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Speaker 1: Fish Bites at its finest. Do you like the Miami Marlins,

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Speaker 1: but like really really like the Marlins everything about them,

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Speaker 1: then you are in the right place. This is Eli Susman.

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Speaker 1: I'm in charge of a little website you may have

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Speaker 1: heard of called Fishstripes dot com. We're all all cross

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Speaker 1: social media at fish Stripes on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,

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Speaker 1: and we are all over the Marlins heading into this

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty MLB season. The whole team has been together

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Speaker 1: in camp in Jupiter, Florida for about two weeks now,

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Speaker 1: and we're coming off the first full week of spring

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Speaker 1: training games in the Grapefruit League, with the team as

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Speaker 1: one of the best records in the whole league. Winning

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Speaker 1: streak recently came to an end after a perfect six

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Speaker 1: to zero start, and we're not gonna talk about the

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Speaker 1: Marlins as much on this episode then as we usually do,

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Speaker 1: and that's because we're dedicating this to the National League

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Speaker 1: East preview, making sure to make you aware of everything

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Speaker 1: else that is happening in this division as you're probably

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Speaker 1: coming to terms with, the Marlins are the least experienced

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Speaker 1: talented team at the major league level among the five

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Speaker 1: teams in the National League East, which is why we're

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Speaker 1: gonna be sure to really break down what's going on

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Speaker 1: with the Braves, the Mets, the Phillies, the reigning world

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Speaker 1: champion Washington Nationals, and how the Marlins stack up to

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Speaker 1: those guys. Interesting connections, and of course trying to pick

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Speaker 1: apart the flaws that all those teams have and what

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Speaker 1: it means when they play against the Marlins this upcoming season,

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Speaker 1: nineteen games a piece against those teams overall, six games

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Speaker 1: of your schedules against your own division, nearly half the schedule,

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Speaker 1: so it is critical to be aware of what the

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Speaker 1: team is going up against, and that's an important lens

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Speaker 1: for when we're evaluating how the season is going for

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Speaker 1: the Marlins, third year under new ownership as part of

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Speaker 1: this rebuild. And yeah, who you're sharing a division with

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Speaker 1: is a very large part of who you are as

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Speaker 1: a team yourself, which is why we're just setting aside

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Speaker 1: the majority of this episode of breaking down to the division.

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Speaker 1: Before getting into all that, let's do my Marlins game

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Speaker 1: of the week from this past Wednesday, A comeback win

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Speaker 1: for the Marlins over the Saint Louis Cardinals eight to

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Speaker 1: seven on Wednesday, February twenty sixth game was started on

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Speaker 1: the mound by Pablo Lopez, his first appearance of spring training,

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Speaker 1: and he was not quite on his game and ending

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Speaker 1: in two thirds four hits, allowed two runs, one run earned,

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Speaker 1: one strikeout. He threw thirty six pitches and actually one

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Speaker 1: of the runs that ended up scoring off of him.

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Speaker 1: The reason why he didn't complete the two innings that

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Speaker 1: he was scheduled to do is because he was covering

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Speaker 1: first base on what could have been what probably should

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Speaker 1: have been ending double play to get him out of

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Speaker 1: the jam, and he simply wasn't able to hold on

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Speaker 1: to the ball. He was charged with a fielding error

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Speaker 1: trying to catch the ball and the ball got by him,

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Speaker 1: and anyway, the Cardinals were able to take that lead

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Speaker 1: against him in that second inning before he got kicked

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Speaker 1: out of it, and at one point the Marlins actually

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Speaker 1: trailed seven to four as well heading into the eighth inning,

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Speaker 1: and at that point you kind of just concede that

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Speaker 1: maybe it's not your day. At the time, the Marlins

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Speaker 1: were undefeated, so it looks like maybe finally the randomness

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Speaker 1: of exhibition games had finally caught up to them. But no,

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Speaker 1: they rallied on late, and they ended up winning for

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Speaker 1: what was at the time their fifth straight wins to

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Speaker 1: start the spring. The bigger story on the mound, though,

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Speaker 1: besides Pablo, and you guys know how much of an

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Speaker 1: advocate I am of Pablo, how high I am on

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Speaker 1: him for the twenty twenty season. Pitching in relief of

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Speaker 1: him in this game were two of the very best

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Speaker 1: prospects in the Marlins organization, right hander Edward Cabrera left

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Speaker 1: hander Braxton Garrett. So some notes on them. Edward being

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Speaker 1: a consensus top one hundred MLB prospects heading into twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: and in the opinion of a couple evaluators, they actually

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Speaker 1: see him as the best prospect in the Marlins organization

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Speaker 1: at this time. After a huge breakout season last year,

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Speaker 1: mostly with Jupiter, it saw him get called up to

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville at Double A in the middle of the year,

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Speaker 1: and he showed some amazing raw stuff in this appearance.

