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Speaker 1: ESPN fifteen thirty. Kay, why that's us late start to

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Speaker 1: the hour. It's ten alfter five ESPN fifteen thirty mile Legger.

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Speaker 1: My apologies, thank you for listening. Hopefully you're having like

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Speaker 1: the most awesome Wednesday afternoon ever. It's Opening Day Eve.

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Speaker 1: We're broadcasting from the Cincinnati Lockerhouse. We've sort of been

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Speaker 1: all over the map today. A little bit later on

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Speaker 1: this hour, my conversation with the director of Athletics at

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Speaker 1: the University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham. We are here till

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Speaker 1: six o'clock. The folks at the Cincinnati Logger House are

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Speaker 1: kind enough to have us on Opening Day Eve every

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Speaker 1: single year between now and the end of our show.

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Speaker 1: Five dollars drafts, five dollars well drinks, five dollar house wines,

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Speaker 1: tons of appetizer specials. The home of John John's watch

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Speaker 1: party tomorrow Kiss one oh seven, John John and friends

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Speaker 1: broadcasting here tomorrow, and so we set the stage for them.

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Speaker 1: Tomorrow is going to be awesome. Joining us actually from

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Speaker 1: the broadcast booth that great American Ballpark is the voice

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Speaker 1: of the Reds, Tommy Thrall. Let's talk about the way

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Speaker 1: that the roster was finalized and What was interesting to

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Speaker 1: me is you had a guy in Reeseigns who had

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Speaker 1: an OPS above fourteen hundred didn't make the team. You

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Speaker 1: had a guy in JJ Bledeh, an established big leaguer

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Speaker 1: at OPS above one thousand, didn't make the team. Is

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Speaker 1: this the deepest Reds team they've had since you became

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Speaker 1: the voice of the team.

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Speaker 2: Oh, there's no question, I mean. And that's the thing,

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Speaker 2: Like Jeff and I were talking about it during the

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Speaker 2: game yesterday, even though those guys aren't on the team,

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Speaker 2: they are still very much a part of the mix

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Speaker 2: of this team. So yeah, I think definitely the depth

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Speaker 2: of this team will allow them to withstand some injuries,

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Speaker 2: and we're seeing that in the pitching staff right out

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Speaker 2: of the gate. Look, nobody wants to see Hunter Green

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Speaker 2: and Nickelodolo start the year on the injured list, but

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Speaker 2: you can't do anything about it. The good news is

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Speaker 2: they didn't trade away from their position of strength, so

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Speaker 2: now they've at least got the weapons to be able

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Speaker 2: to weather the storm. If the same thing happens from

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Speaker 2: an offensive standpoint, say somebody comes out and has a

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Speaker 2: slow start to the season, the good news is if

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Speaker 2: they need to call on reinforcements. They're there in Triple A,

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Speaker 2: and these guys, based on their spring, look like they

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Speaker 2: are poised to be able to step in and fill

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Speaker 2: in without missing a beat. That's what championship teams are

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Speaker 2: made of. It's nice to be able to have that

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Speaker 2: luxury here.

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Speaker 1: I am so excited to see what sal Stewart can do,

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Speaker 1: and that would have been the case regardless, but I

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Speaker 1: feel like every time he's had a test put in

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Speaker 1: front of him, he's passed it. With flying colors. Late

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Speaker 1: last September, right like, all right, let's bring him up.

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Speaker 1: Some might have argued overdue, Let's see what he does,

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Speaker 1: and he was awesome this spring. I think we all

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Speaker 1: felt like he was going to get a spot on

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Speaker 1: the opening day roster, but challenge him a little bit.

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Speaker 1: He's got to make it well. He does with Flying Colors.

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Speaker 1: He's held his own defensively. I hear people who can

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Speaker 1: over this sport nationally talk about him being a National

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Speaker 1: League Rookie of the Year. I'm bullish on him and

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Speaker 1: he's going to be batting forth, which I love. That's

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Speaker 1: more of a statement than a question. Your thoughts on Sala.

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Speaker 2: Stewart Man, you echoed a lot of my thoughts. The

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Speaker 2: thing that impresses me about him. You talked about the test.

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Speaker 2: Every time that a test is put in front of him,

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Speaker 2: he's ready to go. I mean, it's okay. How does

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Speaker 2: he handle this situation? You know, runner in scoring position,

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Speaker 2: two outs? Does he shorten ough to just get a

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Speaker 2: base hit and drive that run home? Check? Yeah, he

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Speaker 2: does that. He lost a bunch of weight in the offseason.

