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Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome to episode forty one of the

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Speaker 1: Hammer Territory Podcast. I am Scott Coleman, and I am

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Speaker 1: joined on this Sunday evening by the one and only

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Speaker 1: Stephen Tolbert, our good friend and co host. Brad is

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Speaker 1: currently flying towards the Sun otherwise known as Las Vegas,

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Speaker 1: where it is one one hundred and twenty degrees. So

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Speaker 1: Steven is pinchhitting tonight on this Sunday show. Steven, how

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Speaker 1: are we doing?

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Speaker 2: What's up? Scott? Brad is off to watch Summer League

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Speaker 2: basketball on the surface of the sun, like you said,

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Speaker 2: so yeah, good to pinch it on Sunday night. We

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Speaker 2: beat the Sunday Night curse, which is always nice. It's

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Speaker 2: always nice to do these after a win. And honestly, man,

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Speaker 2: after how Friday Night went, I was really not looking

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Speaker 2: forward to this show had the team not really bounced

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Speaker 2: back to the last two days the way they did

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Speaker 2: the last two wins arguably the two biggest wins of

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Speaker 2: the year to this point. But yeah, it's always good

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Speaker 2: to do these, and we got a lot to get to.

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Speaker 1: Tonight we do it is a very full show tonight.

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Speaker 1: Before we jump in, we should say we are a

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Speaker 1: very proud member of the Foul Territory network of shows.

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Speaker 1: Those guys and gals do a great job Monday through

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Speaker 1: Friday covering baseball for hours of the time, including especially

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Speaker 1: lately as the trade deadline here gets closer. Ken Rosenthal

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Speaker 1: has been on there. He was talking about the Braves

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Speaker 1: the other day. So be sure to check out foul

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Speaker 1: Territory if you do not already, and a big thank

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Speaker 1: you to everybody who has subscribed to Hammer Territory. We

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Speaker 1: should be available wherever you find your podcasts. If for

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Speaker 1: some reason we are not, Lese let us know, and Stephen,

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Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that Philly series that you

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Speaker 1: just talked about a moment ago. But there's quite a

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Speaker 1: bit of news and notes and All Star gamennouncements that

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Speaker 1: we need to get to, so we're going to jump

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Speaker 1: right in. The Braves had three All Stars announced on

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Speaker 1: Sunday evening and no real surprises, but if folks missed it,

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Speaker 1: Chris Sale, Ronaldo Lopez, and Marcelo Zuna are all heading

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Speaker 1: to the All Star Game. Not necessarily any surprises here, Steven,

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Speaker 1: I know that those three were very likely headed there.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to get your take was there any surprises

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Speaker 1: or were things that stood out to you. No.

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Speaker 2: The only thing I'm kind of waiting to see is

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Speaker 2: if they announced Sale to start the game. I know

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Speaker 2: that's a big deal for the guys who make the

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Speaker 2: team on whose starts, so that'll be interesting because he's

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Speaker 2: definitely in the running for that. But it's kind of

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Speaker 2: the three obvious guys. These three guys have pretty much,

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Speaker 2: you know, led the way for the team for the

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Speaker 2: first half. I don't know where the Braves would be

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Speaker 2: without these three guys, honestly, given how for a lot

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Speaker 2: of the year, these were the only three guys go

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Speaker 2: and so yeah, a huge credit to them. Ronaldo being

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Speaker 2: a starter for the first time in a few years

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Speaker 2: making the All Star team. Azuno has really kind of

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Speaker 2: resurrected his career. Sale is healthy and you know, has

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Speaker 2: turned back to clock about five years, so great. You know,

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Speaker 2: obviously it's a big deal for players. It really means

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Speaker 2: a lot to these guys. I'm not a huge All

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Speaker 2: Star guy. I don't think you are either, so I

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Speaker 2: don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. But

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Speaker 2: for the players, it is a big honor doesn't mean

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Speaker 2: a lot, so I'm really happy for these three guys.

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Speaker 2: They absolutely deserve it. Those should be the three guys

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Speaker 2: that are representing the Braves.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And for Ronaldo Lopez, it is the first

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Speaker 1: time that he was selected as an All Star. He

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Speaker 1: leads all of Major League Baseball in ERA at one

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Speaker 1: point seven to one. I mean, Steven, let's say that

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Speaker 1: one more time. Ronaldo Lopez, a reliever for the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years, leads all of Major League Baseball and

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Speaker 1: ERA and it's not even that close. He has a

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Speaker 1: comfortable lead over the field. Just talk about two fantastic

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Speaker 1: offseason editions for Lopez and Chris Sale. Alexantoplisch really deserves

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Speaker 1: a lot of credit for bolstering his rotation, and especially

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Speaker 1: in a time when free agents starting pitchers are getting

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Speaker 1: unbelievable amounts of money in years on the market, the

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Speaker 1: Braves are paying pennies for those two arms this season

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Speaker 1: and clearly it has worked out in spades. Having two

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Speaker 1: All Stars selected is really impressive stuff.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Boston people, remember Boston is covering Chris

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Speaker 2: Sales contract in twenty twenty four, so the Braves aren't

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Speaker 2: paying him anything this year. And then Ronaldo Lopez deal

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Speaker 2: was backloaded, so he's only making four million in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty four. So combined, the Braves are paying both guys

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Speaker 2: about four million dollars, which is usually how much you

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Speaker 2: spend on a bench bat. You know, Adam Devall makes

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Speaker 2: three million dollars for a context. So yeah, incredible job Biolex.

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Speaker 2: Really all of his moves. I mean, you know, you

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Speaker 2: look at Kelnick. I don't know where the Braves would

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Speaker 2: be without Kelnick. I mean, his big moves of the

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Speaker 2: off season have saved the Braves for the first half

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Speaker 2: considering how how much their regular guys have struggled. So

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Speaker 2: and Kelnick, I mean honestly, you know, Kelnick probably has

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Speaker 2: an outside shot again, an injury replacement or something that

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Speaker 2: the Nationalague outfield situation is actually kind of a mess

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Speaker 2: with a bunch of injuries. A Kunya and Mooki are

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Speaker 2: both out, and guys like Corbyn Carrol If had down years.

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Speaker 2: So but yeah, a tremendous job by Alex. I mean,

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Speaker 2: just world class moves. This Chris Sale move. We talked

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Speaker 2: about it before, but this Chris Sale move might go

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Speaker 2: down as one of the greatest moves he's ever made.

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Speaker 2: If sales Day is healthy but yeah, a huge deal

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Speaker 2: for these guys. And I didn't even realize it was

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Speaker 2: Ronaldo's first, you know, that makes sense obviously being a reliever,

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Speaker 2: so awesome for him, Awesome for Azuna bouncing back, Sales

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Speaker 2: staying healthy and being a National League All Star. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm really happy for these guys.

