Baseball Expats

#087 - Second-half nonsense, Eury’s perfect hook, and our over/under achievers

Rolsey and Spoon are holding the fort this week, starting with a quick discussion about Eric’s absence and whether we should be concerned, impressed, or used to it. From there, the boys get into the whole “first half / second half” thing in MLB. It’s not actually a true half of the season, but every year everyone gets swept up in the idea anyway, so we talk about what matters, what doesn’t, and which splits are actually worth caring about. Then it’s a quick Destiny Draft check-in, with a massive couple of days coming up. Head to baseballexpats.com and click Destiny Draft on the homepage to follow the live scoreboard. After that, we get into Eury Pérez being pulled after seven perfect innings, only for the Marlins bullpen to promptly implode, because baseball enjoys making everyone miserable. Rolsey adds some historical context around near-perfect games and what makes these situations so weird. That leads us into the Marlins’ season more broadly, plus a look at some of the league’s bigger overperformers and underperformers so far. Then Spoon closes us out with his best picks for the slate. Love you. Like and subscribe.

Weekend Best Bets (feat. bacon, eggs, tofu and tofu)

Quick Weekend Pickoff this week. Eric joins from a hockey rink in Hobart, Rolsey is racing the clock to get to the butcher before his wife’s 4th of July birthday barbecue becomes accidentally meatless, and Spoon is absolutely on fire. We start with a quick Destiny Draft update. Head to BaseballExpats.com and click Destiny Draft to follow the live scoreboard. Ibbo also waxes poetically about leading the comp heading into the weekend, and his stream-of-consciousness text thread with Eric finally gets exposed. Then Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the weekend. Love you. Like and subscribe.

#086 - We fixed the NL All-Star Team + WTF is up with Josh Naylor?

We start this one by asking a very simple question: what on earth is going on with Josh Naylor? After a few of his recent antics, the boys try to work out whether he’s just playing with edge, fully leaning into the bit, or becoming one of baseball’s great chaos agents. From there, we get into the All-Star voting, which has officially become less “who deserves to start?” and more “which fanbase can click the hardest?” We talk through why the system feels broken, a few ways MLB could potentially fix it, and whether the whole thing needs a proper rethink. Then, because we’re helpful, we pick our own National League All-Star team to see if we can almost blindly put together a better starting group than the fan vote. Spoiler alert: we absolutely can. After the break, Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the week. Love you. Like and subscribe

Destiny Draft 2026, Round 4 (feat. Ibbo)

Destiny Draft is back for Round 4, and this week Ibbo jumps in as the listener pick. We start with a quick look back at Round 3, which has officially wrapped and moved the season table along nicely. There were a few wins, a few regrets, and probably a few picks everyone would like to quietly pretend never happened. Then we get straight into the Round 4 draft. Ibbo joins the chaos, the boys work through another board of MLB hitters and pitchers, and everyone tries to talk themselves into believing they’ve found the perfect two week combination. Round 4 runs from June 29 through July 12, with the live Destiny Draft dashboard tracking every score across the round. You can follow the full scoreboard throughout the fortnight at baseballexpats.com.au.

Weekend Best Bets (feat. Aussies who are missing, advancing and raking)

Eric is allegedly stuck on a train, bus, or some other very convenient form of transport, so it’s just Spoon and Rolsey for this Weekend Pickoff. The boys give their immediate thoughts after Australia’s nil-all draw with Paraguay sends them into the Round of 32 at the World Cup, then check in on Destiny Draft before turning to two Aussies making serious noise in MLB: Travis Bazzana and Curtis Mead. Both are putting together seasons that deserve a proper place in the conversation around the best Australian professional baseball campaigns we’ve ever seen. Then Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the weekend. Enjoy the baseball, enjoy the sport, and love you.