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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hammer Territory Podcast, part of the Foul

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Speaker 1: Territory family of podcasts. My name is Sean Coleman. Hope

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Speaker 1: wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you're having

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Speaker 1: a great week so far. I'll be flying solo tonight,

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Speaker 1: a short but straightforward version of the Hammer Territory Podcast.

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Speaker 1: Stephen will be back with me tomorrow night as we

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Speaker 1: wrap up the series with the Baltimore Orioles in a

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Speaker 1: day game tomorrow. But of course, the Braves unfortunately once again,

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Speaker 1: offensive struggles just continue continue to be the theme of

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Speaker 1: the Brave season. Of four to two loss to the

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Speaker 1: Baltimore Orioles, the Braves were able to get a little

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Speaker 1: bit of life going and no doubt, Mattelson home run

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Speaker 1: in the top of the eighth inning to tie the

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Speaker 1: score two to two after an incredible pitching performance from

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Speaker 1: Spencer Schwellenbach. But unfortunately, just as soon as the Braves

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Speaker 1: were able to get a little bit of life going,

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Speaker 1: Joe Heimanniz came into the bottom of the eighth and

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Speaker 1: unfortunately gave up a two run home run. The Braves

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Speaker 1: couldn't muster anything of the ninth and they lost the

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Speaker 1: game four to two, and of course this loss has

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Speaker 1: a bit more meaning because once again we're confirming that

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Speaker 1: right now the Braves are going through their worst stretch

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Speaker 1: of play since the start of twenty eighteen, since the

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Speaker 1: start of this era where the Braves have won six

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Speaker 1: straight division titles a world title as well, right now

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Speaker 1: is the worst stretch of play the Braves have gone

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Speaker 1: through since the start of twenty eighteen. And the latest

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Speaker 1: reason why is because with this four to two loss

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Speaker 1: to the Orioles on Wednesday night, the Braves have now

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Speaker 1: lost five straight games for the first time since twan

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Speaker 1: and in seventeen. Since September of twenty seventeen, the Braves

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Speaker 1: before tonight had not lost more than four straight games

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Speaker 1: at any point. Well, tonight, they've now lost five straight games,

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Speaker 1: and of course it's just it's really frustrating, and it's

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Speaker 1: especially frustrating when the Braves are able to consistently get

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Speaker 1: these strong starting pitching performances, just these starting pitching performances

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Speaker 1: that in no way, shape or form should go without

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Speaker 1: the you know, resulting in a win for Atlanta because Swellenbach,

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Speaker 1: Spencer Swellingboch, he was absolutely outstanding. Yes, he gave up

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Speaker 1: two runs, but one of them was unearned in his

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Speaker 1: third start of his career. You know, he he looked

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Speaker 1: good at you know, in the first part of his

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Speaker 1: first start. Then he ran unfortunately into a beginning for

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Speaker 1: the Nationals that due to a Layton Thomas home run.

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Speaker 1: His second start was a pretty forgettable one. But this

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Speaker 1: time around, Spencer Swellenbach more than did his job. Six innings, pitched,

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Speaker 1: three strikeouts, two walks, four hits, and it was an

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Speaker 1: earn run that he gave up, so he gave up

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Speaker 1: two earned runs. But the point is is that tonight

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Speaker 1: Spencer Schwellenbach did a great job of keeping the ball

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Speaker 1: on the zone, making the right pitches that he needed

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Speaker 1: to make. He seemed to have a bit better approach

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Speaker 1: when it came to try and putting hitters away. I know,

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Speaker 1: he had only three strikeouts, but he consistently made the

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Speaker 1: pitch that he needed to to lead the outs. He

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Speaker 1: gave the Braves a quality start, which is more than

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Speaker 1: enough to ask for when it comes to the potential

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Speaker 1: of this offense. But unfortunately that just was not to

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Speaker 1: be the case. This Braves team is now eight for

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Speaker 1: forty seven with runners in scoring position. They once again

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Speaker 1: in this stretch. Ever since April twenty fifth, they once

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Speaker 1: again have shown why they arguably are the least productive

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Speaker 1: team over the past six weeks in Major League Baseball

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Speaker 1: when it comes to runners in scoring position. But a

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Speaker 1: bit more on that a little bit later on. But

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Speaker 1: of course, this five game losing streak now it in

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Speaker 1: and of itself, is significant again the first time in

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Speaker 1: more than six years, the Braves have lost five straight games.