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Speaker 1: And a real chance that Chris Sale might actually be

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Speaker 1: able to start the game for the National League. He

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Speaker 1: is lined up to pitch Monday and Saturday as things

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Speaker 1: currently stand, and we know the Braves like to move

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Speaker 1: around the rotation, so that is a little TBD at

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Speaker 1: this point, but there's a real chance that he could

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Speaker 1: start the All Star Game for the National League in

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Speaker 1: a couple of what ten days from now. Really, just

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Speaker 1: what a bounce back for him. And I mean, Steven,

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Speaker 1: if I told you during the darkest of days for

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Speaker 1: the Marcelo Zuna experience in twenty twenty one, in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two, I mean, was there any planet where you

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Speaker 1: could have foreseen this bounce back and him getting not

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Speaker 1: only an All Star Game nod, but a very deserved one.

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Speaker 2: No? Yeah, I mean if you had told me that

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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four he'd be an All Star, I

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Speaker 2: would just assume like he would be, like, you know,

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Speaker 2: a Japanese League All Star or a Mexican League All Star,

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Speaker 2: like I would have not have guessed, you know, major

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Speaker 2: league baseball. Yeah, I've never seen I've really never seen

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Speaker 2: anything like it. Honestly, as far removed as he was

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Speaker 2: from being even a competent major league player, and I

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Speaker 2: think very very close to just being straight up cut

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Speaker 2: to coming all the way back to not only being good,

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Speaker 2: but being truly elite I mean an elite level hitter

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Speaker 2: now for a year plus. I've never seen anything like it.

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Speaker 2: And you know, every single guy in that clubhouse loves Marcel.

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Speaker 2: Brian Snicker loves Marcel. I mean they just swear up

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Speaker 2: and down by him as a teammate. So it's you know,

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Speaker 2: I am happy for him. I know a lot of

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Speaker 2: people will never root for Marcel because of the all

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Speaker 2: field stuff that's happened to him. I totally get that,

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Speaker 2: but I am happy for him because he clearly cares

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Speaker 2: a lot. He's worked very hard to get back to

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Speaker 2: being a good hitter, and he's really turned himself back

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Speaker 2: into being a great hitter. So and he deserves I mean,

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Speaker 2: on the field, he deserves to be an All Star,

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Speaker 2: like he's had an all Star level first half, so

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Speaker 2: I'm happy for him that he got rewarded for being

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Speaker 2: so consistently good for so long. Now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is just a testament to Marcel just

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Speaker 1: getting back to what he does so well and performing

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Speaker 1: at such a high level. One of the best hitters

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Speaker 1: in the National League through the first what three plus

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Speaker 1: months of the season. Not necessarily a snub for the

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Speaker 1: All Star Game. And we won't spend too much time

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Speaker 1: on this because frankly, there are always pitchers who pull

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Speaker 1: out of the All Star Game at the last moment,

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Speaker 1: and then others get added. You could make a pretty

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Speaker 1: good case for Max Freed, you could make a case

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Speaker 1: for Raycel Igalasias. I know there was a push, especially

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Speaker 1: by the players to get Jesse Chavez into the game,

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Speaker 1: which was probably a long shot, to be fair, but nonetheless,

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Speaker 1: Jesse is just such a beloved arm so let's keep

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Speaker 1: an eye on that for shorts chance that one of

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Speaker 1: those guys get added. On Steven, I know, we also

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Speaker 1: had quite a bit of news and notes that we

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Speaker 1: wanted to talk about, and then we're going to jump

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Speaker 1: into the Philly series. But there was a ton to

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Speaker 1: get to. Generally this time in the calendar for baseball,

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Speaker 1: there's just not a whole lot going on other than

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Speaker 1: the games, but there was a lot happening. And this

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Speaker 1: first thing we're going to talk about is a couple

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Speaker 1: of days old but old friend Eddie Rosario is now

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Speaker 1: back with the Atlanta Braves. He is currently in Gwinet,

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Speaker 1: although it would not be a shock if a roster

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Speaker 1: move is made by the time some folks are listening

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Speaker 1: to the show. Steve and I know that Eddie is

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Speaker 1: beloved in the city for obvious reasons for what he did,

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Speaker 1: but he was also having a very bad year with

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Speaker 1: the Washington Nationals before they cut him. What did you

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Speaker 1: make of the Rosario signing? Kind of what do you

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Speaker 1: see the Braves doing here coming up in the next

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean this was the most obvious everybody could

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Speaker 2: see that as soon as he was released from Washington.

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Speaker 2: I mean, Sean and I gave our kind of pre

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Speaker 2: thoughts on him signing, just because we it just felt

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Speaker 2: like such a an obvious thing. And listen, Marcel or Marcel,

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Speaker 2: Eddie Rosario has not been good this year, like he hasn't.

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Speaker 2: He has been obviously, he just got cut by the Nationals,

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Speaker 2: and the Nationals are not a great team, so he's

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Speaker 2: not been good. But not being good is not actually

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Speaker 2: an immediate disqualifier for a spot on the Braves team

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Speaker 2: right now, especially a spot on the Braves outfield, because

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Speaker 2: the Braves are already rostering some guys that are not good.

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Speaker 2: So I'm fine, I don't really care. I mean, that's

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Speaker 2: what I said. That's that's why I told Sean a

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Speaker 2: couple of days ago. I don't really care. Like I

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Speaker 2: don't really want Eddie Rosario taking bigot bats, but I

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Speaker 2: also don't want Forest Wall taking bigot bats, and that's

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Speaker 2: already happening. So yeah, what the hell I mean, I

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Speaker 2: give it a shot. I mean, there's no there's no

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Speaker 2: downside here. I mean, if he sucks, you cut him

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Speaker 2: and you move on. But you know, we know, we

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Speaker 2: know Eddie pretty well. We know that, like he has

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Speaker 2: these insane hot streaks in him that he can literally

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Speaker 2: carry an offense for like three or four weeks if

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Speaker 2: you catch him at the right time. Now, if you

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Speaker 2: catch him at the wrong time, it's like watching a

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Speaker 2: high school hit or hit. So you know, maybe you

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Speaker 2: get lucky. I'm with you. I do think they might

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Speaker 2: call him up pretty soon just to get another left

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Speaker 2: in for the trip. He actually hits pretty well in Arizona. Actually,

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Speaker 2: just randomly kind of looked that up. He had a

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Speaker 2: grant I don't remember last year, a grand slam in

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Speaker 2: the ninth inning against in Arizona to win a game.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was one of the best moments of the

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Speaker 1: season probably.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the highlights of the season last year

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Speaker 2: was him, and he had an unbelievable series in that

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Speaker 2: whole that whole series, he was awesome. So I'm with you.

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Speaker 2: I would not be surprised at all if they called

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Speaker 2: him up for the series. But you know, it's whatever.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the outfield, some of the options that are

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Speaker 2: running out are so bad that yeah, I give it.

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Speaker 2: I mean Eddie. You know, Eddie's probably as good as

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Speaker 2: any of them, and he can certainly get as hot

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Speaker 2: as any of them, So go for it. I'd be

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Speaker 2: fine with it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the obvious move the Braves could make

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Speaker 1: on Monday. And maybe this will be dated by the

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Speaker 1: time folks listen, but Ramon Loriano has missed I believe

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Speaker 1: more than a week at this point with what was

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Speaker 1: first called a back injury and then an oblique injury,

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Speaker 1: and the Braves have not put him on the injured list.

