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Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the Hammer Territory podcast engineered

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Speaker 1: by fasten All. If you want to learn more, make

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Speaker 1: sure that you head to fastenoll dot com to learn

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Speaker 1: all about fasten All. And of course, as always with

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Speaker 1: me is my podcast partner Steven Tolbert, one of the

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Speaker 1: best when it comes to breaking down the Braves and Stephen,

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Speaker 1: we don't have a lot of news really to cover.

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Speaker 1: We haven't had a lot of you know, actual news

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Speaker 1: when it comes to the Braves other than you know,

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Speaker 1: further disclosure when it comes to injuries. But one of

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Speaker 1: the more notable sources when it comes to you know what,

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Speaker 1: would jump right into it in this podcast. In this podcast,

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Speaker 1: we'll discuss the latest when it comes to updates, you

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Speaker 1: know what the Brave's rotation plans are. Plus really diving

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Speaker 1: into the Braves outfield, which to me is one of

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Speaker 1: the most important aspects of this team to be near

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Speaker 1: when it comes to a positional group, to be near

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Speaker 1: the best in the majors. But let's get right to it.

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Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal, fellow member of foul Territory. Through his show

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Speaker 1: Fair Territory, you know, he talked exclusively or specifically about

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Speaker 1: the Braves and you know what to look for when

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Speaker 1: it comes to their rotation after the injuries to Spencer

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Speaker 1: Swellerbach as well as Hirst and Waldrup, and the news

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Speaker 1: that he relayed was similar to what gay Bird's relaid.

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Speaker 1: And that is the fact that the Braves are going

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Speaker 1: to at this point they may seem to be satisfied

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Speaker 1: with Bryce elder manning that fifth rotation spot. They know

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Speaker 1: at the very least they can give them the ball

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Speaker 1: every five days. So that seems to be the plan

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Speaker 1: as of right now. But I go back to and

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Speaker 1: we're not going to go, you know, too deep into this.

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Speaker 1: We've discussed this every perspective of this ad nauseum at

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Speaker 1: this point, but I will go back to a point

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Speaker 1: that I made in our last show. It really really

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Speaker 1: just does not make sense. It just to the point

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Speaker 1: of baffles me. Where for two plus years we have

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Speaker 1: heard Alex and Thoppolis talk about the fact that starting

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Speaker 1: pitching is his priority. Adding depth, adding making a significant

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Speaker 1: adition to this rotation is his top priority. We know

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Speaker 1: that multiple opportunities have been there, they've just not worked out.

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Speaker 1: But now even though the consistent theme has been adding

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Speaker 1: to the rotation when the need is bigger than it's

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Speaker 1: ever been. We now all of the sudden are okay,

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Speaker 1: stay in true with what we have. That to me

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Speaker 1: just does not make sense.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So Rosenthal had his spot today on his show,

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Speaker 2: which is on foul Territory, of course, and you know

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Speaker 2: he I don't think he was asked. I think it

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Speaker 2: was just a setup segment. And again I've talked about

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Speaker 2: this before. This is a this is a topic being

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Speaker 2: talked about on national shows. I think it was one

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Speaker 2: of the first or second segments of his show to day,

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Speaker 2: and it was essentially what are the Braves going to do?

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Speaker 2: And you know, his thesis in that piece was basically,

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Speaker 2: right now, it looks like the Braves are not gonna

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Speaker 2: do anything that They're gonna ride with it what they

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Speaker 2: have internally, which is Bryce Elder and Enjoy Wentz and

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Speaker 2: then you know a bunch of kids behind those two,

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Speaker 2: and you know, hope, hopeful, hopeful that those guys can

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Speaker 2: hold down the fork until either swallow Back or Waldrup

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Speaker 2: come back mid season or maybe a J. Smith Shalver.

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Speaker 2: And they don't really view what's out there on the

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Speaker 2: market as any sort of significant upgrade to what they

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Speaker 2: have internally. And listen, do I agree with that now?

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Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not like somebody who's like crazy high

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Speaker 2: on Lucas Gielito or Zach Lettel, so I you know,

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Speaker 2: those specific guys don't like move the needle a lot.

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Speaker 2: For me. I would just ask like, why why did

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Speaker 2: you wait until those two guys were the two best

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Speaker 2: guys on the market. So we'll see, you know, I

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Speaker 2: don't agree with it. We again, we're not going to

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Speaker 2: litigate this again. We've litigated this pretty much every show

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Speaker 2: we've done for like four months, and everybody listening has

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Speaker 2: heard every argument. We've made our side of it. You know,

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Speaker 2: we've tried to give you what the Braves have stated

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Speaker 2: that their side of it is. That's what Rosenthal did

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Speaker 2: again today that they're happy with their internal options. So

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Speaker 2: you know they're going to be praying. You know, Alex

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Speaker 2: is gonna be on his knees every night praying to

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Speaker 2: God for Spencer Strider's elbow and Ronaldo Lopez his elbow,

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Speaker 2: and you know, Renaldo Lopez his shoulder, and and you know,

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Speaker 2: Grant Holmes's elbow, and just Chris Saill's overall health because

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Speaker 2: that's what he's that's what he's banking on right now,

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Speaker 2: and we'll see how it could work. Like those guys

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Speaker 2: could stay healthy and produce, and the young guys could

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Speaker 2: contribute until the older guys get back. Like it could work.

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Speaker 2: It's not like impossible that they're right about this. It's

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Speaker 2: just a lot of risk for reasons I don't really get.

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Speaker 2: But that's as it stands right now. That's the way

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Speaker 2: it seems like they're gonna go. They're gonna go internal

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Speaker 2: options and hope you know, what they have is good

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Speaker 2: enough and the offense of the bullpen can kind of

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Speaker 2: carry the load for the first, you know, half of

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Speaker 2: the season.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And at the end of the day, I want

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Speaker 1: to reiterate, it's not the lack of ability, like that

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Speaker 1: clearly is there. It's the lack of availability, which again

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Speaker 1: is a bigger concern for this team than most and

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Speaker 1: here in recent years, more often than not, that lack

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Speaker 1: of availability has proven to be more impactful than the

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Speaker 1: overall ability of the pitching staff. But enough on that,

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Speaker 1: everybody knows where we stand on that. Let's switch it

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Speaker 1: a bit. Let's turn a complete one eighty at the

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Speaker 1: start of this podcast, and let's talk about the most

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Speaker 1: positive thing about this team right now because it concerns

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Speaker 1: the most important thing. I have stated it before, but

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Speaker 1: I cannot I cannot say enough. The most important factor

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Speaker 1: in the Braves returning to contention is Ronald Acunu Junior

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Speaker 1: playing at an MVP level. That is the most important

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Speaker 1: factor of anything when it comes to anything that if

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Speaker 1: you want to start breaking down the Braves and why

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Speaker 1: they could be a contender, Ronald Kunu Junior getting back

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Speaker 1: to playing at his normal level is where you have

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Speaker 1: to start. And I say that because one thing that

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Speaker 1: was great to see last year coming off his second

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Speaker 1: ACL surgery. You're thinking to yourself, Okay, what does this

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Speaker 1: mean for Acunia? What potentially does this mean in terms

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Speaker 1: of his legs, you know, and how it could you know,

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Speaker 1: impact his overall outcome over the next year or two.

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Speaker 1: The one thing that was clear from the start his

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Speaker 1: first bat back against the Padres absolutely annihilated to pitch

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Speaker 1: into left center field. His bat did not not lose

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Speaker 1: a beat at all. Clearly one of the five best

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Speaker 1: bats in baseball and in my opinion, a clear top

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Speaker 1: three favorite in l MVP. That's the level that he

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Speaker 1: showed when he played last year, even when he went

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Speaker 1: through that bit of a slump. You know, I think

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Speaker 1: in July into August, or August into September, somewhere, mainlely August.

