Chin Music w/ Roy Smalley, LaVelle E. Neal III & Jim Souhan - Minnesota Twins Podcast · Talk North Podcast Network

Judge v Varland; Twins search

·36 min·2 clips

Aaron Judge turned a 100-mile-an-hour inside fastball into a foul-pole home run.

1. Chin Music w/ Roy Smalley, LaVelle E. Neal III & Jim Souhan centers on the Twins’ managerial search and Aaron Judge’s home run off Louis Varland. 2. Roy Smalley, LaVelle E. Neal III, and Jim Souhan are the regular baseball voices, with Neal covering the Star Tribune beat angle and Smalley bringing the former Twins player perspective. 3. The episode asks what the Twins want from their next manager while also asking how one Judge swing turned a 100-mile-an-hour pitch into a home run. 4. LaVelle Neal III says the Twins’ search has not yet reached the interview stage and may not wrap up until next week. 5. Neal mentions James Rousen as a speculative candidate and notes that other clubs have already moved, including Skip Schumaker with the Rangers and Kurt Suzuki with the Angels. 6. Roy Smalley says the modern search is difficult because a team can hire a minor-league manager, a bench coach, a broadcaster, or a first-time manager. 7. Smalley says the first question is what the team needs, whether that is a Dusty Baker or Bruce Bochy type, a younger communicator, or someone who accepts analytics. 8. Smalley says the players still have to perform, and he keeps bringing the discussion back to the roster rather than the manager alone. 9. Suhan uses Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement as examples when talking about hitting approach and player development. 10. Smalley says the Twins have hit better with David Popkins than without him, and Neal says Popkins should get at least a third of the credit for Toronto-style offensive success. 11. The hosts connect the Twins' future to young hitters like Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Matt Walner, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kaelen Culpepper. 12. Neal says the young hitters are the biggest variable in the organization and that the team must find the right person to work with them. 13. The Judge discussion begins with Varland throwing a 100-mile-an-hour fastball about a foot and a half inside. 14. Smalley says the swing made sense in outcome but still felt impossible in execution because Judge had to get the big end of the barrel to the ball so quickly. 15. Suhan calls Judge the best hitter in the game right now and compares him to Mickey Mantle and Jimmie Foxx. 16. The hosts say Judge's season matters more because he has done it without Juan Soto behind him and with a Yankees roster that has holes and injuries. 17. The conversation sounds like a three-person baseball roundtable, with quick turn-taking and a lot of player-specific examples. 18. The tone is analytical and conversational, with Smalley often breaking down mechanics and Suhan pushing broader roster questions. 19. Best for Twins fans tracking the manager search and Yankees-watchers. 20. Skip it if you want only game-by-game playoff recap.

As heard by us

Judge's blast anchors a blunt talk about star value, roster holes, and the Yankees wasting his prime.

Aaron Judge's home run off Louie Varland gives the episode its center of gravity, and the panel uses it to argue, plainly, that Judge is still the best hitter in the game right now. Roy Smalley, LaVelle E.

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Why you'd press play

If you want the Aaron Judge-Louie Varland home run broken down without the usual TV noise.

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