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Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the Hammer Territory podcast. My

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Speaker 1: name is Sean Coleman. Hope wherever you are and wherever

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Speaker 1: you are listening, you are doing well. Once again. As

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Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier this week, such an exciting time of

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Speaker 1: the sports calendar, so many great things going on. But hey,

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Speaker 1: when it comes to this corner of the baseball world,

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Speaker 1: Braves Country two more weeks until a baseball season is here.

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Speaker 1: So there's a lot of questions that we've been asking.

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Speaker 1: What answers have we been able to find. We feel

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Speaker 1: like that there are more questions than answers at times.

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Speaker 1: We feel like that some questions are getting more answered

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Speaker 1: than they did before. But I think that one question

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Speaker 1: that has not been asked enough is one that matters

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Speaker 1: a lot for twenty twenty six. Where can the Braves

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Speaker 1: be elite this season? We're going to discuss that and more,

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Speaker 1: and I think you know where we're going to start,

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Speaker 1: and that's going to be the focus of our mix

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Speaker 1: it Up segment engineered by Fascinating all Right, So, Steven,

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Speaker 1: we're going to start with Ronald Acunya Junior. When we're

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Speaker 1: thinking about for this Braves team, what are the biggest

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Speaker 1: individual factors that are going to be the reasons why

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Speaker 1: they return to contention. It starts with Ronald Acunya Junior.

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Speaker 1: And I've made the claim and I know that you,

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Speaker 1: I think have made the claim as well. I feel

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Speaker 1: Ronald Acunya Junior is without a doubt one of the

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Speaker 1: five best singular sources of offensive production in the game.

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Speaker 1: Where does he stand for you in terms of you

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Speaker 1: were tearing overall offensive producers. Where does Ronald d'cunya junior

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Speaker 1: sit among his peers?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what's up, buddy.

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Speaker 3: So when you talk about when you talk about where

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Speaker 3: can the Braves be elite? Another way to ask that

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Speaker 3: question is in a more practical sense, who or which

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Speaker 3: position group can carry the team for portions of the

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Speaker 3: season when there's a bunch of guys in a slump,

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Speaker 3: or it's just the dog days of whatever part of

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Speaker 3: the season we're in, or they just need spectacular performance

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Speaker 3: from one or two guys to weather whatever they're weathering

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Speaker 3: at the time, and usually with this team it's injuries

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Speaker 3: and so who can carry the club? And of course

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Speaker 3: you have to start with Ronald. That is where everything

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Speaker 3: starts with the Braves. And I can just recount off

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Speaker 3: the top of my head five or six times since

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Speaker 3: he's been in the majors that Ronald has quite literally

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Speaker 3: carried the team for.

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Speaker 2: A month or two months.

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Speaker 3: He gets on these hot stretches and it is one

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Speaker 3: of the most spectacular things you'll see on baseball. But

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Speaker 3: it's what I've missed the most. When he's hurt is yes,

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Speaker 3: seeing him every day is fun. But when he is hot,

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Speaker 3: when he is on, that is truly a spectacle, and

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Speaker 3: even other fans notice it, like it's just it's a

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Speaker 3: different level. To answer your specific question of where do

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Speaker 3: I rank him in terms of offensive players in the league,

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Speaker 3: I think you have to put I mean, if we're

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Speaker 3: doing objectively, I think you have to put.

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Speaker 2: Otani in Judge in their own class.

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Speaker 1: Right now.

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Speaker 2: They're just better than everybody else.

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Speaker 3: And that's that's not sliding anyone else, just that's how good.

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Speaker 2: I mean.

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Speaker 3: You go look at the numbers Aaron Judge has put

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Speaker 3: up the last couple of years. It's actually it's like

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Speaker 3: Barry Bond civil numbers and Atani is an alien, So

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Speaker 3: you know, those two guys are in their own class.

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Speaker 3: It's that next tier where you get to, like Soto,

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Speaker 3: I think you get to Akunya. If Akunya is healthy,

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Speaker 3: I put him right up Againstjuan Soda. Now, Wan Soto

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Speaker 3: has stayed healthier for his career, so you have to

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Speaker 3: give him probably a slight edge there, but I think

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Speaker 3: Akunya is right in that next like I think I

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Speaker 3: would put Cory Seger in that group when he's healthy.

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Speaker 3: In terms of impact bats, Jordan Alvarez is a guy

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Speaker 3: he wasn't He was hurt last year, so he kind

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Speaker 3: of kind of left people's brains. But when that guy's healthy,

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Speaker 3: he's as a dynamic a hitter as there is. You know,

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Speaker 3: if you go overall value, of course, you can get

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Speaker 3: like the Bobby Witz and Jose Ramrez's of the world.

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Speaker 3: But I think Akunya is right in that next tier

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Speaker 3: below a Tani and Judge and right with Soto.

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Speaker 2: Him and Soto have been.

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Speaker 3: Linked together ever since they came up together, so it's

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Speaker 3: not a surprise. But yeah, I think I go probably

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Speaker 3: Otani one, Judge two, and then some order of Akunya

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Speaker 3: and Soto three and four. You know, it's kind of

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Speaker 3: dealer's choice at that point.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And you know we talk about you know, these

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Speaker 1: individual sources of offensive production. You know, you think, to

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Speaker 1: your suffocate, baseball is a twenty five man roster, would

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Speaker 1: a singular source when an individual truly matter as much

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Speaker 1: in a sport that has that big of a roster.

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Speaker 1: This is like basketball, which has a smaller roster. What

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Speaker 1: recent history certainly suggests that that's the case. Because if, however,

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Speaker 1: you want to rank them, and you know, we we

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Speaker 1: back what we say about Ronald Acunya Junior with you

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Speaker 1: know where he is offensive production wise for twenty and

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Speaker 1: twenty six. If you look at many of the Fangrass projections,

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Speaker 1: they have Ronald basically fourth, fifth, or six, depending on

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Speaker 1: the projection source in WRC plus. But we named the

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Speaker 1: hitters Otani, Judge Soto, Akunya Junior, Corey Sieger, or Don Alvarez.

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Speaker 1: I think you could put that at Vladimir Guerrero Junior

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Speaker 1: up there as well. What do those hitters have in

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Speaker 1: common besides just being the best in the sport at

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Speaker 1: the plate, it's also the recent success that they've led

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Speaker 1: their teams to over the past few years. Go back

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Speaker 1: to twenty twenty one. Freddie Freman, you could argue, was

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Speaker 1: a top five hitter in baseball the Braves won the

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Speaker 1: World Series twenty twenty two. Ordn Alvarez was a big

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Speaker 1: reason the Astros one sieger, a big reason the Rangers

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Speaker 1: one in twenty three, Judge Soto and Otani the World

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Speaker 1: Series in twenty four, and then last year it was

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Speaker 1: Otani and Black Guerrero in the World Series in twenty five.

