WEBVTT - Braves checkup: Profar’s return, Ozuna’s future, Missing pitchers

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<v Speaker 1>I think they're going to trade Murphy at some point.

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<v Speaker 1>I think they were going to want the financial flexibility

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<v Speaker 1>to go other places. They've again, they've got so much

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<v Speaker 1>long term money locked up, they need some flexibility somewhere.

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<v Speaker 2>Steven Tolbert joining us right now on FT, one of

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<v Speaker 2>the star hosts of Hammer Territory, the most downloaded podcast

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<v Speaker 2>for Atlanta Braves coverage. Stephen. Great to have you on,

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<v Speaker 2>and a lot of news to cover with this ball club,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's not great news. So let's start at the top.

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<v Speaker 2>Soon after our show ended, we found out yesterday that

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<v Speaker 2>Spencer Schmellenbach is going to be down for significant time

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<v Speaker 2>with the fractured elbow. What else can you tell us

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<v Speaker 2>about how long he might potentially miss, what it came from,

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<v Speaker 2>and the impact for the Braves going forward.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what's up, guys? So Spencer today, he did a

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<v Speaker 1>press conference right after the announcement. Obviously reporters had a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of questions, and essentially what they told him was

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<v Speaker 1>it was a fracture in his elbow that they don't

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<v Speaker 1>really know the cause. The term they used was freak injury,

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<v Speaker 1>which is pretty on brand for how the Brave season

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<v Speaker 1>has gone. And his timeline was he's pretty vague about it.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, you know, it's a broken bone, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>just you know how it feels, how quickly it heals.

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<v Speaker 1>The general consensus was about four to six weeks, so

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<v Speaker 1>you know at this point in the calendar, that's I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>we talked about it on the show last night. It's

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<v Speaker 1>it might not be the final nail for the Brave season,

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<v Speaker 1>but if it's not the final nail, it's the second

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<v Speaker 1>to last nail because it's it's getting late early in Atlanta.

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<v Speaker 3>Some of the things people were saying about Spencer Schwellenbach

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<v Speaker 3>was whoa, you know, he kind of had a little

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<v Speaker 3>bit of a downturn, but then his velocity jumped up,

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<v Speaker 3>and Spencer Schwellenbach said, well, I think it actually attributed

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<v Speaker 3>to my broken elbow. So do you want Spencer Swellbach

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<v Speaker 3>when he comes back young starter, somebody that's like coming up?

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<v Speaker 3>You also see Spencer Stryder. All they're worried about is

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<v Speaker 3>that velocity. Everybody's superjuiced about that velocity and now you

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<v Speaker 3>lost them. Do you want him coming back and learning

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<v Speaker 3>to pitch more or are you like, you know what,

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<v Speaker 3>it didn't work? Out when his velocity was down. I

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<v Speaker 3>want that velocity. Screw it, we'll see what happens.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, the thing with Schwellenbach is the velocity was relatively new.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean it was really in the last month that

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<v Speaker 1>he was throwing ninety eight, ninety nine, even one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>at times. And he was good last year when he

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<v Speaker 1>pitched at ninety six, ninety seven, ninety eight. So like,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't, I don't you know every team in baseball

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<v Speaker 1>chases velocity. The Braves, aren't you know, They're not the

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<v Speaker 1>only ones who go after starters with high velocity. And listen,

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<v Speaker 1>if it was an elbow injury, a shoulder injury, this

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<v Speaker 1>is a broken bone. Even the doctors really couldn't verify that.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why it happened. It was more of a Spencer

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<v Speaker 1>that was. They asked Spencer his opinion and he kind

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<v Speaker 1>of just that was kind of his best guess was

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<v Speaker 1>maybe the velocity had something to do it. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>very weard injury for like a non contact broken bone.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, again, the doctors use the term freak injury.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not a doctor, I have no idea, but it

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<v Speaker 1>was I mean, again, it's just very on brand for

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<v Speaker 1>how the Brave season is gone.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's push going forward here with the rotation, and

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<v Speaker 2>then I want to get to the position players in

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<v Speaker 2>your tweet about Marcel Azuna. But where are we at

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<v Speaker 2>with the rotation and the chances of this team potentially

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<v Speaker 2>still buying around the trade deadline if they keep themselves

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<v Speaker 2>more to a four to five game deficit in a

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<v Speaker 2>wild card spot. I know alex Anthopolis is super competitive.

