Speaker 1: Hey, very delightful, good evening to you, and welcome into
Speaker 1: the Budwiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by u DF.
Speaker 1: We are live the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch
Speaker 1: Bar here at the Banks with jim Day. I'm Tommy
Speaker 1: throw a lot to talk about in the world of
Speaker 1: Reds Baseball today. We'll be talking Reds Baseball with you
Speaker 1: for the next hour. Give us a call five one, three, seven, four,
Speaker 1: nine hundred, the big One. We'll take your phone calls
Speaker 1: a little bit later on. We've got plenty to talk about.
Speaker 1: We'll talked about the Reds Hall of Fame in museum
Speaker 1: balloting that's out right now for the next class of
Speaker 1: the Red's Hall of Fame. The Reds added a player
Speaker 1: to the roster today and we've got a lot to
Speaker 1: get to. We've also got Andre Rabbit coming up on
Speaker 1: the show. So an exciting show and it's going to
Speaker 1: be a packed one.
Speaker 2: Jimmy always love to talk to Andrew Abbott when obviously
Speaker 2: he's a great pitcher, but a good dude to talk to,
Speaker 2: and upping the intelligence on this show immediately.
Speaker 1: No doubt, no doubt. You know, there's a little story
Speaker 1: of about the intelligence of and Rabbit. Jim and I
Speaker 1: were trying to figure out how to get into the
Speaker 1: ballpark through the security systems. They changed it, I guess
Speaker 1: last year. I think at some point and I was
Speaker 1: walking in for an event with Andrew, and these new
Speaker 1: boxes had been on the walls by the doors and
Speaker 1: by the gate where we come into the parking garage.
Speaker 1: And I always thought we just had to call him
Speaker 1: on our phone because the buttons were gone. He goes, no,
Speaker 1: you just pressed the button. I said, where's the button?
Speaker 1: He goes, that light right there, that looks like a button.
Speaker 1: There's a button you push that. Neither one of us
Speaker 1: knew it was a button. It took Andrew Rabbit's intelligence
Speaker 1: for us to realize, oh, there's a button there. So
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for Andrew for enlightening us and making
Speaker 1: us smarter and figuring out how to get into the ballpark.
Speaker 1: Sue for yourself, Yeah, well now that was both of us.
Speaker 1: I know you called yourself out last time, but you
Speaker 1: weren't on the air. Welcome in, Andrew Abbott, Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. How's your off season going, man?
Speaker 3: All seasons? Well, guys, you know, thanks for having having
Speaker 3: me on first of all. But you know, raveling, taking
Speaker 3: in on the side, seeing the family, going to some
Speaker 3: different places. So it's been it's been worthwhile so far.
Speaker 2: How's mom and dad doing, By the way, I crushed
Speaker 2: that salsa again, the homemade salsa that stockpiled a couple of.
Speaker 3: Ye, they are doing great. They're doing great.
Speaker 1: They they make for those that don't know. Their salsa
Speaker 1: that they make is truly some of the best salsa,
Speaker 1: not some of it is the best sauce I've ever had.
Speaker 2: Everything homemade home.
Speaker 1: They grow it right in their garden. It's outstanding. Speaking
Speaker 1: of traveling around doing all kinds of stuff this offseason,
Speaker 1: we saw that you were here in town. Are you
Speaker 1: in town right now?
Speaker 3: By the way, No, I am visiting them in Virginia currently.
Speaker 1: Okay, but you were in town. You went and took
Speaker 1: in an FC Cincinnati game, and you had this distinct
Speaker 1: privilege of a winner go home playoff match against Columbus
Speaker 1: to pull the sword before the match.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it was. It was fantastic, you know, I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, training and playing in front of a lot
Speaker 3: of people kind of get you ready for it. But
Speaker 3: being in a different atmosphere in a different professional sport
Speaker 3: is something that you know, we haven't had the ability
Speaker 3: to do ever. And I was like, I think this
Speaker 3: will be a cool thing to do. And you know,
Speaker 3: I can't thank you know, FC enough in the Reds
Speaker 3: and whoever else has helped behind the scenes and set
Speaker 3: that up for me, because that was amazing.
Speaker 2: Also went to the Urban Youth Academy, and I know
Speaker 2: it's not your first trip there, do you You're one
Speaker 2: of those guys that when there's children's hospital visits, you
Speaker 2: were always at the forefront of that. What was it
Speaker 2: like going to the Urban Youth Academy and given your time?
Speaker 3: I mean, you know it's great. You know, you try
Speaker 3: to give back whatever we can. Just you know, whenever
Speaker 3: we have free time, whenever we have the ability to,
Speaker 3: we're always going to be available, especially for those kids.
