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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hammer Territory Podcast. My name is Sean Coleman. Hope,

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Speaker 1: wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you are

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Speaker 1: having a tremendous week so far. Of course, that's if

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Speaker 1: you chose not to watch phrase baseball on Wednesday night. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: we can't thank you enough for joining us here on

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Speaker 1: the Hammer Territory Podcast, part of the Foul Territory family

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Speaker 1: of podcasts. Always a pleasure to be with you, even

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Speaker 1: when we score twelve runs or when we score one

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Speaker 1: to zero runs. And of course my podcast partner, Stephen

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Speaker 1: Tolbert is here with me, and Stephen I feel there's

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Speaker 1: only one way to describe Wednesday night. Max Reid chose

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Speaker 1: a bad night to stink on the same night that

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Speaker 1: our offense chose to get back to me.

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Speaker 2: It is very it's very difficult. In a three game

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Speaker 2: sample size, the Braves have played three games here in

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Speaker 2: the last three days to score thirteen runs and only

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Speaker 2: give up six runs. So the Braves in the last

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Speaker 2: three games have scored thirteen runs, they only give up

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Speaker 2: six runs and go one and two. And that's what

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Speaker 2: the Braves are done. Because they scored zero runs on Monday,

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Speaker 2: they scored twelve runs last night, and they scored one

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Speaker 2: run tonight. And if that is not just a perfect,

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Speaker 2: perfect encapsulation of this season, I don't know it is

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Speaker 2: Every night is it's like it's like shaking a magic

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Speaker 2: eight ball just to see what the offense is gonna.

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Speaker 2: You're just praying that the offense shows some sign of

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Speaker 2: life early, because you know, if they don't show any

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Speaker 2: sign of life early, it's not coming. And we've just

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Speaker 2: seen that over and over. And when we got to

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Speaker 2: like the fourth inning, honestly, it was like three to

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Speaker 2: nothing and like the fourth inning, and I was like,

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Speaker 2: this game's over, because like once the Braids get to

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Speaker 2: that point in the game and the offense hasn't arrived,

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Speaker 2: it doesn't arrive. And you know, the Nationals already had

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Speaker 2: enough runs to win that game. And it's just such

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Speaker 2: a deflating feeling to know that, like three to nothing

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Speaker 2: in the fourth inning is like an insurmountable league and

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Speaker 2: that and that's just what it feels like with his team.

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Speaker 2: You know, they showed they showed a flash in the

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Speaker 2: pan last night about you know, and it's what I've

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Speaker 2: been saying, that they still have offensive talent. You know,

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Speaker 2: Michael Harris, Forges, Hilaire Marcelo Zuno medals and Ramond Loriano Kelnick,

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Speaker 2: you know, the catchers, Like there's still enough talent here

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Speaker 2: to be a decent offense. There's not enough talent to

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Speaker 2: be great, but there's enough talent to be decent. And honestly,

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Speaker 2: scoring twelve like it's almost like a t It's almost

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Speaker 2: like it's almost more painful, you know, watching them score

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Speaker 2: twelve runs and then go right back to just being awful. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's very good. It's very good for our

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Speaker 2: podcast if the Brais make the playoffs. Like the podcast

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Speaker 2: numbers go through the roof during the playoffs. We know

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Speaker 2: this for doing this for years now. Obviously this is

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Speaker 2: a new podcast. It would help us a lot if

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Speaker 2: the Brais make the playoffs. So we have like a

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Speaker 2: personal investment in the Brais making the playoffs. It's good

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Speaker 2: for us. With that being said, I do kind of

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Speaker 2: hope the Dodgers come into town this weekend and just

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Speaker 2: take the Braves out to the woodshed and you know,

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Speaker 2: old yell are them right out of the season. Like

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Speaker 2: part of me hopes for that, truly, Like I want

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Speaker 2: them to win, obviously, I want them to make the playoffs,

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Speaker 2: but there is another part of me that's like, I

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Speaker 2: wouldn't hate it if the Dodgers just came in and

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Speaker 2: bludgeoned these guys for four games and it just it ended,

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Speaker 2: and we could at least emotionally get past this season.

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Speaker 2: Obviously we're gonna cover the team no matter what, but

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Speaker 2: at least emotionally we could get past the season. And yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's Tonight's just another and a long, long season of

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Speaker 2: frustrating games. And I'm guessing the frustrating games are not

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Speaker 2: done quite yet, and I'm guessing we've got a few

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Speaker 2: more in store, and it's just going to be like

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Speaker 2: this every night where you're just praying to God that

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Speaker 2: the offense shows any sign of life at any point,

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Speaker 2: because and you know, if it doesn't come early, it's

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Speaker 2: not coming at all. And that's just it's a deflating

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Speaker 2: way to watch a baseball game.

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Speaker 1: And you know, the crazy thing about it, We've used

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Speaker 1: the word microcosm quite a bit, you know, taking you know,

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Speaker 1: like you did these three games sample sizes and just

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Speaker 1: saying that this in and of itself is a even

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Speaker 1: though it's a small sample size, it's SI an accurate

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Speaker 1: representation of the season as a whole. But it's almost

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Speaker 1: the Braves offense where it struggles is almost reverse of

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Speaker 1: what you usually see. Tuesday, I gets to decent starting pitcher,

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Speaker 1: the Braves show that they have the offensive ceiling to

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Speaker 1: still play with anyone like this is still one of

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Speaker 1: the more powerful teams in baseball. They've proven it with

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Speaker 1: the fact that they've been near the top or at

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Speaker 1: the top of the majors and home runs in the

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Speaker 1: second half of the season. But where this Braves team struggles.

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Speaker 1: Where you're talking about what's keeping this Braves team from

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Speaker 1: being great offensively even without all the talent that they've

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Speaker 1: lost injury. Where this Braves team struggles is the infrequency

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Speaker 1: of them having a solid offensive floor. There is so

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Speaker 1: much variance. They either play like the worst offensive baseball

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Speaker 1: or the best offensive baseball, and far more often towards

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Speaker 1: the best the worst offense in baseball than the best.

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Speaker 1: That's why I have very little faith in the Braves

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Speaker 1: being able to figure it out against the Dodgers. That's

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Speaker 1: why I have very little faith, you know, you know,

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Speaker 1: in feeling confident that the Braves are going to make

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. It's not that they don't have the offensive

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Speaker 1: potential to be able to do what they need to

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Speaker 1: do to make the playoffs and make noise in the postseas.

