Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jan 1, 2026; Pasadena, CA, USA; Kirk Herbstreit on the ESPN College Gameday set during the 2026 Rose Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Rose Bowl Stadium.
Being a Cincinnati Reds fan in the 21st century isn’t easy. After all, the team hasn’t won a playoff series in more than 30 years, dating back to 1995, when it made the National League Championship Series
But it appears that Reds fandom has finally driven ESPN “College GameDay” host Kirk Herbstreit over the edge, to the point that he’s swearing off the current state of the MLB in hilarious fashion.
Herbstreit’s crash out came in response to comments from former New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who claimed that he can’t watch modern baseball.
JORGE POSADA: “I CAN’T WATCH TODAY’S BASEBALL.”
Yankees legend Jorge Posada, a 4-time World Series champion and one of the faces of the dynasty years, (The Core 4) did not hold back during his interview on Abriendo El Podcast.
Posada said today’s game has become too robotic,… pic.twitter.com/OdndQabF9a
— Felix | NYY.NEWS (@_NYYNEWS) June 29, 2026
“The baseball being played today is garbage,” Posada said in an interview, claiming that analytics have ruined the modern game.
Ironically, the five-time All-Star, who hit for power and struck out often, would’ve been viewed even more positively in the modern game.
But Herbstreit believes that Posada is spot on.
Kirk Herbstreit Makes Absurd Claims About Modern MLB
In a post on X responding to Posada’s claims, Herbstreit agreed and wondered why the the game has changed so much since he was a kid.
“THANK YOU!!!!! Where did the athletic ability go?” he asked. “Clutch hitting in the 8th and 9th inning? Starting pitching that goes 8 or 9 innings? Base stealing-hell just good base running and SPEED?!? Sac bunts-moving runners over late in a game?
“Where’s Tony Gwynn? Rod Carew? Wade Boggs? Ichiro? Those guys wouldn’t exist in today’s ridiculous HR or K ‘launch angle’ game! The game has been dying with the youth of America for YEARS and now is losing the core fanbase as well with this ridiculous product we’ve had to digest for the last 7-10 years. Bring back Small Ball and athleticism…this s— dreadful!!!
While Herbstreit claims that stars like Gwynn, Carew, Boggs, and Ichiro wouldn’t exist today, the numbers don’t back him up.
All four players grade out extremely well in advanced stats, with Ichiro having a better JAWS score than sluggers such as Sammy Sosa and Vladimir Guerrero.
As further posts would show, Herbstreit is just disillusioned by the fact that his favorite team is terribly run, and he’s blaming advanced stats for his frustration.