Speaker 3: You know, just trying to inspire the next generation of
Speaker 3: kids or you know, trying to get somebody something to
Speaker 3: smile about. I mean, it really just makes everybody say
Speaker 3: better and it's something that I take pride in.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's one of the remarkable things about you. Uh,
Speaker 1: just a great guy on and off the field. Let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about the season it was. It was certainly
Speaker 1: a great year for you. It was a career year
Speaker 1: for you, career best e r a under three this year,
Speaker 1: you said, a new career high in innings and strikeouts
Speaker 1: for you. What do you think when you look back
Speaker 1: on the season, what was it that kind of allowed
Speaker 1: you to take that next step forward in your career?
Speaker 3: Well, I think, overall, I think it was just maturing
Speaker 3: in the game and kind of understanding who I was
Speaker 3: as the pitcher and what I needed to do. And
Speaker 3: then you know, you add that, you add in the
Speaker 3: fact that I had a bulletproof routine with the strength
Speaker 3: staff with Rob and then with the training staff for
Speaker 3: Sean and John and all those guys, and you know,
Speaker 3: really didn't have any waves, you know waves. We were
Speaker 3: just you know, monotonous. We did the same thing day
Speaker 3: in and day out, and you know, the results continue
Speaker 3: to pour in. So, you know, a credit to those
Speaker 3: guys for helping me out, you know, sitting me down
Speaker 3: saying we agree with you, we need to do these things.
Speaker 3: And you know, once we were all on board, it
Speaker 3: was just about doing it. And then you know, the
Speaker 3: results were speaking for themselves.
Speaker 2: We talked a lot about getting through a full season
Speaker 2: and the Riggers and the bear that is the regular
Speaker 2: season in Major League Baseball. You said learning more about yourself.
Speaker 2: What specifically did you learn?
Speaker 3: You know, I think the addition of the cutter that
Speaker 3: me and DJ were working on, and then just talking
Speaker 3: with Steve O or Trevy our batterymates, and just figuring
Speaker 3: out sequencing and really honing in on, you know, scouting
Speaker 3: reports and all the pre stuff that's not even done
Speaker 3: on the field, so that when you get on the field,
Speaker 3: it's so much easier just to pitch like you're on
Speaker 3: the same thing. You're not shaking, you're not taking forever,
Speaker 3: and the game plan is almost bulletproof.
Speaker 1: You were talking about the routine with your the strength staff,
Speaker 1: you know, I it's one of the things that always
Speaker 1: stands out to me when you hear some of the
Speaker 1: great pitchers talk about what makes them great, They talk
Speaker 1: about their routine. It's not just the pregame routine, it's
Speaker 1: it's the days between the starts. I know Nolan Ryan
Speaker 1: was one of those guys that worked really hard between stars,
Speaker 1: was very regimented. Is that something that's relatively new to
Speaker 1: you that you're just kind of starting to figure out right.
Speaker 3: Now, I wouldn't say it's relatively new. You know, we
Speaker 3: I had a little bit of it at UVA, But
Speaker 3: as you get older, you kind of realize what works
Speaker 3: for you and what doesn't work for you. And those
Speaker 3: guys did a really good job at, you know, implementing
Speaker 3: what worked for me, because you know, baseball is one
Speaker 3: of those unique sports. Not everybody can do the same things.
Speaker 3: You know, we're not all built the same way, so
Speaker 3: you know, it just takes what you're good at and
Speaker 3: then tries to apply it as much as possible. And
Speaker 3: you know, as I said before, like credit to those
Speaker 3: guys for really putting in the work behind the scenes
Speaker 3: and then coming to us and meeting with us individually,
Speaker 3: not just myself but everybody else, and you know, figuring
Speaker 3: out what's gonna work and sticking to it.
Speaker 2: You've also you've learned how to get through the rigors
Speaker 2: of one hundred and sixty two. It's the same learning
Speaker 2: process of how to prepare in the off season. How
Speaker 2: long did you shut it down? Are you still shut down?
Speaker 2: When do you start ramping up? What do you what
Speaker 2: are you doing right now besides.
Speaker 3: Travel so ill, Yeah, I'm I'm traveling a bunch, so
Speaker 3: we're fitting in workouts and stuff whenever I can, wherever
Speaker 3: I can. But yeah, I I deloaded at the end
Speaker 3: of the season for a week, and then I took
Speaker 3: about two to three weeks off and I'm in week
Speaker 3: three of throwing already, so I didn't take I didn't
Speaker 3: take that much time off. You know, still going, still going,
Speaker 3: working out with stuff down in Texas, and uh, you know,
Speaker 3: just I was ready for the season to start as
Speaker 3: quick as it ended, because here we are and it's
Speaker 3: almost the holidays.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: At that time getting close.
Speaker 2: You said that you you're throwing now? Is that off
Speaker 2: the mound?
Speaker 1: Is that?
Speaker 2: Are you a long toss guy? What type of throwing
Speaker 2: are you doing?
Speaker 3: So I'm in a build up phase, So right now
Speaker 3: I'm concentrated on numbers, so like workload, like how how
Speaker 3: much effort I've give in too Each time is different.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: And then as I get further into it, I will
Speaker 3: be off the mound and I will be long coughing.
