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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hammer Territory Podcast. It's a bit odd

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Speaker 1: to say, but it is a new era when it

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Speaker 1: comes to covering the Braves Brad Rowland and Scott Coleman,

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Speaker 1: as they mentioned on the first few episodes of the

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Speaker 1: Hammer Territory Podcast, they themselves will be on a regular

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Speaker 1: basis covering the Braves, just as they used to do

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Speaker 1: with Battery Power. But also it is a pleasure to

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Speaker 1: be with you once again. It's been a while, but

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Speaker 1: my name is Sean Coleman. Also my podcast partner Steven Tolbert.

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Speaker 1: Both of us were part of the team over at

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Speaker 1: Battery Power, but now thrilled to be back with you

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Speaker 1: as part of the team here with Hammer Territory, part

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Speaker 1: of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. But Steven, pleasure

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Speaker 1: to talk with you again, and hey, it's great to

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Speaker 1: talk with you after the Braves get a victory.

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Speaker 2: What's going on, Sean, Yeah, buddy, it's been a minute

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Speaker 2: since we've done this, probably right out a month since

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Speaker 2: the last time we signed off with Battery Power. Obviously

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Speaker 2: new podcasts. Now we came over with Brad and Scott

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Speaker 2: part of the Foul Terror to our network and have

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Speaker 2: the new show Hammer Terror to I'm really excited. I

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Speaker 2: didn't realize how much I enjoyed doing this until it

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Speaker 2: was kind of ripped away from us unexpectedly, So I

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Speaker 2: am very excited to be here to talk to the

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Speaker 2: about the Braves. Of course, after a win is always better.

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Speaker 2: I do want to start out at the top of

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Speaker 2: the show because some people have asked on Twitter, so

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Speaker 2: we came over the four of us, Brad, Scott and

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Speaker 2: Me and Sean, and people have asked about Chris since

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Speaker 2: Chris and I did the old show together, and Chris

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Speaker 2: coming over was not an option for us. He works

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Speaker 2: for Vox. You know, there's some corporate stuff involved, and

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Speaker 2: that just wasn't an option that we had in front

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Speaker 2: of us. So, and obviously that's a big bummer. Chris

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Speaker 2: and I love to do our show. We were kind

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Speaker 2: of approaching one hundred episodes of that show and we

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Speaker 2: had a lot of fun doing it, but Chris coming

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Speaker 2: over with us was not an option to us. In

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Speaker 2: saying that, though we were, we are going to have

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Speaker 2: Chris on this show frequently regularly is how I would

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Speaker 2: say it is, as often as we can. So I

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Speaker 2: love Chris. He still runs Battery Power the website, it's

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Speaker 2: one of the best blogs out there. I still write there.

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Speaker 2: I think Scott still writes there, so you know, we're

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Speaker 2: still connected. It just you know, him coming over here

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Speaker 2: with us wasn't an options, but I did want to

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Speaker 2: say off the jump for the people that you know,

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Speaker 2: really followed pt B and L, we really appreciate it

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Speaker 2: and we'll hope you guys come over here now. But yeah, Sean,

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Speaker 2: it's great to be on with you man, And obviously

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Speaker 2: it's great to be on after all.

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Speaker 1: Win absolutely and you know, along with Stephen and Scott

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Speaker 1: and Chris one to certainly as being you know, a

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Speaker 1: part of Battery Power as well. Want to really echo

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Speaker 1: what Steven said, you know, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: you know, when it came to it, you know, Scott

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Speaker 1: and Brad have been doing the main show that was

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Speaker 1: over at Battery Power for what going on several years.

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Speaker 1: I know that the show itself has been going on

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Speaker 1: for eight years. Scott and Brad I believe, had been

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Speaker 1: doing it, you know, for several of those years. But

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Speaker 1: as the podcast opportunities grew over at Battery Power, it

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Speaker 1: was Chris who gave me my opportunity a few years

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Speaker 1: ago to do the Daily Hammer, and I believe it

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Speaker 1: was Chris who gave Steven the opportunity to join the

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Speaker 1: group as well when it came to a podcast to

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Speaker 1: be named later. So Chris, everything that Steven said is

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Speaker 1: absolutely true. Chris. It doesn't get better than Chris. He

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Speaker 1: is tremendous. Looking forward to talk with him in the

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Speaker 1: future as well, and certainly, you know, just want to

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Speaker 1: carry on, you know, the great tradition to great Dallas

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Speaker 1: that he offered as well, and so it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: great to get to talk to him anytime that we can.

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Speaker 1: But Stephen, you know, as we mentioned, you know, it

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Speaker 1: is a new opportunity that's here for those who are

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Speaker 1: you know, still you know kind of gathering. You know.

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Speaker 1: Where you can find the podcast. You can find it

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Speaker 1: at Hammer Territory on x slash Twitter. It should also

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Speaker 1: be at Hammer Territory via Instagram, Facebook, give us time,

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Speaker 1: you know, to really get the social media going. You

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Speaker 1: can find me at Stat's Sac on Twitter. You can

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Speaker 1: find Stephen at b Underscore Outliers on Twitter as well,

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Speaker 1: and of course the Hammer Territory podcast. Just make sure

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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your podcast. That's where we'll be

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Speaker 1: for free. Just hit that subscribe button you'll get the

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Speaker 1: latest content when it's available. But Steven, you know we've

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Speaker 1: discussed where they can find all the great content that

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Speaker 1: will come from us. But as you mentioned, it's always

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Speaker 1: better to talk about the Braves after a win rather

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Speaker 1: than a loss. But a win has been hard to

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Speaker 1: come by over the past you know, week or so.

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Speaker 1: But what was different tonight from you another very good

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Speaker 1: pitching matchup, the fourth straight series in which the Braves

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Speaker 1: are faceed and outstandy pitching. Staff will discuss that a

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Speaker 1: bit more later on to the episode, but tonight Rinaldo

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Speaker 1: Lopez once again was outstanded, and though the Braves took

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Speaker 1: a little bit of time to get going, they were

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Speaker 1: able to get back to their old ways of generating

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Speaker 1: offense late in the game and that was the difference

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Speaker 1: to get a win.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's been the offense, right, Like Brad

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Speaker 2: Scott talked about it plenty, the offense has been the culprit,

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Speaker 2: which is very weird to say, obviously coming off last

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Speaker 2: year where the Braves had I don't know, a top

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Speaker 2: five offense of all time. Maybe I think you could

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Speaker 2: probably make that argument one of the best offense, I

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Speaker 2: mean easily the best offense I've ever seen on a

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Speaker 2: Braves team. And to come into this year, you know,

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Speaker 2: they started the year really hot. The pitching staff was

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Speaker 2: not doing well. Early in the year, they were having

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Speaker 2: to win games, you know, twelve to eight, you know,

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Speaker 2: ten to five, whatever, and they were doing it consistently,

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Speaker 2: and then we got you know, about two weeks ago,