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<v Speaker 2>There is still a good core of position players here.

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<v Speaker 2>I think most of the starters are going to come

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<v Speaker 2>back at some point later this season. Where are you at?

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<v Speaker 2>Because if they choose the other side selling, I was

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<v Speaker 2>on Fair Territory an hour ago with Ken Rosenthal and

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<v Speaker 2>he doesn't see them selling any guys that are on

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<v Speaker 2>contract for next season. So are they gonna do nothing

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<v Speaker 2>or are they gonna buy a little bit?

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<v Speaker 1>So it's important to note that alex Antopolis, the Braves

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<v Speaker 1>president of Baseball Ops, did a radio interview about two

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<v Speaker 1>weeks ago. This was before the Sail injury and obviously

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<v Speaker 1>before the Schwellenbach injury, and he pretty, I mean, he

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<v Speaker 1>pretty emphatically said they're not selling, and they're certainly not

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<v Speaker 1>selling anybody that's got more than you know, one year

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<v Speaker 1>of team control, which is basically the entire roster. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>the only notable guy that doesn't have team control after

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<v Speaker 1>this season is Marcel Luzuna, who's got his own injury

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<v Speaker 1>problems because he's had a hip thing for like two

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<v Speaker 1>months and his production has just fallen off a cliff.

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<v Speaker 1>So even if the Braves got to the point where

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<v Speaker 1>they were going to sell, which let's be honest, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean they're they're as close as they've been in a

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<v Speaker 1>long time, there's not much to sell. You know, I

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<v Speaker 1>saw stuff about Acunya. They're not trading Acunya, and they're

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<v Speaker 1>not I mean, they're not trading anybody that's got they

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<v Speaker 1>want to compete next year, and you know, all of

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<v Speaker 1>these guys, Saale Schwellenbach, Ronald Lopez, they're all scheduled to

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<v Speaker 1>come back this year, so it's not like these are

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen month in injuries that affect twenty twenty six as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So you know, you can bind wanting to compete next year,

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<v Speaker 1>you can bind not really having a lot to sell

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<v Speaker 1>this year. My guess is they stand pat they might

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<v Speaker 1>buy a little something just to see if they can,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, spark a rally and maybe get some of

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<v Speaker 1>these guys back in late August and then make a push.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, a realistic outlook of the team says

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<v Speaker 1>this is probably not their year. There's not much to sell.

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<v Speaker 1>My guess is they do a little bit. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe maybe trade Ozuna if he gets hot, but I

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't expect this team to do much at the trade deadline,

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<v Speaker 1>to be honest, does.

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<v Speaker 3>That make Atlanta Braves fans feel good or bad? Because

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<v Speaker 3>it's you're hoping now, you're hoping this team comes back

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<v Speaker 3>to this almost unrealistic level that they were in twenty

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<v Speaker 3>twenty three when they were the greatest offense ever. Do

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<v Speaker 3>Atlanta Brais feel Atlanta Braids fans feel like the team

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<v Speaker 3>is a little stagnant and mixing it up a little

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<v Speaker 3>bit would help.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, I mean, you know, one the thing about

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<v Speaker 1>contract extensions is that they're great if they work, and if

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<v Speaker 1>they don't work, then you're stuck. And right now, the

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<v Speaker 1>Braves are somewhere in between it working and it not working.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you know, you have to zoom out. The

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<v Speaker 1>Braves have made the playoffs for seven straight years, so like,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't want to get crazy with this. They're still

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<v Speaker 1>a very good organization, but the last couple of years,

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<v Speaker 1>especially on the position player side, it hasn't worked, and

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<v Speaker 1>they've dealt with a lot of injuries, and so now

