Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to the latest Birdland Territory with Steve
Speaker 1: Brand and Tim It was an important week in Major
Speaker 1: League Baseball because labor talks started headed towards getting a
Speaker 1: new CBA Collective Bargaining agreement, the work rules and labor
Speaker 1: rules that will govern the sport for the next few years.
Speaker 1: And it seems like every time one comes up, it
Speaker 1: gets contentious and all that, and so that's kind of
Speaker 1: where we're at, guys, get your take on it. The
Speaker 1: MLBPA Major League Baseball Players Association, made an official proposal Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and then the counter proposal from MLB the League came
Speaker 1: the following day. They're miles apart. People are still expecting
Speaker 1: a potential lockout December one, when the CBA expires, and
Speaker 1: so baseball has some things to resolve. But here's what
Speaker 1: I think all the I don't speak for any fans,
Speaker 1: but I think all of them would say the same thing.
Speaker 1: Whatever you do, don't cost me my sport. We need
Speaker 1: the games to continue. That's a long way down the road, guys,
Speaker 1: but right now maybe it's a good thing. I'm brad
Speaker 1: that these opening stavos have come and gone.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it gives me a little bit of
Speaker 2: optimism compared to you know, talking to Buddies and other
Speaker 2: fans here like in December January. I mean, it just
Speaker 2: seems like it's heading for an impending lockout or with
Speaker 2: a strike or whatever the case may be, whatever terminology
Speaker 2: they use. But I think the fact that they've put
Speaker 2: something out in May is encouraging for fans because at
Speaker 2: least they're going to the table and giving concrete facts
Speaker 2: and concrete things that they're looking for when they're doing
Speaker 2: this negotiation. I think it's good that they got something
Speaker 2: out now, as opposed to this dragging into say September
Speaker 2: and October and nothing's been put out there and no
Speaker 2: offers have been sent across the table to each other.
Speaker 3: So I think for the sport it's encouraging. Now.
Speaker 2: Where it goes from, I don't really know because they
Speaker 2: are so far apart, and I know, just being part
Speaker 2: of the union before and in part of some of
Speaker 2: these negotiations. When you start with when you start these
Speaker 2: talks with salary cap, the union stops it right there.
Speaker 2: They it's there one thing that they will hold on to,
Speaker 2: and it's the one aspect of these negotiations that is
Speaker 2: just an impasse when it comes to the union's perspective
Speaker 2: of it all.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Brad, that of course is the non starter.
Speaker 5: And MLB they put the cap at two hundred and
Speaker 5: forty five point three million starting in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 5: I will say it was a little surprised that the
Speaker 5: floor was higher than I thought it would be. It
Speaker 5: was higher than even the players put out, which was
Speaker 5: surprising to me. The players put out a floor of
Speaker 5: one hundred and fifty million, obviously no salary cap, and
Speaker 5: the league put out a floor of one hundred and
Speaker 5: seventy one point two million, so basically a difference of
Speaker 5: seventy four million dollars between the floor and the salary cap.
Speaker 5: And this is the first time that the league has proposed,
Speaker 5: formally proposed a salary cap since nineteen ninety four, and
Speaker 5: that was, of course when the strike happened and the
Speaker 5: World Series ended up getting canceled. And I guess I
Speaker 5: would just say this anyone that's super concerned at this point,
Speaker 5: the league and the players are not going to give their.
Speaker 4: Best offer in the first offer.
Speaker 5: That's just not how any negotiation works, much less a CBA.
Speaker 5: This is where the actual negotiation begins. You are negotiating
Speaker 5: off A and the players are negotiating off B. How
Speaker 5: can we make some compromises? How can we meet in
Speaker 5: the middle. But Brad that the big sticking point obviously
Speaker 5: is the salary cap. And we're a long ways away
Speaker 5: until this CBA expires December first, and maybe it does
Speaker 5: go into a lengthy lockout at that point. But do
Speaker 5: you envision a salary cap being a possibility?
Speaker 3: I don't really know.
Speaker 2: And at this point it's been the like ever since
Speaker 2: I was in the league and hearing all the meetings
Speaker 2: we had and everything, the salary cap was the one
Speaker 2: thing that was like, you just were not ever going
Speaker 2: to do that. But at the same time, when you
Speaker 2: look at all the other leagues, and I know it's
Speaker 2: hard to compare, it's apples and oranges, but it's they're
Speaker 2: the last league left in North American sports that doesn't
Speaker 2: have a cap and a floor. And I just don't
Speaker 2: know where the sport can go from here if you
Speaker 2: just allow it to continue. And this is me trying
Speaker 2: to do the best of keeping the players, my former
Speaker 2: players perspective in mind, and what the fans are looking for.
