Brewers' and Dodgers continue the series, NFC North Injuries, and Random Packer Talk – Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trag

Can the Milwaukee Brewers find their rhythm against the Dodgers? Will JJ McCarthy's knee surgery spell doom for the Minnesota Vikings' season? Join us on this episode of Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trage to uncover the highs and lows facing our favorite Wisconsin teams. We kick things off by dissecting the Milwaukee Brewers' recent struggles against the Dodgers, including Colin Ray's rough inning that left fans questioning the team's playoff potential. We also tackle the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback conundrum following JJ McCarthy's knee surgery and look at what Matt LaFleur has to say about the Packers' game strategy as they prepare to face Denver.

How will Jameer Gibbs' hamstring injury impact the Lions' backfield, and is David Montgomery ready to shoulder the load? We delve into the NFC North's running back situation, evaluating the depth and reliability across the division. Our analysis also extends to Josh Jacobs' career stats as we speculate about his potential fit with the Packers and compare him to Aaron Jones. Additionally, we reflect on the Packers' defensive woes from last season, scrutinizing coaching decisions and their effect on the team's performance. 

Basketball enthusiasts will relish our lively debate about benching a key player from a star-studded NBA lineup, featuring Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid. Celebrating moments in sports history, we recount Happy Felch's record-tying outfield assists and John Quinn's milestone as the oldest pitcher to win an MLB game. We then shift focus to the MLB wildcard races and the Brewers' challenges against the Dodgers, culminating in a call for community support and engagement on our social media platforms. Don't miss this action-packed episode that promises deep insights and plenty of sports excitement!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:30

Thank you how we doing everybody and welcome in to wisconsin sports time to go with trage. I'm your host, trage. We're here on a fantastic wednesday here in the great state of Wisconsin, or wherever you are tuning in today. I mean we got stuff to talk about today, but some of it might be good, some of it might be bad. Right, I mean we're watching the Brewers right now. They are down 7-1 to the Dodgers, just, I mean a disastrous inning for Colin Ray and the Brewers and it's been downhill sledding ever since then. So I want to get into a little bit more Brewers today. We got some Packer talk to get to, lots to get to, so let's jump into it right away.

Speaker 1: 1:14

The Vikings they're going to be without JJ McCarthy for a little bit here. By the looks of it, jj McCarthy went down with an injury there. It was kind of reported. I mean it wasn't in practice. It wasn't like it was the Vikings' fault that any of this happened there. But JJ is expected to undergo knee surgery that will determine how much time he will be sidelined. So, waiting to see what happens over this, mccarthy complained about knee soreness over the weekend and underwent an MRI on Monday night, which now has been reported to be a little bit worse than what we thought. And now we're going to see him undergo knee surgery there. So, vikings, you know they were having this little bit of a quarterback battle, I guess you could say, between Sam Darnold and JJ McCarthy to see who would be the number one come week one. And if JJ McCarthy, if he was not the number one week one, if he could potentially at some point in the season end up as the number one for the Vikings there, well, this kind of derails that, for now, this is going to derail this for now. Well, this kind of derails that, for now, this is going to derail this for now. Like I said, it's going to depend on, I mean, how severe it is and how surgery goes right and what the timetable is going to look like after that, to determine how long we're going to see Sam Darnold as the sole man there running the show and if JJ McCarthy will play this season for the Vikings or if they're just going to basically tell him to rest it and we'll see you next season.

Speaker 1: 2:47

You know it's a sucky, sucky, sucky time for the Vikings, right? It seems like anything that can go wrong. Anything that can go wrong. It seems like it happens to the Vikings, right, if it's not their own doing, it's just nature. I don't know. It's something in the water in Minnesota. Well, it might, it definitely could be something in the water in Minnesota, right, I've seen some of the drivers that they have coming out of there some bad drivers, right, maybe it is something in the water over there that makes it just a little bit worse. I don't know. But man, oh man, I mean JJ McCarthy goes down. They've had, they've had injuries, they've had, I mean, just a mess of a time so far this offseason, so far this offseason. And this just adds to the pile. This adds to the pile.

