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Speaker 1: Now the reds Hot Stove League.
Speaker 4: And hello and welcome, one and all to the Budweiser
Speaker 4: reds Hot Stove League, presented by UDF Live at the
Speaker 4: BEDMGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watchbar. Here at the banks, back
Speaker 4: once again behind the microphone. I'm Mark Sheldon, the senior
Speaker 4: beat reporter who covers the Reds for MLB dot com,
Speaker 4: and I'm joined by Mike Petralia from CLNS since ape
Speaker 4: dot com, where he covers all Sincy sports, all Cincinnati sports.
Speaker 4: Pardon me, Your regular hosts, Tommy Thrall and Jim Day
Speaker 4: are off again, but guess what, they return to the
Speaker 4: airwaves next week, so you'll have them back. Our guests
Speaker 4: tonight are red Starting pitcher Nick Lodolo, and then to
Speaker 4: talk all things Reds Fest, we will speak with Charlie Frank,
Speaker 4: the executive director of the Reds Community Fund. As you
Speaker 4: may know, Redsfest, presented by PNC, is returning this weekend
Speaker 4: at the Cincinnati Convention Center after a two year hiatus.
Speaker 5: Mike.
Speaker 4: There was also some free agent news that broke over
Speaker 4: the weekend. According to sources, the Reds agreed to terms
Speaker 4: on a one year contract with right handed reliever Pierce Johnson,
Speaker 4: who was a former Brave setup man. The deal team
Speaker 4: with a mutual option for twenty twenty seven and has
Speaker 4: a total value of six and a half million. Of course,
Speaker 4: it is not yet official and pending the passing of
Speaker 4: Johnson's physical later this week, but assuming that is only
Speaker 4: a formality, Mike, what are your thoughts as the Reds
Speaker 4: try to further bolster their bullpen.
Speaker 6: Mark, I love the move, and as any manager or
Speaker 6: a pitching coach, and we'll hear from Nicklodolo in a
Speaker 6: few moments, Derek Johnson will tell you can never have
Speaker 6: enough quality arms at the back end of the bullpen.
Speaker 6: And this is somebody who has a wide variety or
Speaker 6: wealth of major league and professional experience. He spent some
Speaker 6: time in Japan. He's coming back now into Major League Baseball,
Speaker 6: I think his third year back in MLB, and he's
Speaker 6: been I think this matters. He's been with the Atlanta Braves.
Speaker 6: And when you talk about an organization that knows its pitching,
Speaker 6: it's the Atlanta Braves. And I think when you can
Speaker 6: add a picture from a great organization with great acumen
Speaker 6: and great reputation of developing pictures and even developing maybe
Speaker 6: reclamation projects if you will, I think it's a great move.
Speaker 6: The price is right, and I think Pierce Johnson is
Speaker 6: going to probably fit right in with that Reds bullpen,
Speaker 6: giving them kind of depth that Terry Francona and Derek
Speaker 6: Johnson are looking for at the end of games.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely became a priority when Emilia Pigan became a
Speaker 4: free agent. He came back, but they also lost guys
Speaker 4: like Scott Barlow, Brent Suter and a few other guys,
Speaker 4: and they needed to fill that group up. They got
Speaker 4: Caleb Ferguson, like I said, they got Pegne back. Now
Speaker 4: they have Pierce Johnson, who is more of a curveball guy.
Speaker 4: That's his deadly pitch and he'll be a different kind
Speaker 4: of look maybe, and Graham Ashcraft Tony Santion setting up
Speaker 4: in the late inning, so we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 4: In other news, the Reds also announced that pitchers and
Speaker 4: catchers and players that are participating in the World Baseball
Speaker 4: Classic are scheduled to report to spring training in Goodyear
Speaker 4: on February ninth, and their first workout will be February eleventh.
Speaker 4: Red's position players report on February fourteenth, with the first
Speaker 4: full squad workouts set for February sixteenth. As you may
Speaker 4: have heard already, the Reds earlier today put out a
Speaker 4: list of non roster invitees to big league camp. Some
Speaker 4: of those nine names should be familiar, but there are
Speaker 4: a few new faces. The list includes right handed pitchers
Speaker 4: tj Antone, Carson Spires, Lyon Richardson, Hagen Danner, left handed
Speaker 4: pitcher Joel Valdez, catcher Will Banfield, and infielders Garrett Hampson,
Speaker 4: Michael Chavis and Michael Tolia.
Speaker 5: Mike, what do you think about it?
Speaker 6: I mean, can you not root any harder for tj
Speaker 6: an Town. I mean, look at what he's been through.
Speaker 6: He's been through multiple Tommy John procedure three three. It's
Speaker 6: it's just remarkable. And to see him with the will,
Speaker 6: the desire to want to come back and pitch for
Speaker 6: the Reds. I think it's a great story to follow in.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 6: You know, obviously in spring training we'll see how he does.
Speaker 6: Everybody has to earn a spot, but it'd be great
Speaker 6: if tj Antone, uh could follow in the footsteps of
Speaker 6: other pictures who have been down that road before, battled
Speaker 6: when they were non roster invites and made it back
Speaker 6: onto the roster. Obviously, Carson Spires has served the Reds
Speaker 6: very very well. Again, he is another story where if
Speaker 6: the right position fits for him, right role fits in
Speaker 6: the bullpen or even in the starting rotation.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's he's got some real hard to do
Speaker 4: still with Tommy John he probably won't be ready for
Speaker 4: the start of the season, but he will be on
Speaker 4: the on the you know, in the organization, which is important.
