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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Sports Phone KMBR with Bill Laskia Minor

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Speaker 1: to have a guest on. Of course, he writes for

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Speaker 1: the SF Gate, writes some great sporting uh reports about

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Speaker 1: the Giants and other teams. 'spring on Dave Todner today,

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Speaker 1: Hi Dave, how are you doing good?

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Speaker 2: Bill? Good to be talking to you again.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, pleasure baseball seasons here. Giants are playing very well

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Speaker 1: in spring training. Let's ask about this manager, Tony Vittello.

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Speaker 1: How do you think he's handling the team as well

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Speaker 1: as the players.

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Speaker 3: I mean, they're so far, so good. It seems like,

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Speaker 3: you know, every every report seems to be glowing from

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Speaker 3: everyone they talk to. You know, there's a lot of

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Speaker 3: a lot of questions about a guy who's never been

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Speaker 3: on the big league level, never played, never managed, never coached.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's it's a it's a new frontier really,

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Speaker 3: you know, it's it's it's going to be difficult for him.

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Speaker 3: I think this year a lot of questions about what

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Speaker 3: he's going to do and how he can handle things.

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Speaker 3: But so far, he's he's really meeting the challenge. You know,

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Speaker 3: obviously it's going to be different when the regular season starts.

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Speaker 3: It's a much longer season than he's ever had before,

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Speaker 3: like in college, so you know there'll be questions, but

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Speaker 3: so far he seems to be meeting the challenge and

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Speaker 3: it's really all they can ask for right now. It

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Speaker 3: seems to be giving them a shot of adrenaline, which

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Speaker 3: is something they've lacked for the last couple of years.

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Speaker 1: Well, David WBC is happening right now. A lot of

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Speaker 1: the regulars are playing in different countries that are representing

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Speaker 1: and I think what's happening is Tony's being able to

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Speaker 1: see some of the younger talent, which is really opening

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Speaker 1: eyes for him as well as Buster Posey, because they're

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Speaker 1: really on stage playing in major league games. This is

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Speaker 1: something that you usually don't see. How do you think

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Speaker 1: he's evaluating this?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's funny you say that because you

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Speaker 3: could look at it from two perspectives. One, not having

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Speaker 3: all his regulars there might be a detriment to him

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Speaker 3: considering he's just starting out and he's trying to win

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Speaker 3: over the clubhouse and win over the guys. But also,

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Speaker 3: like you said, you know, the Giants are going to

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Speaker 3: have to really rely on a lot of their homegrown guys.

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Speaker 2: This year.

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Speaker 3: So and especially with someone like Thettello who's coming from

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Speaker 3: the college level where he you know, he's he's he's

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Speaker 3: used to guys in that age range that you know,

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Speaker 3: that that maturity level, that the youth and hopefully you know,

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Speaker 3: it's something that he can build on. It's his strength

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Speaker 3: and getting to see these guys up close, getting you know,

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Speaker 3: getting them, like you said, on a bigger stage, seeing

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Speaker 3: how they perform, because they're going to need them. You know,

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Speaker 3: their depth is going to be tested this year. And

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Speaker 3: they didn't really make a big splash on the free

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Speaker 3: agent market or on the trade front, so you know,

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Speaker 3: they're really relying on their own homegrown depth. So Bettello

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Speaker 3: getting a chance to really see what he has, I

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Speaker 3: think will pay off over the long run for sure.

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Speaker 1: Well, Dave Buster Posey put thirteen coaches around Tony Bottello

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Speaker 1: to help him in every which way. Of course, the

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Speaker 1: veteran Ron Washington's there is up on defense as well

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Speaker 1: as in game prep. I think those are some of

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Speaker 1: the things that Buster wanted, some new voices, some new faces.

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Speaker 1: It's working so far.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, it reminds me of when Kapler

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Speaker 3: came on you if you remember, his coach and staff

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Speaker 3: was enormous and it was kind of an anomaly for

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Speaker 3: the time. And you know, Buster was on that twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty one team and he saw firsthand, you know, how

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Speaker 3: having those kind of different voices can really can really help.

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Speaker 3: And you know, Buster had a career year that year,

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Speaker 3: and a lot of guys had career years that year.

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Speaker 3: So maybe he figures that, you know, getting new voices

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Speaker 3: in and getting more voices in is the way to

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Speaker 3: go to kind of get everything that they that they

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Speaker 3: can out of this team. And you know, he's got,

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Speaker 3: like you said, he's got Washington, He's got Washed there

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Speaker 3: who's had tremendous success at the big league level. And

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Speaker 3: there is a great guy, he's got Jase Tingler, who's

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Speaker 3: been a big league manager. He can lean on him, so,

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Speaker 3: you know, and a lot of guys that are relatively

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Speaker 3: unknown at this left anyway, but that doesn't necessarily mean

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Speaker 3: that they don't have a lot to offer.

