1
00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,239
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome to episode twenty five of the

2
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,360
Speaker 1: Hammer Territory podcast. I am Scott Coleman, and I am

3
00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,920
Speaker 1: joined today by one of the very best in the business,

4
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,000
Speaker 1: Justin Tuscano, the Atlanta Braves beat reporter from the Atlanta

5
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,000
Speaker 1: Journal Constitution. Justin, how are you? Thank you for joining

6
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:38,680
Speaker 1: the show today.

7
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:41,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm doing well, Scott, Thanks for having men. I

8
00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,320
Speaker 2: just appreciate you. I know you've got like a no

9
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,040
Speaker 2: asu alum's rule for like your guests personally, so I

10
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:48,279
Speaker 2: just appreciate you lifting that.

11
00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,279
Speaker 1: So this one, Justin is a proud graduate of Arizona

12
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,880
Speaker 1: State University, and we are not going to hold that

13
00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,840
Speaker 1: against him, at least right now in the summertime. It's

14
00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,920
Speaker 1: a time of peace. There's no football, there's no basketball,

15
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,160
Speaker 1: baseball and softball just wrapped up. But no, Justin's a

16
00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,160
Speaker 1: great guy. You know his work well, or you should

17
00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,760
Speaker 1: know his work well from the AJAC where he covers

18
00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,840
Speaker 1: the Braves day in and day out at home on

19
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,120
Speaker 1: the road. He does a terrific job. You can follow

20
00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,240
Speaker 1: Justin on Twitter at Justin C. Toscano and of course

21
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,120
Speaker 1: in the Ajac both in print and online, and on

22
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,120
Speaker 1: his podcast. The Braves report justin We are going to

23
00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,080
Speaker 1: talk about the Braves on the field, but before we do,

24
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,240
Speaker 1: I just kind of wanted to pick your brain a

25
00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,520
Speaker 1: little bit and get an idea of what a day

26
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,199
Speaker 1: in your life is, Like. I know this is something

27
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,840
Speaker 1: I was always curious about. Of course, being at the

28
00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,880
Speaker 1: ballpark for pretty close to one sixty two, and you

29
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,520
Speaker 1: know it's also comes with a ton of work, and

30
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,120
Speaker 1: you make it look easy from afar, but you just

31
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,400
Speaker 1: kind of what is a day in your life like,

32
00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 1: especially in the middle of this eleven day, nine game

33
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,640
Speaker 1: road trip that is seemingly never going to end.

34
00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, first off, thank you, I appreciate that. That's

35
00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,680
Speaker 2: really kind of you to say. I think it's about

36
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,880
Speaker 2: building in the things I can try to control and

37
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,919
Speaker 2: what I mean by that is, and I'll try to

38
00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:15,919
Speaker 2: lay it out too, but I don't want to be

39
00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,440
Speaker 2: at the ballpark for a certain amount of time, so

40
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,080
Speaker 2: like we're recording this at about eleven thirty Eastern time,

41
00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,880
Speaker 2: and the reason being is because I wanted to like

42
00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:26,440
Speaker 2: wake up and get a work out of it, because

43
00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,600
Speaker 2: I know that's like something I can have. Sometimes there's news.

44
00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,639
Speaker 2: Sometimes you got to check in with people, and I'm

45
00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,080
Speaker 2: kind of like, even if I'm only at the ballpark

46
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,480
Speaker 2: for ten hours or so or eleven hours, I'm kind

47
00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,880
Speaker 2: of working all day a lot of times just because

48
00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:42,920
Speaker 2: it's like, you know, they might put somebody in the

49
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:44,640
Speaker 2: injured list, or I might have to do an early story.

50
00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,280
Speaker 2: I might be catching up on transcribing things and writing

51
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,240
Speaker 2: stories I got in previous days. But it's tough because

52
00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 2: you just never really know when something like sometimes you

53
00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,520
Speaker 2: have an inkling like something's gonna happen, you hear something

54
00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,160
Speaker 2: or something like that. But ah, baseball can be so

55
00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,040
Speaker 2: twenty four to seven all consuming that you really have

56
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,520
Speaker 2: to prit I mean this makes me sound like a hippie,

57
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,280
Speaker 2: but like protect your you know, the parts of your

58
00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,760
Speaker 2: day that can be controllables. Like for me, it's like

59
00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,960
Speaker 2: working out, or like the time I try to eat lunch,

60
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:17,880
Speaker 2: or like try to like go out for a walk

61
00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:19,880
Speaker 2: and listen to some music or something so I can

62
00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,799
Speaker 2: clear my head a little bit. But really it's like

63
00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,480
Speaker 2: I try to wake up. I was awful with this

64
00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,920
Speaker 2: or like early in my career, because I would be

65
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 2: so wound up from games and just like so you know,

66
00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:33,160
Speaker 2: it would be hard for me to fall asleep right

67
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,160
Speaker 2: after I'd be up to like three or four, like

68
00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,360
Speaker 2: five sometimes, which was not good. Now I'm in bed

69
00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,680
Speaker 2: a little earlier. I try to get up around like

70
00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,400
Speaker 2: eight thirty nine. Usually, like sometimes I'll have something to

71
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,120
Speaker 2: ride or like something to do, or I just know

72
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:48,840
Speaker 2: like a move's going to happen, so I'm just kind

73
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,320
Speaker 2: of at my computer and just really just getting stuff ready.

74
00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,600
Speaker 2: But I try to like get up, get a workout

75
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,360
Speaker 2: instead of day I kind of went to the gym

76
00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,760
Speaker 2: and then I went out for a run after I lifted,

77
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:06,280
Speaker 2: and then usually like on the road, the clubhouse opens

78
00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,040
Speaker 2: a little later than it would at home most times,

79
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,040
Speaker 2: except for that first day of the series. They usually

80
00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,240
Speaker 2: have like a hitters meeting, like an advanced meeting like that,

81
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,800
Speaker 2: and it'll open, you know when kind of the home

82
00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,880
Speaker 2: teams does. So, like you know, the Tuesday in Baltimore,

83
00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:26,800
Speaker 2: probably at the ballpark from two to eleven or twelve,

84
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:28,960
Speaker 2: I would say, depending on the workload. I mean I've

85
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,719
Speaker 2: been to the ballpark at the ballpark, you know, anytime

86
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,560
Speaker 2: from like midnight to two or three am, depending on

87
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,160
Speaker 2: you know, what I've got to do. So it's it's

88
00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:41,960
Speaker 2: kind of. It's kind of weird because some days can

89
00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,440
Speaker 2: be very all consuming, Like some days you're just working

90
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,000
Speaker 2: from the minute you wake up, but some days it

91
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,000
Speaker 2: is a little easier to like build than a workout

92
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,279
Speaker 2: here there it's kind of about like time management, but

93
00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,359
Speaker 2: you know there's also stuff you can control, Like we

94
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,480
Speaker 2: could be on this podcast right now and the Braves

95
00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,320
Speaker 2: could acquire Louise Robert or something. You know, Like there's

96
00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,760
Speaker 2: just like that's just sort of like the gig and

97
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,400
Speaker 2: like if they do that, like it's really not an

98
00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,080
Speaker 2: acceptable answer to be like, oh well, I'm just gonna

99
00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,640
Speaker 2: go eat lunch. I'll take care of it after. So

100
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,960
Speaker 2: it's like it is it is kind of funny in

101
00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:15,800
Speaker 2: that way, like it's just you know, you just never

102
00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,080
Speaker 2: know what's going to come. Every day is different. But yeah,

103
00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,680
Speaker 2: like once you do get to the ballpark, it's clubhouse

104
00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,120
Speaker 2: for like fifty demanded fifty minutes snicker. After that he'll go,

105
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,640
Speaker 2: you know, a dress the media and then they'll do

106
00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,400
Speaker 2: like BP game post games. So it's kind of the

107
00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,719
Speaker 2: days are there's somewhat of a structure, but they're not

108
00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,640
Speaker 2: similar once you get into the fact of like, yeah,

109
00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:41,920
Speaker 2: like news could break or like something could happen, or

110
00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:43,720
Speaker 2: I can have to write something earlier, or I can

111
00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,080
Speaker 2: have to like, you know, the game times are different,

112
00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,160
Speaker 2: so it's it's a little bit of here and there. Man,

113
00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,200
Speaker 2: tough to plan for with like routine.