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Speaker 1: My point is, though, if the most important factor for

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Speaker 1: this Braves team to return to contention is the offensive

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Speaker 1: production of Ronald A. Coney Junior coming back from his

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Speaker 1: injury last year and him saying, quote, he's at two

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Speaker 1: hundred percent right now. You know, the love of the

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Speaker 1: game is there. You know the effort's going to be there.

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Speaker 1: Ronald A. Coonney Junior seems to be locked in. And

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Speaker 1: the last time I remember him being this locked in

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Speaker 1: was that twenty twenty three season when he won MVP.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I've made this point before on the show. I

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Speaker 2: think this offseason, but I don't think a lot of

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Speaker 2: people realize, and I would understand if you didn't, but

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Speaker 2: I don't think a lot of people realize that Ronald

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Speaker 2: put up the second best WRC plus of his career

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Speaker 2: last year when he came back. He put up a

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Speaker 2: one to sixty WRC plus, which of course is elite

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Speaker 2: MVP level, you know, offense, And because he had like

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Speaker 2: that extended stretch in August, and by extending, I mean,

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Speaker 2: like three weeks where he wasn't great, you know, for

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Speaker 2: some reason that he got dropped in the order, which

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Speaker 2: was just unbelieve. I mean just some of the dumbest

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Speaker 2: stuff I've ever seen. Uh and and people freaked out

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Speaker 2: and it's somehow it like clouded the whole view of

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Speaker 2: his how good he was last year, and like it

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Speaker 2: was a monster, Like if you put up a one

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Speaker 2: sixty WRC player, you're you're one of the five best

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Speaker 2: hitters in the league. Like that's how good he was

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Speaker 2: last year. And you know, when he came in to camp,

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Speaker 2: he made the famous you know, I'm I don't feel

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Speaker 2: one hundred percent. I feel two. I think he's gonna

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Speaker 2: bat lead off, and I think he's gonna run. I

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Speaker 2: think I don't know if he's gonna run. I don't

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Speaker 2: think he's gonna run like seventy steels run. But I

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Speaker 2: think Ronald's gonna run. And I'm not gonna call an

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Speaker 2: MVP season coming because with sho heey Otani in the league,

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Speaker 2: that's a bit reckless. But I'm gonna call Likenald's going

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Speaker 2: to be in the top five in MVP voting this

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Speaker 2: year if he stays healthy now, obviously, the health is

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Speaker 2: the thing that we never know. But if he stays healthy,

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Speaker 2: if you just give if you just tell me right now,

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Speaker 2: Ronald's gonna play one hundred and fifty five games, Just

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Speaker 2: tell me that he'll be in the top five in

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Speaker 2: the MVP.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, go ahead, sorry.

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Speaker 2: He'll be he'll be a seven win player. He'll he'll

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Speaker 2: he'll be a he'll have a monster year. If you

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Speaker 2: can guarantee me the game's played number, I will guarantee

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Speaker 2: you that after everything after that will be MVP level. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And what does that look like in terms of numbers?

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Speaker 1: You know, I think that that's a fair point. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned a seven win FR player.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: I'll let you talk about the defense here in a bit,

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Speaker 1: because you know that probably will be a little bit

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Speaker 1: below average. But of course his arm a lot of

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Speaker 1: time makes up for maybe not necessarily getting to every

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Speaker 1: ball that's out there. But what do the numbers look like?

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Speaker 1: I think that it definitely looks like possibly a forty

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Speaker 1: thirty season. I don't know. If we see him go

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Speaker 1: to forty forty or better than that, you're probably looking

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Speaker 1: at a WRC plus. I think of one forty or above.

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Speaker 1: But again just clearly one of those top five seven

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Speaker 1: hitters in baseball. Which gets me to another important, fat

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Speaker 1: important aspect of Ronald that I think maybe you know

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Speaker 1: talked about more as the spring goes along. I know

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Speaker 1: he may not be in spring training that much since

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Speaker 1: I'll be playing in the WBC. Ronald Acuna Junior, in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, needs to hit leadoff. And the reason why

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Speaker 1: that is is it's actually a couple of important factors.

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Speaker 1: Number One, nobody in this Braves lineup comes close to

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Speaker 1: the amount of ways that Ronald o'cunya Junior can impact

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Speaker 1: scoring runs in a positive way. When you consider his power,

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Speaker 1: his on base skills, his base running that there's no

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Speaker 1: one on the Rays that can touch ronald' cunye Junior

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Speaker 1: in terms of that. The next thing that I'll say

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Speaker 1: is the reason why I feel that's so important is

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Speaker 1: because one aspect of this Brave's offense that will really

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Speaker 1: help them get going again towards being near the top

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Speaker 1: of the league is better early starts. Again. You remember

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Speaker 1: that twenty twenty three season. I know many you know

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Speaker 1: talk about that. Don't expect them to get back to

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Speaker 1: that level, but one of the biggest contributors to their success.

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Speaker 1: They literally were one of the two or three best

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Speaker 1: off first inning teams in terms of offensive un production

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Speaker 1: in MOB history. This team needs to get back to

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Speaker 1: scoring runs early, and there's no better option to help

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Speaker 1: them do that than Ronald Acunu Junior being at the

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Speaker 1: top of the order.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and just to speak to that point, I mean,

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Speaker 2: I'm all right, I'm gonna ask you a little trivia

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Speaker 2: question here, see if you can get it right. Do

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Speaker 2: you have any idea what Ronald Cuna Junior is on

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Speaker 2: base percentage was the year he won MVP in twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: Three, what his on base percentage was not in the situation,

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Speaker 1: but in terms of just over just overall four sixteen

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Speaker 1: that is exactly right.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that's impressive. Do you have any idea what his

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Speaker 2: on base percentage was last year for twenty three four seventeen? Okay,

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Speaker 2: so he was actually better last year getting on base

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Speaker 2: than he was MVP season. And that's where Ronald makes

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Speaker 2: the biggest difference for this team. And Profar adds to

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Speaker 2: this as well. But somebody who just doesn't make outs

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Speaker 2: like it goes back to the very basic forms of

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Speaker 2: like analytical baseball back to the moneyball of like just

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Speaker 2: get on base, Like just getting on base helps out

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Speaker 2: your offense so much. Just don't make outs, and Ronald

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Speaker 2: is the best in the lineup and not making outs.

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Speaker 2: And sometimes we get very into the numbers and stat cast,

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Speaker 2: and I love the numbers as much as anybody, but

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Speaker 2: sometimes it's just about not making outs, and Ronald makes

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Speaker 2: fewer outs than everybody. So I'm fine. Like if they

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Speaker 2: want to hit him one, I'm fine, I'd be. I

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Speaker 2: would love for him to hit two. It needs to

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Speaker 2: be one or two, Like that's where I've landed, where

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Speaker 2: you know you got to bat the guy either. I

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Speaker 2: don't want him a batting third and fourth. I certainly

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Speaker 2: don't want ambating seventh, which which he did for like

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Speaker 2: a month last year, which was insanity. But yeah, one

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Speaker 2: or two is fine. I'm guessing it's gonna be one

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Speaker 2: because I think he's gonna run again. You know, when

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Speaker 2: he's healthy, he runs, And even when he came back

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Speaker 2: last year, he ran more than I thought he would.

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Speaker 2: And every time he's come back, he's just run more

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Speaker 2: than I thought he was going to. So the Braves

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Speaker 2: have clearly shown him when he's healthy they're gonna let

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Speaker 2: him go and just be Ronald, And I don't necessarily

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Speaker 2: disagree with that. I don't. I would like a little

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Speaker 2: bit of caution, like I don't. His bad is too

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Speaker 2: important to lose him on a stolen base attempt, and

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Speaker 2: his bad is too important to lose him on a

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Speaker 2: you know, diving for a fly ball like I do

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Speaker 2: want him to be or if he's running out a

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Speaker 2: ground ball, that's you know, that's right back to the picture.