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Speaker 2: really that Marlin series at home, in that Cleveland series

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Speaker 2: at home. Since then, it's been rough. I mean, the

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Speaker 2: Braves over the last two weeks have you know, if

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Speaker 2: you look at WRC plus, if you look at ops

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Speaker 2: OPS plus, the Braves have basically a bottom five offense

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Speaker 2: over the last two weeks plus, which is wild. I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's just a wild amount of time for the Braves

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Speaker 2: offense to be this bad. And you know, that was

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Speaker 2: the culprit out on the West Coast the Braves. If

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Speaker 2: the Braves just hit at a normal level what they

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Speaker 2: normally hit, they they easily could have won. I don't

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Speaker 2: know three of those games that they lost on the

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Speaker 2: West Coast, I know two of them, the two they

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Speaker 2: lost to Seattle, they easily could have won and then

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Speaker 2: the first one against La on Friday night, they could

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Speaker 2: have won if they just hit at a reasonable level.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, it's been the offense, and tonight I'm not

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Speaker 2: gonna lie to the offense still wasn't great. It was

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Speaker 2: still you know, through I think six six or seven

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Speaker 2: innings they had two hits and or two runs and

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Speaker 2: four hits, the Kelnick homer being the big blow. It

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Speaker 2: came after a hit by pitch. I think it was

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Speaker 2: a hit by pitch on a No. Two pitch too,

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Speaker 2: so it was a bit of a gift really, And

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Speaker 2: then you know they busted through in the eighth, which

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Speaker 2: was good to see. You know, the last two games

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Speaker 2: I tweeted this out, but the last two games the

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Speaker 2: Braves going into that eighth inning, the Braves only had

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Speaker 2: one played appearance with a runner in scoring position. The

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Speaker 2: last two games combined, not only were they not scoring,

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Speaker 2: they weren't really even threatening to score. So yeah, it

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Speaker 2: was good to see they they you know, they came through.

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Speaker 2: Marcel came through with the big single. Then then Boston

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Speaker 2: kind of gave us another run with a gift by

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Speaker 2: watching a double play that that scored another one. So

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Speaker 2: and the pitching was fantastic. The pitching has been really good,

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Speaker 2: you know, other than that Bryce Elder start against LA

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Speaker 2: the pitching has been fantastic. I mean, especially the starters

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Speaker 2: have been really, really good. Ronaldo was good again tonight.

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Speaker 2: I thought Aaron Bummer had maybe the biggest couple of

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Speaker 2: pitches of the game with those two strikeouts with the

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Speaker 2: bases loaded, and yeah, they were able to get a win.

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Speaker 2: So it's it's good to get back on it. The

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Speaker 2: offense still needs to wake up, though, I mean we're

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Speaker 2: not We're still not kind of back to normal. Uh.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'd love to see some five, six, seven

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Speaker 2: run games and get the feelback for what it what

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Speaker 2: it is to be one of the best offenses in

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Speaker 2: the sport, which is what this team should be based

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Speaker 2: on talent.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and and you know, when it comes to talent,

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Speaker 1: you know, one of the things is is that, you know,

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Speaker 1: we added a lot of that to the pitching staff,

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Speaker 1: you know, this this offseason, and then of course within

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Speaker 1: the first two weeks or within the first ten days

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Speaker 1: of you know, us getting into the regular season, may

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Speaker 1: have suffered the biggest loss to a pitching staff that

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Speaker 1: anyone could have experienced in baseball when we lost Spencer

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Speaker 1: Strider for the season. Now, I say that with full

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Speaker 1: confidence that you know, if any team could overcome that

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Speaker 1: level of loss, it's the Braves. But what has stood

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Speaker 1: out so far is Ronaldo Loopez and Chris sale To.

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Speaker 1: I would say less than certain additions to this Braves

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Speaker 1: pitching staff. That may not be the best way of

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Speaker 1: putting him, but I know that a lot of people

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Speaker 1: were clamoring for a you know, truly significant ad to

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Speaker 1: the pitching staff this off season. The Braves made some

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Speaker 1: significant ones, but maybe not ones that you know, had

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Speaker 1: the try back record that man he had liked. But

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Speaker 1: so far this year, Steven, the two pitchers that have

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Speaker 1: been the most consistent cogs of this pitching staff have

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Speaker 1: been Renald Lopez and Chris sil both pitching to the

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Speaker 1: level to where they could be an All Star consideration.

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Speaker 1: But what really stood out to me tonight with re

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Speaker 1: Renaldo Lopez, it seems like his velocity is staying in

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Speaker 1: that ninety five ninety six range, which is advantageous for

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Speaker 1: a starter, But that slider of his is really becoming

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Speaker 1: a weapon, both in terms of getting strikeouts but also

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Speaker 1: just keeping hitters off balance. It really seems like Renald

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Speaker 1: Lopez has a combination that he can continue to rely

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Speaker 1: on that more than anything, can help him remain efficient

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Speaker 1: as he goes on.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that was the question, Like we talked

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Speaker 2: about it a lot in spring training. You know, when

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Speaker 2: you when you convert a guy back to being a

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Speaker 2: starter from a reliever, and he's one of the elite

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Speaker 2: relievers in the sport and throwing one hundred, one hundred

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Speaker 2: and one, you know, what's the velocity going to be

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Speaker 2: out when you pitched five six innings? And that was

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Speaker 2: a big question, and he's been able to hold it,

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Speaker 2: like ninety five ninety six. I thought there was a

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Speaker 2: couple of key sequences tonight where you know, he still

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Speaker 2: got it in the tank where if he wants to

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Speaker 2: jump it to nine ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine,

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Speaker 2: he can. He's got that in there for bigger moments

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Speaker 2: in the game. You know, Tonight's command kind of abandoned

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Speaker 2: him late. I thought he pitched really well. He just

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Speaker 2: kind of weirdly in that one inning, gave up three

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Speaker 2: walks and got in trouble and Bummer had to come

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Speaker 2: in to get him out of it. But and we

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Speaker 2: really haven't seen that from on all those It was

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Speaker 2: kind of a weird inning, honestly, where his command just

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Speaker 2: kind of all of a sudden just left him. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: the slider has been good, the velocity has been good.

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Speaker 2: I love the fact that he can jump it up

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Speaker 2: when he needs a big out. You know, if he

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Speaker 2: needs to pump it to ninety eight, he can even

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Speaker 2: the slider he was pumping up to like eighty eight

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Speaker 2: eighty nine miles an hour when he needs a big out.

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Speaker 2: So that's a man. That's a nice club to be

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Speaker 2: able to pull out of your bag in a big spot.

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Speaker 2: And he's been amazing. I mean, he's been so much

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Speaker 2: better than I ever thought he would be as a starter.

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Speaker 2: I'll put my hand up and admit that I didn't

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Speaker 2: love the idea of him being a starter just because

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Speaker 2: he was such a good reliever. But he has been

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Speaker 2: unbelievable and he has saved the Braves Bacon. I mean,

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Speaker 2: he's got a I think I looked it up right

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Speaker 2: after the game after tonight. He's got a one five

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Speaker 2: to three e ra A for the season, which is nuts.