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Speaker 1: It's just that they're so infrequent of having a solid

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Speaker 1: floor of consistently scoring four to five runs that really

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Speaker 1: makes you question their true ability to be able to

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Speaker 1: make the playoffs. And that's what's so frustrating. And with

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers coming up, and we'll get into this a

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Speaker 1: little bit later, but this team has got to figure

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Speaker 1: out how to average four or five plus runs for

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Speaker 1: them to truly have a shot out I think, to

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Speaker 1: make the playoffs. And I just have very little to

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Speaker 1: know faith they'll figure it out.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, honesty compels me to say, like the Mets,

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Speaker 2: the Mets have been a much better team than the

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Speaker 2: Braves for a long time now. Like the Mets got

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Speaker 2: off to a miserable start, the Braves got off to

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Speaker 2: a very hot start, and so it's taken a long

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Speaker 2: time for like their past to converge once again and

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Speaker 2: for the Mets to pass the Braves. But for a

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Speaker 2: long time now, the Mets have been a better team

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Speaker 2: and they're just more consistent on offense. You know, they

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Speaker 2: they've pitched way better than I thought they would, and

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Speaker 2: the Braves problems have just seemingly never gone away, Like

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Speaker 2: they're big number one problem is they can't score. And

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Speaker 2: we thought that after enough time had passed that you know,

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Speaker 2: they would get hot again. I know they have injuries.

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Speaker 2: I get it. They are without their three of their regulars.

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Speaker 2: They're without Acunya, the Rilly, They're without Ozzie, but they

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Speaker 2: still have six of the guys that they were planning

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Speaker 2: on having in the offense. So like, yes, they're out

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Speaker 2: there without their you know, especially two of their big guys,

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Speaker 2: with a Kunyan Riley and so. And that's why I mean,

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Speaker 2: they they have no business being a great offense. You

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Speaker 2: can't lose Acunyan Riley and still be a great offense.

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Speaker 2: But they again, they have six of the nine guys

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Speaker 2: that they were planning on having. And on top of that,

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Speaker 2: guys like Loreano, whit Merrifield who have filled in for

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Speaker 2: some of these guys have done really well. So you

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Speaker 2: add all that together, this still should be a lineup

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Speaker 2: that can score, you know, decently well consistent, you know,

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Speaker 2: some level of consistency. The injuries and we talked about

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Speaker 2: this last show, but the injuries are not enough to

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Speaker 2: explain all of this there and Bradon Scott I thought,

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Speaker 2: did a good job of breaking this down on their

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Speaker 2: there's the show they did on on uh last night

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Speaker 2: I think it was, or it was either their Sunday

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Speaker 2: show or last night show. I can't remember which one.

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Speaker 2: But you know, the underperformance, the lack of production from

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Speaker 2: offensive talent that they were supposed to get from guys

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Speaker 2: that have been either healthy for all of the season

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Speaker 2: or healthy for most of the season, is just as

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Speaker 2: big of a reason for this, you know, this problem

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Speaker 2: as the injuries are. And yeah, I mean you know,

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Speaker 2: the pitching can only carry you, Like it's it's it's

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Speaker 2: so hard to only give up two runs a night

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Speaker 2: from your pitching staff, Like if that's how you have

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Speaker 2: to win a game, if you have to only give

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Speaker 2: up two runs and otherwise you can't win, then you know,

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Speaker 2: it's just it's damn near impossible. Quite honest, it's a

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Speaker 2: it's a miracle. I mean, that's how good the pitching

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Speaker 2: has been this year. By the way, the Brads are

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Speaker 2: like number one in every single significant pitching category, literally

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Speaker 2: every one of them. They're number one in baseball and

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Speaker 2: that's the only reason the Breds are still alive at

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Speaker 2: this point is because the pitching has just been so

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Speaker 2: freaking good, like, so much better than I ever thought

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Speaker 2: the pitching staff would be. And they've had to be

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Speaker 2: that because the offense has given them very little to

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Speaker 2: you know, to work with, night after night after night

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Speaker 2: after night. And you know, of course we saw it

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Speaker 2: again tonight.

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Speaker 1: So of course, the performance on the field on Wednesday

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Speaker 1: night was pretty disappointing, but you're used to it by

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Speaker 1: now with how often it has occurred. Unfortunately, the other

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Speaker 1: thing that has occurred, and it seems nearly as often

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Speaker 1: off the field, is significant injuries, and the Braves once

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Speaker 1: again dealt with that on during the day on Wednesday.

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Speaker 1: Of course, if if you recall from Tuesday night, despite

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Speaker 1: how great it was to see the offense he wrought

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Speaker 1: for twelve runs and finally have an easy victory, Renaldo

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Speaker 1: Lopez only pitched one inning on Tuesday night. You know,

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Speaker 1: after the game, you know, he and Brian Snicker commented

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Speaker 1: on you know his what he was experiencing, and Renaldo Lopez,

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Speaker 1: I appreciate, you know how transparent he was. He just

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Speaker 1: simply said, you know, he didn't really feel he seemed

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Speaker 1: to be in good spirits. He didn't really feel as

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Speaker 1: if it was anything major. He just did not have

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Speaker 1: the usual ability that he had to ramp it up

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Speaker 1: to ninety six plus. He just didn't have that on

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Speaker 1: Tuesday and that's probably what contributed to him running into

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Speaker 1: a bit of trouble on in the first inning on Tuesday.

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Speaker 1: So they did an MRI. Nothing structural showed up as

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Speaker 1: being concerning. They feel that they may be able to

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Speaker 1: put him on a throwing program here in a few days,

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Speaker 1: but they did place him on the fifteen day. Il

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Speaker 1: Das bo Hernandez was caught up in his spot. But Stephen,

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Speaker 1: while overall it's good initial news, with it being this

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Speaker 1: late in the season, you don't know if Ronaldo Lopez

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Speaker 1: is going to come back, like you. You hope that

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Speaker 1: he does, but you don't know. And I know that

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Speaker 1: all four of us, Brad, Scott, you myself, we basically

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Speaker 1: said in different different variations, you know throughout this season

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Speaker 1: that as long as the Braves have Sell and Freed,

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Speaker 1: that's a pretty good one two combination. You know that

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Speaker 1: in terms of the starting staff, you have to feel

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Speaker 1: pretty good about yourself in a series. But Ronaldo Lopez

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Speaker 1: has maintained his effectiveness throughout most of the year, especially

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Speaker 1: coming back from his injury in August, and his loss

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Speaker 1: should not be discounted. He, in my opinion this season,

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Speaker 1: has been the most trusted right handed arm that the

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Speaker 1: Braves have to be able to work through a lineup,

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Speaker 1: whether it's under five hundred or a quality lineup. Going

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Speaker 1: into the playoffs, he was the most trusted right handed

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Speaker 1: arm that could work through a playoff lineup multiple times.

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Speaker 1: And now Atlanta may be without him. I know, we

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Speaker 1: talk about the offense, you know, and the injuries it's experienced.

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Speaker 1: I know, the pitching staff overall has just been incredible,

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Speaker 1: but this this is a big loss and you have

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Speaker 1: to hope that he comes back or the brains are

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Speaker 1: going to have to go to less trustworthy options, you know,

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Speaker 1: potentially if they make the playoffs, and especially down the

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Speaker 1: stretch just to try to make the playoffs.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was kind of weird, honestly, because like all

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Speaker 2: the news was good, Like they did test initially after

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Speaker 2: he came out of the game, and they were all clean.