Speaker 2: I just don't know where the sport can go from
Speaker 2: here if you just continue to allow the gap to
Speaker 2: get bigger and bigger and bigger. I know, it's a
Speaker 2: different kind of sport, and I know teams can have
Speaker 2: great stories where salaries don't matter in baseball because at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, it's the pitcher on the
Speaker 2: mound always has a shot to go out there and give.
Speaker 3: A team a chance to win.
Speaker 2: But when you just start looking at the gap getting
Speaker 2: so much bigger, and the Dodgers dominance here the last
Speaker 2: few years, and they just continue to spend, and then
Speaker 2: you have these other teams, I think they just get
Speaker 2: to a point where they sit there and go, well,
Speaker 2: what's the point of spending another twenty five million when
Speaker 2: we can't compete with that. We're just gonna go with
Speaker 2: what we got. We'll sign some you know, guys at
Speaker 2: the bottom of our roster and go from there. So
Speaker 2: I just I don't know where it goes from here.
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be an interesting negotiations to watch.
Speaker 2: I just it annoys me as a former player and
Speaker 2: everything that it's just it's every time it comes up,
Speaker 2: every time there's talks that come up, it just kills
Speaker 2: all the stories in the sport. It's the only thing
Speaker 2: that comes across. It gets talked about multiple times all
Speaker 2: the time, and it just it takes away from how
Speaker 2: much the sport is growing here. And I think that's
Speaker 2: what they really need to both look at is because
Speaker 2: of last year's World Series, viewership is up, Younger people
Speaker 2: are watching the game. They cannot afford to have another
Speaker 2: lockout like in ninety four, because I mean that devastated
Speaker 2: the sport for years afterwards.
Speaker 1: Yes, it certainly did. And of course we're a long
Speaker 1: way from resolution, We're a long way from numerous negotiations,
Speaker 1: long way from really everything at this point. But the
Speaker 1: starting salvos came out this week in Major League Baseball,
Speaker 1: and we'll check in on some other topics coming up
Speaker 1: here in a moment on Birdland Territory, and we'll continue
Speaker 1: some CBA talk as well.
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Speaker 1: So even before June one, some labor talks have started,
Speaker 1: at least the very initial Salvos, and you know the
Speaker 1: the MLBPA came out with a proposal counterproposal from the league,
Speaker 1: the Major League Baseball officials And feel free to pause
Speaker 1: and read this lengthy quote and let the release from
Speaker 1: the players Association side, they're not happy with what they
Speaker 1: heard from the owners, and the owners are not happy
Speaker 1: with what they heard from the players what it's shocked.
Speaker 1: But Tim, you mentioned that salary cap proposed two forty
Speaker 1: five the floor one seventy one. Eight teams would need
Speaker 1: to reduce their salaries to get there, and like ten
Speaker 1: or twelve would need to increase to get there. But
Speaker 1: I think in Baltimore that's what fans are thinking about.
Speaker 1: Why do the Orioles always get outspent two to one
Speaker 1: by the Yankees and Red Sox, and then you've got
Speaker 1: another big market team there in Toronto. Three of the
Speaker 1: four they compete with, So they just want to level
Speaker 1: playing field. I'm not sure if they're ever going to
Speaker 1: get it because of the way this industry works.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I just when it comes to the Orioles and
Speaker 5: you can just let's just say since two thousand, for
Speaker 5: the most part, they're around the middle of the pack,
Speaker 5: and I don't think fans are upset at that. I
Speaker 5: think for me, Steve, what upsets me more than the
Speaker 5: Dodgers and the Yankees are the teams like the A's
Speaker 5: and the Pirates and the teams that spend no money,
Speaker 5: where I just I refuse to believe that the ownership
Speaker 5: grew groups of the respective teams that are near the
Speaker 5: bottom and spending that can't spend more. And look, I'm
Speaker 5: not a dummy in the fact that the revenue share
Speaker 5: and all of that's going to change the TV revenue
Speaker 5: with what the league proposed. But I do find it
Speaker 5: very interesting where you know, you have several teams that
Speaker 5: spend under one hundred million dollars and they're going to
Speaker 5: have to raise their payroll to one hundred and seventy
Speaker 5: one point two million, And I think a lot of
Speaker 5: people are asking.
Speaker 4: Well, where is that money cout? Like is that all
Speaker 4: coming from the rep share? Like I don't know.
