The Kevin Karius Show - Mar. 26th, 2026 - Hour 4

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1:01The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA's heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment. All right, welcome back to the Big Program, 1002, an Edmonton Time Now for the Game of the Day, which is kind of obvious. Tonight's Oilers Gold and Nights Tilt in Vegas, brought to you by St. Albert Dodge, where clear out on the remaining 2025 Jeep Wranglers is almost come to a close. Still a couple of vehicles left on the lock. The Sahara Package starts at $59.9. There's only a couple of them left. St. Albert Dodge.com, check them out, give them a call,

2:01or a little look-see on the old website as we welcome back Jesse Granger from the athletic, covers the Gold and Nights morning. Jesse with Kevin Carious has always thanks for jumping on sports 1440 this morning. Really appreciate it. Yeah, good morning. Thanks for having me. All right, I got to get this straight. I just found out and heard that you were playing in your beer league championship game last night in Vegas. What the hell happened, Jesse? Let's hear all about it. Yeah, I was glorious. I'm sure all the listeners are thrilled to hear about my beer league game. It was fun. It was a championship game. It was a close game, two to two in the final moments, and we scored the game winning goal with five seconds left. It was pretty drilling. Kidding. Did you have the game winner or what? No, I'm the goalie. Oh, there's almost 200 feet away on the other end. There you go. I did not know that. Well, the big win between the pipes, maybe explain to our listeners what like adult hockey, beer league hockey is like compared to here where as you can imagine, there are like a million

3:02leagues and million players going at it. What's it like down there? It's been really fun to watch it grow from being just basically one ranked. There were two ranks in town, but they weren't always full before the Goldenites got here to now we've got the Goldenites themselves have built two facilities with two sheets of ice each. So we're now up to seven sheets of ice that are public. That's not including the like professional arenas. We got seven sheets of ice and it is packed here in Vegas. I mean, I usually play at 10, 30, 11 o'clock at night because it's all the Utah hockey obviously takes up the early spots and yeah, it's been really cool. And they're in talks to build another facility and then maybe even two more facilities because the demand is so high right now is it's really cool to watch. Well, you know, like I remember going down to Dallas covering the others in the late 90s, Jesse and to see the Dr. Pepper centers down there that we're just starting because the stars were getting going. I would imagine that's the same thing just, you know, a few decades later here in Vegas. Yeah, it is. It obviously starts with the

4:06Utah key and the junior Goldenites are it's a great program. They travel all over and win some tournaments. Obviously, you're still trying to build from the ground up, but yeah, no, it's and even like the adult hockey, it's there are leagues every night in every rank across town on all different levels. It's a lot of fun. Yeah, do you have a lot of Canadians down there that live, you know, full time that are playing too? You know what, it is Canadians and also just people from hockey towns, people from Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, stuff like that. Like Vegas is a transient city. There aren't many people that are born and raised in Vegas. A lot pretty much everyone here moved from somewhere and you get a lot of people that grew up playing hockey in a more traditional market and now they obviously have a lot of more people to play with here in Vegas than they used to nine years ago before the Goldenites showed up. Yeah, cool stuff. Jesse Granger from the athletic, whether it's on the Kevin Keri Show in sports 1440. Well, hey, maybe the way you're playing between the pipes, the Goldenites could use you here. Yeah, the safe

5:06percentage, I think I'm keep it up with those guys fairly. What is it, Jesse? I mean, what have you seen because I mean, it's not too long ago that Aiden Hill led this team to a Stanley Cup? Yeah, it's a combination of a few things. I think Aiden deserves some of the blame. Even though I'm the goalie guy, I'm not going to completely take it off of Aiden. I do think that Aiden has had an up and down year and he hasn't looked quite himself. He started off a little bit slow, then got hurt and missed quite a bit of time. And since he came back, he just hasn't looked quite as explosive laterally as we're used to from him and he's a big guy. So it's not like he's the most nimble of goalies, but for his size, he's a really athletic goalie and he hasn't looked quite as quick getting to his spots and just being a half second behind the play that can give you problems when tracking the puck. And I think that that combined with the fact that the Goldenites just haven't been as good defensively as they've been in past years. When Aiden Hill won that Stanley Cup, his numbers were tremendous, but that was clearly a product of everything together. He was

6:10playing well himself, but he was also very well insulated behind Bruce Cassidy's zone defense that keeps the puck out of the slot in the dangerous areas about as well as anyone back then. This year, now they lost Alex Petrangelo. He was the best defenseman on this team by a long shot. You lose him, that's a huge void. They've also lost Nick Hague, who was a big body that battled in front of the net and cleared out lanes for the goalie to see. They lost that white cloud in the trade for Rasmus Anderson, and they've replaced these guys with talented defenseman, Noah Hanuffin, Rasmus Anderson, but they're more skilled defenseman, they're more finesse defenseman, they're not quite as they're not bullies in front of their own net the way Petrangelo and Hague and white cloud were. And I think that it's causing a lot more bodies to be in front of the net. And now we're seeing goals go in from further out in the zone because the goalie's not getting his eyes on the release as well. And that's just a product of you play that zone defense. There are going to be a lot of bodies in front of the net. And if your guys aren't strong enough to out muscle, be other guys and get it. I'm not not to say these guys are strong enough, but they're just not