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Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's like cy young stuff. Now, his

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Speaker 2: peroferles aren't quite that good. I don't think that's the

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Speaker 2: true talent level of Ronaldo Lopez. I'm guessing he'll end

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Speaker 2: up closer to the threes. But still, I mean, you know,

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Speaker 2: for a guy that was projected to be the fifth

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Speaker 2: starter coming into the coming into the season, that's massive.

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Speaker 2: And he's been you know, he's been really really consistent.

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Speaker 2: There's been no blow up starts. It's not like he's

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Speaker 2: you know, giving up seven runs and then giving him none.

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Speaker 2: Every single start he goes out, he he gives up

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Speaker 2: the Braves a chance to win the game. And that's

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Speaker 2: all you can ask for for a guy that was

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Speaker 2: supposed to be at the back end of your rotation.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, him and Sale have been unbelievable. And obviously

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Speaker 2: Sale goes again tomorrow, but he, you know, the same

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Speaker 2: thing with him. I mean, all the things that I

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Speaker 2: just said about Ronaldo, you could say about Sale. He's

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Speaker 2: been unbelievable. Brad and Scott talked about this on the

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Speaker 2: last show. But you know, if he's healthy, he's he's

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Speaker 2: normally good and so far healthy, so that's been awesome.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, those two guys have been a godsend, you know,

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Speaker 2: with a Strider injury in Max getting off to a

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Speaker 2: rough start, and you know guys like Elder and Darius

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Speaker 2: Fines and Whinings all having kind of rough starts. Those

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Speaker 2: two guys have been nails along with Charlie Morton. I

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Speaker 2: want to give Charlie Morton his flowers because he's been

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Speaker 2: strong too, But yeah, those two guys have been key.

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Speaker 1: The other thing that stands out to me for night

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Speaker 1: from a pitching perspective, because again, you know, why not

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Speaker 1: start off the show with the positives you know that

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Speaker 1: have been there for the Braves through this you know

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Speaker 1: recent you know stretch of struggles is the fact that

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Speaker 1: Joe human Is had a great eighth inning. You know,

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Speaker 1: he really has emerged along with Aj Mentor as being

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Speaker 1: a go to, you know, reliable option in late innings

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Speaker 1: to you know, either maintain leads, keep games close, what

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Speaker 1: have you. You know, I know that he's kept under a

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Speaker 1: two year or a so far this year and Aaron

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Speaker 1: Bummer who's had a bummer of a season so far,

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Speaker 1: unfully intended when it comes to, you know, some bad

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Speaker 1: luck that he's run into. You know, he run into

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Speaker 1: a bit of bad luck. You know, I believe in

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Speaker 1: the first battery face tonight, but some big pitches, you know,

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Speaker 1: as the bravest Bullpen has has lost some significant pieces,

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Speaker 1: which we'll discuss a little bit later on the episode.

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Speaker 1: Those two seem to kind of be where the spotlight is,

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Speaker 1: you know, focused. Now if Joe himman Is and Aaron

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Speaker 1: Bummer to go along with agmintern right, so Iglesias, If

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Speaker 1: Bumber and Iglesia or Bummer and him Inz can really

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Speaker 1: continue to step up or step up even further than

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Speaker 1: they have earlier this season, this phrase bullpen should remain

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Speaker 1: reliable as we get back to our winning ways.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Bummer, I don't. I've seen a lot of Bummer hate,

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Speaker 2: and I you know, I get it. The results haven't

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Speaker 2: been great, but Bumber has like a I looked it

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Speaker 2: up to while he was in the game earlier, Bumber

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Speaker 2: has like a two point eight flip for the season.

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Speaker 2: Like Bummer's been fantastic, Like I think, I think the league.

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Speaker 2: I think he's given up like a five hundred batting

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Speaker 2: average on balls in play, which has led to some

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Speaker 2: people maybe thinking he's not very good. But Bumber is

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Speaker 2: an up outstanding reliever. I mean, he's very very good

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Speaker 2: and you know, I get you know, people look at

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Speaker 2: e ra and they love e ra A, and I

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Speaker 2: just that's not a great way to look at pitchers ever,

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Speaker 2: and it's especially not a great way to look at relievers,

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Speaker 2: especially when it's a month into the season, because one

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Speaker 2: a couple of bad addings and that that can just

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Speaker 2: balloon your era. So Bumber's been fantastic and Joejmenez has

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Speaker 2: been even better. Somehow, Amenez has got an e ra

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Speaker 2: A and a fit both in the ones, and he's

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Speaker 2: been elite. He was really good last year. It just

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Speaker 2: last year it seemed like he had some he had

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Speaker 2: some blow ups and some big spots early, and I

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Speaker 2: think a lot of Brace fans had a hard time

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Speaker 2: trusting him in big spots. But if you look at

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Speaker 2: his numbers last year, they were very good. I mean,

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Speaker 2: you know, obviously enough to earn him a pretty good

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Speaker 2: sized contract over the over the winners. So yeah, Jimenez

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Speaker 2: and and Bumber have been really good. Like you said that,

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Speaker 2: they're gonna need to be good because we've got some

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Speaker 2: injuries that we're going to talk about here in a minute.

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Speaker 2: But you know, those guys Iglesias Mentor even with the injuries.

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Speaker 2: That's still pretty good bullpen. And you know, we know Alex.

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Speaker 2: I mean, at some point the season, Alyx is also

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Speaker 2: going to add a reliever of some regard, probably a

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Speaker 2: right handed reliever of the way things have shaken out

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Speaker 2: so far. But yeah, those guys have been huge and

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Speaker 2: we're and we're both huge tonight, especially Bummer that I'm

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Speaker 2: telling you that ending in the I think it was

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Speaker 2: the sixth inning where the bases were loaded and he

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Speaker 2: had to get the top of the order and he

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Speaker 2: had the bases loaded, and they got a run off him,

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Speaker 2: but it was off at a pretty lame hit. It

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Speaker 2: was right back up the middle. If it doesn't hit Bumber,

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Speaker 2: it's a ground ball double play. It hits him, they

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Speaker 2: get a run, but then he strikes the next two

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Speaker 2: guys out and that was huge and that kept the

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Speaker 2: game tied and then obviously the Braves went on the

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Speaker 2: win from there.

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Speaker 1: So again, Stephen, it's good to talk about this Braves

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Speaker 1: team when they won. But as you mentioned, and as

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Speaker 1: you have been, you know, keeping close tabs on this

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Speaker 1: offense is definitely you know, it's been struggling over the

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Speaker 1: past two plus weeks. I think that you mentioned the

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Speaker 1: other day coming into Sunday's game. Since April twenty first,

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Speaker 1: this Brave's offense had a sixty seven WR plus just

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Speaker 1: you know, nowhere near the level that they that they

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Speaker 1: usually produce. When you look at, you know, kind of

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Speaker 1: how this offense has operated. What stands out to you

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Speaker 1: is is one or two really key, uncharacteristic or hey,

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Speaker 1: this seems to be really what they need to focus

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Speaker 1: on correcting. What stands out to you is to one

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Speaker 1: or two biggest factors as to why they've been struggling

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Speaker 1: to the extent that they have.