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<v Speaker 1>you're in a situation where do you run it back

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<v Speaker 1>with the same group, because you kind of have to.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, Marcelo Zunna is the only kind of big

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<v Speaker 1>name guy that's not gonna be around next year. Technically

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<v Speaker 1>Ozzie Albi's could They could move on from Ozzy. He's

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<v Speaker 1>the guaranteed portion of his contract is up after this year,

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<v Speaker 1>so they could do something at second base if they

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to switch it up. They can always find a

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<v Speaker 1>short stop. They haven't had a real short stop since

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<v Speaker 1>Dansby left. You know. Profar just came back from the

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<v Speaker 1>PD suspension, So we're gonna see what this offense looks like.

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<v Speaker 1>They've only played one game with him, or at least

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<v Speaker 1>one game since April, and they scored seven runs last night,

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<v Speaker 1>so they're gonna see what he looks like, what the

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<v Speaker 1>offense looks like with him in the lineup, and then

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<v Speaker 1>we'll see with the rotation. I mean, all the rotation

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<v Speaker 1>guys are under contract for next year. So yes, to

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<v Speaker 1>answer your question, Brace fans do want a change. It's

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<v Speaker 1>definitely gotten stagnant. But the contract extensions they've handed out,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, honestly, they put the team in a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit of a box, like, unless you're okay moving these guys,

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<v Speaker 1>and Alex has shown zero indication that's true, then you

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<v Speaker 1>can only kind of manage the roster around the edges.

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<v Speaker 1>The core pieces are pretty much set.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, this episode is sponsored by Hewle, So I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 5>I want to go back to what you said about Ozuna.

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<v Speaker 5>How do you have a hip torn for this June third?

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<v Speaker 5>And whose fault is that that he's playing it Ozuna's fault?

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<v Speaker 5>Is it the training staff's fault? Like they haven't get

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<v Speaker 5>I don't think they've given him a day off, have they?

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<v Speaker 5>And he has this is no power, I mean, that's

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<v Speaker 5>my question is who is this on? Is this on

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<v Speaker 5>Ozuna saying I want to play every day? Or where

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<v Speaker 5>is the We're snitt and I love Snitt saying hey man,

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<v Speaker 5>we need to give you a day or two to

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<v Speaker 5>manage this thing.

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<v Speaker 1>This may be the most frustrating part for Braise fans

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<v Speaker 1>right now. He's like, like there is no team set up.

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<v Speaker 1>Better to have your DH take a couple of weeks

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<v Speaker 1>off than the Braves because they have Sean Murphy and

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<v Speaker 1>Drake Baldwin who both play catcher and one can catch it,

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<v Speaker 1>one could DH and Azuna could just take a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of weeks. And what they've said publicly is that it's

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<v Speaker 1>a type of injury where one il stin is not

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<v Speaker 1>going to fix it. It's only going to be fixed

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<v Speaker 1>with surgery in the offseason. The problem with that logic

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<v Speaker 1>is he's been awful for like two months and he's

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<v Speaker 1>tanked any trade value he has. He's been you know,

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<v Speaker 1>he sits in the middle of that lineup. He's got

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<v Speaker 1>like a six hundred ohps over the last two months. Like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>you don't want to put him on the IL, but like,

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<v Speaker 1>give the guy a day off. I mean, that's the

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<v Speaker 1>part that I can't figure out, Like, why not at

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<v Speaker 1>least give him a day or two. Again, you have Baldwin,

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<v Speaker 1>you have Murphy, who've been two of the best hitters

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<v Speaker 1>on the team that can cover DH for a couple days. Yeah, Age,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm with you. That's the one I can't figure out,

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<v Speaker 1>and really no one can figure out. And they've they've

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<v Speaker 1>been very kind of cryptic with this injury to begin with.

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<v Speaker 1>They just kind of randomly released it one day and

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<v Speaker 1>have said nothing else about it, and no one on

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<v Speaker 1>this side can make sense of what's going on with

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<v Speaker 1>the Zuno.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, first of all, with the Braves, do you think

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<v Speaker 5>want to bring him back? Regardless? And then then I

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<v Speaker 5>want to ask you about the catching situation.