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Speaker 1: It matters to have the elite of the elite when

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Speaker 1: it comes to individual offensive producers because not only can

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Speaker 1: they make the difference to get you those extra wins

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Speaker 1: to get to the playoffs, they deliver in the big

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Speaker 1: moments what you're in the playoffs, and Akunya has held

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Speaker 1: his own when he's played in the playoffs. So that's

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Speaker 1: why it matters. That's why when it comes to Ronald

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Speaker 1: Kunya Junior, the Braves have a level of player that

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Speaker 1: very few other teams do. And it matters on the

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Speaker 1: biggest stage when you want to get to you where

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Speaker 1: you want to get as a contender.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Listen, the pitching is so good in the postseason

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Speaker 3: that you do need your stars to be stars. I mean,

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Speaker 3: it's a lot of postseason successes. I remember, even like

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Speaker 3: in nineteen with the Nationals when Soto and Rendon just

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Speaker 3: went off, you know, and carried them all the way.

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Speaker 2: To a World Series.

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Speaker 3: You can go back further than that with Red Sox

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Speaker 3: when Mooki, you know, when Mooki was with the Red Sox,

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Speaker 3: he did the same thing.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, you to have these.

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Speaker 3: Guys on your roster and then you gotta have perform

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Speaker 3: in October. So yeah, I mean, this is where it

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Speaker 3: starts for the Braves. And I've said this before both

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Speaker 3: literally and figuratively. Ronald Laguna Junior is where it starts.

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Speaker 3: And I just need him to be healthy. Honestly, if

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Speaker 3: you tell me he's gonna be healthy, I think he's

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Speaker 3: gonna be elite. Washington playing the WBC has brought back

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Speaker 3: all the feelings of like twenty twenty three of like

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Speaker 3: oh yeah, when this dude is right and he knows

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Speaker 3: he's right, it's it's truly unlike anything. Like I remember

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Speaker 3: when he was a rookie and he had that stretch

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Speaker 3: of games in like August of his rookie year where

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Speaker 3: he hit a home run in like eight straight games

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Speaker 3: and he let off like six straight games with the Homers,

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Speaker 3: and the Marlins hated him so much they had to

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Speaker 3: throw at him to stop him.

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Speaker 2: You know, I remember in twenty one.

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Speaker 3: He doesn't get enough credit for twenty twenty one because

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Speaker 3: Ronald carried the entire team for literally the entire first

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Speaker 3: half of the year.

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Speaker 2: People forget that.

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Speaker 3: If Ronald doesn't have an MVP level first half in

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Speaker 3: twenty twenty one, the Braves are selling at the trade

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Speaker 3: deadline and they don't win that World Series. And because

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Speaker 3: nobody was playing well in the first half of twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty one.

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Speaker 2: Except Ronald, he was gonna win the MVP that.

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Speaker 3: Year if he does a tearors ACL at the right

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Speaker 3: before the All Star breaks. So I've seen this dude

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Speaker 3: carry this lineup and carry this team for long stretches,

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Speaker 3: and I tell you what, it looks a lot like

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Speaker 3: the guy that's playing in the WBC right now. Watching

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Speaker 3: that guy, it looks like like MVP level Ronald a commutjunior.

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Speaker 3: So you tell me he's healthy, I'll tell you he's

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Speaker 3: gonna be a top five MVP player this year and

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Speaker 3: he's going to re establish himself as one of the

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Speaker 3: premier players in the league. Because I think people have

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Speaker 3: forgotten obviously. He tore his knee up in May of

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Speaker 3: twenty four. You know, he was out for a year

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Speaker 3: and then last year he was awesome, but the Braves sucked,

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Speaker 3: so no one really cared. I think he's gonna remind

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Speaker 3: people in twenty twenty six the Braves can do hold

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Speaker 3: up their end that he's one of the best players

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Speaker 3: in baseball. And I think he's again. You promised me health,

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Speaker 3: you promised me one hundred and fifty games. He's gonna

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Speaker 3: put up an MVP levels. You're muted, beautiful.

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Speaker 1: It's unreal what he can do, not only at the

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Speaker 1: platement on the bass pass and like I say, just

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Speaker 1: that combination of speed, offensive production on bas skills, delivering

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Speaker 1: in big moments, and let's not you know, discount the

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Speaker 1: fact that just having fun. I know that may not

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Speaker 1: seem like it matters. But the more fun Ronald Acuna

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Speaker 1: seems like he's having on the baseball field, that's the

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Speaker 1: more locked in he is. And that's why I'll end

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Speaker 1: on this point, is that the Braves need to make

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Speaker 1: sure that they honor that being locked in version of

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Speaker 1: Ronald Acuna Junior by ensuring that he is healthy, you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of protecting him of himself. You know, I mentioned

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Speaker 1: it before last year. You had that bit of a

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Speaker 1: scare when it came to his achilles. The Braves lett

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Speaker 1: him play even though he had that achilles concern. You

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Speaker 1: can't let that happen. Walt Weiss has talked about if

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Speaker 1: these players are healthy, probably playing them one hundred and

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Speaker 1: five to one hundred and fifty games versus one hundred

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Speaker 1: and sixty, you know that you're more than likely going

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Speaker 1: to get a Cup injury scares a year from Ronald,

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Speaker 1: So the brazy to do all that they can to

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Speaker 1: keep him healthy.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and how much is he gonna run? Yeah, that's

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Speaker 3: a huge Like, we just don't know. I think he's

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Speaker 3: gonna run a lot. If the WBC is any indication

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Speaker 3: he's gonna run. And listen, when he came back from

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Speaker 3: the first day sel he ran way more than I

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Speaker 3: thought he would. So, like, you know, I know they

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Speaker 3: want to be conservative. I think they're gonna try to

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Speaker 3: be conservative with off days more than they're gonna try

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Speaker 3: to be conservative with telling him what not to do

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Speaker 3: on the field. I certainly don't want him like dive

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Speaker 3: in for balls in the outfield, but if he gets on,

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Speaker 3: if he walks and he's just standing on first base

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Speaker 3: and he thinks he can steal.

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Speaker 2: I think he's gonna try to steal.

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Speaker 3: So I don't know if he'll ever see seventy stolen

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Speaker 3: bases again, but like fifty would not surprise me, forty

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Speaker 3: wouldn't surprise me. Like I think he's gonna run as

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Speaker 3: long as he's healthy, So the sky is the limit

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Speaker 3: as long as he's healthy. That's just what we don't know.

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Speaker 3: And you know, I'm I knock on every piece of

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Speaker 3: wood every time I talk about Ronald because I just

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Speaker 3: want the guy to be healthy. For give me like

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Speaker 3: five years and see what he can do. And again,

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Speaker 3: I think he's going to remind people in twenty six

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Speaker 3: that he is one of the best players in baseball.

