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Speaker 3: Deep to center Field, going back at the Wall, lived
Speaker 3: it in Long Gone Ellie Dayla.
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Speaker 1: Now the reds Hot Stove League.
Speaker 3: Hey, very delightful, good evening to you, and welcome in
Speaker 3: to the Budweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by you
Speaker 3: DF and we are live of the bed MGM Sportsbook
Speaker 3: Back inside Tom's watchbar at the Banks and the band's
Speaker 3: back together with Jim. Tommie throws. Great to be with
Speaker 3: you talking Reds baseball for the next hour, and we've
Speaker 3: got plenty to discuss on the show today. We've got
Speaker 3: a great lineup of guests. We will have Chris fialaka
Speaker 3: red Sitting Coach, joining us at the bottom of the
Speaker 3: hour and coming up very shortly. Red's outfielder TJ. Friedel
Speaker 3: will be on with us Jim. There were a few
Speaker 3: things that came out of the news over the last
Speaker 3: week since the show last aired. Probably most notably is
Speaker 3: the trade for left handed reliever brock Burke, is part
Speaker 3: of a three team deal that sent Gavin Lux to
Speaker 3: the Rays. One of the things that the Reds wanted
Speaker 3: to do this offseason was improve the offense, certainly, but
Speaker 3: also make sure that they had a few more weapons
Speaker 3: in the bullpen. They've done a good job. I feel
Speaker 3: like this offseason of certainly improving the bullpen. They have
Speaker 3: certainly done their work in the bullpen. And what this
Speaker 3: does when you add a brock Burke. Obviously it's a.
Speaker 4: Left handed arm and the Reds were lacking that, but
Speaker 4: adding him and Caleb Ferguson and Pierce Johnson. It really
Speaker 4: lengthens out the bullpen because there are only so many
Speaker 4: high leverage type guys, so you don't have to rely
Speaker 4: at least on paper. At least on paper, you don't
Speaker 4: have to rely on Tony Santion right and Emilio Pagon
Speaker 4: and Graham Ashcraft every single day.
Speaker 5: You've got other guys now that have been in high leverage.
Speaker 4: Situations, have had success in high leverage situations for several years.
Speaker 4: So it really not only lengthens it out by numbers,
Speaker 4: but it lengthens out the guys you can trust in
Speaker 4: high leverage situation.
Speaker 3: One of the things, and we just had Reds Fest
Speaker 3: this past weekend, and I'm sure many of you listening
Speaker 3: today were at reds Fest and had a chance to
Speaker 3: check in on some of the q and a's. I
Speaker 3: did one with Nick Crawl, Brad Metter, and Terry fran Conen.
Speaker 3: One of the things that really stood out to me
Speaker 3: that that Tito said is, look, having more weapons in
Speaker 3: the bullpen means that you have the luxury to go
Speaker 3: out and chase some of those wins when you might
Speaker 3: be down a run or two, as opposed to just
Speaker 3: kind of having to punt because there are games and
Speaker 3: this is one of those things that can be tough
Speaker 3: to understand because you think, well, why don't you try
Speaker 3: to win every game? You're only down a run, maybe two,
Speaker 3: why don't you go for it. Well, because if you're
Speaker 3: already trailing and you go out and you use your
Speaker 3: best relievers chase that win and you don't get that
Speaker 3: run or two to come back, well, now you've just
Speaker 3: burnt those relievers for.
Speaker 2: The next day.
Speaker 3: Perhaps this gives you the luxury to be able to
Speaker 3: do that, which might be able to net you a
Speaker 3: couple more wins throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, welcome to life as a big league skipper.
Speaker 4: Because the moves that you make are obviously affecting that game,
Speaker 4: but it also affects you seven days in the future
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 5: Particularly with the bullpen.
Speaker 4: There's no more effect on a long term effect one
Speaker 4: move can make on a bull than the bullpen. So
Speaker 4: completely agree. I think there are solid moves and hopefully
Speaker 4: the Reds have reached their goal. Who knows, they might
Speaker 4: not be done, but right now the bullpen on paper
Speaker 4: is a pretty good one.
Speaker 3: It sounds like there are more moves to be made.
Speaker 3: They definitely are trying to still improve the lineup. A
Speaker 3: couple other headlines this week, Ellie de la Cruz has
Speaker 3: been announced will not be playing in the World Baseball
Speaker 3: Classic as initially intended. Also a report that he turned
Speaker 3: down a Reds record offer last spring, which have made
Speaker 3: him the highest paid Red of all time.
Speaker 2: But he turned that down.
Speaker 3: Really, Jim, when you look at it, this is a
Speaker 3: guy that's eligible to be a free agent after the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty nine season. It's not a huge surprise, but
Speaker 3: it also shows the Reds made an effort to try
Speaker 3: to invest in in Elly long term.