7:12quite as dominant as they once were. Yeah, it's a totally different look with Rasmus Anderson coming in. How would you evaluate since he's come in since the deadline and how he's performed here, Jesse? Yeah, it's been a bit of a rough start for him here. I still think he's trying to find his game. There are times when he has the popcorn, he really pops offensively. He likes to activate into the point. Hey, you'll see him dive deep down into the offensive zone and creates and stuff. Defensively, I think he's still trying to find his game here in Vegas. His gaps have been not what he would like on, especially in transition, maybe getting guys a little too much space entering the zone. But we've seen a lot of players join this team because they're constantly making big moves, trades and free agency. And it usually does take a little while for someone to gel. So I don't think we've seen the best of Rasmus Anderson yet here in Vegas. Jesse Granger from the athletic with us on the Kevin Kerri show here on sports 1440. I just wanted to maybe go back to

8:13the trade deadline. Do you think that the Golden Knights did enough? Were their hands tied with cap and things like that? Maybe just your perspective on what happened at the deadline by the Knights? Yeah, I certainly don't think they did enough. When you look at, they haven't looked like a Stanley Cup contender this season and you look at Colorado and Minnesota and Dallas and they all made more significant ads and they were already looking really good before that. But I don't think it was out of choice. I think the Golden Knights, I think the prices were really high at this deadline. And the Golden Knights don't have a first round pick in 2026. They don't have a first round pick in 2027 and they did trade their second round pick in 2028 at the deadline. Because they've made a lot of these trades, the one for Hanneson, the one for Anderson, they've run out of the high end ammunition that they're used to having for these trades. And then the fact that the prices were so high made it even more difficult. And like you said, the cap space is also a challenge. So

9:14this is a team that was kind of up against the wall. They didn't have a ton of room to add. And they tried to add some identity. They went out and got Nick Dowd, who's a matchup fourth liner who can take tough minutes. They got Colesmith, who's a fourth checker, which is something they needed. They needed a fourth check. And those guys have been okay, but they also, they don't score much. And that's kind of what you expect from them. And obviously the Golden Knights are really struggling to put the puck in the net right now and adding two fourth line veteran guys who have never scored in their career isn't going to help you much in that aspect. I was Mitch Marner been in the last couple of weeks here, Jesse. He's playing really well. I would say even though the offense isn't working and he obviously is going to get some blame for that being one of the top guys, I think he has really evolved their top guys. It seems like he's really trying to drag them along right now. He's had some shifts where you can tell he's jumping over the boards. And like I'm going to single-handedly will us into some dangerous chances right here. And he's played really well. He's back on the wing for the first time in a while. For a while there, he was playing center. And that's the first time

10:17he's ever done that in his NHL career. He fit in really well. Bruce Cassidy said, I love him as a center. I thought he was going to be there for the rest of the season. They did end up bumping him onto the wing playing on Tommash Hurtles line. So he's back where he's a little more comfortable. And he's looked really good. Like I said, the results aren't there, but of all the top players on the Golden Knights, if you want to place the blame for the lack of scoring recently, I think Marners probably at the bottom of that list. Jesse Granger from the athletic with us on sports 1440. You know, we've been talking about the Euler situation. It's similar to the Golden Knights in the sense that they're in the Pacific. And we've been talking about in the sense that since Conor McDavid's been here, this could be the easiest pathway that he's ever seen to the conference finals because, you know, the Golden Knights aren't a team that they used to be. The order is certainly not playing like they were a couple of years ago. Vancouver stinks. The rest of the division is way different with how, you know, the Anaheim ducks are at the top

11:17of the heap right now. But do the Golden Knights feel like things are still okay here? We got a lot of good pieces to the puzzle in place here, Jesse. We've got some great veteran leaders. We've got some guys that have been through the battles through the wars. Do they still feel like that, despite spottering here in the last 1415 games? They certainly do. When you talk to Bruce Cassidy, when you talk to Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, they don't sound like a team that has played as poorly as they have this year because, like I said earlier, they haven't, if you just watch this season and this season alone, they've given you no reason to think that they can contend, that they can make it to a conference final, that they can do anything like that. But we also have nine years of evidence of this team and a lot of them have been here for most of that. And they've been to four Western conference finals. They've been to two Stanley Cup finals and they all believe that they're gonna flip that switch eventually. And the longer it goes without them flipping the switch, the more you kind of start to doubt yourself. But I do think that

12:19right now they believe, hey, look, we haven't played our, the hockey we want to play. Fortunately for them, they're in what I've been calling the worst division I've ever seen. It is horrific, this specific division. I mean, they, we're gonna have a team win a division without a hundred points for the first time since they went to four divisions. When you look at their division, their record outside of the division against other divisions, it's the worst I can find. And I went back a bunch of years, I finally got tired of adding up numbers and stops. But I couldn't find a year where the gap was bigger between the divisions than it is with the Pacific this year. It is a really bad division. And that sets you up if you're the oilers or the night. I think both these teams, like you mentioned, are in very similar situations where we've done this. We have the talent on the ice. If we can flip the switch, we will end up being coming out of this in the Western conference final. And you look at it, it's like you're gonna be going against a team that's been through some absolute wars because the central is stacked. So yes, I think that they, they, they, they have some belief and there's some reason to have belief.