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Speaker 2: There's no need to go on thousand miles an hour

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Speaker 2: down the line, like I do want to exercise a

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Speaker 2: little bit of common sense and caution. But I think

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Speaker 2: there's I think we're on the precipice of an MVP

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Speaker 2: level season. His projections are like a five win season,

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Speaker 2: and that's again projection models are pretty conservative. He put

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Speaker 2: up almost a four win season last year in like

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Speaker 2: four hundred plate appearances, So what would he do with

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Speaker 2: like seven hundred play appearances. So that again, that's what

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Speaker 2: I like. If you guarantee me, if you guarantee me

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Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty plus games, I'm gonna guarantee you

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Speaker 2: an MVP level season. I don't know if he'll win it.

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Speaker 2: Because show Hey exists and Soto is awesome, and I

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Speaker 2: think Bryce Harper is probably about to have a monster

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Speaker 2: year just to you know, as a middle finger to

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Speaker 2: his GM. But you promised me one hundred and fifty games.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you Ronald Coon Junior is gonna be

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Speaker 2: in the top five in the MVP.

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Speaker 1: Now what we can't have happened, And I'll make this

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Speaker 1: short and sweet. The other thing about this that happens.

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Speaker 2: With Ronald A.

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Speaker 1: Cooney Junior is you are likely going to see a

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Speaker 1: bit of an uptick in terms of him versus current

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Speaker 1: players of not necessarily injury scares, but you're probably going

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Speaker 1: to see you know, some you know, maybe three or

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Speaker 1: four times, three or four times out of the year

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Speaker 1: where there's a bit of concern, you know, you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe he you know, hurt his ankor you know he's

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Speaker 1: got hit by a pitch or what have you. It's

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Speaker 1: okay if Ronald plays about one hundred and fifty or

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Speaker 1: so games during the year. That's what you've bought yourself

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Speaker 1: with the depth that you've added, and I think that

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Speaker 1: it is the right thing to do. The one thing

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Speaker 1: that you can't do is when he comes and tells you, hey,

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Speaker 1: my achilles is not feeling right, and then you let

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Speaker 1: him talk you into him playing two days later. That

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Speaker 1: can't happen. So it's important to exercise caution with ronald'

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Speaker 1: counya junr. Keep him as healthy as possible, but also

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Speaker 1: don't let him put himself in a dangerous spot because

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Speaker 1: of the fact that he's, you know, so passionate about playing.

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Speaker 1: That's the one that will be a big responsibility for

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Speaker 1: Walt Weiss and the coaching staff. But ronald'kunye Junior being ronald'

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Speaker 1: kunya junior is about as much of a guarantee as

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Speaker 1: you can have with the brakes. It's the other outfielders

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Speaker 1: that really are going to be a swing factor for

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Speaker 1: this team in terms of can they return to contention

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Speaker 1: or we're going to see a third straight season of

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Speaker 1: coming up short when it comes to expectations. More than that,

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Speaker 1: So Steven, if you rewind the clocks back literally a year,

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Speaker 1: literally a year, I think field, then we had the

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Speaker 1: same conversation that we're going to have now about Michael Harris.

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Speaker 1: The second and that is that is that when it

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Speaker 1: comes to a player, I feel that Michael Harris is easily,

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Speaker 1: in terms of natural baseball talent a top ten center

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Speaker 1: field during the game, probably even top five when you

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Speaker 1: consider what he can do with the base pass defensively

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Speaker 1: and what he can show at times offensively. But I

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Speaker 1: can say with just as much confidence he also is

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Speaker 1: clearly one of the five streakiest offensive players that plays

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Speaker 1: centerfield in the game. And the thing about Michael Harris

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Speaker 1: is this and one of the biggest when I talk

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Speaker 1: about swing factors for me, when it comes to Michael Harris,

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Speaker 1: really realizing the potential when it comes to his career

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Speaker 1: One of the big things for him is going to

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Speaker 1: be stopping there being such high variants of how he

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Speaker 1: will perform at the first year versus right after the

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Speaker 1: All Star break. At the first year, he's one of

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Speaker 1: the He gets off to very slow starts to the

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Speaker 1: point of last year being one of the worst offensive

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Speaker 1: players in the game, and then the All Star break hits,

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Speaker 1: he turns into a left handed Aaron Judge, finding less

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Speaker 1: streakiness and also taking a walk every now and then.

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Speaker 1: Those are probably the two biggest factors that if you

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Speaker 1: say Michael Harris has improved in those areas, I think

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Speaker 1: that you're on the path to Michael Harris getting back

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Speaker 1: to realizing what we all know he's capable of, and

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Speaker 1: that's clearly being a consistent three to five win player

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Speaker 1: in center field.

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Speaker 2: So I've gotten in trouble on this podcast before trying

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Speaker 2: to build up Michael Harris. I came on the show

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Speaker 2: last off season or the off season before that, I

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Speaker 2: can't remember, and said that I think Michael Harris is

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Speaker 2: a under the radar MVP candidate if he puts it

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Speaker 2: all together, because of all the reasons you just laid out.

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Speaker 2: Natural talent, he plays an elite center field, which is

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Speaker 2: a arguably the most valuable defensive position. The bar that

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Speaker 2: he has to clear on the offensive side is so

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Speaker 2: low for him to be a All star slash MVP

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Speaker 2: level player that it's crazy not to put him on,

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Speaker 2: you know, a short list of under the radar candidates.

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Speaker 2: And that was my logic the last time we did this,

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Speaker 2: whatever a year ago. I can't do it again. I

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Speaker 2: can't do it again. And you know, until I see

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Speaker 2: significant and by significant, I mean more than a month worth,

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Speaker 2: Until I see significant plate discipline improvement, Until I see

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Speaker 2: a guy who can take a ball swing, it strikes

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Speaker 2: I just I'm gonna have to I'm going to have

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Speaker 2: to be pessimistic about Michael Harris. It's nothing personal. I

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Speaker 2: would love to be wrong. I would love nothing more

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Speaker 2: than to have to eat crow about this segment because

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Speaker 2: Michael Harris goes on to have an MVP level season

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Speaker 2: next year. But until I see it, I'm gonna have

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Speaker 2: to be on this side of it. And you just

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Speaker 2: have the amount of offensive damage you can do when

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Speaker 2: you don't take walks and you swing at everything is

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Speaker 2: so low because you are entirely dependent on are the

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Speaker 2: are the pictures. I'm facing dumb enough to keep throwing

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Speaker 2: me pitches over the plate, and you can go through stretches,

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Speaker 2: or maybe you're getting a lot more strikes than normal,

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Speaker 2: and every time you get one in over the zone,

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Speaker 2: you know, over the plate, instead of falling off, you're

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Speaker 2: hitting it in the seats and you can run that

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Speaker 2: for you know, a month maybe, which is what we

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Speaker 2: saw last year. Basically, from the middle of July to

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Speaker 2: the middle of August, Michael Harris was the best hitter

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Speaker 2: in baseball, but every other point of the season, Michael

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Speaker 2: Harris was literally the worst hitter in baseball. So and

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Speaker 2: that's because if you don't take walks, if you don't

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Speaker 2: force pitchers to throw you pitches over the plate via

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Speaker 2: you taking the bad pitches, you will never be consistently

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Speaker 2: an offensive force of any kind, and you're probably gonna

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Speaker 2: very consistently be a poor offensive player. This is the

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Speaker 2: Jeff frank Core story. Unfortunately, like Jeff Frankcore had all

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Speaker 2: the talent the guy was on this cover of Sports

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Speaker 2: Illustrated that said the natural because like just as much

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Speaker 2: natural talent as we've seen in a baseball player come

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Speaker 2: through atlant in a long time, but the guy could

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Speaker 2: not take a strike or the guy could not take

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Speaker 2: a ball because you just swung at everything. And I

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Speaker 2: don't want to say that Michael Harris is Jeff Frank

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Speaker 2: core two point zero, but it feels that way. It

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Speaker 2: just does. And until I see different, this is where

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna land. His defense is awesome. His defense is awesome.

