Baseball Bar-B-Cast

On Tuesday night in Anaheim, there were quite a few fireworks at the ballpark—rather than a notable theme park—and it all went down between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Reynaldo López and Jorge Soler traded blows after their heated rivalry reached its peak, causing benches to clear from both sides.

On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman break down the fight that saw López and Soler exchange punches before it was eventually broken up, with Braves manager Walt Weiss tackling his former player. The guys then discuss the Los Angeles Dodgers handling a depleted Toronto Blue Jays team in the first two games of their World Series rematch, with the Dodgers looking for a sweep today.

Later, Jake and Jordan welcome Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing to the show, where they talk about his time in Los Angeles’s system, being drafted by a West Coast team and the heavy expectations that come with playing for the club. To close the show, they get into Sandy Alcantara not being thrilled about being taken out of his last start, Konnor Griffin getting a contract extension and two notable pitching injuries that are hurting their clubs.

0:48 - The Opener: Fight Night in California

17:13 - Field Report: Dodgers-Blue Jays recap

27:53 - Dalton Rushing joins the show

47:08 - We Need to Talk About: Alcantara’s not happy

52:17 - Around the League: Konnor Griffin gets an extension

55:43 - Two big pitching injuries

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are picking up where they left off last season, sitting in 1st place in the National League West with a 7–2 record. While they’ve had early-season success, the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t exactly in the same form just yet this season. However, the Jays are looking to turn their early season around with a big rematch starting on Monday.

On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman recap all the action from the weekend in baseball, which saw the Dodgers sweep the Washington Nationals and the Blue Jays get surprisingly swept by the Chicago White Sox. With the 2025 World Series rematch set to take place in Toronto, the Jays will face some familiar faces, including Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Will the Dodgers be able to repeat their success at the Rogers Centre like last October?

Later, Jake and Jordan get into the rough weekend the Boston Red Sox had at Fenway Park against the San Diego Padres that saw them drop two out of three and now has them sitting at an MLB-worst 2–7 record. They also discuss the incredible defensive game from Jo Adell, where he robbed three home runs, as well as the highly anticipated debut from Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Konnor Griffin and the New York Yankees failing to sweep the Miami Marlins after a shaky bullpen effort.

1:08 - The Opener: Dodgers-Blue Jays set for rematch

24:42 - How Sweep It Is: Konnor Griffin’s debut

35:50 - Around The League: Red Sox rough start to 2026

46:44 - Jo Adell robs three home runs

52:07 - Turbo Time: Yankees fail to sweep Rays

57:06 - Justin Verlander heads to the IL

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app:
🎧 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify
🖥️ YouTube
📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv
And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:
🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social
🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ
📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq
⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz
🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_

The Pittsburgh Pirates will play their first game of the 2026 season at home and the excitement will be at an all-time high after they promoted Konnor Griffin to the big league club. The 19-year-old top prospect is set to make his Major League debut, becoming the first teenage position player in the game since Juan Soto made his debut.

On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman talk about the not-so-surprising news of Griffin’s promotion following his outstanding 2025 minor league season. They then get into the reported contract extension the Pirates are trying to finalize for their new shortstop and what it could mean for the future of the club.

 

Later, Jake and Jordan discuss the current state of the Boston Red Sox after they’ve started the year 1–5 and whether the alarms going off that are causing fans to panic are warranted. The guys then close the show by previewing all the weekend matchups in baseball and making their picks for this week’s edition of The Good, The Bad and The Uggla.

1:33 – The Opener: Pirates promote Konnor Griffin

17:21 – What Griffin means to the Pirates’ future

30:21 – We Need To Talk About: Red Sox panic?

38:40 – What’s good this week?

43:03 – What’s bad this week?

47:32 – What’s Uggla this week?

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app:
🎧 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify
🖥️ YouTube
📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv
And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:
🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social
🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ
📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq
⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz
🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_

On Tuesday night, Shohei Ohtani started his first game for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season and appeared to already be in midseason form. The reigning National League Most Valuable Player struck out six batters over six innings of scoreless ball en route to LA’s 4–1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.

 

On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman review the start from the Japanese superstar, discuss why this could be the beginning of a possible NL Cy Young campaign and highlight how funny it is that Ohtani sometimes pitches and hits in the same inning. They then talk about Roki Sasaki’s first start of the season and the reasons for optimism as he adjusts to MLB hitters.

 

Later, Jake and Jordan welcome the voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball and the Detroit Tigers, Jason Benetti, as he talks about his road to becoming a baseball broadcaster, why he feels a deep responsibility in this role and some of the things he’s looking forward to this season. The guys then get into the Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers handing out contract extensions to players who have yet to make their MLB debuts and highlight Jose Fernandez’s first game in the big leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

1:10 – The Opener: Shohei on the bump

22:24 – Roki Sasaki’s first start of 2026

25:20 – Jason Benetti joins the show

38:04 – The importance of Sunday Night Baseball for MLB

57:01 – We Need to Talk About: Pre-debut extensions

1:13:15 – Around the League: Andrew Painter debuts

1:19:43 – Jose Fernandez’s immediate impact

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app:
🎧 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify
🖥️ YouTube
📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv
And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:
🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social
🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ
📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq
⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz
🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_

The biggest storyline heading into the 2026 Major League Baseball season was how teams would adapt to and utilize the newly implemented Automated Ball-Strike challenge system. After a weekend’s worth of games, it’s already making an impact on outcomes, and we couldn’t be happier about it.

On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss the instant success that ABS has been, both in terms of its importance in games and for fan entertainment. They dive into early statistics surrounding the challenges, including which catchers are succeeding and why hitters appear to be getting the shorter end of the stick instead of pitchers. We also saw the first ejection associated with ABS—but could more be coming?

Later, Jake and Jordan recap every matchup from the weekend, including why Tony Vitello needs to take a breath after his San Francisco Giants got swept by the New York Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays picking up where they left off after their magical World Series run, and thoughts on Edwin Díaz’s entrance with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The guys then discuss the hottest start for the Miami Marlins since 2009, Chase DeLauter’s great series against the Seattle Mariners, and a few messy games between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels.

1:10 - The Opener: Impact of ABS

28:09 - How Sweep It Is: Yankees sweep Giants

36:31 - Dodgers start the season hot

47:03 - Around the League: DeLauter says hello

51:44 - Mets fail to sweep Pirates

55:33 - Turbo Mode: Every series recap

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app:
🎧 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify
🖥️ YouTube
📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv
And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:
🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social
🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ
📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq
⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz
🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_