Speaker 5: I've always been of the opinion that I don't think anyone.
Speaker 4: No one's ever going to come out and say I
Speaker 4: think the owners.
Speaker 5: Want the Dodgers to threep because right now Rob Manfred
Speaker 5: who he was on the Pat McAfee show the other day,
Speaker 5: like they're using the spending gap as the boogeyman.
Speaker 4: They're using that to gain fan.
Speaker 5: Support for the league to vilify the PA where how
Speaker 5: can we compete? Like they're the bulget they're gonna three
Speaker 5: p wait, we have no chance, and the like, I
Speaker 5: firmly believe the league is hoping the Dodgers win, because
Speaker 5: that's like the checkmate, that's see, what do we do here, guys,
Speaker 5: like we need a salary cap.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I almost get more upset at the teams that spend
Speaker 5: no money.
Speaker 2: And I kind of have two points along along that
Speaker 2: what you're just talking about, Tim.
Speaker 3: I think number one is.
Speaker 2: That the players never know what team's actual revenue is.
Speaker 2: And I that that's been a big sticking point, is
Speaker 2: that they don't know exactly what numbers.
Speaker 3: Are being shown, what numbers aren't being shown.
Speaker 2: And this is like just something I'm sure fans can't
Speaker 2: stand here and about because it's like, Okay, the rich
Speaker 2: are getting richer and the rich are.
Speaker 4: Still rich, so it's like, yeah, it's just it's just
Speaker 4: weird that.
Speaker 2: The constant topics are these things have like you're just
Speaker 2: alienating almost every single fan out there that they don't
Speaker 2: want to hear about who's making more money, who's making
Speaker 2: less money, all this kind of stuff. So me, that's
Speaker 2: kind of funny part of it all. And then I
Speaker 2: think about the lower spending teams. When you look at this,
Speaker 2: when you look at the tax threshold, when the Dodgers
Speaker 2: go over it, half of that money that they have
Speaker 2: to pay in taxes goes towards the pension fund. So
Speaker 2: for these teams that aren't spending any money, they're like,
Speaker 2: you know what, spend as much money as you want,
Speaker 2: because you're paying for half of what we have to
Speaker 2: pay former players in the pension. And that's where billions
Speaker 2: of dollars are being saved. When it comes to not
Speaker 2: giving salaries, when it comes to player service, time, manipulation,
Speaker 2: those kinds of things, billions of dollars are being saved
Speaker 2: on the back end. And I think that's to the
Speaker 2: points where the Players Association really has problems with because
Speaker 2: these lower teams are like, you know what, Dodgers spends
Speaker 2: seven hundred million dollars because you have to pay three
Speaker 2: hundred dollars million towards the pension fund. And that that's
Speaker 2: even less money out of our pocket too, And like
Speaker 2: I talked about before, then it's like, Okay, well I
Speaker 2: spend this amount of money.
Speaker 3: So they just but just nobody knows what the book's like.
Speaker 2: And I think that's part of the point that really
Speaker 2: just irks the players Association because if you want to
Speaker 2: do a fair fair talks, just put it all on
Speaker 2: the table, not in public, but at least give us
Speaker 2: the numbers, as the association, so we can see what
Speaker 2: you're actually revenue, what your real revenue is, and what
Speaker 2: is just kind of being thrown out there in the media.
Speaker 1: Interesting. So the players side would point out and has
Speaker 1: they feel some of these lower revenue teams when they
Speaker 1: get revenue sharing money, pocket it and don't spend it
Speaker 1: on players, which is what they're supposed to be going for.
Speaker 1: The owner side would say, big payroll clubs have won
Speaker 1: the last ten World Series and if the NHL, NBA
Speaker 1: and NFL can have a cap, why can't MLB. So
Speaker 1: there are points on both sides being made here. Right
Speaker 1: point about the big clubs winning the World Series is
Speaker 1: it's a crapshoot in October just because the Rays didn't
Speaker 1: win the World Series. Well, the Royals once did so
Speaker 1: and they could again, the Orioles could again. But these
Speaker 1: big clubs are winning it, they're playing better in October.
Speaker 1: Is that because of money or other reasons? There's so
Speaker 1: it's so complicated here. All these issues.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think the new playoff system makes it
Speaker 2: even more complicated when it gets October.
Speaker 3: Because it's it really is a true crap shoot. Now.
Speaker 2: Before it was, you know, the top four teams get
Speaker 2: in and you just kind of played it played out.