Speaker 1: 3:30

A lot of people were high on the Vikings. They were high on the Vikings potentially being like a 9-8, 10-7 team ending up finding their way into the postseason. And well, I don't know if this completely derails that, if Sam Darnold can have a productive year, but it definitely puts a damper in the moods. It definitely puts a damper in the mood out there in Minnesota. So that was some of the NFL news that's been going on right now.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Looking at a little bit more about the Packers here and Matt LaFleur came out and talking about this upcoming game they're going to have against Denver and stuff like that. He said that he expects to play Lucas Van Ness against Denver while others will sit. Only a select few starters are actually going to play in that game. I don't know, maybe we'll see, like Jordan Morgan get in there, right, maybe we'll see Cooper and Hooper or Hopper when they get back. You know, maybe if they're healthy, ready to go, maybe we see them enter into the starting lineups and just get some reps he's going to use, as Matt LaFleur said, he's going to use Friday's joint practice to get reps, which I mean reps are reps. You're not playing against your own defense. Then I mean I could see it. I could see it from where he's going. It's a little bit more of a controlled environment when you're doing it in a joint practice.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Now, if you ask some other teams like the New York Giants, probably not as much of a controlled atmosphere as what I'm talking about, but I think it's a good plan for that. Van Ness simply, he wants to see Lucas Van Ness get some more time. He had that short career at Iowa, comes into the league, doesn't play a boatload right away. He wants him to get the in-game reps. He wants him to get into the speed of things and start to build. Start to get some more experience there, even though it's preseason. Start to get a little bit more experience there, because then, once regular season rolls around, hoping to have him fueled, ready to rock and roll and with a lot more game experience, basically, is what Matt LaFleur is shooting for there.

Speaker 1: 5:37

So, expect to see Lucas Van Ness out there and a select few starters Outside of that, not expecting to see many others out there, like Jordan Love. We will not see Jordan Love. We're not going to see Josh Jacobs. We're not going to see probably, the starting wide receivers. I would assume you know Watson won't be out there. Dobbs Wicks Don't expect those guys. Jaden Reed don't expect him. I would say Musgrave and maybe Kraft. Kraft might play in the preseason game against the Broncos, but I don't expect Musgrave to be out there. Defensive-wise, I mean, jair didn't play last week. If he's back, I wouldn't expect Jair, probably not. Valentine, maybe if he's back, but he's not back yet, right? So I would not expect to see Valentine out there. I would say it would be the some of the younger starters that are younger guys that were maybe out last week, like Jordan Morgan they're probably see him. Cooper, probably see him. Hopper, like I was saying, probably see him out there a little bit, maybe for a drive, maybe for two. Right, get them into the flow of things.

Speaker 1: 6:42

Kickers we're going to see the kickers. We're going to see the starting kick. Well, whoever's going to be the starter? Right? We talked about yesterday Anders Carlsen or Greg Joseph, who's going to be the guy? We don't know yet. The kicking battle goes on, so we'll see how that all works there. I mean, it's still going to be a good game. I who are going to fill the back ends of the defense there, I'm excited to see some of those guys out there. So still going to be all the way around a game to watch. You still want to be able to watch this thing because you're going to see a bunch of the youth out there yet for Green Bay and plus maybe we'll see some more magic out of Lucas Van Ness there on the defensive line.

Speaker 1: 7:21

So I've been getting some comments as of late and it's coming from Bears fans. It's coming from Bears fans. So Bears fans, they try to find ways to irritate us, to drive us up a wall, and I don't know if this one really drove me up a wall. But Bears fans are trying to point out to me why the Packers will stink this year, because they stunk in all these categories last year and they believe that it's just a never-ending trend for Green Bay that they're going to stink in these categories. So number one, the big one, the run game was amongst the worst in the NFL. Yeah, aaron Jones was out for what? Six games, eight games last season. Aaron Jones was out for a while and never, truthfully, got healthy.

Speaker 1: 8:12

Last season for Green Bay, maybe down the stretch, maybe post-season, when it rolled around there then he was finally back to normal. Outside of that, he wasn't ready to go at all. You had AJ Dillon running the number one back. Emmanuel Wilson didn't do much for him. They tried other options. Nothing was really working. Aj Dillon was about all they had. Well, not working out too hot, right, not working out too hot. So yeah, the run game wasn't the greatest last year. I'll give you that. I'll give you that, because then they say well, you know, the run game wasn't the greatest last year. I'll give you that.

Speaker 1: 8:47

They always just want to bring up passing yards. First off, if you have a good amount of passing yards, that's cool. If you get Jordan Love throwing for over, if he's throwing for a ridiculous amount of yards, the run game just has to be average. The run game just has to be average. But you just added Josh Jacobs into the room. Now I don't know if a lot of people know a lot about Josh Jacobs, simply because he played for the Raiders who were in. They stunk right. They were bad. That was a bad team, bad ran team, all the way around bad. Everything going on out there. Josh Jacobs still put up a decent amount of yards. Now you bring Josh Jacobs into the folding Green Bay with a good offensive line. I mean, yes, the Lions have Gibbs, the Lions have Montgomery. Swift is now with the Bears, right, so everything is good with the world again with those two teams. Don't sleep on, josh Jacobs. That's all I'm going to say.

Speaker 1: 9:48

I am not going to take away from what you know Gibbs and Montgomery. I saw Gibbs. I thought I saw Gibbs. He was injured, I thought I saw. Let's see. He has suffered a hamstring injury.