Speaker 3: But now I'm probably at sixty to seventy percent. Probably
Speaker 3: will be a good guest.
Speaker 1: Andrew Rabbit is our guest, an All Star for the
Speaker 1: first time this year, in year three of his career.
Speaker 1: Uh left, you got time to stick around for another segment.
Speaker 1: We got to get to a break. Yep, all good,
Speaker 1: All right, sounds good. We've got more coming up with
Speaker 1: Andrew Abbott. Next, this is the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove
Speaker 1: League presented by u DF. We're live the bet MGM
Speaker 1: Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks here on
Speaker 1: the Reds Radio Network Canada. The Butudweiser Reds Hot Stove
Speaker 1: League presented by UDF or live betmg OF Sports Book
Speaker 1: inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks, right across the
Speaker 1: street from Great American Ballpark, Talking Reds baseball with you.
Speaker 1: I misspoke last week I said, you know, we were
Speaker 1: talking Reds baseball and it hadn't even turned cold. And
Speaker 1: then lo and behold, a few days later, it snowed
Speaker 1: a couple of inches. And now it's cold, so it's
Speaker 1: starting to feel a little more wintery. So let's huddle
Speaker 1: around the hot stove and talk some baseball. We're talking
Speaker 1: with Andrew Abban, an All Star for the first time
Speaker 1: this year this past offseas Andrew, you talked about You've
Speaker 1: done some traveling this offseason, have you been anywhere cool
Speaker 1: so far yet? Like, where's the best place you've been?
Speaker 3: I haven't gone to many places that are cool. It's
Speaker 3: just been between Texas Virginia and since the so far
Speaker 3: I got you.
Speaker 1: Well, Now, we had an event late in the season
Speaker 1: where you had made mentioned that you might be checking
Speaker 1: out an Ohio State game at some point this fall.
Speaker 1: Have you have you made your way to Columbus yet
Speaker 1: to check on the Buckeyes.
Speaker 3: I did, I was. I was there to watch. I
Speaker 3: was watching them beat up on Penn State.
Speaker 1: How was that? What's I mean? You're a Virginia guys,
Speaker 1: so can you can you compare the two?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: Is that is that one of the better college football
Speaker 1: environments you've been to? I still haven't been to a game.
Speaker 3: Uph Oh absolutely, I mean it was great. Uh, you know,
Speaker 3: the san atmosphere was awesome. The team's obviously very good.
Speaker 3: I had a great time. A group of friends spent
Speaker 3: it and spent the night there, and you know, to
Speaker 3: enjoy a little bit of what Columbus had to offer.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I would. I would definitely recommend going to
Speaker 3: a football game up there.
Speaker 1: Ah, very good. Uh, Jimmy, what kind of things does
Speaker 1: Columbus have to offer.
Speaker 2: It's God's country. He's pointing it offer up there just
Speaker 2: like Cincinnati. Both are God's country.
Speaker 1: Uh, and Andrew, let's talk to baseball. You know we've
Speaker 1: been we've been talking about your year. You are. It
Speaker 1: seems like, you know, you're talking about the relationship with
Speaker 1: your catcher and how important that is and going into
Speaker 1: a game with a plan. But part of pitching is
Speaker 1: understanding that maybe your plan won't necessarily work on that day.
Speaker 1: It just happens. But you seem to be a guy
Speaker 1: that can adjust on the fly as well as anybody.
Speaker 1: And part of that, A lot of that credit goes
Speaker 1: to your ability to read hitters. Is that something that
Speaker 1: you just kind of do instinctually? Is it something you've learned?
Speaker 1: Is is it something you even realize you do when
Speaker 1: you're out there.
Speaker 3: I'd say it's about half and half. I think it's
Speaker 3: gotten a lot better over time. It's not always good,
Speaker 3: you know, but like you said, you have to adjust
Speaker 3: on the fly. Some games you're warming up in the
Speaker 3: bullpen and you're like, I don't have this pitch. I
Speaker 3: don't feel comfortable with it. Let's just kind of change
Speaker 3: the game plan around or some days that everything's working.
Speaker 3: It's almost like a read and react situation. You just
Speaker 3: have to see what in front of you and figure out,
Speaker 3: how are we going to get through six seven innings
Speaker 3: with this? And let's just try our best to go
Speaker 3: do it.
Speaker 2: Guys make the playoffs. I'm sure you wish the record
Speaker 2: was better than it was, but you did get in.
Speaker 2: You have that nucleus that's seemingly coming back. As we
Speaker 2: sit here right now, what does his team have to
Speaker 2: do to make the next step to get up towards
Speaker 2: maybe ninety wins, be hunting a Central Division title? What
Speaker 2: do you think has to happen?
Speaker 3: You know? In my opinion, I think it's we just
Speaker 3: got to handle the teams that are below us or
Speaker 3: teams that are you know, that are beatable by you know,
Speaker 3: standards in the in the in the leagues, you know,
Speaker 3: in the American and National I think last year we
Speaker 3: beat the teams that we were honestly either underdogs against
Speaker 3: or we were about fifty to fifty with, and then
Speaker 3: it felt like we didn't beat anybody that was beneath us.