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Speaker 1: Now candidly, they don't really have a ton of great

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Speaker 1: options in gwinet because Brian Anderson is still rehabbing, so

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Speaker 1: there's just what are you going to do? Right? I mean,

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Speaker 1: it was kind of like the Austin Reiley injury a

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Speaker 1: month or two ago, where they just didn't have a

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Speaker 1: great option to replace him. So I do think the

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Speaker 1: Braves could move Loreano to the injured list, maybe they

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Speaker 1: backdated by the three days and then call Eddie up,

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Speaker 1: because the Braves are projected to see seven right handed

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Speaker 1: starting pitchers this upcoming week in Arizona and San Diego.

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Speaker 1: And while nobody or I don't think reasonably nobody should

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Speaker 1: expect Eddie to be the savior of the outfield or

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Speaker 1: to immediately transition into twenty one NLCS Eddie Rosario, he

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Speaker 1: is obviously an accomplished Big leaguer. You said, we have

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Speaker 1: seen his hot streaks and what he can do, and

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Speaker 1: just frankly, the bar of being better than Eli White

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Speaker 1: or Forest Wall is so low that it kind of

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Speaker 1: feels like a no lose proposition exactly.

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Speaker 2: There is. There's no risk, like you're not taking away

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Speaker 2: at bass from somebody that, like you know, desperately needs them.

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Speaker 2: I'm fine with. I would actually probably encourage it. I

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Speaker 2: do think I've said before, I think the Braves need

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Speaker 2: more left handed hitting. You know, if you look at

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Speaker 2: their splits for the year left handed versus right handed,

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Speaker 2: they hit left handed pitching substantially better than they hit

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Speaker 2: right handed pitching, which is not a surprise because they

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Speaker 2: have so many right handed hitters, and even a guy

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Speaker 2: like Ozzie, who is a switch hitter, is so much

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Speaker 2: better as a right handed hitter. So I'm all for

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Speaker 2: them adding some left handed pop. You know, we'll get

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Speaker 2: to this probably either later in the show or down

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Speaker 2: the line a bit. I would hope that they would

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Speaker 2: actually go out and add a significant piece at some

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Speaker 2: point in the outfield. But in terms of right now,

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Speaker 2: what's available, what you can do, yeah, I have no

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Speaker 2: problem with them adding Eddie and seeing if they can strike,

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Speaker 2: you know, get lightning in a bottle for a few

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Speaker 2: weeks before they can make a more serious move.

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Speaker 1: All right, Steven, Continuing our discussion on the outfield. Some

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Speaker 1: encouraging news this past week with Michael Harris. Harris has

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Speaker 1: continued to work out over the last couple of days.

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Speaker 1: He was seen running in the outfield, which is a

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Speaker 1: big step for a hamstring injury, and it seems like

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Speaker 1: pretty soon here the Braves are going to send Michael

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Speaker 1: Harris out on a rehab assignment, and assuming all goes well,

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Speaker 1: it seems like the Braves are going to get their

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Speaker 1: center field. They're back probably just after the All Star Game,

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Speaker 1: and obviously that is a huge boost to this team. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean, he's a left handed hitter, first of all,

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Speaker 2: like we were just talking about, he helps balance out

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Speaker 2: the lineup more, you know, obviously defensively, it's a big deal.

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Speaker 2: Although I do think Kelnick has done substantially better than

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Speaker 2: what I thought he would do as a center fielder.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't thrilled about that, honestly, the Braids just didn't

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Speaker 2: have anything better. But he's played a pretty decent center field.

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Speaker 2: I haven't actually looked at the numbers to see what

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Speaker 2: the metrics say, but just from the eye test, I

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Speaker 2: think Coltic's done pretty well out there. But getting Michael back,

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Speaker 2: getting another left he just getting another outfielder on the roster.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it would just be huge, Like we just

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Speaker 2: need we need fewer at bats from some of the

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Speaker 2: guys that we've seen in the last you know, month

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Speaker 2: or so, So getting your starting center fielder back. Michael

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Speaker 2: wasn't having the best year, for being honest, before he

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Speaker 2: got hurt. He was actually having his worst year offensively.

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Speaker 2: But you hope, you know, with some time off and

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Speaker 2: maybe he comes back, he just kind of gets a

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Speaker 2: fresh start on the season and gets back to being

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Speaker 2: the guy that we saw the last couple of years.

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Speaker 2: But just on pure talent, like you would just always

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Speaker 2: rather Michael Harris taking that at Pat versus you know,

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Speaker 2: Eli White or anybody else, anybody else on you know,

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Speaker 2: a triple A outfielder essentially is what the Braids are

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Speaker 2: running out every day these days. So yeah, Michael Harris,

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Speaker 2: Edi Rosario, any sort of left handed outfield help I'm

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Speaker 2: all about. And obviously Michael helps tremendously defensively pushes Kelnick

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Speaker 2: back to a corner, which helps you there because he's

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Speaker 2: a really good corner defender, just as a domino effect,

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Speaker 2: and it's a big deal. So yeah, getting him back

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Speaker 2: is a first step of adding a little bit more

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Speaker 2: talent to this team well.

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Speaker 1: And it should help lengthen the lineup as well, because

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Speaker 1: right now, I mean we watch it every single night.

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Speaker 1: If it gets to the sixth or seventh hitter in

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Speaker 1: the order, if there's a rally going, you can kind

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Speaker 1: of forget about it. I know that a couple of

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Speaker 1: those bottom hearts of the lineup guys had a good

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Speaker 1: game on Sunday, but it has been brutal to watch.

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Speaker 1: And the way that Kelnick has played in the leadoff spot,

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Speaker 1: I mean, he's been unbelievable in that first spot in

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Speaker 1: the order. So presumably you're going to have Michael Harris

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Speaker 1: hit fifth, sixth, seventh, curious to see where Brian Sticker

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Speaker 1: hits him, and I think that's where Michael Harris is

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Speaker 1: better suited, with his heavy swing rate, his low OBP,

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Speaker 1: his low walk rate. I really don't love Michael in

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Speaker 1: that leadoff spot, and sometimes he has to play just

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Speaker 1: because there was nobody else before Keelnick emerged. But it

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Speaker 1: does sound like the Braves are going to get Michael

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Speaker 1: Harris back, maybe within two weeks from now, and that'll

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Speaker 1: be a real big boost on the pitching side. Stevid

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Speaker 1: it's I am knocking on every piece of wood around me.

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Speaker 1: But it seems like the Braves might have some decent

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Speaker 1: pitching depth for the second half of the season. Let's

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Speaker 1: talk about Ian Anderson first. Ian made his third rehab

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Speaker 1: appearance over the weekend, pitched pretty well by all accounts

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Speaker 1: through three and a third innings before rain came, although

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Speaker 1: he was already at forty seven pitches, so it was

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Speaker 1: probably going to be a last batter or two for him.

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Speaker 1: But so far, so good for Ian. I think it's

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Speaker 1: fair to have muted expectations until we see him do

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Speaker 1: it at the higher levels of the minor leagues and

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Speaker 1: of course in the majors at that time, ever comes.