Speaker 6: But just the fact that they want him back in
Speaker 6: the organization I think is interesting. And I will tell
Speaker 6: you that one name that sticks out to me, and
Speaker 6: I covered him from my latter days in Boston is
Speaker 6: Michael Chavs, first round pick of the Boston Red Sox
Speaker 6: way back in twenty fourteen. He's got a lot of power,
Speaker 6: and when I see Michael Chavas, I think of Dustin Pedroia.
Speaker 4: Well, we'll see over the coming weeks and months of
Speaker 4: any of these guys, we'll crack the twenty six man
Speaker 4: opening day roster. One person who will be on that
Speaker 4: roster as our first guest. He joined the organization as
Speaker 4: a first round draft pick in twenty nineteen and has
Speaker 4: been with Cincinnati in the Big League since twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4: He will be attending Redsvest this weekend. So let's welcome
Speaker 4: starting pitcher Nicolodolo Nick. How's your off season been going? Hey, Mark,
Speaker 4: how you doing?
Speaker 1: I'm doing well.
Speaker 7: Doing, well, what.
Speaker 5: Have you been up to this offseason?
Speaker 7: Not much, you know, being a first time dad, just
Speaker 7: hanging out and you know, doing dad things, and you're
Speaker 7: just getting ready to get it going.
Speaker 6: Here neck gets Mike Patral looking forward to seeing you
Speaker 6: in a goodyear in a couple of weeks. I'm sure
Speaker 6: that this is not only a relaxing time for you.
Speaker 6: But when as Mark and I were just talking about
Speaker 6: all the moves that the team is making, does that
Speaker 6: get you excited kind of revved up to meet some
Speaker 6: new faces and kind of get on with the twenty
Speaker 6: twenty sixth season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, for sure. I mean a lot of the guys
Speaker 7: they haven't been on the team, but I feel like,
Speaker 7: you know, they're guys that we've competed against and seen
Speaker 7: them play and stuff, so you know, you know what
Speaker 7: they bring to the table, and you know it. Definitely
Speaker 7: it gets you excited. But I think overall, you start
Speaker 7: to hit this point just in the offseason and you know,
Speaker 7: you start you start itching to get going again here.
Speaker 6: Obviously we mentioned just a few moments ago Nick about TJ.
Speaker 6: Anton and Carson Spires. To see those guys being invited
Speaker 6: to spring training, and especially with TJ's situation. To see
Speaker 6: what he's battling through, how does that inspire you as
Speaker 6: someone one who all but he has a spot obviously
Speaker 6: cemented in the rotation.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's you know, TJ's a great person first of all,
Speaker 7: so you're always rooting for good people, and you know,
Speaker 7: for a guy to go through three arm surgeries and
Speaker 7: continue to get after it and you know, want to
Speaker 7: keep chasing that dream, it's something you know, you you
Speaker 7: got to hand it to the guy. It's something that's
Speaker 7: it's pretty cool. And I mean when TJ's been healthy
Speaker 7: in the big leagues, He's produced at a high level,
Speaker 7: so he knows how to do it. You know, we
Speaker 7: all wish the best of luck for him because we
Speaker 7: wanted to we know what he can do. So if
Speaker 7: he can stay healthy and everything, not only for himself,
Speaker 7: I personally would just love to see it for him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Nick sent several career highs last season. You had
Speaker 4: a career highs and innings starts, strikeouts. You were nine
Speaker 4: to eight with a career best three point three three
Speaker 4: e r A in twenty nine games. They also two
Speaker 4: complete games. What was kind of the big key for
Speaker 4: you to kind of have this relatively strong excellency it.
Speaker 7: Uh. You know, I think a lot of things you
Speaker 7: could probably contribute it to. I would say number one
Speaker 7: is that I've really had a full off season to
Speaker 7: worry just about getting my body, like I guess in
Speaker 7: a spot to be able to do that. The last
Speaker 7: year and a half before that was just trying to
Speaker 7: get myself back onto the field and that was a struggle.
Speaker 7: So you know, having that full off season I think
Speaker 7: really helped to chase that. And there's nothing like you
Speaker 7: when when you're hurting stuff, you go through a lot
Speaker 7: that you have time and stuff to try to figure
Speaker 7: out how to like do things to make your body
Speaker 7: recover better and things like that. So I think throughout
Speaker 7: the years you've just kind of you learn things and
Speaker 7: you put it all together, and I think, you know,
Speaker 7: last year I was just a benefit of that plan
Speaker 7: coming together.
Speaker 4: Excellent, Nick. We got to step aside for a quick break.
Speaker 4: If you don't mind hanging on, we will pick up
Speaker 4: the conversation on the other side, But for right now
Speaker 4: you we are listening to the Budweiser Red's Hot Stove League,
Speaker 4: presented by UDF here on the REDS Radio Network. REDS fans.
Speaker 4: Now is the time to get your twenty twenty six
Speaker 4: season tickets. Members sit in the same seat for every
Speaker 4: game with their friends and family and enjoy a flexible
Speaker 4: ticket exchange program. Visit Reds dot com slash Membership for details.