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Speaker 2: Well, they've certainly been unlucky. They've had a number of

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Speaker 2: barreled balls that have not produced the amount of damage

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Speaker 2: that you expect, especially relative to last year. So and

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Speaker 2: that is fair to say, like the Braves, I think

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Speaker 2: overall for the season are underperforming their their metrics by

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Speaker 2: about ten or fifteen points. It's not a huge bump,

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Speaker 2: but when you're talking about a team wide number, that's

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Speaker 2: a pretty significant jump. So that's one I think. Two,

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Speaker 2: I think they are key guys, you know Acunya Riley.

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Speaker 2: They depend on those guys for so much, and those

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Speaker 2: guys specifically went through a pretty big stretch where they

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Speaker 2: were struggling, and you know it got covered up a

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Speaker 2: little at the beginning because Ozuna was hot and Michael

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Speaker 2: Harris was hot, and Kellennick was hot, and even like

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Speaker 2: Ourcio was hot. And then when those other guys kind

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Speaker 2: of went back down to normal levels, for those guys,

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Speaker 2: you didn't have the production of the Big three kind

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Speaker 2: of pick up the slack. And so we're really just

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Speaker 2: kind of waiting on those three guys. We're waiting on Acunya,

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Speaker 2: We're waiting on Riley, We're waiting on Olsen. Riley and

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Speaker 2: Acunya have shown signs of life here recently, like Acunya's

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Speaker 2: he had another barrel out tonight, of course he did.

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Speaker 2: Riley's had some really good games. Both guys probably the

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Speaker 2: two best offensive performances out in the LA series. We're

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Speaker 2: Riley and Acunya. So those guys are waking up a

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Speaker 2: little bit. Olson still looks pretty lost at the plate.

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Speaker 2: He had a couple of rough at bats tonight. So

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Speaker 2: you know, it's just baseball, honestly, I mean, it's it's

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Speaker 2: it's may, It's gonna happen. It thinks that it's kind

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Speaker 2: of all happened at once and and kind of ballooned

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Speaker 2: where the offense in general has just been really bad.

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Speaker 2: But you know, hopefully, because it's all happening now, when

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Speaker 2: they turn it around, they'll all get hot at the

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Speaker 2: same time and in the hot streak that follows will

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Speaker 2: be as impressive. So but yeah, it's it's a little

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Speaker 2: bit of bad luck. It's it's been slow starts from

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Speaker 2: their top guys. They're not hitting fastballs the way they

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Speaker 2: typically do in terms of damage, especially fastballs in the zone.

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Speaker 2: I did some research on this. I think I'm gonna

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Speaker 2: write something for a battery power here and maybe tonight

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Speaker 2: or tomorrow. But they haven't done quite as much damage

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Speaker 2: on the fastballs in the zone as they did last

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Speaker 2: year where they punished everybody. So just stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: A lot of it's just variance, right, small sample sized

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Speaker 2: variants of only being five weeks into a season, so

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Speaker 2: I'm not worried long term, but it's you know, obviously,

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Speaker 2: when you're talking about your three best hitters, it would

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Speaker 2: be nice if they got going here pretty soon.

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Speaker 1: So Steven, looking at you, you mentioned April twenty first

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Speaker 1: is a date where it seemed like the Braves offense

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Speaker 1: kind of you know, trailed off a little bit, and

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Speaker 1: I want to look at April twenty fifth, so through

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Speaker 1: so the two things that really were the big sources

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Speaker 1: of this offense's success through the first twenty or so

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Speaker 1: games of the season through April twenty fifth was, as

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Speaker 1: you mentioned, the lesser parts of our order, the bottom

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Speaker 1: half of our order, Ozuna, Michael Harris, Arcia, even Jared Kilnick,

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Speaker 1: Travis Darnaut had his incredible weekend. Those guys were really

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Speaker 1: the reason why our offense was was among the best

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Speaker 1: in the league. But also in contrast last year, our

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Speaker 1: offense was scoring runs late in games. Here's a couple

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Speaker 1: of perspectives of just how good things were through the

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Speaker 1: twenty fifth of April and how much they changed in

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Speaker 1: the twenty sixth of April. When it comes to the

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Speaker 1: Braves offense late in games, we're tall about from the

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Speaker 1: seventh inty No. One through April twenty fifth. The Braves

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Speaker 1: offense in the seventh, eight, nine and extra innings of

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Speaker 1: games through April twenty fifth, they had a nine hundred

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Speaker 1: OPS in those parts of games and a one to

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Speaker 1: fifty six WRC plus by far the best in baseball.

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Speaker 1: As soon as the calendar turned to April twenty sixth

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Speaker 1: through the present, they went from being the best team

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Speaker 1: in baseball in those situations to being the eighteenth best

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Speaker 1: team in baseball. They went from a one to fifty

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Speaker 1: sixth WRC plus and a nine hundred OPS down to

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Speaker 1: a six fifteen WRC six fifteen ops and sixty nine

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Speaker 1: WRC plus. So once the calendar turned to April twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty sixth, our ability to produce runs late in games

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Speaker 1: it got neutralized. It no longer was there that hurt

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Speaker 1: the offense. But here's even more eye opening development. Those

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Speaker 1: guys that we mentioned, Orlando Arcia, Michael Harris, Marcellazuna all

430
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,880
Speaker 1: bat in the fifth through ninth in the lineup. When

431
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,040
Speaker 1: you look at the fifth through ninth spots in the

432
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,360
Speaker 1: Brave lineup and compare it to all five through nine

433
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,639
Speaker 1: spots in Major League Baseball. Through April twenty fifth, r

434
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,119
Speaker 1: five through nine spots in our lineup produced a one

435
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:17,040
Speaker 1: forty six WRC plus and an eight seventy four OPS,

436
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 1: the best numbers in baseball. But since April twenty sixth,

437
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,720
Speaker 1: we have been the worst s bottom half of the order.