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Speaker 1: But it's at least encouraging that Ian has been able

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Speaker 1: to make three rehab appearances so far and seems to

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Speaker 1: be healthy after the Tommy John.

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Speaker 2: There's no such thing as too much pitching depth. You know,

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Speaker 2: I don't, I like you, I don't have the highest

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Speaker 2: expectations for Ian, not just because he's coming back from

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Speaker 2: a serious injury and it might take a while to

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Speaker 2: get going, but you know, I mean, he was demoted

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Speaker 2: before he got hurt, like he you know, he was

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Speaker 2: pitching a triple A when he got hurt, because he

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Speaker 2: wasn't pitching well enough to be in the majors. So

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Speaker 2: you know, what kind of guy do we see? You know,

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Speaker 2: how how does the velocity look? You know one problem,

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Speaker 2: one problem he's always had is you know, the fastball

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Speaker 2: was like ninety five ninety six and the change up

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Speaker 2: was like eighty eighty nine ninety Like he had a

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Speaker 2: really hard time getting a big separation in his in

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Speaker 2: his two best pitches, and so you know, how does

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Speaker 2: that look? You know, the curveball, just general health. He's

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Speaker 2: obviously got a lot of pedigree. He's been pitched in

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Speaker 2: a World Series. You know, he's thrown a lot of

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Speaker 2: big innings for the Braves. But yeah, my expectations are

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Speaker 2: pretty muted here. If he gets back, I actually wonder

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Speaker 2: if he might be like some trade bait. If if

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Speaker 2: if he has a really good rehab pitches well in

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Speaker 2: the minors, I wonder. You know, obviously, at that time

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Speaker 2: we're going to be getting close to the deadline. I

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Speaker 2: do wonder if maybe you know, he gets put in

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Speaker 2: a deal somewhere. But yeah, it'll be interesting. You can't

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Speaker 2: have too much, right you can't have too much pitching depth.

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Speaker 2: If he gets back, it's only helpful either as actual

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Speaker 2: depth for the team or as a you know, a

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Speaker 2: trade piece, however the Brads want to use him, but

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Speaker 2: it's always helpful.

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Speaker 1: And another encouraging bit of news on the pitching front

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Speaker 1: is AJ Smith Shaver, who I think we're all pretty

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Speaker 1: bullish on, especially the way he has developed maybe over

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Speaker 1: the last calendar year, is going to make his second

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Speaker 1: rehab start with Gwinnette on Tuesday of this upcoming week.

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Speaker 1: And it was a limited sample this year, but I

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Speaker 1: think a J. Smith Shav right now is a potential

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Speaker 1: impact piece for the rotation at some point. Of course,

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Speaker 1: it remains to be seen if a rotation spot ever

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Speaker 1: opens up, but it is going to be good to

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Speaker 1: have a J. Smith Shaver available should the Braves need

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Speaker 1: him in the second half.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a bummer. He pitched really well. He

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Speaker 2: got you know, he came up and basically got one

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Speaker 2: start and then you know, got hurt. I think it

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Speaker 2: was the Chicago start if I remember correctly, you know,

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Speaker 2: and then pulled an oblique and you know, of course

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Speaker 2: we know with Sean Murphy and it's even worse for

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Speaker 2: pitchers just because of how much torque they put on

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Speaker 2: that oblique when they pitch, and so yeah, it'd be

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Speaker 2: you know, he's a guy I'm fairly confident will not

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Speaker 2: be trade bait. He is a guy that will actually,

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Speaker 2: I think be legitimate starting rotation depth. You know, if

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Speaker 2: they have another guy go down. You know, right now,

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Speaker 2: the rotation has stabilized a bit. We're going to talk

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Speaker 2: about that little more when we get to the schwellenback

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Speaker 2: start this weekend against the Phillies, but the rotation depth

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Speaker 2: is or the rotation has stabilized a pretty good bit.

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Speaker 2: The Braves don't technically have a spot available in the

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Speaker 2: rotation at the moment, but you know, he can never

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Speaker 2: have too much. And Aj Smith Schwaalverer is a real

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Speaker 2: legitimate like I can start in the majors right now,

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Speaker 2: you know, once he gets healthy, Like he's at that

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Speaker 2: level of his development where he could actually impact major

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Speaker 2: league games as soon as he's health So yeah, you

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Speaker 2: know that's the best part of that's the best type

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Speaker 2: of pitching depth is the type that can actually come

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Speaker 2: up and be an impact starter for you right away,

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Speaker 2: and that's what Aj is. So that's a big. That's

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Speaker 2: a really big one if they can get him back,

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Speaker 2: you know, for the stretch run for August September, in

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Speaker 2: case somebody else goes down, if they want to do

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Speaker 2: the six man rotation to try to keep guys fresh

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Speaker 2: like they were, He's another guy for that. Like, that's

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Speaker 2: a big one if you know. That's one to watch

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Speaker 2: for sure, is getting him back and healthy and seeing

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Speaker 2: how he progresses and hopefully back up to the majors

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Speaker 2: as soon as they need him.

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Speaker 1: I think that's kind of an underrated storyline for the

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Speaker 1: Braves in the second half, is do they go to

431
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,080
Speaker 1: a six man rotation at some point if they can?

432
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,439
Speaker 1: And I said a moment ago that I'm knocking on

433
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,919
Speaker 1: every piece of wood, but right now, I think you

434
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,600
Speaker 1: have to feel pretty good about the five in the rotation.

435
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,760
Speaker 1: Potentially have Smith Schauveer back in a couple of weeks.

436
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:55,320
Speaker 1: Bryce Elder has been fine overall. Maybe Ian Anderson and

437
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,920
Speaker 1: of course Alex Andthopoulos could always go out and add

438
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,960
Speaker 1: a starter at the deadline. I'm thinking that outfield and

439
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,240
Speaker 1: maybe shortstop are probably going to be his priority, and

440
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,600
Speaker 1: it might be tough. There's just not a ton of

441
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,200
Speaker 1: depth in the farm system right now to swing three

442
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,639
Speaker 1: or four high impact trades well, not just completely nuking

443
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 1: your chances at a productive farm system in the years

444
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,679
Speaker 1: to come. So we will see on that, Stephen. We

445
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,680
Speaker 1: are now going to jump into the Philly Series, which,

446
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,160
Speaker 1: as we kind of teased off the top, thank goodness,

447
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,000
Speaker 1: they won on Saturday and Sunday. But first a quick

448
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,600
Speaker 1: word from our sponsors. All right, Stephen, we are going

449
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,159
Speaker 1: to get the one blemish from the weekend out of

450
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,080
Speaker 1: the way, and that was Friday night, a very frustrating

451
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,240
Speaker 1: loss eight to six. The offense actually came to life

452
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 1: quite a bit against Daron Nola and the Philadelphia bullpen,

453
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 1: but Max Freed turned in arguably his worst start since

454
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,920
Speaker 1: those first two of the season, and there's just some

455
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,159
Speaker 1: bad pitching management as well from Brian Snecker. And I

456
00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,000
Speaker 1: know a lot of folks had opinions on this on Friday,

457
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,160
Speaker 1: and we at least wanted to hit on them coming.