Speaker 4: And we are back with the Budweiser Red's Hot Stove
Speaker 4: League presented by UDF Live at the bed MGM Sportsbook
Speaker 4: inside Tom's Watch Part at the banks Mark Sheldon along
Speaker 4: with Mike Petralia, and we're going to continue our conversation
Speaker 4: with Nick Lodolo. Nick, you've been to Reds Fest a
Speaker 4: few times now. From the player's point of view, what's
Speaker 4: that like for you to enjoy and interact with the fans.
Speaker 7: It's a lot of fun. You know, I've grown up
Speaker 7: as a kid. I feel like in California we really
Speaker 7: never had anything like that. So to see, you know,
Speaker 7: a community and everything get so excited for the start
Speaker 7: of baseball season and everything, it's something I thought that
Speaker 7: was pretty special the first time go into it, So
Speaker 7: you know, I kind of get that that fel end
Speaker 7: of time and you feel the excitement and it's always
Speaker 7: it's good to see your teammates and everything. So looking
Speaker 7: forward to its coming weekend.
Speaker 6: Nick, I'm curious about the rotation and the stability of
Speaker 6: the rotation and what that means to you as a
Speaker 6: member of the upper part portion of that rotation. Coming
Speaker 6: into twenty twenty six, you have the obviously have Hunter Green, yourself,
Speaker 6: Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer. We'll see how the fifth spot
Speaker 6: in the rotation works out. But what is it like
Speaker 6: to know that you guys have that set going into
Speaker 6: a season.
Speaker 7: I mean, it's it's definitely it's nice, for sure. I
Speaker 7: think the one thing I like is every guy's different
Speaker 7: we have from a standpoint of how we pitch and everything.
Speaker 7: So I think it gives us a good, good look
Speaker 7: just match up to match up day to day. And
Speaker 7: like you said, I mean we got a lot of
Speaker 7: options and a lot of good options. So I mean
Speaker 7: that's definitely exciting, and I think it gives you confidence.
Speaker 7: You don't matter you know who's going out there, we've
Speaker 7: got a good shout to win the ball game.
Speaker 6: And what kind of sticks out to me, Nick about
Speaker 6: what you just said is you do have a lot
Speaker 6: of styles. You do have a lot of different approaches
Speaker 6: to taking the mound every fifth day in that rotation.
Speaker 6: Derek Johnson's a big part of that. How how has
Speaker 6: Derek Johnson helped you and how do you think he
Speaker 6: has worked his magic throughout the last several years in
Speaker 6: working with so many different styles in the rotation.
Speaker 7: Yeah, DJ, DJ has been great, especially for me personally.
Speaker 7: I've really enjoyed working with him. He's taught me a lot.
Speaker 7: The one thing I think that DJ does really well is,
Speaker 7: like I said, those different styles, DJ doesn't try to
Speaker 7: group everybody into the same bucket. It's kind of his
Speaker 7: thing is always just be good at like, you know,
Speaker 7: be good at what you're good at, and so he's
Speaker 7: going to take your strength and try to maximize those
Speaker 7: and instead of, you know, trying to get everyone to
Speaker 7: like throw the same pitch or anything like that, it's
Speaker 7: it's like, all right, you're great at this, and we're
Speaker 7: going to run with this, and that's what makes you you.
Speaker 7: So I think that's one thing that really helps.
Speaker 4: We're talking with a red starting pitcher, Nick Lodolo. Nick,
Speaker 4: you guys went through a grind of a season, eighty
Speaker 4: three wins. You guys were fighting for your playoff lives
Speaker 4: all the way to the very end, clinched the spot
Speaker 4: on the last day. Obviously the season ended a little
Speaker 4: shorter than you guys would have wanted. But what was
Speaker 4: that experience like for you individually as a starting pitcher?
Speaker 4: And then what do you think it does for the
Speaker 4: team to build off this going in the next season.
Speaker 7: I think it's good. It's just, you know it, it
Speaker 7: gives us that little taste of what it's like. I mean,
Speaker 7: obviously it ended short than we wanted to, but you know,
Speaker 7: we can say we've experienced it now and everything, so
Speaker 7: we know what to expect. And you know, I think
Speaker 7: we'd all love for it to you know, be on
Speaker 7: our terms on the last day of the season. We're
Speaker 7: over before that. But you know, I'm excited for it.
Speaker 7: I think it probably serves a bigger purpose than we
Speaker 7: even realize right now, getting that experience.
Speaker 6: Do you have specific goals coming into twenty twenty six, Nick,
Speaker 6: And if you do, what are they?
Speaker 7: I don't really have any specific ones right now. You know,
Speaker 7: my main goal right now is to build up and
Speaker 7: be ready to go and camp and get through camp
Speaker 7: healthy and you know, be in a good spot when
Speaker 7: when we get rolling here open day.
Speaker 5: Nick, how's your your finger?