438
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,119
Speaker 1: Our five through nine nine lineups through since April twenty

439
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,320
Speaker 1: sixth have produced a four to forty eight OPS and

440
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,520
Speaker 1: a twenty four WRC plus. Now, I know I threw

441
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,800
Speaker 1: a lot of numbers out there, but the point is

442
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,479
Speaker 1: is that if the bottom of our order and the

443
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,359
Speaker 1: fact that we scored runs late in games were the

444
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,639
Speaker 1: two reasons why we were our offense was doing so

445
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,159
Speaker 1: good and we were winning, what happened on April twenty

446
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:51,800
Speaker 1: six that neutralized those capabilities. We started facing the best

447
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:57,080
Speaker 1: pitching staffs in baseball, the Guardians, the Mariners, the Dodgers,

448
00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 1: and now the Red Sox. Each and every one of

449
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,919
Speaker 1: those pitch staffs are a top ten pitching staffs, are

450
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 1: a top ten pitching staff in the game, and most importantly,

451
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,720
Speaker 1: each of those pitching staffs are a top seven bullpen

452
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: in the game. So I know that the Braids are

453
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,600
Speaker 1: supposed to have an offense to be able to take

454
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,640
Speaker 1: on the best pitching staffs in baseball, but it shows

455
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,439
Speaker 1: that the lesser parts of our lineup and our ability

456
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 1: to produce latent games, those weren't necessarily the most sustainable

457
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,720
Speaker 1: ways to have a good offense, and one of the

458
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,800
Speaker 1: biggest reasons why we've kind of fallen off is because

459
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 1: of the fact that we're facing some very good pitching.

460
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,119
Speaker 1: I think that that's not necessarily an excuse. It's a

461
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,879
Speaker 1: true reason. But also to your point, it's why we

462
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:39,240
Speaker 1: need to get our best hitters going.

463
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean those things you're talking about, you know,

464
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 2: late inning magic and the bottom of your order producing

465
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 2: those things are are nice when they happen, but they're

466
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 2: not sustainable in any way. Like most teams, bottom of

467
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,600
Speaker 2: the order is going to struggle against good pitching. You know,

468
00:22:58,640 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 2: a lot of teams bottom the order is going to

469
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 2: struggle against bad pitching. You know, those things don't sustain

470
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 2: you for a whole season. The things that sustain you

471
00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,880
Speaker 2: for a whole season is when your best players play

472
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 2: to their level. And so you know, and it's listen,

473
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 2: in today's game, it's tough to score late. Like everybody's

474
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 2: got a good pullpen, everybody throws a hundred out of

475
00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:21,000
Speaker 2: the bullpen. Everybody's got I mean, the best reliever in

476
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,560
Speaker 2: baseball plays for the Oakland A's I mean, like everybody's

477
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 2: got velocity, everybody's got talent at the end of their bullpen.

478
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 2: That's not that's not a great way to sustain success.

479
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 2: A great way to sustain sustained offensive success is to,

480
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 2: you know, score runs early against a tired starter. That's

481
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:38,920
Speaker 2: the best that's always the best time to score is

482
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,000
Speaker 2: when you get to the fourth fifth inning, you know

483
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 2: the starter is tired. You can get some runs, you know,

484
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,359
Speaker 2: but your best players have to show up, and especially

485
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 2: when you play, like you said, some of the best

486
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 2: pitchers in baseball, the braves of are definitely in a

487
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,399
Speaker 2: stretch where they're playing some of the best pitching staffs

488
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,160
Speaker 2: in the game right now and some of the best bullpens.

489
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:56,919
Speaker 2: But that's when you need your best players the most,

490
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,439
Speaker 2: right Like that's when you know, like you can't be

491
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 2: counting on you know, I'm not gonna be counting on

492
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 2: Orlando Orcia to take you know, to take down Tyler

493
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,639
Speaker 2: Glass now, like I'm I'm counting on Acunya and Riley

494
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,399
Speaker 2: and Olsen to do that. Like that's that's the point.

495
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:17,439
Speaker 2: And so you know that I I hear what you're

496
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 2: saying about the numbers that you gave, but like that

497
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,119
Speaker 2: that stuff was always going to come back down to

498
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,359
Speaker 2: earth when you get down to the nitty gritty of it,

499
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,879
Speaker 2: Like your best players have to be there. When you

500
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 2: face pitching to the level they face the last two weeks.

501
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,320
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. And and I agree with you, you know,

502
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 1: last year when we were getting leads early and able

503
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 1: to maintain them, and we were you know, having you

504
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 1: know all, you know again Akunya, Riley and Olsen, and

505
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 1: just at the end of the day, the Braves have players,

506
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,040
Speaker 1: They have three offensive players that easily could be in

507
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: the top or in the top ten of the MVP

508
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: voting and in the given year they simply need those

509
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 1: players to return in their form. And we should be okay.

510
00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,159
Speaker 1: But Steven, the other thing that I think, you know,

511
00:24:58,320 --> 00:24:59,920
Speaker 1: kind of you know, needs to be hit on is

512
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 1: we talk about, you know, the true significance of you know,

513
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 1: kind of this stretch that the Braves are having is

514
00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 1: that I think something that kind of makes things seem

515
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 1: more negative or seem more significant than they actually are

516
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: is some external factors. One of those being the fact

517
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: that through this stretch when the Braves have struggled, one

518
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:18,679
Speaker 1: of the things that has happened with the two biggest

519
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,159
Speaker 1: rivals for the Braves in the National League, the Dodgers

520
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:22,680
Speaker 1: in the Phillies, is that they've been two of the

521
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,560
Speaker 1: best teams in baseball over the past two weeks, and

522
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 1: the Dodgers just absolutely kicked our butt in LA. I

523
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 1: think those two teams having the success that they are

524
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 1: may make it seem as if our struggles were a

525
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 1: bit more you know, significant than they actually are. But

526
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 1: I do want to remind folks that just a year ago,

527
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: this time last year, the Braves were hitting a snag.

528
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 1: This time last year was when we lost Kyle Wright

529
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,160
Speaker 1: and Max Freed and our pitching staff was struggling as well.

530
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 1: And then if you go to two years ago, the

531
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 1: Braves were you know, not even playing, you know, winning baseball,

532
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 1: and as of June third, two years ago, they were

533
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 1: down ten games in the division. So this is a

534
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 1: situation that the Braves have dealt with before, and even

535
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,960
Speaker 1: though other teams are having success, I have remained fully

536
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 1: confident that as our best players start getting knowing again,

537
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 1: this offense is going to figure it out. And thankfully

538
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 1: we're starting to see signs of that, especially with the

539
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 1: Cooney and Riley.

540
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:12,960
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know what it is. I actually looked

541
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 2: this up last year because it was interesting. I think

542
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,120
Speaker 2: May is through this kind of stretch where this group

543
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 2: of players has been together. I think May has been

544
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 2: consistently their worst month and June has been consistently their

545
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,600
Speaker 2: best month. Like they've done the same thing the last

546
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,800
Speaker 2: few years, where they get off to kind of slow starts,

547
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 2: the calendar flips to June and then they you know,

548
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 2: they they they run past everybody, they destroy the rest

549
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,600
Speaker 2: of the league for the next four months. So I

550
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,560
Speaker 2: don't know what it is about May. You know, late

551
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 2: April May, it's it's not their favorite time of year.

552
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,600
Speaker 2: Maybe it's not warm enough yet. You know, they usually

553
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 2: the Batch usually really get going when the weather gets warm,

554
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 2: So you know, maybe we'll see another stretch like that.