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Speaker 2: And so far, so good.

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Speaker 1: Bed voy you here in sports phone KMBR Dave Tomer

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Speaker 1: of course, he's a columnist with sf Gate, covers the Giants.

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Speaker 1: You look at Hunter Mintz, hitting coach with Oscar Bernard.

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Speaker 1: Of course, Oscar Barnard's coming back from last year, a

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Speaker 1: real good connection to the Latin players. I think that's

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Speaker 1: why he is back, because they really really evaluated him

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Speaker 1: throughout the winner and they invited him back, which I

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Speaker 1: think is a very big plus with low Latin players.

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Speaker 1: But Hunter Minz seems like he's doing well. Patrick Bailey

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Speaker 1: really likes him, and he's making contact. He's making these

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Speaker 1: guys make contact in certain situations. They're coming through with

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Speaker 1: runners and scoring positions. Sure, we know it's spring training,

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Speaker 1: but it seems a little different. How about you, what

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Speaker 1: do you think?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know it's a different perspective. I mean,

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Speaker 3: he came from the Blue Jays and you saw how

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Speaker 3: the blue Jays hit. I mean they're just a relentless offense.

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Speaker 3: And his approach seems to be a little bit of

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Speaker 3: a different approach than the Giants have had over the

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Speaker 3: last couple of years. You know, they've got a lot

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Speaker 3: of aggressive hitters in that lineup, and you know it's

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Speaker 3: sometimes a new perspective is all a guy needs. And

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Speaker 3: you know, no offense to the previous coaching staff, no

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Speaker 3: offense to pat brawl, Damon minor. Those guys are you know,

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Speaker 3: they know what they're talking about, but sometimes you just

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Speaker 3: need a fresh voice. And he's got a track record.

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Speaker 3: I mean, the Blue Jays, like I said, are one

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Speaker 3: of the best hitting teams in baseball for his whole

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Speaker 3: tenure there, so you know, it's it's something new and

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Speaker 3: to reach guys you know like Dever's and a Damas

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Speaker 3: and Chapman and like you said, Bailey. I mean, if

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Speaker 3: Bailey can, if Bailey can just be an average hitter,

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Speaker 3: he'd be the best catcher in baseball because you know

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Speaker 3: what he brings defensively. So it's exciting. You know, it's

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Speaker 3: a new approach. It's it's something fresh, and the Giants

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Speaker 3: were pretty stagnant over the last couple of years, so

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Speaker 3: it's it's really something they needed and it seems to

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Speaker 3: be working.

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Speaker 1: You look on the pitching side, justin Message coming in

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Speaker 1: a triple A pitching coach was in the big leagues

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Speaker 1: here and there, and then you have Christian Wonders, who

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Speaker 1: really does a lot of analytics and really looks at

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Speaker 1: how to develop the pitch on pitchers. Mentally, again, we're

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Speaker 1: talking about two new voices, two new opportunities. For pitchers

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Speaker 1: to understand a new voice. And we just talked about

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Speaker 1: it with the hitting coach. He wants to fill up

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Speaker 1: the strike zone. He wants these guys to throw all

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Speaker 1: one every time. It's easy to say, but it's hard

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Speaker 1: to do. The message seems like it's working.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, like you said, easier said than done. You know,

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Speaker 3: throw strikes and let your defense play behind you and

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Speaker 3: it guys out. You know, play to the strengths at

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Speaker 3: the ballpark. The Giants always have success when it starts

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Speaker 3: with pitching. I mean, even the Dynasty years, the rotation

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Speaker 3: was the key. And you know it's they've got the

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Speaker 3: one of the best pitchers ballparks in baseball. You know,

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Speaker 3: they've got a very good defense behind them for the

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Speaker 3: most part. So you know, pitching, don't be afraid of contact,

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Speaker 3: don't be afraid to throw strikes. And you know, it's

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Speaker 3: it's one of those things where you hope the message

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Speaker 3: lands because the Giants have a lot of questions on

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Speaker 3: their pitching staff and if these guys can throw strikes,

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Speaker 3: if they can stay with with what works, then hopefully

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Speaker 3: they have some success. And like you said, same with

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Speaker 3: the same with the hitting coaches. It's it's a different

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Speaker 3: voice and it's a different message, and it wasn't working

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Speaker 3: the last few years, so a new approach was needed.