Speaker 4: Yeah, not a big surprise, and I think a bigger
Speaker 4: deal is being made of it because I would like
Speaker 4: to just concentrate on the four years they have him
Speaker 4: under control, and hopefully they can put a roster around
Speaker 4: him to win while he is here, and who knows,
Speaker 4: You don't know what the future holds. He's banking on himself,
Speaker 4: and if he becomes the player we all think he
Speaker 4: can be, then he's going to exceed that offer that
Speaker 4: he got. But we'll see you're banking on yourself.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be a big bank if he's a big
Speaker 3: bank pun intended he reaches that potential. Well, we've got
Speaker 3: TJ Friedel on the line, Red's outfielder as we continue
Speaker 3: to talk Reds baseball and we welcome in TJ.
Speaker 2: TJ.
Speaker 3: Great sceni this weekend. How's your offseason been, my friend?
Speaker 6: Yeah, great scene you guys, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 6: I appreciate it. And Sea has been good. Just a
Speaker 6: lot of family time, just hanging out with my wife
Speaker 6: and the boys and being a stay at home dad
Speaker 6: for a short period of time. But you know, I've
Speaker 6: been ramping up for a while now, and I think
Speaker 6: having read Fast this past weekend was great because they
Speaker 6: got everyone excited for spring training, and you know spring
Speaker 6: trains right around the corner. I'll be heading now in
Speaker 6: a couple of weeks, so just kind of got everyone excited.
Speaker 6: You have to see the boys again and everyone got
Speaker 6: to be together. So all season has been good, but
Speaker 6: now it's time to ramp up.
Speaker 3: Well, we'll certainly get into the baseball side of it.
Speaker 3: But you mentioned the two boys that you are chasing
Speaker 3: around now. Is parenthood different now that you guys are
Speaker 3: in a man to man defense as opposed to Yeah,
Speaker 3: two on one zone yeah, exactly.
Speaker 6: That's that's so funny, excepts that's like commonly referred to
Speaker 6: as man and man defense, and it's a lot. Man,
Speaker 6: you've got a four year old running around at home
Speaker 6: and he wants to plan it back you already wants
Speaker 6: to play baseball, and you got to manage the newborn.
Speaker 6: He's five months old now, so it's like you got
Speaker 6: to keep an eye on him, can't leave him alone.
Speaker 6: So it's and then the four year old wants to
Speaker 6: play with our newborn Jonah all the time, and he's
Speaker 6: trying to explain to him, hey, you can't really do much,
Speaker 6: not yet. Soon you guys can play together, but right
Speaker 6: now he just kind of sits there. So but it's great,
Speaker 6: it's special and for me getting to have this time
Speaker 6: with them, I just try and soak it all in,
Speaker 6: you know, be present as much as I can. It
Speaker 6: is difficult though, playing the man to make coverage is difficult,
Speaker 6: that's for sure.
Speaker 4: Well, it was great seeing them running around and of
Speaker 4: course Dad was chasing them all the time at the
Speaker 4: time that you did have free at Redsfest, So it
Speaker 4: was great and it's going to be great to see
Speaker 4: them grow up on the baseball side, We've heard so
Speaker 4: many guys they trying to learn their major league body,
Speaker 4: if you will. Some guys were put on weight and
Speaker 4: they're like, Okay, that didn't work, I'm gonna take off weight.
Speaker 5: I worked on my legs. Okay, that didn't work.
Speaker 4: You're kind of deeper into it now, have you figured
Speaker 4: out what you need to work on to get ready
Speaker 4: for a season and what is that specifically this offseason?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I've been. I mean, I put on weight, didn't
Speaker 6: like it, felt slow, went back down weight. But like
Speaker 6: I'm pretty consistent with where I'm at now over the
Speaker 6: last three years. Comes with where I'm at way wise,
Speaker 6: and being able to keep it on during the season
Speaker 6: and build strength and then carry that strength throughout the
Speaker 6: whole season. For me, I kind of like to set simple,
Speaker 6: realistic goals in the off season. So like hitting wise,
Speaker 6: for me, I'm not changing anything in my stance, not
Speaker 6: changing anything mechanically, But for me, I'm working a lot
Speaker 6: on early count approach and aggressiveness early on in the
Speaker 6: account and just being more aggressive and honting certain pitches.
Speaker 6: So it's more approach based than anything for hitting wise.
Speaker 6: But the biggest focus for me this offseason has been
Speaker 6: defensively and it's a lot of it's been working on
Speaker 6: like an imaginary ten foot circle, like a ten foot
Speaker 6: radius circle around my body, and it's really working on
Speaker 6: how fast I can explode ten feet in every direction.
Speaker 6: So it's just like the initial burst off the bat,
Speaker 6: covering ground in every direction because that's an area that
Speaker 6: I can improve on in something that will help me
Speaker 6: with my angles and with the route efficiency. But if
Speaker 6: I can really explode out of the first ten feet,
Speaker 6: and this is stuff that means. CC went over towards
Speaker 6: the end of the year and he's been great. Him
Speaker 6: and FuMO are string coach. I have been great kind
Speaker 6: of working with me and giving me drills and things
Speaker 6: to do in the off season to really maximize my
Speaker 6: work when I'm doing those kind of things. So it's
Speaker 6: been good.
Speaker 3: Is there an element of getting a read off the
Speaker 3: bat that goes along with that too.
Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure, and that'll that comes just you know,
Speaker 6: with experience. A lot of it is just instinct and
Speaker 6: with experience, and those are things that like you work
Speaker 6: on that when it's fung goos, they're during BP, right,
Speaker 6: if guys are out here hitting BP, I'll go out
Speaker 6: in the center field and I'll shag and that's we'll
Speaker 6: really get the best work of just getting a true
Speaker 6: read off the bat. But with that, it is like
Speaker 6: the intent of how fast can I be out of
Speaker 6: this ten foot circle? And sometimes there's like when I'm
Speaker 6: working on it, there's times where I explode too quick
Speaker 6: in one route and then I got to recorrect. But
Speaker 6: if I can explode out in that certain direction, it
Speaker 6: gives me time to make that correction without being late
Speaker 6: to the ball.
Speaker 3: Well, TJ, We've got plenty more to ask you about
Speaker 3: just getting started here with TJ Friedel. We've got to
Speaker 3: get to a breakdough, So stick around and we'll have
Speaker 3: more with TJ. Friedel when we come back. It's the
Speaker 3: Budweiser reds Hot Stove Lea presented by UDF Live, the
Speaker 3: bet MGM Sports Book, Inside Tom's Watch, Martha Banks on
Speaker 3: the Reds Radio Network, Welcome back into the Budweiser reds
Speaker 3: Hot Stove Lake presented by df Live, the bet MGM
Speaker 3: Sports Book and Side and Tom's watchbar Ats Banks, Jim Day,
Speaker 3: I'm Tommy Throw great to be with you and we've
Speaker 3: got TJ. Friedel on the line talking some Reds Baseball
Speaker 3: and TJ. You were talking about your offensive approach there
Speaker 3: a little bit, and there was a point, especially through
Speaker 3: the first couple of months of the season, where you
Speaker 3: were one of the best hitters on this team.
Speaker 2: For you, when things are going.
Speaker 3: Really good for you offensively, what is it that's working
Speaker 3: for you and what did you kind of experience when
Speaker 3: you struggled a little bit.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think early on in the especially in the
Speaker 6: first half, you know, I was able to handle that
Speaker 6: fastball at the top of the zone, which I know
Speaker 6: only get a lot, and there was mostly just kind
Speaker 6: of sticking to that approach of driving the ball to
Speaker 6: left center, especially whe they're shifted, trying to drive the
Speaker 6: ball to left center in that area, and then if
Speaker 6: they come in or they come in with an offspeed,
Speaker 6: then it's just reactionary for me because I know I
Speaker 6: could pull the ball, so I'm not going to try
Speaker 6: and do that. But for me, it's just reacting to
Speaker 6: that and letting the rest take care of itself. And
Speaker 6: I think once I kind of got into the second
Speaker 6: half and I started trying to push the ball that
Speaker 6: way in a sense instead of just sticking to that
Speaker 6: approach and letting it travel. I think I tried to
Speaker 6: overcorrect and do a little too much and trying to
Speaker 6: go that way and started kind of flaring the ball
Speaker 6: to left field and getting under especially those heaters at
Speaker 6: the top of his own I started barrel started dropping
Speaker 6: just a little bit, and then that's really all it needs,
Speaker 6: and then it turned into a pop up. So I
Speaker 6: think for me, like the biggest focus is just having
Speaker 6: a feel for one hundred and sixty two games for
Speaker 6: the whole season, where when things aren't feeling the best
Speaker 6: or maybe my top hands getting a little tired, having
Speaker 6: certain drills to fall back on and certain things that
Speaker 6: do and me and Val talked about this at the
Speaker 6: end of the season, just having some drills and they
Speaker 6: all season to work on, especially like more top hand
Speaker 6: dominance of staying on top of the heaters, especially now
Speaker 6: in the game, because so many pitchers from ninety nine
Speaker 6: with ride at the top of the zone and that's
Speaker 6: so hard to handle. Even if your bat drops the
Speaker 6: tiniest amount, that's all it takes to you is swinging
Speaker 6: this or pop up. So I've been really like hammering down,
Speaker 6: implementing top hendrows and doing some Velo machine which is
Speaker 6: my top hand, and then using that as my feel
Speaker 6: for July and August once you get to the dog
Speaker 6: days where maybe the body's a little tired that day,
Speaker 6: but having a feel to go back to to help
Speaker 6: simplify the approach.
Speaker 4: If you guys go into the season with who you
Speaker 4: have now, it'll basically be about the same group as
Speaker 4: last year.
Speaker 5: How do you think you.
Speaker 4: Individually or even collectively, you guys can score more runs consistently.
Speaker 5: I know that's a loaded question.
Speaker 4: It's easy for me to ask, it easy for me
Speaker 4: to answer, But how.
Speaker 5: Do you see it?
Speaker 6: You know? I feel like for us as an offense,
Speaker 6: I think it's just feeding off of each other. And
Speaker 6: there were times last year, especially in the second half,
Speaker 6: where there was a lot of us kind of pressing
Speaker 6: to get that big home run, to get that big
Speaker 6: hit instead of just when we play our best, it's
Speaker 6: just one after another and just keeping the line moving.