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Speaker 2: They said the mri all the you know this, the

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Speaker 2: shoulder was structurally sound. There was nothing wrong with structurally,

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Speaker 2: just a little bit of inflammation, which is all good news.

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Speaker 2: But then they immediately put him on the IL, and

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Speaker 2: you know, there's there's like seventeen days left in the season,

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Speaker 2: so a fifteen day IL stint. I mean, people can

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Speaker 2: do the math, you know. I did find it notable

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Speaker 2: that they put him on the ALE immediately. If you

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Speaker 2: remember back when he got hurt the first time, you know,

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Speaker 2: there was this long wait to put him on the

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Speaker 2: IL because they thought maybe he could pitch through it.

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Speaker 2: Thought maybe you know, by not putting on the IL,

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Speaker 2: they could save a few days and he could come

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Speaker 2: back sooner. It didn't end up working. They ended up

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Speaker 2: putting him on the AL eventually, but it was notable

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Speaker 2: to me that they immediately put him on the fifteen

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Speaker 2: day IL this time. Where I mean, and I get

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Speaker 2: why they're trying to get him I'm sure back as

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Speaker 2: fast as possible, but yeah, Snith was very noncommittal about

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Speaker 2: the timeline when reporters spoke to him today before the game.

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Speaker 2: He just said, they'll know more about the timeline once

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Speaker 2: they get into a throwing program and see how he feels,

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Speaker 2: which I mean that makes sense. Of course, you have

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Speaker 2: no idea how guy's gonna feel, you know, ten days

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Speaker 2: from now. So but yeah, I mean, if you're a

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Speaker 2: Braves fan, you just kind of I mean, honestly, you know,

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Speaker 2: the prudent thing to do is probably to expect that

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Speaker 2: he's probably done. It doesn't mean he's definitely done. But

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Speaker 2: when you're getting put on the fifteen day IL in

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Speaker 2: the middle of September, you know, I'm gonna be I

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Speaker 2: tweeted this today. I'm gonna vie as various see what

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Speaker 2: they do in terms of his role if he does

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Speaker 2: come back, Like, are they just gonna throw him right

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Speaker 2: back in the rotation? Are they gonna throw him in

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Speaker 2: the bullpen? We know he's a really good reliever, He's

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Speaker 2: done that for years. You know, if he does come back,

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Speaker 2: his role is going to be very interesting. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: the fact that they immediately put him on, the fact

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Speaker 2: that it was a shoulder to begin with, which is

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Speaker 2: always scary. Yeah, I'm if I'm honest, Given the way

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Speaker 2: the rest of the year is gone, I'm not really

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Speaker 2: expecting much from him. If he comes back and is

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Speaker 2: able to maybe pitch in that last series against Kansas

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Speaker 2: City and then pitching the postseason if the Braves are

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Speaker 2: even in the postseason. Quite honestly, I mean by the

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Speaker 2: time he by the time these fifteen days are up,

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Speaker 2: depending on how this Dodger Series goes, the Brave season

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Speaker 2: might be over anyways. So you know, it's very possible

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Speaker 2: we've seen the last of Ronaldo Lopez for twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 2: I will say, the fact that there was no structural

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Speaker 2: damage does mean obviously much more positive things for twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty five and beyond. You know, the Braves do have

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Speaker 2: this guy signed for multiple years after this year, so

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Speaker 2: you know that that matters, that that's a part of this.

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Speaker 2: But in terms of twenty twenty four, in the earliest

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Speaker 2: he can come back is the last series of the year,

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Speaker 2: and if the Brays don't start playing better baseball, their

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Speaker 2: season might be done by them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you and you look at it as well.

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Speaker 1: You know, over the past six weeks, you know, basically,

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Speaker 1: over over the last two months of the season, Ronald

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Speaker 1: Lopez is going to have spent half his time on

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Speaker 1: the IL one for you know, I believe it was

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Speaker 1: a forearm. I believe he had a forum injury that

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Speaker 1: he was dealing with and now a shoulder injury, so

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Speaker 1: you also have to wonder, you know, what's he going

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Speaker 1: to look like, you know, what's of his effectiveness going

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Speaker 1: to be? You know, and if he's put in the

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Speaker 1: bullpen spot, you know that that means Charlie Morten or

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Speaker 1: Spencer Schwellenbach is going to be starting, you know, a

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Speaker 1: potential game three. But even bigger than that, this is

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Speaker 1: three starts now that you don't have one of your

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Speaker 1: better pitchers won the better pitchers in the National League

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Speaker 1: this year going, you're gonna have to replace him in

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Speaker 1: the starting rotation. So just once again the Braves having

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Speaker 1: to unexpectedly alter what they were going to do with

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Speaker 1: less effective options and you know, simply hope for the best.

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Speaker 1: But speaking of being less effective, you know one thing

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Speaker 1: that one of the things that has stood out to

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Speaker 1: me the most that you said some many great things

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Speaker 1: all season, Steven, but one thing that I thought was

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Speaker 1: so so true. I believe it was the last time

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Speaker 1: we did. It was one of our podcasts last week.

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Speaker 1: You talked about the fact that if the starting pitching

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Speaker 1: for the Braves is not spectacular, there's a very good

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Speaker 1: chance the Braves are going to lose the game, and

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Speaker 1: we're starting to see a bit less effectiveness from this

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Speaker 1: brave starting staff. Spincher Swellenbach his last outing against Toronto

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Speaker 1: over the weekend. You know, Max Freed tonight. He didn't

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Speaker 1: look that great. I know that a lot of the

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Speaker 1: runs that Washington scored was off week contact, but Max

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Speaker 1: didn't seem to have his usual control. You know, he

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Speaker 1: gave it runners got on base by hitting the ball hard.

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Speaker 1: You know, once again we're seeing that if these the

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Speaker 1: margin for ERA is so small because of how Jacko

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Speaker 1: and Hyde this offense is that if this starting pitching

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Speaker 1: is not Chris and it's not given a quality to

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Speaker 1: dominating start, this team is really putting in a position

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Speaker 1: to where it's going to be hard for them to win.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean I have a hard time. I mean, it's

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Speaker 2: one hundred percent true everything you just said, and we've

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Speaker 2: been talking about it all year that this the pitching

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Speaker 2: staff has to be damn near perfect for these for

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Speaker 2: these guys to win. So I have a hard I

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Speaker 2: have a hard time blaming the pitching staff when they're

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Speaker 2: not perfect, like I you know, Max was not good tonight.

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Speaker 2: He gave up. He had base runners every he had,

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Speaker 2: like he gave up like twelve base runners and four

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Speaker 2: innings or something like that, something crazy, you know. And actually,

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Speaker 2: if you look at since he's come back from the IL,

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Speaker 2: Max has got like a four four fifty e r

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Speaker 2: A or something like that. Since he's come back from

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Speaker 2: the IA, hasn't. He hasn't. He hasn't actually been you know,

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Speaker 2: the typical Max freed since he came back, which is

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Speaker 2: a different topic for you know, especially if we get

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Speaker 2: into the playoffs. You know, I don't think he's quite

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Speaker 2: been as sharp since he came back. But again, I'm

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Speaker 2: not going to spend very much time ripping the starting rotation.