458
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,480
Speaker 2: Off the Giant Series where the offense just disappeared. They

459
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,240
Speaker 2: lost two out of three versus the Giants. I don't

460
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:09,879
Speaker 2: think they scored more than three runs in any of

461
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 2: the games. You know, the vibes weren't great coming into

462
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,320
Speaker 2: the Friday Nights game, you know, and then Max Freed

463
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,120
Speaker 2: has you know, probably one of his two or three

464
00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 2: worst starts of the year. For being honest, he had

465
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 2: base runners everywhere all night long. The defense didn't play

466
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,880
Speaker 2: well at all. You know, the bullpen had a rough night.

467
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,200
Speaker 2: Ryan Snitker had a rough night, if we're being honest.

468
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,520
Speaker 2: In terms of decisions. The offense was kind of the

469
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 2: one part of the team that showed up in that game,

470
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 2: ironically enough, but yeah, that was that was in terms

471
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,399
Speaker 2: of like vibes after that game, We're the losing that

472
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 2: game and and following another behind Philly, and you know,

473
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:49,439
Speaker 2: at that point, obviously we didn't know that they were

474
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:50,960
Speaker 2: going to win the next two, but at that point,

475
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,240
Speaker 2: the vibes were low, and you know, you and I

476
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,679
Speaker 2: I think we were either texting or dming about like

477
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,879
Speaker 2: how the show was gonna go they not. You know,

478
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,920
Speaker 2: if they continue to play like that all weekend and

479
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:04,920
Speaker 2: got swept or lost two out of three, this show

480
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,720
Speaker 2: was going to be a much different tenor. But you know, luckily,

481
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:11,640
Speaker 2: that was the low point of the of the weekend,

482
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 2: was Friday night, and everything after that was was much better.

483
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,040
Speaker 2: But yeah, a rough game for Max. We can talk

484
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 2: about the the We could talk about the the decision

485
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:25,439
Speaker 2: on letting him you know, pitch listen. It's never a

486
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,360
Speaker 2: good idea to let a pitcher throw to a lineup

487
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:31,280
Speaker 2: for the fourth time. Like, that's just never a good

488
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,639
Speaker 2: idea in general. You can just make up blanket statement

489
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,439
Speaker 2: it's never good. But when a guy is facing the

490
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,280
Speaker 2: top of the lineup for a fourth time in the

491
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,439
Speaker 2: sixth inning, that means he's allowed about a million base runners. Like,

492
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 2: that's the only way you get to the top of

493
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:46,000
Speaker 2: the lineup in the sixth inning is if you've allowed

494
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 2: one million base runners and to let Max continue to

495
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 2: pitch to the top of the when he when he

496
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:53,439
Speaker 2: gave up three runs to the top of the lineup

497
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,399
Speaker 2: the third time he faced him, Turner it already hit

498
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,879
Speaker 2: a home run off him. That was Bret. That was

499
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 2: one of the most frustrating. I typically think Snit catches

500
00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,639
Speaker 2: too much crap on Twitter and online just because he

501
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 2: gets playing for everything. That was one when those legitimately

502
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 2: like unbelievably dumb, Like you just can't let a guy

503
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 2: lose the game because he's facing the top of the

504
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 2: lineup a fourth time in the sixth Again, in the

505
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 2: sixth inning, he'd already given up like twelve base runners.

506
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,600
Speaker 2: He was not on at all. The game was still manageable, Like,

507
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 2: it was still a winnable game. This is obviously the

508
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:26,919
Speaker 2: team ahead of you in the division. It was just

509
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,880
Speaker 2: brutal and I know everybody had opinions on it, but yeah,

510
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:32,720
Speaker 2: that was that was not a good decision, but by

511
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,760
Speaker 2: snit I think everybody kind of agrees with that at

512
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 2: this point. But again, luckily that was the low point

513
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:42,240
Speaker 2: of the weekend. It picked up from there. That was

514
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 2: not a fun night, though. The vibes were out at

515
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 2: all time low after that.

516
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 1: Yeah, and thank goodness the Braves won on Saturday and

517
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 1: Sunday because this would have been a very very different

518
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:56,199
Speaker 1: toned podcast. As you noted the difference, at least just

519
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: from a quick glance at the standings, the Braves are

520
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,120
Speaker 1: now eight games back in the East and seven back

521
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: in the lost column. The difference between being eight back

522
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,439
Speaker 1: and ten back at least to me feels huge and

523
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 1: obviously it's only two games, but to be able to

524
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,560
Speaker 1: win on Saturday and Sunday after a frustrating game on

525
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,439
Speaker 1: Friday night was great to see. The one kind of

526
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,400
Speaker 1: constant throughout the weekend was the offense was quite good

527
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 1: and there were a lot of home runs. On Friday,

528
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: both Austin Riley had a two run homer and Marcelo

529
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,879
Speaker 1: Zuna had a three run homer, and that was a

530
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 1: really good sign for Ozuna because he had been in

531
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,879
Speaker 1: a pretty bad funk for a couple of weeks. It

532
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,359
Speaker 1: was great to see him homer on Friday. And then

533
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,200
Speaker 1: on Saturday there was a lot of early offense again

534
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 1: which was really encouraging, and they got to Ranger Suarez,

535
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: which is much easier said than done. Suarez has been

536
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 1: one of the better pitchers in the National League this year,

537
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 1: and the Braves kind of ambushed him. A leadoff Jared

538
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,959
Speaker 1: Kelnick groundworld double, then Ossi Alby's came around to score him,

539
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,679
Speaker 1: and then marcel had another home run to make it

540
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,240
Speaker 1: three nothing early, and it just kind of felt like

541
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 1: it took the edge off after a couple of really

542
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,359
Speaker 1: frustrating losses for the Braves and impressive showing early on

543
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 1: from the Braves to not only get to Suarez early,

544
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,679
Speaker 1: but then another home run from Ozzie Alby's made it

545
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,639
Speaker 1: five to one in the fifth to effectively end it.

546
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 2: And Suarez has kicked their butt the last couple of years,

547
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:23,600
Speaker 2: especially in the postseason, like they had not been able

548
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 2: to do anything else Swarz, which is unusual for this

549
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,960
Speaker 2: team because they hit left handed pitching so well. It

550
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 2: just tells you how good Swarrez has pitched against them,

551
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 2: that a lefty has shut them down the way he has.

552
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 2: And now you listen, on paper, that was the worst

553
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 2: matchup of the weekend, right Suarez versus your rookie. You know,

554
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 2: Suarez at the time had one of the best eras

555
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,040
Speaker 2: in baseball. Schwellenback had had an ERA in the fives.

