Speaker 1: Pitchers are thrown harder than ever. They're chasing strikeouts, so
Speaker 1: I think that with how the game is going, we
Speaker 1: might not be seeing many complete games.
Speaker 2: First half grades, we're at the mid season mark. Let's
Speaker 2: cover the National League. We did the American League already,
Speaker 2: and if you want to check that out, you know
Speaker 2: where to find it on our YouTube channel. But for
Speaker 2: the National league grades, we'll go from the a's down
Speaker 2: to the f's. So let's start with who received an A.
Speaker 2: And what I want you guys to do is just
Speaker 2: either give some praise or disagree, agree whatever you want.
Speaker 2: Slice through these grades, which we're put together by CBS
Speaker 2: Sports in an article. The Cubs get an A, the
Speaker 2: Dodgers get an A, the Brewers get an A, the
Speaker 2: Phillies grab an A, the San Francisco Giants get an A.
Speaker 2: They were very very gracious with their a's. And then
Speaker 2: there's one ANUS to the New York Mets. Anything you
Speaker 2: definitely like or don't like there, I mean, I got.
Speaker 3: The standings up in front of me that I'm looking
Speaker 3: at too. Just to kind of go off with some
Speaker 3: like that, that kind of seems pretty pretty straight.
Speaker 4: Really, Like Milwaukee gets an A.
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I mean that's good, but like what.
Speaker 3: I might move the Mets up to a straight A.
Speaker 3: They got the ten agree with that degrees? There should
Speaker 3: be no minus on that one. I think Milwaukee, maybe
Speaker 3: you switch those, maybe you get the minus on the
Speaker 3: Milwaukee side.
Speaker 2: Then yeah, yeah, Like I thought Milwaukee was gonna be good,
Speaker 2: and they are good, but they're not blowing the National
Speaker 2: League Central away. And I know the Cubs obviously have
Speaker 2: been playing ball, so for me put them more in
Speaker 2: the B range. I know your boy Murph, your old coach,
Speaker 2: Pat Murphy, would put them in the B range. He's
Speaker 2: been a little grumpier with the boys this year. He's
Speaker 2: expecting more after his first year went so swimmingly. Maybe
Speaker 2: I'm being hard on the Brewers. I thought I picked
Speaker 2: the Brewers to win the division. Obviously, the Cubs have
Speaker 2: been a jugger and I didn't see Pete crow Armstrong coming.
Speaker 2: I thought those two would be going at it for
Speaker 2: the division. So I just I think for the Brewers,
Speaker 2: based on what they've done for years, roster didn't change
Speaker 2: that much. That's a bee for me in terms of
Speaker 2: their first half.
Speaker 6: I don't hate it, Okay, And then.
Speaker 4: You want to move to the Bees.
Speaker 5: I mean San Diego and San Franz are not that
Speaker 5: too far apart, Like I don't know, I know, I felt.
Speaker 4: Like, but this has to do with expectations.
Speaker 2: So these grades are given out based on what they
Speaker 2: thought teams were going to do right and what public
Speaker 2: perception was, and then how it performed for people that
Speaker 2: they're like, oh, I didn't. A lot of people had
Speaker 2: the Giants as the fourth best team in the National
Speaker 2: League West, and they've certainly exceeded expectations. Got to give
Speaker 2: the front office credit for devers. So here's the Bees,
Speaker 2: the Padres got to be the Red's got to be minus,
Speaker 2: and the Saint Louis Cardinals get to be plus.
Speaker 5: See.
Speaker 2: Actually, for me, you would move the Reds up.
Speaker 5: I would move the Reds down.
Speaker 4: I would move them down.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Maybe, I guess I just had lower expectations off the
Speaker 3: jump for them.
Speaker 6: That could be it.
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, that's one hundred percent. If it was expectations
Speaker 5: for the Reds. A lot of people are choosing them
Speaker 5: to win the division. They're what six, I got it
Speaker 5: right here, there's six and.
Speaker 4: A half and they're like five hundred, right, Yeah, they're
Speaker 4: two and.
Speaker 5: A half out of the wild Card. They're forty two
Speaker 5: and thirty nine. I yeah, I would say plus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going C for the Reds. How about for
Speaker 2: me the Cardinals getting a B plus C. I think
Speaker 2: that's a team that deserved to be in the A's
Speaker 2: because most people thought the Cardinals were gonna suck this year,
Speaker 2: and they do not suck.