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Speaker 2: You know, we can nitpick stuff. You know, Swallen Box

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Speaker 2: a rookie. He's pitched more innings this year than he's

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Speaker 2: probably ever pitched in his life. And you know, on

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Speaker 2: any level, you know, counting bullpens, I mean he's thrown

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Speaker 2: you know, he's just blown past his career innings limit.

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Speaker 2: You know, Charlie Morton. Every time we think Charlie Morton

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Speaker 2: is gonna you know, right off into the sunset, he

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Speaker 2: comes roaring back and throws out a solid month for

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Speaker 2: salescourse is probably gonna win the side. Young Rinaldo has

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Speaker 2: been fantastic. Max has been up and down by his standards.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I just I have a hard time mustering

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Speaker 2: up any energy to rip on the starting rotation. They

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Speaker 2: have to be, I mean, they have to be so

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Speaker 2: perfect to win games, and it's just an impossible way

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Speaker 2: to I mean, this is what the Mariners have tried

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Speaker 2: to do for like the last five years is put

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Speaker 2: up an incredible rotation, a really good bullpen and try

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Speaker 2: to win every game two to one. And you just

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Speaker 2: can't do that. You just cannot. You can't play this

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Speaker 2: many close games. There's a reason why one run games

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Speaker 2: are used as a metric to determine if a team

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Speaker 2: has been lucky or unlucky, because there's just a lot

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Speaker 2: of variance. There's more variance in one run games than

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Speaker 2: any other type of game because it just takes one pitch,

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Speaker 2: it takes one misplay, one run to flip the game.

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Speaker 2: And when you play all of these close games, you're

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Speaker 2: just gonna lose a bunch of them. That's just how

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Speaker 2: it goes. Like the point of a good offense is

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Speaker 2: to give you a margin of era where you get

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Speaker 2: past the variants, where you get past the randomness, and

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Speaker 2: you get into a much more consistent way of winning

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Speaker 2: baseball games. This has been the Mariners problem forever, and

399
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Speaker 2: this is now the Braves problem. You can't score, you

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Speaker 2: can't win consistently. It's just the bottom line. Don't care

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Speaker 2: how good your pitching is, you get into all these

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Speaker 2: close games, you burn out your bullpen, You're just gonna

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Speaker 2: lose a bunch of them. That's the nature of baseball.

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Speaker 2: And you know, we've said it all year, so sick

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Speaker 2: of saying it. But until this team scores runs at

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Speaker 2: a somewhat consistent level, this is what they are. They

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Speaker 2: are a you know, they've been a five hundred team

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Speaker 2: now for about five months, and that's what they are.

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Speaker 2: I mean, there's still thirteen games over five hundred, which

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Speaker 2: is exactly where they were. You know at the end

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Speaker 2: of April. They have literally not added a single game

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Speaker 2: to that ledger because they have been a fight. I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's what you are. When you can't score, you're a

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Speaker 2: five hundred team because you're just playing all these one

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Speaker 2: run games. Those kind of games break both ways, are

416
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Speaker 2: pretty even clip and that's what you are, and that's

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Speaker 2: what the Braves are.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it may have been twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 1: I think that was the year where we were talking

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Speaker 1: about the Braves trying to what win three games in

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Speaker 1: a row and every time they did, they were like

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Speaker 1: oh and ten or oher and eleven when they tried

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Speaker 1: to do it. I can't I can't remember the it's

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Speaker 1: exact statistic, but Brad Roland made up a great point.

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Speaker 1: Somebody I'm not sure if somebody else made it, but

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Speaker 1: Brad mentioned it to us before the podcast. The Braves

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Speaker 1: have tried seven different times this year to go fourteen

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Speaker 1: games above five hundred, and they are oh and seven

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Speaker 1: in those games. They've not been better than thirteen games

430
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,280
Speaker 1: over five hundred since late April, which is the definition

431
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,359
Speaker 1: of a five hundred team. And just to be clear,

432
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: you know, bringing up the fact that the you know,

433
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,640
Speaker 1: starting staff is you know, starting to be a little

434
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,960
Speaker 1: bit less effective. Agreed with Steven and and this my

435
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:03,760
Speaker 1: point was not to in any way, shape or form

436
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,840
Speaker 1: criticize the starting staff. It's just to point out that

437
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 1: the starting staff doing what it was doing nearly a

438
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,360
Speaker 1: month of the starters going without allowing three or more

439
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,440
Speaker 1: runs in a game is just unheard of. It was

440
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,919
Speaker 1: an incredible streak and you likely we're not going to

441
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:20,840
Speaker 1: see it continue. You're likely we're going to see it

442
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: stop at some point.

443
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 2: And with yeah, that was that was a stretch where

444
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,400
Speaker 2: the Braves needed to play like twenty and five baseball.

445
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 1: Yeah they had, Yes, they need they needed to play

446
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,560
Speaker 1: to the level that the Mets did. But the big

447
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 1: thing that stands out is that what the Braves couldn't

448
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,600
Speaker 1: do that the Mets have done all year. The difference

449
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,640
Speaker 1: between the Mets and the Braves over the past four

450
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,200
Speaker 1: months has been the Mets beat beating teams that they're

451
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 1: supposed to beat, but because the Braves offense can't be trusted,

452
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,199
Speaker 1: they can't beat teams that they're supposed to beat. And

453
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,280
Speaker 1: so that's that's what really has stood out. But now

454
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,920
Speaker 1: with Ronaldo Lopez on the IL, you know you're gonna

455
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: have to have an arms step up, Steven, so you know,

456
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 1: you you definitely, you know, the spotlight turns to you know,

457
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,440
Speaker 1: Charlie Morton's you know, continuing his good stretches of late

458
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,239
Speaker 1: Spencer Swellingbaugh hopefully gaining some effectiveness back. But you know,

459
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,800
Speaker 1: Grant Holmes potentially, you know, stepping into a rotation spot

460
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,360
Speaker 1: the Braves are going to go, you know with swelling box, Sale, Morton,

461
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,760
Speaker 1: and Freed in their four games against the Dodgers over

462
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 1: the weekend into Monday. You know, does Grant Holmes get

463
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: an option after that? Potentially could we see a J.

464
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: Smith shobber, you know, potentially be an option for the Braves.