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Speaker 1: He ended up going two innings and the first inning

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Speaker 1: a little bit jacked up, as people said that we're

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Speaker 1: on side for it. Two innings in total, one hit,

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Speaker 1: allowed one and run a while pitch two strikeouts and

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Speaker 1: thankfully we had stat cast set up for this game

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Speaker 1: to look at the quality of his pitches. His fastball

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Speaker 1: was sitting ninety six to ninety eight miles per hour.

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Speaker 1: He maxed out at ninety nine in his spring trending

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Speaker 1: game in his first tune up for the season, hitting

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Speaker 1: ninety nine. He also threw a handful of change ups.

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Speaker 1: But if you've been following Edward pretty closely, whether it's

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Speaker 1: by following or earning their Stripes podcast or or other

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Speaker 1: prospect coverage on the site, you know about his change up,

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Speaker 1: which definitely improved a lot in twenty nineteen. What's unique

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Speaker 1: about it is that's a very firm change up. The

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Speaker 1: velocity on that pitch. If he's just throwing his fastball

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Speaker 1: in the high nineties, that change up is regularly ninety

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Speaker 1: ninety one, ninety two, ninety three miles per hour, And

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Speaker 1: in this first go around, stat cast was classifying it

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Speaker 1: as a two seamer. They weren't recognizing that it was

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Speaker 1: a change up because of how hard he throws and

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Speaker 1: how it doesn't necessarily have the big drop that you

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Speaker 1: typically expect from a change up. Of course, he got

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Speaker 1: great results against it in the minors and in this

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Speaker 1: game as well. It's seemed to be pretty effective for him.

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Speaker 1: That was so exciting to see a great first step

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Speaker 1: for him. Hopefully he'll appear in a couple other games,

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Speaker 1: although he's not really in consideration for an opening day spot,

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Speaker 1: the question just being whether he'll go to Jacksonville or

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Speaker 1: to Triple A Wichita to start the season. Then there's

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Speaker 1: Braxton Garrett, who was on with me a couple months

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Speaker 1: ago for an interview. I really enjoyed speaking to him

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Speaker 1: about his preparation for the season, this now being his

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Speaker 1: second full season since Tommy John surgery, and in it's

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Speaker 1: his hope that he's going to end up with a

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Speaker 1: workload that is far surpassing anything he has ever done before,

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Speaker 1: now that he had a chance last year to really

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Speaker 1: get his feet wet in Jupiter. He was with Edward

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Speaker 1: Carbrera before Cabrera got promoted, and then at the end

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Speaker 1: of last year, actually Garrett also followed him up to Jacksonville.

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Speaker 1: In this game, fastball sitting ninety to ninety three miles

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Speaker 1: per hour. That's him. He's not quite the arm talent

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Speaker 1: is different. His big key for him as a pitcher

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Speaker 1: moving forward is the repeatability of his delivery and just

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Speaker 1: being able to be consistent and keep the ball in

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Speaker 1: the ballpark, which was actually somewhat of an issue for

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Speaker 1: him in Jupiter last year. His signature pitch, though, even

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Speaker 1: more than the fastball, is that beautiful curveball of his

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Speaker 1: that he only threw a few times in this outing

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Speaker 1: because frankly, there are other priorities for him to develop

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Speaker 1: as an all round pitcher. He has said his changeup

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Speaker 1: is not quite exactly where Edward Cabrera's is, so that

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Speaker 1: was a priority for him, and he threw a few

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Speaker 1: of those in his outing. The overall stats from this

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Speaker 1: game very similar to Cabrera's. He went two innings, two hits,

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Speaker 1: one earned run, two strikeouts, now walks, and both of

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Speaker 1: them threw Let's see Caberra through thirty two pitches, Garreth

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Speaker 1: through twenty six and Garrett actually gets credited with the

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Speaker 1: win because he was on the mound in the seventh

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Speaker 1: and the eighth inning. That's when the Marlins finally got

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Speaker 1: over the hump and completed their comeback against the Cardinals.