Speaker 3: And I think going in, I think you see those
Speaker 3: really good teams, you know, you know, the dog is
Speaker 3: the Yankees the Cubs. Those guys handle the teams that
Speaker 3: are below them and then can still beat the teams
Speaker 3: above them, and then that's why they turn out with
Speaker 3: ninety plus wins. And I think that's personally, I think
Speaker 3: that's probably the biggest thing that we need to focus on.
Speaker 1: Well, you hit the nail on the head. You talk
Speaker 1: about being good enough to beat good teams. When you're
Speaker 1: good enough to be good teams, you can beat anybody.
Speaker 1: What's the key to kind of give getting over the hump?
Speaker 1: I'm sure, I'm sure you guys talked about it internally.
Speaker 1: What are some of those things that you feel like
Speaker 1: you need to do better to be able to have
Speaker 1: success against teams that don't have as good of a
Speaker 1: record next year.
Speaker 3: I still think we, you know, we always have to
Speaker 3: play clean baseball no matter who we're going against. I
Speaker 3: just think maybe in those moments you might see a
Speaker 3: little more relapsed from everybody, including myself, and I just think,
Speaker 3: you know, we got to put our heads down and say, Okay,
Speaker 3: well we know this team is good. They're all major
Speaker 3: the players like, let's go do it and handle our business.
Speaker 3: And I mean it's easier said than done, obviously, But
Speaker 3: I think when we already know our group is so good,
Speaker 3: we're playing together, we're jailed, you know, we're a family
Speaker 3: as a team. I think that's probably the simplest thing
Speaker 3: is just let's focus just us had a bit more
Speaker 3: all together.
Speaker 2: Correct me if I'm wrong, But I thought I saw
Speaker 2: you and Chase Burns hanging out a lot, not necessarily
Speaker 2: off the field, but in the dugout, etc. Or when
Speaker 2: you're throwing. And if that's the case, what kind of
Speaker 2: makeup does this kid happen? What are some of the
Speaker 2: things that he picks your brain about?
Speaker 3: No, Chase is great, you know, I mean I miss
Speaker 3: him my year in college.
Speaker 1: But you saw the highlight reel.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's a walking highlight reeler guy. Stuff electric,
Speaker 3: He's got a bright future ahead of him in the
Speaker 3: game and beyond the game. You know, during the game, though,
Speaker 3: I mean that's just kind of starting pitchers hanging out,
Speaker 3: Like we'll be talking about pitching one minute, and then
Speaker 3: we'll be talking about video games the next minute, or
Speaker 3: trying to figure out plans with each other or so,
Speaker 3: you know, something like that. But when he's picking your brain,
Speaker 3: the guy he's very, very intelligent with pitches, with pitch calling,
Speaker 3: with you know, all the analytical spin rates and stuff.
Speaker 3: So honestly, it's a little bit of both back and
Speaker 3: forth between us two. I'm picking his brain on that stuff,
Speaker 3: and he's just picking my brain off of like maybe
Speaker 3: he's a routine or maybe something he should include or
Speaker 3: take out. So it goes both ways for sure.
Speaker 1: Another guy that was around this year, he obviously didn't
Speaker 1: pitch as much as I'm sure the Reds hoped he would.
Speaker 1: But that was Wade Miley, who is just I assume
Speaker 1: you've spent some time with him. He's a wealth of knowledge.
Speaker 1: Were you able to pick his brain? I mean, he's
Speaker 1: he's a left hander. I gotta believe there's some similarities
Speaker 1: between you two and some things that you could learn
Speaker 1: from him. Did you have a chance to do that
Speaker 1: much with Wade while he was around?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I wasn't around the last time the red signed him.
Speaker 3: I think it was what twenty twenty one, I believe,
Speaker 3: so I missed him during that time. But in spring training,
Speaker 3: you know, he took his own time away from you know,
Speaker 3: his family and stuff to work with me on my
Speaker 3: pickoff move with me on you know, just different pitching
Speaker 3: mechanics stuff for like, you know, really trying to get
Speaker 3: in on right handed hitters, like what I should focus on.
Speaker 3: I mean you said it correctly.
Speaker 1: I mean the guy.
Speaker 3: He's a great guy. He's a wealth of knowledge. And
Speaker 3: I think knowing that I'm, you know, just starting out
Speaker 3: in the league, that leaning on guys like that are
Speaker 3: the reason why I can play for longer is because
Speaker 3: those guys are just passing on stuff that has kept
Speaker 3: them around for fourteen, ten plus years.
Speaker 1: Like whatever it may be, well, Andrew, certainly appreciated. Enjoy
Speaker 1: the rest of your season. Do you have any before
Speaker 1: we let you go? You got it? Got any big
Speaker 1: trips on the horizon, some fun trips, some exciting places
Speaker 1: that you plan on going before you have to head
Speaker 1: back to Arizona for spring training.