Speaker 5: You're right, They're only one game out of the Wildcard too, So.
Speaker 2: If we're giving San Francisco an a right, there's a
Speaker 2: little bit of gracious grading here. The Cardinals were supposed
Speaker 2: to be worse than the Giants according to many.
Speaker 4: The Cardinals are.
Speaker 2: In the thick of it, so I know they took
Speaker 2: a step back since their hot start, but they're still
Speaker 2: in the thick of a wild card race. I would
Speaker 2: throw an A their way.
Speaker 3: I feel like this is the kind of Cardinals team
Speaker 3: they were expecting out of them last year. That's why
Speaker 3: I was such a letdown last year for them.
Speaker 2: Right, and then they keep the same roster, they roll
Speaker 2: it out again this year and it's much better. I mean, obviously,
Speaker 2: you know when you're plugging in computer models, and last
Speaker 2: year didn't go well. They dinged them and brought them
Speaker 2: down a notch. But there's guys who took another step forward.
Speaker 2: So there's your list on the a's and the b's,
Speaker 2: and let's start to get to the crap. So here's
Speaker 2: here's your c's, okay, and one team for me stands
Speaker 2: out in this greer.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 2: So the Diamondbacks get a C minus, the Nationals get
Speaker 2: a C minus, the Marlins get a C minus.
Speaker 5: They all should be lower.
Speaker 4: They all should be lower.
Speaker 2: The Backs are in the wildcard race and they don't
Speaker 2: have half their pitching staff anymore.
Speaker 5: The Diamondbacks are three games out but a wildcard. I
Speaker 5: don't think they're making it. I don't think I know,
Speaker 5: But we're not talking about expectations. The expectations. They should
Speaker 5: be one of the top right in that division. You're right,
Speaker 5: I would give them. I would give the Nationals struggle bus,
Speaker 5: Miami struggle bus. I see them all as a D.
Speaker 2: But you you thought the Marlins were going to be bad,
Speaker 2: and they're bad, but they're not as bad. So maybe
Speaker 2: that that I mean, that's how they explain they're grading.
Speaker 5: They're twelve and a half out of a wildcard, eleven
Speaker 5: games under five no wildcard, no they are excuse me,
Speaker 5: they are nine and a half pretty much the same.
Speaker 2: Right, so to me that I mean you C minus.
Speaker 2: I can see the Nationals were supposed to be a
Speaker 2: little bit better than this and they're in a similar spot.
Speaker 5: No, yeah, no, they're they're right, they're right there too.
Speaker 5: The Nationals are eleven and a half games out, so
Speaker 5: they're actually behind that.
Speaker 4: That's a D for me.
Speaker 5: All three D.
Speaker 3: This is off expectations.
Speaker 2: Yes, like what you thought of these teams going into
Speaker 2: the season, Like, I'll give you the perfect example.
Speaker 4: Right, right to be a sports stop.
Speaker 2: But Kip, yesterday when we did the A L, the
Speaker 2: White Sox got like a B or a B minus
Speaker 2: because they were, like we thought you get rid of Crochet.
Speaker 2: They might be even worse and they're bad, but they're
Speaker 2: not the worst team ever.
Speaker 3: That's what I'm gonna say. Where it's like it's Colorado
Speaker 3: and Pittsburgh like seized because they're exactly where we thought
Speaker 3: they might be. Kind of.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you're right, that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, okay, so so do you have any problems though? Arizona, Washington,
Speaker 2: Miami And then I'll get to the three f's here.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm Todd a little bit. I think Arizona could
Speaker 3: be almost indeed, just because you have such high hopes
Speaker 3: coming off as a World Series last.
Speaker 4: Year two years ago.
Speaker 2: But yees, I mean last year though eighty nine wins
Speaker 2: the actually yeah, yeah, they had Corbyn Burns, but here's.
Speaker 5: The the ian tying the Diamondbacks.
Speaker 4: I'm just I'm just saying. I mean, I guess factor
Speaker 4: I had him going, yeah, I'm screwed.