556
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,880
Speaker 2: You know, obviously a rookie pitcher. You know, I will

557
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 2: say this, Scott, if if the Braves go on to

558
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,920
Speaker 2: really take off from here and maybe even run down

559
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 2: the Phillies, I think that game that Schwellenbach pitched, going

560
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:03,680
Speaker 2: six innings, giving up one run, the offense coming out

561
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 2: and jumping on Surez, that might be the most pivotal

562
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 2: game of the year, given where the momentum was going

563
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,719
Speaker 2: after Friday Night's game, after San Francisco, after the Giant series,

564
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 2: like the Vibes like I said, we're at an all

565
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 2: time low. It just felt like this was just gonna

566
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:24,399
Speaker 2: be another series where the offense no shows, where the

567
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,680
Speaker 2: Braves lose it, where you know, Suerez had dominated the

568
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 2: lineup and schwallenbacket struggled kind of like you expected to happen,

569
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,879
Speaker 2: and the Braves had lost that game, Like you know,

570
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 2: it's just a whole different vibe. But Schwallenback going out

571
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,360
Speaker 2: and throwing six one run, you know, he had very

572
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,359
Speaker 2: little trouble throwing. You know, I think he gave a

573
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,160
Speaker 2: one run in six innings, one of the biggest starts

574
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 2: of the year. And like you said, the offense came along.

575
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 2: They still had some frustrating moments. You know, they could

576
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,840
Speaker 2: have jumped on Surez even more. They had second, third,

577
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,400
Speaker 2: nobody out in the second inning and couldn't get any

578
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 2: runs home. But the home run ball came back, Ozzie

579
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,440
Speaker 2: hit a homer, Marcel hit a homer, and Schwallenback really

580
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 2: shoved and then the back of the bullpen through a

581
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,159
Speaker 2: perfect perfect game for the rest of the rest of

582
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 2: the night. But yeah, huge, Honestly, one of the big

583
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,399
Speaker 2: maybe the biggest game of the year in terms of

584
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 2: switching momentum from where it was going to where it

585
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:17,600
Speaker 2: ended up at the end of the weekend.

586
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good call, and I'm inclined to agree.

587
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: I mean, a loss on Saturday would have meant an

588
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 1: automatic series loss, and then you're facing a possible sweep

589
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 1: on Sunday. I mean that would have been scary hours

590
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 1: for the Braves, and then you start to worry about

591
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,200
Speaker 1: the season as a whole. You know, Steve and I

592
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: know on the show we have talked about Schwellenbach quite

593
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: a bit, and I mean I am about as bullish

594
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 1: as you can be on him. I feel like I

595
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:46,959
Speaker 1: am one of the proud founding members of the Spencer

596
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 1: Schwellenbach fan Club. It was his best start of the season,

597
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,400
Speaker 1: and not only that, man, but he navigated the lineup

598
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 1: a third time through work six innings only singles. He

599
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: gave up seven hits but were all singles, seven strikeouts,

600
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 1: no walks, which is really encouraging, and only needed eighty

601
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 1: one pitches to get through those six innings. His UH

602
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: in the last five starts, Schwellenbach has a three point

603
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,760
Speaker 1: eighty six e RA but a two point nine to

604
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 1: nine FIP twenty nine strikeouts to only six walks and

605
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 1: a six seventy five ops against him. I'm a big

606
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 1: fan of Schwellenbach. I think you are too based on

607
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 1: your tweets, but just kind of what do you think

608
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:29,640
Speaker 1: of this kid moving forward?

609
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 2: Perpheral is are great. I mean, I know the area

610
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 2: is still high. He's dealt with a little bit of

611
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,719
Speaker 2: bad luck on the on the babep stuff. You know.

612
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 2: The the Philly's game was a great example. He didn't

613
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 2: give up anything hard, but a lot of times, you know,

614
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 2: these little squeakers, fine holes, he gives up singles. I

615
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 2: think he's got like a three thirty or three forty

616
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 2: babbit against I looked it up after the game. I

617
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 2: don't remember exactly what it was, but something like that.

618
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 2: It's it's it's unlucky. But yeah, I mean he's got

619
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 2: a three fifty FIP three sixty as x FIP. You know,

620
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,600
Speaker 2: he's got more than a strikeout per inning, which is

621
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,280
Speaker 2: a huge benchmark, especially for a guy who I didn't

622
00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 2: expect to be a big strikeout guy. You know, to

623
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 2: be to be at over a strikeout per inning pitch

624
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 2: is a big deal in the major leagues. He's not

625
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 2: walking people. Honestly, I think sometimes he throes too many strikes,

626
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 2: Like I think sometimes he gets ahead and account oh

627
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 2: two and the pitch is too good of a pitch.

628
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 2: I think at one point in the game on Saturday,

629
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,800
Speaker 2: he threw like twenty five or twenty seven straight pitches

630
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 2: that were strikes or something crazy like that. Like he's

631
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 2: in the zone, which is why Brian Snicker loves him.

632
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 2: Any pitcher, any young pitcher that comes up and doesn't

633
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 2: walk people, it's gonna immediately be a fan favorite in

634
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,240
Speaker 2: the manager's room. But yeah, I mean he's really stabilized

635
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 2: at fifth starter spot, which was just a disaster for

636
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 2: most of the year. Yeah, like just an absolute, like

637
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 2: an abject disaster for three months.

638
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,880
Speaker 1: It is night and day watching Schwellenbach compared to Darius

639
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,840
Speaker 1: Vines or Alan Winen or even the couple of disastrous

640
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:03,680
Speaker 1: starts from Hurston Waldrip, isn't it.

641
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like just the confidence level is much higher. You

642
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,680
Speaker 2: feel like you're watching you don't feel like you're watching

643
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,040
Speaker 2: a rookie, which I guess is the best compliment I

644
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 2: could give him, Like you feel like you're watching somebody

645
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 2: that's done it a little bit longer. If he doesn't

646
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,800
Speaker 2: get rattled, he's he's never you know, he never has

647
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 2: these weird bouts of command issues that so many rookies

648
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,600
Speaker 2: deal with. So yeah, I've been really impressed. I do

649
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,200
Speaker 2: think the ARA will come down to match the peripherals

650
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,160
Speaker 2: at some point. Now he's a rookie, you know, we

651
00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,000
Speaker 2: need to manage expectations. Of course, I want to put

652
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,880
Speaker 2: on my Brad Rowland cap here and make sure, you know,

653
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 2: we manage expectations, because I feel like that's what he

654
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,200
Speaker 2: would say. But yeah, I've been really impressed and could

655
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:45,320
Speaker 2: not come at a better time. The Braves despot needed

656
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,840
Speaker 2: somebody to take that spot and solidified and stabilized it,

657
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:49,960
Speaker 2: and that's exactly what he's done.

658
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, really nice job from Schwellenbach on Saturday when the

659
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 1: team really needed him. And then Sunday was probably one

660
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 1: of the more enjoyable wins of the whole season, a

661
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 1: six to nothing win over Philly. It was the first

662
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:06,720
Speaker 1: time in like seven or eight years the Braves had

663
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 1: shut out Philadelphia in the regular season, which kind of

664
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,479
Speaker 1: caught me by surprise. And I think probably the biggest

665
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,520
Speaker 1: takeaway is that Ronaldo Lopez looked very much more like

666
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,760
Speaker 1: the guy that we enjoyed so much the first couple

667
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,360
Speaker 1: of months of the year. Not that he had been

668
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 1: bad in his last couple of starts, but he had

669
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: gotten up there with his walks, his command had gotten away,

670
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 1: just wasn't throwing a lot of strikes and it only

671
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,520
Speaker 1: worked I think eight and a third innings in his

672
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,240
Speaker 1: last two starts combined. So Ronaldo to go out there

673
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 1: six innings, only two hits, no runs, two walks, seven strikeouts.