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<v Speaker 1>No, I don't think they'll bring up. The Braves need

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<v Speaker 1>to inject something new into this core because it's gotten stagnant.

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<v Speaker 1>The problem is they don't have a lot of positions

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<v Speaker 1>where they can do that because they've signed so many

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<v Speaker 1>long term extensions. D H and Second Base are basically

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<v Speaker 1>the only two spots where they can kind of try

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<v Speaker 1>to inject some new energy, new life, new blood. So

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think they'll bring a Zuna back. He's also

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<v Speaker 1>thirty five. He's you know, if you look at Marcel,

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<v Speaker 1>he's not like, it doesn't look like a good thirty five,

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<v Speaker 1>Like he's kind of round, like, you know, it looks

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<v Speaker 1>like he might be aging pretty quickly. Here in the

0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:03.040
<v Speaker 1>hips is not gonna help that. So my guess is

0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.000
<v Speaker 1>they don't bring him back. You know, he might get

0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:06.760
<v Speaker 1>traded at the deadline, but again, he's been so bad

0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:08.120
<v Speaker 1>for two months. I don't know who's gonna want a

0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.559
<v Speaker 1>thirty five DH who hasn't hit in two months. So No,

0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.760
<v Speaker 1>to answer your question, I don't think they'll bring Marcel

0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:14.440
<v Speaker 1>back next year.

0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:15.360
<v Speaker 3>Round.

0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:17.000
<v Speaker 5>You said round, by the way, which is great.

0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.439
<v Speaker 1>He's I mean he's round.

0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.000
<v Speaker 5>I mean he can still hit when healthy, though, so

0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.960
<v Speaker 5>let's see hit when he's healthy. I mean he can

0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.720
<v Speaker 5>still be as strong as strong as I'll get out too.

0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.679
<v Speaker 5>But let's go to that. You mentioned Murphy and Drake Baldwin.

0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.760
<v Speaker 5>Now Murphy signed the long term extension. Then Drake Baldwin

0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:36.480
<v Speaker 5>comes up and he's kind of taken a lot of

0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.720
<v Speaker 5>his playing time away because he's been so good as

0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:40.280
<v Speaker 5>a rookie.

0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:41.720
<v Speaker 1>What are they gonna do there?

0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.200
<v Speaker 5>I mean, yeah, you can DH one, but I guarantee

0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.000
<v Speaker 5>if you haves Sean Murphy, he's gonna want to catch,

0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.080
<v Speaker 5>And then you want Drake Baldwin to catch because he's

0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.280
<v Speaker 5>a young guy and he's your future. Could they trade

0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.439
<v Speaker 5>as Sean Murphy to try to change and now I'm

0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.240
<v Speaker 5>not saying they'll trade him this year, but is that

0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.880
<v Speaker 5>an offseason traded or is the team, like let's say

0:11:57.880 --> 0:11:59.400
<v Speaker 5>the Rays who were looking for a catcher.

0:11:59.480 --> 0:11:59.680
<v Speaker 6>Help.

0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:01.640
<v Speaker 5>We'll come in and say, hey, we'll take Sean off

0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:03.000
<v Speaker 5>if the Braves eat some of the money.

0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.360
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this has probably been the other big discussion is

0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.600
<v Speaker 1>Drake Baldwin, I mean came out of no where. He's

0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.360
<v Speaker 1>you know, he's been on the Brads tradar, but nobody

0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.960
<v Speaker 1>expected him to be this good this early, and he has.