114
00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,880
Speaker 1: Wise, Yeah, I can imagine, and I know growing up

115
00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,200
Speaker 1: it was always something. I'm like, oh, man, you could

116
00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,880
Speaker 1: spend your days and nights at the ballpark, And I

117
00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,320
Speaker 1: am sure that's cool to be, you know, living in

118
00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,000
Speaker 1: a stadium more or less a stadium, and then nice

119
00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,320
Speaker 1: hotels in the area. But it is a lot of work,

120
00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,720
Speaker 1: I am sure. And if the Braves do want to

121
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,120
Speaker 1: go ahead and trade for Luis Robert, that would give

122
00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,320
Speaker 1: us something really exciting to talk about on the pod

123
00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,000
Speaker 1: for a couple of days. So maybe we can. Maybe

124
00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,200
Speaker 1: we'll speak that into existence, justin have you been to

125
00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,560
Speaker 1: every ballpark in Major League Baseball?

126
00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,480
Speaker 2: So I'm at I'm thinking real quick off the top

127
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,680
Speaker 2: of my head. I'm at twenty nine right now, and

128
00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:40,760
Speaker 2: number twenty nine for me was Houston in aprilvill and

129
00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:46,280
Speaker 2: number thirty is Toronto, which funny story, the Bridge won

130
00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,080
Speaker 2: on the Toronto trip last year, like May tenth through twelfth,

131
00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,680
Speaker 2: My younger brother is five years the junior of me.

132
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,600
Speaker 2: He was graduating college for the Toronto trip coincidentally, so

133
00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,760
Speaker 2: I would be at thirty if he didn't, you know,

134
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,080
Speaker 2: have the accomplishment of graduating college. So now that was

135
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:06,480
Speaker 2: it was fun to be in a family that day.

136
00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:08,720
Speaker 2: My birthdays also made twelve, so I was, you know,

137
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,120
Speaker 2: I was. I was looking at that schedule a couple

138
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:12,320
Speaker 2: of years ago and I was like, it's gonna be

139
00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,360
Speaker 2: a little weird to spend my birthday like alone in

140
00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,600
Speaker 2: like Canada. But I you know, I was, I was

141
00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:19,960
Speaker 2: here and I was, you know, at his graduation. That'll

142
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,440
Speaker 2: be number thirty for me. But with the new Balance schedule,

143
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,200
Speaker 2: I know, I've only got to wait another year, so

144
00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,000
Speaker 2: they'll they'll be there next year. So I've I've been

145
00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:27,960
Speaker 2: almost everywhere.

146
00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,600
Speaker 1: And do you like the balance schedule playing every single

147
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:32,320
Speaker 1: team every year?

148
00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,480
Speaker 2: I do when I don't like, And I'm just gonna

149
00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,720
Speaker 2: approach this from like a personal I'll do it actually

150
00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,200
Speaker 2: from for the game. It's great. I think it's awesome,

151
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,040
Speaker 2: Like it's the best change they ever made for the game, uh,

152
00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,480
Speaker 2: one of them, pitchclock being the other. I just think

153
00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,000
Speaker 2: that it's so it's such a benefit for Brayish fans

154
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,480
Speaker 2: to get to see a Luis Robert Robert or a

155
00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,760
Speaker 2: Jose Ramirez or Randy a Rose Arena every year. I'm

156
00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,320
Speaker 2: just trying to think of these al guys or you know,

157
00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,720
Speaker 2: Raphael Devers, like it's that's that's so cool. It's such

158
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,400
Speaker 2: a huge benefit for people to see to grow the

159
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,320
Speaker 2: game that way because people can see stars and they're

160
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,280
Speaker 2: not just you know, like it used to be like

161
00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:15,200
Speaker 2: if you were in the NL or if you rooted

162
00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,000
Speaker 2: for an NL team, these al stars were just almost

163
00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,400
Speaker 2: like a myth of your imagination because you never really

164
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:23,680
Speaker 2: saw them play live too much, and it always felt

165
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,760
Speaker 2: weird when the team you're rooting for did interleague or whatever.

166
00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,840
Speaker 2: From my perspective, it's good and it's good and bad

167
00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,880
Speaker 2: good because like, honestly, like I've been I mean, I

168
00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,080
Speaker 2: covered the Mets before this, I've been in the NL

169
00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,480
Speaker 2: East for so since nineteen, Like I don't need that

170
00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,120
Speaker 2: extra trip to DC honestly, or like to Miami or

171
00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,400
Speaker 2: like to Philly. Like I just I like how it

172
00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,360
Speaker 2: cut down on the trips, like you're only going to

173
00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,320
Speaker 2: those places twice now because it started to get a lot,

174
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,080
Speaker 2: Like to go to New York three times and to

175
00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,400
Speaker 2: go to DC three you just kind of like, I've

176
00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,080
Speaker 2: been there enough, so it's nice for me to see

177
00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,520
Speaker 2: like new cities or places that I haven't been as much.

178
00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,200
Speaker 2: The hard part is that it has made some of

179
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,640
Speaker 2: the trips, like if you fly the team flys like Charter,

180
00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,600
Speaker 2: obviously we fly commercial, So for some of the trips

181
00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,800
Speaker 2: it's a little tougher because you're going from like Kansas

182
00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,240
Speaker 2: City to San Diego, or you're going from like I

183
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,760
Speaker 2: don't know, you could be going from like Saint Louis

184
00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,520
Speaker 2: to you know, Tampa Bay, like Saint Pete. Like you

185
00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,160
Speaker 2: you're going to these places like these trips you never

186
00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,360
Speaker 2: really had before, and a lot of times the travel

187
00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,320
Speaker 2: is different. You're going kind of off delta lines or

188
00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,000
Speaker 2: you know, off delta hubs a little bit, where it

189
00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,080
Speaker 2: used to be a little smoother when you're just going

190
00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:39,240
Speaker 2: kind of up the Eastern Corridor a little. But I

191
00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,160
Speaker 2: I like it, like I would not change it back,

192
00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,199
Speaker 2: Like I love getting to see all the teams, getting

193
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,400
Speaker 2: to go to like all the ballparks, and I think

194
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,719
Speaker 2: it's like a better litmus test, right Like now you

195
00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,240
Speaker 2: now you can't just say I'm trying to think, like now,

196
00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,000
Speaker 2: you can't just if the Brewers win the NL Central,

197
00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,040
Speaker 2: it's like, okay, the Central is weaker, but you can't

198
00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,840
Speaker 2: say like all their games were against those NLS Central.