Speaker 6: You know, last year we took a lot of pride
Speaker 6: and being tough outs, and we wanted to get up
Speaker 6: in the box and just be a tough out, whatever
Speaker 6: that meant. But put together good at bat, be a
Speaker 6: tough out, hit the ball hard, and then I think
Speaker 6: you know, as once we got in the second half,
Speaker 6: I think, you know, myself included, I'm guilty of it
Speaker 6: as well, pressing in some situations and just forcing trying
Speaker 6: to force that big hit, trying to force that that
Speaker 6: whatever it may be, and that's hitting's already hard, right
Speaker 6: and doing that on top of it and trying to
Speaker 6: force that only makes it harder for us as an offense.
Speaker 6: Like you said, a lot of us are returning. It's
Speaker 6: going to be a very similar lineup, plus a few
Speaker 6: really good pieces that we picked up, and I think
Speaker 6: it's just going to be keeping the line moving for
Speaker 6: us offensively. It's not a one man effort, right, But
Speaker 6: it's thirteen guys. We got thirteen guys, thirteen hitters out there,
Speaker 6: and it's one through thirteen no matter what. And that's
Speaker 6: their mindset, and I think that helps take the pressure
Speaker 6: off individually so that we can all go perform.
Speaker 3: You touched on something right there, and I want to
Speaker 3: talk to Chris Valka about it a little bit later
Speaker 3: on from a coaching perspective, but you talked about, you know,
Speaker 3: you guys are trying to hit the big home run
Speaker 3: at times, and I think fans look at this team
Speaker 3: and they see that this group doesn't hit a ton
Speaker 3: of home runs. You've talked about it before that you
Speaker 3: don't look at yourself as a home run hitter. But
Speaker 3: how difficult is it to avoid the trap of trying
Speaker 3: to hit a home run in a key moment?
Speaker 2: Because you can hit home runs. I mean it's not
Speaker 2: like you can't hit them.
Speaker 3: You've hit several throughout the course of your career, almost
Speaker 3: at a twenty home run season a few years ago.
Speaker 2: But how.
Speaker 3: Difficult is it to resist that temptation and stay within
Speaker 3: yourself when you know that's not deep down your game?
Speaker 6: Yeah, And I can tell you one thing's for certain.
Speaker 6: I've never hit a home run when I'm trying to
Speaker 6: hit a home run. And I don't know many baseball
Speaker 6: players out there that do hit a home run every
Speaker 6: time they try and hit a home run. But you know,
Speaker 6: I think, for me, right, especially like you said, I'm
Speaker 6: not a home run hitter. But it'll come, and I
Speaker 6: know it'll come. But for me, my home runs come
Speaker 6: when my approach is hitting the fastball, squaring the fastball
Speaker 6: up to left center center field, and then anything else
Speaker 6: that hangs or anything soft. And I can go poolside
Speaker 6: with it and then the rest takes care of itself.
Speaker 6: But I think the trap is trying to hit home runs.
Speaker 6: That's the trap. And I think that's the trap as
Speaker 6: a baseball player, league wide, no matter if you're young
Speaker 6: or if you're the MLB. Trying to hit a home run,
Speaker 6: trying to lift the ball in the ears the hardest
Speaker 6: thing to do. That's why nobody hits one hundred home
Speaker 6: runs in a season. That's not But I think if
Speaker 6: you have a line driver, gap to gap approach, then
Speaker 6: your homers come, and that's what our offensive identity is.
Speaker 6: And just let the home runs come.
Speaker 5: How are your legs right now?
Speaker 4: At times the coaching staff or the manager said we
Speaker 4: got to protect TJ a little bit. You've had some
Speaker 4: injuries along the way. Do you think that some off days,
Speaker 4: some more off days will help you in that regard?
Speaker 4: And where are you at right now with I guess
Speaker 4: we'll say you're getting up there now, TJ.
Speaker 5: I mean, you know you got aging legs. I'm kidding.
Speaker 6: I mean, I don't know about I don't know about you,
Speaker 6: but I'm twenty five. In my head, I'm twenty five
Speaker 6: years old. No, but you know like you said, in
Speaker 6: twenty four, having a couple of injuries, and I was
Speaker 6: very protective of my body in twenty four because I
Speaker 6: didn't want to go back on the IO and I
Speaker 6: didn't want to deal with that again. And yeah, so
Speaker 6: I was a little too overprotective of what I was
Speaker 6: going through. And last year I took a lot of
Speaker 6: time and spent a lot of time investing in my health,
Speaker 6: spent a lot of time investing in my body, and
Speaker 6: last year, recovery was probably the utmost importance than it's
Speaker 6: ever been in my career. And nutrition and recovery was
Speaker 6: so important to me, and that's why there were times
Speaker 6: last year where you know, Tito and Freddy came up
Speaker 6: to me and wanted me to take a day off,
Speaker 6: and I didn't want a day off. I felt good,
Speaker 6: I felt like I was in a good spot, and
Speaker 6: for me, it was I just wanted to be available
Speaker 6: every single day. I wanted to be a consistent name
Speaker 6: for Tito to write the lineup every single day. And
Speaker 6: having a healthy season last year, I feel like I
Speaker 6: know kind of where my body is and what it needs,
Speaker 6: and I'm able to understand my body better on days
Speaker 6: where I might not be feeling the best and then
Speaker 6: how to get my body ready that day to perform.