465
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,440
Speaker 1: You know, it's going to be quite interesting to see

466
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,960
Speaker 1: what happens. And the other thing that kind of concerns me, Stephen,

467
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,280
Speaker 1: when it comes to a less effective starting staff and

468
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 1: now you're losing one of your more reliable starters. This

469
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,320
Speaker 1: puts even more pressure on a tired bullpen. So we

470
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,760
Speaker 1: talk about that the Braves need their pitching to be

471
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,280
Speaker 1: as pristine as possible, and you just mentioned that if

472
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 1: they're not, how hard it is. The One other thing

473
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,600
Speaker 1: that stands out is that losing another arm to injury

474
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 1: that heightens the chance that you're going to continue to

475
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: see fatigue play a bigger part and what the Braves

476
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: are doing, and that a real concern, especially for the.

477
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,160
Speaker 2: Bull Yeah, I'm assuming, I mean we haven't heard anything.

478
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,040
Speaker 2: They haven't made this call yet. I'm assuming Grant Holmes

479
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:09,720
Speaker 2: is just going to go back to the rotation. I

480
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 2: don't know, you know, he's been a multi inning guy.

481
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,360
Speaker 2: I'm guessing they'll probably try to stretch him out over

482
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,399
Speaker 2: a couple of starts where he maybe goes four innings

483
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 2: one and then maybe five or six the next. But

484
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,920
Speaker 2: you know, who knows, maybe Aj s Michal comes up

485
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 2: at some point and replaces somebody. You know, they they

486
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,960
Speaker 2: brought it Day's Bell, you know, in in AJ spot,

487
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 2: which is what made me think that Grant Holmes was

488
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 2: just going to go to the rotation and Day's Bell

489
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 2: would just go into Grant Holmes's bullpen spot. But we'll

490
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 2: see what they do. You know, it's it's it's really

491
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:47,400
Speaker 2: only going to be two starts. I mean again, we're

492
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,320
Speaker 2: in the middle of September. We got two weeks of

493
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 2: baseball left, so you know, it's not talking about a

494
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 2: long term problem here. It's going to be a pretty

495
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 2: short term problem one way or the other. So yeah,

496
00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 2: I'm assuming Grant Holmes, but yeah, you're right. I mean

497
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,680
Speaker 2: the bullpen, you know, the bullpen really had to you know,

498
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,199
Speaker 2: they had to throw eight innings yesterday because you know,

499
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 2: Ronaldo came out of the game after the first inning.

500
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 2: You know, Max did a good job of at least,

501
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,879
Speaker 2: you know, getting some innings tonight, he was it was

502
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:15,880
Speaker 2: looking rough there and like the second and third inning,

503
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 2: he was already like fifty sixty pitches, he had a

504
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 2: ton of base runners. I was really, you know, the

505
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,119
Speaker 2: Bred's getting the Brad's gonna an off day tomorrow, so

506
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 2: that does help. But I was really worried that he

507
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 2: was going to come out of that game early and

508
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 2: the bullpen was gonna have to cover up another five

509
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:34,000
Speaker 2: or six innings. But yeah, I mean, losing Ronaldo sucks.

510
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 2: There's just no another way I say, you know, even

511
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 2: if it, even if he does come back for the postseason,

512
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 2: losing him for this stretch run in the middle of

513
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 2: a dog fight, you know, playoff race just sucks. And

514
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,080
Speaker 2: other guys got to step up. Grant Holmes did a

515
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 2: pretty good job in the rotation, I thought, for what

516
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 2: he is, and I'm guessing that's where they're gonna go.

517
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,719
Speaker 2: But who knows. You might see Ian Anderson, you might

518
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,440
Speaker 2: see a J. Smith Schalver. They do have a couple

519
00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 2: options in Gwinnett if they want to go that route.

520
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 2: But the main thing is the offense. The offense has

521
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,160
Speaker 2: just got to show up, you know, like it's it's

522
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 2: actually not against the rules to get hot for like

523
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 2: two weeks or three weeks like that's that's that's perfectly

524
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 2: legal in baseball. You can stay hot for like three

525
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 2: or four weeks. You don't have to just stay hot

526
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 2: for like two days and then go right back to

527
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 2: being crap. So if the offense can once again for

528
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,120
Speaker 2: the million time, if the offense can show any life,

529
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 2: then the Braves are not dead in the water. But

530
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,360
Speaker 2: if they keep doing this where every other game is one, two,

531
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 2: zero runs, then it's going to be a pretty quiet October,

532
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 2: I'm afraid.

533
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,800
Speaker 1: Absolutely so. So let's turn our attention to the Dodgers.

534
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,960
Speaker 1: And if you have a feeling of gloom and doom,

535
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,520
Speaker 1: if you're not looking forward to this weekend, I don't

536
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,600
Speaker 1: blame you. I'm right there with you. You know, it's

537
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 1: not it's not me wan Y. I very badly do

538
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,119
Speaker 1: not want to be negative about the Braves chances. I

539
00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: have remained quietly confident up until about this week and

540
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 1: the Braves figuring it out finally and being able to

541
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 1: pull ahead and figure it out to where they'd be

542
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,400
Speaker 1: in a playoff position, but with the injury to Ronaldo Lopez,

543
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,200
Speaker 1: and again this offense just showing a spurt of success

544
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,719
Speaker 1: but then going right back to being dormant. It's just

545
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 1: it's hard to have faith. But two things stand out

546
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: to me, Steve, is that again I mentioned that, you know,

547
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 1: the Mets. Credit to them, they have been playing excellent baseball.

548
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 1: I think that they have the best record in baseball

549
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: over the past three plus months. The difference between their

550
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: success over the past three months and the braves lack

551
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,120
Speaker 1: of success. The Mets have consistently beat teams that they're

552
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:40,400
Speaker 1: supposed to be. They've also been pretty good against teams

553
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 1: that are, you know, of equal talent. What it has

554
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: stood out about the Braves this year, the Braves have

555
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 1: played better against quality teams than they have teams under

556
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:54,199
Speaker 1: five hundred. So coming into this weekend, the Mets and

557
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 1: Braves are facing arguably to two best teams in baseball.

558
00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 1: The Mets have four against the Phillies, the Braves have

559
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,120
Speaker 1: against the Dodgers. The Mets right now are a game

560
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,159
Speaker 1: up in the log card. A couple of things that

561
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 1: stand out for me in this Dodgers Series steven for

562
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,440
Speaker 1: the Braves to find themselves in a similar position as

563
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,160
Speaker 1: they are now, or maybe a favorable position on Tuesday.

564
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 1: Once this four game series against the Dodgers is done,

565
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,199
Speaker 1: they've got to get a split. They have to figure

566
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 1: out how to get multiple wins. Are better in this

567
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:28,640
Speaker 1: series of the weekend. They just have to And the

568
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: only way this team is going to do that, in

569
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,160
Speaker 1: my opinion, is if they get back to hitting home runs.

570
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:36,879
Speaker 1: They don't necessarily have to hit more home runs than

571
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:41,080
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. It would be nice. They probably do need

572
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,880
Speaker 1: to be able to get those multiple wins, but they

573
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 1: just don't need to be severely out homered. They got

574
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 1: to hit home runs for this offense to have a chance.