Speaker 1: 10:05

The concern meter here we injury. The concern meter here we go. The concern meter for Jameer Gibbs. Now let's see what they have as the concern meter. I don't know what that even means. They don't have a. He hurt it at practice. Hamstring injury at practice, from all we know. Let's see if we can find some tweets on it there. They're not really sure how, how long it's going to keep them sidelined at the moment there. But hamstring injuries, those are nagging injuries. Just ask our friend Christian Watson how that all works out for him. So this hamstring injury, if not treated properly and if not rested properly, could become a worse problem for Gibbs. So the Lions lose Gibbs.

Speaker 1: 10:48

They still have Montgomery. So I'm not going to say you know their depth track. They have Montgomery, then Gibbs, then Reynolds, who wasn't bad, and then Vakey back there. But you know Montgomery is still a good back. So Lions will still have a good backfield. They're still going to have a good back in there. So the Bears have DeAndandre swift. I've never thought that deandre swift wasn't a good back. He's a solid back. So you have swift in with chicago. You have montgomery with the lions there and you have aaron jones now with the vikings. How can I forget about that? Aaron jones with the vikings now? So you have I mean, good backs in the NFC North. Now don't sleep on Josh Jacobs being a good back in the in the NFC North simply because you give an offensive line. Now this is a guy.

Speaker 1: 11:31

I was just going to do that. I was just going to look up his career numbers there. I know they were a little bit down as of last I believe it was last season. He had a little bit more of a down year. Oh that well, you try to search up josh jacobs and for some reason it shows up with jacob jacobs, who is a theater director. I have no idea who that is. I, I, maybe out there. You guys know who jacob jacobs is. I have no idea who jacob jacobs is. That picture was in black and white, so I'm gonna I'm gonna take a shot in the dark. That tells me he is not a theater director as of late. But I mean, looking at josh j Jacobs over the years in 2019, he rushed for over 1,000 yards. 2020, over 1,000 yards.

Speaker 1: 12:11

2021, he played in 15 games. He had 872 yards. Looking at the 2022 season, he had over 1,600 yards. Last season there, in 13 games he had 800 yards, 3.5 on his average there. But you look at the years. Let's look at the years here. For Las Vegas In 2022, I mean you look at the Raiders over the years Not solid, not a solid team whatsoever, and Josh Jacobs still putting up good numbers there. I mean his longs 86 for a long there in 2022. Looking at 2019, 51. This is still a dynamic back. And then you look at him out of the backfield there in 2023 he had 296 yards on the backfield. In 2022 he had 400 yards, so it's a guy who can get out of the backfield, still do damage for you, while also doing it between the tackles. You know, and to me I think the packers run game.

Speaker 1: 13:10

I like Darren Jones, don't get me wrong. I like Darren Jones. I will tell everybody that I like Darren Jones. I actually did not like when the Packers originally kind of shafted him, kind of shafted him out of a spot there Well, not out of a spot, but out of a contract and out of bringing him back. So to me, I didn't. I did not like that move by greenback. I liked aaron jones. I thought he was a great back. I did. I thought if he could stay healthy, I thought it made it even better. I don't think that they got worse with the addition of josh jacobs. I don't think they got worse. Do I think that they got tremendously better? I liked Aaron Jones. Like I'm going to be honest with you, I thought Aaron Jones with his own kind of dynamic back, I really did. So I am not going to sit here and tell you that I think that they got tremendously better by getting you know.

Speaker 1: 14:01

You look at Aaron Jones 2022 with over a thousand yards. 2020. Over a thousand yards. 2019. Over a thousand yards. 2021. He had 799 and last season he had 656, but that was in 11 games. There, I mean all the way around.

Speaker 1: 14:17

Aaron Jones has put up good numbers for Green Bay while splitting time too. So for me, I think the Packers, if they didn't go side to side, they might have got a little bit better. Just because of the age right, josh Jacobs is a little bit younger. Looking at him, aaron Jones is 29. I believe Josh Jacobs is a little bit younger. There. He is only 26. I mean, put that into perspective, they got three years younger with Josh Jacobs and just about the same production there. Outside of Josh Jacobs is a little bit more of that bruiser guy. I mean 5'10", 223. Aaron Jones is 5'9", 208. Josh Jacobs is just that little bit more of a bruiser guy for you. But Aaron Jones is a good side to side guy and he was a good guy hitting the hole hard. I mean, that's what Josh Jacobs does too. So I'm here saying Packers, run game this next season. They're going to be solid. They're going to be solid.