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Speaker 2: He got leaner in a good way. But was he

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Speaker 2: going to try to compensate for that and try to

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Speaker 2: just show that he's still got some power and try

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Speaker 2: to launch everything and hit everything out of the ballpark. Well,

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Speaker 2: his early batting practice and scring training right when everybody

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Speaker 2: reported would tell you, yeah, that's what he was trying

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Speaker 2: to do. Games come around, that's not at all what

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Speaker 2: he's doing. I mean, he looks great. He's still driving

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Speaker 2: the ball to all fields, he's gap to gap, and

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Speaker 2: he can still drive the ball out of the ballpark.

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Speaker 2: So that test has passed. How does he handle guys

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Speaker 2: when the pitchers start to ramp up and start to

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Speaker 2: increase their breaking ball workload, Well, he handles that just

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Speaker 2: fine too. This guy is unreal in so many ways. Look,

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Speaker 2: I'll be the first one to tell you that prospects

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Speaker 2: are all good and well, that they're plenty exciting. We

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Speaker 2: all get excited about prospects, but what are they when

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Speaker 2: they get to the major league level. They can they

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Speaker 2: back up what they did in the minor leagues. Sal

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Speaker 2: has done that so far. And look, Terry Francona has

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Speaker 2: been around this game for a long long time. There's

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Speaker 2: a reason he's had all the success that he's had.

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Speaker 2: And if he is willing to bat a rookie cleanup,

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Speaker 2: that tells you a little suff about the kid. And

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Speaker 2: Sal's had to earn it, look like you said, he

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Speaker 2: I think we all assumed that he would be this

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Speaker 2: team's everyday first baseman, but nothing was guaranteed coming into

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Speaker 2: spring training. He definitely earned it, like you said, and

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Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what he's capable of. I wouldn't

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Speaker 2: say that the team hinges on his success, but if

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Speaker 2: he is successful, I think this team's gonna be really,

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Speaker 2: really good.

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Speaker 1: How much does it hinge on Matt McClain, Because there's

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Speaker 1: a guy who had a down season putting up nice

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Speaker 1: numbers in games that don't count, and then there are

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Speaker 1: the numbers that Matt McClain put up which were otherworldly?

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Speaker 2: What do we do with that? That's the thing that

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Speaker 2: I think is worth focusing on, because you know, when

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Speaker 2: you talk about who are the most valuable pieces of

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Speaker 2: this lineup, sure it's Suarez, Sure it's Ellie. Those guys

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Speaker 2: are those guys are your superstars in this lineup. But

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Speaker 2: for me, they can be who they're capable of being

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Speaker 2: if Matt McClain is hitting well like that. To me,

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Speaker 2: McClain is probably the most important piece in this Reds

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Speaker 2: lineup because not only is he a table setter near

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Speaker 2: the top of the order, we know what TJ. Friedel

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Speaker 2: is gonna do. Fregal's going to do everything in his

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Speaker 2: power to get on base. So what does McClain do

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Speaker 2: behind him and ahead of Ellie? And look, you try

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Speaker 2: not to put too much stock and you try not

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Speaker 2: to get too excited over spring training numbers, but when a.

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Speaker 3: Guy hits over five hundred for the spring, how do

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Speaker 3: you not get excited about that?

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Speaker 2: I mean, come on, it's not real. It was incredible

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Speaker 2: watching him on a day in a day out basis

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Speaker 2: because you're like, all right, is today the day he

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Speaker 2: falls off, I went over for three. All right, he's

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Speaker 2: coming back to earth. The next day gets three knocks,

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Speaker 2: hits a homer, and drives in four, and you're like, oh, well, okay,

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Speaker 2: he's right back to his old tricks. So it was incredible.

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Speaker 2: The thing about it, though, Moo, is he wasn't just

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Speaker 2: driving the pitch in that we know he's been able

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Speaker 2: to handle. They were still feeding him the breaking balls away.

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Speaker 2: He was able to shoot that to right field. The

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Speaker 2: most encouraging sign. I go back to day one of

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Speaker 2: spring training. He hit the ball to the right side

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Speaker 2: every time he came to the play, and it took

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Speaker 2: me a couple of days to finally track him down

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Speaker 2: and ask if it was intentional. He goes, well, I'm

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Speaker 2: not really kind of but not well, I guess, and

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Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, he was definitely trying to do

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Speaker 2: that like that. That was a point of emphasis for him.

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Speaker 2: So he started doing that, and then he showed that

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Speaker 2: he could still drive the ball, And those were the

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Speaker 2: things to me that were the most exciting and make

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Speaker 2: me think that, yeah, no, he's not going to hit

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Speaker 2: five hundred during the regular season, but show me a

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Speaker 2: Reds fan that wouldn't take him hitting two eighty. Yes, yes, yeah,

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Speaker 2: we'll take that.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I can't have second worst production in the league

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Speaker 1: from the two hole.