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Speaker 1: To tell you how long ago it was that the

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Speaker 1: Braves lost five straight games, Louis go O'Hara started the

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Speaker 1: fifth game of that six game losing streak. It was

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Speaker 1: six games that we lost in a row at the

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Speaker 1: end of twenty seventeen. But the starters in that fifth

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Speaker 1: and sixth game in that losing streak back in twenty

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Speaker 1: seventeen were Luiskhara and Lucas Simms. That's how long ago

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Speaker 1: it was. But the thing that stands out to me

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Speaker 1: about this five game losing streak isn't just the fact

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Speaker 1: that we've lost five games for the first time in

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Speaker 1: over six years. The starting pitchers in these games, the

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Speaker 1: five starting pitchers that the Braves have faced in this

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Speaker 1: five game losing streak Jake Irvin, Mackenzie Gore, DJ Hurtz,

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Speaker 1: Albert Sworez, and Tonight Kade Povich. A few of those

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Speaker 1: pitchers were in the first few starts of their career. Now,

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Speaker 1: I've said it before and I'll say it again, the

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Speaker 1: Washington Nationals are a very underrated pitching staff. But these

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Speaker 1: names that I just mentioned that started all five of

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Speaker 1: these games that the Braves have lost, It's just it's

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Speaker 1: eye opening. It is just baffling how much the Braves

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Speaker 1: are struggling when they're not even facing highly regarded arms. Typically,

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Speaker 1: the Braves are among the best teams in baseball when

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Speaker 1: it comes to hitting left handers, and three of the

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Speaker 1: guys that have mentioned are left handers. That's what stands

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Speaker 1: out about this five game of losing streak. Yes, Baltimore

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Speaker 1: is one of the best teams in Major League Baseball,

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Speaker 1: but the Braves in Averts, war Is and Kate Povic,

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Speaker 1: they're not, you know, facing best in the league arms.

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Speaker 1: But that's just what stands out. You Know, back in

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Speaker 1: April and through the middle of May, I could completely

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Speaker 1: understand what the Braves offenses strungling because they were consistently

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Speaker 1: facing some of the best pitching staffs in baseball. But

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Speaker 1: here now you know when we lost, you know, when

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Speaker 1: we were five and eight against the Athletics, the Nationals

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Speaker 1: and the Pirates over the past few weeks, and now

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Speaker 1: this offense cannot find enough production to be named such

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Speaker 1: as Albert Suarez in k Povich. It really really is

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Speaker 1: eye opening just how much this offense is struggling right now.

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Speaker 1: But again, a few positives from the night. Of course,

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Speaker 1: we're Spencer schwellenbox start. You know, I definitely think he's

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Speaker 1: earned himself a few more starts with with how good

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Speaker 1: he was tonight against one of the better lineups in baseball.

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Speaker 1: The other thing that I will give, you know, applause

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Speaker 1: to is the fact that Ryan Snicker moved Marcelo Zuna

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Speaker 1: back to the third spot in the lineup. With how

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Speaker 1: badly our offensive struggles are going right now, you want

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Speaker 1: Marcelo Zuna to be hitting in the first inning as

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Speaker 1: often as possible. You want Marcelo Zuna to be batting

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Speaker 1: in that third spot to hopefully be able to drive

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Speaker 1: some runs in. I definitely think it makes sense for

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Speaker 1: Azuna to be in that third spot. However, he wants

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Speaker 1: to position Riley as time goes on that spine. But

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Speaker 1: putting Marcelo'suo, you know, back in that third spot, that's

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Speaker 1: where Marcelo Zuna should stay at least for the time being.

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Speaker 1: So those were two positives at least from the night.