Speaker 2: But now adding those two extra teams in, which gives
Speaker 2: more money to both sides, which they both agreed on,
Speaker 2: now turns it evento more of a crapshoot. And then
Speaker 2: I don't know, I guess you could say that the
Speaker 2: higher revenue teams just have more depth. They have more
Speaker 2: proven players most of the time because you can go
Speaker 2: out and free agency and get these guys who've done
Speaker 2: it in postseason. But I don't think it correlates to salary.
Speaker 2: I just think, like you said, the bigger revenue teams
Speaker 2: are just playing better at the biggest moments of the season.
Speaker 5: Well, I think something that's indisputable. Steve kind of along
Speaker 5: those ways, and we have this conversation a lot in
Speaker 5: Baltimore where if you give out a big contract and
Speaker 5: I hate to single out Chris Davis without aged, but
Speaker 5: it's hard to bounce back from that where a Yankees,
Speaker 5: the Dodgers, you know, teams that give out big contracts
Speaker 5: and they've absolutely had deals that didn't pan out. They
Speaker 5: can eat it. Where a team like the Orioles and
Speaker 5: a team even lesser than the Orioles, that's hard to navigate.
Speaker 5: I think that that is really the biggest difference there
Speaker 5: where and that kind of goes to what you're saying, Brad,
Speaker 5: where that's where it cripples your depth where and look,
Speaker 5: we Pete's off to a great but you made the
Speaker 5: move for Pete, and I think that that was a
Speaker 5: very prudent move where that was the first big contract
Speaker 5: that you gave out to someone since Chris Davis.
Speaker 4: But you know, it's also puts pressure on Pete.
Speaker 5: You have to deliver because if not, it definitely alters
Speaker 5: how Michael Aias operates in the offseason.
Speaker 1: No doubt. I mean, we can even use the example
Speaker 1: of Tyler O'Neill. If the Oriels cut ties with him
Speaker 1: right now, they'd have to eat twenty five million maybe more.
Speaker 1: Uh And that's a lot of money for the Orioles
Speaker 1: or the Rays or the Tigers to eat. Where the
Speaker 1: Yankees that's lunch money. They don't blake twice cutting the
Speaker 1: player who's hurting the team, it's twenty five million, so
Speaker 1: there's another disparity there. And so I guess where do
Speaker 1: you guys think the next month or two will go
Speaker 1: with this?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's just gonna I just after seeing
Speaker 2: the last couple play out like directly in front of
Speaker 2: my eyes. There's gonna be a lot of talks in
Speaker 2: the media. They're gonna both sides are going to try
Speaker 2: to use whatever platform they can to try to just
Speaker 2: say how the other side isn't playing fair. And I
Speaker 2: just kind of think I think it's going to kind
Speaker 2: of go in neutral.
Speaker 3: Mode from here. I hope not for the sports sake.
Speaker 3: I hope it doesn't go in neutral mode.
Speaker 2: I hope they actually do meet with each other face
Speaker 2: to face and get some at least get a couple
Speaker 2: of the topics figured out, and then you can work
Speaker 2: on the bigger ones after that. But just kind of
Speaker 2: what I've seen the last few times, I think they
Speaker 2: both put the statement out, they both said both sides
Speaker 2: aren't even close, and then I feel like it goes
Speaker 2: into neutra mode. You won't hear anything until my guess
Speaker 2: is until after the All Star break, because I think
Speaker 2: they want to have the All Star game have its platform,
Speaker 2: but maybe you hear a little something right before just
Speaker 2: if anything has progressed. But I just I don't imagine
Speaker 2: it going very far from here, just because, like I said,
Speaker 2: I think the biggest topic is such a butting head
Speaker 2: topic for these sides that they just staying right there
Speaker 2: and nobody moves either way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, guys, I just.
Speaker 5: Would be surprised if something was agreed upon until it
Speaker 5: was closer to December, like until around the World series.
Speaker 5: Like I'm a firm believer in any like deadline spur action,
Speaker 5: and when the possibility of a lockout is there, you're
Speaker 5: going to be talking a lot more frequently. You are
Speaker 5: going to be negotiated a lot more frequently. What I
Speaker 5: hope doesn't happen, which unfortunately, with how these things go,
Speaker 5: it probably will. It got so ugly that last CBA
Speaker 5: where and Brad you kind of alluded to it, just
Speaker 5: the leaks to the media both sides, and it just
Speaker 5: got so contentious there. And I think and you brought
Speaker 5: it up earlier, Brad, like I think that's what turns
Speaker 5: fans off, and it would just be so unfortunate for
Speaker 5: the sport. Like you were saying, there's so much momentum
Speaker 5: that has been built over these past couple of years
Speaker 5: in terms of ratings, in terms of eyeballs and social media,
Speaker 5: that a prolonged lockout would would be a punch to
Speaker 5: the gut of MLB.