Speaker 3: The Abbot crew is going to the beach next week.
Speaker 3: That's about the funnest thing I got planned.
Speaker 1: Man, that sounds good. Well, enjoy it. That sounds plenty
Speaker 1: fun to me. Take care, Andrew. I'm sure we'll talk
Speaker 1: to you again before we all head down to Arizona.
Speaker 1: Good luck in the offseason. Enjoyed, man, Thanks yeah, you guys,
Speaker 1: Thank you Thanks Andrew. That is Red's Lefty Andrew Abbott
Speaker 1: joining us so on the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League.
Speaker 1: Still plenty more to talk about. We'll talk about the
Speaker 1: balloting for the Reds Hall of Fame that is open now.
Speaker 1: You can vote on who you think belongs in the
Speaker 1: next Hall of Fame class. Plenty more to get to.
Speaker 1: This is the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by
Speaker 1: UDF on the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back into the
Speaker 1: Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF. We're live
Speaker 1: the BETMGM Sports Book inside Tom's watch Bar at the
Speaker 1: Banks phone lines. We're open five on three, seven, four, nine,
Speaker 1: seven thousand, or one eight hundred the Big One. Join
Speaker 1: the Reds Community Fund for the annual twenty twenty six Prestige,
Speaker 1: av and Creative Services Rick Steiner Memorial Poker Tournament presented
Speaker 1: by bet MGM on Saturday. That'll be January the seventeenth.
Speaker 1: Play for your chance, guaranteed ten thousand dollars first place
Speaker 1: prize and other cash prizes. Registrations are open now at
Speaker 1: Reds dot com slash Poker course that'll be at the
Speaker 1: end of Redsfest. Redsfest is back, Jimmy. It is returning,
Speaker 1: and a month later than normal, a little bit later.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, and I understand it's the first event at
Speaker 2: the newly renovated Convention Center.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm here. We're going to break that bad
Speaker 1: boy in. That will be January sixteenth and seventeenth. Tickets
Speaker 1: are on sale now. Redsfest presented by PNC. You can
Speaker 1: get your tickets at the newly renovated Cincinnati Convention Center.
Speaker 1: Two day celebration should be a lot of fun. You
Speaker 1: can get all the information that you need to know
Speaker 1: about Redsfest at reds dot com slash Redsfest. We mentioned
Speaker 1: that the Reds did make a move today they claimed
Speaker 1: Ben Rourtviitt off Waivers. Of course, you may remember Ben
Speaker 1: Rhurtvitt was playing for the Dodgers when the Reds met
Speaker 1: him in the postseason. Start of the season. Did rtfit
Speaker 1: and the Rays organization then went over to the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: So the Reds have claimed him. He's a catcher. Kind
Speaker 1: Of an interesting move here, Jim, that the Reds would
Speaker 1: claim Ben Rurtviitt off Waivers here when they've already got
Speaker 1: a couple of catchers. Tyler Stevenson figures to be the
Speaker 1: regular guy. Then you got Jose Travino, a very valuable
Speaker 1: backup behind him. They almost split time during the season,
Speaker 1: so now you work Ben Rurtvinn into the mix. I'm
Speaker 1: curious to see all the reasoning behind that, how this
Speaker 1: is going to play out this offseason. If if this
Speaker 1: maybe signals something to come for the Reds, it could.
Speaker 2: I think it's just part of off season insurance. I understand.
Speaker 2: I don't think he has any options, right, so that
Speaker 2: complicates things. And I haven't talked to Nick kraw or
Speaker 2: Brad Metter about this, so I'm just just cheerly, just
Speaker 2: be speculating, But I would be surprised if someone like
Speaker 2: that would be on the Reds roster come season time,
Speaker 2: unless something happens, if you move one of those catchers
Speaker 2: and you don't want to shop a catcher when you
Speaker 2: don't have two quote unquote big league catchers more than
Speaker 2: two on your roster right within your system. So I
Speaker 2: think it's a little bit of insurance there. So they
Speaker 2: have space on the forty man, so he might be
Speaker 2: a candidate. He's on the Reds roster, now will he
Speaker 2: come come season time remains to be sick.
Speaker 1: He was three for six against the Reds in those
Speaker 1: two wild card games. He's not exactly a five hundred
Speaker 1: hitter for his career. There hadn't been one of those yet,
Speaker 1: by the way, for his career two seventy nine hitter.
Speaker 1: Parts of about four seasons in the big leagues for
Speaker 1: Ben roadtfit actually yeah, parts of four seasons. Broke in
Speaker 1: first in twenty twenty one, to play at all in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, and then he's been briefly with the Yankees,
Speaker 1: stops in Tampa Bay, and then most recently the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Originally his second round pick the Twins back in twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: a high school selection, Ben Roordvitt claimed off waivers from
Speaker 1: the Dodgers today by the Reds other news this week.