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Speaker 1: They scored eight runs in this game. They got three

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Speaker 1: home from Miguel Rojas. As a ball is popped up

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Speaker 1: in the left field, the left fielder goes back to

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Speaker 1: the track and that ball is curving.

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Speaker 2: It's a whole lot of folks.

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Speaker 1: The wind took it out of here.

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Speaker 2: He golfed that that be at mcguil rojas in the

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Speaker 2: left field to just continued to drift and went right

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Speaker 2: over to three point thirty.

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Speaker 1: Mark from Leywin Diez from Chad Wallach. I mentioned before

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Speaker 1: that we had stat casts set up for this game

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Speaker 1: and that was fortunate for Leywin because it had him

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Speaker 1: tracked on his home run at one hundred and nine

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Speaker 1: miles per hour on his homer, which according to some

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Speaker 1: of the data we had from last season, that's about

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Speaker 1: tops of where he was during the minor league season

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Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. He had a great season last year,

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Speaker 1: twenty seven home runs between the Twins organization, and then

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Speaker 1: once he was traded over to the Marlins, and this

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Speaker 1: was really him at his very best. He scalded the

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Speaker 1: ball pull side down the right field line and that

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Speaker 1: at the time brought the Marlins within two. After that,

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Speaker 1: Wallack followed up with his own clutch three run game

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Speaker 1: winning home run one hundred and five miles per hour

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Speaker 1: exit velocity off the bat. It was just at this

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Speaker 1: time a year ago that Wallack was opening some eyes

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Speaker 1: in Marlins camp. His reputation had been as this defensive

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Speaker 1: first catcher. Frankly, there were some suspicions of nepotism that

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Speaker 1: were benefiting him, considering that Tim Wallack his father, the

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Speaker 1: longtime Major leaguer. He was the Marlins bench coach. Up

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Speaker 1: until this past year. There were some doubts as to

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Speaker 1: whether Wallack would still be in the organization entering this

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Speaker 1: spring training because of all the precious roster spots that

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Speaker 1: the Marlins need to be careful with and all the

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Speaker 1: additions we knew the Marlins were going to make over

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Speaker 1: the offseason. Wallack survived. He's the third catcher on the

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Speaker 1: death chart right now. And the critical thing for him

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Speaker 1: last year what made him seem like a viable Major

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Speaker 1: leaguer for the first time is that the bat looked

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Speaker 1: it could have some impact. Of course, that's never gonna

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Speaker 1: be the priority for you as a catcher. You're gonna

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Speaker 1: want to focus on your defense, on your camaraderie with

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Speaker 1: the pitchers on the staff and all that. It's still

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Speaker 1: important to be able to do something when you get

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Speaker 1: up to the plate. At the very beginning of his

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Speaker 1: major league career. There were concerns about him being able

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Speaker 1: to put balls in play, and that's probably gonna be

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Speaker 1: a weakness for him going forward for the foreseeable future.

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Speaker 1: Is the strikeout rate is probably gonna be higher than

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Speaker 1: you like. Of course, the Marlins are gonna put up

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Speaker 1: with it if there's enough mph in your bad enough

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Speaker 1: power to make it worthwhile. That's certainly the case with

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Speaker 1: someone like Jorge al Faro, who strikes out even more

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Speaker 1: than Wallack does. And this is not the first time

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Speaker 1: that he's hit the ball hard. That was his first

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Speaker 1: home run so far of the spring training. But this

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Speaker 1: looks very similar to him entering twenty nineteen. You'll remember

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Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen that he did make that opening day

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Speaker 1: roster as the backup catcher. That's not gonna happen this

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Speaker 1: year unless something goes wrong with Francisco Savelli or with Alfaro.

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Speaker 1: Because Alfaro is out of the lineup right now with

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Speaker 1: opleaque tightness. Nothing else to report on that right now.

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Speaker 1: They're optimistic that he'll be just fine after sitting out

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Speaker 1: for a few days, but we're gonna have more information

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Speaker 1: on that this coming week. If there is an injury

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Speaker 1: he's in line to make the opening day roster again,

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Speaker 1: and it's just very encouraging to have him because the

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Speaker 1: rest of the depth in the Marlins organization at catcher

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Speaker 1: is very iffy when you get behind Alfaro and Survelli.