Speaker 1: 15:10

The next comment the defense was awful. Okay, the defense was awful. I don't think it was awful completely all the way through. I thought Barry did not help the defense. I thought Barry actually him calling the plays actually made it worse. When Matt LaFleur started calling the defense down the stretch, I thought the defense got better right. So that's where I stand on the defense of the Green Bay Packers, I think with Halfley now in the room, I think with the additions of Bullard and I think with Valentine Van Ness, cooper you know some of these guys I'm trying to think of some Rashawn Gary having another year, devontae Wyatt, kenny, clark, jair staying healthy, adding Xavier McKinney, quay Walker with another year of experience.

Speaker 1: 15:57

All the way around. I think the defense has improved. I think they got some youth in there now. I think they have some ball hawks in there and I think, with Halfley running the defense, a new 4-3 style defense. I'm loving what I've seen at Green Bay's defense so far. I think there's a lot of drive behind this defense.

Speaker 1: 16:18

I think this defense is going to be very underrated heading into this next season, simply because a lot of people don't know a lot about the defense, because they saw it underneath of Joe Barry, I think underneath of Halfley. It's going to flip the script. I think it's going to change a lot. Just like you talk about people talking about the Eagles out there, the Eagles with new coach, you know, new coordinators, things being changed on the defensive side of the ball, they think that's going to be a boost for the Eagles. I think this coordinator change for Green Bay bringing Halfley in, getting rid of Barry, I think that's going to be huge for Green Bay. Barry, I think that's going to be huge for Green Bay. So that is definitely something that I think they will definitely improve on. I will say the defense did struggle at times last season there, maybe even the year before that. I think the defense will be tremendously better this year.

Speaker 1: 16:56

Special teams the last thing they mentioned, special teams was bad for Green Bay last year. Well, yes, that's why we got two kickers in a competition right now. Right, that's why we got two kickers in a competition right now is because we're trying to fix that problem with either Joseph or Anders Carlson figuring it out there. So, yes, the defense was not, or the special teams excuse me, the special teams was not great last year there. But I mean, say Anders Carlsen loses the job, greg Joseph steps in, everything's good with the world changes the whole narrative there. Changes the whole narrative there. Keyshawn Nixon is still bringing back kicks we saw. I mean he has some explosiveness to him now with these new kickoff rules, maybe Green Bay can take advantage of that. With Keyshawn Nixon being back there, also guys like Jayden Reed in the punt game, stuff like that I think that is going to be a massive boost for him.

Speaker 1: 17:51

There Is that changing that kickoff rule. We'll see how that all works out and how that I mean that's going to be something interesting to watch too is how that affects the special teams on all teams, not just Green Bay, but all teams there. Simply making it easier, for you know they don't want as many touchbacks. They don't want guys to kneel, they don't want, you know, all that kind of baloney. They want guys to return the football and make it interesting, right? You know we're hoping that everybody can be like a Devin Hester out there and we can have at least one kick return for a touchdown in every game, right? That kind of seems what they want is to see more explosiveness in the return game and not make it one of those things where it's just kick it off, ends up going through the back of the end zone. They get it out at 25, we move on with life, right? I mean, they they want to avoid that. That's what they're doing with these new kickoff rules.

Speaker 1: 18:36

So I think it's going to change a lot. Of special teams coordinators are going to have a little bit more planned for, essentially, and if you think it's just going to be Green Bay who may have troubles in the special teams room, I think you're bogus. I think you're bogus because whoever listened out there, your favorite team might struggle in that same department now as special teams, simply because it might be set up better for kick returners. Right, it might change the entire landscape. It might change the entire landscape. It might change the entire landscape of everything that we know. Look at some other things like rule changes that they've made. Baseball is big in pitch clock and batter clocks and bigger bases and only thrown over the first how many times? Rule changes definitely change things, right, they may be self-explanatory there, but they change the pace of things and they change. You know, all that kind of stuff, all that kind of stuff. So I think that's something to keep an eye on there for all teams is how does this new special teams rule affect your team. I think that's something that I'm going to be watching and you know it has me interested.

Speaker 1: 19:50

I sometimes I hate when they make rule changes because it affects I'm a. I'm a simple person. I'm a simple person. I don't like change. I like this. I like things to stay as they were.

Speaker 1: 20:00

Baseball was a perfect game. An imperfect game right, it was an imperfect game. Nothing's perfect, right, nothing's perfect. Nobody is. Nothing is perfect out there, and yet they make these tweaks to it to try to make it better. Now, will this tweak make the special teams? Will it make it more interesting? I think it will. Right, I think it will. Will it make it more interesting for the better or for the worse of the game? That's something we're going to be watching out for. So with that, I mean, that's about all I got for Packer Talk for the day, just a little tidbits here, here and there in that one. But with that I want to get to some sponsors of our show here quick, before we move on First, game Day Supply in Onalaska.