Speaker 1: By the way, manager of the Year voting took place
Speaker 1: right before the end of the season. The voting had
Speaker 1: already been done by the time the postseason came around
Speaker 1: and started. Terry Francona was one of the finalists in
Speaker 1: the National League. He finished second in the Nation League
Speaker 1: Manager of the Year voting, So I think that deserves
Speaker 1: little congratulations. In his first year at the helm of
Speaker 1: the Reds, taking the Reds to the playoffs the first
Speaker 1: time in the full season since twenty thirteen, first time
Speaker 1: overall since twenty twenty. No surprise really that Pat Murphy
Speaker 1: got the win there in the National League.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no surprise. And I think the most interesting thing
Speaker 2: for me about Frankcona is he came in just learning
Speaker 2: the Reds organization, the roster, the players, etc. And at
Speaker 2: times you're almost flying blind when you're doing that, and
Speaker 2: it's a learning process on the go. I think he's
Speaker 2: gonna have a lot more influence. Yeah, just my opinion
Speaker 2: on the roster going forward, some of the decision.
Speaker 1: Well that's the thing. It really sounds like, and I
Speaker 1: don't know what it's like for other organizations, but he
Speaker 1: and Nick and Brad seem to all work really really
Speaker 1: well together, and it's almost like those three are kind
Speaker 1: of like one unit when it comes to putting this
Speaker 1: roster together. I think that's a good thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I remember early days
Speaker 1: of spring training last year talking to Tito about certain
Speaker 1: players and instantly he maybe only seen him in a
Speaker 1: workout or seen him in one game and already had
Speaker 1: a really good idea of what that player was. That's
Speaker 1: a gift, and I think that is a valuable asset
Speaker 1: for a guy in that situation and that role to
Speaker 1: have working with your top baseball ops guys.
Speaker 2: I think that that was part of what intrigued him
Speaker 2: about the Reds is that they told him you are
Speaker 2: going to manage the team. We want you to manage
Speaker 2: the team. And you're like, well, obviously, duh. What I
Speaker 2: hear rumblings in Cleveland the front office is always put
Speaker 2: out this lineup, play this player on this day. Why
Speaker 2: are you making that move? Where they the Reds basically
Speaker 2: told we want you're one of the best managers on
Speaker 2: the planet. You manage the team. We will deal with
Speaker 2: the player side of it. I think that was very intriguing.
Speaker 2: They are not meddling in his Sure, they give him
Speaker 2: suggestions that he gets all the analytics. The baseball ops
Speaker 2: department works very closely in that regard, but they are
Speaker 2: not telling him what his lineup should.
Speaker 1: Nobody likes to get the input here. There's a difference
Speaker 1: between giving input and then telling somebody what to do.
Speaker 1: He loves to get the information. Nobody's telling him what
Speaker 1: to do. That's that's a valuable asset, and that's, like
Speaker 1: you said, a very appealing thing about this job to
Speaker 1: him when he came here. The Reds are looking for
Speaker 1: a new coach. We'll talk more about that, and we
Speaker 1: also will talk Red's Hall of Fame balloting when the
Speaker 1: Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF continues next
Speaker 1: on the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back, It's the Budweiser
Speaker 1: Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF Live the BETMGM Sportsbook,
Speaker 1: Inside Tom's Watch Bart Banks. Nice turnout here for the
Speaker 1: second Hot Stove Show of the year. Only nineteen more
Speaker 1: to go After tonight. Reds Fans House the time to
Speaker 1: get your twenty twenty six season tickets. Members sit in
Speaker 1: the same seat for every game with the friends and family,
Speaker 1: and enjoy our flexible ticket exchange program. Visit Reds dot
Speaker 1: com slash membership for details. Mentioned that, the Reds have
Speaker 1: an opening now on their coaching staff. Simon Matthews, who
Speaker 1: is the Red Sunshine Yes, who was the Reds assistant
Speaker 1: pitching coach last year, has moved on to greener pastors.
Speaker 1: The Washington Nationals have hired Simon to be their pitching coach.
Speaker 1: So after one year under the tutelage of Derek Johnson,
Speaker 1: he has moved on to the Washington Nationals to take
Speaker 1: over kind of like Caleb Cotham did. Who's still in
Speaker 1: that same role now it's the pitching coach of the Phillies.
Speaker 1: After spending a little time with Derek Johnson here at
Speaker 1: the Red.
Speaker 2: Assistant pitching coach in Miami. So is Derek Johnson the
Speaker 2: pitching coach?
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, some guys have gone on
Speaker 1: to have quite a bit of success after leaving his instructions.
Speaker 1: So we wish Simon Matthews the best. Now the question
Speaker 1: is who fills that role. I don't know if Wade
Speaker 1: Miley is done playing baseball yet, but.
Speaker 2: If he's not, gonna be time.
Speaker 1: If he is in fact done, you got to figure
Speaker 1: out a way to get that guy in this organization.
Speaker 1: He's gonna make a great coach somewhere at some point.