Speaker 6: And so I think that just comes with age and
Speaker 6: maturity in this game and going through the grind of
Speaker 6: one hundred and sixty two games for my fourth year,
Speaker 6: just understanding my body and knowing what it needs. But anyway,
Speaker 6: I feel great.
Speaker 2: Glad to hear that. Appreciate the time, and we'll see
Speaker 2: in a few weeks out in Arizona.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you guys do all right?
Speaker 2: Thanks, thanks so much. That is Red's outfielder t J. Friedel.
Speaker 3: We're back with Red's hitting coach Chris Pailika next as
Speaker 3: the Butterweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF continues
Speaker 3: live the bet MGM Sports Book inside Tom's Watch Bar
Speaker 3: at the Banks on the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back
Speaker 3: in It's the Butterwiser reds Hot Steve League presented by UDF.
Speaker 3: Down here at the pet MGM Sports Book inside Tom's
Speaker 3: Watch Bar at the Banks with Jim Day. I'm Tommy
Speaker 3: throw be a part of Red's history. Tickets for the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six Reds Hall of Fame Induction Gala on
Speaker 3: April twenty sixth at the Cincinnati Convention Center. By the way,
Speaker 3: it looks great. They're on sale now at Redsmuseum dot org.
Speaker 3: Join the Reds as they honor the Hall of Fame's
Speaker 3: Class of twenty twenty six. Speaking of Hall of Fame,
Speaker 3: big congratulations to a couple of guys that were a
Speaker 3: lot of fun to watch play the game, especially patrolling
Speaker 3: centerfield and their big league careers, and that would be
Speaker 3: Carlos Beltron and Andrew Jones. Those are two guys very
Speaker 3: similar in the way that they would go about center field. Now,
Speaker 3: a few center fielders better at it than Andrew Jones,
Speaker 3: but both of them when they went after the ball,
Speaker 3: they first of all, they could run down just about everything,
Speaker 3: and they made it look far easier than what it was.
Speaker 2: Those two guys they just kind.
Speaker 3: Of glide across the outfield and float as they'd track
Speaker 3: down fly balls. Both great defenders, excellent offensive players as well,
Speaker 3: tremendous Hall of Fame worthy careers, very deserving, So congratulations
Speaker 3: to both absolutely, and I mean we've both watched a
Speaker 3: lot of those two guys over their careers.
Speaker 2: And they were there to the best.
Speaker 4: Oh, Andrew Jones just robbing everything, I mean, he he
Speaker 4: in particular for me, I mean Beltran, They're both great players,
Speaker 4: but it seems like head to head a lot.
Speaker 5: I watched a lot more of Andrew Jones.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I had a chance growing up in Kansas City,
Speaker 3: watched a lot of Carlos Beltron, especially early in his career,
Speaker 3: and both electric players. So congratulations to both of those
Speaker 3: guys on their induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That,
Speaker 3: of course, will be coming up later on this summer.
Speaker 3: Continuing talk Reds Baseball and Red's hitting in particular, as
Speaker 3: we welcome in Red's hitting coach, Chris valaika Vu. Thanks
Speaker 3: so much for being on with us and good to
Speaker 3: see you as well this weekend at the Convention Center
Speaker 3: during Reds Fest.
Speaker 2: And how's your winter going at this point?
Speaker 7: He's good, guys, Thank thanks for having me. Tommy, congrats
Speaker 7: on on your nuptials.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 7: Yeah, Shot, things are good, good, Yeah, things are good.
Speaker 7: It was great seeing you guys as well.
Speaker 3: Still getting used to the hardware on my left left hand,
Speaker 3: but we'll get there.
Speaker 2: We'll get there eventually.
Speaker 7: But good good.
Speaker 2: Hey, let's talk.
Speaker 3: Let's talk about hitting the off season for a hitting coach,
Speaker 3: because you know it would be nice and easy to
Speaker 3: just kick your feet up and relax during the off season.
Speaker 3: It's not exactly how it goes for a big league
Speaker 3: hitting coach. How do you make sure that guys are
Speaker 3: doing what they're supposed to do throughout the off season.
Speaker 3: You're going to visit guys, what's the what's that process like?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean it's a balance. You know they're there.
Speaker 7: There's respecting the professionalism, there's respecting the off season with guys.
Speaker 7: You know, we we we have end of your meetings.
Speaker 7: We we sit down with all these guys, we send
Speaker 7: them off with programs. Fortunately, got to see a good
Speaker 7: good number of them in Arizona a couple of weeks
Speaker 7: ago to check in and then it's it's a lot
Speaker 7: of phone calls, it's a lot of sharing video. You know,
Speaker 7: there's a lot of remote work to it. You know,
Speaker 7: we're fortunate in the era that that we work in
Speaker 7: that we can do that. Fortunately, you know, for me
Speaker 7: and my family haven't had to travel too too much.
Speaker 7: But you know, it's check ins, nonstops. It's just trying
Speaker 7: to keep these guys on track and then see how
Speaker 7: they show up for spring training.