Speaker 2: And I think just one other thing too, when you
Speaker 2: look at the age of the guys in MLB, there's
Speaker 2: maybe a handful of guys who were actually alive when
Speaker 2: the last strike happened, Like I was, you know, I
Speaker 2: was six years old when it happened, and I don't
Speaker 2: remember full details of it, but I remember people that
Speaker 2: were huge fans of the game, and some of them
Speaker 2: walked away forever, some of them walked away for a decade.
Speaker 3: So I just don't know if they A lot of
Speaker 3: the current players understand the reprecation.
Speaker 2: Whatever I'm trying to say, Yeah, reprecussion, so something like that,
Speaker 2: Like I think it's kind of like a it's almost
Speaker 2: like a folklore thing of like, yeah, well there was
Speaker 2: a strike. And I mean you talk to former coaches
Speaker 2: that I had at times, and they're talking about they
Speaker 2: talk about the scabs, the guys who went over the
Speaker 2: picking line and played. They talk about what it was
Speaker 2: like during that time, and it's like, man, we don't
Speaker 2: never want to do that again. But I feel like
Speaker 2: it's get It's gotten so far away at this point
Speaker 2: that it's almost like, you know, if we do it,
Speaker 2: it will come back. I mean, look at the NHL,
Speaker 2: they had one and they came back. Look the NBA,
Speaker 2: they had one, they came back. But it's like, I
Speaker 2: just don't know if baseball players nowadays, and this is
Speaker 2: a that's a broad stroke to say not all of them,
Speaker 2: but it's just when something hasn't happened in your lifetime,
Speaker 2: it's hard to really understand what has happened.
Speaker 3: Historically with it.
Speaker 2: So I just don't know if the players have the
Speaker 2: true perspective of what it was like to not have
Speaker 2: a sport, have the World Series canceled, have an almost
Speaker 2: an entire season gone, Like it's just such a big
Speaker 2: black eye on the sport that I just don't know
Speaker 2: if that full perspective, in the historical sense of it all,
Speaker 2: is still there with the players.
Speaker 1: One thing we all have in common, players, owners, fans, media,
Speaker 1: we love the game. Guys, don't mess this up. To
Speaker 1: put it in terms of a baseball game, We're in
Speaker 1: the top of the first We got a long, long
Speaker 1: way to go, and our national show Foul Territory, of course,
Speaker 1: will keep you very well versed on all these topics
Speaker 1: with all their sources and knowledge and correspondence. And here
Speaker 1: in the Birdland Territory we'll give you a Baltimore angle
Speaker 1: on it as best we can throughout the process. But
Speaker 1: you also love to hear about on the field. We're
Speaker 1: going to touch on some interesting those on field topics
Speaker 1: next on Birdland Territory.
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Speaker 1: The last time it happened in baseball was twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Two catchers from one team made the All Star Game
Speaker 1: same year, William Contreras Travis Darnaul of Atlanta in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two. Before that, as best I can tell, it
Speaker 1: hadn't happened since the early sixties, Jogi Bearra and Elston
Speaker 1: Howard of the Yankees. The Orioles had two catchers playing
Speaker 1: at an All Star level Withsio and a Ritchman. That
Speaker 1: would be incredible to see that happen in Baltimore. She
Speaker 1: Langeleiers and others. We'll have a lot to say about this.
Speaker 1: But here's what Pisio said when I asked him this
Speaker 1: week about being considered for the All Star Game. That
Speaker 1: would be a dream come true. To be on that
Speaker 1: stage would be truly special. His face was lit up
Speaker 1: when he said that. To me, he's thinking about it,
Speaker 1: which isn't to me is not a bad thing because
Speaker 1: he's playing at an All Star level and this is
Speaker 1: one of the things that is driving him.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, he looks great right now, and it's I
Speaker 2: think it's I think seeing the excitement on his face
Speaker 2: when you ask that question was probably probably you know,
Speaker 2: it probably made you happy.
Speaker 3: It gives you chills. It's just it is a dream
Speaker 3: come true.
Speaker 2: I mean I remember being with Zach and Darren fifteen,
Speaker 2: watching Zach and Darren both make it, and it kind
Speaker 2: of like clicked in my head that like why can't
Speaker 2: two guys go?