555
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:54,920
Speaker 2: But yeah, you're right. I mean, the Phillies being so

556
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:56,639
Speaker 2: good right now. Phillies are the best team in baseball

557
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 2: right now. Their pitching staff has been absurd. Wheeler and

558
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 2: Nola Suarez all look fantastic. Bryce Harper's back, he's he's

559
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 2: red hot. He had another Grand Slam tonight, and so yeah,

560
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,480
Speaker 2: people are definitely comparing right Like the Phillies are the

561
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:12,639
Speaker 2: nemesis for the Braves. They've they've knocked him out of

562
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,800
Speaker 2: the playoffs the last two years. Division rival, the Braves

563
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:17,760
Speaker 2: were in first and now they're you know, I think

564
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 2: they're a couple of games. In second I think they're

565
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,399
Speaker 2: a game and a half or two games back in

566
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 2: the Phillies, the Phillies haven't lost. I feel like, you know,

567
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 2: I feel like Frank the Tank with the Mets, like

568
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 2: you know, the Braves never lose, like the Phillies never lose.

569
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:30,879
Speaker 2: Like they haven't lost a game. I don't know a

570
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,960
Speaker 2: lot last time the Phillies lost a game. So but yeah,

571
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,480
Speaker 2: it's may I mean, that stuff is so premature, you know,

572
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 2: Like you said, the two years ago, the Mets had

573
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:40,720
Speaker 2: a ten game lead at this point and we know

574
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 2: how that worked out. So, you know, all that stuff premature.

575
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,920
Speaker 2: And people definitely are comparing the Phillies and the Dodgers

576
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,680
Speaker 2: to the Braves at the moment. And obviously the Braves

577
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,480
Speaker 2: and the Dodgers that series had a lot of hype.

578
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,160
Speaker 2: The Braves kind of no showed, especially in the last

579
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 2: two games, so that didn't that that certainly didn't feel well,

580
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 2: you know, the Dodgers kind of kicking their butt the

581
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 2: way they did, So that's part of it. Yeah, you're right,

582
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 2: that's one hundred percent part of it. But the brains

583
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:03,920
Speaker 2: need to play better. Their best hit their best hitters

584
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,240
Speaker 2: need to hit better, hopefully being at home, you know,

585
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,440
Speaker 2: getting off the West Coast, Hopefully at some point the

586
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 2: schedule lightens up where you maybe get some of the

587
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,200
Speaker 2: easier teams and get right against some not so good pitching.

588
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,879
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, Steven, they have struggled. You know. Just

589
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,399
Speaker 1: last year was the first time since you know, really

590
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,320
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen even then, that the Brains had a winning record,

591
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 1: you know, a true ringing record through April in May.

592
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 1: But every year from June and they they've absolutely dominated.

593
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 1: But one thing that you know, does stand out, you know,

594
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: as I mentioned last year, around this time, we lost

595
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 1: Kyle Wright, we lost Max Free to the starting rotation.

596
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 1: Well a year later, we've now started to see some

597
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,680
Speaker 1: pitching injuries crop back up. Over the weekend, Pierce Johnson

598
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,920
Speaker 1: was lost due to right elblow elbow inflammation. In just

599
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,240
Speaker 1: today this morning or on Tuesday morning, it was announced

600
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 1: that Tyler Matzik was going on the IL with left

601
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 1: elbow inflammation. Now I'm thinking that the fact that we

602
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,040
Speaker 1: haven't really heard any other news when it comes to

603
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 1: Pierce Johnson, maybe it's just the fact that he needed

604
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 1: some Risks. Tyler Matz feels like it's been something that's

605
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 1: been in the works for a while since he's been struggling.

606
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 1: Maybe these aren't that serious of elbow injuries, but the

607
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 1: fact is is that the Braves bullpen is working through

608
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 1: now dealing with injuries. We've seen Jackson Stevens as well

609
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 1: as Ray Kerr called up. But Stephen, what is your

610
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 1: takeaway with the loss of Pierce Johnson and Tyler Matzik

611
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: over the next few weeks.

612
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 2: Well, I would definitely put these in two several categories.

613
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 2: Pierce Johnson is one of the best pitchers on the team.

614
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 2: He is a weapon out of the bullpen, especially right handed.

615
00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 2: The Braids are very left handed in their bullpen. You know,

616
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 2: they've got Bummer, they've got a mentor, they got lead.

617
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 2: Now they've got Kerr. That's four out of eight that

618
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,320
Speaker 2: are lefties. So you know, your right handed options are

619
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 2: essentially at Glasis Jamenez and Pierce Johnson at least before

620
00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 2: he went down. So Pierce Johnson is extremely valuable. If

621
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 2: that's a minor injury, then that's a huge break. Anytime

622
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 2: you see you know, elbow pitching elbow, it scares you.

623
00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 2: Of course, if that's If that's a relatively minor thing

624
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 2: and they get him back, then that's huge. If it's

625
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 2: a more significant thing, then obviously that's a problem, and

626
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 2: the brains are gonna have to address that, probably in

627
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 2: the trade market at some point, because he's a weapon

628
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 2: and he's you know, he is one of the best

629
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 2: pitchers on the team. He's a crucial part of that bullpen,

630
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 2: and that would be a big loss for Matsick. I

631
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,400
Speaker 2: don't know if he's actually hurt or if this is

632
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,800
Speaker 2: just you know, you've been terrible. We can't keep running

633
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 2: you out there. You don't have any options. So it's

634
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 2: either this or we just release you out right. And

635
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,760
Speaker 2: you know, maybe he is hurt. Maybe that's part of

636
00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 2: the reason he struggled. But you look at the metrics

637
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 2: behind Matsick, it is ugly. I mean it's not just

638
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 2: results based, like he is giving up rockets everywhere. His

639
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 2: bat at ball data is terrifyingly bad. You know, I

640
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,760
Speaker 2: have a theory about matziic and it you're when you

641
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 2: can throw one hundred miles an hour like he used

642
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 2: to be able to do, all you had to do

643
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 2: was put it somewhere over the plate and it was

644
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,600
Speaker 2: good enough, like it just don't just throw it over

645
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 2: the plate somewhere. And at one hundred miles an hour,

646
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,120
Speaker 2: people are gonna have trouble with it. Right when that

647
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 2: drops down to ninety three ninety four. Now where you

648
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:25,760
Speaker 2: put it over the plate matters quite a bit, Like

649
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:27,680
Speaker 2: it's not just about throwing strikes with it. You have

650
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 2: to throw good strikes with it. And the problem with

651
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 2: Matzik at his velocity is he's never had to worry

652
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 2: about that level of command, and now at his velocity,

653
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 2: he does have to worry about that level of command.

654
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 2: And he's just he doesn't have that pinpoint accuracy that

655
00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,760
Speaker 2: you need to survive at ninety three versus like ninety eight,

656
00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 2: ninety nine, one hundred, just what he had a few

657
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 2: years ago. And then and he's just given up rockets.