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Speaker 2: It was awesome last year. But if you're gonna run

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Speaker 2: an eighty WRC plus, then your awesome defense is gonna

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Speaker 2: be like a two win player, maybe a win and

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Speaker 2: a half, which is still worth His kinds contract is

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Speaker 2: dirt cheap. It makes like he may make He makes

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Speaker 2: like nine million bucks, so it's not like his contract

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Speaker 2: to some you know, arbitrage around your neck. But that's

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Speaker 2: his ceiling until he learns how to take a walk.

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Speaker 2: And I hate that. I hate saying that because there

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Speaker 2: is so much unbelievable natural talent, but the thing he

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Speaker 2: is bad at is so detrimental to offensive production that

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Speaker 2: you just can't get past it until he makes an

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Speaker 2: improvement in that area. I just can't get past that.

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Speaker 2: His defense is gonna be incredible. I have no doubt

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Speaker 2: he's gonna be one of the best defensive center filders

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Speaker 2: of baseball. But I think he's gonna run an eighty

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Speaker 2: WRC plus this year on offense, and I hope I'm

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Speaker 2: dead wrong.

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Speaker 1: So then if that's the case, if we know that

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Speaker 1: it's it's silly toy on the walk rate, and listen,

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Speaker 1: we're not We're not sitting here and and and hoping

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Speaker 1: that Michael Harris, you know, all of a sudden becomes

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Speaker 1: one of the you know, most disciplined hitters at the plate,

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Speaker 1: you know, taking you know, a nearly high walk rate.

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Speaker 1: We're talking about maybe going from like four percent of

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Speaker 1: a walk rate to seven percent walk rate, Like even

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Speaker 1: that's probably you know, unrealistic.

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00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,880
Speaker 2: He had a two percent walk rate last year.

433
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, two well, got it, got it, that's that's

434
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 1: a fair point.

435
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,120
Speaker 2: That's crazy.

436
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 1: Get it above five. Get it above five every month.

437
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,800
Speaker 1: So so, yes, that that that is a big factor.

438
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,720
Speaker 1: Will it arrive? Will it show up this year? To

439
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,480
Speaker 1: Stevens point, it's hard to feel confident that it will.

440
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,919
Speaker 1: So what can the Braves do, in my opinion, to

441
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 1: put him in a position to where he can be

442
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 1: when he does go through these hot streaks? Really impact more?

443
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,200
Speaker 1: Number One I would put him in the ninth spot

444
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,200
Speaker 1: and just leave him more. I would him in the

445
00:23:56,280 --> 00:24:00,200
Speaker 1: ninth spot and leave him there for two reasons. Number One,

446
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 1: he's going to be hitting in front of Acunya and

447
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: the other big boppers. That means that more than likely

448
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,040
Speaker 1: he's going to at least get one or two pitches

449
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: to hit in his bats. The second reason why I'm very,

450
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 1: very adamant about him hitting in that night spot is because,

451
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 1: besides Acunya, and maybe even more than Acuna this year,

452
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:26,000
Speaker 1: the more Michael Harris can have Richardson in his ear

453
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,440
Speaker 1: at first base, it's only going to be positive things

454
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,439
Speaker 1: for the Brakes getting Michael Harris on base at whatever

455
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,720
Speaker 1: clip that it is when he gets on base his

456
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: overall speed. With aoin Richardson in his ear at first base,

457
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 1: I think you could easily see Michael Harris get thirty

458
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,399
Speaker 1: to thirty five steels this year. If he has an

459
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,360
Speaker 1: unexpected walk rate, he may even push forty. I think

460
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 1: he can lead the team in steels with the addition

461
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,080
Speaker 1: of Richardson at first base. Batting ninth, put him in

462
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:57,719
Speaker 1: a spot to where he more than likely will get

463
00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,920
Speaker 1: more hit auble pitches and then when he gets on base,

464
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,680
Speaker 1: he could do some damage in front of your best hitters.

465
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 2: I hear that, and he does have that talent. The

466
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 2: problem is to steal first or to steal second, you

467
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 2: gotta be standing on first. That's the problem. To steal second,

468
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 2: you have to stand on first. And last year Michael

469
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 2: ran like a two to sixty on base percentage, which

470
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 2: is like a pitcher basically, So of course he has

471
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 2: the talent to steal forty bases. That's what I mean

472
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 2: by like natural baseball talent. Like he's just a monster

473
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,480
Speaker 2: when it comes to just if you just you know,

474
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 2: create baseball players in a lab. This is one of

475
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 2: the guys you create who's got it. Can hit the

476
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 2: ball four hundred and sixty feet, he can run like

477
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 2: the wind, He's got incredible defensive instincts. He could steal

478
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 2: a ton of bases. Like this is the guy you build.

479
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 2: And this is why I said last year, at this time,

480
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 2: or you know, eighteen months ago whatever, that I thought

481
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 2: he could really challenge for an MVP at one point.

482
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,439
Speaker 2: But it just it just showed the thing that he

483
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 2: is bad at is so debilitating, and because it affects

484
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 2: every part of your game, because and this is what

485
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,280
Speaker 2: happened to you know, we talked about Frank Corn also

486
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 2: having the Hobby bayas and Hobby Bias is actually a

487
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,080
Speaker 2: very similar comp guy with a ton of power, an

488
00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 2: elite defensive player at an elite defensive position. Looked like

489
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,960
Speaker 2: he was gonna be one of the best players in baseball,

490
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,119
Speaker 2: had some early success, but then everybody realized that he

491
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,600
Speaker 2: will literally swing in anything. And so what happens you

492
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,399
Speaker 2: just your production just starts tanking because nobody's throwing anything

493
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,440
Speaker 2: to hit. And I would love to be wrong, I

494
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 2: would love, but I just it's been so many years

495
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,879
Speaker 2: now of this. I mean, he had six hundred and

496
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 2: fifty played appearances last year, he had sixteen walks. Six

497
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty play appearances last year and sixteen walks.

498
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 2: That's crazy. So he went multiple times where he went

499
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 2: entire months without a walk, like I remember tracking it

500
00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:00,400
Speaker 2: last year, like he was, like, it's been one hundred

501
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:04,360
Speaker 2: thirty plate appearances since Michael Harris's last walk. And it's

502
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 2: not about the walks themselves necessarily, though those do help

503
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 2: you're on base percentage. It's about what the walks mean.

504
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 2: It means you're forcing Pictures to throw you pitches in

505
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 2: the strike zone to get you out. And if he

506
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,240
Speaker 2: does that, then his natural talent plays up because when

507
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 2: he hits the ball, he hits it. He hits the

508
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,119
Speaker 2: ball as hard as anybody. Again, he can hit the

509
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 2: ball four hundred and eighty feet, Like, the dude has

510
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 2: got incredible power. For somebody, it's not that big. It

511
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 2: might just be a little bit of a cuny in

512
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 2: that way. But if Pictures don't have to throw you strikes,

513
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,639
Speaker 2: then you're never gonna access that because you're you know,

514
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 2: and he he swings it, pitches in the dirty, swings

515
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 2: that pitches three feet outside, like why would they throw

516
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,639
Speaker 2: you a picture of the plate. It just affects everything

517
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,720
Speaker 2: because you don't have that one skill, and that's why

518
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 2: it's so debilitating. And listen, I would love to be wrong.