Speaker 4: Obviously the blister issue kind of popped up on you
Speaker 4: this season a little bit. Luckily for you, is only
Speaker 4: a two week absence. You had it also in twenty
Speaker 4: twenty four you had in the minor leagues. How have
Speaker 4: you been able to work on getting your fingers ready
Speaker 4: for basically for pitching a whole season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, you know, it's it's
Speaker 7: something that just the way I throw the ball, it's
Speaker 7: doing something. So I'm trying a couple of different things.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 7: Obviously I'm trying to toughing up like the skin in
Speaker 7: that area and everything like that. But at the end
Speaker 7: of the day, it just comes down to throwing in
Speaker 7: the middle of the season and everything. So you know,
Speaker 7: like we said, we're trying some different things and you know,
Speaker 7: hopefully we can keep that keep up, I guess popping
Speaker 7: up and keep it rolling in the middle of the year,
Speaker 7: because believe me, I'm tired of it coming up and
Speaker 7: stopping me.
Speaker 6: So what was the one thing that or two things
Speaker 6: or several things you learned about pitching and playing for
Speaker 6: Terry Francona last year.
Speaker 7: Uh, you know, Tito is awesome. Tito really he lets
Speaker 7: you do your your own thing. You know, if you
Speaker 7: if you want some advice or something, you know he's
Speaker 7: there to give it, Tia, and there's very few better
Speaker 7: to get it from. So you know, I really enjoyed
Speaker 7: playing for him. I know the guys did as well.
Speaker 7: He just you know, he brings a sense of the
Speaker 7: confidence in the locker room and get us ready to play. So,
Speaker 7: like I said, I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking
Speaker 7: forward to doing it again.
Speaker 8: I know that Andrew Abbott.
Speaker 6: I think a couple of times last year I can
Speaker 6: remember when he didn't want to come out of a game,
Speaker 6: would turn the other way and try to avoid making
Speaker 6: eye contact with Tito. And I remember Andrew in the
Speaker 6: clubhouse would kind of joke with us the day after
Speaker 6: and about trying to make avoid making eye contact with Tito.
Speaker 6: Can you ever remember any moment like that last year
Speaker 6: when you were like, boy, I'm really pitching well and
Speaker 6: I don't want to come out of this game. You
Speaker 6: did have two complete games and a shutout.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think that's probably most of the time. When
Speaker 7: you see Tito start walking you and you don't want
Speaker 7: to see that. You want to stay in the game,
Speaker 7: for sure. But I could tell you what, when Tito
Speaker 7: starts making that walk, you're not convincing him. He's made
Speaker 7: up his mind.
Speaker 4: Especially when he does the clap break before he gets
Speaker 4: to the mound. It seems like that's his tell that.
Speaker 5: You're coming out.
Speaker 7: Uh, he's already before that, he's already pointed the bullpen.
Speaker 4: When we get the field, Uh, Nick, when do you
Speaker 4: start kind of ramping up your throwing program and getting
Speaker 4: off the mound again? And and then also when do
Speaker 4: you head out to Goodyear.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we're in the middle of that for sure. Some
Speaker 7: guys are different how many times they've been off the mound.
Speaker 7: I've been off the mount a couple of times now,
Speaker 7: So thank you said, Yeah, everyone's different there. I'm gonna
Speaker 7: head out uh the first week of February, but I said,
Speaker 7: I feel good and you know, we'll be we'll be
Speaker 7: ready to roll.
Speaker 4: Do you have anything new in your in your toolbox
Speaker 4: that you're going to be you know, as far as
Speaker 4: your you're either your pitch selection or just something different
Speaker 4: that you're going to be doing this spring that you
Speaker 4: maybe hadn't done.
Speaker 5: In pass camps.
Speaker 7: As of right now. No, but I'm sure there's be
Speaker 7: something in camp that when we get there with DJ
Speaker 7: and stuff that he'll have selling for us, right Like,
Speaker 7: right now, everyone's main focus is just building up in
Speaker 7: health and and once you get the spring, I know,
Speaker 7: is when you know djil have something for you that
Speaker 7: he feels like we could get better at.
Speaker 6: I know a lot of baseball fans enjoyed the watching
Speaker 6: the World Series, and it was a memorable one.
Speaker 8: Obviously.
Speaker 1: Did you watch, Yeah, I sure did.
Speaker 8: And did you enjoy it? Picture yourself there one day?
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, Game seven was awesome. You know, I think
Speaker 7: that's probably one of the best World Series I've watched
Speaker 7: in a while. So you know, that's the goal is
Speaker 7: to be there and win that thing. So I mean,
Speaker 7: it'd be great if if we could do that, I'll
Speaker 7: tell you that. And I think, like I said, playing
Speaker 7: in the playoffs this year is just a glimpse of
Speaker 7: what I'm sure that's like. But playing in that atmosphere
Speaker 7: in LA was pretty cool.
Speaker 4: Well, Nick, thank you very much for joining us here
Speaker 4: on the show tonight. We will see you this weekend
Speaker 4: at Redsfest, so take care and catch you later.
Speaker 7: Yep, sounds good. We'll see y'all this weekend.
Speaker 4: Thanks Nick, Thanks Nick, and This is the Budweiser Reds
Speaker 4: Hot Stille League presented by UDF.
Speaker 5: Here.
Speaker 4: Reds Fest, presented by PNC, benefiting the Reds Community Fund,
Speaker 4: is this Friday and Saturday at the Cincinnati Convention Center.