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Speaker 3: And I think, you know, like you said, it seems

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Speaker 3: to be paying dividends.

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Speaker 2: So far.

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Speaker 3: A lot of these young guys have looked really good

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Speaker 3: this spring.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think the biggest question, Dave, is a bullpen.

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Speaker 1: We're going to put you on a hot seat right

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Speaker 1: now and dive into this with less than two weeks

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Speaker 1: to go before they come up to San Francisco or

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Speaker 1: really go to Sacramento to play the exhibition game. The

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Speaker 1: bullpen's the biggest question, and why do these guys fit in.

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Speaker 1: Jeremy fel came on this past week and said these

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Speaker 1: guys need roles, and I totally agree with him because

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Speaker 1: you don't know what you're doing. If you're down in

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Speaker 1: the bullpen, you don't know when you're getting ready. The

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Speaker 1: mental approach of the game, and I think they have

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Speaker 1: to have certain rows, long man, middleman, setup man, and

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Speaker 1: of course the closer. It looks like Ryan Walker's got

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Speaker 1: the check mark on the closer position. What do you

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Speaker 1: think about Ryan Walker going into again as the closer?

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Speaker 1: And I think that's about the only guy right now

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Speaker 1: has any experience.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, he's got all the stuff in the world.

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Speaker 3: He's had some success in the role.

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Speaker 2: I mean he kinda he kind of.

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Speaker 3: Lost himself a bit last year and you know, he

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Speaker 3: was just as unreliable as it gets for a stretch there.

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Speaker 3: But like you said, like we were talking about previously,

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Speaker 3: sometimes a new voice can help unlock guys.

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Speaker 2: And you know, you don't want to give up on

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Speaker 2: an Armlin Walker.

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Speaker 3: He's just got so much movement on his pitches. He competes.

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Speaker 3: You know, he's not afraid to throw strikes, and like

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Speaker 3: you said, it's is a different mindset to close. You know,

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Speaker 3: I don't I don't buy into the fact that just

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Speaker 3: anybody can close. I think you have to be able

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Speaker 3: to handle the pressure. You have to be able to

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Speaker 3: want that pressure, and not everybody can do it. And

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Speaker 3: the fact that Walker is seeking out that role, and

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Speaker 3: you know, he owns up to the struggles he had

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Speaker 3: and he wants to, you know, keep at it. I

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Speaker 3: think you know, they the Giants have been burned on

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Speaker 3: big money contracts to closers over the last the last

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Speaker 3: couple of times they've done it with Benitas and the lance,

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Speaker 3: and it's not an area where they spend money, and

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Speaker 3: it's an area where you know, they'd rather build from within.

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Speaker 3: And there were a lot of good closers on the

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Speaker 3: market this year who signed for pretty reasonable rates and

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Speaker 3: the Giants just didn't engage with any of them. So Walker,

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Speaker 3: you know, it speaks to the fact that they they

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Speaker 3: have some level of confidence in Walker. It also speaks

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Speaker 3: to the fact that maybe they think a new voice

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Speaker 3: can unlock something in him that wasn't being unlocked with

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Speaker 3: the previous coaching staff. And you know, it's going to

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Speaker 3: be the first few weeks, the first few months of

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Speaker 3: the season, it's going to be kind of a tightrope

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Speaker 3: block to see which one of these guys step up.

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Speaker 3: And I think, to speak to what Jeremy Ipfelt was

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Speaker 3: talking about, it seems to be like the roles are

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Speaker 3: going to be decided in season. I don't know if

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Speaker 3: any roles have been decided now, and whether that works

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Speaker 3: or not is is going to be a big question.

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Speaker 3: And I mean, they've got a good lineup, their rotation

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Speaker 3: is solid, not spectacular, and the bullpen is just a

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Speaker 3: huge question mark. And it wouldn't be surprising if the

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Speaker 3: whole season kind of makes or breaks with how the

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Speaker 3: bullpen performs well.

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Speaker 1: Eric Miller, the left hand specialist, has been bothered with

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Speaker 1: a sore back. This week, he's throwing the live hitters.