Speaker 1: 20:43

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Speaker 1: 21:07

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Speaker 1: 21:37

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Speaker 1: 21:53

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Speaker 1: 22:25

So, before we get to the Brewers, before we get to the Brewers, I want to get to a little NBA and I saw this little graphic I saw today and it's going to be a quick one about the NBA. There's a little graphic I saw and it said who would you bench? Out of these six guys? You have to make your starting lineup. Who are you going to bench? So, the lineup that they showed, the guys that they showed Shea Gildress, alexander, Luka Doncic, giannis Durant, embiid and Jokic. So out of those six, you got your five starters. One guy for the bench. Who are you looking at? Well, you know this one.

Speaker 1: 23:09

Actually, a lot of people in there were saying like SGA's got to go to the bench, you know, and I was like SGA to the bench, why? You know, I'm looking at this lineup and I'm like, okay, you put SGA on the bench. You have Donchik, you have Durant, you have Giannis Embiid and Joker in your starting lineup. You, you have Giannis Embiid and Joker in your starting lineup. You have two bigs Giannis technically qualifies as a big. You have Durant, who is, I mean, a bigger guy, right, and you have Doncic, who's going to guard any point guard out there in that starting five.

Speaker 1: 23:39

They ain't going to go in the paint. But I'm going to tell you what. Ain't nobody in there going to be able to get close to Steph Curry, right? So, looking at these six, I SGA is my point guard. I need a little bit of speed. I need some athleticism. That's Shea Gildress, alexander. I need some shooting. Luka. I need a solid shooter behind that in my small forward, kevin Durant. I need a number four. I need a power forward, giannis. I need a center. I need a guy who's going to be able to do it all for me and be a bruiser in the paint. Joker Embiid's my odd man out.

Speaker 1: 24:27

Honestly, you look at these five, you look at these six and you're saying to yourself, okay, I've got to build a lineup out of these six and bench one of them. I don't know how you look at this and you say I'm going to start both Embiid and Joker, unless if you're playing a team that on the opposing side has, let's just say, other bigs in the league, bam Adebayo starting, and let's just say they also have Brooke Lopez, right, two bigs. I mean Brooke stands out three-point line, so probably not a good one there. Anthony Davis, let's go. Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, those two guys are the ones that you're squaring off with. Okay, now maybe you can go with two bigs, but yet I could throw Giannis onto one of them and I think I could make it right. I think I could figure it out. I just don't.

Speaker 1: 25:20

You know a lot of people saying SGA is on my bench. I think you bench one of the bigs. I think you bench one of the bigs. I don't know. That was an interesting one. I just thought it was quite interesting and the comments I saw like 50 of them at least that were looking at putting sga on the bench and starting in bead joker, durant, yannis and donchik I mean that's a big starting five.

Speaker 1: 25:45

That is a big starting five, but also not a lot of speed on there, not a lot of speed. And I want speed in that point guard position because there's a lot of fast guards. I mean, imagine trying to guard tyrese maxi with luca. Right, you have Tyrese and Luka squaring off. Who's going to win that battle, steph against Luka? Who's going to win that battle? You just look through some of these guys. Who's going to win the battles if you square them off against each other? I think that's where SGA steps in. That's where SGA steps in there. That is about all I had. That's just all I wanted to mention there in that department.

Speaker 1: 26:17

But before we move on I know usually Autumn does the fact of the day here, but I will give you your fact of the day here. On this day in 1919, chicago white socks outfielder happy felch ties the mlb record for four outfield assists in a game in a 15 to 6 loss to the boston red socks. Definitely did not help the pitching department there. 1932, brooklyn Dodgers reliever John Quinn, 49, becomes the oldest pitcher to win an MLB game in a two-to-one 10th inning victory over the New York Giants at the polo grounds there. And also in 1932, the Summer Olympics games close in Los Angeles, california. Also in 1933, jimmy Foxx hits for the cycle and sets AL record with nine RBIs in that game. So that was on this day in sports history.

Speaker 1: 27:28

There. Not a lot happened in the birthday department. I just saw that they had a birthday department here of people born on this day. There probably was somebody important born on this day. I'm just not seeing nothing. I'm just not seeing nothing of anything Magic Johnson. There we go. Magic Johnson was born on this day in 1959. So now you know Happy birthday to Magic Johnson out there. Great stuff, great stuff there.