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Speaker 3: And I think he's itching to show people. If you

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Speaker 3: watch the WBC, that guy looks like a horse that

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Speaker 3: is about to is about to zoom out of the

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Speaker 3: out of the break. So it's like it's like a

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Speaker 3: horse about to run away. Like he cannot wait for

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Speaker 3: the season to start, and I can't wait for it.

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Speaker 3: That it's gonna be fun to watch.

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Speaker 1: You know, he's motivated and listen, just in general, baseball

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Speaker 1: is better when Ronald a'cooney junior junior is playing at

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Speaker 1: his best and having fun doing it. That that's just

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Speaker 1: what makes baseball better, and of course for us Brase

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Speaker 1: fan it just makes the overall product better as well.

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Speaker 1: But when we talk about difference makers, when we talk

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Speaker 1: about a trusted source, I certainly want to put the

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Speaker 1: spotlight on fast and All Fast and All industrial supplies,

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Speaker 1: innovative solutions. Want to learn more, visit fastenall dot com.

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Speaker 1: So we're focused on these difference makers, and we're focused

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Speaker 1: on these sources that can be reliable no matter who

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Speaker 1: they're face, no matter their stage, they are just consistently elite. Steven,

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Speaker 1: I know that there's been fun debates over the past

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Speaker 1: few years about how many true aces are there in baseball,

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Speaker 1: and you probably could point I would say to ten

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Speaker 1: to fifteen. But I do feel with confidence the Braves

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Speaker 1: have one of those pitchers. Even though he is a

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Speaker 1: bit up there in age, he's proved that he still

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Speaker 1: has some of his best stuff available. And that of

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Speaker 1: course is chrissel the twenty four Cy Young Winner, and

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Speaker 1: even after a bit of a rough start before he

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Speaker 1: got injured last year in that May to June area,

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Speaker 1: basically that two month stretch before he got hurt, Chrissell

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Speaker 1: was right back there being among the best in baseball.

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Speaker 1: I feel you can easily make the case that he's

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Speaker 1: a top ten pitcher. You can easily make the case

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Speaker 1: he's a true ace. But the thing that stands out

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Speaker 1: to me is that we talk about Ronald Raccuna Junior

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Speaker 1: being among the best five overall offensive producers in baseball,

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Speaker 1: we talk about Chrissel being a top ten pitcher. That's

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Speaker 1: a rare combination. There are only a few other teams

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Speaker 1: that have both the top ten pitcher and a top

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Speaker 1: five hitter in the game on the same team. And

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Speaker 1: that's again two of the biggest reasons why the Braves

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Speaker 1: fe confident they can return to contingent.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, how many teams.

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Speaker 3: I've a guy who won an MVP in the last

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Speaker 3: three years and a guy that won us Cy Young

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Speaker 3: in the last three years on the roster like it.

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Speaker 2: Most don't.

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Speaker 3: And what sucks is we still we really haven't gotten

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Speaker 3: an extended stretch of seeing Acunya in sale like healthy

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Speaker 3: together because obviously Acuna got hurt in May of twenty

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Speaker 3: four and missed the rest of that year, and then

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Speaker 3: when Acuna came back last year, him and Sale only

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Speaker 3: played together for like less than a month before Sale

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Speaker 3: got hurt. And so like we haven't seen we haven't

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Speaker 3: been able to see both these guys dominate at the

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Speaker 3: same time for any kind of extended stretch yet. And

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Speaker 3: Chris Sale is a monster, a monster, And we said

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Speaker 3: it when they made the trade for him, Like anytime

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Speaker 3: he's been healthy, he's been good.

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Speaker 2: Like he doesn't really.

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Speaker 3: Have a stretch of play where he's healthy bad. So

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Speaker 3: it's a very similar story as a Kunya Like if

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Speaker 3: you tell me he's gonna be healthy, I'm gonna tell

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Speaker 3: you he's gonna be. In the Cy Young conversation, he

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Speaker 3: was awesome last year and a lot of people don't

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Speaker 3: know it because he missed so much time with the

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Speaker 3: rib injury. But after the slow start, I think, like

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Speaker 3: the first two or three games he got off to

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Speaker 3: a slow start. After that he was every bit as

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Speaker 3: good as he was in twenty four when he won

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Speaker 3: the Cy Young. So and he was very good when

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Speaker 3: he came back from the injury on the last month

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Speaker 3: of the season.

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Speaker 2: So, and he looked great in spring. His stuff looks great.

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Speaker 3: He really knows how to like throttle his stuff when

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Speaker 3: he needs it, Like he'll sit in ninety four ninety five,

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Speaker 3: and then he'll get into a big spot in like

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Speaker 3: the fifth inning with a couple of guys on and

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Speaker 3: all of a sudden, the dude's throw in ninety eight

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Speaker 3: and he will blow it by somebody in big spot,

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Speaker 3: Like he really has learned how to save his bullets

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Speaker 3: for the biggest points in the game. And I I

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Speaker 3: told Scott this at one point, He's already one of

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Speaker 3: my favorite braves.

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Speaker 2: He's only been on the team for two years. Like,

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Speaker 2: I just love the dude.

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Speaker 3: I want him and Akuna both on us are everything

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Speaker 3: I want and my best player like Duce who are

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Speaker 3: just obsessed with baseball, and they're both obsessed with baseball

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Speaker 3: and they love it and they're awesome teammates and their

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Speaker 3: teammates love them. And just give me a year where

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Speaker 3: Ronald Coo Junior and Chris Sale are healthy together and

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Speaker 3: let me just see what happens. Let me enjoy having

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Speaker 3: two players of this caliber on the same team at

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Speaker 3: the same time we're both healthy. That is that is

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Speaker 3: all I'm asking for.

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Speaker 1: Get that if we can get those two players together

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Speaker 1: and healthy at the same time, you're going to see

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Speaker 1: this team be able to be successful. And I think

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Speaker 1: that that's a very good point to point out. You've

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Speaker 1: very rarely seen them too together barely. Yeah, you basically

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Speaker 1: have seen them. Let's see, Ronald was injured late May

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Speaker 1: of twenty twenty four, so that's basically a month and

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Speaker 1: a half together, and then Ronald came back I believe

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Speaker 1: what it may last year, and then Sale got heard.