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Speaker 1: But again, when we talk about these offensive struggles for

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Speaker 1: the Braves, I agree with many who are saying that

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Speaker 1: bad luck definitely is playing a part.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 1: Once again, the thing that's definitely been out there is

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Speaker 1: that the Braves are doing a lot of things that

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Speaker 1: they're supposed to be doing to get offensive production. Over

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Speaker 1: this offensive stretch since April twenty fifth, where the Braves

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Speaker 1: have been struggling, they have you know, I don't know

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Speaker 1: if it's exactly you know, over that long a stretch,

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Speaker 1: but at least I believe the thing was since May first,

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Speaker 1: the Braves have have the highest hard hit percentage of

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Speaker 1: any team in baseball. They're hitting the ball, you know,

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Speaker 1: they're they're creating hard contact more than anybody else in baseball,

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Speaker 1: but the results just simply are not there. So things

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Speaker 1: outside of the Braves control are certainly contributing to the

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Speaker 1: offensive struggles. But with the Braves not hitting home runs

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Speaker 1: anywhere near the level that they expect to. That's going

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Speaker 1: to put the spotlight on how good they are at

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Speaker 1: creating and converting run scoring opportunities. And the thing about

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Speaker 1: it in that perspective, when it comes to creating and

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Speaker 1: converting run scoring opportunities, that is something that's certainly in

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Speaker 1: the Braves control. But right now, unfortunately, they're just not

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Speaker 1: getting the job done again since April twenty fifth, arguably

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Speaker 1: the worst team in baseball when it comes to creating

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Speaker 1: and converting run scoring opportunities. Look at it this way

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Speaker 1: last year twenty twenty three, from June first to the

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Speaker 1: end of the twenty twenty three season is when this

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Speaker 1: Braves offense really took off. But to go along with

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Speaker 1: all the home runs, the Braves also were very good

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Speaker 1: when it came to getting timely hits, especially with runners

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Speaker 1: in scoring position. From June first through the end of

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty three season, the Braves had a ten

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Speaker 1: percent walk rate, had an eighteen percent strikeout rate, and

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Speaker 1: had an ISO of two thirty two. So not only

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Speaker 1: were they very selective at the plate when they went

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Speaker 1: after a pitch, they were able to put it in

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Speaker 1: play consistently, and when they put it in play, they

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Speaker 1: did it with a lot of impact. Those are some

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Speaker 1: very good numbers showing that the Braves consistently had a

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Speaker 1: productive approach no matter who was at the plate with

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Speaker 1: runners in scoring position last season. Now, let's look at

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Speaker 1: this season. Since April twenty fifth, when our offensive struggles began.

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Speaker 1: The Braves right now have a seven percent walk rate

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Speaker 1: with runners in scoring position, a twenty five percent strikeout

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Speaker 1: rate with runners in scoring position. In most eye opening

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Speaker 1: of all, they have a one to fifteen ISO a

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Speaker 1: one to fifteen ISO. So as selective and impactful as

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Speaker 1: the Braves at bats were last year, it's the polar

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Speaker 1: opposite this year. Their selectivity has definitely gone down. They're

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Speaker 1: making nowhere near as much contact, and when they do

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Speaker 1: that contact is a lot less impactful. When you see

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Speaker 1: some of the better lineups in baseball combining the home

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Speaker 1: run along with productive at bats with runners in scoring position,

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Speaker 1: that is something that is dearly, dearly missed from this

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Speaker 1: Brave's lineup. But it's the biggest reason why our offense

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Speaker 1: is struggling. I said it on x Twitter whatever you

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Speaker 1: want to call it now the other day. As long

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Speaker 1: as Austin Riley, both Michael Harris the second and Sean Murphy,

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Speaker 1: and the Brave's offense with runningers in scoring position is

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Speaker 1: long as those factors are non existent, we are going

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Speaker 1: to struggle to play five hundred baseball. Those factors have

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Speaker 1: to be in place for the Brave's offense to be

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Speaker 1: where it needs to be for this team to truly

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Speaker 1: have the championship aspirations that it has. So again, I

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Speaker 1: definitely can agree that some things outside of the Braves

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Speaker 1: control are certainly contributing to their struggles. But in terms

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Speaker 1: of what the Braves king control, they have to get

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Speaker 1: a lot more productive and they need to do it

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Speaker 1: very quickly when it comes to runners in scoring position.