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Speaker 2: Gimme league average.

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Speaker 1: Gimme league average plus on top of what I think

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna get for TJ in the top spot, and

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Speaker 1: I will live with that as I go three through

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Speaker 1: five in the batting warder.

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Speaker 2: No doubt, And I don't think he's going to be

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Speaker 2: a league average player. I really believe he's going to

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Speaker 2: be not just above average, but probably a well above

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Speaker 2: average hitter. This guy can hit. I have all the

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Speaker 2: confidence of the world that he's going to be able

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Speaker 2: to hit. And think about this, This is a red

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Speaker 2: scene that made the playoffs last year with Matt McClain

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Speaker 2: hopefully having the worst year of his career.

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Speaker 3: So keep that InVID with him hitting number two for

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Speaker 3: most of that time. So if he is who he

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Speaker 3: is capable of being and who we all believe that

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Speaker 3: he will be, including himself, this team is going to

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Speaker 3: be in a really good spot because that just takes

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Speaker 3: so much pressure off Ellie and.

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Speaker 2: Sal and Gino. Because the pressure then when you've got

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Speaker 2: him hitting the way he's capable of, shifts all the

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Speaker 2: way to the pitcher, and when you've got the pressure

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Speaker 2: on the pitcher with those guys coming up, oh.

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Speaker 1: Look out, Tommy, throw a voice of the Reds joining

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Speaker 1: us Reds and Red Sox tomorrow opening Day. Because of

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Speaker 1: the names we mentioned before, Reeseigns and JJ Bladay, who

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Speaker 1: are not here. Because of how Tito kind of challenged

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Speaker 1: Noel midway through spring training, should I assume that there

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Speaker 1: is a somewhat short ish leash on him in right field.

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Speaker 3: Nobody is said that, but I kind of get the

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Speaker 3: sense of that a little bit.

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Speaker 2: You know, I think he's got to come out and perform.

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Speaker 2: But here's the other part about it too. This team's

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Speaker 2: in a position now where they're not just trying to

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Speaker 2: sneak into the playoffs. This is a team that wants

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Speaker 2: to win the division. So this is a bonafide postseason

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Speaker 2: contending caliber team. You've got to perform on a team

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Speaker 2: like this. And look, we know that key Brian Hayes

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Speaker 2: is a guy that's that's not going to be a

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Speaker 2: guy that's a catalyst for this offense. He's whatever you

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Speaker 2: get from him is gravy because of his defense. But

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Speaker 2: that is true if this team's producing offensively, I think

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Speaker 2: when you look at a guy like Noelvie Marte, the

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Speaker 2: reason those two are different is Marte is not a

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Speaker 2: gold glove right fielder, and maybe one day he can

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Speaker 2: develop into it. He's a great athlete, so I'm not

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Speaker 2: saying that he can't. But his defense is still not

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Speaker 2: quite all the way there. So he's going to have

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Speaker 2: to perform offensively because he's expected to still be a

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Speaker 2: pretty good piece of this offense. So yeah, he's going

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Speaker 2: to need to play well on both sides of the

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Speaker 2: ball and otherwise. There's reinforcements down there that we just

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Speaker 2: talked about. So I don't know that I would say

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Speaker 2: it's a short leash, but I don't know how long

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Speaker 2: the runway is. I don't think we're land in the

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Speaker 2: seven forty seven on that runway you mentioned.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned less than ideal. You don't have Hunter Green

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Speaker 1: or Nicklodolo on the active roster to start the season. Hunter,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be a while, hopefully, Nickolodolo not so much.

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Speaker 1: What I think is interesting is and you and I

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Speaker 1: talked before the first Cactus League game about the bullpen

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Speaker 1: and the fact that Nick Crawl went out and got

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Speaker 1: guys that I think fit specific roles he's not going

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Speaker 1: to have. They won't have Caleb Ferguson to start the

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Speaker 1: see early in the year, what's going to be the

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Speaker 1: ripple effect of his absence. You know, Sam mal threw

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Speaker 1: the ball really well, and I think he's the ripple effect,

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Speaker 1: So that, to me, he's pretty encouraging that everybody loved

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Speaker 1: what they've seen from Sam Mall. I trust the opinions

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Speaker 1: the guys that know a lot more about that stuff

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Speaker 1: than I do, and it sounded like what sam Maul

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Speaker 1: was doing was real.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the ball was coming out of his hand

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Speaker 2: really well, a little closer to the guy that the

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Speaker 2: Reds thought they were trading for when they made that

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Speaker 2: trade with Oakland a few years ago. So I think

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Speaker 2: that's encouraging. And if Sam Maul is who he was,

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Speaker 2: and as you get up in years, it's a little

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Speaker 2: harder to read to go back to who the previous

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Speaker 2: version was. But again, if you're completely healthy, and I

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Speaker 2: don't think he was all the way healthy last year,

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Speaker 2: then maybe you can get that. And he certainly looked

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Speaker 2: like it in the spring. So that to me says

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Speaker 2: that the Reds can weather the storm without Caleb Ferguson.