0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.240
<v Speaker 1>He's he's eaten into Sean Murphy's playing time because he's

0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.280
<v Speaker 1>been so good. Now Murphy has also been good. Murphy's

0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.720
<v Speaker 1>been red hot of Lady's got three homers in his

0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:25.480
<v Speaker 1>last four games. It's kind of been carrying the Braves

0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.160
<v Speaker 1>offense lately. So this is gonna be a fascinating situation

0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.080
<v Speaker 1>because what do you do. I mean, you have two

0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.800
<v Speaker 1>good catchers. Murphy's locked up long term, you know, Drake

0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.920
<v Speaker 1>Baldwin's just starting his career. I think they're gonna trade

0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:40.880
<v Speaker 1>Murphy at some point. I think they were gonna want

0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:44.240
<v Speaker 1>the financial flexibility to go other places. They again, they've

0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.160
<v Speaker 1>got so much long term money locked up, they need

0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:50.280
<v Speaker 1>some flexibility somewhere. Trading Murphy at least alleviates a little salary.

0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.160
<v Speaker 1>Drake Baldwin's clearly good enough to be the starter. I

0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.000
<v Speaker 1>don't know if you can trade a catcher. I mean, AJ,

0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:57.520
<v Speaker 1>you could probably speak to this better than I can.

0:12:57.559 --> 0:12:59.240
<v Speaker 1>I don't know how easy it is to trade a

0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.520
<v Speaker 1>catcher mid season learning a whole new pitching staff, like

0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.400
<v Speaker 1>on the fly in August and September. That seems like

0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:09.120
<v Speaker 1>more of an offseason trade that you would, you know,

0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.319
<v Speaker 1>try to pull off. But I don't know. I think

0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:13.959
<v Speaker 1>I think a couple I think, like Wilson Contresk got

0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.040
<v Speaker 1>traded at one point mid season at one point, so

0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:17.439
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, maybe you could pull it off mid

0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.360
<v Speaker 1>season if they if you, if you, you know, twisted

0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.520
<v Speaker 1>my arm and said, what's the biggest trade the Braves

0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.800
<v Speaker 1>could make this trade deadline? I would probably say, Sean Murphy.

0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.319
<v Speaker 1>I just don't know how realistic it is to trade

0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.920
<v Speaker 1>a catcher and have him, you know, reactly made to

0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.000
<v Speaker 1>a whole new pitching staff on the fly as the

0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:34.240
<v Speaker 1>season in the middle of the season.

0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.440
<v Speaker 3>It's rare, you're you're right, it's rare. I mean, it's

0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.920
<v Speaker 3>usually the backup catcher that they bring in. It's gonna

0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.480
<v Speaker 3>play some oh, now it's a starting catcher, but it's

0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.920
<v Speaker 3>somebody that will fill in as a need. It's rare

0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:51.440
<v Speaker 3>because of exactly what you said, and I think that's

0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.320
<v Speaker 3>one of those things it's tough to do. But somebody

0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.559
<v Speaker 3>that definitely won't play in the playoffs if the Braves

0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:58.880
<v Speaker 3>crawl out of this and get a wild card spot.

0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.480
<v Speaker 6>Is your boy, Profar you tweeted last night. I think

0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:07.440
<v Speaker 6>about how he's fitting right into this lineup. How much

0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.520
<v Speaker 6>was that out of frustration for you? And how much

0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.679
<v Speaker 6>was it This is exactly what we're getting.

0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So if you follow, if you fall, I mean

0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:21.720
<v Speaker 1>I I live tweet most of these games, and it's

0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:23.680
<v Speaker 1>been a frustrating year. And obviously we had just learned

0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:25.960
<v Speaker 1>about the Spencer swallobuck news and I was already in

0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.560
<v Speaker 1>a pretty pissy mood. And in his first and his

0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.120
<v Speaker 1>very first a bat, he came up with the basis

0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:33.880
<v Speaker 1>loaded and he struck out with one out. And that's

0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:35.760
<v Speaker 1>I mean, if you follow the break, that's literally what

0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.760
<v Speaker 1>happens to every single game. And so his first, you know,

0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.640
<v Speaker 1>his first played appearance is he gets kind of fifty

0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:43.880
<v Speaker 1>to fifty boos and cheers. Nobody really knows how to

0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.280
<v Speaker 1>handle this at the moment, and his very first played appearance,

0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.760
<v Speaker 1>he strikes out with the bases loaded and one out,

0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.520
<v Speaker 1>and it's like, good lord, here we go to his credit.