658
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 2: I mean, guys are just teeing off on him. He's

659
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 2: got his average EXI velocity against was like ninety four

660
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 2: miles an hour, which is just absurd, Like that's one

661
00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 2: of the hardest you'll ever see. And so you know,

662
00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,440
Speaker 2: maybe he is hurt. Maybe this is just a way

663
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,560
Speaker 2: to get him some rehab starts and maybe get him

664
00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 2: to try to figure something out. But I don't know.

665
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 2: We'll see with him, but Piers Johnson is a legitimate loss.

666
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,280
Speaker 2: If that, if he's down for a long period of time,

667
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,320
Speaker 2: there's gonna have to address that some way. If it's

668
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 2: if it's not, if it's if it's like you said,

669
00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 2: if it's a little bit you know, more minor, then

670
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:25,400
Speaker 2: they caught a break because he's a huge weapon of

671
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:25,720
Speaker 2: that pen.

672
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 1: Well, let's let's look at this a little bit further.

673
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,360
Speaker 1: You know, as we're wrapping up this edition of the

674
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 1: Hammer Territory podcast, you know, I say that we've really

675
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,080
Speaker 1: not gotten you know, no news is good news. But

676
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,720
Speaker 1: you pointed out that before he went on the iel,

677
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:46,520
Speaker 1: he went a uncharacteristically extended amount of time without being used.

678
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 1: So it looked as if that the Braves kind of

679
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: you know, saw that there was something not right even

680
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: days before he went on the iel. Of course, they

681
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: also went out and got a picture with a you know,

682
00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 1: somewhat similar refertoire from the Angels and Jimmy Hurget who

683
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 1: now is with the Braves Triple A team. So if

684
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 1: you look at it from that perspective, it's not necessarily

685
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,960
Speaker 1: as encouraging of what will come from you know, Pierce

686
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 1: Johnson's injury. So again, no news is good news. But

687
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:18,480
Speaker 1: the fact that he hadn't pitched for days before he

688
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: went on the IL and the Braves went out and

689
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 1: got a similar style pitcher that they put in Triple

690
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,400
Speaker 1: A that you probably that may be an indication of

691
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 1: the fact that, you know, maybe Johnson is you know,

692
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 1: not gonna be an option for a while. You know,

693
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 1: we'll hope for the best obviously as time goes on.

694
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,160
Speaker 1: But speaking of her, get you know, you've got Ken Giles,

695
00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,400
Speaker 1: You've got ray Kerr, who's come up. Jackson Stevens was

696
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,200
Speaker 1: the initial call up when Pierce Johnson went on the

697
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,960
Speaker 1: I L. Stephen. It seemed like a huge thing for

698
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 1: alexan Thopolis coming off of all of the injuries last

699
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,000
Speaker 1: year to the pitching staff was getting depth to stuck

700
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 1: at the Triple A level in case he dealt with

701
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 1: injuries once again this year. And even as big of

702
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: a weapon is Pierce Johnson, the you certainly want to

703
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,480
Speaker 1: see him come back. You've got some intriguing options. I'm

704
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 1: excited to see what ray Kerr could do in this

705
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,120
Speaker 1: full pen. I don't think Jackson Stevens is going to

706
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 1: be up here long. I think Ken Giles may get

707
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,120
Speaker 1: an extended look if Pierce Johnson were to be on

708
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,479
Speaker 1: the shelf for a while. But this goes to show

709
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,680
Speaker 1: Alex and Thopless was a stute in his ability to

710
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,800
Speaker 1: sock up that depth at the Triple A level. And

711
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,759
Speaker 1: there's some intriguing options that could come in place. Maybe

712
00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,680
Speaker 1: one or two of them could really stand out. I'm

713
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:28,840
Speaker 1: excited to see what ray Kerr can do after a

714
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,080
Speaker 1: bit of time in the Brave system.

715
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:33,919
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if Pierce is down for a while,

716
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,320
Speaker 2: then you're probably gonna have to switch out one of

717
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 2: these lefties for a righty at some point. It's going

718
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 2: to be tough if the only high leverage the only

719
00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:47,040
Speaker 2: two high leverage right handed relievers you have are Iglesias

720
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,359
Speaker 2: and Jimenez, right, so at some point you're probably gonna

721
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,520
Speaker 2: have to make a move, Like you said, like Ken

722
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,440
Speaker 2: Giles having at decent Yearnglinette, you know who knows with him,

723
00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,520
Speaker 2: It's been so long since he's been a productive major

724
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 2: league hit picture, you know, it's probably just a roll

725
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,800
Speaker 2: of the dice at this point. Days Bill Hernandez is

726
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:06,759
Speaker 2: down there, who had a decent came up last year,

727
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,880
Speaker 2: had a couple of decent outings. He's got good stuff,

728
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 2: and you know, relievers are fairly easy to get. In

729
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,000
Speaker 2: terms of trades, you know, it's probably not it's probably

730
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,839
Speaker 2: a little too early for that, although we have seen

731
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,719
Speaker 2: some trades already. Miami looks like they're putting up a

732
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 2: white flag pretty early. So who knows, you might be

733
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 2: able to swing a trade. Like you said, they did

734
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 2: get a minor a smaller trade with the Angels, but

735
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 2: so yeah, you know, if Pierce is down, Alex always

736
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,240
Speaker 2: improves the bullpen. Alex has been tremendous at building bullpens

737
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 2: since he's been the head guy in Atlanta, So I'm

738
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 2: not that worried about it. But it is a loss

739
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 2: if he's down for a significant amount of time and

740
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,680
Speaker 2: something the Braids are going to have to They're gonna

741
00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:49,280
Speaker 2: have to reress, either internally or externally.

742
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 1: Absolutely, But as you mentioned, it's one hundred and sixty

743
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,880
Speaker 1: two game season. You would rather go through these stretches

744
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 1: of struggles, go through these currencies of injuries. You'd rather

745
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:03,600
Speaker 1: them happy happened earlier in the year to where you

746
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 1: had more time address him. Especially with the creative gm

747
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,920
Speaker 1: like Alex and Thopless. And we'll see what occurs. But

748
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 1: Steven on the mountain tomorrow against his former team. Chrisol

749
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 1: has talked about it. He's gonna be looking forward to

750
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,240
Speaker 1: pitching against the Red Sox, expecting for him to hopefully,

751
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,399
Speaker 1: you know, put together a good outing and it will

752
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,960
Speaker 1: be really really encouraging. You know, the Braves got still,

753
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 1: They've got some strong pitching staffs coming up, the Mets,

754
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,719
Speaker 1: the Padres as well over the next you know, a

755
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:28,800
Speaker 1: few weeks. If the Braves can get these two wins

756
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:31,719
Speaker 1: against a pretty decent team in Boston, that could really

757
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,640
Speaker 1: help them, you know, hopefully make the most of this

758
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,440
Speaker 1: homestand and get them back on their winning ways to

759
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,560
Speaker 1: maybe make this May a bit more successful than past ones.