199
00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,720
Speaker 2: I like the fact that everybody's got to play everybody,

200
00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,040
Speaker 2: and you get that measuring stick, like the Braves are

201
00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:07,920
Speaker 2: going to play Baltimore, like see how they stack up

202
00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,120
Speaker 2: a little bit Like I I wouldn't change it. I

203
00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:10,520
Speaker 2: love it.

204
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I do too. There was a stat at

205
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,679
Speaker 1: one point that always sticks out in my mind when

206
00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,640
Speaker 1: people talk about the balance schedule, and I think it

207
00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,480
Speaker 1: was year ten or eleven of Mike Trout's career, and

208
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,640
Speaker 1: despite being in the league for a decade, I think

209
00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,640
Speaker 1: he had played something like five games in Atlanta in

210
00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,280
Speaker 1: ten seasons for you know this guy. I know, obviously

211
00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,880
Speaker 1: Trout's health has kind of gotten him in his thirties,

212
00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:37,880
Speaker 1: but I mean this guy at one point had an

213
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,440
Speaker 1: easy claim to being the greatest in baseball for what

214
00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,480
Speaker 1: seven eight years and in five games in a decade

215
00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,000
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. I mean that's not you know, that was

216
00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,480
Speaker 1: always kind of silly to me, but so I wanted

217
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,319
Speaker 1: to then get your very official opinion, because this is

218
00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,200
Speaker 1: always a hot topic of debate among baseball fans. So

219
00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,839
Speaker 1: you've been to twenty nine ballparks. What is your top

220
00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,960
Speaker 1: five in terms of baseball stadiums? And obviously you have

221
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,080
Speaker 1: a little bit of a different perspective because you're covering

222
00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,280
Speaker 1: the games. You're in the press box versus you know,

223
00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:16,360
Speaker 1: fans out in the seats. But your top five ballparks.

224
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to try to go for the sake

225
00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:20,640
Speaker 2: of the exercise, try to go from like if I

226
00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,000
Speaker 2: were going as a fan, like cause it's like I

227
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,199
Speaker 2: hate when you know, yes, like a media members this

228
00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,280
Speaker 2: and it's like, well, this place is like tough to work,

229
00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,360
Speaker 2: like nobody cares, like people just want to hear like

230
00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,960
Speaker 2: about the ballpark. I think so for me, this is

231
00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,720
Speaker 2: my very very biased number one, But I think people

232
00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,680
Speaker 2: would agree, or some people would agree. I would go

233
00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,640
Speaker 2: Peco just because that's where I grew up going to games.

234
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,000
Speaker 2: For me, it's special. Obviously I can't be a fan

235
00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,760
Speaker 2: anymore when I'm in this business, so now I'm subjective.

236
00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,840
Speaker 2: But I just love the atmosphere like I love it

237
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,840
Speaker 2: being like in a downtown on the water, like beautiful backdrop,

238
00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,560
Speaker 2: beautiful lighting, just like the the kind of the white

239
00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,840
Speaker 2: exterior of the ballpark, Like I would go that number one, Yeah,

240
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:05,280
Speaker 2: I would go.

241
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,080
Speaker 1: That's a great take. By the way, Petco Park in

242
00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,040
Speaker 1: San Diego is a stunning ballpark, great food, great location.

243
00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,800
Speaker 1: If listeners, I know a lot of our listeners are

244
00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:16,679
Speaker 1: you know, in the South or on the East coast,

245
00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:18,880
Speaker 1: if you have never been to San Diego to catch

246
00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,920
Speaker 1: a game at Petco, like we we cannot recommend it enough.

247
00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that one's. That one's and you're right, like

248
00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:28,199
Speaker 2: the food excellent, Like I'm trying to take all these

249
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,000
Speaker 2: things into account, like if you're a craft beard person,

250
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,280
Speaker 2: like just awesome. Like i mean, obviously I can't have

251
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,560
Speaker 2: that when I'm going there and I'm covering games, but

252
00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,920
Speaker 2: it's like they've got they've got so much local flare

253
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,400
Speaker 2: there that yeah, that's a good one. You know, I'm

254
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:48,560
Speaker 2: gonna go. I'm gonna go Oracle for my my second

255
00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,760
Speaker 2: one in San Francisco. That that one's just like it's

256
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,840
Speaker 2: just awesome, Like the atmosphere, the it feels so San

257
00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,040
Speaker 2: Francisco in terms of like that cold wind and that

258
00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:05,280
Speaker 2: breeze blowing off the Bay. You know, you've got McCovey

259
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,400
Speaker 2: Cove Obviously. I do think they have a ton of

260
00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,319
Speaker 2: great food. The garlic fries there just to die for.

261
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:15,360
Speaker 2: In terms of stadium food, they've got, you know, like

262
00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,960
Speaker 2: the bleachers and left field, I feel like are for

263
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,440
Speaker 2: some of you know, some of the die hards. So

264
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,160
Speaker 2: it's not really like totally a wine and cheese crowd

265
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:28,600
Speaker 2: compared to like the Oakland A's. I would go, okay,

266
00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,600
Speaker 2: so number three, Okay, I'm at okay, I'm at three.

267
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,960
Speaker 2: I would go, shoot, I'm having a problem. I'll let

268
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,160
Speaker 2: you know after I finished this top five, because there's

269
00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:44,680
Speaker 2: one I'm inevitably gonna leave out. I'm gonna go Wriggly

270
00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:50,559
Speaker 2: Field because I just love, like it just feels so old, timy,

271
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,120
Speaker 2: and like I just I think it's just it is

272
00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:55,760
Speaker 2: what it is, right, And like we've talked about the

273
00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,520
Speaker 2: food at these other places regularly get like Chicago Dogs hot,

274
00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,360
Speaker 2: you know whatever. I I'm gonna go that one.

275
00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:08,920
Speaker 1: I was, you know, ye, yeah, there's no frills. It's

276
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,240
Speaker 1: a baseball stadium.

277
00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:12,520
Speaker 2: I was talking to somebody and they made a great

278
00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:15,840
Speaker 2: point that somebody else they were talking to made a joke. Uh,

279
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,880
Speaker 2: it's like at Wrigley, Like, oh, it's like it's like

280
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,040
Speaker 2: good to be at Wrigley where the theme for the night

281
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,120
Speaker 2: is like baseball. Like there's no frills, no nothing, You're right,

282
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:27,800
Speaker 2: Like it's a baseball stadium, like people go to see baseball.

283
00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:31,520
Speaker 2: You know what, I'm gonna move that one to four.

284
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,040
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go number three. I'm gonna put Dodger Stadium.

285
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,520
Speaker 2: My dad would probably kill me, uh, you know, because

286
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,240
Speaker 2: growing up we just I and I like, you know,

287
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,120
Speaker 2: he always he instilled the hate of the Dodgers and

288
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,680
Speaker 2: me growing up. I'm objective now and that's just a

289
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,400
Speaker 2: beautifootball park. Like I know it's old, but just like

290
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:54,240
Speaker 2: the backdrop in the setting, it feels like every time

291
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:56,440
Speaker 2: you're at Dodger Stadium, it feels like it's a big game.

292
00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,640
Speaker 2: And I don't know, like there's something special about that.