575
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 1: And the one saving grace that I'll say is that

576
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 1: stands out the Dodgers pitching staff. I believe it's twenty

577
00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 1: fourth this year in home runs per nine inning, So

578
00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 1: this Dodgers' pitching staff can give up home runs. But

579
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,720
Speaker 1: if the Braves are not hitting home runs, I find

580
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 1: it very hard they have a chance. That to me,

581
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,320
Speaker 1: is the biggest key in this series. Can the Braves

582
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,200
Speaker 1: power return. If it does, they may have a chance.

583
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: If it doesn't, it could be a very long weekend.

584
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, the Dodgers have dealt with quite a

585
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 2: bit on the injury side, kind of opposite of the Braves. Well, no,

586
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,480
Speaker 2: they lost Mookie too. I was gonna say they've dealt

587
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 2: with most of it on the pitching side, but they

588
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 2: end up losing Mookie for like two months or three

589
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,000
Speaker 2: months or something like that. So they've dealt with a

590
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,640
Speaker 2: lot of injuries. The difference, of course, is they they're

591
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 2: getting pretty much all of their guys back, and the

592
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 2: Braids are not getting a bunch of their guys back.

593
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 2: But you know, the Dodgers of the Dodgers, the Braids

594
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 2: went into LA earlier this year and just got creamed

595
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 2: for three games. And you know, honestly, if you go

596
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 2: back and look at like where this bad run of

597
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,640
Speaker 2: play started, that's essentially never ended. It was basically in

598
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 2: that Dodger series where the Braids went to LA and

599
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,320
Speaker 2: just got smacked around for three games, and they've honestly

600
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 2: had a hard time rebounding ever since. And yeah, I'm

601
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 2: not overly optimistic, especially without Ronaldo. You know, Swellenbach is

602
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 2: a rookie who's up against you know, more innings than

603
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,320
Speaker 2: he's ever thrown. You know. Of course, I always have

604
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 2: confidence a Chris Sale and then you got Morton and Max.

605
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,160
Speaker 2: We'll see how it goes, you know. I there is

606
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 2: a part of me that feels like, shoheo Tony is

607
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,680
Speaker 2: gonna come in and do to the Braves what Ronald

608
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,160
Speaker 2: Acunya Junior did last year when the Braves went to

609
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 2: LA for four games and took three or four and

610
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,000
Speaker 2: and Ronald basically won the MVP in that series by

611
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 2: just destroying the Dodgers for four games. And part of

612
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 2: me feels like, showhey might come in and do something

613
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 2: like that. The Braves have never been able to get

614
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 2: show heyo Tony out. Even with the Angels. He just

615
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 2: destroyed Braves pitching. It's not unusually destroys everybody. But yeah,

616
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 2: we'll see. I don't have the most confidence, you know.

617
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 2: I don't have confidence in this team when they're playing

618
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 2: the Nationals, so I certainly don't have confidence in them

619
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 2: when they're playing the Braves. You know, if the pitching

620
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,520
Speaker 2: can hold up, that's I mean, that's that's what we've

621
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 2: said all year, right, the pitching has got to give

622
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,680
Speaker 2: up like three runs, or less. And if they can

623
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 2: do that, the Braves got a shot, because that's essentially

624
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 2: what it takes for the Braves to win games. If

625
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 2: the offense wants to wake up and hit some homers,

626
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 2: then I'll take it.

627
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 3: You know.

628
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,240
Speaker 2: Like you said, They've done pretty well against good teams

629
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 2: this year, the Dodgers notwithstanding, So we'll see. But yeah,

630
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 2: with the Mets playing the Phillies, maybe the Phillies can

631
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 2: give the Braves some help. The division race is over,

632
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 2: so obviously every Brace fan needs to be a Phillies

633
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:38,080
Speaker 2: fan this weekend and hope the Phillies sweep the Mets.

634
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 2: But yeah, the Brays are gonna need some help. And

635
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 2: the Braves they got to find some offense somewhere. I

636
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 2: don't know where they're gonna get it. You know, Marcel

637
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 2: Zuno has been a little cold. You know, Solaier has

638
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,920
Speaker 2: been cold. You know, Michael Harris had a good series

639
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 2: in Washington. Matt Olson's been much better lately. We'll see,

640
00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 2: they need offense somewhere, and they need the pitching staff

641
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:00,080
Speaker 2: to keep on being holy.

642
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 1: Well, and I just have to because it's just I

643
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: can't go a whole podcast without being some sort of positive,

644
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:11,880
Speaker 1: it's just not in me, I don't think. But what

645
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: I will say is this is that I think it's right.

646
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,880
Speaker 1: It's perfectly sensible for any person to say it's just

647
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: hard to have faith in this Brave's team. But this

648
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 1: is also an opportunity for the Braves to figure out,

649
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 1: what if we could figure out a formula that may

650
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 1: work now that could help us down the stretch and

651
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 1: into the playoffs. Is it homers? Is it getting better

652
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,920
Speaker 1: more productive with runners in scoring position? Likely haven't been

653
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,280
Speaker 1: all year. Sure, it's a variety of things, but the

654
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 1: point that I'm getting at is is that this is

655
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 1: also an opportunity for the Braves to be able to

656
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 1: if they have success, this could be the spark that

657
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,840
Speaker 1: they need to go on the run that they need to.

658
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 1: Whatever lack of faith you have in that, I don't

659
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 1: blame you one bit. I don't think. I find it

660
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,800
Speaker 1: very hard to believe it's gonna happen, but it could happen.

661
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 1: And the other thing to consider is that the Braves

662
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 1: again here recently, over the past month, they've had multiple

663
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 1: times in which it's felt like rock Bottom that lost

664
00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,240
Speaker 1: to Colorado in Colorado. What the Braves do they came

665
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,600
Speaker 1: right back and had the best stretch of the season.

666
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,520
Speaker 1: In the midst of that, they lost Austin Miley for

667
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:28,360
Speaker 1: eight weeks due to getting hit by a pitch. What

668
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: they do. They came right back and beat the Phillies

669
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: And this game and this series is at home, which

670
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,440
Speaker 1: definitely helps out as well. So is all hope loss.

671
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 3: Note.

672
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,000
Speaker 1: Can the Braves still make up whatever happens in the

673
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:45,719
Speaker 1: Dodgers series where the Braves still have time to make

674
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:51,680
Speaker 1: up for you? Yes, But at some point this team

675
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,840
Speaker 1: has to help itself. That's the thing that stands out

676
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: to me. It has to help itself. It's done it

677
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,320
Speaker 1: multiple times this year against quality teams. Can it do

678
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 1: it again? That remains to be seen. But as much

679
00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 1: as we're talking about, hey, it's more than likely it's

680
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:09,799
Speaker 1: not going to be a good weekend, so on and

681
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: so forth. If the Braves could figure out how to

682
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 1: find some success, that really could be a launching point

683
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 1: to where they could get that spark that you talk

684
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: about Steven for two weeks and find themselves in a

685
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,239
Speaker 1: better than expected position next week to kind of you know,

686
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:26,719
Speaker 1: take the season, you know, to take control of the

687
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,480
Speaker 1: rest of the season. And maybe use a good weekend

688
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:31,959
Speaker 1: to really spark them to go on a good run.

