Show notes
Fred Zinkie and Jeff Erickson discuss the NL MVP race, closer pockets from 2026 drafts and one month outliers after the All-Star Break.
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00:00 MLB Pod 8-18-26
00:15 News:
00:30 PCA is the first (and possibly only) 30-30 player this season, as he homered twice (and so did NL MVP challenger Shohei Ohtani)…..
08:00 Cutting Kyle Tucker
16:15 Jacob Wilson was scratched due to a sore shoulder
19:00 Max Fried is back on the IL, which makes him a drop
20:00 Monday was a big day for player returns: Oneil Cruz, Maikel Garcia, Shane McClanahan, Jordan Lawlar, Vinnie Pasquantino, Justin Martinez, Carlos Rodon, AJ Smith-Shawver
21:45 Ketel Marte is away from the team due to a personal matter, then flew back to AZ for knee
25:00 Bobby Witt Jr. had a big game in an otherwise unremarkable (for him) season
28:45 Circa
29:50 Bridge topic: Closer review from 2026 drafts.
31:00 Edwin Diaz to the IL
33:30 Spend Up on Closers Nevertheless
36:00 Second Tier Disasters
39:45 Next Tier Questionable
49:50 BlueWire
49:55 Main Topic: One month since ASB. Article coming for reference.
50:00 Brandon Pfaadt
54:00 Ty France
55:45 Alec Bohm
57:00 Abimelec Ortiz
58:35 Walbert Ureña
1:02:00 Mason Montgomery
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