13:21You know, it's funny, Jesse, when you answer a question like that and insert golden nights or insert oilers, we could be talking about the same exact answers, same team, same philosophy, same outlook. And no one would know the difference because it's exactly the same. Like that's what we've been talking about here for weeks and weeks here. So it's so, yeah. And it's also similar and that they're both struggling with the goalies. Like, yeah, the oilers need better gold tending, the golden nights need better gold tending. They, they both believe that they've got, well, I think Vegas has a little more faith in Aiden Hill that he can flip the switch. We haven't seen it yet with Jari and Edmondson or obviously Connor Ingram. But yeah, I think these teams are in very similar situations. The one difference is the oilers have the best player on the planet. So there's that. There's that. Yeah. How do you think this one shakes out tonight, Jesse? What do you think? It's going to be interesting. These teams do not like each other. We've seen it over the years. This is an important game. This could end up, I think the winner tonight is going to be

14:22a great shape to host that. Now, obviously, these teams still are fighting to make a blast. But I think they're probably going to both make it. And I think they're probably going to end up the two, three. It looks like this game could be a big decider in who hosts that series. And I think it's going to be, I think we're going to see some really physical hockey tonight. It's going to be high intensity game. I don't know who's going to win. Both these teams have been struggling. But it should be a really fun game. When these two teams get together, we've seen it over and over. It's there's some animosity there. It's some fun hockey. What's the rest of the gold night schedule shake? Shake down here. Yeah, they when you look at the. Just the names on the paper. It actually looks pretty good for them. They like they're they've got to agree, Vancouver. The winnable gold. Yeah, they yeah, they from here they host Washington, which will be tough. But then you get you get the canucks. You get the flames. And then they've got a long road trip. But it's they start up in Edmonton. Then they go to Vancouver again. Then we've got Seattle. And so there are some winnable games. They wrap the season up with the two game homestand against the jets and the crack and a couple of

15:24games against the crack and which is the team that is chasing them in the playoffs. So yeah, they they've got some games that you shouldn't when you look at it, you say, okay, that's a win. But Winnipeg's one of those games and they just went up there and got beaten by the Jeff. So it's I wouldn't put any I wouldn't mark down any games as a win right now. The way this team is struggling to score. Good stuff. Jesse is always thanks for coming on. Congratulations on being the champions in the state and the bad maybe heading up to a national tournament here. That would be a lot of fun. Thanks so much for having me. Okay, take care. Jesse Granger beer league champion in Vegas last night allows two goals allows two goals. The netminder of record. That's the game of the day brought to you by St. Albert Dodge. We're clear out on the remaining Wrangler Sahara's continues. You can get behind the wheel for under $60,000. When we come back, we're going to talk baseball. It's opening day in the majors about an hour away. Pittsburgh and the New York Mets. The Blue Jays open

16:24up tomorrow. Toronto Blue Jays play by playman Ben Schulman will be with us right after the break. It's the Kevin Carishow with the Duke Delburn Josh Fennel can sports 1440 AM radio. We're streaming on YouTube. X Facebook Instagram and Twitch presented by Sports Select. Hi, this is Pablo Tore from Pablo Tore finds out and today I want to talk to you about boost mobile because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, overvalued contracts, money tied up in the wrong places and so on. But those inefficiencies aren't just on a roster. Sometimes they're in your own monthly expenses. Boost mobile says switching to their $25 unlimited forever plan can unlock up to $600 in savings a year. That's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk and text when you bring your own phone. If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look. Visit boostmobile.com to learn more. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds, customers pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the boost mobile unlimited plan. Savings claim based on a January 2026 boost mobile survey of

17:26a thousand Americans with single line unlimited plans comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on a boost mobile unlimited plan. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. The hustle doesn't have to hurt. If performance pressure is making it hard to breathe, growth therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries and actually feel like yourself again. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity or availability, and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, growth therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com slash start now to get started. That's growth

18:28therapy.com slash start now. Growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. All right, welcome back to the big program, 1021 in Edmonton, Kevin Kerrius, Ducodalburn, Josh Fenwick with you here on sports 1440 AM radio. We're excited again to have Toronto Blue Jays baseball on the airwaves here at sports 1440 AM all the weekend games and then the evening games over the course of the week. We'll join in progress after the Jason Gregor's show. So you'll be able to hear the dulcet tones and sounds of Ben Schulman once again on sports 1440 AM radio. And we're excited to get Ben in stewed not in on the airwaves with us here again. Ben Schulman, play by play man for the Toronto Blue Jays. Good morning, Ben here with Kevin Kerrius, thanks as always for jumping on sports 1440 a day ahead of opening night. It's going to be exciting. Thanks, Ben. Thank you so much for having me and I wish that could be in studio. But it would complicate my efforts to get back for an opening day. But you know, I'm so excited and can't