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Speaker 1: We'll say it's been three months. So basically they've been

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Speaker 1: teammates for two years. Only a fourth of the time

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Speaker 1: that they've been able to be teammates, have they been

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Speaker 1: able to actually be together healthy on the field when

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Speaker 1: Chrisselle pitches. That's something that stands out when you really

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Speaker 1: want to break down a big reason why the Braves

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Speaker 1: have struggled over the past two years, that rare combination

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Speaker 1: of top ten pitcher and top five hitter. They've only

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Speaker 1: been available and healthy together for a fourth of that

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Speaker 1: period of time. So he can get them together for

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Speaker 1: a full season, I'd say that's a pretty big factor

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Speaker 1: in us turning it around. But the other reason why

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Speaker 1: I think that Chris Sale is really elite is not

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Speaker 1: only his performance on the field. It's the persona of

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Speaker 1: him as a team leader. I think that that's a

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Speaker 1: very underrated part of what makes Chris Sale Chris Sale,

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Speaker 1: and that is a big, big change from what he

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Speaker 1: was earlier in his career. Chris Sale is the type

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Speaker 1: of guy that, for instance, in the situation with Jerks Profar,

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Speaker 1: Chris Sell, I believe was the first guy that they

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Speaker 1: went up and talked to and his focus was on, Hey,

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Speaker 1: this has happened. It's not ideal, It's definitely not something

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Speaker 1: that you know, It's not something we would choose to happen,

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Speaker 1: but it has happened. Our focus needs to not be

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Speaker 1: on what has occurred, but on how we can work

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Speaker 1: together to overcome the challenges that are our way. He

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Speaker 1: sets the tone anytime that he's on the field. He

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Speaker 1: was again the first guy who spoke about Drake Baldwin

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Speaker 1: having confidence in Drake Baldwin taking on a big part

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Speaker 1: of the catching load. And look what happened with Drake

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Speaker 1: Baldwin in his rookie year. So Chris Sail sets that

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Speaker 1: tone not only with how he pitches on the mound,

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Speaker 1: not only with his mindset and persona, but also in

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Speaker 1: just how he supports his teammates and that makes a

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Speaker 1: huge difference for a team again that's trying to get

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Speaker 1: back to contingent.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and listen, the Brazen lost a lot in the

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Speaker 3: clubhouse in terms of leadership the last three years. I mean,

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Speaker 3: think about the guys they've liked. They lost Freddy, they

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Speaker 3: lost Travis Darnell, they lost Charlie Morton, they lost Dansby.

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Speaker 3: Like guys who were very clearly like vocal leaders in

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Speaker 3: that clubhouse, Max Freed, who was I think their player

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Speaker 3: rep for the Union the whole time he was there.

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Speaker 3: So like Chris is, Chris has stepped in and filled

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Speaker 3: that void of being like the clear veteran of the

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Speaker 3: team that everybody looks to.

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Speaker 2: And you're right.

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Speaker 3: When the Profilo stuff dropped last year, Chris Sale was

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Speaker 3: the first guy they asked because his answer kind of

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Speaker 3: sets the tone for the whole clubhouse. And when they

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Speaker 3: when Profar got suspended again this year, Chris Sale was

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Speaker 3: one of the first guys they asked. So you know,

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Speaker 3: you're one hundred percent right. And stuff he does with

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Speaker 3: the younger pitchers that we never hear about, stuff he

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Speaker 3: does with the catcher. Stuff he's done with Drake Baldwin,

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Speaker 3: getting Drake Baldwin caught up to speed on how to

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Speaker 3: call a game, and he lets catchers call his entire game.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we will never know the impact Chris Sale

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Speaker 3: has had on Drake Baldwin's career. It's literally an amount

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Speaker 3: of value will never be able to quantify. So yeah,

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Speaker 3: he's just been incredible. And the fact that the Braids

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Speaker 3: got him locked up. I love that they got an

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Speaker 3: extension done.

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Speaker 2: I love that the I love that he's the highest

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Speaker 2: paid player on the team.

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Speaker 3: Quite honestly, he deserves to be the high him and Acunya,

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Speaker 3: Like I want them to get Acunya's deal done as well,

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Speaker 3: but like him and Akunya should be the highest paid

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Speaker 3: players on the team.

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Speaker 2: I think that's completely fair.

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Speaker 3: And the fact that he's making twenty seven million dollars, like,

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Speaker 3: he's unbelievably good. And I just want him to be

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Speaker 3: healthy because I think he could win another cy young

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Speaker 3: and he's probably gonna waltz into the Hall of Fame

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Speaker 3: if he went, if he can, if he can stay,

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Speaker 3: if he can finish out this contract at the level

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Speaker 3: that he's been pitching the last couple of years. I

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Speaker 3: thought before that, he might be on the edge because

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Speaker 3: of how much of his prime he missed. But if

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Speaker 3: he keeps going at this rate, at least to the

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Speaker 3: end of this current contract, I think he's gonna walt

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Speaker 3: into the Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think. You know, we were talking about tears.

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Speaker 1: I know, before he retired, you know, there was there

416
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Speaker 1: was a trio of player future Hall of Famers. That's

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Speaker 1: Clayton Kershaw, That's Mack Scherzer, and that's Justin Merlabner. I

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Speaker 1: think that his sale is kind of on that next

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Speaker 1: tier on his own. He may not necessarily be a

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Speaker 1: first ballot guy, but I think there's no doubt, especially

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Speaker 1: if he gets a both.

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Speaker 3: All those other guys just stayed healthy for their entire primes. Yes,

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Speaker 3: they like they dealt with injuries later, but they were

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Speaker 3: healthy pretty much all their prime. And that's what That's

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Speaker 3: what cost Chris, is that he missed like five years

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Speaker 3: of his prime.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, But the thing about it is is that

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Speaker 1: he's pitching just as good now as he would have it.

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Speaker 2: His arm has got a lot less bullets on it

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Speaker 2: than those guys.

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Speaker 1: It does it does, Yes, I definitely, I think, And

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Speaker 1: I think that's in the back of his mind he

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Speaker 1: wants to be, you know, clearly a Hall of Famer

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Speaker 1: and and also be in the ace of a staff

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Speaker 1: that to win multiple World Series. Again, Chris Sail may

436
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Speaker 1: not necessarily have the count counting stats as other clear

437
00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,720
Speaker 1: Hall of Famers win. He calls it a career. But

438
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,600
Speaker 1: in terms of the moments being the ace and multiple

439
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,360
Speaker 1: teams that win World Series, you know, winning Asa young

440
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,560
Speaker 1: late in his thirties, you know, be in the ace

441
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,199
Speaker 1: of three different teams, you know, throughout his career, that

442
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 1: stands out, and he's fully capable of doing that. But

443
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,480
Speaker 1: again we talk about singular sources. Ronald Acune Junior as

444
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,960
Speaker 1: well as Chris Sale. What stands out about this team

445
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,639
Speaker 1: I talked over the past couple of years that are starting.

446
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,000
Speaker 1: Pitching has been the clearest aspect of this team that

447
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 1: was to the level that you would need from a contender.

448
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 1: But is there that different now? Is there another aspect

449
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,439
Speaker 1: of this team that can claim that title? We'll discuss

450
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,040
Speaker 1: that in just a moment after a word from our partners.

451
00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,920
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452
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453
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459
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460
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461
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472
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473
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Speaker 1: So Stephen continueing know on from you know, we talked about,

474
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,080
Speaker 1: you know, Ronald Acuna Junior in the last podcast, how

475
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:40,320
Speaker 1: good Ronald Accoonya Junior looked on the WBC stage taking

476
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,080
Speaker 1: over that game against nicker Walck, How awesome it was

477
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 1: to see what he could do at the top of

478
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 1: the order. But one of their aspects that we talked

479
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,480
Speaker 1: about of this team in the last podcast was the bullpion.