293
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,000
Speaker 2: It is because I covered the Braves, But I think

294
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,120
Speaker 2: if I covered, like, let's just say, I don't know,

295
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,720
Speaker 2: there's like the Rays or just any other decent team,

296
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,520
Speaker 2: I think I would. I think I would probably feel

297
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,360
Speaker 2: that way. Uh. I Like, you know, I just like

298
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,600
Speaker 2: the atmosphere, the crowd is loud, there's a ton of

299
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:25,080
Speaker 2: people there. They care so that three regularly four. Uh,

300
00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,280
Speaker 2: you know, I'm gonna be leaving off an obvious one,

301
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,440
Speaker 2: which is gonna be tough, but I'm gonna go Fenway

302
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,520
Speaker 2: five for like some of the similar reasons is Wriglely like,

303
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,600
Speaker 2: and I just think that Fenway does such a nice job,

304
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,080
Speaker 2: whereas Wriglely can get so packed, like for media and stuff,

305
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,400
Speaker 2: like you've got to go there's really no like there's

306
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,920
Speaker 2: an elevator down, but there's not an elevator like to

307
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,360
Speaker 2: the clubhouse, so you've got to walk through the concourse

308
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,480
Speaker 2: of people, and like it's it's different that way. What

309
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:57,040
Speaker 2: impresses me about Fenway is that for fans and workers alike,

310
00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,840
Speaker 2: it doesn't pose is like this old ballpark, like there's

311
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:06,960
Speaker 2: like enough space, everything's constructed. Well, there's elevators, it you

312
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,040
Speaker 2: got to walk a little through the concourse, but it

313
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,320
Speaker 2: I just have always felt like, yeah, for the same

314
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,360
Speaker 2: reason as really it's weird, Like you walk outside of

315
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,840
Speaker 2: Fenway and like if you didn't know it's a baseball stadium,

316
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,080
Speaker 2: you might not know it's a baseball stadium. Like it's

317
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,720
Speaker 2: just you can feel the history, and I do like

318
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,960
Speaker 2: how like Fenway and Wrigally, I mean, it's awkward in

319
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,200
Speaker 2: the moment, but they've got such small visiting clubhouses. It

320
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,480
Speaker 2: just makes it feel like such a such a road game.

321
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,280
Speaker 2: Like I don't know if that makes any sense, but

322
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,720
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go those five. And I love PNC for

323
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,320
Speaker 2: the backdrop alone. But to me, like, I think, like

324
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,000
Speaker 2: it's incredible, but I just don't know that it gets

325
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,160
Speaker 2: an automatic spot on my top five because of that.

326
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,560
Speaker 1: Well, that's good stuff. I appreciate the insight. Always a

327
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,400
Speaker 1: good discussion. I think for baseball fans, it's like one

328
00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,800
Speaker 1: of the coolest things about baseball is, you know it's

329
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,400
Speaker 1: different than the NFL or the NBA or the NHL,

330
00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:03,560
Speaker 1: where same dimensions, generally the same arenas with the same

331
00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,040
Speaker 1: JumboTron and in the same seats.

332
00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:07,240
Speaker 2: So cool.

333
00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:09,879
Speaker 1: Well that's uh yeah, yeah, that's and I could not

334
00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:14,320
Speaker 1: agree more about Wrigley and Fenway. They are just baseball stadiums,

335
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,000
Speaker 1: and I think that's a really cool way and just

336
00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,720
Speaker 1: all the history well great, well yeah, I'm.

337
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:26,159
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's almost no. No, it feels like, yeah, it

338
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,560
Speaker 2: feels like you're being transported like back into time. And

339
00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:32,400
Speaker 2: that's what I like about it is that, Yeah, it's

340
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,159
Speaker 2: like they're baseball stadiums. Like you go to watch a

341
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,560
Speaker 2: baseball game, Like you're not gonna see ridiculous things. You're

342
00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,520
Speaker 2: not gonna watch all these like ridiculous in between innings things,

343
00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,679
Speaker 2: though there are some you kind of go and you

344
00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:47,080
Speaker 2: go to watch baseball and it feels like you're among

345
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,240
Speaker 2: baseball fans. And I think that's which, Like people go

346
00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,200
Speaker 2: to baseball games just have a good time that aren't

347
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:54,600
Speaker 2: like huge baseball fans. Like that's okay too. And like

348
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,200
Speaker 2: the other places on the list I mentioned, like great

349
00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,360
Speaker 2: places for those, especially San Diego and San Francisco. But man,

350
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,760
Speaker 2: you just like the history is such a big part

351
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:05,720
Speaker 2: of the game. How can you leave those two up? Yeah?

352
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,240
Speaker 1: For sure. All right, well we are going to transition

353
00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,000
Speaker 1: to some braves talk here with Justin in a moment,

354
00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,159
Speaker 1: But first a word from our friends at Sea Geek.

355
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,720
Speaker 1: Seat Geek is the official ticketing marketplace of Major League Baseball.

356
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,479
Speaker 1: They have you covered for all of your baseball ticket needs.

357
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,119
Speaker 1: With more than twenty eight million downloads and the number

358
00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,879
Speaker 1: one rated ticketing app. There are more than seventy thousand

359
00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:31,560
Speaker 1: events listed at seat geek, including concerts, sports festivals, theater events,

360
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,280
Speaker 1: and much more. Baseball season is in full swing and

361
00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:35,919
Speaker 1: you do not want to miss out on any of

362
00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,560
Speaker 1: the action. They have your tickets to every single game

363
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,120
Speaker 1: on seat geek, and that of course includes the Braves,

364
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,720
Speaker 1: whether they're at home in Atlanta or on the road.

365
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,200
Speaker 1: I viewed seat geek in the past for Braves tickets

366
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,000
Speaker 1: and the experience could not have been better. They put

367
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,520
Speaker 1: all the tickets across the web in one place to

368
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,639
Speaker 1: make sure that you were getting the best possible deal

369
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,879
Speaker 1: every single time. Each ticket is rated on a scale

370
00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:58,919
Speaker 1: of one to ten at seat geek, so keep an

371
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,200
Speaker 1: eye out for those green as well as the best

372
00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,479
Speaker 1: values steer you in the right direction. Every ticket at

373
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,320
Speaker 1: sea geek is backed by their buyer guarantee and sea

374
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,720
Speaker 1: geek is the only site that lets you return your

375
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,399
Speaker 1: tickets ahead of the event with swaps. We have a

376
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,800
Speaker 1: pretty great promotion for you guys where you can use

377
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,520
Speaker 1: our code Hammer for twenty dollars off your first purchase

378
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 1: at sea geek. Again, twenty bucks off your first purchase

379
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,080
Speaker 1: at sea geek with promo code Hammer. Make sure you

380
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,760
Speaker 1: click the link in our podcast description to download the

381
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: seat Geek app today, and one more time promo code

382
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,800
Speaker 1: Hammer for twenty dollars off your first purchase at sea Geek.

383
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:40,399
Speaker 1: All right, justin so, obviously all the talk lately about

384
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,600
Speaker 1: the Braves has been this lineup that has been in

385
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,080
Speaker 1: this awful funk for six weeks now and up and

386
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,040
Speaker 1: down as everybody is struggling for the most part outside

387
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,359
Speaker 1: of one or two players. And I know you have

388
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,879
Speaker 1: written about this at length over at the AJAC, but

389
00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,200
Speaker 1: what is your take on the offense and the struggles,

390
00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 1: especially after having such a great season last year.