519
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 2: I would love for this to be the season where

520
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,760
Speaker 2: we see the full Michael Harris like, oh my god,

521
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 2: what a talent this kid is. But until I see

522
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 2: it over an extended pero, I just can't sit here

523
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 2: and tell people that's what I expect because it's not

524
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,520
Speaker 2: I expect, and I expect gold glove caliber defense and

525
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 2: an ADWRC plus is what I expect.

526
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 1: I don't blame you, but the thing that I'll say

527
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 1: is this is that in the mindset of where can

528
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 1: we identify things that must change for the better for

529
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 1: the Braves to truly change their overall fortune of getting

530
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 1: back to contention, Michael Harris, the second is one of

531
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 1: those things that needs to change for the better. The

532
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,440
Speaker 1: talent's truly there. I truly feel the drive is there.

533
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 1: But I also get I also get that we have

534
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,720
Speaker 1: had this discussion multiple times before. Maybe third time will

535
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 1: be the charm, But I get it if you're to

536
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 1: the point to where rather than expecting it, I want

537
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 1: to be pleasantly surprised.

538
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 2: That And I'll say this, there is like some argument

539
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 2: from maybe leaning into like all right, I'm never going

540
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 2: to be an on base guy sell out for power.

541
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 2: It'd be like a three hundred on base, but a

542
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,200
Speaker 2: five hundred slug. You know, that's a little bit of

543
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 2: what Austin Riley is to be quite hon it, Like,

544
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 2: Austin Riley has never been a high on base guy,

545
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:17,000
Speaker 2: but he slugs like a monster, So you know it's

546
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,160
Speaker 2: it covers it up a little bit. Now, Michael's on

547
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 2: base is way worse than Austin's is, which why this

548
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 2: doesn't fully work. But there is an argument for, like,

549
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 2: all right, I can't really do this one very important

550
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,240
Speaker 2: part of the game. Maybe I should just lean into

551
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 2: the power and try to hit forty bombs and if

552
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 2: that comes with a three hundred or a two to

553
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 2: ninety on base percentage with my defense, it's still a

554
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 2: pretty damn valuable player. I don't know. I'm very curious,

555
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 2: Like the hitting coach they have is not really going

556
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,480
Speaker 2: to probably encourage that. That's probably something more that like

557
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 2: Kevin Seizer would have encouraged in like twenty twenty two

558
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 2: when they were like, I don't care what you do,

559
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,960
Speaker 2: just try to hit the ball over the fence. So

560
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 2: I don't expect it. But there is an argument for, like,

561
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 2: maybe instead of trying to fix your weakness, lean into

562
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 2: your strength a little bit. There's actually some some research

563
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 2: out there about how that can actually be a more

564
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,680
Speaker 2: effective way of getting more value out of a hitter

565
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 2: versus trying to always correct weaknesses. So I don't know,

566
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 2: I could I could be talked to butt again until

567
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:20,760
Speaker 2: I see it. I'm just I'm gonna have to be

568
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,040
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna say I'm the low man on Michael Harris.

569
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna have to be a little pessimistic about

570
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 2: it until he shows some consistent improvement.

571
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,400
Speaker 1: So then let's talk about the rest of the Braves outfield.

572
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 1: You know, I know that Scott and Brad they talked

573
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 1: about goodness, I can't even think Jerkson Profar. Sorry, I

574
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 1: had a little bit of a brain freeze there for

575
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 1: a second. They talked about Jerks and Profar, who is

576
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 1: part of the outfield, Depp, but he'll be mainly dh

577
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 1: you know, for the first few months of the season.

578
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,480
Speaker 1: But the other notable outfielder and one of their bigger additions,

579
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 1: one of the biggest editions, you know, external auditions that

580
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:04,280
Speaker 1: Alexanthopolis has made in his time as a Braves GM

581
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,200
Speaker 1: is of course, Michael Yustrimsky signed to a you know,

582
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: two year deal, could be a three year deal with

583
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,440
Speaker 1: it with the buyout in that third year potentially. But

584
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 1: you basically replaced Marcelo Zuna. By the way, best of

585
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:19,520
Speaker 1: luck to Ozuna in Pittsburgh. He already seems to you know,

586
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 1: really be mixing it in well there. But you basically

587
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 1: replaced Marcelo Zuna with Michael with Michael Ustrimsky, now you

588
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 1: don't do this and in his contract represents this. You

589
00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:35,360
Speaker 1: don't expect Michael Yustrimsky to, you know, produce like Marcelo

590
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:37,640
Speaker 1: Zuna did, like for instance back in twenty four, twenty

591
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: three and twenty four. But the one reason why I

592
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 1: do feel it was an astute signing for the Braves

593
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: is because now your top six in your lineup is

594
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 1: something to the effect of a Kunya, profar Olson, Riley

595
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 1: Baldwin and Yastremsky most Knights against right handed pitching. Stephen,

596
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 1: do you when we talk about splits and when we

597
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 1: talk about situational stats for teams, do you want to

598
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 1: guess what likely is the split that most well correlates

599
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,840
Speaker 1: with teams making the playoffs? When you look at teams

600
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: making the playoffs, what trait, what area are split? Do

601
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: you feel that most playoff teams are near the top

602
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 1: of the league in.

603
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,320
Speaker 2: I think you're going to say there's numbers against right

604
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,560
Speaker 2: handed pitching because you see that the most, But I'm

605
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 2: not one.

606
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 1: Hundred percent sure absolutely correct. In the last two years

607
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: at least three or excuse me, in the last two years,

608
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,960
Speaker 1: at least at least three of the final four teams

609
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 1: in that respective year, we're top five against right handed pitching. Yeah,

610
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 1: the Dodgers, The Dodgers, the Mariners, and the Blue Jays

611
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 1: were all top five against right handed pitching. The Braves

612
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: were up there in twenty twenty three. They were eighteenth

613
00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,080
Speaker 1: in twenty and twenty four, and they were seventeenth in

614
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,080
Speaker 1: twenty five. However, however, in the second half of last year,

615
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,560
Speaker 1: I didn't look exactly where they were, but they did

616
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,480
Speaker 1: make clear improvements. Now that had to deal with you know, Coon,

617
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 1: you Bean back, Ozzy and Michael heating up. All that

618
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,480
Speaker 1: was true. But the reason why I'm encouraged by the

619
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: signing of Yustrumsky, who also can handle left field pretty

620
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 1: well on most days, is that including him against right

621
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,360
Speaker 1: hand and pitching really put you in a position to

622
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 1: where if Riley and Ozzy and others are just able

623
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,920
Speaker 1: to perform at their expected levels, you again can clearly

624
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 1: have a top ten offense against right hand and pitching,

625
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 1: and that will be a really, really good outcome. That's

626
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: a needed outcome for the brains to get back to contention.

627
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think it might have been me and

628
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,880
Speaker 2: you or me and Scott. I can't remember that. Did

629
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 2: the breakdown of the ass signing after it happened in

630
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 2: the offseason, Yeah, and it was you and Scott, me

631
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:58,320
Speaker 2: and Scott. Okay, and I liked that deal more than

632
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:03,760
Speaker 2: some did because one, Yeahs has always been a high

633
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,080
Speaker 2: on base guy. He's like a eleven percent walk rate

634
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 2: career walk rate. It was like thirteen percent last year,

635
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 2: Like seventy walks in less than five hundred play appearances

636
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,839
Speaker 2: last year. So he's he's a big on bass guy.

637
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,719
Speaker 2: He crushes right handed pitching, which is what you just said.