480
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,159
Speaker 1: And I feel like that we can make the claim

481
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:54,960
Speaker 1: that when we talk about aspects of this team that

482
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,000
Speaker 1: could be elite, the back end of the Brave bullpin

483
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,640
Speaker 1: has that potential because over the past three to five years,

484
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,439
Speaker 1: when you think of the best closers in baseball, I

485
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,400
Speaker 1: think that you could easily put both Rice sell Iglesias

486
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:14,200
Speaker 1: as well as Robert Sworez in that conversation. May everybody

487
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,000
Speaker 1: may not agree that they're both top ten, but I

488
00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 1: think that, you know, in terms of counting stats, in

489
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,440
Speaker 1: terms of quality of stuff, you could easily put them

490
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,680
Speaker 1: into that conversation. Well, now the Braves have both of them.

491
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,120
Speaker 1: And when it comes to a team that last year

492
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,800
Speaker 1: struggled mightily, I believe that our record in one run games,

493
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 1: we were as many games above five hundred. In terms

494
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 1: of one run games as we were overall. That's how

495
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,240
Speaker 1: huge of a difference our performance in one run games

496
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 1: had on an overall record. When you had us struggle

497
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,120
Speaker 1: so much in one run games, having an elite back

498
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,680
Speaker 1: into the bullpen should reverse your fortune in those situations,

499
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,240
Speaker 1: and that can that's what can get you those extra

500
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,160
Speaker 1: wins to make a true playoff run.

501
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,679
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't know how many people know this.

502
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 3: Robert is I think had the second most saves in baseball. Yeah,

503
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 3: I think you had like forty saves last year. And

504
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 3: you know, the Padres have played a ton of close

505
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 3: games the last fear like and they've leaned. The Padres

506
00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 3: seemingly always are leaning heavily on their bullpen, and Robert

507
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,880
Speaker 3: Torres has anchored that for the last few years. So

508
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,679
Speaker 3: one hundred percent, this is probably the next place you

509
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,600
Speaker 3: have to go. You know, obviously you can talk about

510
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 3: the lineup as a whole has a chance to be elite.

511
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 3: But my guess is the next place you got to

512
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 3: go after Acuna in sale is probably the back end

513
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 3: of the bullpen because they could just I would I

514
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,480
Speaker 3: would have really loved if they had signed another starter

515
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 3: and been able to put Lopez back in the bullpen,

516
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 3: because I think that would have given them a three

517
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 3: headed monster in high leverage unlike any other team has.

518
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 2: But obviously they didn't do that.

519
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,680
Speaker 3: But even if it's just a Glaciers and swore Is,

520
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 3: that's as good as there is in baseball. And you know,

521
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 3: I am curious as see what the middle relief looks like.

522
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,840
Speaker 3: I'm a little worried about Aaron Bummer. I'm a little

523
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,680
Speaker 3: worried about Dylan Lee, to be honest, and as Tyler

524
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,280
Speaker 3: Kinley gonna repeat after last year, like I do have

525
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,520
Speaker 3: questions in the middle, in the front of the bullpen,

526
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 3: but the back of the bullpen, the eight to ninth inn.

527
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,520
Speaker 2: You guys, are as good as there is in baseball.

528
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 3: So and if nothing else, if you can just guarantee

529
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,440
Speaker 3: that every time the Braves have a lead going into

530
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,919
Speaker 3: the eighth inning, they win the game, then you know

531
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:34,160
Speaker 3: you can't really argue, like you get so many more

532
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,359
Speaker 3: wins just by guaranteeing that every time you have a

533
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 3: lead in the eighth inning, you're gonna win the game.

534
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 3: Like if you just don't have blown sack and now

535
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 3: everybody's gonna blow a couple of saves. But as long

536
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 3: as it's you know, you're converting ninety ninety five percent

537
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,440
Speaker 3: of these things, then you're gonna be fine.

538
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 2: So you know, I'm I'm fairly.

539
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,399
Speaker 3: Confident that the Braves are gonna have one of the

540
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 3: best back ends of the bullpens in baseball. Now we'll see,

541
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, there's volatility in the stuff, so

542
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,320
Speaker 3: you know, we'll see what happens. But yeah, I think

543
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,240
Speaker 3: the Braids are going to be awesome on that side

544
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 3: of the ball.

545
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:06,960
Speaker 1: And the other thing that stands out to me, Steven,

546
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 1: is that when you talk about the Braves and again

547
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 1: what has stood out over the past, you know, a

548
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 1: few years is where they've struggled. Look at what look

549
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 1: at their lack of production in the eighth and ninth inning,

550
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: and especially last year you talk about you know, in

551
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,080
Speaker 1: terms of FIP, there were twentieth in Major League Baseball.

552
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 1: When you combine their performance in those two in needs

553
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,000
Speaker 1: x FIP, they were twenty fourth in baseball. They were

554
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,360
Speaker 1: middle of the tier when it came to strikeout percentage.

555
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: Guess which team had the highest strikeout percentage in eighth

556
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,480
Speaker 1: and ninth inning production last year? That was the San

557
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: Diego Padres, and of course their closer was Robert Schortz.

558
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 1: So to your point, the thing that also stands out

559
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 1: to me is one of the reasons why these two

560
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 1: could be elite is their ability to mispats. If you

561
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,359
Speaker 1: go and look at what the Braves have done over

562
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 1: the past three to four to five years when it

563
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 1: comes to throwing balls, you know, above one hundred miles

564
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,160
Speaker 1: per hour. I think Sworez threw more pitches last year

565
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 1: above one hundred miles an hour than the Braves have

566
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 1: thrown as an entire team over the past like three

567
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,959
Speaker 1: or four years. So more is he's a weapon that

568
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 1: you've not been able to feature. He brings a aspect

569
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: to your bullpen that you've not been able to feature

570
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 1: in the past, which is elite velocity, and that leads

571
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 1: to missing bats and when you face more quality opponents again,

572
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: especially in the playoffs, that's what stands out, and that's

573
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,919
Speaker 1: why I'm excited to see what Robert schors can do

574
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: if we get to that playoff stage.

575
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, and not only that, but like.

576
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 3: He had a rocky kind of middle of the year,

577
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,719
Speaker 3: but right Salad Glacie has finished the year on a

578
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 3: really good note like he was pitching extremely.

579
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:49,520
Speaker 2: Well down the stretch.

580
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:52,679
Speaker 3: Yeah, done the last part of the season, and he

581
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 3: got his strikeouts almost all the way up to ten

582
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 3: for nine by the end of the year. Because that

583
00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 3: was another thing. Was you remember earlier in the year,

584
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 3: he wasn't missing as many bats and he was getting

585
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 3: concerning It's like, all right, what's going on. He had

586
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 3: to kind of ditch the slider all together because he

587
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:07,440
Speaker 3: kept giving up home runs on the slider.