Speaker 1: The question is is he ready for that commitment. And
Speaker 1: at this point, if in fact he is done trying
Speaker 1: to play baseball, he would be perfect for that role
Speaker 1: if it's something that he was willing to do.
Speaker 2: If he sits in the offseason and thinks he can
Speaker 2: still get people out. I would not be guys. I
Speaker 2: just I don't know. Although his you know, he's obviously
Speaker 2: up there in the age and his body was breaking
Speaker 2: down and father time undefeated. To have him in the
Speaker 2: organization absolutely a huge win if the Reds could get
Speaker 2: that done. As far as being an assistant pitching coach,
Speaker 2: the daily grind of that, I don't see that times
Speaker 2: have changed. These guys make so much money now they
Speaker 2: don't have to work. No, he's in that category and
Speaker 2: I just don't see him doing the everyday grind of
Speaker 2: an assistant pitching coach.
Speaker 1: The only reason I would say that it could happen
Speaker 1: for a guy like that is he is the baseball
Speaker 1: equivalent of a gym rat. I mean, he absolutely loves
Speaker 1: the game. He loves pitching, he loves sharing his knowledge,
Speaker 1: and he has a wealth of it. He's one of
Speaker 1: those guys that I don't feel like ever gets tired
Speaker 1: of talking about the game of baseball and pitching. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's the direction the Reds are going
Speaker 1: to go, but you can't help but wonder if that
Speaker 1: is an option.
Speaker 2: He's a master of reading hitters. You got that talked
Speaker 2: de Andre Rabbit about reading hitters. I mean, he is
Speaker 2: one of the masters. I wish you could just send
Speaker 2: every pitcher through the Wade Miley how to read hitters club.
Speaker 2: So we'll see, he would be invaluable just to have
Speaker 2: in the organization at any level.
Speaker 1: One of the things that we're hearing quite a bit,
Speaker 1: of course, Brad Meta, the Reds general manager and president
Speaker 1: of Baseball Operations Nick Crawler out in Arizona or out
Speaker 1: in Vegas right now for the GM meetings. One of
Speaker 1: the things that we keep reading from the meetings is
Speaker 1: looks like Spencer Steer is probably going to be used
Speaker 1: a little bit differently than he was last year. He
Speaker 1: was the Reds everyday first baseman, finished runner up for
Speaker 1: the Gold Glove at first base. I mean, this guy
Speaker 1: played a true Gold Glove caliber base I think you
Speaker 1: really you lose something if you go back to moving
Speaker 1: him around, because he came. He became as good of
Speaker 1: a first basement as you could ask for. Look at
Speaker 1: the World Series. The first baseman's in the World Series
Speaker 1: between Freddie Freeman and Vladimir Guerrero Junior played a huge
Speaker 1: role for their teams at first base. I've never really
Speaker 1: understood why a position that impacts the ball on almost
Speaker 1: every play is so undervalued from a defensive standpoint, as
Speaker 1: first base is Spencer Steer. I thought showed all year
Speaker 1: long how valuable the defense is over there. I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see how that plays out, because you got
Speaker 1: something there. You've got a really good infield, especially if
Speaker 1: you can clean up Ellie's defense short when you have
Speaker 1: McClain at second base. Key Brian Hayes just came off
Speaker 1: his second Gold Glove year over at third base, Spencer Steer.
Speaker 1: If you keep him at first he'll win one at
Speaker 1: some point.
Speaker 2: Well, you got to get some offense somewhere. I get
Speaker 2: everything you're saying us to Baseball for recognizing steers excellence
Speaker 2: defensively at first base, because every time national broadcasters will
Speaker 2: come through, they would kind of pick our brain on
Speaker 2: the team, and I said to all of them, if
Speaker 2: he's not a finalist for the Gold Glove at first base,
Speaker 2: there's crime going on. And they would look like, well,
Speaker 2: what you're talking about. It's you know, people that didn't
Speaker 2: watch him on a daily basis. But if you watched
Speaker 2: him every day, he was excellent over there. Now, they're
Speaker 2: talking about the story or what they're talking about in
Speaker 2: Vegas moving him around. If you ask him, his most
Speaker 2: natural position is second base, but that's probably is not
Speaker 2: his best prices. He can be a serviceable outfielder, I'm
Speaker 2: not sure he's going to be a great outfielder, so
Speaker 2: moving him around like that has a tremendous amount of value.
Speaker 2: Obviously you are going to lose if he doesn't play
Speaker 2: there every day. But with this, you got to look
Speaker 2: at the current roster. That old saying, you know, if
Speaker 2: you're gonna hit, they're gonna find you a place. I
Speaker 2: think al Stewart is in that equation. I don't think
Speaker 2: third base was ever going to be his future. I
Speaker 2: know people were upset of they brought in Key Brian Hayes,
Speaker 2: and where's south Stuart going to play. I don't think
Speaker 2: south Stewart's future was ever going to be at third base.
Speaker 2: I think he was going to be a first baseman.