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Speaker 1: They're talking about possibly getting in the games, and you

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Speaker 1: still have a couple of weeks to ramp up. He's

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Speaker 1: a big advantage if the Giants can get him healthy

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Speaker 1: and stay healthy healthy. Last year he got injured, ended

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Speaker 1: up missing half of the season. He's got electric stuff

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Speaker 1: from the left side. I really believe they need him.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you saw how much the bullpen uh suffered

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Speaker 3: last year when he went down. So he's he's a

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Speaker 3: guy that they absolutely need. He's definitely the best left

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Speaker 3: hander they have. And you know, the faster he can

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Speaker 3: get healthy, the better for it. And you know, he's

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Speaker 3: a guy that you can use late. You know, he

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Speaker 3: could be a set up guy.

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Speaker 2: He could be you.

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Speaker 3: Could close games even if if Walker falters. You know,

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Speaker 3: it's he's a guy that they He's a kind of

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Speaker 3: a lynchpin in that bullpen. Once he gets healthy, you know,

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Speaker 3: rolls me start to fall into place, especially when he

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Speaker 3: kind of takes his his spot back. I mean he's

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Speaker 3: he's definitely a late ending weapon and they need him

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Speaker 3: back a sap.

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Speaker 1: The right hander that that I'm really calling a black

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Speaker 1: horse here, pitched really well yesterday, which was Sunday, Keaton

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Speaker 1: Win just two magnificent inning, seventeen pitches, fourteen for strikes.

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Speaker 1: He's been plagued with injuries, but boy, he was devastating. Yes,

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Speaker 1: very high about ninety eight with a fastball. The sinker

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Speaker 1: was working, but of course a split finger is his outpitch.

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Speaker 1: I think he's got an opportunity here to maybe make

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Speaker 1: this bullpen.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think you'd have an opportunity to

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Speaker 3: make this bullpen if they called you Bill.

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Speaker 1: I couldn't throw sixty feet six inches.

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Speaker 2: That's the issue, you know. I think I think everything's

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Speaker 2: everything's up in the air.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's you know, they've got some guys like Bednar,

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Speaker 3: who was a former first round pick who's back, and

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Speaker 3: it's just it's Keaton Wins, a guy who you know,

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Speaker 3: he's probably not going to work.

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Speaker 2: As a starter.

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Speaker 3: I know he's most of his big league experience has

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Speaker 3: been as a starting pitcher. But you know, he had

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Speaker 3: a little cup of coffee last year. I think he

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Speaker 3: pitched you know what, five or six games, seven game last.

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Speaker 2: Year, and to get him healthy.

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Speaker 3: You know, he's got this stuff, and a lot of

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Speaker 3: these guys might work better in short appearances instead of starting.

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Speaker 3: And you know, it's it's completely wide open. You know,

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Speaker 3: like I said that, this isn't an area where the

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Speaker 3: organization likes to spend their money. They'd rather build a

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Speaker 3: bullpen organically, which you know, I understand. It's you don't

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Speaker 3: like to have a lot of money tied up in relievers,

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Speaker 3: and you know, they're giving guys opportunities and it's really

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Speaker 3: all you can ask for. But he definitely has an opportunity,

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Speaker 3: and like you said yesterday, he looked fantastic. So I

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Speaker 3: wouldn't be surprised if he makes the opening day roster

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Speaker 3: based on how he's looked this year.

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Speaker 1: Dave Tobner, who writes for the sf Gate, He follows

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Speaker 1: the Giants a few more minutes on sportsbok KVR. We

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Speaker 1: look at the starting rotation. I think it's solid, I

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Speaker 1: really do. But I think the biggest question, too, Dave,

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Speaker 1: is how are they going to do with all these

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Speaker 1: off days In the beginning of the year they play

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Speaker 1: the Yankees An off day, they play two days, they

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Speaker 1: have an off day, then they play the padres for

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Speaker 1: three I was looking at what they could do and

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Speaker 1: if Logan Web stays on his five day rotation, they're

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Speaker 1: gonna miss one or two of these guys. And if

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Speaker 1: you're ramping them up through spring training now you got

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Speaker 1: to shut him down to five to seven days. That's

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Speaker 1: gonna be a big, big issue with starting pitchers. How

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Speaker 1: do you think they may do it?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's a really the scheduling is so

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Speaker 3: odd that you play and then you have a day off.

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Speaker 2: And another day off.

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Speaker 3: It's just it doesn't do them any favors. And you know,

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Speaker 3: especially with a Web who's been ramped up pitching in

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Speaker 3: the WBC and you want to keep him. I'm assuming

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Speaker 3: they would like to keep him on his regular five

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Speaker 3: day schedule just so he doesn't you know, it's it's

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Speaker 3: important to him to stay consistent, and it's it's.

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Speaker 2: Gonna be tough.