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Speaker 1: But the great thing is is that you know, regardless

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Speaker 1: of whether or not the Braves are struggling, anytime that

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Speaker 1: you get to see them in person, it's always a

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Speaker 1: great opportunity because at the end of the day, we

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Speaker 1: all love the Braves well, whether it's on the road

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Speaker 1: or at home. One of the best plays for you

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Speaker 1: to be able to find the ability to go to

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Speaker 1: Braves games is see Geek. See Geek is the official

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Speaker 1: So of course, the other news of the day when

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Speaker 1: it came to the Braves was the fact that Alexanthopolis

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Speaker 1: spoke for the first time in quite a while this May,

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Speaker 1: I believe it was. This was the first time that

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Speaker 1: he had spoke, you know, since the Braves offense had

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Speaker 1: just unexpectedly really struggled over the past six weeks. So

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Speaker 1: Alex and thoplss spoke with the media you know, you know,

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Speaker 1: for a pretty good time on Wednesday, and he stated

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Speaker 1: exactly what you would expect him to state. Mentioned that

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Speaker 1: the Braves have not been playing good, and they haven't

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Speaker 1: been playing good for a while, and it's pretty obvious,

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Speaker 1: you know, he knows that the offense is not, you know,

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Speaker 1: living up to expectations. You know, he has talked about

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Speaker 1: you know that he has talked with you know other

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Speaker 1: you know, front office folks around the league, other gms

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Speaker 1: about one of the contributing factors is that offense around

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Speaker 1: the league is down this year again, offense being down

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Speaker 1: around the league, bad luck. Yes, those have been contributing

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Speaker 1: factors to the Braves offense. But Alexon Thoppolis also who

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Speaker 1: stayed consistent with what he said at the end of

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Speaker 1: last year after the Brave struggles in the playoffs. He

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Speaker 1: does feel this team definitely is going to be capable

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Speaker 1: of turning it around because he truly feels it. As

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Speaker 1: he stated, this is a group of young players who

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Speaker 1: are very accomplished. This isn't an aging corps or anything

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Speaker 1: like that. So in terms of what's going to happen

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Speaker 1: to make this offense get better, the focus and the

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Speaker 1: faith remains in the fact that this offense will figure

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Speaker 1: it out and better days should be ahead. A couple

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Speaker 1: of other things that Alexanthopolis spoke to was the fact,

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Speaker 1: you know, yes, you know, he definitely, you know, has

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Speaker 1: put efforts out there to try to find additions that

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Speaker 1: can help out the team. And while nothing's imminent, you know, hey,

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Speaker 1: he's going to be doing work to try to improve

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Speaker 1: the team as the trade deadline goes on. But the

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Speaker 1: other thing that stands out was, you know, Alex basically

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Speaker 1: confirmed what many had kind of speculated, you know, with

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Speaker 1: Hirston Waldrip as well as Spencer schwellenbat being in the rotation.

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Speaker 1: Justin Tuscano talked about this. By the way, make sure

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Speaker 1: you check out Justin and Scott Coleman's interview from a Tuesday.

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Speaker 1: It was a great interview with one of your most

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Speaker 1: recent hammor Teritor podcasts. Make sure you check that out.

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Speaker 1: But Justin Ascano spoke to the fact that the Braves approach,

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Speaker 1: you know, they know that with Chrissell Ronaldo Lopez, they

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Speaker 1: know that some of their best arms are are going

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Speaker 1: to need their workload manage for them to stay fresh

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Speaker 1: as we get closer to the playoffs, and so the

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Speaker 1: Brave's way of doing that right now is a six

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Speaker 1: man rotation. So that's why Hirston Waldrip has stayed up

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Speaker 1: instead of going back down. That's why the Braves were

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Speaker 1: able to give Spencer schwellenback another start, and why both

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Speaker 1: of them could see multiple more starts as time goes on.

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Speaker 1: The Braves are trying to be proactive. They feel that

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Speaker 1: some of their best arms may have been tired over

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Speaker 1: the past few seasons, and so they're going to do

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Speaker 1: what they can to try to keep their best arms

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Speaker 1: as fresh as possible when it comes to the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: They're doing that by being proactive with this six man rotation.