Speaker 2: Now he took this up in the middle of the year.
Speaker 2: Sal So same thing with Spencer. You've got to give
Speaker 2: him time to learn the position. I'm not he will
Speaker 2: never be on the level defensively of Spencer stear At
Speaker 2: first base. But the kid seemingly can hit, you can
Speaker 2: d h South Stewart. But this I go back to
Speaker 2: the roster. You've got a guy like Gavin Lucks on
Speaker 2: the roster. He's without a position where you're going to
Speaker 2: play him. So this is the daily thought process that
Speaker 2: goes in. Sure, you can hit, but what where's where
Speaker 2: are you going to play and where you're going to
Speaker 2: get the offense from. This team lacked the offense last year,
Speaker 2: certainly lacked the power of hitting home not hitting home runs.
Speaker 2: Your corner positions are normally your power guys. I know
Speaker 2: that's changed a little bit in today's game, but you
Speaker 2: need offense somewhere. So it is a dilemma and is
Speaker 2: one they're going to have to figure out.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll see what the Reds do for that. We
Speaker 1: wrap up the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by
Speaker 1: UDF when we come back on the Reds Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. It's the Budwiser reds Hot Stove League presented
Speaker 1: by UDF. We've been talking about it. We'll finally talk
Speaker 1: about it. We've been teasing it, we haven't really talked
Speaker 1: about it. But voting is open now. To help decide
Speaker 1: who is going to be enshrined this year in the
Speaker 1: induction class the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. Voting
Speaker 1: is open now. All you have to do is go
Speaker 1: to Redsmuseum dot org to vote. Your options are Homer Bailey,
Speaker 1: Francisco Cordero, Zach Cozart, Aaron Harang, Mike Leak, Brandon Phillips,
Speaker 1: Scott Roland, and Edinson Volkez. You have until eleven fifty
Speaker 1: nine technically on November twenty seven, basically midnight November twenty seventh,
Speaker 1: to go to Redsmuseum dot org and vote on who
Speaker 1: you think should be in the Reds Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: in museum, Jimmy, who you got on that list? Who?
Speaker 1: Who makes it?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: These are just the modern player candidates. There's gonna be
Speaker 2: ones that played a little farther back that will be
Speaker 2: inducted as well. Brandon Phillips's lock, the other ones, you know,
Speaker 2: a little a little dicey. He didn't spend a whole
Speaker 2: lot of time here. And the criteria is what three years.
Speaker 1: Be a.
Speaker 2: Looking through here?
Speaker 1: Three years?
Speaker 2: Yeah, three years appeared in at least three seasons with
Speaker 2: the Reds. Five years of pass it's their major league season.
Speaker 2: Blah blah blah, Scott Rolling. It's a tough one because
Speaker 2: he wasn't here very long. But you know, you want
Speaker 2: a gold Glove here, he wants some had some achol.
Speaker 1: And you talk to guys that played with him, they
Speaker 1: will tell you how valuable he was getting this team
Speaker 1: over the hump his leadership. Can you put a guy
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame in a team hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: For his leadership? He was the final piece. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, Homer Bailey had two no hitters. That's going
Speaker 2: to headline his bio.
Speaker 1: I gotta know if he's a strong candidate too, right
Speaker 1: at some point this year, I don't know I would
Speaker 1: pick those two.
Speaker 2: I guess certainly Phillips and the other one I could
Speaker 2: be sold on a few guys. Aaron Harang started a
Speaker 2: number of opening days. I had a bunch of strikeouts.
Speaker 2: I know, he's top ten in strikeouts in Red's history,
Speaker 2: seventh in Red's history, thirtieth and wins. You know, he
Speaker 2: was at a time when the Reds didn't have a
Speaker 2: deep pitching. He was the guy.
Speaker 1: So just the.
Speaker 2: Longevity of his career with the Reds would certainly stack up.
Speaker 2: Zach Klozar was a tremendous short stop.
Speaker 1: I mean set the rookie home run record for red shortstop.
Speaker 2: So League All Star Gold Glove finalists a couple of times.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it'll be in Rcy Phillips and you talk
Speaker 2: me into someone else.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's fair. Yeah, that's good list. It's certainly I
Speaker 1: would say Phillips and Bailey almost a lock, I would
Speaker 1: think to get in for that class. You can vote.
Speaker 1: You have until the twenty seventh to get your voting in.
Speaker 1: That's all the time we have for you today. Big
Speaker 1: thanks to Andrew Abbott for joining us. By the way,
Speaker 1: and Rabbit is up for all MLB Starting Pitcher. The
Speaker 1: award show is tomorrow night nine Eastern here on MLB Network.
Speaker 1: That's all the time we have for you for today.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Big thanks to our producer engineer Debut
Speaker 1: the Armburster for Jim Day. Thanks to Andrew Rabbit. I'm
Speaker 1: Tommy Thrall. We'll talk to you again next Wednesday on
Speaker 1: the REDS Radio Network. A night