689
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will say this, the Dodgers are not playing

690
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:40,000
Speaker 2: great baseball right now. I think the Cubs have. I

691
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,080
Speaker 2: think the Cubs are winning right now into La. Think

692
00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 2: if they win this game tonight, I think the Cubs

693
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,840
Speaker 2: will actually sweep the Dodgers. If I am remembering that correctly.

694
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:49,239
Speaker 2: I think they have won the first two games of

695
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,399
Speaker 2: that series. So the Dodgers are like five and five

696
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 2: in the last ten. They're kind of treading water. I mean,

697
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 2: you know, they're on pace to win one hundred games,

698
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,839
Speaker 2: so it's a lot easier to tread water. But yeah,

699
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 2: they're not playing great baseball. You know, their offense has

700
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 2: been up and down, their pitching staff has been it's

701
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,239
Speaker 2: obviously been hurt, so you know that's a big part

702
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 2: of it. But who knows. You know, the Braves don't

703
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 2: typically play the Dodgers well in the regular season, but

704
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,319
Speaker 2: like you said, it's it's been such a weird year

705
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:21,480
Speaker 2: and things have just been backwards and and and random

706
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,560
Speaker 2: and weird. Who knows, maybe the Braves take three or

707
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,400
Speaker 2: four and they get right back into this and the

708
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,840
Speaker 2: Phillies you know, maybe the Phillies can help the Braves

709
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:29,719
Speaker 2: out and take care of the Mets, and we'll see.

710
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,960
Speaker 2: It's not what I'm expecting, but it's baseball. Crazier things

711
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:36,080
Speaker 2: have happened. The Braves do have Chris Sale, they do

712
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,080
Speaker 2: have Charlie Morton, they do have Max Freed and swelling

713
00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:41,160
Speaker 2: Bock's been really good most of the year. So you know,

714
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 2: they do have a chance in all all four games,

715
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 2: I will say that, But the offense has just got

716
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,720
Speaker 2: a wake up. It can't do this. If they score,

717
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,480
Speaker 2: if they have you know where they If you look

718
00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:53,080
Speaker 2: at the end of the four game series and they've

719
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,000
Speaker 2: scored eight runs total, ten runs total, then you know

720
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,200
Speaker 2: it's I'm guessing that the Dodgers took three or four

721
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:02,319
Speaker 2: pretty comfortably, but we'll see. It's baseball. Weird things happen

722
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 2: in small samples. And I still think this team has

723
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 2: enough talent talent, you know, I know the injuries, the

724
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,080
Speaker 2: injuries are part of it, but I still think there's

725
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,640
Speaker 2: enough talent on this team. It just has not played

726
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,719
Speaker 2: to its level all year, and so it's tough to

727
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 2: expect it to start in the back end of September

728
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 2: against one of the best teams in baseball. But again,

729
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 2: it's baseball. We'll see what happened. Anything can happen. It'll

730
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 2: be interesting, you know, we're going to cover it either way,

731
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,719
Speaker 2: but it's baseball. Anything can happen.

732
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,680
Speaker 1: And for anyone who hears what I'm about to say,

733
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,879
Speaker 1: if you bring it up to me, I promise you

734
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:42,880
Speaker 1: I will absolutely deny it for the rest of my days.

735
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:45,319
Speaker 1: But the simple truth also is this is that as

736
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 1: big of a fan of the Braves as everybody in

737
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 1: the Braves fan base is, you need to be as

738
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:52,960
Speaker 1: just a big a fan of the Phillies. Over the

739
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,760
Speaker 1: next two two and a half weeks, the Mets, literally

740
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,799
Speaker 1: I believe it's a two days ago per Tankathon, had

741
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,600
Speaker 1: the toughest schedule left in baseball this year because the

742
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:04,839
Speaker 1: most games they have left is against the Phillies, who

743
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:06,359
Speaker 1: also happen to be the best team the Mets are

744
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,680
Speaker 1: going to play for the rest of the season. The

745
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 1: Phillies have something to play for, just like the Dodgers do,

746
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:14,919
Speaker 1: but for the Braves to be able to get some help,

747
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 1: for the Braves to be able to finally hopefully see

748
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 1: this stretch of incredible winning that the Mets are doing

749
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 1: break a bit, it's got to be the Phillies having,

750
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 1: you know, helping them out. Can it happen? Sure? Is

751
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 1: it likely? Maybe? And I know that it's not fun

752
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,080
Speaker 1: to hear. But if you're a Braves fan, and you

753
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 1: especially don't have faith that the Braves themselves are going

754
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 1: to be able to, you know, for once, take control

755
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,320
Speaker 1: of their own destiny and you know, earn the playoffs

756
00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: for themselves, the next best thing you could hope for

757
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,239
Speaker 1: is the Phillies. You know, when six out of us

758
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,759
Speaker 1: the five or six or seven out of their seven

759
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 1: games remaining with the Mets. So no, that's that's that's

760
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,200
Speaker 1: what I'll say. Doesn't sound fun to say it, but

761
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 1: that's kind of where we are with how this season

762
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 1: has gone. We honestly are now saying things that we

763
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,279
Speaker 1: never thought that we would say. But hey, that's the

764
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,399
Speaker 1: point that I'm at to try to wield this team

765
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:07,600
Speaker 1: to a playoff spot.

766
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean the division race is over. The

767
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:12,480
Speaker 2: division race was over the moment the Braves lost three

768
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,719
Speaker 2: or four in Philly. So like, there's no you need

769
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,959
Speaker 2: to be rooting for the Phillies hard the next two weeks,

770
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 2: which sucks. I mean, I get it, but if you

771
00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:22,279
Speaker 2: want to make the playoffs now, if you would rather

772
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 2: this season just end and you don't want to make

773
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,839
Speaker 2: the playoffs, then yeah for the Mets. But yeah, I mean,

774
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,400
Speaker 2: you know, it's scoreboard watching season. I know the players

775
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,279
Speaker 2: and the coaches don't do it. They always say, you know,

776
00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 2: we just concentrate on the game in front of us

777
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,960
Speaker 2: or whatever they say. But for fans in scoreboard watching season,

778
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:40,520
Speaker 2: you know, the Mets losing is a big deal every night.

779
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 2: And you know, they were being no hit going into

780
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 2: the ninth inning tonight and then scored six runs on

781
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 2: the Blue Jays and ended up blowing out the Blue Jays.