Speaker 4: Enjoy everything Reds Baseball, including photos and autographs with current
Speaker 4: and former Reds players. For Reds Fest tickets and updates,
Speaker 4: visit Reds dot com slash Reds Fest. Welcome back to
Speaker 4: the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDP Live
Speaker 4: at the bed MGM Sports Book inside Tom's Watchbar at
Speaker 4: the Banks with Mike Petralia. I'm Mark Sheldon and we're
Speaker 4: in again for Tommy and Jim. And that's a great segue.
Speaker 4: What I read before going into the coming out of
Speaker 4: the break is Reds Fest. It's a big week for
Speaker 4: the Reds. It's been two years since we've had Reds Fest,
Speaker 4: and here to talk about it is Charlie Frank, the
Speaker 4: executive director of the Reds Community Fund. Charlie, I guess
Speaker 4: the finishing touches are probably being put on at the
Speaker 4: Convention Center as we speak.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been an interesting process here.
Speaker 9: You know, we've all been on hard hat tours and
Speaker 9: obviously been watching very closely. This is a pretty compl located,
Speaker 9: an involved event to roll out a new building, but
Speaker 9: everything that we see in here is that they're ready
Speaker 9: to roll It looks fantastic. I think for fans that
Speaker 9: come down and see the new venue, they will really
Speaker 9: enjoy some of these changes, a lot of the new
Speaker 9: food options. I think a lot of it's going to
Speaker 9: be very well received. And you know, this is one
Speaker 9: of the biggest events that they host all year, so
Speaker 9: I think it's apropos that Redsfest would be the first
Speaker 9: one end of the new Convention Center.
Speaker 6: How much how much familiarity do you have with the
Speaker 6: new venue, the new layout, and what the platform is going.
Speaker 9: To look like, you know, Mike, this event rolled out
Speaker 9: in its current format back in two thousand and six,
Speaker 9: and I remember being scared to death because it's so ambitious.
Speaker 9: It's really you know, the wavefil Castellini approaches things, whether
Speaker 9: it was all the All Star Game activities in twenty
Speaker 9: fifteen or the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary with all
Speaker 9: the bells and whistles in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3: There's no team that operates a fan festival like this. One.
Speaker 9: There's some great ones out there, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 9: But in terms of the scope of this event, it
Speaker 9: is just so big and ambitious, you know, And but
Speaker 9: I think it's you know, it's going to be a
Speaker 9: great fit with all the new space and all the
Speaker 9: new technology.
Speaker 3: And I'm relieved.
Speaker 9: As we've been over there this week that the you know,
Speaker 9: everything seems to be working well because we rely on
Speaker 9: an awful lot of Wi Fi and technology.
Speaker 6: So this event, to you, must be all about logistics,
Speaker 6: making sure the logistics run as smoothly as possible. And
Speaker 6: I see that over eighty current and former players, coaches, alumni, prospects,
Speaker 6: and broadcasters are scheduled to attend over a two day period.
Speaker 6: When I see that number, that's a lot to me.
Speaker 6: And I'm just wondering for you and all of your
Speaker 6: staff and organizers, how do you make sure that everybody
Speaker 6: gets their piece of the pie.
Speaker 9: Well, you know, we're so fortunate we have this incredible
Speaker 9: promo events team led by Zach Bonkowski, who's twenty plus
Speaker 9: years with the Reds. He's been the architect of this
Speaker 9: event since two thousand and six, working with Phil Castellini.
Speaker 9: Zach and his staff and All of our scoreboard and
Speaker 9: productions staffs are over there right now working out all
Speaker 9: the kinks.
Speaker 3: I mean, you've got so much AV in that space.
Speaker 9: I mean, we had a conversation today with Prestige AV
Speaker 9: and Creative Services about the scoreboard down at the whiffle
Speaker 9: ball fields. You know, down on the west end of
Speaker 9: the main floor.
Speaker 3: There's you know, everything going on in the main stage.
Speaker 9: There's activities going on in the second and third floor.
Speaker 9: But you know, Zach and his staff are just incredible
Speaker 9: the amount of time and energy and expertise and precision
Speaker 9: that goes into it.
Speaker 4: Red's best on Fridays from three to ten thirty. But
Speaker 4: I think the big moment is on that main stage
Speaker 4: at five thirty for player introductions, where player and fans
Speaker 4: can see like Eli Da La Cruz and Tito Francona
Speaker 4: Sal Stewart in the gang. What do you think fans
Speaker 4: can expect from that big, you know production on the stage.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I'll tell you. Mark and Mike just
Speaker 3: mentioned this a minute ago.
Speaker 9: The eighty plus players and former players and future prospects
Speaker 9: and broadcasters in front office staff. I remember when we
Speaker 9: hosted the twenty fifteen All Star game with Major League Baseball,
Speaker 9: and you know, all the fan festivals are really based
Speaker 9: on the All Star Game fan festival, and you know,
Speaker 9: every hour they'd roll in two other or two different
Speaker 9: Hall of Famers. I remember being over at one point
Speaker 9: gay Lord Perry and Harmon Killerbrew were there, and.
Speaker 3: I'm thinking, hey, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 9: It's gay Lord Perry and Harmon Killerbrew. But it's a
Speaker 9: couple guys, and I mean Hall of.
Speaker 3: Famers, not just guys.