0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.280
<v Speaker 1>He ended up going I think two for three or

0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.760
<v Speaker 1>three for four. Last night he started a rally, he

0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.680
<v Speaker 1>got a two out single the Braves. The Braves didn't

0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.160
<v Speaker 1>scored seven runs with two out and nobody on because

0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.360
<v Speaker 1>he started that ending with a single. And that was

0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.320
<v Speaker 1>that tweet you saw about how he's mastered the art

0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:11.840
<v Speaker 1>of hit getting a hit with two out, nobody on.

0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:14.200
<v Speaker 1>And then he came up better and hit a homer. So,

0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:18.120
<v Speaker 1>you know, Braves fans don't really know what to think

0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.400
<v Speaker 1>of Profar. Quite honestly, I don't know. You know, with PDS,

0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.640
<v Speaker 1>you guys have you know, you guys have been in clubhouses.

0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.760
<v Speaker 1>You've dealt with that way more than any of us.

0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:27.960
<v Speaker 1>We don't really know how to handle, Like do you

0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:29.800
<v Speaker 1>cheer for this guy? He kind of put the Braves

0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.080
<v Speaker 1>in a brutal position from you know, the first half

0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.160
<v Speaker 1>of the season. The Braves had zero production from left

0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.520
<v Speaker 1>field for three months because he got popped through PDEs

0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.160
<v Speaker 1>and so, like half the fan base wants to boo him,

0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.840
<v Speaker 1>half wants to cheer him. What I know for sure

0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:47.680
<v Speaker 1>is they need him. They need somebody to hit in

0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.880
<v Speaker 1>this lineup, and to his credit, he came out immediately.

0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.200
<v Speaker 1>First game he hit hit a homer, he had a

0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:57.480
<v Speaker 1>couple other hits. Brave scored seven runs. So we'll see.

0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.040
<v Speaker 2>My thing is from a storyline perspective, as a fan

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.160
<v Speaker 2>of the game, I always want to see what a

0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.800
<v Speaker 2>player looks like coming back from a ped suspension. Is

0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:08.720
<v Speaker 2>he the same guy?

0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:09.240
<v Speaker 6>Right?

0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:13.400
<v Speaker 2>We've seen guys go down a notch, that's usually the case.

0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:14.200
<v Speaker 2>Rarely do they go.

0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:14.720
<v Speaker 6>Up a notch.

0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:17.760
<v Speaker 2>How much do they go down? So anyway, we'll see

0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.200
<v Speaker 2>what happens when Jerkson comes back for the rest of

0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.800
<v Speaker 2>the season. And he's not eligible for the postseason, so

0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:25.520
<v Speaker 2>that certainly hurts his case. If the Braves somehow we're

0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.720
<v Speaker 2>getting value out of him and able to trade him

0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:29.600
<v Speaker 2>to a contender, but he's also got two years left

0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:31.760
<v Speaker 2>on his deal. Anyway, this was awesome. Thank you so

0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:34.400
<v Speaker 2>much for joining us, and we always appreciate what you're

0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.920
<v Speaker 2>doing over at Hammer Territory. The show's awesome, you know that,

0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.360
<v Speaker 2>but I advise anyone to check it out here. It

0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:44.760
<v Speaker 2>is Brad and Scott your buddies. Steven live tweets the

0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.680
<v Speaker 2>games and he's part of the Hammer Territory crew. So

0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:49.480
<v Speaker 2>if you want to give that show a little listen,

0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:51.760
<v Speaker 2>or give them at least a sub if you're on

0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.880
<v Speaker 2>YouTube right now, that would be great. These guys bring

0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.440
<v Speaker 2>it usually about four shows a week with Atlanta Braves coverage,

0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.760
<v Speaker 2>breaking news, the whole deal. Thank you again, Steven. Have

0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:02.480
<v Speaker 2>a good weekend.

0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:04.640
<v Speaker 1>I appreciate you guys. Have a happy Fourth