782
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:51,080
Speaker 2: So that's why they're a game up now with the

783
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:54,840
Speaker 2: Braves loss. But yeah, scoreboard watching season. You know, we

784
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:57,600
Speaker 2: need the Phillies to be awesome next. You know, ten

785
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 2: days since they played the Mets over seven of them,

786
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 2: and maybe the Braves can hold their own against the Dodgers. Maybe,

787
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:06,480
Speaker 2: you know, maybe they can win this series. I mean,

788
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,759
Speaker 2: it can happen. It not likely to happen. The Braves

789
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:12,320
Speaker 2: are almost certain they're going to be the underdog in

790
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:14,439
Speaker 2: all four of these games. Maybe not this Chris Sale game,

791
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:18,880
Speaker 2: but probably the other three. But who knows, it's baseball.

792
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,400
Speaker 2: You know, we'll see what happens and we will be

793
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:22,399
Speaker 2: here to cover it either way.

794
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,560
Speaker 1: And just to again continue the positive thoughts. What has

795
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:31,360
Speaker 1: been a huge reason why the Braves have been able

796
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:33,760
Speaker 1: to bounce back from those multiple moments over the past

797
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:35,640
Speaker 1: month where it seemed like we had hit rock bottom,

798
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:39,840
Speaker 1: but we bounced right back. The Braves won the first

799
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:42,879
Speaker 1: game of the series against quality starting pitching. The game

800
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:46,399
Speaker 1: right after that lost to Colorado was the excellent pitching

801
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,000
Speaker 1: matchup between Chris Hill and Blake Snell. The Braves won it.

802
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 1: The game right after Austin Marland went down with his

803
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 1: renters wrist injury. The Braves beat Zach Wheeler. On Friday night,

804
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 1: They're facing Landed nak And who has been okay. He

805
00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:06,319
Speaker 1: has been okay so far this season. But one big thing,

806
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,320
Speaker 1: one big boost that could be there for the Braves.

807
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 1: Just win game one, take it game by game. Win

808
00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:15,520
Speaker 1: game one, then all of a sudden it becomes a

809
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:17,359
Speaker 1: bit easier to win two out of three verses, three

810
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:20,719
Speaker 1: out of four. You've done it in recent weeks. Just

811
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 1: win game one, have a big offensive night at home

812
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:28,920
Speaker 1: after getting some wrestling off day. Just win game one

813
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:31,560
Speaker 1: and that could really be the start to a successful weekend.

814
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:33,239
Speaker 1: Steve and I know that we were up and down

815
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,399
Speaker 1: all over the place. This podcast just you know, good

816
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:39,680
Speaker 1: trying working through the disappointment of Wednesday night's loss, trying

817
00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:42,120
Speaker 1: to be positive where we could anything else that she

818
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 1: got Morris on this edition of the Hammer Territory podcast.

819
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,759
Speaker 2: Nope, Yeah, it's just I mean, obviously Braids have an

820
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 2: off day tomorrow and then you know, this massive series

821
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,719
Speaker 2: and then the home stretch and they're still in it.

822
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:57,920
Speaker 2: I mean, the breads as crazy as it sounds, the

823
00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:00,799
Speaker 2: Braves can still actually still accomplish what they set out

824
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:01,960
Speaker 2: to do at the beginning of the year, which is

825
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 2: won a World Series that is still alive as you know,

826
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:08,400
Speaker 2: I mean, they have you know, they got off to

827
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:11,720
Speaker 2: that really hot stretch in April, and they have lived

828
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,120
Speaker 2: off that hot stretch the whole season because they have

829
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,080
Speaker 2: been a five hundred team since April, and you know,

830
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,040
Speaker 2: because they've been able to at least hold the line.

831
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:22,759
Speaker 2: They are still thirteen games above five hundred, which is

832
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:26,680
Speaker 2: what they were five months ago, and they can still

833
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:30,560
Speaker 2: make the playoff like it's still alive, and they just

834
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:32,839
Speaker 2: at some point they got to start playing to their

835
00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:35,120
Speaker 2: talent level. Even if their talent level is less than

836
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:37,799
Speaker 2: it once was, and it is by a lot, the

837
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:39,520
Speaker 2: talent level they have on their team is still good

838
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:41,279
Speaker 2: enough to get into the playoffs, and once you're in,

839
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,239
Speaker 2: you can do anything. So if they start playing to

840
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:46,799
Speaker 2: their talent level, then they can make the playoffs, and

841
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:48,439
Speaker 2: if they make the playoffs, they can win the whole

842
00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,440
Speaker 2: thing because their pitching is that good. So, you know,

843
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,239
Speaker 2: I am not as positive as you are, Sean. I

844
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:57,200
Speaker 2: think our personalities have been pretty clear on this show.

845
00:41:57,239 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 2: You are certainly the light of postivity to mine more negative.

846
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:04,000
Speaker 2: But if I was going to be mister positive, that's

847
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:06,480
Speaker 2: what I would say. The Braves have enough talent to

848
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,239
Speaker 2: make the playoffs, and then if you make the playoffs,

849
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,680
Speaker 2: anybody can win it. So that's where I'll leave it

850
00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:13,280
Speaker 2: for tonight.

851
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, to your point about you know, they've basically been

852
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,720
Speaker 1: kind of riding the way that they started with this season.

853
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 1: You know, the old saying goes, it's not how you start,

854
00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:23,880
Speaker 1: it's how you finish. Wellfore the Braves this season, if

855
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:26,920
Speaker 1: it go if this season is going to be memorable

856
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:29,600
Speaker 1: in any way. It may literally come down to how

857
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: both the Braves started and they chose to finish. But

858
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 1: like I say, I understand it's disappointing. It absolutely is.

859
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:41,160
Speaker 1: And again my level of faith is certainly at the

860
00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: lowest it's been in quite a while. But it's not over.

861
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 1: And the Braves have shown too often, too frequently over

862
00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:54,080
Speaker 1: the past several years that when they still have the

863
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:57,200
Speaker 1: ability to achieve what they've set out to achieve or

864
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 1: get close to it, they typically will deliver. The typically

865
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:03,480
Speaker 1: give themselves a chance, and here's a golden opportunity for

866
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:05,600
Speaker 1: them to do it, no matter how unlikely it is.

867
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,640
Speaker 1: Just win game one. Just win that game Friday night

868
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 1: and then take it gay by game and with each

869
00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: win it becomes a bit easier to accomplish your goals.

870
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:19,080
Speaker 1: For Steven Tollart at the Undersquare Outliers on Twitter as

871
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,200
Speaker 1: well as X whatever you call it nowadays. My name

872
00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,160
Speaker 1: is Sean Coleman. You can find me at stats sac

873
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,399
Speaker 1: on Twitter, slash X. Make sure you check out all

874
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:31,480
Speaker 1: the great content from the foul Territory family of podcasts

875
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,440
Speaker 1: at foul Territory wherever you choose to listen to the

876
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,760
Speaker 1: shows at Hammer Territory across all forms of social media

877
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:41,000
Speaker 1: for Steven Tolboro. My name is Sean Coleman. Hey, you

878
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:43,160
Speaker 1: know what, no matter how good or bout it is,

879
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:45,840
Speaker 1: go braids. We'll talk to you again soon here on

880
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:47,200
Speaker 1: the Hammer Territory Podcast