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Speaker 1: They're counting on Wallack being relevant, and if he continues

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Speaker 1: to hit like he has in this very small sample

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Speaker 1: the rest of spring training, then even if this team

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Speaker 1: coming into opening Day, they're gonna have some very tough

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Speaker 1: decisions because they'll probably want to create some a couple

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Speaker 1: more forty man roster openings to fit some non roster

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Speaker 1: invitees into the situation that they have, and Walak is

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Speaker 1: making the case that he should stick around in his

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Speaker 1: very important depth for this organization to have. Final note

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Speaker 1: from the Marlins spring train win. On Wednesday, left hander

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Speaker 1: Alex Vessio recorded to save. He was a late round

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Speaker 1: draft pick in twenty eighteen, and all he's done since

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Speaker 1: reaching pro ball is dominate at every level from the

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Speaker 1: rookie levels, made it all the way to double A

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville late last summer, then participated in the Arizona Fall League.

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Speaker 1: He's a streak dating back about eight full months where

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Speaker 1: he's not allowed a run. Pitching in a professional game

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Speaker 1: that includes high A, Double A, Fall League, and now

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Speaker 1: Major league Spring training. He was really smooth in this

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Speaker 1: particular save. He had made one previous appearance that was

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Speaker 1: more dramatic that he was able to get out of

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Speaker 1: this one. No funny business. He had just a one

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Speaker 1: run of lead to protect, and he was able to

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Speaker 1: do so. For him to make the opening day roster

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Speaker 1: would be a very big stretch, but considering his track

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Speaker 1: record and all the question marks and Marlins have in

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Speaker 1: their bullpen, it seems almost inevitable that he'll be in

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Speaker 1: the majors at some point this upcoming year. Pretty average

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Speaker 1: fastball velocity for Vesia by major league reliever standards, but

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Speaker 1: it's that high spin rate on that pitch and his

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Speaker 1: ability to locate it that makes it really effective. How

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Speaker 1: he compliments it with his slider and his changeup. He's

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Speaker 1: got the whole package to be really successful right away.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully he gets a few other late ending opportunities here

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Speaker 1: in spring training, and like I said, we're really excited

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Speaker 1: to see him during this upcoming season. It's a nice

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Speaker 1: fine to get, especially when you've looked at some of

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Speaker 1: the recent Marlins draft classes under the previous ownership, there

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Speaker 1: were some whiffs. There were some entire years where the

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Speaker 1: Marlins totally whiffed on the drafts, didn't get anybody that

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Speaker 1: contributed really consistently for them in the majors. It's important

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Speaker 1: to find these hidden gems in the later rounds. And

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Speaker 1: on every single level that Vessia has been at, he's

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Speaker 1: shown that he has the skills and the game plan

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Speaker 1: to get guys out, and he's showing it again now

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Speaker 1: face major league competition. As promised, the rest of this

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Speaker 1: episode will be a National League East Division preview, going

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Speaker 1: roster by roster through the teams that the Marlins will

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Speaker 1: be competing against most frequently here in twenty twenty, beginning

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Speaker 1: with the Ranning Division champs, the Atlanta Braves, who last

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Speaker 1: year totally dominated the Marlins a fifteen to four record

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Speaker 1: against them. Then head to head matchups, and even that

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Speaker 1: kind of understates how lopsided these games were. The big

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Speaker 1: divide between talent and execution looking at their projected lineup.

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Speaker 1: This is going by roster resource, which is on Fangrafts,

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Speaker 1: an amazing tool that I like to use to prepare

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Speaker 1: for other teams. Ronald Acunya Junior looking like he's going

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Speaker 1: to be there every day leadoff hitter after spending a

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Speaker 1: lot of last year in that spot, challenging for a

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Speaker 1: forty forty season last year with home runs and stolen

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Speaker 1: bases and doing particularly well against the Marlins. He's a nightmare.

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Speaker 1: He's under a guaranteed deal through twenty twenty six, with

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Speaker 1: team options until twenty twenty eight. You got to get

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Speaker 1: used to him for this entire decade, entering his age

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Speaker 1: twenty two season. Also returning Ozzy Albi's and Freddie Freeman.