19:33wait for tomorrow. I'm not sure you guys are just this close. Oh, we are. You know, I was just thinking, you know, all the 50 50th year and I was thinking back then I was at exhibition stadium in 78 to watch a Blue Jays game. What it was the first game I ever saw being a Western Canadian guy, but I remember it well as I was 11 years old and was so so cool to be out there. And here we are 50 50 years later. And again, we're going to have the games with you and Chris LaRue doing them on sports 1440. So we're really excited about that. You know, we've had so many guests on Ben that cover the Blue Jays in the last six weeks. And we always go back to last year and how close this team was and everyone sees man, I don't know if I'll ever get over it. I don't know because the Blue Jays were so close and you were right there front row center to see it all. This maybe go back to last year and how close this team was to winning its third world series. Yeah, it was, I mean, you really can't get closer. I mean, as they would tell you, they essentially played an eight game two winning series with the amount of extra innings. There were 11 extra

20:38innings in total in that series. And they obviously led with two outs left not to mention, you know, they led, they led before that by multiple runs with a couple innings left and had a lot of chances probably to tack on some insurance runs and win that game before the night sitting. But it's as close as you can get. I mean, it was the ride of a lifetime for me. And I'm hoping that, you know, if they'll get back there again soon, but it's a year that regardless, even if this turns into a dynasty, which I know a lot of people would like, still last year, I think, for a whole special place for me, it was so unexpected. It, you know, was such a crazy ride after they didn't necessarily have the best month of September. And so we didn't necessarily see any of that coming even when they were one of the best teams in baseball. And it's, it was just incredible. But yeah, they were as close as it gets. I mean, I will lie to you when Miguel Rojas is sitting with one out in the ninth. I look on deck. I see Shohei Otani. And I'm starting to think about framing up, you know, this is going to be hopping against Otani for the World Series. So I was,

21:42I was getting prepared for the World Series day into that night sitting. And I imagine a lot of people were preparing for that or even thought they'd put it away a little earlier. Oh, I just can't imagine what it would have been like for you. Ben Shulman with his Jay's Play-by-Play Man on Sports 1440. But here we go. We got another year in front of us. As you said, be great to have a success like the Jay's had. And going back to last year and comparing this year's team, the closeness and everyone talked about how tight net of a unit this was. Do you think that carries over again here, Ben, into into this season? I think a lot of it does. You know, they'll have to create their own group because, you know, it's not the exact same team. And so they'll have to find new things to bond about with some of the newer players and stuff like that. But I think it's a strength for the Blue Jayce that they do return a lot of the same team. You still have Vladimir Carrero Jr. obviously leading the ball club. You still have George Springer, Kevin Gozman, even guys like, you know, Miles Straw, Ernie Clement,

22:42who are such pillars of that clubhouse that are set to make a big impact in that room again. So I think you carry most of it over. But as the Blue Jayce has said constantly, it's not the exact same thing. And so they have to find, you know, their own way to to bond if this new group with these new faces and find, you know, hopefully a very similar chemistry that they had last year because it works so well for them. You just mentioned Vladimir Carrero. I'm not sure if he gets back to 48 home runs that he had five years ago in 2021. But I think he's up for a big year. And I think you would feel that way. And a lot of Blue Jayce fans feel that way as well. And I was watching something on the Major League Baseball Network the other day, Ben, where they feel that Vladimir Carrero is in that conversation with the judges in Otonis as being the face of baseball. Maybe it's after the World Baseball Classic or whatever you want to call it. But because of his personality and everything else, do you see Vladie kind of entering that stratosphere with the rest of those big names in the game? In terms of, you know, popularity and all of that, I think 100%.

23:48You know, when you're talking about faces of the game, I think Vladie has a unique position to where, you know, obviously he's incredibly popular in Canada and brings all those fans into the game. He's incredibly popular in the Dominican Republic for obvious reasons. And then, you know, now that I think fans watched him more closely than they probably ever had during that World Series run fans in the US and more casual baseball fans, I think they started to really realize how entertaining, how lovable of a style of play he has also. And so I think that he, I think baseball hopes he's one of the faces of the game too. He's also like a guy who's, you know, represented his organization well and never gotten in trouble and, you know, brings a lot of young people into the game too. So I do think that's the case. And then on the field, I also think he's set for a big year. You know, for me, I know the home runs became such a focus because he hit so many of them in that young season. For me, the best version of him probably isn't a 50 home run guy, but it's a guy who could hit 320 with 30 home runs. I think he's got