674
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 1: His ear array on the season is one point seven

675
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 1: to one, which is just ridiculous. As we kind of

676
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:50,400
Speaker 1: near the midway point in July.

677
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:53,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a fun game, just like you said,

678
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:55,520
Speaker 2: it was just easy, Like the Braves just haven't had

679
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,320
Speaker 2: a lot of easy games where they jump out early.

680
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,480
Speaker 2: You know, the pitching dominates. There's a five six roun

681
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:02,520
Speaker 2: lead on the board and you're not sweating like every

682
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,400
Speaker 2: rally that comes up. Yeah, it was good seeding Ronaldo.

683
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,880
Speaker 2: You know, he'd had those back to back four walk games.

684
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 2: You know with him, you're always kind of that's that

685
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 2: there's always that thing in the back of your mind like, okay,

686
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 2: is he you know at some point he's gonna hit

687
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,840
Speaker 2: a wall like, he hasn't been a starter for three years.

688
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 2: Surely he can't do this all year. You know, there's

689
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:24,600
Speaker 2: always that kind of thing, and so when you see

690
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 2: a couple of starts that aren't great, you kind of wonder, okay,

691
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,200
Speaker 2: are we getting that? So yeah, for him to come

692
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,760
Speaker 2: out to two hits all all game, he did have

693
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 2: three walks. He's still fighting his command a little bit,

694
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,680
Speaker 2: but it was much better than it was the last

695
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 2: two starts. He's gonna get some re you know. Obviously

696
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 2: he'll make one more start this week and then the

697
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,040
Speaker 2: All Star break. I'm really hoping he listen. I love

698
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 2: when Braves players make the All Star Game. I would

699
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 2: love it if if neither Sail nor Lopez actually threw

700
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,080
Speaker 2: a pitch in the game, Like I I would much

701
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 2: rather these guys get rest, get it, get to be

702
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 2: off their feet. I'm sure I won't happen. I'm sure

703
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 2: both guys would up pitching in the game, but but yeah,

704
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 2: just get you know, I would love Ronaldo to get

705
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,919
Speaker 2: more rest. I'm constantly worried about the workload just because

706
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 2: he's of how many years he's been a reliever. But yeah,

707
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:14,640
Speaker 2: it was good to see and it was good to

708
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,520
Speaker 2: see the offense four homers, the bottom of the lineup

709
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,600
Speaker 2: contributed like it was a like you said, it was

710
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,160
Speaker 2: a It was a comfortable, easy, kind of stress free win,

711
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 2: and those have been hard to find this this first half.

712
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, really a great game from start to finish. You

713
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,799
Speaker 1: mentioned Kelnick had a homer. Olsen Adam Duval hit his

714
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,879
Speaker 1: first home run of the year off a riety, which

715
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,840
Speaker 1: was a good sign. Yeah. You know, he's had a

716
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 1: pretty good last couple of days and a week or

717
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:47,359
Speaker 1: two even. That's great to see for Adam, a guy

718
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,520
Speaker 1: who clearly cares, even if the results have been pretty bad.

719
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:54,000
Speaker 1: Eli White homerd which was kind of a whoa what

720
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:57,440
Speaker 1: happened there? So overall, just a really good kind of

721
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 1: good vibes game on Sunday, especially heading out to the

722
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,440
Speaker 1: West Coast this upcoming week against two pretty good teams.

723
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,920
Speaker 1: So the Braves are going to now play four against

724
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks. Diamondbacks are five hundred and then they will

725
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,560
Speaker 1: play three in San Diego against a surging San Diego

726
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,920
Speaker 1: Padres team that I believe is the third wild card

727
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,040
Speaker 1: as of this moment. Steven, you know, the Diamondbacks have

728
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,760
Speaker 1: had an interesting season. Of course, coming off the World

729
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 1: Series run, they have hovered around five hundred most of

730
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,720
Speaker 1: the year. They won a couple of games this weekend,

731
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 1: so now they are exactly five hundred. An interesting team,

732
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 1: and I'm curious to hear your take on Arizona.

733
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's always a weird team because I do have talent.

734
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 2: You know, they had talent last year. But they go

735
00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:46,160
Speaker 2: through these stretches of just really bad play and then

736
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 2: they'll stabilize, and then they'll go stretch. You know, it's

737
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:50,799
Speaker 2: I guess it's a bit like you would expect with

738
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,560
Speaker 2: a younger team. You know, Corbyn Carrol has not had

739
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,399
Speaker 2: the year that he wanted in terms of a sophomore year.

740
00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 2: It's probably a pretty classic sophomore slump. I think he

741
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 2: hit us I think he hit a home run to

742
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:03,560
Speaker 2: Day as long as like his third one of the year.

743
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,400
Speaker 2: Christian Walker is a monster. You know, he got snubbed

744
00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 2: on the All Star Game for not being in. You know,

745
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 2: there's just too many good first basemen because of Freddie

746
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 2: Freeman and Bryce Harper, but he should have been an

747
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,520
Speaker 2: All Star. He's a monster. He just destroyed the Dodgers

748
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,239
Speaker 2: a couple of series ago, and they are playing better

749
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,200
Speaker 2: like they've they I think they've won three series in

750
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 2: a row. The Braves do catch a little bit of

751
00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 2: a break. They are going to see a couple of

752
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:29,880
Speaker 2: lesser known starters. They do get Zach Gallon in one

753
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 2: of the games, but the other two are pretty favorable

754
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 2: in terms of the matchups. You know, the Braves have

755
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,120
Speaker 2: played pretty well in Arizona actually the last couple of years.

756
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,600
Speaker 2: They've kind of kicked off these big winning streaks and

757
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 2: big stretches of really good play in Arizona, like we

758
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,600
Speaker 2: talked about earlier. You know, Rosario hit that Grand Slam

759
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 2: off in Arizona last year to kick off kind of

760
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:55,240
Speaker 2: a long winning streak, and so there are some good memories.

761
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,480
Speaker 2: Austin Riley, if I remember correctly, destroys Arizona pitching in

762
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 2: that park. You know, if you're if you play daily

763
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:04,960
Speaker 2: Fantasy or whatever, I would maybe load up on on

764
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:08,360
Speaker 2: Austin Riley because he he typically mashes in that park.