391
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,359
Speaker 2: I think we are getting a very close up, in

392
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:16,080
Speaker 2: depth look at what happens when guys, you know, a

393
00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,280
Speaker 2: team starts to get frustrated when it's not happening. Because

394
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 2: I think that I think that's what's happened, Like I

395
00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,280
Speaker 2: think not I don't think they've panicked, but you sense

396
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,960
Speaker 2: a little frustration in that clubhouse. You sense a little confusion,

397
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,440
Speaker 2: And I think we're getting a close up look at

398
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,280
Speaker 2: what happens in baseball. In this game, it's kind of

399
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,959
Speaker 2: like golf that way, right, Like when you get frustrated

400
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,040
Speaker 2: and you press, like and I think that's what it

401
00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:42,960
Speaker 2: is like it's it's been happening. It's been going on

402
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 2: for so long that now I just don't know that

403
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,720
Speaker 2: they know what to do other than to do the

404
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,399
Speaker 2: same thing and hope it ends. And that's that's not

405
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 2: a bad thing. Like usually in baseball, you don't want

406
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,040
Speaker 2: to try too hard, you don't want to change too

407
00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,600
Speaker 2: many things unless there's something with the process that needs

408
00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:01,359
Speaker 2: to be changed. I don't know that to be the case,

409
00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,239
Speaker 2: because you've got a bunch of veterans who have done

410
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,440
Speaker 2: it before. I just think that like they do care

411
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,680
Speaker 2: a lot, like, but they're trying too hard. Like they're

412
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,680
Speaker 2: trying way too hard. You see that in some of

413
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 2: like the swing decisions. You see that in some of

414
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 2: I'll give you a good example, second and third. They

415
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,359
Speaker 2: had like runners on second and third no outs in

416
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,919
Speaker 2: that DC series. I think that was the first that

417
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,399
Speaker 2: was the second game or the third game. Yeah, and

418
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,439
Speaker 2: they had, Yeah, they had a runner on third with

419
00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,240
Speaker 2: like less than two bouts. A few times they had

420
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,119
Speaker 2: like two or three pop ups in the infield in

421
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,440
Speaker 2: that situation. Like they're just not they're not even making

422
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,760
Speaker 2: productive outs, and it just feels like it's like they're

423
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,280
Speaker 2: not doing the little things like they don't. And I

424
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,800
Speaker 2: think like we're seeing like what happens when a team

425
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,199
Speaker 2: tries to press, like they're just trying too hard. Uh,

426
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 2: And I don't know that they're overly like flat or lifeless.

427
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,200
Speaker 2: Like I do believe as much as Brian Snicker has

428
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 2: given a lot of you know, we were talking before

429
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,160
Speaker 2: the show and used a good word for a coach

430
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 2: speak answers, I do think the one thing he's correct

431
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,920
Speaker 2: on is like when a baseball team is quote unquote flat,

432
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 2: it's literally just because you're not scoring runs. Like sure,

433
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,119
Speaker 2: sometimes you don't like the body language, but if they

434
00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,520
Speaker 2: were scoring runs, like they would have all this energy

435
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:19,880
Speaker 2: and like that. That's like that one myth in baseball,

436
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,159
Speaker 2: Like you never really like flat or lifeless. It's just

437
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,880
Speaker 2: that you're not hitting or scoring runs. I think that's

438
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,800
Speaker 2: the case here. And then honestly, Scott, like I think,

439
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,480
Speaker 2: like we talked about this, like all of us you

440
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,679
Speaker 2: know who watched this team over the last couple of years,

441
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,280
Speaker 2: this is what happens when they don't hit home runs, right, like,

442
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,280
Speaker 2: this is this is what they're not built to play

443
00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 2: small ball. They're not built to you know, keep the

444
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,280
Speaker 2: line moving. They did a wonderful job that in twenty

445
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,040
Speaker 2: twenty three. But on the most part, like they're a

446
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 2: slugging team that isn't slugging, Like they're not they're not

447
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 2: built to play like the Nationals do, or like the

448
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,480
Speaker 2: Guardians do, or you know, the team like the Rays does.

449
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 2: Like they're not built like that, Like they need to

450
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,160
Speaker 2: be hitting home runs a little more to go, and

451
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 2: right now it just seems like they're trying way too hard,

452
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 2: you know, as evidenced by the fact that they're just

453
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,639
Speaker 2: not really even making productive outs. The bats have been uncompetitive.

454
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,720
Speaker 2: It's been bad, man. I think you can sense a frustration,

455
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 2: like I think there's just it's been going so poorly

456
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 2: that they're just I think they just wanted to end

457
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,840
Speaker 2: and you know, they've they've lost themselves in it a

458
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 2: little bit.

459
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, on the last show that Brad and

460
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 1: I did over the weekend, And I don't know how

461
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,520
Speaker 1: you feel about this, and you, of course get a

462
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,000
Speaker 1: front row seat like most fans don't, but to me,

463
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,679
Speaker 1: it kind of feels like they have hit some real

464
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,920
Speaker 1: adversity for the first time in like two and a

465
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 1: half years.

466
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 2: Now.

467
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:44,920
Speaker 1: I know, You've been on the beat for a couple

468
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 1: of seasons with the Braves, but you know, the last

469
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 1: couple of years, it seems like everything has mostly come easy,

470
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 1: right Like, even going back to twenty one, when Acuna

471
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,320
Speaker 1: blows out his knee, they add a couple of outfielders

472
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:01,960
Speaker 1: at the deadline and the rest is history. Twenty twenty two,

473
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Sure, they had a week or two

474
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,000
Speaker 1: where they weren't playing well last season. They you know,

475
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,439
Speaker 1: they had injuries, they lost Max Freed for half of

476
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,879
Speaker 1: the year, and the beat just kind of rolled on

477
00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:17,960
Speaker 1: and there was really no drop in production or problems

478
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,200
Speaker 1: despite losing some players to injury, and they just kind

479
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: of figured a way to win seemingly every single night.

480
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 1: And even if they weren't winning, it was a close loss,

481
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 1: right Like, they were rarely getting blown out. It seemed

482
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 1: like in the eighth or ninth inning they were bringing

483
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: up a tying run to the plate. And it's just

484
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 1: it feels to me like maybe for the first time

485
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 1: in a while, they've they've kind of gotten hit in

486
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,680
Speaker 1: the mouth, like a you know, a great boxer who

487
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 1: was just mulling over people and he gets he takes

488
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,760
Speaker 1: one right on the chin and kind of dazed and

489
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 1: confused a little bit because he just isn't used to

490
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 1: taking one on the chin.

491
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's you know what, That's probably a perfect lead

492
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 2: into kind of what I was trying to say in

493
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,719
Speaker 2: that least to answer when I mean confusion in the clubhouse,

494
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 2: I don't mean that like they don't know what to

495
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 2: do over how to play baseball. They're just a little dazed.