760
00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:44,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, Nick, they got Nick Pavetta. Boston's got Nick Pivetta

761
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:46,359
Speaker 2: going tomorrow. He's had a really good year. He's got

762
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,759
Speaker 2: I think he's got an ERA like below one so

763
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:52,800
Speaker 2: far this season. So and the guy they had the night, Crawford,

764
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,960
Speaker 2: had an ERA blow too. So Yeah, Boston's pitched really well,

765
00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 2: kind of surprisingly well given the injuries they've had. They

766
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,040
Speaker 2: don't really have a lot of big name guys, but

767
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 2: they've pitched really well, so yeah, the Braves can sweep

768
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,279
Speaker 2: them tomorrow. Obviously that would mean a lot for Chris Sale,

769
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 2: I'm sure, spending so much time in Boston, and you know,

770
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 2: it would be huge for Atlanta just to get some

771
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,040
Speaker 2: momentum going. It's kind of a weird part of the schedule.

772
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,640
Speaker 2: It's off day, you know, they came back from the

773
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:19,440
Speaker 2: West Coast trip and then had an off day yesterday

774
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 2: and then two games at home and then off day

775
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 2: on Thursday and then right back out on the road

776
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:26,320
Speaker 2: to New York. So very weird part of the schedule.

777
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,520
Speaker 2: Only five games this week and a lot of travel.

778
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 2: So yeah, I get these two wins, that would be

779
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:35,880
Speaker 2: tremendous to see, Like, I mean, can we get like

780
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 2: eight runs like that would be you know that used

781
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,400
Speaker 2: to be a daily thing for the Braves, and it

782
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 2: feels like it's been three weeks since they've scored more

783
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,239
Speaker 2: than four runs in a game, So you know, could

784
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,719
Speaker 2: we get like a four spot in the first like

785
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,120
Speaker 2: we used to do, and then maybe tack on another

786
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 2: two or three throughout the game and win one going away?

787
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,120
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm just saying that would be tremendous, Like,

788
00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,840
Speaker 2: I'll take that right now if we could just somehow

789
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,640
Speaker 2: possibly you know, work that out. So and I'm sure

790
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,240
Speaker 2: Chris Sale would appreciate it too. You know, the pitching

791
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 2: staff has been incredible, how well they've pitched, considering they've

792
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 2: had zero runs, uh, you know, to support them, and

793
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,680
Speaker 2: they've had tons have played a ton of close games. Obviously,

794
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 2: when you don't score runs, it's it's impossible not to

795
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:20,279
Speaker 2: play a close game. So unless you just give up

796
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,640
Speaker 2: a million like they did against la On on Saturday night.

797
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,279
Speaker 2: But yeah, it'll be it'll be huge if the Brads

798
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:28,960
Speaker 2: can get out score some runs. Gets Sale going, I'm

799
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,240
Speaker 2: sure he's hoping to have a good game against Boston

800
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:33,600
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, get a get a sweeping and

801
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,320
Speaker 2: then go go up to New York for the weekend.

802
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,279
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and you know, so when it comes to the

803
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 1: Braves should do Hey, if you know, Steven, if if

804
00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 1: the Kunya and then Albi's and Riley and and Olsen

805
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:48,719
Speaker 1: just want to go back to back to back to back,

806
00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 1: and Alston just wants to cross home plate and say

807
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,600
Speaker 1: we're back. When he does that, hey, that'll be a

808
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,239
Speaker 1: great way to start off tomorrow's game, Stephen, Do you

809
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,600
Speaker 1: have anything else for us as we wrap up our

810
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,400
Speaker 1: debut edition of the Hammer Territory podcast.

811
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:04,200
Speaker 2: No, I just want I want to say thank you

812
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,759
Speaker 2: to everybody that came over from Battery Power. We had

813
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,800
Speaker 2: a ton of a ton of support immediately out of

814
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 2: the gate, like we the new the New podcast was

815
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:15,920
Speaker 2: up there with like some of the biggest sports podcasts

816
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,040
Speaker 2: in the world right after we debuted, so huge, huge

817
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:21,960
Speaker 2: shout out to the fans. I mean, you guys have

818
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,600
Speaker 2: been awesome, tons and tons of five star reviews. And

819
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:27,759
Speaker 2: then all the people that are new, maybe that didn't

820
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:29,560
Speaker 2: come over from Battery Power, that just checking us out

821
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 2: for the first time. Welcome. This is a twelve month

822
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,080
Speaker 2: Braves podcast. We will have content for you all year long,

823
00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:39,600
Speaker 2: you know, all throughout the week, usually three or four

824
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,960
Speaker 2: episodes a week, so we appreciate it. And yeah, and

825
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,719
Speaker 2: obviously Brad and Scott will be back tomorrow I think

826
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 2: with another episode, and then then Scott, Sean and I

827
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,279
Speaker 2: will be back later in the week and we'll just

828
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:52,960
Speaker 2: keep rolling. Now that we've got everything kind of up

829
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,759
Speaker 2: and running, it'll be a much more consistent schedule. We'll

830
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:57,880
Speaker 2: get we'll kind of get into the flow of the season,

831
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,600
Speaker 2: and we appreciate the support it's been. It's been really

832
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 2: overwhelming at times how much support we've had. So we

833
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 2: really appreciate it and.

834
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:08,440
Speaker 1: Very humbly, like I agree with everything Steven said, it's

835
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 1: just it's great to see, you know, the one thing

836
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,719
Speaker 1: that we share along with all the listeners that that

837
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:16,799
Speaker 1: that had tuned into battery power now Hammer Territory, it's

838
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,800
Speaker 1: passion for the braves. We we allll love the braves,

839
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,480
Speaker 1: especially with how good they are now. And so just

840
00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:25,000
Speaker 1: thank you, you know, very much, thank you for the

841
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 1: support of the kind words and you know, and I

842
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,000
Speaker 1: that played a role it does being able to find,

843
00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:31,800
Speaker 1: you know, not only a new home, but definitely a

844
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,760
Speaker 1: significant one as well with with the foul Territory family.

845
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,320
Speaker 1: So I just thank you to everyone who was supportive

846
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,320
Speaker 1: and have listened over the years and are now with

847
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 1: us here in our new home. But of course you

848
00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 1: can find the Hammer Territory podcast at Hammertury at Hammer

849
00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,719
Speaker 1: Territory across all forms of social media YouTube as well.

850
00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:51,800
Speaker 1: Find Stephen to be Underscore Outliers, find myself at stats

851
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,280
Speaker 1: as a see all our written written work at Battery

852
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,759
Speaker 1: power dot com. Scott and Brad will be back tomorrow

853
00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 1: with the latest episode graphy up this series against Boston,

854
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,000
Speaker 1: looking forward you know, to the series against New York

855
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:04,920
Speaker 1: coming up as well. But can thank you enough for

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Speaker 1: doing this. We'll talk to you ansum here on the

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Speaker 1: Hammer Territory podcast