1 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: The following takes place between seven pm and eight pm. 2 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 2: All right, let's get to it. 3 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 3: Seven O eight seven hundred WLW Welcome in RNL Carrier 4 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 3: Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet. I'm Lance McAlister. Glad 5 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 3: you are here, settle in two hours to get it 6 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 3: done tonight. Man, do we have stuff to get done? 7 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 3: And who better to lead things off with? And my 8 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 3: first guest tonight, who's been all over the story of 9 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 3: the day today. I think it's fair to say everybody 10 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 3: buzzing from here to Goodyear about the news on Hunter 11 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 3: Green elbow discomfort. You will see doctor Tim kremcheck then 12 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 3: get a second opinion. He's got an MRI scheduled. We'll 13 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 3: know more perhaps early next week. But let's get more 14 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 3: from the man on the scene and covering all this 15 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 3: today and sorting through it for the Inquirer Cincinnati dot Com. 16 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 3: That would be Pat Brennan. How are you, Lance, I'm 17 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 3: doing great. Thanks a lot for having me on. Help us, 18 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 3: help me trace a little of the timeline. This starts 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 3: back towards the end of last season. He was dealing 20 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 3: with some discomfort at the end of last season. 21 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 4: Correct, he was, That's what that's what Hunter told us today. 22 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 4: He said it was over the last five or six 23 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 4: starts of the season last year. 24 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 2: I took that to mean that. 25 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 4: Would I mean that the timeline that would obviously include 26 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 4: his start against the Dodgers and the playoffs, and he 27 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 4: was managing the discomfort. And a few people have asked 28 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 4: me today, you know, why wasn't this dealt with in 29 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 4: the offseason. Well, Hunter told us that the pain kind 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 4: of it dissipated and the urgency just I guess wasn't 31 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 4: there to to get this image or scanned or whatever 32 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 4: after the playoff loss to LA And you know, he 33 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 4: said the discomfort kind of re emerged about a week 34 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 4: before spring training, got an injection, and he's been managing 35 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 4: it throughout. But I woke up yesterday Lance before a 36 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 4: side bullpen session, reported the stiffness, And basically where they're 37 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 4: at now is they just want to nip this thing 38 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 4: in the bud, whatever it is. 39 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 3: Pat I've always I've always found him to be a 40 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 3: very smart, very aware individual, always aware of his surroundings 41 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 3: and what he's saying. Did was there any sense in reading, 42 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 3: listening to words or body language of how much he 43 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 3: considers this alarming versus airing on the side of caution. 44 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 3: That may be a weird question or poorly worded question. 45 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 2: But no, no, I understand. I think I agree with you. 46 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 4: I mean, Hunter is so polished in these interview settings, 47 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 4: and every word has meaning, every word is calculated and purposeful. 48 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: And I didn't I didn't. 49 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 4: Sense alarm from him today, particularly because you know, he 50 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 4: felt one. 51 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 2: He knows that his UCL is intact. 52 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 4: Uh, He's also aware of some bone spurs he has 53 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 4: in this. 54 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 2: Area, in this general area of his body. 55 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 4: I'm not a doctor and I'm not his doctor, so 56 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 4: I'm not sure exactly where the bone spurs are lance, 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 4: But you know, he's really aware of what's going on. 58 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 4: I think listening to him talk, there's he is aware 59 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 4: that there's a possibility this could be a meaningful interruption. 60 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 4: But you know, like I said, he also knows that 61 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 4: he's been managing this. He has managed it successfully. And really, 62 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 4: where we're at right now, I look, it's disconcerting however 63 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 4: you want to look at it. But they need some 64 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 4: hard facts. They need some hard facts before they move forward. 65 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 4: And that's just the point that we're at right now, 66 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 4: gathering facts. 67 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 3: Pat what will in the timeline, what take us through, 68 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 3: what will happen next, and when the anticipation is of 69 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 3: knowing something more. 70 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, so by the end of the week, he'll have 71 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 4: seen longtime Reads team doctor Tim Kremchek, he'll have his MRI. 72 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 4: Then he'll get his second opinion from I believe the 73 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 4: LA Dodgers team doctor actually in LA. Hunters obviously from LA. 74 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 4: That's not surprising that he would get a second opinion 75 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 4: out there, and he's doing that on Monday, and by Tuesday, 76 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 4: Terry Francona and Nick Krawl expects to have a more full, 77 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 4: hopefully full picture of what exactly they're dealing with. 78 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 3: Pat My Butler math tells me that opening day would 79 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,799 Speaker 3: be three weeks from tomorrow, and that math doesn't exactly 80 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 3: make it conducive to Hunter being a part of the equation. 81 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I think the. 82 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 4: Terry Francona and Nick Crawl were really careful and understandably 83 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 4: so to not get too far out ahead of projecting where. 84 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 2: This would go. 85 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 4: But what we do know is that Hunter's not going 86 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 4: to throw the rest of this week. To me, that's 87 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 4: that he's basically shut down. Is shut down while this, 88 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 4: you know, while they go through the fact finding process, 89 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 4: and yeah, Terry eventually conceded that when you look at 90 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,559 Speaker 4: where we're at on the calendar and do some simple math, 91 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 4: it doesn't look great for hunters starting the season on time. 92 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 4: And you know, like with Andrew Abbott last year, I 93 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 4: think he missed two turns through the rotation, ended up 94 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 4: being an All Star having a very good year. 95 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 2: No one is precluding hunter. 96 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 4: From doing that yet, but yeah, the math doesn't look 97 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 4: great in terms of hunters starting the year on time 98 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 4: at the very least. 