496
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,680
Speaker 2: Like I remember after the the after they dropped three

497
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,960
Speaker 2: or four to the Nationals for the first time, and

498
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,119
Speaker 2: it was at Truest Park. I remember that clubhouse. That

499
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 2: was the first time I'd sent some like, oh my god,

500
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,159
Speaker 2: like what's going on in that clubhouse? Like what do

501
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 2: we do? You know? Yeah, it's like that's the perfect

502
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,520
Speaker 2: way to put it, like they're little dazed, and I think,

503
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,040
Speaker 2: like I think as much as okay, I do agree

504
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 2: with you, because two and a half years people would say,

505
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 2: you know, we're saying that. People would say, well, they

506
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 2: struggled to start twenty twenty two. Everybody is said after that,

507
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:41,920
Speaker 2: like his acknowledge is the fact that there's a World

508
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 2: Series hangover for most teams, Like you're playing so long

509
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 2: the offseason so busy after that you come in, there's

510
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,719
Speaker 2: all these expectations. I think we can attribute that first

511
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 2: month or so that kind of not being able to

512
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 2: get on track to just that. And yeah, like I

513
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 2: think also, if you look over the last two years,

514
00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,720
Speaker 2: everything they've done has worked, right, Like they brought up

515
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 2: Michael Harris, that worked. They moved Spencer Strider into the

516
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 2: rotation it worked flawlessly, like both those things last year. Like,

517
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 2: it just kind of feels like everything they have done,

518
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,680
Speaker 2: like pitching wise, worked Like I know the fifth starter

519
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,199
Speaker 2: didn't you know, work as much last year, but it

520
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:26,919
Speaker 2: just feels like they were making decisions that worked out

521
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,320
Speaker 2: and now you're seeing them struggle a little bit, right,

522
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 2: Like you're seeing the fifth starter issue persist into a

523
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,440
Speaker 2: second year. We'll see if Hurst and Walter or Spencer

524
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 2: Schwellenbach are the answer to that. Eventually, we'll see if

525
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 2: it's somebody else. But it just feels like now, yeah,

526
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 2: it's like you know they like you said, I think

527
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 2: the thing that I look at is it felt like

528
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,400
Speaker 2: this team was never out of a game last year

529
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,400
Speaker 2: or in the second half of twenty two. Now you're

530
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 2: wondering can they come back from two runs in the

531
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 2: final three innings, Like is that too much? Like are

532
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,400
Speaker 2: they going to be able you know, to do that?

533
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,760
Speaker 2: And it really feels like you've seen it. I think

534
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,679
Speaker 2: there's not a lack of effort, but you've seen it

535
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 2: bleed over a little bit, like into the field, right,

536
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 2: Like there were a couple errors in that LA series

537
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,920
Speaker 2: at Dodger Stadium. There were like on Saturday, there were

538
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 2: just like some uncharacteristic mental blunders that like that happened

539
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,959
Speaker 2: in the field and it was just like it's just

540
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 2: a malaise, I think, is the best way to put it.

541
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:29,920
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think there are days like they have

542
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 2: hit some real, real adversity, like this is actual, you know,

543
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 2: holy smokes, how do we get out of this territory?

544
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 2: And they're trying to find their way out and they're

545
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,000
Speaker 2: good enough, like they will, they will, They're gonna make

546
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 2: the playoffs. They're gonna be fine. And as long as

547
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,800
Speaker 2: you make the playoffs, anything can happen. I hate to

548
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,200
Speaker 2: render the regular season meaningless, but it literally like does

549
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:54,359
Speaker 2: not matter if you just make the dance. But yeah,

550
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,880
Speaker 2: I do think there are some real causes for concern.

551
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 2: And I don't mean like fans be like doom and gloom,

552
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,719
Speaker 2: But I do mean that, like, this is not unlike

553
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 2: some of the things that have been coming out of

554
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,679
Speaker 2: that clubhouse like publicly, and like what are they going

555
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,479
Speaker 2: to say publicly? There's nothing else that can't say there

556
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,439
Speaker 2: are some real reasons they have to look at this

557
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 2: and how they're responding to it and how they're handling it,

558
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,120
Speaker 2: and this could be the best thing that's ever happened

559
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:20,880
Speaker 2: to them, because it hadn't happened to them the last

560
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 2: two years. And you know what, Like the good thing

561
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 2: about this is it's happening in you know, and to

562
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 2: April into May into June, Like it's not happening in September.

563
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,200
Speaker 2: It's not happening in August. Like we saw what happened

564
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 2: when this team hit a little bit of a bump

565
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,879
Speaker 2: last September, like it it kind of spelled the end

566
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 2: of their season. And like, I just think that there's

567
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 2: so much about it that's like, yeah, they're looking at

568
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,080
Speaker 2: it like, oh, like how do we get out of this?

569
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 2: Like oh, like this this is what it feels like

570
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 2: when everybody's not hitting at the same time, or this

571
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 2: is what it feels like when you only got one

572
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 2: guy going in Marcelo Zuna or another you know in

573
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 2: Matt Olson and Marcelo Zuna and Austin Riley coming on

574
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 2: like oh, like oh my god, like yeah, this is

575
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 2: you know, I think this was a team that was

576
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 2: used to just waxing teams last year and not to

577
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 2: say like this would happen to anybody, like of course,

578
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:11,840
Speaker 2: they're not used to this. They haven't gone through it

579
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 2: in the last like two and a half years. And

580
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,880
Speaker 2: most of the guys you know, on this roster playing

581
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 2: key parts. You look at Sean Murphy, you look at

582
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,760
Speaker 2: Michael Harris especially, you look at Orlando Arcia especially, you

583
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 2: look at Jared Kalnick especially, those are guys who have

584
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 2: not gone through this with the Braves. They were not

585
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 2: here in twenty one like Orlando was, but he wasn't

586
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 2: playing the role he is now. And it's just like

587
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 2: they were not. They're not used to this. They're gonna

588
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 2: have to figure out a way, and as they do that,

589
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 2: they're man, They're really lucky, Scott that they're pitching has

590
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:43,480
Speaker 2: just been tacular.

591
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,080
Speaker 1: Well that is a terrific transition from Justin's end. We're

592
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,040
Speaker 1: going to talk a little bit about the pitching. But

593
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 1: first a quick word from our friends at fel Territory

594
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: on AG one.

595
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 3: Amcrats here from FT. I'm a former athlete that really

596
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 3: pays attention to was routine and AG one every morning

597
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,640
Speaker 3: before my workouts is something that gets my day going.

598
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 2: Hey bron here.

599
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 4: Ag one is a foundational nutrition supplement that delivers daily

600
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,640
Speaker 4: nutrients and gut health support, and it's backed by multiple

601
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 4: research studies, so you can trust what you're putting in

602
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:16,479
Speaker 4: your body.

603
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 3: Unlike other products which only test their ingredients in isolation,

604
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,880
Speaker 3: ag one tests their formula as.

605
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,480
Speaker 4: A whole ready for this stat ninety seven percent of

606
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,440
Speaker 4: people in a research study felt more energy after thirty

607
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,240
Speaker 4: days of drinking AG one. If I had to recommend

608
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 4: one product to support whole body health, it's ag one

609
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,280
Speaker 4: and that's why FT is excited to have them as

610
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 4: a new partner. Starting your journey with AG one is

611
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,520
Speaker 4: a win. Try AG one and get a free one

612
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 4: year supply of Vitamin D three, K two and five

613
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 4: free AG one travel packs with your first purchase at

614
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,560
Speaker 4: drinkag one dot com slash foul that's drinkag one dot

615
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 4: com slash fo ul go check it out ftfam.

616
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,680
Speaker 1: All right, justin you qued it up a couple of

617
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: moments ago, but just one to get your take on

618
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: the starting rotation in particular that has been so good,

619
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,240
Speaker 1: especially the Big four. What more can be said about

620
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,800
Speaker 1: Chris Sale and Ronaldo Lopez? Those two have been fantastic

621
00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: offseason editions. If you were to go through a list

622
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:21,400
Speaker 1: of the ten most impactful winter trades or signings, I'm

623
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 1: not sure that those guys would be lower than one

624
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,400
Speaker 1: or two on that list, quite honestly, for what they

625
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 1: have meant to this team. You're just general take and

626
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: viewpoint on the rotation. Of course, we talked about Waldrop

627
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 1: and Schwellenbach a few moments ago as well. You know,

628
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:38,680
Speaker 1: what do you see for the fifth spot in the

629
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,120
Speaker 1: rotation and how are they going to try to manage

630
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: and maintain this rotation over the next couple of weeks

631
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 1: and months, knowing that there are some real questions about

632
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 1: workloads and injuries.