Speaker 1: 27:54

So, with that, let's get into some baseball talk for the day. Let's look at the updated MLB standings. Right now we're kind of everybody sitting heading into this week where everybody's sitting, where everybody is kind of trending towards right now. So in the AL, in the AL East, we see the Baltimore Orioles up top there. They are 70 and 50 right now on the season. Tied with them for first place is the New York Yankees, also at 70-50. In the record department, six games back right now, are the Boston Red Sox, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays who are 10.5 back there, and the Toronto Blue Jays are 14 and a half back. Looking at the American League Central, right now we see the Guardians with the best record in the American League and, I believe, the best record in baseball as it stands right now 71 and 49. Right now they lead the american league central by four games over the minnesota twins as we head into this week here. Kansas city royals they come in in the three spot right now, five and a half back. The detroit tigers at 14 back. And well, the chicago white socks are mathematically basically eliminated from playoff contention. So who really cares about them? Houston astros now lead the al west by a game and a half. Marin Mariners in second there, followed by the Rangers, who are nine and a half back, the Angels 12 back and the Oakland Athletics sitting 14 back In the National League. We see the Phillies up top in the AL East by six and a half over the Braves. The Mets come in at seven and a half games back of first place right now, the Nationals at 14 and a half and the Marlins at 24 and a half games back of first place right now. The Nationals at 14 and a half and the Marlins at 24 and a half. The Brewers lead the Central by eight games right now, followed by the Cardinals, then the Cincinnati Reds at nine games back, followed by the Cubs at nine and a half games back. And the Pirates, who were surging at one point, have now lost eight in a row. Now they're one and nine in their last 10 games and they are struggling mightily right now. This is this is the collapse that we talk about with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Speaker 1: 30:04

In the NL West we see the Dodgers up top 70 and 49. They have the best record in the National League right now. As the Phillies have lost four in a row, the Dodgers have moved into, I believe, yeah, the best record in the National League Following them up right now is the Arizona Diamondbacks they're 3.5 back the Padres sitting 3.5 back the Giants at 10 games back and the Colorado Rockies sitting in last place there. Looking at the wild card race right now in the National League, this is the big one I wanted to look at because the wild card races it's a tight one. It's a tight wildcard race right now In the National League. We see the Diamondbacks and Padres both four games up on the Braves right now in the wildcard. The Mets a game back of the wildcard Giants two and a half back the St Louis Cardinals three games back the Cubs sitting and the Cubs four and a half back the Reds four games back the cubs sitting and the cubs four and a half back the reds four games back pirates six games back. So a tight racer in the national league for that third wild card spot with the braves looming behind the padres and the diamondbacks right now for that one spot in the american league. I mean you look, yankees, they're five games up in the wild card tied for first in division. The twins two and a half games up Royals in that third wildcard spot. One game back are the Red Sox Mariners are two games back, five and a half for the race, and then it goes down from there, as you know. So we're kind of seeing it all right now. These wildcard races are starting to heat up and it's only going to get crazier, right, it's only going to get crazier as we go along here.

Speaker 1: 31:34

So with that, I want to get some Brewer talk here. I want to get some Brewer talk. The first thing I want to say about the Brewers is I don't know what it is about watching the Brewers and Dodgers series when the Brewers play the Dodgers. I don't know what it is about this series when they play each other. But everything is just amplified for me. I guess is what I want to say.

Speaker 1: 31:58

You know, I watch the Brewers and they could be playing, let's just say, the Phillies or the Cubs and the Cardinals. Right, I don't like the Cubs, I don't like the Cardinals, the Phillies are, eh, for me there, excuse me there, but you know, you look at these teams. It's like I really don't care that much. They play the Dodgers and it's just like every bad thing that could possibly happen to the Brewers happens. It just seems to happen Like I just watched Garrett Mitchell swing in a 95-mile-per-hour fastball, dead red, and swing right through it, like everything that could possibly go wrong goes wrong when the Brewers play the Dodgers. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. And you know, colin Ray can look fantastic against the Phillies. He can go pitch against the Dodgers same style, same everything. And the Dodgers are going to light them up for how many runs. It's just I don't know what it is, but the Dodgers just have the Brewers number. They just have it. It's been like this for years. They just have their number and it's just a downhill slope.

Speaker 1: 33:01

It just seems like the Brewers cannot get over the hump of the Dodgers. 2018 was the last time where I thought the Brewers were going to get over that hump and they failed to get over that hump. Right now, I mean, like I said, we're talking about a 7-1 game. Right now, looking at the Brewers, I mean bottom of the seventh potentially probably game. Right now, looking at the brewers, I mean bottom of seventh, potentially probably most likely, barring a massive comeback, which I'm hoping for, right, but it seems like it's out the door.

Speaker 1: 33:25

Leaving guys on base is a problem and these brewers hitters you know they. It's like we go into a dodger series and these brewers hitters. We could go up against the braves and these brewers hitters could drop 30 runs. You know, we saw them do go up against the Braves and these Brewers hitters could drop 30 runs. We saw them do ridiculous things against the Braves this last time out. They could do ridiculous things against the Braves.