765
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 2: So it'd be fun. It'll be a fun series. I

766
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,600
Speaker 2: know you're going to a couple of games. It's usually

767
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 2: pretty high scoring in that park. It's just a hitter

768
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:19,239
Speaker 2: friendly park, but it's a big series because, like you said,

769
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,680
Speaker 2: Arizona's playing well, they're you know, the division has gotten

770
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,000
Speaker 2: or the wild card brace has gotten a little tighter,

771
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 2: because the Braves have gone through a little bit of

772
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:30,120
Speaker 2: a swoon here the last few weeks. And you know,

773
00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,319
Speaker 2: San Diego's playing better, Arizona's playing better, the Mets are

774
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,160
Speaker 2: playing better, the Cardinals are playing better. Like you know,

775
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 2: the the mediocre National League has been a little less

776
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:42,800
Speaker 2: mediocre lately. And so you know, these are big games,

777
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,520
Speaker 2: like these games matter. It always matters in terms of

778
00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:48,920
Speaker 2: head to head for tiebreaker stuff. You know, anytime you're

779
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:50,719
Speaker 2: talking about teams that might be there at the end

780
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,640
Speaker 2: with you, you know, any kind of tiebreaker scenario matters

781
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,759
Speaker 2: quite a bit. So, yeah, big games. It'll be a

782
00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 2: fun series. The Braves do have some pitching advantages, I

783
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,200
Speaker 2: would say in the series, but you know, in that

784
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:03,320
Speaker 2: park it might not matter. That park can get crazy,

785
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:05,439
Speaker 2: you have a lot of high scoring games. But it'll

786
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:07,080
Speaker 2: be fun. I'm looking forward to that one.

787
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:12,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, I am too. You mentioned the pitching matchups. Man,

788
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:15,759
Speaker 1: I'm a baseball fan. Two of these guys I admittedly

789
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:20,080
Speaker 1: have never heard of. Yilbert Diaz is going to start

790
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:23,239
Speaker 1: for Arizona on Monday night. He is making his major

791
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,280
Speaker 1: league debut, so inevitably like seven scoreless innings are probably

792
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:31,000
Speaker 1: coming because the Braves cannot seemingly hit rookies whenever they

793
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 1: are fresh up from the miners. They will see Zach

794
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 1: Gallon on Tuesday, who is very very good. It'll be

795
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 1: Monday is Yilber Diaz against Sale. Tuesday is Zach Gallon

796
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:45,279
Speaker 1: against Charlie Morton. Wednesday is another name I have never

797
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 1: heard of, Slade Sessoni CACONI. I don't know. Steven should

798
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:54,520
Speaker 1: have done my pronunciation guide prep before this show. He

799
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,239
Speaker 1: will go off against Max Freed. And then Thursday is

800
00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 1: Brandon Fott, who was a post season hero for Arizona

801
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:05,120
Speaker 1: last year, against Spencer Swallenbach. And I think you said

802
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:07,760
Speaker 1: it exactly. The Braves have a chance to take advantage

803
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:11,320
Speaker 1: of these pitching matchups. Now, Arizona's lineup is pretty solid,

804
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,120
Speaker 1: maybe not great, but they do have some guys slugging.

805
00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 1: Old friend Christian Walker is out of his mind. Katel

806
00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:22,120
Speaker 1: Marte is, for my money, maybe the most underrated player

807
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,560
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. I know he was just voted

808
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,239
Speaker 1: an All Star, but just nationally, Kattel does not get

809
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,200
Speaker 1: enough credit for being very good. And let's hope that

810
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:32,480
Speaker 1: as the Braves play their final week before the All

811
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,360
Speaker 1: Star Break, that they can build on this Philly series

812
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:38,560
Speaker 1: and have a strong week overall against two pretty good opponents.

813
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 1: It'd be nice to go into the All Star Break

814
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:41,840
Speaker 1: on a winning note.

815
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 2: Marte missed the last three or four games, but I

816
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 2: just saw a note from one of their beat writers

817
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,600
Speaker 2: that the manager is pretty confident that he's going to

818
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,439
Speaker 2: play in the Atlanta Series. So I think he's coming back.

819
00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:54,719
Speaker 2: So and I agree with you. I think he's one

820
00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,600
Speaker 2: of the most underrated players in baseball. He's a fantastic player.

821
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know, it's a it's a seven game

822
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:04,040
Speaker 2: week all on the West Coast. Those are tough, like,

823
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 2: you know, I don't know, you know, Brad's better about

824
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:09,920
Speaker 2: the odds stuff like where the Braves sit in terms

825
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 2: of odds. I don't know how you feel about it.

826
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,640
Speaker 2: I feel like anything anything in the positive, like a

827
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:18,000
Speaker 2: four and three week, I would probably take on the

828
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,120
Speaker 2: West Coast. U Oh, yeah, yeah, I think you have

829
00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 2: to be happy with anything. Yeah, four and three, anything

830
00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:26,799
Speaker 2: better than that. I was obviously you know, I think

831
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:30,200
Speaker 2: Gravy three and four, you'd feel obviously less good about that,

832
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,319
Speaker 2: but you know, West Coast trips or West Coast trips,

833
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:34,080
Speaker 2: So yeah, it'd be to see how they play. Coming

834
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:37,320
Speaker 2: off kind of a big series, two big wins against Philly.

835
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:39,759
Speaker 2: I think the offense might be able to keep it

836
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:43,080
Speaker 2: going in Arizona, which would be huge. So yeah, we'll see,

837
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:44,080
Speaker 2: but it'll be a fun week.

838
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,360
Speaker 1: It will be a fun week. Indeed, we will, of

839
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 1: course have quite a bit of content on the podcast

840
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,880
Speaker 1: network in the coming days. I believe Steven and our

841
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:56,440
Speaker 1: good palace Sean Coleman will be back for a show

842
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:58,839
Speaker 1: probably Tuesday night, so be sure to keep an eye

843
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,480
Speaker 1: out for that. Of course, any kind of breaking news

844
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,640
Speaker 1: that might happen. We are kind of quietly but surely

845
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,799
Speaker 1: getting into trade deadline season, and who knows, maybe we'll

846
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 1: have something on the horizon. Steven, it was great to

847
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:12,960
Speaker 1: do one of these with you, my friend. Appreciate you.

848
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,680
Speaker 1: Pinschhating for Brad on this Sunday evening. Tell the good

849
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:17,280
Speaker 1: folks where they can find your work.

850
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:22,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, b Underscore Outliers is the Twitter handle obviously here

851
00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:24,800
Speaker 2: at hammerd Territory. We appreciate all the all the support

852
00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,840
Speaker 2: we've gotten since we've moved over. Scott and I and

853
00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:30,200
Speaker 2: Sean still all right at Battery Power if you want

854
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 2: to go check out the site. Chris does an incredible

855
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Speaker 2: job there. Yeah, we just appreciate it. We appreciate all

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Speaker 2: the support. It's been unbelievable. And yeah, well now we're

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Speaker 2: you know, we're gonna get to the All Star break

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Speaker 2: and then you know, starts the second half and trade

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Speaker 2: season and the draft, pennant races and all that stuff,

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Speaker 2: and we'll be here to cover it all, so it'll

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Speaker 2: be fun.

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Speaker 1: I would echo everything that Steven just said. Again, a

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Speaker 1: big thank you to everyone checking out the show. Please subscribe,

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Speaker 1: rate review, tell a friend. I am Scott Coleman. We

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Speaker 1: will be back with a new show soon. Have a

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00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 1: good night everybody. We will see you all next time.