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Speaker 1: But something else that I'll take away from that, at

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Speaker 1: least in my opinion, is the fact that you speaking

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Speaker 1: to the proactive approach for the Braves to keep their

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Speaker 1: best arms, which obviously is the best part of this

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Speaker 1: team right now. But ever going into keeping the Brave's

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Speaker 1: best arms as fresh as possible for the playoff run

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Speaker 1: is the fact that it definitely seems as if the

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Speaker 1: Braves feel that the main contributors to their pitching staff

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Speaker 1: when the playoffs arrive are current on the team, and

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Speaker 1: for good reason. The Braves have one of the best

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Speaker 1: pitching staffs in Major League Baseball, so they have every

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Speaker 1: right to feel that they've got the pitching that they

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Speaker 1: need in place to be competitive to the level that

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Speaker 1: they want to be in the playoffs. But I mention

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Speaker 1: that because I think that it speaks to the fact that,

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Speaker 1: you know, as Buster only mentioned, and as others have

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Speaker 1: mentioned as well, it's unlikely the Brains are going to

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Speaker 1: make a move. They're going to make a significant move

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Speaker 1: for a starting pitcher at the trade deadline. It's just

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Speaker 1: a very high price to pay, and the Brains already

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Speaker 1: have a very strong core in place when it comes

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Speaker 1: to their arms now. I do think a move that

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Speaker 1: Alex and Thopless could do when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: starting rotation is finding some sort of low cost innings

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Speaker 1: eater because as time goes on that the brains want

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Speaker 1: to continue with this six man rotation. You know, at

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Speaker 1: some point you're probably going to see Spencer, Schwellenbach and

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Speaker 1: Hirst and Waldroup fade a bit as the season goes

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Speaker 1: on because they're obviously likely going to go past their

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Speaker 1: previous innings limits. So the younger pitchers are probably going

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Speaker 1: to fade a bit, and so you'll probably to bring

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Speaker 1: in a veteran starter who can eat innings, and it

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Speaker 1: will also keep in, you know, arms like Chris Sale,

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Speaker 1: Ronaldo Lopez and Max Spreed Fresh. But to me, that

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Speaker 1: was a big takeaway from Alexanthopolis's comments is that it

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Speaker 1: really seems as if when it comes to the Brave's

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Speaker 1: pitching staff, what you see now is what you're going

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Speaker 1: to have in place is the main arms, the main

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Speaker 1: contributors to the Braves pitching when it comes to the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: And it makes perfect sense. Alexanthopolis is someone who truly

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Speaker 1: believes that when he makes a move, he's going to

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Speaker 1: see it through. He's not going to be someone who's

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Speaker 1: gonna be reactionary. He's not someone that that's going to

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Speaker 1: try to sit here and go by trial and error.

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Speaker 1: If he makes a move, he's highly confident that it's

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Speaker 1: going to be a move that is going to be

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Speaker 1: successful for a while. So that's why you shouldn't expect

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Speaker 1: for there to be some major shakeup when it comes

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Speaker 1: to the offense despite its struggles or you know, Alexanthopolis

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Speaker 1: going all in to try to have a pitching staff

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Speaker 1: as strong as possible. Alexanthopolis has faith that the needed

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Speaker 1: contry tributors, the needed elite talents that the brains are

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Speaker 1: going to have to have performing well if they truly

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Speaker 1: want to go after a championship this year. Those talents

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Speaker 1: are already in Atlanta. The big key is keeping the

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Speaker 1: faith and focusing on how to get better results out

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Speaker 1: of the offense and for the pitching staff, keeping it

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Speaker 1: as fresh as possible so you can continue to get

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Speaker 1: really good results out of it. So Alexanthoppolis speaking with

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Speaker 1: the media, some pretty good insight as to you know,

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Speaker 1: to kind of where his head is at, kind of

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Speaker 1: what he's thinking about. Listen, we know that he's going

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Speaker 1: to be active. We know that he's a master of

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Speaker 1: the move on the margins. That's likely what he's going

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Speaker 1: to do. Once again, I do think that he's going

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Speaker 1: to make multiple moves that will improve this team at

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Speaker 1: time in time. It may not be now, but it

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Speaker 1: certainly will be at some point as we head up

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Speaker 1: to the trade deadline. The good thing is, as we