Speaker 4: We might as well get the LA daily cruise subject
Speaker 4: out of the way, so much pressure on Ellie so talented.
Speaker 4: The last few years, he's been, you know, trying to
Speaker 4: tweak things, whether it be with his stance or trying
Speaker 4: to shorten his swing. He's a guy that uses different
Speaker 4: bats from time to time. Where are you right now,
Speaker 4: now that you've got a year with him, Where are
Speaker 4: you right now? And how can you collectively improve Ellie
Speaker 4: dala cruise at the plate and get him back to
Speaker 4: maybe the potential that we were seeking overall, which didn't
Speaker 4: completely come to fruition last year.
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, you know, I mean I saw him in November.
Speaker 7: You know, I think he could play for the Bengals
Speaker 7: right now. You know, you guys saw him at redsast
Speaker 7: He looks physical, he looks strong. You know, I think
Speaker 7: I think him, you know, dealing with that that quad injury,
Speaker 7: you know, was more than he let on. You know,
Speaker 7: you flip over the baseball card at the end of
Speaker 7: the year. I don't think we're gonna we're gonna blink
Speaker 7: an eye at twenty five to the numbers he put up.
Speaker 7: But I think we all know there's more in the
Speaker 7: tank for him. You know, I was actually pleased, you know,
Speaker 7: I think I think there was a little bit of
Speaker 7: a regression in some of the power numbers, but when
Speaker 7: you see how he controlled the strike zone, he limited
Speaker 7: the strikeouts, you know, in a way that we felt
Speaker 7: comfortable with. I think, you know, we can't lose sight
Speaker 7: of that he's only you know, twenty three, twenty four
Speaker 7: years old, and the adjustments that he made and the
Speaker 7: maturity that he's shown, I think he's going to continue
Speaker 7: to grow. So I think having a year like last
Speaker 7: year where where he did a better job controlling the
Speaker 7: strike zone, earning the strike zone, we're going to see
Speaker 7: an uptick and a lot of the power numbers with him,
Speaker 7: you know, taking his walks, but also you know, learning
Speaker 7: when to do damage, how to do damage, you know,
Speaker 7: just just because of the experience that he's had over
Speaker 7: the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: It's a phrase I've heard you say before, and I'm
Speaker 3: a big fan of it, earning the strike zone always.
Speaker 2: I always like that one.
Speaker 3: I want to I want to get into the power
Speaker 3: side of this team in a minute, but we've got
Speaker 3: to get to a break. So if you don't mind,
Speaker 3: stick around and we'll talk more. Red's hitting when we
Speaker 3: come back in a moment. All right, we're visiting with
Speaker 3: red hitting coach Chris Valaika. It's the Budweiser Red's Hot
Speaker 3: Stove League presented by UDF on the Reds Radio Network.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to Budweiser Red's Hot Stove League presented by UDF,
Speaker 3: and we are live down to the bet MGM sportsbook
Speaker 3: inside Tom's watch bars. The Banks will be down here
Speaker 3: for a few more shows before we are off to
Speaker 3: Arizona for spring training. It is right around the corner.
Speaker 3: I think we both got our flights book. Now, when
Speaker 3: are you going out there? Tenth tenth, I'll be there. Well,
Speaker 3: we have a show that night. Oh yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3: I'll be here for that show, and then I will
Speaker 3: be out a couple of days later.
Speaker 6: Yea.
Speaker 4: So we'll be trying to get some interviews that day
Speaker 4: with players, and I'll be on with you live at
Speaker 4: some somehow, someway.
Speaker 3: Somehow, someway. It'll happen by the magic of technology. Chris
Speaker 3: vi Lake is the Reds hitting coach and he's with
Speaker 3: us right now. And Hey, you were talking about Ellie's
Speaker 3: power being down, and the health will certainly factor in
Speaker 3: that bouncing back this year after a quiet second half
Speaker 3: last year. But when people look at the Reds we
Speaker 3: were talking about this with TJ Fried a little bit earlier,
Speaker 3: they see that this is not a big home run
Speaker 3: hitting team. And I think the impression is that you
Speaker 3: are for some reason anti home run and maybe Tito
Speaker 3: doesn't like home runs. That couldn't be farther from the truth.
Speaker 3: But talk about the balance of first of all, how
Speaker 3: difficult it is to hit home runs in the major leagues,
Speaker 3: and second of all, coaching and creating a game plan,
Speaker 3: an approach that fits your personnel.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, I'm definitely not anti home run. I
Speaker 7: don't think Tito's anti home run.
Speaker 8: And we we we definitely aren't preaching that, you know,
Speaker 8: I think as far as personnel, you know, there's ways
Speaker 8: to be creative to score runs.
Speaker 7: You know, I think our biggest thing is, you know,
Speaker 7: playing to the scoreboard. You know, obviously we want to
Speaker 7: find ways to score runs, but we also don't want
Speaker 7: to be a victim to the Ballparky you know, haven't
Speaker 7: been on different clubs. It's you know, you come to Cincinnati,
Speaker 7: you don't leave without a home run. And you know,
Speaker 7: playing eighty one games there that that doesn't want to
Speaker 7: be We don't want that to be our identity. So,
Speaker 7: you know, we we have to find ways to manufacture runs.