Speaker 9: But you got eighty you know, Red celebrities walking around
Speaker 9: this place. You can't walk ten feet without bumping into
Speaker 9: a Reds player or prospect or a Hall of Famer. It's,
Speaker 9: you know, from a fans perspective, from a young fans perspective,
Speaker 9: it's incredible. And everyone's wearing the authentic jerseys, so I
Speaker 9: mean it's hard to miss the staff. But the level
Speaker 9: of access here is you know, it's absolutely unchallenged at
Speaker 9: any other event of this type. Plus Reds leadership and
Speaker 9: ownership has never dynamically priced for autographs.
Speaker 3: This is about the fans. You go to just about
Speaker 3: any other fan.
Speaker 9: Festival, you're going to play different prices based on the
Speaker 9: you know, the statue of the player of the alumni
Speaker 9: and here that has never been the rule.
Speaker 3: It's been about the fans.
Speaker 4: You know, one thing about Reds Fest is everyone gets
Speaker 4: an autograph. If they get in line, they get photos.
Speaker 4: But the other thing is you can also get your
Speaker 4: Reds tickets for the season starting at Redspetz.
Speaker 9: Right, Yeah, I mean, this is a huge event for
Speaker 9: so many Reds departments, whether it's our ticket sales, whether
Speaker 9: it's our corporate sales, whether it's our outstanding Hall of
Speaker 9: Fame and Reds Community fund staffs. Of course we'll be
Speaker 9: selling the outstanding fifty to fifty.
Speaker 3: Raffle throughout the facility.
Speaker 9: We've got our poker event which caps the event, which
Speaker 9: is a huge Saturday night fundraiser. So so many cool
Speaker 9: things happening on the main stage. It's it's really just
Speaker 9: phenomenal how much a Reds fan can experience two days.
Speaker 4: Well, we're gonna step aside for a second, Charlie. We'd
Speaker 4: love to talk more about Reds Fest in the on
Speaker 4: the other side, so for now we'll just step aside.
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Speaker 4: the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF live
Speaker 4: at the bed MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar at
Speaker 4: the Banks with Mike Petralia. I'm Mark Sheldon. We're back
Speaker 4: with Charlie Frank, the executive director of the Reds Community Fund.
Speaker 4: Redsfest is this weekend, but Charlie, tomorrow you have a
Speaker 4: big day as well with Saint Elizabeth Healthcare and an
Speaker 4: equipment drive. What's gonna be going on with that?
Speaker 9: Yeah, Mark, this is the tenth year in a row
Speaker 9: that we've teamed up with Saint Elizabeth and with a
Speaker 9: great national recreation nonprofit called Pitchin for Baseball and Softball.
Speaker 3: They're based out of Philadelphia. You know, we have a
Speaker 3: good fortune in Cincinnati. You know, when you work with
Speaker 3: Cincinnati Public schools, you're covering fifty two neighborhoods.
Speaker 9: You're covering, you know, a school system with sixty six schools,
Speaker 9: you're really covering the whole footprint of the city. We
Speaker 9: didn't have anything similar in northern Kentucky until we started
Speaker 9: working with Saintes and this pitchin.
Speaker 3: For baseball and softball.
Speaker 9: Now we have twenty four high schools, fourteen youth organizations
Speaker 9: that are going to be receiving close to seventy thousand
Speaker 9: dollars worth of youth baseball and softball gear at this
Speaker 9: event tomorrow.
Speaker 3: We literally will have the gear there for.
Speaker 9: The teams to pick up, and Rebbitt's going to be
Speaker 9: there with us to speak with the kids. It's a
Speaker 9: great way to kind of get the season started. But
Speaker 9: as you guys know, I mean, our game is expensive
Speaker 9: to play and it's a healthy game in most places
Speaker 9: in the suburbs. When you get into some of the
Speaker 9: lower economic areas, in some of the urban areas.
Speaker 3: It's hard and you know, when you get to the
Speaker 3: end of the.
Speaker 9: School year, athletic budgets are strapped, and so we're trying
Speaker 9: to do our part with these great partners. We also
Speaker 9: work with the rc dur Foundation to take it even further.
Speaker 9: They've been with us the last few years, so we're
Speaker 9: really grateful to them. So, you know, again we have
Speaker 9: a partnership here that can really dig in and create
Speaker 9: a level playing field for every high school and not every,
Speaker 9: but a majority of high schools in northern Kentucky and
Speaker 9: southeast Indiana. And now we feel like we've got great
Speaker 9: connections on both sides of the river and can really
Speaker 9: help these teams before the seasons get started.
Speaker 6: I think I met you a couple of years ago
Speaker 6: at a very similar event.
Speaker 8: Actually it was it was that event. It was that event, and.
Speaker 6: I'm curious to when you're talking to the coaches to
Speaker 6: the players, how critical is this equipment to keeping their
Speaker 6: programs alive.
Speaker 3: It's beyond critical, Mike.
Speaker 9: It's the sense of gratitude and partnership is one of
Speaker 9: the best elements of this job.
Speaker 3: We just had the ability yesterday to meet.
Speaker 9: With folks in Dayton, Kentucky, so we you know, checked
Speaker 9: out their new indoor field house and saw their new
Speaker 9: football field, and they wanted us to see the condition
Speaker 9: of their baseball and softball fields and they pour a
Speaker 9: lot of time and energy into those.