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Speaker 1: Those guys also coming off huge years at the top

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Speaker 1: of the Braves lineup and under long term contracts. Then

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Speaker 1: there's an old friend, Marcel Ozuna in the cleanup spot,

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Speaker 1: just signed a one year deal. His free agency for

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Speaker 1: the first time did not go quite as plans. Turned

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Speaker 1: down some multi year offers when he didn't quite get

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Speaker 1: the total guarantee he was looking for, so he ended

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Speaker 1: up with just a pillow contract to go to the Braves,

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Speaker 1: and he's back in the division for the first time

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Speaker 1: since twenty seventeen, one of the Marlins, after which traded

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Speaker 1: him away to the Cardinals. So he's entering his age

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Speaker 1: twenty nine season since he left, his bat has certainly

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Speaker 1: regressed a little bit where but he's still clearly in

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Speaker 1: above the average option to have in the middle of

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Speaker 1: your lineup. Continues to hit the ball extremely hard, and

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Speaker 1: the only question with him is going to defensively because

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Speaker 1: his shoulder has been a big problem area for him

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Speaker 1: with the Cardinals. Simply can't throw the ball with much

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Speaker 1: velocity anymore, so he'll have to adapt other ways to

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Speaker 1: make himself useful. Rounding out the projected lineup, Travis Darnault

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Speaker 1: as their catcher enter ncr TA will play a lot

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Speaker 1: of center field, probably not an everyday player though. Dansby Swanson,

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Speaker 1: the former number one overall draft pick who's had some

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Speaker 1: ups and downs in the major leagues, but he's relatively

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Speaker 1: unchallenged to be their starting shortstop this year, finally trying

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Speaker 1: to put it all together, and Johann Comargo expected to

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Speaker 1: play a lot of third base for them. Potentially later

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Speaker 1: in the season, you'll see Austin Riley, who of course

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Speaker 1: had a lot of hype coming up through the system

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Speaker 1: but didn't quite translate that to the majors. The big

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Speaker 1: subtraction for the Braves was Josh Donaldson, who had an

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Speaker 1: amazing year as their everyday third baseman last year, but

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00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,320
Speaker 1: simply got more money from the Twins than the Bridge

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00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,800
Speaker 1: were able to offer him themselves. Some interesting guys off

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Speaker 1: the bench, including Old Frame and a Denny Etchervaria Nick

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Speaker 1: Markakis will presumably be starting quite a lot in their outfield,

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Speaker 1: shifting things around. On days when NCRT is out, they'll

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Speaker 1: put in Markakis and they'll shift Akunya to center field.

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Speaker 1: Of course. In addition to Riley, they have a lot

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Speaker 1: of intriguing prospects in the pipeline that are ready to

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Speaker 1: break through. Someone like Christian Pashe may be up later

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Speaker 1: this year if need arises. In the outfield. Drue Waters

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Speaker 1: is highly regarded as a minor league hitter, and they

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Speaker 1: have a bunch of interesting arms from Bryce Wilson to

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Speaker 1: Tuki Tustan is still sticking around somewhere. You may see

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Speaker 1: him factor into the bullpen. So we're gonna get into

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Speaker 1: the pitching staff right now. That was not quite as

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Speaker 1: much of a strength for the Braves last year as

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Speaker 1: their lineup was. They still got Mike Soroka, who was

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Speaker 1: quietly an amazing rookie campaign for them, he's going to

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Speaker 1: be entering his age twenty three season. It looks like

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Speaker 1: I think technically his age twenty two season this year,

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Speaker 1: turning twenty three before the season is over, Max Fried,

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Speaker 1: Mike Fultonevitch Sean Newcomb, and as currently projected, Felix Hernandez,

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Speaker 1: the amazing pitcher for many years with the Mariners, who

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Speaker 1: certainly has fallen off quite a bit since his stuff

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Speaker 1: has dwindled in his thirties. He's about to turn thirty

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Speaker 1: four years old this year, roster resources giving him a

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Speaker 1: shot to sneak on to the roster in the number

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Speaker 1: five spot. I know his first appearance of the spring

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Speaker 1: went very well. I think he's about to make his

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Speaker 1: second appearance, So that'd be a lot of fun to

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Speaker 1: have him in the division. And also because I'm pretty

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Speaker 1: optimistic that he's over the hill just from watching him

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Speaker 1: with the Mariners, So I'm kind of rooting for him

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Speaker 1: to make the team and quietly confident that if he does,

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Speaker 1: even the Marlins will have some decent days against him.