Speaker 3: Why can't I be a guy this year?
Speaker 2: Like it was just it kind of like made the possibility,
Speaker 2: like the possibility an actual reality type thing like in
Speaker 2: my head that I could make it if even if
Speaker 2: one of our other guys make it. And I think
Speaker 2: with ADLEI I think both these guys are just kind
Speaker 2: of pushing each other right now to be their best player,
Speaker 2: because you don't want to let the team down. You
Speaker 2: want to be your best self when you're out on
Speaker 2: the field. But I think both of them together right
Speaker 2: now are just kind of pushing each other when they're
Speaker 2: out there, and when one's dhing or one's not playing,
Speaker 2: it makes you want to build your or put your
Speaker 2: level of play up a level and just go out
Speaker 2: there and perform at the best of your ability.
Speaker 5: Guys, it's the best catching tandem in baseball, and they're
Speaker 5: kind of in their own.
Speaker 4: Little tier right now.
Speaker 5: When you look at the stats, they're first in OPS
Speaker 5: catchers by team by sixty one points, first and slugging
Speaker 5: by fifty points, first in RBIs by three and they're
Speaker 5: tied for the lead in home runs. Both of them
Speaker 5: have an OPS of over eight hundred and Adley Rutchman Man,
Speaker 5: I know we talk a lot about him on this show,
Speaker 5: and it's rightfully so. He's on his way to having
Speaker 5: his best season of his career and he's got a
Speaker 5: career high ops. Be guys, I keep harping on the
Speaker 5: defense man. He threw out another runner yesterday. Him controlling
Speaker 5: the run game of base runners has been awesome. The
Speaker 5: framing's been spectacular, the blocking, like Adley is just such
Speaker 5: a complete ballplayer right now.
Speaker 4: And Sam, Man, what more king you say?
Speaker 5: I keep going back to that game in Kansas City
Speaker 5: where he came through in that ninth inning spot, then
Speaker 5: came through again in extra innings and was spectacular defen
Speaker 5: defensively in that game.
Speaker 4: Ever since that moment, I feel like that game.
Speaker 5: Was when things started to slow down for Sam and
Speaker 5: he's really taken off.
Speaker 1: He has. Man got to get me a Sam Besio bobblehead.
Speaker 1: I want that bobblehead in this house. I've been covering
Speaker 1: that kid since today. They signed him out of the dominic,
Speaker 1: and it is just so cool to see how he's
Speaker 1: blossomed into He was always a great kid. He's always
Speaker 1: like his smile has always lit up the room. I
Speaker 1: saw that in Aberdeen and so to see that happen
Speaker 1: in Baltimore is really really cool. And we should not
Speaker 1: lose sight of those fans what you're saying here with
Speaker 1: these two catchers, because every team is jealous of the
Speaker 1: Orioles right now with what they have at the catching position.
Speaker 1: The Oriel right hander Brandon Young just made a change
Speaker 1: on his splitter grip. I'm going to tell you how
Speaker 1: remarkably fast that change occurred when we continue on the show.
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Speaker 1: So, when the Oils were getting swept at the trap
Speaker 1: about a week ago, that was not good. But behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, Brandon Young was changing the grip on his
Speaker 1: splitter because he was giving up a batting average of
Speaker 1: over four hundred off that pitch, which he thought was
Speaker 1: a great pitch for him last year, not so great
Speaker 1: this year. So Drew French and Mitch Plaismyer went to
Speaker 1: him and used the example of pitchers in the game.
Speaker 1: We have great splits like Kevin Gosman and Nativaldi, and
Speaker 1: what about you making a tweak or two that could
Speaker 1: help you. He did. He made played catch that day
Speaker 1: on flat ground with the grip, loved it through a
Speaker 1: bullpen a day or two later, and a couple days
Speaker 1: later through it in the game. It happened that fast.
Speaker 1: He told me, I'm pickup pitches pretty quick. I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: it seems like you do so twenty four percent. He
Speaker 1: used it Sunday against the Tigers, when he, by the way,
Speaker 1: allowed two runs unearned in six and two thirds. Brad,
Speaker 1: is it lightning fast to go from the drawing board
Speaker 1: to the game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's pretty quick.