24:50a chance to be one of those all around really, really tough players, maybe more like Miguel Cabrera types and Prince Fielder, let's say. And I think if that, if he can do that, I mean, I think he might threaten for a batting title this year or next year. And that would be really exciting, because that's the kind of player that I think is really fun for fans to watch too. Ben Shulman with us on sports 1440. Let's discuss this pitching staff where a few months ago, you know, they had too many starters. Now with all the injuries, they just got enough, just run us through what you think this pitching staff can, you know, hold up to once you get guys like you savage and the likes of those guys back. Yeah, at full strength, I think this is one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. I think when you're looking at a rotation that you know Kevin Gosman and Dylan Seas are going to be in. And then you have three other spots to fill with six incredibly capable guys to do that, frankly, and whether it's just savage and Bieber or and Barrios or it's Lauer and Scherzer and Ponce, I think that they have a lot of irons in the

25:52fire. They're probably more capable starting pitching options than they've had in years. I don't even know when the last time is that they could have three guys that they would have expected to be in their rotation, not start the year, and then still roll out a rotation as impressive as this. So I think at full strength, you're looking at an absolute buzzsaw of a rotation. No breaks, no easy days. Everyone has given you a lot. And then even in its current form, you know, it worked itself out like you said, having quote unquote too many starters, they still have a very nice rotation going into this year. I think that, you know, Kevin Gosman and Dylan Seas right at the top are going to be two of the better pitchers in the American league. I think that there's a lot to like with Eric Lauer and what he brought to the rotation last year. Cody Ponce, you know, has incredible stuff and was the best all around player, not just pitcher in Korea last year, and that's why he got the contract he did. And then, you know, Maxgers or I don't even think I need to explain fully what he brings. I think we all kind of know it and he looks healthier than ever. So I think that they're in a really good spot. I like the additions in the bullpen, mainly

26:57Tyler Rogers as well. And I thought that a lot of the relievers look great in camp. I think one through 13, they're going to pitch really well this year. And if you're looking at a spot where they could even take a step forward from last year, I think that looking at the pitching staff might be where it happens. What did you see from Cody Ponce been in spring training? And what would your expectations be of him this season? Yeah, he's a very interesting guy off the field. I think Blue James fans are going to learn to like his character a lot. He brings a dynamic to the clubhouse that I don't think they've had in a while. Just interested in a lot of things that maybe the quote unquote, typical baseball player might not be. And then on the field, huge fastball, you know, can can get it to 97, 98. I have a starter consistently. And that's really impressive. Probably will sit around 95, 96 range. And that wipeout changeup that he has. It's called a changeup, but it acts more like a splitter. It's an approach that Blue James fans will be used to from the guy they already have in their rotation, where he can kind of go up in the zone at 96, and then have the guy change their eye level, the look to the bottom of the zone, and all the

28:00sudden that changeup just drops off the table into the dirt, but you've already started swinging at it. So I think that there's a lot to be like there. There's the question of how will it translate over from Asia? You know, he hasn't been in the major leagues in four years. And so I think that's a legitimate question to ask how seamless lead will transition over. And also, you know, at times, it looked like his command of his non fastball was was a little bit sporadic in spring. Now, it's spring training. So it's hard to to know too much about how much that matters. But, you know, I think the stuff is there and we'll just see if he can put it together in the toughest league in the world and do it with consistency. But I think they're hoping he's, you know, they're four or five guys. They're not asking him to be, you know, right up there with Kevin Cosman. If he gives them a chance to win most days, I think they'll be pretty happy. Ben Schulman with us on the Kevin Keri Show on Sports 1440. I think most Blue J fans in these parts would know pretty well what the bullpen entails here. Ben, for me personally, I don't know a whole heck of a lot about Spencer Miles,

29:01the rule five pitcher that came over from the Giants. Can you maybe tell our listeners what you saw of him in spring training and what, you know, enabled him to crack the roster to start the season? Sure. He's a very interesting case. You know, he's a guy that was drafted in the fourth round in 2022, but has not stayed healthy at all. He had back surgery missed all 2023. And then five starts in the 2024 five appearances. He ends up, you know, straining something in his arm. It leads eventually to Tommy John surgery. So he was exposed to the rule five draft because the Giants didn't want to put him on their 40-man roster. They wanted to use the space elsewhere, likely because he hasn't pitched that much. But he went to the Arizona fall league in the winter where prospects get a little extra time to play and flash them really, you know, interesting pitches and some pretty enticing stuff. And the Blue Jay's brought him in. And, you know, he showed the splashes again in camp. There were some ups and downs. There were some outings where he didn't have a ton of command. But I think he's a guy, again, has got a pretty big fastball.