588
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:09,120
Speaker 2: But he kind of.

589
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,959
Speaker 3: Really righted the ship in the second half of the year.

590
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:13,959
Speaker 3: And I know there are fans who a little bit

591
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 3: concerned about that, but I was encouraged by how he

592
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,640
Speaker 3: finished the year, how his strikeouts really spiked. He found

593
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,359
Speaker 3: the slider again kind of later in the year and

594
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 3: started using it again. But the fastball change up is

595
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,040
Speaker 3: kind of where he lived. And I'm curious that. I'm

596
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 3: actually very curious see when the seas starts this year,

597
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,080
Speaker 3: how his pitch mix looks relative to what it did

598
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 3: last year. Is he is he fastball change up? Is

599
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 3: he going to try to use the slider more? We'll see,

600
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,440
Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean, these guys should be two of

601
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:41,960
Speaker 3: the best in baseball, and if they are, then the

602
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 3: Braves have, of course, they have an elite back into

603
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:44,959
Speaker 3: the bullpen.

604
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 2: The rest of the guys are going to.

605
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 3: Have to answer some questions for me before I go

606
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,040
Speaker 3: there with them, right, especially the middle guys Bummer Lee,

607
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 3: Tyler Kinley. I'm not ready to say that for those guys,

608
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,520
Speaker 3: I need to see more. But the back end guys

609
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 3: should be awesome.

610
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: The back in the bullpen the big thing that stayed

611
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,200
Speaker 1: out to me. Also beyond those weapons that we already have,

612
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:08,960
Speaker 1: if these guys prove to be as effective as Alexandoppolis

613
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 1: thinks that they should be and the Braves hope that

614
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: they are, this is a absolute obvious spot to potentially

615
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: add another arm. And if you could potentially add a

616
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: left handed arm, that could be a difference, Faker, Just

617
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: think about how dynamic that would be. It's all about

618
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 1: shortening games.

619
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 2: Those in the playoff, especially when you got rotation questions.

620
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, bombs in the bullpen. That was our key to

621
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: win in the twenty twenty one World Series. If we

622
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,040
Speaker 1: can hit home runs and then we could shorten the

623
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: game to get to some of our best quality arms,

624
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 1: that's what's going to help us again, not only arrive

625
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 1: to the playoffs, but thrive once we get there. So

626
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: I do think that if there's a team aspect that

627
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 1: really stands out as being to the level that you

628
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: need a contender to be at, it's the back end

629
00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 1: of the bullpen. And if that can secure us, if

630
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 1: we can have some early success in one run game,

631
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,240
Speaker 1: closing out in those you know, high leverage situations, if

632
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 1: we can get the job done early in those games

633
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:09,920
Speaker 1: early in the season, that could really set the tone

634
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: for the rest of the year.

635
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you're right, I mean, bombs and bullpen like

636
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 3: that was a formula. It's a very very sound formula

637
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 3: in the postseason. Now it's tricky to do it in

638
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:21,720
Speaker 3: the regular season. You do need your starters to eat

639
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,840
Speaker 3: some innings, and the Bradys obviously have rotation questions, and

640
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 3: that's why the middle of the bullpen is going to

641
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:26,959
Speaker 3: be so important.

642
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 2: By the way, is you got to get through.

643
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,680
Speaker 3: The season, and you can't just you can't just use

644
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 3: sores and I glaciers every night. So you know, the

645
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:35,280
Speaker 3: middle of the bullpen is gonna have to do its job,

646
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 3: and the rotation is gonna have to do its job.

647
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,200
Speaker 2: And listen, these fifth sixth, seventh. Eight starters are gonna

648
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 2: have to do their job.

649
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 5: J R.

650
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,040
Speaker 3: Richie's gonna play a role in this. You know, Dedeerflinte

651
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 3: is gonna play a role. Some of these kids that

652
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,320
Speaker 3: may potentially bullpen options are gonna play a role. And

653
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:51,479
Speaker 3: like you said, there's probably gonna be a major addition.

654
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:56,320
Speaker 3: But as it stands right now, I'm as comfortable with

655
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 3: the back of the bullpen as I am with any

656
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 3: part of the roster. And you know that's not something

657
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 3: we could say last year when we had Hector Nearris

658
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,920
Speaker 3: on opening day pitching in high leverage.

659
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're going to have to perform better in

660
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: high leverage, and I think that there should be confidence

661
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 1: that we're going to be able to do exactly that.

662
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 1: So we've kind of defined, you know, hey, where can

663
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,080
Speaker 1: this team be elite? And when you think about it,

664
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 1: when you think of the perspective of a team that

665
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 1: can boast a top five hitter, a top ten starting pitcher,

666
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,800
Speaker 1: a top ten ace in the sport, and a top

667
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 1: five back of the bullpen, you see that while despite

668
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,760
Speaker 1: again all the injury questions that we have, if health

669
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,479
Speaker 1: can be on our side, why the Braves can return

670
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 1: to contention. So if that's an exciting perspective to think

671
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: about this team, you want to learn a bit more

672
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 1: about how you can watch them this year because we

673
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 1: now have some more information on Brave's vision. More on

674
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,040
Speaker 1: that in just a moment after another word from our partners.

675
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,040
Speaker 6: It's always fun to get out of the house, hush

676
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:53,360
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677
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678
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679
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680
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Speaker 1: So, Steve, and I want to give you credit. I

704
00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 1: tell people all the time you're one of the best

705
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: when it comes to breaking down the Braves and that's

706
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,240
Speaker 1: because really, when it comes to any aspect of talking

707
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 1: about this team, you are on point with being able

708
00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 1: just to make our fan base smarter when it comes

709
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 1: to listening to you. So I give you credit for that.

710
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 1: And one area where you've really stood out is you've

711
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: done a great job breaking down kind of how this

712
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 1: whole how can we watch the Braves situation has evolved

713
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,200
Speaker 1: over the past two years. Well, the good thing is

714
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:29,480
Speaker 1: is that now we finally arrived to the spot where

715
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: I think it's going to check the boxes for Braves country.

716
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,400
Speaker 1: Can we have an option where we can pay a

717
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: one time fee, know where we can go to sign

718
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,760
Speaker 1: up and then be able to watch the Braves really

719
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: on any device anywhere that we are, whether it be

720
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 1: a tablet of phone, your TV at home, wherever you

721
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,680
Speaker 1: may be. And I think that Braves vision, with the

722
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 1: release of information of how you can get access to it,

723
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: I feel that we're now at that spot and it's

724
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,280
Speaker 1: a great place to be.