99 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 3: So how at least for the moment, how would and 100 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 3: there's been so much talked about and written about the 101 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 3: fifth spot on the rotation, how would they in a 102 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 3: world where they needed a replacement for him, how would 103 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 3: they go about divving up and handing rotation spots? It 104 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 3: kind of size up the derby right now. 105 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, well they're not I mean officially, they're not there yet. 106 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, but I think they're fixed pretty well for dealing 107 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 4: with that lance when you look at just i mean 108 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 4: the depth of starting pitching. They've talked about how good 109 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 4: they feel about it. I think Nick Kral had situations 110 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 4: like this in mind when he didn't trade from the 111 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 4: stockpile of starting pitching this offseason, knowing that it's pretty 112 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 4: rare to get through the season with just five starters. 113 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 4: So I mean, just look at the depth in the 114 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 4: competition for the number five spot. You've got four solid 115 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 4: Guysrhet Louder who pitched well again today, Chase Burns who 116 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 4: everyone loves, and then Brandon Williamson and Julian Agiar who's 117 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 4: going to start tomorrow and and people speak positively about them. 118 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,599 Speaker 2: Chase Petty, you throw his name in there. There's there 119 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 2: is look. 120 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 4: No one has fixed so well that they can afford 121 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 4: to give up a guy with Cy Young caliber stuff 122 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 4: which Green has and triple digit heat. But if it 123 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 4: has to go down, the Reds are fixed to kind 124 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 4: of survive this about as well as anyone else. 125 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 2: You touched. 126 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 3: You touched on Rhett and boy, you're right, he must 127 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 3: have been dealing today in those three innings. 128 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, I want to be fair. Terry Francona made a 129 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 4: really good point after the game. You know, it's tough 130 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 4: to understand exactly what you're looking at against the Cuba 131 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 4: team that they've played, and a lot of those guys 132 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 4: aren't with a few of those guys I should say, 133 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,679 Speaker 4: aren't with major league tuns right now. And but yeah, 134 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 4: I mean, look, they're pros at the very least. And 135 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 4: Rett through to no hit things to start, gave up 136 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 4: a couple of singles in the third. But then Terry 137 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 4: Francona was complimentary the way he pitched around those those 138 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 4: base runners because he gave Tyler Stevenson a chance to 139 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 4: throw those guys out when they tried to run on Rhett. 140 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 2: And Tyler did throw them out. 141 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 4: So even in the relative dress the rhet was dealing with, 142 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 4: he he handled it pretty well. 143 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 3: Let me, as I wrap this up, I don't want 144 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 3: to do all pitching. Let me ask you one hitting 145 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 3: question and salth Stewart to me in another big day 146 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 3: for sal today. 147 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 2: I know he's twenty two. 148 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 3: He doesn't hit or I look at him at the plate, 149 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 3: he doesn't swing like a twenty two year old. He 150 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 3: seems a like a veteran presence at the plate. Is 151 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 3: a long winded way of saying it. Give me your 152 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 3: impressions of him so far in camp. Yeah, I think 153 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 3: I would agree with everything he just said. 154 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 4: He just has a very mature approach at the plate. 155 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 2: He has a great eye for balls and strikes. 156 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 4: Like I think when we start to lance, when we 157 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 4: start to kind of quantify the value of guys who 158 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 4: are good at abs challenges, I think we're going to 159 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 4: see that Sal is like elite at that because he 160 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 4: just has a great eye for it. And yeah, I 161 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 4: mean he takes mighty hacks. He takes thunder his hacks, 162 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 4: but he also can he seems to have an awareness 163 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 4: for situational hitting as well, and when it's enough to 164 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 4: just you know, get on base. You saw that from 165 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 4: Sal last year, and we're seeing it again early in Uh, 166 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 4: well we're really getting into the meat of spring training now, 167 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 4: but still seeing it here in spring training. 168 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 3: What are your I'm curious you mentioned abs. What are 169 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 3: your early impressions of how that is being received and 170 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:54,679 Speaker 3: how it's being executed. 171 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 2: Oh, that's a great question. 172 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 4: Well, they didn't have it today as they were using 173 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 4: World Baseball Classic rules and there was actually a pitch 174 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 4: that Sal clearly looked like he wanted to challenge, and 175 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 4: it was in the first inning, and I'm sure he 176 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 4: would have challenged that. 177 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 2: It didn't good have. 178 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 4: So you know, guys are getting adjusted to it. But 179 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 4: you know, a lot of these young guys. They've played 180 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,079 Speaker 4: with it already in the Arizona Fall League, and Sal 181 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 4: has played pretty much his entire well literally his entire 182 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 4: pro career with ABS. So we're gonna see a you know, 183 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 4: guys who struggle with it. I think they're going to 184 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 4: age out of the game pretty quickly and it's just 185 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 4: going to be second nature for young players going forward. 186 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 4: And I think the Reds are just learning best practices. 187 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 2: And they're good. 188 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 4: They're trying to figure out how kind of organizational best 189 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 4: practices by the time they get to the regular season. 190 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 3: I always enjoy this. I can't imagine how busy and 191 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 3: hectic de your day was chasing around stuff right and stuff, 192 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 3: And for you to make time tonight after a game 193 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 3: means a great deal to me. It's a per way 194 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 3: to lead off my conversation. So thank you. That's my pleasure. 195 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 2: Lands. Thank you boy. 196 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:06,559 Speaker 3: For those who want to read more, as I mentioned, 197 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 3: you're all over it, tell them where they can read and. 198 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 4: How they can follow awesome stanny dot com and I'm 199 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 4: on x at p Brennan e n Q, so check 200 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 4: it all out there. 201 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,839 Speaker 2: Sounds good. Thank you Pat again, Thank you Lan. Right 202 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 2: there you go. 203 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 3: Pat Brennan from the Inquirer Cincinni dot com the news 204 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,599 Speaker 3: of the day, Hunter Green, I got a feeling that 205 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 3: we're going to talk about that