Speaker 2: But I think that's one of the advantages of all
Speaker 2: the technology that they have now is it's one of
Speaker 2: those things to feel it and kind of see it,
Speaker 2: but then you have instant feedback. And I think when
Speaker 2: you go throw off a mount and you throw aside,
Speaker 2: it's instant data. So it's I mean, pitching coaches can
Speaker 2: go It's one thing to bring up a grip, but
Speaker 2: it's another thing to see it actually work. And I
Speaker 2: think for him, since he does pick up stuff easy,
Speaker 2: I bet he's messed with five other grips. He's probably
Speaker 2: tried other breaking balls. You go to the track man
Speaker 2: and you instantly know, Okay, is this going to be effective?
Speaker 3: Is this not?
Speaker 2: Is my previous grip better than what I'm throwing right now?
Speaker 2: And if it felt good for him, and especially with
Speaker 2: him throwing a splitter already, he probably are.
Speaker 3: He had the feel for throwing that pitch.
Speaker 2: I think it was just more so making sure that
Speaker 2: the movement was what he was seeing. And then from
Speaker 2: there you can take it to the mound. And I
Speaker 2: think that's like what I'm pretty jealous of with the
Speaker 2: technology today that they have, is that you can throw
Speaker 2: it in aside, throw it in flat ground, go throw
Speaker 2: five pitches off the mound.
Speaker 3: If it feels comfortable, let it rip in the game.
Speaker 2: Because the data shows and the analytics stuff that they
Speaker 2: show on track Man, we'll tell you whether or not
Speaker 2: it's going to work in a big league game. And
Speaker 2: I think that's one of the cool things with the
Speaker 2: pitching stuff today.
Speaker 5: What was really cool in that start Steve Sunday is
Speaker 5: he gained more confident in the splitter as the game
Speaker 5: went on. The first time through the lineup, he threw
Speaker 5: it just sixteen percent of the time. The third time
Speaker 5: through the lineup he threw it thirty eight percent of
Speaker 5: the time, so close to double than what he started.
Speaker 5: And we've been giving Brandon Young his flowers throughout the
Speaker 5: season because we know that it's been up and down
Speaker 5: for the starting rotation even though they're in it. Cool, great,
Speaker 5: great groove right now over the past seven to ten days.
Speaker 5: But Brandon Young all season long, outside of one start,
Speaker 5: that start against the Astros in that double header, he's
Speaker 5: been their most consistent pitcher and it's just another one
Speaker 5: of those cases where, gosh, where would they be without
Speaker 5: Brandon Young.
Speaker 1: He used the phrase to me, I had the courage
Speaker 1: to use it in the game, And I believe that's
Speaker 1: a good word, courage, because guys, if one or two
Speaker 1: doesn't work like he hopes and costs him five runs
Speaker 1: as a very different box score for this kid. So
Speaker 1: it does take some courage to throw that pitch because
Speaker 1: when it's new, things can go wrong, and so they
Speaker 1: probably are going to go wrong at some point. Right,
Speaker 1: you cannot get be perfect with it. But so man,
Speaker 1: he was on board and that I think was big
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it will be interesting to see moving
Speaker 2: to this next star. Last time it's kind of get
Speaker 2: the grip and let it rip, and now it's you've
Speaker 2: had time to tweak with it, You've had time to.
Speaker 3: Mess with it.
Speaker 2: So I'm curious if he just sticks with it or
Speaker 2: if he starts trying to manipul. Sometimes you can do
Speaker 2: with some pitches that you're kind of new with you.
Speaker 2: You think you can throw it better, you think you
Speaker 2: can do like, just stick with what you did the
Speaker 2: other day, let it rip, stick with the grip. And
Speaker 2: I don't think he needs to do much else because
Speaker 2: he was The swings he was getting on it tells
Speaker 2: you everything you need, and I think that's what gave
Speaker 2: him the confidence to use it more the next time
Speaker 2: through the lineup. And I guarantee if he keeps getting
Speaker 2: the swings he got and the way the hitters are
Speaker 2: looking at it, he's gonna just start throwing it even
Speaker 2: more if it's that much. And I think it just
Speaker 2: plays off his fastball that much better, and I think
Speaker 2: it makes it that much better. So if you can
Speaker 2: get those two pitches, look at Kevin Gosman. He went
Speaker 2: them trying to mess around throwing briging balls all of
Speaker 2: his career. He got to the Giants and told me,
Speaker 2: they said, just throw your fastball and splitter.
Speaker 3: That's all we need you to do.
Speaker 2: He's obviously done stuff since that point, but you could
Speaker 2: do it. You can be a two pitch pitcher if
Speaker 2: they are true too good pitches. And I think that's
Speaker 2: what Brandon Young could do. Something like that.