Speaker 2: But Burns get for Justin Martinez lafter the year. I mean,
Speaker 2: they've lost half their staff, but you know, it's fair
Speaker 2: like Gallon is not Gallon for the first half of
Speaker 2: the season, so there's some of that going on with
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Speaker 4: All right, So here's your.
Speaker 5: F's chef employed with the Mets.
Speaker 4: And that might happen. He loves that trade might happen.
Speaker 2: Uh, here's your f's ready Atlanta, Colorado, Pittsburgh. So kipt
Speaker 2: for me, like Pittsburgh getting an F. I thought they
Speaker 2: were gonna suck, and they suck.
Speaker 3: That's what that's my case. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: I get.
Speaker 3: I get Atlanta because you had such lofty expectations. Why
Speaker 3: they're done.
Speaker 5: You have Colorado and A because they're supposed to be bad.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but they're gonna be They might be the worst
Speaker 4: team ever.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but they didn't expect to do good either, so
Speaker 5: they my expectations of them has do bad. So they
Speaker 5: should get an eight plus. They should be the highest one,
Speaker 5: you know, if we're going by that.
Speaker 2: But that's right, they're living up to expectations. They're exceeding
Speaker 2: expectations in terms of how bad they are.
Speaker 5: You've been one hundred and one?
Speaker 4: Yes, what about the other two?
Speaker 5: Atlanta F because where they're supposed to be and Pittsburgh
Speaker 5: should be in the middle of the packs C minus. Yeah.
Speaker 2: See, there you go. That's a big, great difference. Though
Speaker 2: they're getting an F. I was gonna say either a
Speaker 2: D or nobody's I mean not nobody, but most people
Speaker 2: aren't expected. Paul Skeins doesn't pitch every day, No, he
Speaker 2: does not.
Speaker 3: And yeah, you just need a team to try every
Speaker 3: day too, and they don't even have that.
Speaker 6: It looks like.
Speaker 3: I could be singling out with a person, but you
Speaker 3: guys know what I'm talking about. But it's just that
Speaker 3: that's a that's just an organization that needs a complete makeover.
Speaker 2: How would you feel if you've been on a team,
Speaker 2: Kip for five six years that has not been competitive
Speaker 2: the entire time period, doesn't it start to like become
Speaker 2: the norm where you're showing up to work in a
Speaker 2: different way if that makes sense. Obviously you want you're
Speaker 2: playing for your stats and for your contract and for
Speaker 2: your quote for your team. But it's not sufficient roster.
Speaker 2: It's been like that for a long time now, and
Speaker 2: there's no buying from the front office.
Speaker 3: You're gonna start to want out of that organization. But
Speaker 3: even before then, you're gonna want to like put your
Speaker 3: foot down and be like enough is enough? Can we
Speaker 3: do something about this? As the people who are here
Speaker 3: like this isn't good enough? Can someone like you got
Speaker 3: to step up and just be like this is not
Speaker 3: good enough guys and go from there. But yeah, it's
Speaker 3: all all roads and to you want to know that organization.
Speaker 3: If you don't see change for five six years, will
Speaker 3: you've been there.
Speaker 5: And there's two things that you can muster up and
Speaker 5: do well. One one, you can muster up you can
Speaker 5: look yourself in the mirror and say, hey, I got
Speaker 5: to play for myself here. Every once in a while,
Speaker 5: I gotta come out and try and do my best,
Speaker 5: not worry about what everybody else is doing or can't
Speaker 5: wait till football season comes, fantasy football the off season.
Speaker 5: Like there's two jurstic things you can do. You know,
Speaker 5: how long do you want to play this game for?
Speaker 5: Because I'll just find somebody else if you're not going
Speaker 5: to push it to the envelope and get after you know,
Speaker 5: whether it's a ground ball, pop fly, you know, all
Speaker 5: little things. Just just give effort. You know, it doesn't
Speaker 5: mean you got to go one hundred percent, but just
Speaker 5: give some effort.
Speaker 2: Yeah, trying to see any there's your your finalist of
Speaker 2: grades here and trying to see if we've got anybody
Speaker 2: on here that that heavily disagrees or agrees. Boo in
Speaker 2: the chat said DBAC should be second. Yeah, D plus
Speaker 2: they said, ISN'TD plus not an actual grade? Isn't it
Speaker 2: just D n F?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: That's is that how it works?