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Speaker 1: But starting pitching death is still somewhat of a question

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Speaker 1: for them. They're going to be leaning on a lot

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Speaker 1: of these prospects that have very minimal, minimal major league

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Speaker 1: experience to step up when a need arises in the bullpen.

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Speaker 1: They still have Mark Mullanson under contract, very highly paid,

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00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,000
Speaker 1: but overall a very solid reliever who has a long

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Speaker 1: track record. They made a big investment over the offseason.

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Speaker 1: At the very beginning of the offseason, the very first

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Speaker 1: big free agent deal that any team signed was with

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Speaker 1: Will Smith. He got a three year deal after coming

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Speaker 1: off a great year last year with the Giants. Shane Green,

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Speaker 1: Luke Jackson, Darren O'Day who I think missed most of

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Speaker 1: the last year with injury. The bullpen is fine, It's

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Speaker 1: again going to be somewhat of a question mark. There

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Speaker 1: was a stretch last year where the team had all

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Speaker 1: these totally anonymous dudes in their bullpen. Luke Jackson was

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Speaker 1: a big bright spot for them last year before they

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Speaker 1: made some of their mid season upgrades. So they're going

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Speaker 1: to be relying on the fact that they can yeah

359
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Speaker 1: simply get the most out of these relatively unherlded relievers

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Speaker 1: or ones without much upside. Just looking at this bullpen,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't quite have as much velocity as mo around

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Speaker 1: the game due this year, so once again that will

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00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,159
Speaker 1: be something that the Marlins will hope to exploit some

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Speaker 1: of the question marks in their bullpen before moving on

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Speaker 1: to the next team. I should note that Peter O'Brien

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Speaker 1: is also a non roster invite Tacho spring training. Still

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Speaker 1: unclear whether he's going to even make it into the

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Speaker 1: season on the team. He's certainly not going to be

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Speaker 1: on the major league team to open the year. Definitely

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Speaker 1: would be in Triple A if he does stick around

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Speaker 1: at all, and he's coming off an amazing winter with

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Speaker 1: Toros de Laeste in the Dominican Winter League. He won

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Speaker 1: the most Valuable Player award in the Dominican Winter League.

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Speaker 1: That's something we tracked on the site quite a bit.

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Speaker 1: He seemed to be really enjoying himself. His major league

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Speaker 1: track I heard, of course, is very spotty, the only

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Speaker 1: positive being that September twenty eighteen performance with the Marlins.

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Speaker 1: This is going to be one of his last shots

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Speaker 1: I would think to actually get significant major league playing

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Speaker 1: time because the potential is there, but simply he hasn't

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Speaker 1: been able to put his bat on the ball or

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00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 1: add value in other ways aside from hitting for power.

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Speaker 1: But the power is there based on what he just

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Speaker 1: showed this past winter. He's an easy guy to root for.

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Speaker 1: It'd be better, I think if he ended up with

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Speaker 1: a team not the Braves. I don't want to be

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Speaker 1: put in a position to root against him during games.

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Speaker 1: Just a depth piece to keep your eye on. Next

389
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,880
Speaker 1: up the New York Mets, who also did very well

390
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Speaker 1: against the Marlins last year, going thirteen and six in

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Speaker 1: those matchups. Their projected lineup includes Brandon Nimmo, who had

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Speaker 1: some injuries last year, but extremely strong on base skills

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Speaker 1: for that guy who was about to turn twenty seven.

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Speaker 1: Jeff McNeil, who one of the amazing bats ball guys

395
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Speaker 1: in baseball who also hit for a lot of power

396
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Speaker 1: as the year one on last season. Just a really

397
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Speaker 1: great offensive player who provides him a lot of defensive versatility.

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Speaker 1: At the current moment, expected to play a lot of

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Speaker 1: third base, but he's shown the ability to go to

400
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Speaker 1: second in even the corner outfield spots. Pete Alonso, coming

401
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 1: off his Rookie of the Year campaign, set an all

402
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,479
Speaker 1: time record for home runs by a rookie. Robinson Cano

403
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,240
Speaker 1: hoping to do better than he did in his first

404
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 1: year in a Mets uniform. JD. Davis had a nice

405
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,199
Speaker 1: breakout for the Mets. Doesn't give you much defensively, but

406
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,840
Speaker 1: amazing quality of contact. He just hammers the ball, especially

407
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 1: against left handed pitching Michael Confordo Wilson Ramos and Amed Rosario,

408
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,439
Speaker 1: who did really well as an all round player as

409
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 1: a year went on. Last year, there were some question

410
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 1: marks initially whether he would still be able to stick

411
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 1: at shortstop because of all the fundamental mistakes he was

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00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 1: making and some questions about his range, but he made

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Speaker 1: some interesting adjustments during the season. A former top top

414
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 1: prospect who's only twenty four years old also on their bench.