30:02He's got a big, big curveball. That's his best pitch, I think, is his big looping curveball. That can get a lot of swing and miss. And he's a guy that probably, if not for injuries, would be in the Major League right now. But, you know, because of rule five eligibility, the Blue Jay's had to take him to the Major League or offer him back to the San Francisco Giants. And I think when they looked at their options of who could be a quote-unquote, you know, last guy in that 10, especially due to some injuries that might have opened up a spot there, I think they felt like giving him a shot, made some sense. They can, you know, they can always go back on it in five days if they want to. They made their first change in the bullpen last year, four days into the season. But I think they're going to give this guy who has Major League ready stuff a shot and see if he can make up for the lack of professional experience that he has. And if not, they'll obviously look elsewhere. I wanted to just discuss the bottom of the order with you, Ben. And I really think if Andre Semenas can bat 250 and then change, he's going to steal 30 bags. And I'm just maybe

31:05your thoughts on how the bottom of the order is going to be able to turn things over for the top of the order here. Yeah, such a huge strength of the Blue Jays last year. Good point to highlight it because they wouldn't be anywhere without the amount of traffic they created for the top of the order guys like Springer, Bichette, Carrero last season. And I think you look at most days to start the year. I think they'll start hitting Okamoto 7. I think it was room for him to move up, but I think, you know, they don't want to put too much pressure on him. They want to do some lefty righty stuff. So that's like potentially a way overqualified bat for the bottom third of the order. If he's, you know, even three quarters of what he could produce in Japan, he's going to be in above average Major League hitter with the possibility to run into some homers and maybe knock in some of those guys that are hitting in front of him. I think you will see, you know, a shocking as it is given, he said the Major League baseball postseason hits record last year. I think you'll see Ernie Clement down there a lot and he creates a lot of havoc in that bottom 30s on base of Fairbiddy makes a lot of contact. He doesn't steal a ton of bases, but he's got a lot of speed.

32:07So he can, you know, he's a great first to third guy or steal from first on a double. That kind of stuff he's going to do really well for you. And then you mentioned Andrus Cementan too. I think last year they felt, you know, obviously did not have a great offensive year. But he got hurt in the middle of the season. Then, you know, late in the season, they're switching him over to shortstop. There was a lot for him to deal with. Not to mention it was his first season with a new organization. I think they feel like he's maybe set up slightly better this year. You know, he knows what position he's playing. He obviously knows where he's playing, who he's playing with at this point, knowing the city and his teammates. And so I think they feel like, you know, they can get him back to a closer to league average level. And if he's doing that with what he's going to provide it defensively, I think you have a big boost. And you'll also see guys factor in, you know, Hey, do Sanchez could be in that mix of Okamoto moves up. David Schneider could be in that mix at times. Miles Straub. Obviously, we'll take some of that in those thoughts as well. But I think it'll be a lot of the same for the blue chase in that bottom third, which worked for them last year. And probably just the addition of more Okamoto in there, which I

33:11I'm pretty high on what he could do for them this year. Yeah, I mean, him and us was 30 bags, 30 bags and 23 24 in Cleveland with regular playing time. I think this guy is going to be, everyone's going to go, where did he come from? While he was, he was damn near a 300 hitter back in 2022, and he was with Cleveland. You mentioned Ernie Clement. How bad do you think Ernie Clement and George Springer are going to get the gears today after the Leafs game last night Ben, where they were in the wrong seats and at the back up a few, a few rolls. I imagine they already got it pretty good, but I think it'll keep going. It was cool to see all those jays at the game and Ernie and George get into, you know, talk some hockey. That's sports that they really like outside of baseball. But I think it just shows, you know, cool thing about the jays, I think, with those guys. And it's funny to compare it using, you know, a guy sitting in the wrong seats, but they just have the feeling of like just your normal guys, you know. And I think a lot of people, it's hard to be just a normal guy. I understand when

34:13people have difficulty doing that when you're playing a game for a living and you're, you know, you're making large sums of money and you're very famous, but they really are, you know, they connected so much with the city and the country at large, they really are integrated and really feel like, you know, a baseball fan that you would see in Toronto when you're talking to them. So it was, it was cool to see them. And I don't know if the Leafs wanted to win, but it helped the Leafs win. So I guess that's a good thing. They're all their high five in fans after a goal and like the fans are, they're just like regular guys in the stands and it was just fun to watch. I have to ask them about how you got involved in the prices rate at night. How did that opportunity come to you? Yeah, that was, that was a big surprise to me as I imagine it was everyone else. It was kind of, you know, to circle back to the start of our, you know, discussion it's after the World Series. And I probably took a week or two where my basketball season hadn't started yet. And I just kind of relaxed and probably was a sad sack for a day or whatever. And then just kind of got some sleep and did laundry and like cooked a meal for the first time in a

35:16while. And just got an email from, from some of the folks at, at City TV who, you know, I guess, you know, had been following the Blue James run and wanted to know if I would be interested in the opportunity in doing it. And I'm pretty much immediately, you know, I said I'd be interested and went down and it kind of, you know, what I would call it like a table read for them just sat there and we did like a fake show and I read some prizes and did some come on downs and waited for about a week or so after that to hear back from them. Jumped on a call with some of their people and they said that they wanted me to do it. I was thrilled. I mean, I, I've loved game shows growing up. I was a big viewer of, you know, the game show network watched a lot of that. You know, watched a lot of, of prices right, family feud, real fortune with my mom. And so getting to be on a game show and getting to see TV from a whole different kind of side of it was, was a lot of fun. And I'm jealous, man. I'd love to do the price is right. I love that show,