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Speaker 3: You know, it could benefit a guy like Robbie Ray,

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Speaker 3: who you know, maybe they skip him to his arm

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Speaker 3: fresh because you know he's you know, he's only what

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Speaker 3: two years removed from from Tommy John and uh, you

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Speaker 3: know the new guys they have, They don't have a

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Speaker 3: lot of two guys, so you know, they really only

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Speaker 3: have one.

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Speaker 2: So it's I.

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Speaker 3: Could see it working to their advantage at some point.

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Speaker 3: But like you said, you want to keep these guys consistent,

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Speaker 3: and you don't want them to sit too long, and

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Speaker 3: whether that means whether they have stimulated games or you know,

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Speaker 3: something like that, or they throw extended bullpens. But you

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Speaker 3: don't want these guys. You want these guys in game

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Speaker 3: conditions and you want them you know out there, you're

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Speaker 3: ramped up for it. So the schedule is really not

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Speaker 3: doing them any favors. And uh, it's going to be

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Speaker 3: it's gonna be interesting to see because I don't think

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Speaker 3: they're gonna skip Web. I don't think they would actually

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Speaker 3: skip ray, even though it might be the best thing

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Speaker 3: for his arms. So, uh, it's it's going to pose

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Speaker 3: a big, big issue in the beginning, and it's it's

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Speaker 3: going to be interesting to see how they how they

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Speaker 3: how they do that, how they react to that.

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Speaker 1: David's really in a shop here on sports phone KMBR.

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Speaker 1: In the next two weeks, what do you want to

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Speaker 1: see how the pitching staff? Do you want to see

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Speaker 1: certain pictures in the bullpen battling for a position. Is

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Speaker 1: there one guy that you're like, Hey, this is my

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Speaker 1: dark horse to be in the bullpen. What do you

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Speaker 1: want to see out of this Giants pitching staff?

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Speaker 3: Well, I really like Pigero and I was really you know,

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Speaker 3: it was it was too bad that he got hurt

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Speaker 3: because he really looked like he could make some noise

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Speaker 3: and be a big weapon for them. But you know

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Speaker 3: what I'd like to see, I'm interested in how Hayden

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Speaker 3: Birdsong and Carson wizzen Hunt come along. Bird Song especially

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Speaker 3: looked really impressive last year when they were using.

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Speaker 2: Him and kind of that.

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Speaker 3: Swing me on, you know, three four innings roll and

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Speaker 3: he just would come in and he would just dominate.

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Speaker 3: He was he almost reminded me of how Cleveland used

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Speaker 3: to use Andrew Miller.

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Speaker 2: And that's a that's a really valuable.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's it's one of those things. It's

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Speaker 3: a nice luxury to have if you have a guy

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Speaker 3: like that. So, you know, he struggled as a starter,

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Speaker 3: and you know, it just could could be that his

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Speaker 3: future role is kind of that swingman type that can

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Speaker 3: get you three or four innings kind of bridge you

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Speaker 3: to the back of your bullpen and go from there.

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Speaker 3: And withdn't Hunt, you know, the same thing. You know,

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Speaker 3: he's a really hyped prospect, was the number one left

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Speaker 3: handed prospect in baseball I think more.

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Speaker 2: Than maybe two years ago, and you.

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Speaker 3: Know, he seems to be throwing hard, he's got his

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Speaker 3: velocity back. There's really no spot for him in the

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Speaker 3: rotation right now. But you know as well as I do,

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Speaker 3: they're not gonna they're gonna use more than five starters

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Speaker 3: over the course of the season. So if he can

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Speaker 3: make some noise in the bullpen and show that he's

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Speaker 3: you know, over the issues that were kind of plaguing

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Speaker 3: him when he had that cup of coffee, he could

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Speaker 3: be a really important guy too. So it's those two

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Speaker 3: hyped prospects, you know, they're kind of like post type

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Speaker 3: prospects now because they've both had their struggles and it's

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Speaker 3: going to be interesting to see how they respond. So

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Speaker 3: I'm really curious to see how birds On and wizen Hunt.

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Speaker 3: Those are the two guys that are our most intriguing

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Speaker 3: to me.

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Speaker 1: Well, Dave, thank you so much for your time this evening,

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Speaker 1: and we're going to have more conversations as the season progresses,

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Speaker 1: and it's always great.

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Speaker 2: Talking to you.

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Speaker 3: Looking forward to it, Bill, Thanks a lot.

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Speaker 1: That was Dave Totner. You can read his work on

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Speaker 1: sf Gate. More coming up right here on K and

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Speaker 1: BR The Sports Leader