Speaker 5: I don't know, Yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 6: No students, Like Michael.
Speaker 5: Came back, I said, come on, frase, Ben Rice says
Speaker 5: no business in the all. That's a different time, John, Michael,
Speaker 5: you talk a lot of Yankees on there. Brother, I
Speaker 5: love you, but I have to strongly disagree with you.
Speaker 5: He needs either to be a reserve for sure. I
Speaker 5: don't have all the numbers in front of me, but
Speaker 5: i've I've seen with my eye.
Speaker 4: Here's Vince said cards seven games over five hundred elite.
Speaker 2: No but deaf uh not the twenty twenty three cards
Speaker 2: or twenty four is probably what he means. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm with you there. I think I think they deserve
Speaker 2: an A. I'm big on that one, all right. So
Speaker 2: if you disagree with anything, or you agree with anything
Speaker 2: from either what CBS put out or what we put
Speaker 2: out there, let us know. Thank you very much. And
Speaker 2: apparently oh D plus n D minus our grades F
Speaker 2: minus never not quite Okay, great, there're three best students
Speaker 2: here on a Friday. Hey, we've got Spencer schwellenback joining
Speaker 2: us from the Braves right now. I think second time.
Speaker 2: I think joined us last year on ft SUS. Spencer's back. Spencer,
Speaker 2: Great to see you. How's your sophomore season going, Man.
Speaker 6: It's going good. Thanks for having me on guys.
Speaker 4: Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2: Now I have to start here just because we're fresh
Speaker 2: off this series and I'm from the area. So as
Speaker 2: Todd father, did you know that you're the nicest, most
Speaker 2: hated player for Mets fans.
Speaker 6: I did not know that.
Speaker 4: You know why though? Yeah, tell everyone what do you got?
Speaker 2: What do you got on the Mets that you just
Speaker 2: absolutely carve him up?
Speaker 1: And I don't know, it's like like pitching against good
Speaker 1: teams and like like pitching against good players. So it's
Speaker 1: fun pitching against that team.
Speaker 5: I want to ask, Yeah, that's funny. You know you
Speaker 5: think in New York queens like you are the nice
Speaker 5: one of the nicer guys. You know, you don't talk smack,
Speaker 5: You just get after you've been having a really good season.
Speaker 5: What do you what do you attest that too? Is
Speaker 5: there some is there like a mentor there? You know
Speaker 5: guys that you know that are taking you by the wings,
Speaker 5: Like who's a guy right now that you talk to
Speaker 5: after a game before a game and try and get
Speaker 5: either that mental approach ready or that grind like all right,
Speaker 5: this is what I need to do. Let's let's have
Speaker 5: a chat.
Speaker 6: Yeah. I mean, first guy that comes to mind is
Speaker 6: Chris Sale.
Speaker 1: I mean he's he's done it for a long time
Speaker 1: at a really high level, and you know, he's been
Speaker 1: through a lot of injuries.
Speaker 6: He's he said, a lot of success.
Speaker 1: And he's the guy that I go to with any questions,
Speaker 1: with any concerns. And then Spencer Strider has been a
Speaker 1: huge help having him back this year, just watching bullpens
Speaker 1: and picking his brain on certain things.
Speaker 6: And you know it, he.
Speaker 1: Knows a lot about the game, a lot about pitch design,
Speaker 1: pitch grips, you know how it should look. So just
Speaker 1: kind of leaning on those guys and trusting in the
Speaker 1: coaches and the catchers, and just trusting to myself as well.
Speaker 3: Did you tell Sale that it's okay to have just
Speaker 3: a little bit meat on those bones that might protect
Speaker 3: you when you lay out for a ball. Maybe an
Speaker 3: ounce of fat might give you a little cushions.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can't pull fat. I think he might be starting. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's scared he's gonna lose the Gold Glove this year,
Speaker 1: so he's trying to make up for it by diving
Speaker 1: foot balls.
Speaker 3: When he's so he's on the eel. Now, who have
Speaker 3: you thought, Because you've got some great pitchers to pick from,
Speaker 3: and you kind of just hint it on it a
Speaker 3: little bit. So who have you been learning the most from?
Speaker 3: Who have you been taking the most from on how
Speaker 3: to approach pitching this year and your second year round. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so just leaning on Rick Kranitz pitching coach.