36:18man. Well, apply and maybe maybe you'll, you'll get on the show. Yeah, just being contestant, I'm just starting off, you know, whatever. It's Chris Leroux basically on all the broadcasts with you like last year, you know, he had in or out with a few other commentators. What's it like this year? Yeah, as far as I know, it'll be predominantly Chris. There'll be something, you know, all of us will have time off or maybe responsibility to fill in on another part of a sports set broadcast. But I would say, you know, eight times, nine times and a 10 if you tune in, it'll be myself and Chris again. Perfect. Add a text to from the rig. Deben and Chris get to travel with the team doing radio. How does that work? Not at this moment. I've heard plans on that. So I'll let you know if I hear anything back. Perfect. Hey, Ben, thanks for coming on. I know things are really busy with the home opener and season opener and opening day tomorrow. I'm sure we'll talk in the near future because we're just so happy and proud to have Blue Jays baseball with yourself

37:18and Chris on sports 1440. Thanks for coming on. Thank you so much. Really love that that we're on 1440 and appreciate everyone tuning in. You betcha. That's Ben Schulman, Toronto Blue Jays play by playman. And again, you can hear Toronto Blue Jays baseball right here on sports 1440 AM radio on the weekends in their entirety on weekday games. They'll we'll join Blue Jays baseball in progress right after the Jason Gregor Show at six o'clock. When we come back, we'll wrap up the show. Get to some more of your texts at a 3 3 4 0 1 1440. It's the Kevin Kerri show with the Ducodabran Josh Fenwick on sports 1440 AM radio presented by sports. Select. We're also streaming on YouTube X Facebook Instagram and Twitch. Hi, this is Pablo Torre from Pablo Torre finds out and today I want to talk to you about boost mobile because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports over value contracts, money tied up in the wrong places and so on. But those inefficiencies

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40:22That's growtherapy.com-startnow-growtherapy.com-startnow-availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Then we were here in your hard time about that and people texted and were like, no, that's filthy gold by that. That was news to me. Listen, Arlady Peace wasn't exactly a regular in my rotation. I'd like to meet those green day guys. Hust texted and told me about the peppers. He says, watch the documentary on Netflix. Yeah, I just saw the ad for it last night when I was

41:23throwing on a little something. Actually, it was when I was exiting the baseball game. I was dipping out of that to watch some more sopranos before bedtime. Are you almost done or what? I think I've got like eight episodes left or so. I'm coming down the wire. You know what? We started watching Boston Legal. Oh, because you found it on Disney Plus. Disney Plus watched four episodes. And does it hold up? Yeah. This is good. You remember what? I didn't remember how many stars were in it. Like the quality of cast. Yeah. Like the amount of legitimate Hollywood stars that are in it besides Shatner and James Spader. I'll be honest, I just want to get to where that episode is with him and Candace Bergen. That's all I want to see. But anyway, hey, a lot of text, man, getting goose bumps. It's funny. BC order, Kim and St. Albert, getting goose bucks, bumps, great interview with Ben. I'm fired up for opening night tomorrow. Blue Jays athletics in Toronto. It's going to be Kevin Gossman,

42:24Luis Severino on the hill for the athletics. I don't short change the athletics. This team is dangerous. They have some guys that can pound the ball. They're pitching isn't good enough. Everyone knows that. But they have some guys that have the ability to put the ball in play, not only put the ball in play like guys like Jacob Wilson and guys like that. But they got guys like Rucker. They got like Soda Strong is really good. Langa Lear is one of the best hitting catchers going and Nick Kurtz. Well, you don't that goes without saying where he is. I mean, he's a 35 home run guy and he is. That's the one guy Duke. I thought I was going to say I thought I would be kind of sneaky, maybe trying to hone in on some athletics players because we do still think pretty lowly of them. But then you also factor in the fact, they play in that band box, band box of a park. And we talked about it with our guests on fancy friends yesterday, Vlad. And yeah, listen, they've got some guys that can pound the ball as a as a better and play in sports like this summer. I think a lot of athletics games, the over

43:29will be a fun bet more nights than not to get it on the mix with them because yeah, they should be a fun team. No doubt about it. I picked up Justin Stern or late. I think he's going to be the clothes where they're Duke. Yeah. I don't know. I'm they said I'm I'm probably sounding more downtrodden than I actually am about the team that we drafted. But it's I think it's just because last year coming to the draft, I was so I was like, what a night. What a swindle I pulled on these 19 other guys. And I'm not feeling as confident. But I like the team that I put together. I'm going to have to get Connor Halley's feedback on it here. So I thought that set up on the Yahoo thing is really good as far as the homepage for the draft. Were you doing on your phone or on your laptop on my laptop? Okay. So he were doing yours. I just did on my phone. Yeah, because I was because I was watching watch as I said, I was so my back was pretty banged up after hockey. So just laying in bed. So, you know, like basically what how and I think people that do any drafts, it's like NFL anything. So you have your cue list. And basically the other