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Speaker 1: all have known all along, alexan Thopolis is very in

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Speaker 1: tune with what is going on with this team. He's

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Speaker 1: not happy that the offense especially is struggling like it is,

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Speaker 1: so you know that he's going to put in the

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Speaker 1: work to improve this team as time on. Some other

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Speaker 1: exciting news in terms of the organization itself is that

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Speaker 1: two of the more the more well thought of or

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Speaker 1: or higher ranked position players for the Braves recently got

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Speaker 1: promoted to Triple A catcher Drake Baldwin as well as

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Speaker 1: you know shortstop Nacho Alvarez. Both of them now are

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Speaker 1: playing with the Gwinnett Strippers. Now does that mean anything

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Speaker 1: in terms of could they impact Atlanta this season? I

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Speaker 1: don't necessarily think so. I think it's an opportunity that

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Speaker 1: the Braves took advantage of for them to get two

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Speaker 1: of their more well thought of prospects into a challenging

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Speaker 1: opportunity at Triple A. We know that the Braves are

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Speaker 1: very aggressive when it comes to their better prospects. Look

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Speaker 1: at what they're doing with Spencer Swellenbach and Hirston Waldrip

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Speaker 1: at the major league level, how they've handled A. J.

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Speaker 1: Smith Shauber where now they're doing it with their position prospects.

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Speaker 1: So it'll be fun to keep an eye on within

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Speaker 1: net to be able to see how Baldwin and Alvarez

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Speaker 1: see if they can continue to be productive, you know,

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Speaker 1: in their approach as the season goes along. But for

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Speaker 1: the Braves that the key is this. They simply need

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Speaker 1: to have a good offensive game. It's gonna be hard

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Speaker 1: to do. On Thursday at twelve oh five or one

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Speaker 1: oh five Eastern twelve oh five Central start Cole Irvin,

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Speaker 1: who's had a magnificent season for the Orioles. He'll be

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Speaker 1: going up against Ronaldo Lopez, who we know has been

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Speaker 1: phenomenal for the Braves. All in all, I think that

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Speaker 1: Atlanta's pitching has been just fine. We're seeing that Atlanta's

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Speaker 1: pitching can can do fine against productive lineups. It's just

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Speaker 1: at our lineup has to be productive as time goes on.

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Speaker 1: So it would be a really good thing for the

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Speaker 1: Braves to be able to you know at least get

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Speaker 1: a win out of this series before they take on

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Speaker 1: the Rays over the weekend, and of course we'll have

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Speaker 1: you covered Steven Tolbert, we'll be back with me tomorrow

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Speaker 1: after the game, looking again at this Oriol series. We'll

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Speaker 1: talk with Stephen about his recent trip in which he

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Speaker 1: saw you know, the Braves in both Washington and Baltimore,

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Speaker 1: plus the latest when it comes to the Brave on

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Speaker 1: this current road trip. But of course make sure you

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Speaker 1: check out all the great content from the Hammer Territory podcast,

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Speaker 1: part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. My name

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Speaker 1: is Sean Coleman. You could find me at Stat's Sac

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00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,240
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Make sure when it comes to you checking

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00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 1: out the content that you just simply hit that subscribe button.

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Speaker 1: Wherever you see our content, that's what it'll be for free.

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Speaker 1: Follow Hammer Territory anywhere on social media. You know that

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00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: you follow, and we'll make sure that you get the

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00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,040
Speaker 1: latest content and it's available of a new content will

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00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,200
Speaker 1: basically be available nearly every other day, so make sure

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Speaker 1: you check it out. I truly feel better times are

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Speaker 1: ahead for the Braves. When that happens, I'm not sure,

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Speaker 1: but like Alex and Thopolis. I have faith that the

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Speaker 1: Braves had the talent to turn this around, and that's

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Speaker 1: just gonna be the best approach. Again, it may not

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Speaker 1: be what anybody wants to hear. It may get frustrating

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Speaker 1: to hear time and time again. The right work's being done,

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Speaker 1: the results just aren't there. Hopefully the results will come

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Speaker 1: sooner rather than later. Until next time, go Gray, We'll

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Speaker 1: talk to you in soon here on the Hammer Territory

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Speaker 1: podcast