725
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:00,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we finally got detail on this. We've been

726
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:04,760
Speaker 3: waiting and waiting and waiting, and you know, I thought

727
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 3: we'd have it sooner than this. We're so close to

728
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 3: opening day. They finally did release. At least what I

729
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:15,760
Speaker 3: think is probably the biggest part is so on today's Thursday,

730
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:17,640
Speaker 3: I'm like TUESDA, Monday or Tuesday, I can't remember which

731
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:19,960
Speaker 3: day it was. They just put out a release and

732
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 3: just said, hey, here's the pricing for the in market

733
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 3: streaming on MLB dot tv. And so there was a

734
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:31,399
Speaker 3: lot of questions about this, how much is it gonna cost?

735
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 2: So I do want to make something clear. There is

736
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 2: the MLB dot.

737
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:39,160
Speaker 3: Tv subscription that people have bought for years, and then

738
00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 3: there is the Braves subscription that is a separate subscription.

739
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,920
Speaker 3: So if you want to just watch the Braves, you

740
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 3: can buy a ninety nine dollars ninety a sense so

741
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 3: basically one hundred dollars for the season. You could buy

742
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 3: a Brave subscription for basically one hundred dollars for the season,

743
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,959
Speaker 3: and you can get all forty Braves games they're gonna

744
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 3: be They're gonna be shown on Brave's Vision. Obviously they

745
00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:04,239
Speaker 3: have a bunch of the national games, so it doesn't

746
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 3: include the national games, but all the ones that are

747
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 3: gonna be shown on the Braves New Network, which is

748
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:12,440
Speaker 3: Brave's Vision, you can buy for for ninety nine dollars

749
00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 3: for basically one hundred dollars total for the year, which

750
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:17,960
Speaker 3: to me is extremely affordable.

751
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:20,840
Speaker 2: I thought they would. I thought it would be in

752
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 2: like the one thirty one forty range.

753
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,239
Speaker 3: I mean, if you break it down by month, that's

754
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:28,799
Speaker 3: like what eighteen dollars a month, seventeen dollars a month

755
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 3: something like that.

756
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:31,239
Speaker 2: I mean, that's they're cheap to.

757
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,600
Speaker 3: Be able to watch every Braves game that's not a

758
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 3: national game. Now, we don't have the answers yet, and

759
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,160
Speaker 3: I know people had this question. We don't have the

760
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 3: answers yet on which cable providers they're gonna be on. Still,

761
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,239
Speaker 3: that's that's probably the next big one, because there's still

762
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:47,440
Speaker 3: quite a few Braves fans that watch it on on cable.

763
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:49,840
Speaker 3: We don't have that answer yet, but they're gonna have

764
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 3: to give us that very soon and as soon as

765
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:53,399
Speaker 3: we have it, we'll talk about it. And the other

766
00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 3: one we don't have is we don't have what other

767
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,919
Speaker 3: streaming services they're gonna be on other than MLB dot

768
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,880
Speaker 3: tv via their own subscription, which is Braves TV. So

769
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,719
Speaker 3: we're still waiting on those two pieces of information. But

770
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:08,799
Speaker 3: knowing that all of the in market people, and this

771
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 3: is a big distinction, if you're out of market, nothing

772
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:13,560
Speaker 3: has changed. You're just gonna buy MLB dot tv the

773
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 3: way you always have and you can watch all.

774
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:15,880
Speaker 2: The Brase games.

775
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 3: For the in market people, the only thing that has

776
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 3: changed for you is now you have the option to

777
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,520
Speaker 3: buy the Braves on MLB dot tv, which you've never

778
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,239
Speaker 3: had before because of blackouts. You could buy the Brave

779
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,399
Speaker 3: subscription for ninety nine dollars ninety nine cents one hundred

780
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,640
Speaker 3: dollars for the entire season, and you can watch every

781
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,400
Speaker 3: game that's on Braise Vision again excluding their national television games.

782
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 3: And like Sean said that, you can do that on

783
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 3: your TV, on your tablet, on your PlayStation, your phone, whatever,

784
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,840
Speaker 3: wherever you have the MLB app, it's through MLB's app,

785
00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:50,200
Speaker 3: and you just have all the Brase games if you're

786
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:52,040
Speaker 3: in market, and if you're out of market, that in

787
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,439
Speaker 3: nothing has changed. You're just gonna buy MLB dot tv

788
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:54,880
Speaker 3: the way.

789
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:56,879
Speaker 2: You always have. So it was big news.

790
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,640
Speaker 3: We're still waiting on the rest, and obviously when we

791
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:01,919
Speaker 3: get the rest, we'll talk about it. And I understand people,

792
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:03,880
Speaker 3: you know, every time this happens, people have a million

793
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,279
Speaker 3: questions about, well, this is my situation, how do I

794
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,839
Speaker 3: watch the Braves, And it's impossible to answer all of those,

795
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,360
Speaker 3: so we try to speak in generalities. But for the

796
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,319
Speaker 3: in market people, people in the Braves TV market, you

797
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 3: can now stream the Braves on MLB dot tv with

798
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 3: zero blackouts, which.

799
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:19,320
Speaker 2: You've never been able to do before.

800
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,760
Speaker 3: So and it's one hundred bucks for the entire season.

801
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,239
Speaker 3: I mean it's like, what is that, Like, I suck

802
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,200
Speaker 3: at math, like sixty seventy cents a game something like that.

803
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 3: So I mean that's I think it's great value. I

804
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 3: saw some people complain it. I don't know what you're expecting.

805
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:35,799
Speaker 3: This is actually lower than I was expecting. I think

806
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,600
Speaker 3: it's tremendous value. And it's a big step in getting

807
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 3: all the information. Once we get the rest, we'll talk

808
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:40,759
Speaker 3: about it.

809
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:43,279
Speaker 2: But at least we have that piece of information now.

810
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's cheaper than what we had over the

811
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,880
Speaker 1: past couple of years when we had less than reliable

812
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,160
Speaker 1: overall production. And obviously you never knew when it was

813
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 1: going to end because of the news that we heard

814
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,120
Speaker 1: when it came to Valley and things such as that.

815
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,600
Speaker 1: So through the past eighteen months of of uncertainty that

816
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 1: many baseball teams and their fan bases have had to

817
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:03,920
Speaker 1: go through to be able to watch the product, we

818
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,000
Speaker 1: all love for this to be the end result. It's

819
00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:07,920
Speaker 1: a pretty good end result that at the end of

820
00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:10,520
Speaker 1: the day, again checks a lot of boxes to make

821
00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:14,839
Speaker 1: the viewing experience as best as possible. One other thing

822
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 1: of note is that the Braves continue to trend their roster,

823
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:21,880
Speaker 1: and a notable cut that occurred I believe it was

824
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,799
Speaker 1: yesterday was James Krinchak, who I know a lot of

825
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:28,960
Speaker 1: fans in Braves country kind of had been intrigued by

826
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,080
Speaker 1: the addition of him as a minor league signing. Back

827
00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:33,399
Speaker 1: a few years ago. He was a very very good

828
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,400
Speaker 1: reliever for the Cleveland Indians, ran into some injuries, had

829
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,600
Speaker 1: been ineffective as well over the past couple of years.