638
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,400
Speaker 2: He's a left handed pole hitter in a ballpark that

639
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:31,000
Speaker 2: now highly rewards left handed left handed pools, especially in

640
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:35,320
Speaker 2: the air, So I think the ballpark matches him perfectly.

641
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,439
Speaker 2: You know. It's funny it it was only a couple

642
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,319
Speaker 2: of years ago. I really felt the Braves were two

643
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 2: right handed in their lineup and they had way too

644
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 2: many right handed bats, and they really needed to take

645
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 2: advantage of the dimensions of their home park and get

646
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 2: more left handed because for a while it felt like

647
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,040
Speaker 2: Matt Olsen was like the only left hander in the lineup,

648
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 2: especially when Michael Harris was going poorly, and Ozzie has

649
00:34:57,239 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 2: always been a better right handed hitter than a left

650
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 2: handed hitter. And now you look up and they've got

651
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:05,040
Speaker 2: Olsen still, but they've got Profar, who's a switch hitter,

652
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,719
Speaker 2: but he's a better left handed hitter. They have Baldwin,

653
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,600
Speaker 2: who is obviously a monster, and now they have Yeaz,

654
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,240
Speaker 2: who crushes right handed pitching. So against right handed pitching,

655
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 2: because Acuna hits him well and Riley typically hits them well,

656
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:19,760
Speaker 2: we'll see what kind of season he has. I feel

657
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:23,000
Speaker 2: really good about this group. I really do. I think

658
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 2: they're gonna hit. And again that's assuming you don't get

659
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 2: much from Harris, Ozzie or whoever's playing shortstop, which is

660
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,319
Speaker 2: not you know, you could get something out of those

661
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,759
Speaker 2: guys too. But I'm really confident in the top six,

662
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:36,400
Speaker 2: and Yeahs is a big part of that. I do

663
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 2: think he's gonna be basically the starting left fielder. I

664
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,320
Speaker 2: know we keep kind of talking about DH with Profar

665
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,960
Speaker 2: and left field, but against right handed pitching, I don't

666
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,839
Speaker 2: see any reason why Kastrimski is not the starting left fielder.

667
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 2: He's a better outfielder than Profar. You certainly want is

668
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 2: bad in there against right handed pitching, it gets a

669
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,840
Speaker 2: little bit more interesting. You know. We'll talk about Eli

670
00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:59,680
Speaker 2: White in a second. But I like this signing. It

671
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,799
Speaker 2: was pretty cheap. It's like nine million bucks. I think

672
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,560
Speaker 2: he's gonna do well. He's gotta stay healthy. He's thirty

673
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:09,040
Speaker 2: five years old. He turns thirty six in August. I

674
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:12,760
Speaker 2: think so, Like he's not young, and you know, anytime

675
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,920
Speaker 2: you get guys that old running around in the outfield,

676
00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 2: it gets a little scary. And left field of in

677
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 2: Truest Park is very large, so it's a lot of

678
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,200
Speaker 2: running to do. He's going to a pretty big left field,

679
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 2: but he's better than pro Fra out there, so I

680
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 2: think that's the right move. But I'm excited about his

681
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:29,879
Speaker 2: bad I agree with you. I think slotting him somewhere

682
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:32,240
Speaker 2: around sixth in the lineup makes a lot of sense.

683
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 2: That is where I think he's gonna be, and I

684
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,600
Speaker 2: think he's gonna do very well. He's gotta stay healthy.

685
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:40,040
Speaker 2: But he's a high walk guy, and it's a bat

686
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,799
Speaker 2: that fits the park he's going to, and I think

687
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:44,400
Speaker 2: that's gonna help. Both of those things are gonna help

688
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:45,759
Speaker 2: the line up. Well.

689
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:47,279
Speaker 1: The other thing I'll say, is this You mentioned that

690
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,680
Speaker 1: he's thirty five. You know, that's something that we noticed about,

691
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 1: you know, the Braves editions this offseason is that you know, yeah,

692
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:58,200
Speaker 1: As is thirty five, Iggy is uh thirty six, war

693
00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 1: As a thirty five some over guy and enough. Thing

694
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: that I find that's interesting but also encouraging about Michael

695
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:08,160
Speaker 1: Ustrimsky is that he had a down year last year

696
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 1: overall compared to his career numbers, and that's to be

697
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,719
Speaker 1: expected as you get in your mid thirties. But his

698
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:17,360
Speaker 1: two best months where after he got traded to the Royals,

699
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 1: he was just he was a highly highly productive offensive

700
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,880
Speaker 1: player after he got traded to the Royals. Secondly, he

701
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,600
Speaker 1: had a one twenty WRC plus against right handers, and

702
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,960
Speaker 1: he's had a between a one ten and a one

703
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,560
Speaker 1: twenty five WRC plus against right handers every year since

704
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. So we want to talk about an

705
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,359
Speaker 1: offense that at times can be too streaky. That type

706
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,080
Speaker 1: of consistency and above average consistency against right handed pitching

707
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:44,680
Speaker 1: is really really encouraging. But the other thing that caught

708
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:47,360
Speaker 1: my eye is that when you look at the breakdown

709
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:49,719
Speaker 1: of how he arrived at that one twenty RC plus

710
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:52,919
Speaker 1: last year against right handed pitching. His power came down

711
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,000
Speaker 1: a bit, which you would expect again as you get

712
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,680
Speaker 1: into your mid thirties, but he also posted the best

713
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:01,720
Speaker 1: on base percentage against right handed pitching that he has

714
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,520
Speaker 1: in his career. So as he may potentially lose a

715
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 1: little bit of power, as you naturally do with age,

716
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:12,120
Speaker 1: two things that could come in play. He's probably put

717
00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,600
Speaker 1: a bit more focus on better plate discipline, which helped

718
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 1: him maintain a similar level of overall production gets right

719
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:20,399
Speaker 1: handed pitching even as he got older. But also again

720
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 1: to your point, hitting in a ballpark that probably uh

721
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,960
Speaker 1: is a bonus for extreme pool left handers than most

722
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,160
Speaker 1: that helps out as well. But that overall adjustment of

723
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,600
Speaker 1: making more of his offensive value getting on base instead

724
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:37,799
Speaker 1: of you know, power as he gets older, I think

725
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: that was a necessary adjustment and that could be encouraging

726
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,440
Speaker 1: that he once again can be in that one fifteen

727
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:45,120
Speaker 1: five WRC plus against right handers.

728
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,839
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's also got some defensive versatility, like he can

729
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,880
Speaker 2: play center technically. I mean, it's probably not somebody you

730
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:53,680
Speaker 2: want to run out there for one hundred and fifty games,

731
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,560
Speaker 2: but like for a month if something happened to Mike

732
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,480
Speaker 2: and you don't want to, you know, lose too much

733
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:04,000
Speaker 2: offense by putting Eli White out there, because Eli White

734
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,920
Speaker 2: can obviously play center as well. Uh, you know, your

735
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,640
Speaker 2: stripsky can hold it down for at least a little bit. Again,

736
00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:11,359
Speaker 2: he's not a full time guy out there, obviously could

737
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:16,680
Speaker 2: play both corners, so there's versatility as well as you know,

738
00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,520
Speaker 2: and being good against right handed pitching is so important

739
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,279
Speaker 2: because you just see more of it. Like if you're

740
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 2: if you're only good against left handed pitching, you're just

741
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 2: much more of a limited player. Even though that seems

742
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 2: like two sides of the same coin, it's really not,

743
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:30,920
Speaker 2: because there's just more right handed pitching in baseball. So

744
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,799
Speaker 2: you know, being the strong side of a platoon, you're

745
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 2: gonna play more. It's easier to stay you know, it's

746
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,160
Speaker 2: easier to stay locked in because you're getting more at

747
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:40,360
Speaker 2: bats than the weak side of the platoon is getting.