Speaker 1: 33:45

And then they go face this Dodgers team who doesn't have there isn't a guy in the Brewers or in the Dodgers rotation or anything like that that has this phenomenal ERA. They're not the greatest pitching team in the world, right, but it's just like the Brewers face them and it happens against a lot of not so great pitchers. The Brewers face them and it's like this guy looks like he could win a Cy Young when he faces the Brewers. Why is that? It's just the Dodgers to me. It's just the Dodgers to me. They face this team and it it's like they show up and they're already overmatched somehow. I don't understand how they're overmatched in the series, but it just seems like they show up and they're overmatched. They don't know what to do. They're guessing on pitches. It's like it's their first time picking out a baseball bat and they have no idea what to do. You know, I don't know what it is. Like Gavin Stone.

Speaker 1: 34:37

I thought Gavin Stone, for the Dodgers, pitched a good game but he left a lot over the plate. He left a lot over the plate that the Brewers missed. Same with Clayton Kershaw. I thought Clayton Kershaw pitched a good game, but Kershaw left some over the plate for the Brewers. These younger guys for the Brewers seemed like they were looking at I don't know like looking at them, and the feeling that I got when watching the Brewers hitters was like they were facing like primetime Mariano Rivera coming out of the back end of the bullpen and you had to try to muster across two runs. That's what it seemed like when they're facing. It seems like that's what it's like when they're facing the Dodgers. Right, bryce Terang. Right now he starts in an 0-2 hole. I mean I thought Jeff Levering was the one talking about last night, but he said it. I mean, straight as an arrow. Right now, bryce Terang, he steps up to the plate. It's like this guy's in an 0-2 hole.

Speaker 1: 35:26

A lot of these Brewers hitters against the Dodgers. It seems like they're stepping up there in an 0-2 hole already and they can't figure it out. They're watching a lot of pitches right over the plate and then they're chasing some bad pitches along with it. It's a guessing game right now and I'm not taking away from what Gavin Stone did or what Kershaw did, because I thought they pitched good games. I thought they did. I did not think they pitched. I just watched Joey Ortiz watch when 96 right down the middle I mean, that's what I'm talking about is the Brewers are going up to the plate and they're digging themselves these holes because they're guessing. I can't believe that they just I'm just going to eat my own words on that one that Joey Ortiz just dribbled one down the third baseline and that was a fiasco. They ended up scoring a run.

Speaker 1: 36:15

I guess I'll take it as I get it right. I'll take it as I get it, but I mean nine times out of ten probably not going to work out in the Brewers' favor. I mean it's the guys left on base. It's the clutch moments in these games. The Brewers I talked about it yesterday Are they even with the Dodgers right now? No, I don't think they are. I don't think they are because I think it's a mentality thing with the Brewers. I really do. I think it's the mentality of the Brewers.

Speaker 1: 36:42

Early on this season I made a comment that I never felt like the Brewers were out of games. I never felt like they did. You know, it didn't matter who it was If it was the Phillies, it didn't matter to me who it was. I never felt like the Brewers were out of a game. Right now, facing this Dodgers team, it feels like when the Dodgers went up 4-1, I believe it was at one point, it was 4-1. After that two-run shot, when was at one point, it was 4-1. After that two-run shot, when they went down 4-1, it felt like this game might be out of reach. This game might be out of reach for the Brewers. It just has that feeling. When they face the Dodgers it's like the mistakes can't happen.

Speaker 1: 37:19

And right now I talked about Freddie Peralta yesterday there. Can Freddie Peralta be the ace of the Brewer staff? I don't think so. I'll be honest with you. I don't think so, simply because Freddy Peralta, as I mentioned yesterday, gets himself into problems or gets himself into trouble. But also look at the pitches that he leaves over the plate. And that's the same with Colin Ray. The one to Will Smith was the one that was inner half but it was middle of the zone, right. But the Shoei Otani home run, that was a middle, middle sinker, middle, middle sinker. What's Shoei Otani going to do with that? Besides, put it in the parking lot, right, what's he going to do with it?

Speaker 1: 38:03

The pitches I don't know if it's Contreras' game calling the pitches, I don't know if it's Contreras' game calling, if it's just pitchers missing spots, that bad, but the way that they pitch is like even their breaking stuff. Why are we starting it middle of the plate or high and breaking it down? You know, I watched Bryce Durang take strike three. I mean, why are these Brewers pitchers and this, I guess, is my biggest concern is that the breaking stuff? You know, I don't know. I pitched a little bit, right, I pitched high school, pitched college a little bit.

Speaker 1: 38:48

Why do Brewers pitchers Freddy Peralta's big for this start that breaking ball so they want it to break into the zone? Right, you can get away with it every once in a while, but when that breaking ball, say it's that curveball breaks in. Look at, that's what I'm talking with. That Kershaw start. He was throwing a good curveball but he was leaving it up in the zone. Same with Freddie. He throws a good breaking ball. It has the bite, it has the break, but he's leaving it up in the zone. You watch some of the better relievers, better starters in the game. Where is the breaking stuff? It breaks down. It breaks down near bottom of the zone to just outside of the zone. On the bottom they're making guys chase that pitch.