830
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:41,680
Speaker 1: But he's looked pretty decent to good in his outing

831
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:43,680
Speaker 1: for the Braves. But of course they sent him to

832
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:47,319
Speaker 1: minor league camp. Now, Steven, I don't think that this

833
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,440
Speaker 1: means that he's not in the plans for the Braves

834
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:53,480
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six. It probably is them just positioning

835
00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:57,120
Speaker 1: arms that make a bit more sense with how they're

836
00:38:57,160 --> 00:38:59,359
Speaker 1: going to start the season, someone that could be more

837
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,919
Speaker 1: in the long run. Is that what you take from

838
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,120
Speaker 1: this or do you think it Ei needs more in

839
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 1: the lineup. Well, maybe he's not going to be that

840
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:07,839
Speaker 1: big of a factor as time goes on.

841
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:10,600
Speaker 2: It's tough to tell. With bullpen, you never know how

842
00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:11,200
Speaker 2: they think.

843
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 3: My read on it was he signed a minor league

844
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,399
Speaker 3: deal so he could be optioned to minor league camp,

845
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,680
Speaker 3: and they're taking advantage of that versatility and keeping guys

846
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,760
Speaker 3: who maybe can't be optioned, like Jose Suarez, who doesn't

847
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:23,400
Speaker 3: have options.

848
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 2: We'll see, you.

849
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,520
Speaker 3: Know, they very rarely do they break camp with what

850
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:34,520
Speaker 3: is actually like their seven best relievers. You know, options

851
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 3: and team control and all that.

852
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:37,000
Speaker 2: Stuff factor into this.

853
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,839
Speaker 3: So I was a little surprised that it happened so early,

854
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:42,440
Speaker 3: still with two weeks to go. But obviously, you know,

855
00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 3: as camp gets, you know, closer and closer to ending,

856
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,279
Speaker 3: you get more and more of the starters and the

857
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 3: everyday players playing more and pitching more. So they might

858
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:53,840
Speaker 3: just want to get more run out of the the

859
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:57,480
Speaker 3: irregular guys. And you know, especially with like guy like

860
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:00,359
Speaker 3: Pie Amps who didn't get started immediately, they we want

861
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:02,600
Speaker 3: to give him more run, just to see what he's

862
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,719
Speaker 3: gonna look like, you know, especially they projecting to be

863
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:06,960
Speaker 3: on the opening day roster, which right now it looks

864
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,160
Speaker 3: like a pretty good chance of being.

865
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 2: He pitched today, actually, so I wasn't stunned. It was.

866
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,480
Speaker 3: I mean, I thought Karen Shack had a good chance

867
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,279
Speaker 3: of making the team, but the fact that he signed

868
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,480
Speaker 3: a minor league deal, which means you can send him

869
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:21,160
Speaker 3: a minor league camp and you know he's got that

870
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 3: roster versatility.

871
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:25,320
Speaker 2: Doesn't help him in this case.

872
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:28,280
Speaker 3: And guys that don't have roster versatility, don't have options,

873
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 3: who can't be optioned, who can't be sent to Guinette,

874
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:32,960
Speaker 3: those guys are just in a better spot. So I

875
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 3: would imagine Jose Suarez is feeling pretty good, especially after

876
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,719
Speaker 3: the Joy wins news and Karen Shack optioned. You know,

877
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:41,839
Speaker 3: I think Jose Suarez probably has a pretty good chance.

878
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,879
Speaker 3: Martine Perez, it's another guy that probably is feeling pretty

879
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:46,920
Speaker 3: good right now. Uh, Hayden Harris was a guy that

880
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,080
Speaker 3: was also optioned, So you know, they're just cutting down

881
00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:51,960
Speaker 3: the roster. So we'll see what happens.

882
00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:57,680
Speaker 1: And one other thing that I think is notable is

883
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,919
Speaker 1: is that again like we mentioned the last podcas, this

884
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,480
Speaker 1: puts another option in Gwinnette, where again you're building up

885
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:06,960
Speaker 1: your bullpen depth so as you need to make adjustments.

886
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:08,719
Speaker 1: I think that it's stead I think that we will

887
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,920
Speaker 1: see Karen Shack, especially if he has some early success

888
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 1: in Gwinnett. I think you will see him he on

889
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,479
Speaker 1: when he comes up, he'll definitely have a spot to stick,

890
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:18,120
Speaker 1: I feel.

891
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:19,880
Speaker 2: And I will I will mention this. He might have

892
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:21,120
Speaker 2: an early opt out.

893
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,359
Speaker 3: A lot of veterans who signed minor league deals, like,

894
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:25,920
Speaker 3: if you're not gonna put me on the roster, you

895
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:27,799
Speaker 3: got to you gotta send me on my way by

896
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 3: certain points so I can get somewhere else. I don't

897
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,399
Speaker 3: know if he has one of those. We usually don't

898
00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:34,360
Speaker 3: find out until after the fact, so we'll see. But

899
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:36,600
Speaker 3: just keep that in mind. You know, some veterans have

900
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:38,759
Speaker 3: that in their contract on minor league deals, so that

901
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 3: could be possible.

902
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:41,560
Speaker 2: But if that's not the case, then yes, you're right.

903
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 3: He'll be in Gwinette and he'll be a weapon that

904
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:45,200
Speaker 3: the Braves can turn to whenever they need.

905
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:49,360
Speaker 1: It's nice to be able to have a positive podcast.

906
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,319
Speaker 1: When you really get down to it, the factors that

907
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:54,840
Speaker 1: are gonna matter the most, the Braves really are in

908
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,160
Speaker 1: a good position. Again. I know it's gonna be based

909
00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 1: off health, and that's a bigger question for our team

910
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,680
Speaker 1: than it is for most. But if they're right, if

911
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:06,600
Speaker 1: our main cogs, if our main factors to our success

912
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: can remain healthy. Again, I go back to of the

913
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,839
Speaker 1: two years of them playing together, we've only had Seale

914
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,920
Speaker 1: and Ronald Accuna Junior healthy together basically a fourth of

915
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:17,840
Speaker 1: that time. If you can get a full season of

916
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:19,800
Speaker 1: them healthy, I think that we're going to get the

917
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:22,800
Speaker 1: results that we want to get. Sean Coleman ad stats

918
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 1: at SAC on Twitter slash x, Steven Tolbert at be

919
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,720
Speaker 1: Underscore Outliers on Twitter slash x. Find Hammer Territory across

920
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:31,080
Speaker 1: to all forms of social media. Part of the Foul

921
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,880
Speaker 1: Territory family of podcasts. Until next time. Can't thank you

922
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 1: enough for joining us, Go Braves. We'll talk to you

923
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,520
Speaker 1: again soon here on the Hammer Territory podcast