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Speaker 2: Hopefully it's nothing major. I know he was going to

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Speaker 2: get looked at again today, get the MRI to see

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Speaker 2: what the progress is on the oblique. So hopefully it's

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Speaker 2: a short term stint on the IL for him, just

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Speaker 2: like the hope is with Lodolo. But I think the

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Speaker 2: bullpen is still going to be in decent shape. There

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Speaker 2: were some guys that had some rough outings, so it

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Speaker 2: kind of it heightens your awareness, I guess a little

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Speaker 2: bit of do we need to keep a closer eye

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Speaker 2: on these guys once the season starts. But again, you

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Speaker 2: try not to panic too much on spring training numbers.

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Speaker 2: There are a lot of really good players that had

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Speaker 2: terrible springs that you know, this is across the league

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Speaker 2: and it happens every year. And look, nobody when it

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Speaker 2: comes down to voting for MVP or Cy Young looks

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Speaker 2: back and goes, well, how do they do in March.

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Speaker 2: So that's the other thing to keep in mind. You know,

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Speaker 2: it's no need to panic yet on some of those

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Speaker 2: bullpen arms. I still think the bullpen is going to

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Speaker 2: be in good shape. And based on what we saw

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Speaker 2: from Sam the way he was throwing the ball, I

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Speaker 2: think I think he will fill in just fine for Cable.

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Speaker 1: Can I get the Connor Phillips I saw last September.

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Speaker 2: Boy, that'd be nice, wasn't it. I don't know. I

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Speaker 2: wish I had a better answer for you. I don't.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if. If so, he makes the bullpen

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Speaker 2: really good and he gives you another weapon toward the

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Speaker 2: back end. But he's gonna have to work his way

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Speaker 2: to that, you know. Uh. There there were some times

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Speaker 2: where we saw flashes of of Connor where he was

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Speaker 2: really fighting it, and then there were there were the

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Speaker 2: other times and really more recently where he looked more dominant,

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Speaker 2: like September. So hopefully he can channel that we see

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Speaker 2: more of that. It's possible. I mean, it's it's there,

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Speaker 2: the arms there, There's no reason he shouldn't be So yeah,

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Speaker 2: I think it's a fair hope. But he's another guy

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Speaker 2: that had to make this team.

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Speaker 1: Tommy, awesome stuff as always. Man, enjoy your last day

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Speaker 1: off for a while and opening down. I know you're

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Speaker 1: off on Friday, but it's not the same. Have a

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Speaker 1: great call tomorrow. We'll chat soon, man, Thanks so much.

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Speaker 2: All right, sounds good both. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: The Voice of the Reds. Tommy Thral behind the Mike

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Speaker 1: Tomorrow four to ten, First pitch from GABP Reds and

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Speaker 1: Red Sox. We are broadcasting from the Cincinnati Loggerhouse, the

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Speaker 1: home of John John and Friends. Watch party tomorrow. It

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Speaker 1: is going to be awesome.

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Speaker 2: If you missed it.

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Speaker 1: Earlier today, I had a chance to talk with the

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Speaker 1: new men's basketball head coach at the University of Cincinnati,

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Speaker 1: Jared Calhoun. If you missed it, you can listen to

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Speaker 1: that conversation on the iHeartRadio app or you can go

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Speaker 1: to my page at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com. It's

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Speaker 1: twenty four after five o'clock. It's Opening Day eve in

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Loggerhouse on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

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Speaker 2: Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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Speaker 4: Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center. The UC Health

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Speaker 4: Women's Sports Medicine Program provides specialized care for femail athletes

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Speaker 4: at all levels. Schedule an appointment online at UCHealth dot com.

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Speaker 4: Found the only one accident at the moment. That's northbound

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Speaker 4: on seventy one seventy five on the entrance ramp from

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Speaker 4: Mall Road. Southbound seventy five. There's construction work from Ronald

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Speaker 4: Reagan Highway to the Norwood Lateral. In eastbound two seventy

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Speaker 4: five entrance ramp from Madison Pike closed off for repairs.

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Speaker 4: I'm at eazlic with traffic this report