Speaker 1: The other thing Tim that this is in the last
Speaker 1: week we have seen two homegrown Orial pitchers, Brandon Young
Speaker 1: and Trey Gibson, pitch and baseball for the Orioles. And
Speaker 1: I heard for years they can't develop pitching. My take was,
Speaker 1: in the last year or two the pitching development, there's
Speaker 1: a wave coming here. I saw those guys at Bowie
Speaker 1: Hermann and Wells and Trey, and I said, these guys
Speaker 1: now are going to be at Norfolk. They're a step away.
Speaker 1: I'm not over I don't want to oversell it or
Speaker 1: overstated or over hype it here, but I think some
Speaker 1: good things have happened with pitch development, and I think
Speaker 1: it is meaningful for the fans to see homegrown Orioles
Speaker 1: start games and pitch well.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
Speaker 5: And we were texting about Trey Gibson and unfortunately he's
Speaker 5: just caught in a numbers game and got sent down
Speaker 5: after that start. But now two starts in guys, and look,
Speaker 5: the defense was spectacular behind him that they turned two
Speaker 5: double plays for him. Gunnar Henderson made that insane throw
Speaker 5: where he's fading right jump throw to get the runner
Speaker 5: at first base. But something that's so noticeable with Trey
Speaker 5: Gibson in those two stones and then he made one
Speaker 5: outing in relief is it does not look too big
Speaker 5: for him, man like. He is calm, cool and collected
Speaker 5: on the mound. And remember he was the first Orioles
Speaker 5: starting pitcher to make his debut at Yankee Stadium and
Speaker 5: franchise history, so that in and of itself is pretty unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just fun. It's fun and brad pitching development
Speaker 1: has changed so much in recent years. But I think
Speaker 1: seeing them do it in Baltimore, that's when the fans
Speaker 1: finally really believe. They see double A stats, they see
Speaker 1: triple A stats. Those are nice, but we've seen so
Speaker 1: many guys over the years get some hype, get some rankings,
Speaker 1: get some prospect love, and not do it in the
Speaker 1: big league. So that's the final step. And again these
Speaker 1: guys are just starting out, but early returns look good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all you can ask for, you know, is
Speaker 2: you don't know what's gonna happen to your downline, You
Speaker 2: don't know what's gonna happen two years online. But right now,
Speaker 2: having these guys come up give it the innings that
Speaker 2: they need and looking good doing it is huge, right, now,
Speaker 2: so you just you love to see if Trade Gibson
Speaker 2: look super confident. I always think back to him when
Speaker 2: he was walking off the mount the Yankee Stadium giving
Speaker 2: words to Albernaz as he's leaving the mound.
Speaker 3: I'm like, this kid has confidence. You can't buy that,
Speaker 3: you can't teach that.
Speaker 2: He's got confidence walking off the Yankee stadium talking to
Speaker 2: his manager basically just saying that was awesome type of thing.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's all I needed to see. And I
Speaker 2: thought he should have had all these opportunities in between
Speaker 2: these two starts, and hopefully he gets more moving forward,
Speaker 2: because that's what you need.
Speaker 3: You need young starting pitching.
Speaker 2: You need to have more than five starters, and you
Speaker 2: need to have guys do it at the big league level.
Speaker 3: And it's fun to see.
Speaker 2: It's fun to see him using the defense, having good
Speaker 2: defense behind him, which obviously means he's around the zone.
Speaker 2: They're having balls put in play. He's not getting swing
Speaker 2: and missing balls all the time. So it's fun to see.
Speaker 2: And last night was the other night. Was really cool
Speaker 2: to watch him go out there and do his thing
Speaker 2: in Baltimore for the fans to see at home.
Speaker 1: And I think the next year, could bring Herman, could
Speaker 1: bring Lee by Welch to Baltimore, could bring Luis Dely
Speaker 1: home to Baltimore. There's more coming behind his Birdland, which
Speaker 1: if you want to be good for many years, you
Speaker 1: got to have it all right, guys. We cover a
Speaker 1: lot of ground on this show. Man good one. Enjoyed
Speaker 1: it today with Brad and Tim, and we'll have another
Speaker 1: one in a few days and be you know. Please
Speaker 1: subscribe to our channel on YouTube. Check out all our videos.
Speaker 1: One great thing is you can watch run from two
Speaker 1: weeks ago if it's something you want to hear about.
Speaker 1: We just had a great show with Bucks show Walter.
Speaker 1: So a lot to watch and see here on Birdland
Speaker 1: Territory and we'll catch you next time.