748
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:42,839
Speaker 2: So I expect, you know, as long as he stays healthy,

749
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:44,399
Speaker 2: I expect Gas to have a good year. I think

750
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,719
Speaker 2: that was a good signing and I do think the

751
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:51,879
Speaker 2: Braids are gonna need him to deepen the lineup because

752
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:55,399
Speaker 2: last year. What we saw was if Olson, especially before

753
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 2: Acunya came back, if Olson or Baldwin wasn't driving in runs,

754
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,360
Speaker 2: then the Braids just weren't scoring. And a lot of

755
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:04,200
Speaker 2: that was because they just didn't have a deep enough

756
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:06,440
Speaker 2: lineup and they had a bunch of guys having bad years.

757
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:09,480
Speaker 2: They had a few guys having miserable years, and their

758
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:12,319
Speaker 2: lineup with just felt like it was so short every night.

759
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,399
Speaker 2: And Yu Strimsky helps go the other way where now

760
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,399
Speaker 2: you can get down to six, seven in the order

761
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:19,600
Speaker 2: and you still got a guy who can do damage.

762
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:21,640
Speaker 2: So and Alex talked about that a little bit at

763
00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:23,880
Speaker 2: spring training about he feels like this is one of

764
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:25,720
Speaker 2: the deeper lineups they've run out, one of the deeper

765
00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,360
Speaker 2: position player groups. It'll get even deeper when Kim and

766
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 2: Murphy come back, and those guys will help against lefties more,

767
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,480
Speaker 2: which I do think is important. But Stimsky's going to

768
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:36,399
Speaker 2: help a lot against righties and that matters a lot.

769
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,400
Speaker 2: And again, the ballpark he's moving to, it's going to

770
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,200
Speaker 2: help him more basically than any ballpark he's ever played

771
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 2: it because he spent so long in San Francisco, which

772
00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:46,640
Speaker 2: is a major Pitchers Park and he went to Kansas City,

773
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,880
Speaker 2: which is pretty neutral. He's got a short porch right field,

774
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:52,759
Speaker 2: which perfectly fits what he's trying to do, which is

775
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,320
Speaker 2: pull the ball in the air most of the time.

776
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 2: And I'm excited to see how that goes.

777
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the other thing about it is that with

778
00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 1: his defensive versatility, with him being someone that you could

779
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,040
Speaker 1: drust out in the outfield, and again his strengthening against

780
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 1: right hand and pitching, that's an extra day or two

781
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:11,920
Speaker 1: for these outfielders. And again, don't forget Michael Harris is

782
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,560
Speaker 1: you know, had his fair share of injuries. No Kunia's

783
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:17,839
Speaker 1: injury history, you know, profar not necessarily injuries last year,

784
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:19,480
Speaker 1: but he's coming off you know, a pretty serious one

785
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:21,719
Speaker 1: at the end of last year. This keeps your some

786
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,040
Speaker 1: of your best hitters, you know, fresher as we go

787
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 1: towards the season, which definitely is a plus. Also, don't

788
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:30,279
Speaker 1: want to forget Eli White. Now. I don't know if

789
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 1: there's going to be a better day in Eli White's

790
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:34,960
Speaker 1: career than the battle at Bristol, and the hats off

791
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,120
Speaker 1: to him. If there was a guy that deserved to

792
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:40,680
Speaker 1: have a banner day and in a pretty novelty sept

793
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,560
Speaker 1: It was Eli White, so shout out to him. But

794
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 1: I don't want to use that to overshadow this guy's

795
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,120
Speaker 1: been pretty valuable for the Braves in terms of what

796
00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:53,680
Speaker 1: he's been asked to do, not stunning offensive numbers. Probably

797
00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:55,839
Speaker 1: the most valuable thing about Eli White is that he

798
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 1: can play some pretty reliable outfield. I know that there

799
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 1: was some rumors about versatility coming out of spring training

800
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:03,520
Speaker 1: last year. The Brazer didn't really put a lot of

801
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 1: value in that, but Eli White is the type of

802
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:12,240
Speaker 1: guy that kind of turns into your Mauricio Dubon until

803
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:15,839
Speaker 1: Hassan Kim gets back. You're okay letting him probably play

804
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 1: out there once a week, But he's not someone that

805
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:21,000
Speaker 1: you all of a sudden need to put out Like

806
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,120
Speaker 1: if there's a significant injury to one of our outfielders,

807
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,600
Speaker 1: the answer probably isn't putting Eli White out there. But

808
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:29,839
Speaker 1: in terms of being that third or fourth guy off

809
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:31,759
Speaker 1: the bench that could play anywhere in the outfield and

810
00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:34,919
Speaker 1: actually can play, you know, respectable defense and run into

811
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 1: a bar every now and then, that's a fine bench

812
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 1: piece to have. And for a couple of years now,

813
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:42,040
Speaker 1: Eli Wright has proven that it's good to have him back,

814
00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:45,760
Speaker 1: and again he serves his role quite well.

815
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:47,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this is where it gets interesting to me.

816
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:49,840
Speaker 2: This is where I'm actually interesting what they do in

817
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,400
Speaker 2: spring training too, when there's a left handed pitcher on

818
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,880
Speaker 2: the mound and I think, if I if I saw it,

819
00:42:56,719 --> 00:43:00,879
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure if he's healthy. So the opening day

820
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:05,120
Speaker 2: game is against the Royals and Cole Reagan's is their

821
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,560
Speaker 2: ace who's left handed, so we might see this opening day. Now, again,

822
00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:10,279
Speaker 2: he's dealt with injury stuff, so I don't know if

823
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:12,560
Speaker 2: he's gonna be healthy, but if he is, the Braids

824
00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:16,239
Speaker 2: are probably gonna see a lefty an opening day. What

825
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:20,359
Speaker 2: do they do because what they can do is put

826
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 2: Profar in left and DH one of the catchers like

827
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:27,640
Speaker 2: Jonah him right who can hit left handed pitching as well,

828
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:34,720
Speaker 2: and have Baldwin catch. Or they can let Profar DH

829
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,920
Speaker 2: most of the time and effectively run a platoon in

830
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,680
Speaker 2: the outfield with Y Stripsky and Eli White, and one

831
00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:43,719
Speaker 2: of those guys is your left fielder every day. Both

832
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 2: of those guys are substantially fielders than Jokes and Profar,

833
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:51,879
Speaker 2: so that would make sense from that perspective. Eli White

834
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:55,560
Speaker 2: has not typically hit lefties in his career. I think

835
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:57,120
Speaker 2: he's got a pretty low I think he's got like

836
00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:00,239
Speaker 2: a seventy WRC plus for his career against lefties, but

837
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 2: last year it was like a hundred, like he was

838
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,239
Speaker 2: basically a league gabag. I think he ran exactly a

839
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 2: seven to forty ops against left handed pitching last year,

840
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,520
Speaker 2: which was exactly leak average. And if you get that,

841
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,080
Speaker 2: then you can you could platoon him all day with

842
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 2: the Yastrimpsky because you're getting plus defense, you're getting a

843
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,080
Speaker 2: really good base runner, and you're getting league average offensive production.

844
00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:23,160
Speaker 2: That's perfectly fine out of a bench player. I'm not

845
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:25,399
Speaker 2: confident that we're gonna see that version of Eli White

846
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:28,120
Speaker 2: again last year or that we saw last year again

847
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 2: this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's what

848
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:33,880
Speaker 2: they tried. And a little bit of this is a

849
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:35,479
Speaker 2: little bit why I talked about the Brads could petition

850
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 2: using on the right handed outfielder, because I thought if

851
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,120
Speaker 2: they really wanted to go full platoon and let Profar

852
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:42,640
Speaker 2: Dh all the time, they could go sign like a

853
00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:46,040
Speaker 2: real platoon partner for Yastrimsky who can really match lefties.