Speaker 1: He's you know, old school, but there's a lot to
Speaker 1: learn with that.
Speaker 6: You know, I grew up in today's game.
Speaker 1: You have a lot of a lot of metrics and
Speaker 1: track man data, and sometimes you kind of overlook what
Speaker 1: it's like to actually pitch. And he's one of the
Speaker 1: best in the game at at understanding swings, understanding certain counts, hitters,
Speaker 1: and he's he's helped me a lot with that, and
Speaker 1: then going on with other pitchers like Pierce Johnson's got
Speaker 1: one of the best curveballs I've ever seen, just talking
Speaker 1: to him about different release points and Grant Holmes, he's
Speaker 1: he's a when you look at his slider, his curveball
Speaker 1: he's got. He spins the ball with the best of
Speaker 1: them as well. So when I'm when I'm in going
Speaker 1: wrong with the slider, when the slider's not moving right,
Speaker 1: those are some of the guys that you know I
Speaker 1: talked to with that.
Speaker 5: I want to bring up a little bit. Ten games
Speaker 5: out of the NL East. You know it wasn't the start.
Speaker 5: You guys wanted. Ronald Kuna has been absolutely dominant. You
Speaker 5: see this team making a run here, or do you
Speaker 5: see this team you know, trade deadline coming up? Do
Speaker 5: you hear anything about what's going on with the Braves
Speaker 5: you think a trader too? Or how you feeling about
Speaker 5: the squad right now?
Speaker 6: I mean, we trust in each and every one of us.
Speaker 1: We know that we got a team that can get
Speaker 1: it done and it's just just a matter of time.
Speaker 2: Spencer, the All Star Games coming up, obviously it's in Atlanta,
Speaker 2: and speaking of Akunya, he's going to be doing the
Speaker 2: derby there, which is cool. I know most guys are
Speaker 2: not are going to be folks on the season, but
Speaker 2: this is your sophomore season. How special would it be
Speaker 2: to get there because you know, probably for the rest
Speaker 2: of your career and I'm gonna have another Atlanta All
Speaker 2: Star hosting situation like this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it would definitely be special, and it
Speaker 1: being in Atlanta, I'd be a really good one to
Speaker 1: be in. But like you said, I mean, we got
Speaker 1: a lot of games left before the All Star break
Speaker 1: and we're trying to win some games, get back to
Speaker 1: five hundred, to get a set up to have a
Speaker 1: good second half.
Speaker 5: I want to switch gears here just for a second.
Speaker 5: Saw you from Saginaw, Michigan. Was hockey ever something big
Speaker 5: for you out there? Because I know in that Midwest
Speaker 5: area there's some good hockey out there. Talk to me
Speaker 5: a little about if not, what are some activities you
Speaker 5: like doing besides that?
Speaker 1: So I never competitively played hockey, but every winner, the
Speaker 1: pond would freeze, and me and all my friends would
Speaker 1: go out with the two nets and ten of us
Speaker 1: would go play on the frozen pond.
Speaker 6: So that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: But both my parents were basketball players, so that was
Speaker 1: kind of during the same season, so I never got
Speaker 1: to play hockey. But other than that, love every sport
Speaker 1: pick a ball, tennis, golf, basketball, football, soccer, you know,
Speaker 1: literally anything that it has a ball or a puck
Speaker 1: or whatever.
Speaker 6: Like playing.
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Speaker 2: off your first order. Hey, so let me let me
Speaker 2: take it back to the mound here for a moment.
Speaker 2: So you had your first complete game of your career,
Speaker 2: that was what three weeks ago, June eleventh. Where do
Speaker 2: you think we're at as you're a young pitcher here
Speaker 2: with the sport, trying to let guys let it eat
Speaker 2: a little bit more again with innings pitch and I
Speaker 2: think a good example that we've been using in the
Speaker 2: past week is a team in the other league in
Speaker 2: the AL, the Rays. We're thriving right now, and they
Speaker 2: were the team kind of leading the charge at one
Speaker 2: point with openers, bullpen games, et cetera. Now they're top
Speaker 2: three in baseball and innings pitched from their starters. One
Speaker 2: other thing I wanted to throw out there is we
Speaker 2: had schemes against Misraska the other day. Everyone's watching the
Speaker 2: play sells out. So what can we do to highlight
Speaker 2: the starter more and also from a younger level, right
Speaker 2: or a lower level, allow starters to let it eat
Speaker 2: so they can do that up in the big leagues.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 1: It's nice seeing starting pitchers go deep into games. And
Speaker 1: you know, with with how the game has kind of changed,
Speaker 1: we're chasing strikeouts or we're chasing swing and miss, so
Speaker 1: you see less of the you know, seven eight, nine
Speaker 1: inning games. So but for me, I just like to
Speaker 1: I try to go fifteen innings or less per inning.