633
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, they've got to do it as they have and

634
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 2: keep building in rest days, Like I think that's crucial.

635
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,080
Speaker 2: Man Like, at a certain point they will push the

636
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,800
Speaker 2: gas pedalize think you know, because the division is still

637
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 2: in reach, like we've seen that from two years ago.

638
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 2: But they've got to keep building in these rest days.

639
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,920
Speaker 2: They cannot sacrifice that because you don't want. What you

640
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 2: don't want is to get to a place where you

641
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 2: have to give Ronaldo Lopez or Chris Sales some extended

642
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,719
Speaker 2: time off, Like you want to be able to manage

643
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 2: this and massage this to the point where they can

644
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 2: you know, those two can push it a little, you know,

645
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,800
Speaker 2: in August and then gear up for the postseason in September,

646
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 2: but where it's not going to put them at a

647
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 2: deficit to me, Like, that's a tough part of the

648
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,280
Speaker 2: Ronaldo Lopez situation. In twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, he was

649
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,600
Speaker 2: proven durable, which really is like why the Braves felt

650
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 2: so confident when they signed him that he could be

651
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,479
Speaker 2: a starter. Like, look, they knew he'd improve as a pitcher,

652
00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,200
Speaker 2: but the durability he showed in eighteen nineteen, like just

653
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,160
Speaker 2: make it all those starts, like thirty two thirty three

654
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 2: starts a year, you know, both of those years, and

655
00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 2: but like that's a long time ago, and when you're

656
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 2: lever who's pitched you know, sixty sixty five seventy innings

657
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:04,959
Speaker 2: of the last few years, you know, a season over

658
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,400
Speaker 2: the last few years, like he's naturally gonna blow through

659
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 2: that workload. Uh So that's the one that's a little

660
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 2: tricky to me. Chris Sale a little bit of the same.

661
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 2: But he's a starter who, you know, at least in

662
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 2: the previous seasons had built up for that, you know,

663
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:24,560
Speaker 2: had he not been hurt. I think they've done enough

664
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,680
Speaker 2: to where they can look, you got okay, you're June.

665
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,560
Speaker 2: You're sitting here almost middle of June. You've got about

666
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,560
Speaker 2: a month to go to the All Star Break. You

667
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 2: got four or five more starts for those guys. I

668
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,400
Speaker 2: think you can build in a couple extra days to rest,

669
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 2: especially if you, you know, like they're doing now, carrying

670
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,240
Speaker 2: an extra starter. Who knows that how long that'll last.

671
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,440
Speaker 2: I think you can continue doing this to where you

672
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 2: can massage enough to where you really feel good going

673
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 2: into the second half. I think, Chris Sale, that was

674
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 2: one of those offseason editions when we looked at it,

675
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,600
Speaker 2: and I know you guys probably talked in your show too,

676
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,120
Speaker 2: like you're like, man, Hopefully the Braves weighed this one

677
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 2: out correctly because the injury history over the last few

678
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 2: seasons would definitely point to a decline, but they felt

679
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 2: good about the medicals and they felt like, you know what,

680
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,640
Speaker 2: Alex takes recommendations from the medical staff and the doctors,

681
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 2: and they felt good enough about doing that trade. He's

682
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 2: just been excellent. The thing I point to with him

683
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:24,439
Speaker 2: is just being able to go seven innings and seven

684
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 2: out of twelve starts is incredible and really speaks to

685
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 2: his health. You hope that continues with the fist spots specifically,

686
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 2: you just got to keep throwing stuff at the wall, right,

687
00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 2: I don't know that I see a huge deadline addition

688
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,480
Speaker 2: in terms of starting pitching, like and I don't know

689
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,279
Speaker 2: that the Braves should be priority, like if they can

690
00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 2: get Alex always finds creative ways to do that sort

691
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,600
Speaker 2: of thing, but at this point, like you don't want

692
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 2: to give up Waldrip, you don't want to give up

693
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,279
Speaker 2: schwelle Bach, you know, in a trade like that for

694
00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,879
Speaker 2: starting pitching, unless it's going to be something meaningful, right,

695
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,359
Speaker 2: Like I I don't know that they would want to,

696
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:06,479
Speaker 2: you know, give up Jr. Richie Owen Murphy is having

697
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,440
Speaker 2: Tommy John surgery. Like They've got a lot of good

698
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 2: pitching down on the farm. It's going to be a

699
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 2: very interesting evaluation to how Alex uses his resources in

700
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:19,760
Speaker 2: house and in the system to prioritize like outfield versus

701
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,359
Speaker 2: starting pitching. I think what they can do is get

702
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 2: like a mid tier starting pitcher to help out, you know,

703
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:29,080
Speaker 2: with that fifth spot and eat innings and kind of

704
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,000
Speaker 2: be another guy that helps other guys get rest because

705
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,400
Speaker 2: you don't need five starters in the postseason. You just

706
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 2: have to keep righting a the Lopez and Chris Sale,

707
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,480
Speaker 2: especially Chris Sale healthy because even if you want, you

708
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,759
Speaker 2: can move Rinaldo to the bullpen down the stretch for

709
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 2: the postseason, but you've got to find a way to

710
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,640
Speaker 2: eat enough innings in that fifth spot to where one

711
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:49,759
Speaker 2: gives you a chance to win and two keeps the

712
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,959
Speaker 2: other guys healthy. So I think they've got to add

713
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,879
Speaker 2: there because I just you've seen it, right, like you've

714
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,600
Speaker 2: seen Wine and Shuffle, You've seen yes, Like I don't

715
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,759
Speaker 2: know that those guys are the answers yet. You could

716
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 2: say Bryce Elder could be. You could call him back up.

717
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 2: And I think Bryce is you know, I think Bryce

718
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 2: is good. I think he's better than people give him

719
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 2: credit for. But I think all of this is to

720
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,919
Speaker 2: say that you have to prioritize keeping your top three,

721
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,880
Speaker 2: top four healthy. You just have to. That is imperative.

722
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:19,440
Speaker 2: You cannot get to game three in a postseason series

723
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 2: like you have the last previous two years and have

724
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 2: this game three issue of well who are we going

725
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,080
Speaker 2: to start? And then who've ever didn't start here? I'll

726
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:30,160
Speaker 2: start in game four like you gotta have. You got

727
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,840
Speaker 2: to have these guys lined up and healthy. The issue, though, Scott,

728
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 2: is if you are talking about the division, I know

729
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,319
Speaker 2: last year the Braves saw that, you know, their top

730
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,320
Speaker 2: four had a great era, the fifth spot had like

731
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,480
Speaker 2: a five to five. So when they were looking at

732
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:46,719
Speaker 2: adding right now a the Lopez, one thing they thought

733
00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:49,640
Speaker 2: about in that transition was he just he's just got

734
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 2: to be better than a five to five VRA to

735
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 2: make it worth it. And he's been way better than that. Well,

736
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:57,960
Speaker 2: now you run into a similar issue where the numbers

737
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,279
Speaker 2: are even worse for that fifth spot, right, and like

738
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,760
Speaker 2: that impacts winning like and to a lot of fans

739
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,719
Speaker 2: that looks like punted games. And so the Braves are

740
00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:09,560
Speaker 2: really going to need to be strategic because they're going

741
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,680
Speaker 2: to want to get these guys rest. But at a

742
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 2: certain point, you cannot let the Phillies run away with

743
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 2: the division because you know, even if the five day

744
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 2: break is an ideal for those division winners, you asked

745
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,520
Speaker 2: any team, any team would want to line up its

746
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 2: pitching for the division series, like any team would want

747
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,240
Speaker 2: the rest? Like, I think that matters too. So you're

748
00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 2: they're kind of caught in between, you know, these different parts,

749
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:34,360
Speaker 2: and I think they really need to add to the

750
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:37,799
Speaker 2: rotation at the deadline as it approaches. You know, it

751
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,440
Speaker 2: doesn't have to be a star or you know, really

752
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,560
Speaker 2: an impact level pitcher, but they've got to add something

753
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 2: because they cannot just leave this depth out there, you know,

754
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:48,480
Speaker 2: to rot They've got to protect these guys.