Speaker 7: I think there's definitely a way and going into this
Speaker 7: offseason and into next season that you know, there's going
Speaker 7: to be situations, there's going to be certain counts there,
Speaker 7: there's different ways that we can look to impact the ball.
Speaker 7: But we need to get better again at you know,
Speaker 7: our foundations, our our situational hitting. I think there was
Speaker 7: some some some lack of that, you know, towards towards
Speaker 7: the late innings of games, especially when we're facing leverage arms.
Speaker 7: You know, we we have to find ways rather than
Speaker 7: just living and dying by the home run. You know,
Speaker 7: we we definitely have guys that can can impact the ball,
Speaker 7: but that doesn't need to be our hallmark. You know,
Speaker 7: when we need it, it's in the tank. But we
Speaker 7: have to we have to find ways to continuously put
Speaker 7: up runs when when it matters.
Speaker 4: I've heard you say before, and this might confuse the
Speaker 4: layman fan, but players don't be afraid to strike out
Speaker 4: looking with two strikes to have that right, what is
Speaker 4: the thing?
Speaker 7: I mean they're behind that for For me, there's situations
Speaker 7: when the strikeout looking is okay. You know, we if
Speaker 7: there's nobody on base, the goals to get the first base. So,
Speaker 7: you know, shrinking our strike zone make making ourselves top
Speaker 7: outs and you know, the walk is valuable. It's not
Speaker 7: about looking for the walk's it's hunting our pitch that
Speaker 7: we want to hit a home run, we want to
Speaker 7: hit a double. We want to put ourselves in scoring position.
Speaker 5: And if you don't.
Speaker 7: Get that pitch, then you you you know, if it
Speaker 7: is a strikeout looking, I just want to stay away
Speaker 7: from us ending at bats looking following you know, a
Speaker 7: pitcher's plan and thing goes with a runner on first base,
Speaker 7: I want to stay out of double plays. So we're
Speaker 7: going to be more selective in those situations. When it
Speaker 7: comes to traffic and we have a runner on second,
Speaker 7: when we have a runner on third, the ball needs
Speaker 7: to go forward. We need to create chaos. We need
Speaker 7: to put the ball in play because things happen. We're
Speaker 7: going to move runners over, We're going to score runners
Speaker 7: from third. So it's deth the scoreboard, but it's also
Speaker 7: playing to the game state or the situation that we're in.
Speaker 3: Well, I've always felt since he got to the big
Speaker 3: leagues and I saw him for the first time that
Speaker 3: when Spencer Steer is really at his back, he's one
Speaker 3: of the best hitters, maybe the best pure hitter on
Speaker 3: this team in my opinion. He had a down year
Speaker 3: last year. We know he was battling the shoulder, and
Speaker 3: I think shoulders can be really tricky. Another guy that
Speaker 3: by and large had a down year offensively last year
Speaker 3: at least did not reach expectations, as Matt McClain, again
Speaker 3: also battling his shoulder. When you look at those two guys,
Speaker 3: how do you envision those two bouncing back and having
Speaker 3: bigger years in twenty twenty six than they had in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Is it simply a matter of being fully healthy.
Speaker 7: I think there's definitely a health component, you know. I
Speaker 7: think with Spence, I'm really proud of the year that
Speaker 7: he put together after you know, coming off a tough
Speaker 7: April and you know, hitting one sixty, one, eighty whatever
Speaker 7: it was, to end up with twenty plus homers and
Speaker 7: driving in the runs that he had, you know, that
Speaker 7: just shows how well he hit, you know, through the
Speaker 7: year to put him in a position where he finished
Speaker 7: you know, and then and when it comes to Maddie,
Speaker 7: you know, he missed the year and a half. I
Speaker 7: feel like there's times where we give him a you
Speaker 7: know analysis that you know, he had ninety games in
Speaker 7: the big leagues and you know, had some success, but
Speaker 7: you know where he's at. He missed a year and
Speaker 7: a half. So he went through that sophomore year, he
Speaker 7: went through that acclamation period and you know, he learned
Speaker 7: a ton in the big leagues. You know, there there's
Speaker 7: probably a case where he could have been demoted, and
Speaker 7: we kept him in the big leagues that you know,
Speaker 7: he continued to learn and help us win games. So
Speaker 7: I think they're both going to be better for it
Speaker 7: and looking forward to big things for both of those guys.
Speaker 3: Well, well, certainly appreciate the time, Thanks so much, Enjoy
Speaker 3: what is left of your winner before you have to
Speaker 3: report to Arizona for spring training.
Speaker 7: Thank you, guys. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys
Speaker 7: out there and getting ready to go to work.
Speaker 2: All right, sounds good, Chris, Thanks so much.
