjoy the game you love with friends. You appreciate Meyer. It's more than just great produce and great meat and great experiences. It's about getting

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