755
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Arguably, I think this is going to

756
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:56,560
Speaker 1: be Alex's biggest job at the deadline, at least since

757
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,560
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, where he retooled the entire outfield in

758
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:03,200
Speaker 1: a span about five days. So definitely some interesting things

759
00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,799
Speaker 1: on the horizon. Justin we're going to get you out

760
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:07,560
Speaker 1: of here. I know you have a busy couple of

761
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,399
Speaker 1: days ahead in Baltimore, but just you know, your your

762
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,359
Speaker 1: closing thoughts on this team now we have about one

763
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,279
Speaker 1: hundred games or so left on the schedule. I know

764
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 1: we talked at length about the lineup and the rotation

765
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 1: and what those groups need to do moving forward. But

766
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,600
Speaker 1: you know, from a you cover this team every single day,

767
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:28,600
Speaker 1: you get them in the clubhouse, you see them on

768
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:32,080
Speaker 1: the field in person, just on a hole. Where do

769
00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,480
Speaker 1: you see this team moving forward? It doesn't sound like

770
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 1: you're too concerned, But as you also alluded to, it

771
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,319
Speaker 1: would be silly to not acknowledge that there's been some

772
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,200
Speaker 1: real struggles over the last month or so.

773
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:45,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'd be living in a bubble, you know, on

774
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:48,160
Speaker 2: her rock to not acknowledge that. Like that's just it's

775
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,719
Speaker 2: it's been bad, like just you know, we don't have

776
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 2: to sugarcoat it. It's been brutal. And like that's where

777
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,440
Speaker 2: like I'm not super concerned because it's just such a

778
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 2: long season and it's like they've got a lot of

779
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:03,560
Speaker 2: time to figure it out. But you know, you have

780
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,440
Speaker 2: seen teams in the past use that sort of verbiage

781
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,839
Speaker 2: and it gets real late, real early, Right, I don't

782
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 2: think that's going to happen to this group, but I do,

783
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,560
Speaker 2: like I see why fans are upset like I don't

784
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,880
Speaker 2: like nobody should be admonishing fans for being upset, Like

785
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,280
Speaker 2: that is fandom, Like it's not always going to be rational,

786
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:22,800
Speaker 2: and you know what, like anger is better than apathy,

787
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 2: and like I think any sports you know, business leader,

788
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 2: executive or anybody would tell you that. I guess my

789
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,600
Speaker 2: my final take is just they've got to get off

790
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:37,000
Speaker 2: the mat. Like they haven't been good at stringing together

791
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 2: offensive performances. They've had a game of Live here, game

792
00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:42,279
Speaker 2: of life there, and it just is always followed with

793
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:46,200
Speaker 2: a loss. They just have not strung together great offensive outings.

794
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:48,600
Speaker 2: They've got to get off the mat. And I think

795
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,359
Speaker 2: once they validate to themselves, like hey we are still

796
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:53,440
Speaker 2: this team. We can do this, it's gonna get rolling.

797
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 2: I think it'll be fine. But I understand why it's

798
00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 2: been brutal for people to watch because it's just, yeah,

799
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 2: they've underperformed their expectations by a lot, but hey, you

800
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,360
Speaker 2: look at it, there's still what seven games over five hundred.

801
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 2: They're gonna be fine. With the way the NLS set up,

802
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,200
Speaker 2: they're gonna make the playoffs even if they don't win

803
00:40:11,239 --> 00:40:14,400
Speaker 2: the division. Yeah, they'll be fine. They'll probably be that

804
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,799
Speaker 2: first wild card team just because they did get off

805
00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:21,200
Speaker 2: to such a hot start. This team will be fine,

806
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 2: And I almost wonder if this will help them down

807
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:30,120
Speaker 2: the road. I almost wonder struggling now because it isn't

808
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:33,920
Speaker 2: struggling in September, because it is having to get through adversity.

809
00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:36,800
Speaker 2: I almost wonder if this was the adversity they needed

810
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:39,319
Speaker 2: to win another World Series. And what I mean by

811
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,440
Speaker 2: that is, you know, you watched this team the last

812
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:43,440
Speaker 2: two years in the postseason when it got punched in

813
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 2: the mouth by Philly. It did not know how to respond,

814
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 2: and I think that was you know, you bottle up that,

815
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,480
Speaker 2: you know, you use the analogy of the boxer. I

816
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,600
Speaker 2: think that's what those last two postseason series very much

817
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:56,760
Speaker 2: felt like. It felt like a team that got jumped

818
00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:00,400
Speaker 2: on early and got punched in the mouth and you know,

819
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:02,840
Speaker 2: didn't know how to get up, didn't know how to

820
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:04,480
Speaker 2: get off the mat. So I think I think this

821
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 2: could be a good thing for them to experience some

822
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,480
Speaker 2: sort of adversity, Like what World Series winner has been

823
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,560
Speaker 2: one of the best teams in the regular season, you know,

824
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 2: in regular season in MLB history, right, Like there's always

825
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,040
Speaker 2: some sort of adversity. A World Series team goes through

826
00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:22,120
Speaker 2: this can make them better, and that's not to sugarcoat it.

827
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:24,200
Speaker 2: That's just to say that they are what they are

828
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,000
Speaker 2: right now. They're struggling, but you know they've got a

829
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:28,040
Speaker 2: lot of time to get out of this.

830
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,279
Speaker 1: That is very well said. Let us hope that there

831
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,360
Speaker 1: are brighter days on the horizon. Justin, thank you again

832
00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:37,200
Speaker 1: for taking some time out of your day in Baltimore

833
00:41:37,239 --> 00:41:41,160
Speaker 1: here to join the show again. Justin Tuscano of the

834
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:44,760
Speaker 1: Atlanta Journal Constitution, where you can find all of his work.

835
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:48,440
Speaker 1: He has podcast, The Braves Report. You can follow him

836
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:52,680
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Justin C. Toscano and Justin thank you

837
00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 1: again for joining Hope deave on again soon and take

838
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 1: care on this lengthy road Chap. Hopefully they wrap it

839
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,000
Speaker 1: up with a couple of wins and then you can

840
00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:01,640
Speaker 1: get back home.

841
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,480
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, thanks for having me, Scott. I appreciate it.

842
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:06,080
Speaker 2: Man anytime, reach out at anytime.

843
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,480
Speaker 1: Thank you again to Justin for joining the show. We

844
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:11,560
Speaker 1: will be back in the next couple of days with

845
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:14,960
Speaker 1: another episode. Be sure to like and subscribe and tell

846
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,400
Speaker 1: a friend. Thank you all everybody for listening, and we

847
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,040
Speaker 1: will see you all next time,