44:32list is shows their their top 80 piece and everything else. And it shows the players that are drafted and haven't been drafted. And then there's a list of the remaining players. So you can go, you could just take the best guy available, which would be at the top of the list. Right. So I'm the and this is not unique to Yahoo. It's not a knock on the format. It's just in but like then when you have guys that are injured and you know, they're going to be out for like you have no interest in taking them. They're out for the year. They're out for the year. They still sit at the top of the list because of their expected totals. Right. Not including injury. Right. So then they kind of just sit there getting in your way. And then I think I can't remember who was texted him. I'd have been James Victoria texted and said, yeah, I had to dip out in my last like four rounds were auto draft. And he got all those injured. So that was a pretty big spring of notifications this morning saying the J's team has dropped so and so. J's team has dropped so and so making replacements to his roster here ahead of Monday's opener for our league opening on Monday. I will say to you, Duke. And you mentioned the athletics because it's a team

45:36flies under the radar that you go well. Yeah, maybe players are less familiar to the regular casual baseball fan. Similar with the Chicago White socks. Yeah, they've got some guys. They do. So I was surprised again, when you look at that top of the list and I know this is going to come back and hot me Duke and this guy is going to get absolutely lit up today. But there's starting picture there. Number one is Shane Smith. He was, could have been drafted at least around or two. He hung around up top there at the top of the list. No one was taking him because he pitches for the Chicago White sock. Yeah. And anyway, so I took him and he starts today. And I know now that I said that I let me let me rush to sports like didn't put in a wager against the White socks against the White socks. All I care is five innings, five, six Ks from Smitty. I'd probably handle three yearnings. So Kevin, the J's obviously don't play today and with game starting as you

46:42leave the studio. I'll watch you. Are you going to be camped out watching all day? I will watch you all day, except that I got to go to hockey here, Duke right away. So I'll probably I will might not even stay around for a beer. Just rushing home. Yeah, because we got Astros and Angels at 210. The first game is what? 1115 here. That's a national leader. We got Houston and L.A. at 210. Then there's another one sort of sandwiched in there too. Is there not? Oh, no, yeah, it's the Cubs in Washington at 1220. So you don't care about the American league. No, I care about all of them because I'm Duke. I'm in a nationally draft, American league and a combined right now. Wow. You're spread then, Kevin. I'm worried about you. Well, and then Saturday is the draft with Donnie P. Oh, and Donnie P taking the day off from pre-imposed game to come and do this draft. That's commitment if I've ever seen it. So we talked about it. And I said, Donnie, I'm going to help you out. You can sit beside me. And I'm just going to feed them BS the whole time. That's the

47:47story. This is your guy. That's savage. It's an auction. Go after him, Donnie. What do you got for the game tonight, Duke? Four, three, oilers? I'm going to say five, three, the empty netter. Five, three empty netter. I'm kind of changing my tune now. Maybe it might be a little lower. Switching back because they because after the chat with Jesse talking about this team, they always play tight. They've a lot of physicality. Now, could that lead to more special team opportunities? Maybe. Now, we know the oilers power play has struggled a little bit since dry settles injury, but there's no better way to get out of a funk than get a whole bunch of reps. How about a four, three overtime game, Duke? Okay. The pacific division, getting points on the board. There you go. Yeah. Should do that again. That was only a half out, right? It was eight and a half. I set the line of eight and a half and you, you originally predicted ten. No, I was just kidding with that. Yeah, of course. Come on now. It's always kidding when you get it

48:48wrong. No, no, no, no. Imagine if it had been ten, you would have been in here. Come on now. Toot in your horn. Coming up at the top of the hour, it is fantasy frenzy with the former rush up teabird Conor Halle and the Duke of Dolburn. 12 o'clock. It's the lowdown with Alan Mitchell, Declan Krueger. Two till six. The Jason Gregor Show drives us home with the Jason Gregor Show. We got our pre-game show with Andrew Walker, Landon Ferraro and Donnie Pee at six bells till 730 puck drop. Shortly after 730 for the Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights. Those three cats will be back for the post game show following the conclusion of the game. We've got Fox Sports all night long, baby. And then we will be back with you to wrap up the week with Eddie Steele tomorrow at seven. We're going to talk a little CFL combine. We'll get Eddie's thoughts on maybe you know, who's draftable top three four five, whatever. A lot of Americans, you know, not sorry, Canadians playing at American colleges that are rated in the top, you know,

49:5010, 12 players for sure. So we'll have that for you tomorrow. Before that time now for sports 1440 update brought to you by a WS welding supplies and NISQ product sales servicing, calibrating and free same day delivery of Instaq items to the Duke NISQ and South Edmonton. You're on stop shop for all things welding, a WS welding dot C A. Hey, thanks everyone for listening. Really appreciated. Thanks for the great text. Thanks for the interaction. We could not do it without you. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning at seven o'clock. Have a wonderful rest of your Thursday. Until then, here is the Duke.

50:52It's a year that's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk and text when you bring your own phone. If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look. Visit boostmobile.com to learn more. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience slower speeds, customers pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the boost mobile and limited plan. Savings claim based on January 2026, boost mobile survey of 1,000 Americans with single line unlimited plans comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on the boost mobile and limited plan. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com.