854
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,279
Speaker 2: They obviously did not do that. So I'm thinking it's

855
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,520
Speaker 2: gonna be Eli White who starts in left field against

856
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:55,839
Speaker 2: left handed pitching. We'll see, you know, they might want

857
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:58,319
Speaker 2: to try to keep profile a little happier by letting

858
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:02,279
Speaker 2: him play in the field sometimes, I don't know. I'm

859
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,920
Speaker 2: curious to see how they do that. I gets lefties.

860
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:06,759
Speaker 2: It's much more of a mystery to me right now,

861
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:09,719
Speaker 2: specifically because Murphy and Kim are out who are two

862
00:45:09,719 --> 00:45:13,960
Speaker 2: of your lefty masters, So how they run those lineups

863
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,720
Speaker 2: out of the first month is going to be fascinating.

864
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:20,200
Speaker 2: But Eli White is a like a perfect National league

865
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,960
Speaker 2: bench piece, Like can play all three outfield positions, technically,

866
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:25,920
Speaker 2: can play a couple of infield position like we saw

867
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:30,960
Speaker 2: him at short last year, Like it's an emergency situation

868
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:34,280
Speaker 2: of course, but like he's a super utility right handed

869
00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:38,440
Speaker 2: you know, bench player, And when Kim comes back, him

870
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:42,680
Speaker 2: and Dubon, White and Dubon together are just like perfect

871
00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:46,200
Speaker 2: bench pieces. So he's a valuable guy. He makes no money.

872
00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:48,080
Speaker 2: He makes like nine hundred K this year. I think

873
00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:50,320
Speaker 2: he makes less than a million bucks, So it's a

874
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:52,400
Speaker 2: really good guy to have around. He hit ten homers

875
00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,680
Speaker 2: last year. He's got some pop in the bat, so

876
00:45:55,239 --> 00:45:57,800
Speaker 2: he's a fun player. He's a really good, like fourth

877
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:00,920
Speaker 2: to fifth outfield type, and it's a valuable role in

878
00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:03,279
Speaker 2: the team. I am. I'm just curious to see how

879
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:08,920
Speaker 2: they implement him, Profar Jonah him, what exactly they do

880
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:10,080
Speaker 2: against left handed pitching.

881
00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:14,440
Speaker 1: And the thing that I'll say is, this is a

882
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:18,840
Speaker 1: gotcha before you're about to say it, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

883
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:22,040
Speaker 1: Gotcha must have been the glass of milk I had

884
00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:25,480
Speaker 1: before AnyWho. But the point that I'm getting at is

885
00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:31,560
Speaker 1: is that again, it's Eli White's fine for the first

886
00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:34,359
Speaker 1: couple of months and things like that. But the thing

887
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:38,920
Speaker 1: that I can't stress enough the Braves just need to

888
00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:41,919
Speaker 1: have good health. They need to have Michael Harris start

889
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:45,360
Speaker 1: really turning his potential into production, and they need Michael

890
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:49,920
Speaker 1: Estrpsky to continue his production against right hand and pitching.

891
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:53,800
Speaker 1: Those are not that big of those. Those are several ifs,

892
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,239
Speaker 1: but they're not that far fetched in terms of many

893
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 1: of them can happen. And if that, if that is

894
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,920
Speaker 1: the case, it could be really beneficial to the Braves.

895
00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:05,520
Speaker 2: And I'll lie this last thing. We're not gonna include

896
00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:07,799
Speaker 2: him in this segment because he's the starting shortstop right now,

897
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:10,480
Speaker 2: but when Kim comes back. I also wouldn't be surprised

898
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:14,640
Speaker 2: if Marisio Debon is the is the platoon partner for

899
00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:17,520
Speaker 2: his ctmifica because Marisa Debon hits left. He's very well.

900
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:20,720
Speaker 2: He can play corner outfield, so we're not gonna include

901
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:22,080
Speaker 2: him in this. We'll talk about him when we do

902
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:26,080
Speaker 2: the shortstop capsule, but when we get to like June,

903
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:29,160
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised at all. Marisa Debon's playing some outfield,

904
00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:31,239
Speaker 2: so just keep that in mind as well. Both of

905
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:34,759
Speaker 2: him and Eli White have incredible amounts of versatility, and

906
00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:37,919
Speaker 2: Debon actually hits left. He's really really well, so that's

907
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:39,040
Speaker 2: always an option as well.

908
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 1: And I think we'll see him very rarely in the outfield,

909
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:44,360
Speaker 1: but you may occasionally see Hora Matteo maybe coming the

910
00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,600
Speaker 1: game and with Mauricio Debon going to the outfield. I

911
00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:49,920
Speaker 1: don't really know how much sense that makes overall, but

912
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:53,279
Speaker 1: it could make sense, especially against left handers. So Hora

913
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:55,960
Speaker 1: Matteo is someone else that command an outfield spot for

914
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:58,440
Speaker 1: a couple of innings over the first few months of

915
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:01,480
Speaker 1: the season. Can't thank you enough for joining us here

916
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:04,000
Speaker 1: on the Hammer Territory podcast. Can't Forget it. By the way,

917
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:06,319
Speaker 1: you know, the Winter Olympics is going on. I know

918
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:08,359
Speaker 1: that you know there may be you know, you may

919
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:10,400
Speaker 1: be fans, may not be fans, but shout out to

920
00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:13,319
Speaker 1: the American women. Those American women have kicked but over

921
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:15,759
Speaker 1: the past couple of days. Great to see them. And

922
00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:17,759
Speaker 1: also something else that I forgot to mention, you know,

923
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:19,560
Speaker 1: just end in this show on a good note. The

924
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,240
Speaker 1: Ozzy Albi story when it came to what he did

925
00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:25,520
Speaker 1: for that class in Florida, when it came to him

926
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:29,799
Speaker 1: donating that fish again. I want to say this. We'll

927
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:32,560
Speaker 1: eventually talk about Ozzie Moore, but I am a fan

928
00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:35,560
Speaker 1: of Ozzy Abby's. This show's a fan of Ozzy Abby's.

929
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:37,400
Speaker 1: I know that we like to keep things real and

930
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,920
Speaker 1: we like to, you know, basically say hey, Ozzy's kind

931
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:41,799
Speaker 1: of fallen off of the past couple of years. That

932
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:44,520
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that we don't want for him to be productive.

933
00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:46,040
Speaker 1: I want him to be a brave for life because

934
00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:50,640
Speaker 1: he is an absolutely outstanding human being. More stories of

935
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:52,600
Speaker 1: what he did for that class, and you know how

936
00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:54,960
Speaker 1: much he loves fish. The world's better when you feature

937
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:57,759
Speaker 1: more people like Ozzy Alby. So just some some some

938
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:01,120
Speaker 1: pretty cool, awesome, awesome stories when it comes to the Braves,

939
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:05,279
Speaker 1: good vibes, even when the not most ideal news comes

940
00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:07,759
Speaker 1: out in other ways, Ken, thank you for joining us

941
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:09,799
Speaker 1: on the Hammor Territory podcast cast. You can find me

942
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:12,800
Speaker 1: at stats sec on Twitter, slash x, Steven at be

943
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,360
Speaker 1: Undersquare outliers, Hammer Territory across hall forms of social media.

944
00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:19,759
Speaker 1: Part of the Foul Territory family of podcast. Until next time,

945
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:22,160
Speaker 1: Go Braiz. We'll talk to you again soon here on

946
00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:23,960
Speaker 1: the Hammer Territory Podcast