Speaker 3: That is Red hitting coach Chris Polaka joining us on
Speaker 3: the Budweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by you DF
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Speaker 3: time on this edition of the Reds Hot Stove League,
Speaker 3: we wrap it up next from the bet MGM Sportsbook
Speaker 3: inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks on the Reds
Speaker 3: Radio Network. Oh, we've spent the last hour talking hitting
Speaker 3: for the most part here on the Budweiser Reds Hot
Speaker 3: Stove League presented by UDF and we're back live the
Speaker 3: bet MGM Sports Book inside Tom's Watch Bar at the
Speaker 3: Banks with Jim Damn Tommy throwing Jim, I think when
Speaker 3: it gets down to it, look, I know the Reds
Speaker 3: wanted to add a power bat, and who knows, maybe
Speaker 3: they still will. Time is starting to run out on
Speaker 3: the offseason, but listening to TJ Friedel talking with Chris Filaka,
Speaker 3: I still feel like, even if it's the same group
Speaker 3: that returns buy and large here in twenty six, they're
Speaker 3: still room there for this team. To get better and
Speaker 3: score more runs. And I also feel like they're going
Speaker 3: to do a better job at run prevention moving.
Speaker 4: Forward, well or again, we're in the season of hope,
Speaker 4: Yes we are. So we're hoping that Spencer Steer comes
Speaker 4: out of the gate quicker because of the lack of injury.
Speaker 4: We're hoping that Matt McClain can return to form. We're
Speaker 4: hoping that Ellie Daly Cruise is power numbers can increase.
Speaker 4: We're hoping that the defense can be better adding a
Speaker 4: guy like Keeth Brian Hayes. I'm not sure who's going
Speaker 4: to play first base. Matt McClain is solid up the middle.
Speaker 4: You're hoping that Ellie Daly Cruise does not lead the
Speaker 4: league in air. So if some of those things happen, yeah,
Speaker 4: they're going to be better. I would like to see
Speaker 4: them if they're not going to have a true couple
Speaker 4: of power guys in the middle of the lineup, I
Speaker 4: would like them to to press the button a little
Speaker 4: bit more on the base pass. I know that's not
Speaker 4: necessarily Terry franconas in which he doesn't want to run
Speaker 4: into a lot of outs, but I do think they
Speaker 4: have guys that can run when they do get on
Speaker 4: base and they are down, I would like to see
Speaker 4: them run a little more.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm right there with you, and I think I
Speaker 3: think finding that balance. And you know, we talked about
Speaker 3: it with Colin cal Gill earlier in the offseason. I
Speaker 3: think even he understands that there's probably more opportunities where
Speaker 3: they can push.
Speaker 2: The envelope a little bit more where Tito would be
Speaker 2: okay with you.
Speaker 4: So it's got to be a compromise. Not as much
Speaker 4: as they were a few years back. They were running
Speaker 4: to a way yeah, reckless and running into way too.
Speaker 4: Me outs, thank goodness, we don't have the contact play
Speaker 4: at third base the oh my goodness, Tito's against that. Uh,
Speaker 4: thank thank you for that. But I do think situationally
Speaker 4: they can press the envelope because they got guys that
Speaker 4: can run.
Speaker 3: Right and take advantage of this team speed, especially while
Speaker 3: you've while you've got it. And and another guy that
Speaker 3: fits into that category is Newelvie Marte. The question is
Speaker 3: who is going to end up protecting Ellie da la
Speaker 3: Cruz in this lineup?
Speaker 2: Is it going to is?
Speaker 3: Is Newelvi Marte gonna have the tie a year where
Speaker 3: he can truly give at least some production or some
Speaker 3: protection in the lineup. Is Sal Stuart I'm not so
Speaker 3: sure he's not gonna hit a head. Well, that's also possible.
Speaker 3: Is Sal Stuart going to develop quickly into a power
Speaker 3: threat at the playoff the biggest Wow? That's a huge
Speaker 3: wild card. But look, going back to what you were
Speaker 3: talking about, the hope upon hope. I look at a
Speaker 3: team like the Toronto Blue Jays a couple of years ago.
Speaker 3: They had a huge down year. By and large, they
Speaker 3: brought back the same guys and they took the Dodgers
Speaker 3: to the brink last year in the World Series. Those
Speaker 3: guys that the Blue Jays had remind me a lot
Speaker 3: of this Reds team. Now, the Reds made the playoffs
Speaker 3: last year. The Blue Jays did not their year prior,
Speaker 3: but they ran it back with most of the same guys,
Speaker 3: which was a core of homegrown players. They came into
Speaker 3: their own collectively at the same time, and then they
Speaker 3: showed what can happen when that comes together. It's happened before.
Speaker 3: I just still think because because of how talented this
Speaker 3: young core is, there's still plenty of room for optimism
Speaker 3: with this Reds team, especially with regards to this pitching staff,
Speaker 3: because anytime you got the arms like the Reds do,
Speaker 3: you got a chance. That's all the time we have
Speaker 3: for you for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you
Speaker 3: enjoyed this edition of the Butwise Are Red Hot Stove League,
Speaker 3: presented by ud F from the bed MGM Sportsbook Inside
Speaker 3: Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks for TJ.
Speaker 2: Friedel Chris Foalaka.
Speaker 3: Also thanks to Dave Abbert Abbott and our studio producer
Speaker 3: Drew Wester Heidi and for Jim Day.
Speaker 2: I'm Tommy Thrall. Good night,