Speaker 1: 39:33

Look at what gavin stone did to the brewers last night with his change up. Right, that change up was not in the zone. He made the brewers hitters look like doorknobs out there when they were swinging. Yes, were they guessing 100, but he was making them look foolish when they were swinging because, yes, were they guessing 100%, but he was making them look foolish when they were swinging because he was breaking it out of the zone. Colin Ray didn't do that in his start Four home runs. Freddy Peralta did not do that in his start Gave up a couple home runs.

Speaker 1: 40:01

It's the little things like that that kills the starting pitchers for the Brewers, why their home run numbers are near the top in the league right now. That has a big reason to do with it, right, and I mean looking at the Brewers' bats right now why they're struggling. If they faced their own pitchers they'd probably be phenomenal because guys leaped it up. Well, I don't even know. I don't even know because, looking at Kershaw, he was leaving a lot up too, and the Brewers hitters seem fooled by everything. It's the Dodgers. It just feels like it's the Dodgers that when the Brewers face them, all bets are off and they could go into this thing on a torrid pace and everything just seems to fall apart. Everything just seems to fall apart for the Brewers all at once. They can't pitch, they can't hit, everything starts to go out the window.

Speaker 1: 40:49

So back to my question from yesterday Do I think the Brewers are up to par with the Dodgers? No, I don't think they are. I think they have the potential to be. I think this lineup has potential. I think they have a boatload of potential. Do I think they have the star power? No, but do I think they have the ability to bang it out with the Dodgers? Yes, I do. I really do. I really do think the Brewers bats have what it takes to get in a series with the Dodgers and potentially be able to find to go run for run with them.

Speaker 1: 41:17

At times the Dodgers find a ways. In the power game, brewers, starting pitchers, relievers need to find a way to limit that, to limit the home run ball. Keep Shohei Otani in the park, keep Mookie Betts in the park, keep these guys in the ballpark, make them work for runs. They find ways to manufacture runs. I'm not going to say they can't manufacture runs other ways, but the home run ball is what kills the Brewers and it's killing them mightily in this series against the Dodgers. Right now I'm looking at this 7-2 here in the top of the eighth. I'm hoping, like I said, brewers come back and I'm wrong.

Speaker 1: 41:48

But right now, looking at it as I'm talking, right now, it looks like the Brewers are going to start this series in a 2-0 hole, in a series that they wanted to prove that they could be a top team in the NL and they wanted to try and play and play. They wanted to play their way to a two seed right. They wanted to play their way to a two seed and right now they're playing like possibly a wild card team. They're playing like a wild card team right now who barely has the business to be in this. Now game three, four, that could change the entire perspective. You split this series with the Dodgers before you have the Guardians. That could set you up for a world of just feeling better about yourself.

Speaker 1: 42:25

But it's getting that one, getting the lead and holding onto that lead, that the Brewers are struggling right now because they're starting in holes against this Dodger team early and the Dodgers, when they've they found gaps, they pour on runs. They find that gap and they pour on runs and that's what they've been doing right now to this Brewers team. So watching the Brewers and Dodgers just irritates me. It irritates the. You know, if you're a fan of baseball, you know you're probably saying to yourself well, the Brewers are stinking, the Brewers are stinking. If you're a Brewer fan, you're saying why does it always the Dodgers who just have our number? It just does not make sense there. So with that, that's about all I got. That's about all I got for today.

Speaker 1: 43:02

I mean not a whole lot happening in the world of Wisconsin sports, but I mean we're getting closer and closer to the fall. We're going to have a lot of Packer talk going on, a lot of Badger football talk getting closer and closer to Badger basketball. So we're going to be talking Badger. I mean it's going to heat up fast. It's going to heat up fast. Plus, baseball we have baseball post -season not too far out and I can't wait to be talking about the Brewers in the postseason, hopefully for a long stretch there.

Speaker 1: 43:26

So with that, like I always say, if you can like, follow anywhere on social media, follow us Facebook, instagram, twitter, find us out there, follow us there. Otherwise, like, leave a review on our. If you're listening on Spotify, apple Podcasts, wherever you're listening, make sure you like subscribe, leave a review. Definitely, if you have the opportunity, share the show out there to your friends, family, whoever you know. Share it out there for us, help us grow. That would be awesome there. But with that, this has been Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trage. Thank you guys for listening. I hope you enjoy the rest of your.

Speaker 2: 44:02

Wednesday.

Speaker 1: 44:02

But until I talk to you guys again tomorrow, deu for the light of day.

Speaker 2: 44:29

Down to the river, I have held the devil's hand, Felt the weight of my own sin, burdened by the heart of man Down to the river, down to the river, oh oh, bury me, carry me, oh oh, far beneath. Oh oh, fire in one of me Going down deep Sand.