Speaker 1: It's kind of what the goal was in the minor
Speaker 1: leagues with the Braves, like we want to be fifteen
Speaker 1: pitches or less and that'll allow you to go deeper
Speaker 1: into games. And listen, I mean there's the pitchers are
Speaker 1: throwing harder than ever. They're you know, they're chasing strikeouts.
Speaker 1: So I think that with how the game is going,
Speaker 1: we might not be seeing many complete games, but it's
Speaker 1: nice to.
Speaker 6: It's nice to definitely go deep into games.
Speaker 2: How did the Braves work it with you when you
Speaker 2: were in the minors, Because the Braves have done a
Speaker 2: nice job of getting some starting pitchers developed that weren't
Speaker 2: always the most highly touted, right, and then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden they come up to the bigs and I'm like,
Speaker 2: this guy's ready to go and he can pitch deep
Speaker 2: into outings. They've done a better job than I would
Speaker 2: say most teams on that front. So what was it
Speaker 2: like when you were talking to them in terms of
Speaker 2: the balance of you know, not overdoing it, but also
Speaker 2: for them to let you see how it is to
Speaker 2: work into a sixth seventh inning. I doubt you went
Speaker 2: into an eighth in the miners. Did they let you
Speaker 2: go that deep?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: So yeah, So my first year in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: I was coming off of Tommy John, so it was
Speaker 1: like a lot of twenty five pitch outings and then
Speaker 1: thirty pitch outings.
Speaker 6: You know, So it's they did it the right way
Speaker 6: with building me up.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if I got into the seventh
Speaker 1: inning that first year at all if they only went six,
Speaker 1: But then the second year in twenty twenty four, I
Speaker 1: threw maybe into the seventh on once or twice.
Speaker 6: But they do a really good job with.
Speaker 1: Monitoring guys' arms, and I think they have a pretty
Speaker 1: strict pitch count of around eighty five pitches, and they
Speaker 1: want to see guys that you know, can maintain their
Speaker 1: ve low and command deep in games, and then they'll
Speaker 1: let you earn it after that.
Speaker 3: Besides your pitch count, then from the difference between year
Speaker 3: one and year two, what else? What other differences can
Speaker 3: you talk about that you've noticed in the game, Because
Speaker 3: usually it's you come up, you might have success hitters
Speaker 3: adjust to you, then you adjust back, So this game
Speaker 3: will always go back and forth.
Speaker 6: A little bit.
Speaker 3: That's the cat and this game. But what are some
Speaker 3: of the other big adjustments or big differences you've seen
Speaker 3: now between year and one and year two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so doing scoutering report stuff, you've got to understand
Speaker 1: that the teams are also doing a scattering report against you.
Speaker 1: But then you also want to pitch to your strengths.
Speaker 1: So it's it's kind of like you said, a cat
Speaker 1: and mouse game where you know it's it's in year two,
Speaker 1: I've understood to read swings a little bit better. Last
Speaker 1: year it was just like, Okay, this pitch is supposed
Speaker 1: to work to this guy, and if it doesn't work, now,
Speaker 1: now what are you going to do?
Speaker 5: You know, so.
Speaker 1: Understanding swings, understanding different locations and why they work, and
Speaker 1: also doing scattering reports and looking at not only hot
Speaker 1: in cold zones, but you know, seeing what the swing
Speaker 1: looks like a guy's got a flat swing, or if
Speaker 1: a guy's you know, trying to lift the ball.
Speaker 6: Just stuff like that.
Speaker 3: Now, if you have a pitch that you think is
Speaker 3: going to work against a specific guy and you go
Speaker 3: to it and he nails it, you're like, you got
Speaker 3: him to chase. Do you how often do you immediately
Speaker 3: go right back to that or do you know? Then
Speaker 3: you're like, okay, I know I've got this in my arsenal.