Speaker 3: They're going to be with us.
Speaker 9: They're going to be one of the high schools there tomorrow,
Speaker 9: and they were telling us just how important it is
Speaker 9: to get that head start for a lot of the
Speaker 9: school districts that don't have a lot of cash sitting around,
Speaker 9: but you still want to give that same love and
Speaker 9: attention to baseball and softball.
Speaker 3: So this really makes an impact.
Speaker 4: And you have an upcoming field project coming in April too, right.
Speaker 3: We do.
Speaker 9: You know, every other year we partner with Seeing Elizabeth.
Speaker 9: We've been doing this since the twenty nineteen. That one
Speaker 9: hundred and fiftieth year, we did a big field project
Speaker 9: in Saint Bernard on the Ohio side that year and
Speaker 9: in Bellevue, Kentucky. And we've been to Bellevue, We've been
Speaker 9: to Ludlow, Kentucky, Augusta, Kentucky, and then most recently decided
Speaker 9: we were going to take our first trip into Southeast Indiana.
Speaker 9: So we're working with just a fantastic school district and community.
Speaker 3: In South Ripley and we're going to be with them
Speaker 3: as well. They'll be one of the.
Speaker 9: Main st age ceremonies that we host on Saturday to
Speaker 9: tell their story, and we'll be dedicating a beautiful new
Speaker 9: ballfield that can be used for baseball and softball on
Speaker 9: a synthetic in field in late April.
Speaker 6: I know, obviously Friday is going to be a big
Speaker 6: day for Reds Fest, but Saturday, I'm just looking at
Speaker 6: the schedule and the itinerary of events coming up. One
Speaker 6: thing that stands out to me the Kids only press conference,
Speaker 6: where you give kids a chance to play our role.
Speaker 8: So to speak for a day.
Speaker 6: How important is it to get kids involved in baseball?
Speaker 6: We hear so often that the lifeline, the lifeblood of
Speaker 6: this sport going forward is getting the kids involved.
Speaker 9: You know, it's taken the work of the Community Fund
Speaker 9: and the other community arms of baseball really to a
Speaker 9: different level because when I arrived, you know, over twenty
Speaker 9: years ago, a lot of the community and nonprofit work was.
Speaker 3: A nice to have. You know, here we are in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six.
Speaker 9: You know, you get all the data on you know,
Speaker 9: who's watching the national telecasts and the playoff telecasts, and
Speaker 9: we've got an older audience than the NBA and the NFL,
Speaker 9: and we need to be focused on making the game
Speaker 9: accessible to every kid, not just kids that come from
Speaker 9: baseball and softball families and come from affluent communities. So
Speaker 9: getting them down to this event, Mike putting them on stage,
Speaker 9: getting them to the mascots, getting them.
Speaker 3: To the whiffle ball fields, and just stoking.
Speaker 9: Their imagination to why this game matters so much to
Speaker 9: our region is vitally important and we got to you know, also,
Speaker 9: we're lucky here. We've got Ellie Dela Cruz that's really
Speaker 9: ignited a younger fan base.
Speaker 3: And Ellie arrived the same year that MLB.
Speaker 9: You know, made the changes with the pitch clock and
Speaker 9: with the bases and with the shifts, so you know,
Speaker 9: all these things have to work in concert, and we
Speaker 9: have to do our work to make sure kids really
Speaker 9: have access to our game.
Speaker 4: Charlie only got about a minute left, but I wanted
Speaker 4: to touch on the celebrity poker tournament. Who do you
Speaker 4: expect to see it there? And that's also a big
Speaker 4: fundraiser for the community fund.
Speaker 3: Too, right it is, guys, we'll have over five hundred players.
Speaker 3: We literally had to stop sales. They were supposed to.
Speaker 9: Be until midnight tonight, but we're already over five hundred
Speaker 9: and thirty that will be playing. The cool part about
Speaker 9: it is that all the Reds players, coaches, broadcasters, front office,
Speaker 9: they will come up and if they don't plan to
Speaker 9: hang around, they'll go all in.
Speaker 3: And if you knock out one.
Speaker 9: Of the players or one of the red celebrities or
Speaker 9: media celebrities, you win the authentic jersey off their back.
Speaker 3: So it's a really cool thing.
Speaker 9: We'll give prizes for more than I think the first
Speaker 9: top twenty three and the winner will take home ten
Speaker 9: thousand dollars, So it's I can't imagine there's a bigger
Speaker 9: celebrity Texas hold them event anywhere, and it's a really
Speaker 9: cool way to wrap up the Reds Fst weekend.
Speaker 4: Well a reminder, Reds Fest is on Friday from three
Speaker 4: to ten thirty Saturday from eleven am to six thirty pm.
Speaker 4: All proceeds go to the Reds Community Fund Charlie Real Quick.
Speaker 4: Where and where can fans get tickets?
Speaker 9: Yeah, best way to do it is Reds dot com
Speaker 9: slash Reds Fest. There will be tickets available at the door,
Speaker 9: but you never know what kind of crowd's gonna be
Speaker 9: waiting for you, so you can do that, but I
Speaker 9: would really recommend reds dot com slash Redsfest and if
Speaker 9: you need more information on the poker event, reds dot
Speaker 9: Com slash Poker.
Speaker 4: Well excellent, Charlie, Thank you so much. Remember everyone turn
Speaker 4: out for Redsfest. It's a lot of fun. And we'll
Speaker 4: be back to wrap up the show here on the
Speaker 4: Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF on the
Speaker 4: Reds Radio Network. And we're back to wrap up the
Speaker 4: Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF. I'm Mark
Speaker 4: Sheldon along with Mike Petralia and Mike. We're in the
Speaker 4: home stretch of the offseason. Spring training is right around
Speaker 4: the corner. As I read Pitchers and Catchers February ninth report.
Speaker 4: A lot of roster tinkering still left to do, though,
Speaker 4: isn't there?
Speaker 3: There is?
Speaker 8: And I don't.
Speaker 6: I am not one of those staying awake late at
Speaker 6: night worried about their power bat.
Speaker 8: I'm just not.
Speaker 6: I think the Reds are going to find ways to
Speaker 6: generate more power with the bats that they already have.
Speaker 6: They just are gonna have to a stay healthy and
Speaker 6: be take that next step forward. Spencer Steer is somebody
Speaker 6: I would take a long, close, long hard look at
Speaker 6: in terms of taking that next step. He had a great,
Speaker 6: a terrific year in terms of power twenty one home
Speaker 6: runs and seventy five RBIs last year. But Matt McClain
Speaker 6: is another. I don't think Matt McClain is going to
Speaker 6: have the kind of off season that he had this
Speaker 6: year that he had last year. And I think that's
Speaker 6: a big part of the Reds plans. They are counting
Speaker 6: mark on Matt McClain being that Matt McClain of twenty
Speaker 6: twenty three and me. You know, the joke is hope
Speaker 6: is not a plan, but I think they believe this
Speaker 6: is more than hope. They have seen demonstrated evidence of
Speaker 6: McClain when he first came up that he can handle
Speaker 6: big league pitching and then you have noel Ve Marte.
Speaker 6: I think with a full year under his belt in
Speaker 6: the outfield this year, I think his power numbers are
Speaker 6: going to soar.
Speaker 4: And the important one, the most important one is Elida.
Speaker 4: Sure he only hit four home runs after the All
Speaker 4: Star break. I think a lot of it was due
Speaker 4: to the quad injury that he was dealing with. He
Speaker 4: was also just gonna wear and Terry played all one
Speaker 4: hundred and sixty two games. Tito Francona has already said
Speaker 4: that he's going to give him days off, which should
Speaker 4: help him be fresher and maybe more productive. But I
Speaker 4: think he has to level up in his production this year.
Speaker 6: He does, but I would rather La play a whole
Speaker 6: year fully healthy and maybe creep up towards that thirty
Speaker 6: home run number, but play that overall game and the
Speaker 6: other thing. And we've talked about this last week. He's
Speaker 6: got to improve his defense, and I think a big
Speaker 6: part of the focus this spring will be on improving
Speaker 6: that the fundamentals, the mechanics of the position of playing shortstop,
Speaker 6: because like it or not, he is going to be
Speaker 6: your opening day.
Speaker 4: Shortstop and it should be a really good infield. If
Speaker 4: Ellie de la Cruz can improve. You already got a
Speaker 4: two time goal Glove winner and Keith Brian Hayes at
Speaker 4: third base. He got McLain who always played solid defense
Speaker 4: even when he wasn't hitting last year, and then Spencer Steer.
Speaker 4: If he's at first base, that's a Gold glob finalist.
Speaker 4: Or it could be South Stewart who has some work
Speaker 4: to do to improve at first base. He's even said
Speaker 4: that to us last week, why.
Speaker 6: He is a bat that I didn't even really mention
Speaker 6: it inlisting off bats. That's why I don't think the
Speaker 6: Reds were overly concerned. They would have loved to have
Speaker 6: had Kyle Schwarber, we all know that, but that didn't
Speaker 6: work out, and the Reds have decided to put their
Speaker 6: racehorses in other places, like Pierce Johnson for instance.
Speaker 4: For instance, we'll see if that closes, but that they
Speaker 4: have Pierce Johnson is a pretty solid bullpen. We already
Speaker 4: know about the rotation, and then it's just really seeing
Speaker 4: what the bench can be. You know, what they can
Speaker 4: put together. You got guys like JJ Bladetta was signed
Speaker 4: to compete for an every day spot, Dane Myers of course,
Speaker 4: will Benson's back, and we'll see what they end up
Speaker 4: doing with that.
Speaker 6: I think health is a big, big factor in all
Speaker 6: of this. Mark If they are healthy, they are going
Speaker 6: to be competing for the NL Central.
Speaker 8: I do believe that well.
Speaker 4: I think they'll definitely contend, but that's certainly with the Cubs.
Speaker 4: With the moves they've made this week, it's gonna be
Speaker 4: a tough division. We'll see what happens, it's wide open.
Speaker 4: Before we go, I want to thank Nick Lodolo, Charlie Frank,
Speaker 4: Mike Bittralia, Davon Ruster, and Drew Wester Heidi back at
Speaker 4: the studio from MLB dot Com. I'm Mark Sheldon, and
Speaker 4: this has been the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League, presented
Speaker 4: by udf right here on the Reds Radio Network.