Speaker 3: I might save it for till two strikes or that
Speaker 3: this works against him and I you can then pick
Speaker 3: and choose when you get it, or it's like, hey,
Speaker 3: let's go with this one. It works, we're gonna keep
Speaker 3: going until it doesn't.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's a there's a time and place
Speaker 1: for to repeat the pitch, depending if it's you know,
Speaker 1: first at bat, second at bat, third at that you
Speaker 1: know you got you gotta save some stuff for you know,
Speaker 1: the third time through the lineup. So just understanding, you know,
Speaker 1: even if there's guys on base too, it's also.
Speaker 6: A different scenario there.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I've got six pitches, so it gives
Speaker 1: me a.
Speaker 6: Gives me more to work with too, that doesn't.
Speaker 2: Hey, yeah, and on on that topic, I mean, it
Speaker 2: seems like guys are able to pick up pitches quicker nowadays.
Speaker 2: I'm sure some of that has to do with the
Speaker 2: tech and the advancement on the coaching front. How have
Speaker 2: you noticed that, you know, whether it's in the miners
Speaker 2: and now up in the bigs and guys that you
Speaker 2: pitch around, where all of a sudden everyone's shown up
Speaker 2: to spring training with a new pitch and it's not
Speaker 2: just I mean, obviously sometimes they're toying with it, but
Speaker 2: it's it's often actually converting into being used in the
Speaker 2: regular season. Right Like for me, I feel like I
Speaker 2: have to do a lot more homework going into a
Speaker 2: season as a broadcaster, being like, okay, what are all
Speaker 2: of his pitches now in his pitch usage where you know,
Speaker 2: maybe go fifteen years back and it's like, oh, I
Speaker 2: know what he throws.
Speaker 4: It's the same thing his entire career.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think with all the data that we have,
Speaker 1: if you see someone spinning their fastball at a certain
Speaker 1: like on a certain access, you know that they can
Speaker 1: throw a seam shifted sinker or they can throw a
Speaker 1: cutter like. So it's like adding these pitches is easier
Speaker 1: than it sounds because you're you're ultimately just throwing the
Speaker 1: pitch the same way but with a different grip. And
Speaker 1: there's there's so many really intelligent people that that know
Speaker 1: a lot about the game, a lot about grips, release points,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think that guys are are we're
Speaker 1: kind of working harder than ever in that aspect as well.
Speaker 2: Hey, Spencer, who on the braves should we be talking
Speaker 2: more about? Obviously we know a lot of the names
Speaker 2: that are signed up for lifetime deals essentially, but who else?
Speaker 2: Who else should we be talking about this year that
Speaker 2: you know we're not talking enough about on a national level.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Drake Baldwin should be an All Star.
Speaker 1: He doesn't get enough credit. I think he's he came
Speaker 1: into the year. Uh, he started off slow. He was
Speaker 1: crushing the ball everywhere and his his average is hitting
Speaker 1: stats they just didn't you know, it didn't show that
Speaker 1: and he stayed with it.
Speaker 6: Was has been awesome in the clubhouse. He's been awesome
Speaker 6: to throw too.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, not only should he he
Speaker 1: be in the All Star Game, but he needs to
Speaker 1: be talked about a lot more.
Speaker 4: I like that.
Speaker 2: Well, tell us a little more about him. I don't
Speaker 2: know a lot about him. I haven't really seen him
Speaker 2: too many interviews. Like he seems a little bit quiet
Speaker 2: and hidden.
Speaker 4: So what's he like?
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's he is a quiet guy. He's goofy, always
Speaker 1: has a smile on his face.
Speaker 6: Uh, he's.
Speaker 1: I threw to him a lot in in minor leagues
Speaker 1: and just to see how much better that he has
Speaker 1: gotten with receiving, blocking, pitch calling, and reading swings. It's
Speaker 1: really fantastic to watch. Really good guy.
Speaker 2: Nice well Spencer, dude, this was awesome, man, Really appreciate
Speaker 2: the time. Great to have you back on and to
Speaker 2: see you thriving again. So keep doing your thing, dude.
Speaker 6: Thanks guys,