415
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,439
Speaker 1: They have an old friend, Jake Morisnik, who was, of

416
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 1: course wants a highly taded prospect with the Marlins at

417
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,360
Speaker 1: the beginning of last decade, got traded away to the

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00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,640
Speaker 1: Astros and was a world champion with them. So it's

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00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,880
Speaker 1: an interesting dynamic having both Davis and Morisnik, who are

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Speaker 1: on that twenty seventeen Houston Astros team that has been

421
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:19,240
Speaker 1: firmly implicated for cheating with that sign stealing scandal. Maurrisnik

422
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,800
Speaker 1: was on the roster for most of that year and

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Speaker 1: he had I believe his best offensive year as a

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Speaker 1: major leaguer on that team. Not all that shocking in hindsight,

425
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: I mean, not putting it all together. Just generally speaking,

426
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,120
Speaker 1: he's not coveted for his offensive impact anyway. They see

427
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,639
Speaker 1: him more as a fourth outfielder who has the versatility

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00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:43,359
Speaker 1: to play all three outfield spots. So he's already in

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00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 1: line to make the roster and you'll be seeing quite

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Speaker 1: a bit of him this coming year because defense. Defense

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00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 1: continues to be a very big question for this Mets team.

432
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 1: For whatever reason, they really like to prioritize older veteran players,

433
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,439
Speaker 1: and just naturally you're not going to get quite as

434
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: much defensive value out of those guys once they reached

435
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,120
Speaker 1: a certain point of their career. Jed Lowry is still

436
00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 1: sticking around. He barely played at all last year in

437
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 1: the first year of a twenty million dollar free agent deal,

438
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 1: and heading into camp this year, it's still very mysterious

439
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 1: about his health. Is something wrong with his legs that's

440
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 1: not really getting elaborated on, So at this moment, being

441
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,960
Speaker 1: projected for the opening day roster, I think the expectation

442
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 1: for the Mets is that he's not going to play

443
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: very much. Anything they get from him would be bonus,

444
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:37,280
Speaker 1: and the same thing applies for Johannis Cespidus, who is

445
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 1: the highest paid player on the Mets roster, finally entering

446
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,040
Speaker 1: the final year of his contract, coming off a year

447
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 1: where he didn't play at all. He was recovering from

448
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 1: injuries to his heels and also that ankle incident that

449
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 1: he had on his ranch in Florida. He has reported

450
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 1: to spring training. I don't think he's played in a

451
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,480
Speaker 1: grape Fruit League game yet, but he's expected to at

452
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 1: some point. A big question for the opening day roster

453
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 1: and the Marlin. The Mets were able to actually finagle

454
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,119
Speaker 1: themselves out of a lot of the guaranteed money in

455
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: his deal, and they reform at it in a way

456
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,520
Speaker 1: that he actually has to earn it by getting playing

457
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,760
Speaker 1: time incentives with the team during the season. So I

458
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,960
Speaker 1: guess he'll be motivated to try to extend his career

459
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: considering this is the last year under his current contract.

460
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 1: Of course, has amazing power when he's able to play,

461
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,800
Speaker 1: but he's also coming off these severe leg injuries. Thirty

462
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,160
Speaker 1: four years old, and history says when you just take

463
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 1: time away from the game at that age, when you

464
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:41,920
Speaker 1: come back, you're not going to be able to contribute

465
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 1: much in the field at all, and whether you're able

466
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 1: to even get your full timing back at the plate

467
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: is a big question mark, So someone that the Mets

468
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,679
Speaker 1: are not going to be relying on, but certainly is

469
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: an X factor in their season to try to boost

470
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 1: that offense. On the pitching side, the Mets have a

471
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 1: lot of potential there Jacob deGrom, the two time reigning

472
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 1: National League cy Young Award winner, followed by Noah Cindergard,

473
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,439
Speaker 1: Marcus Stroman, Steven Mattz, and then some competition for the

474
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,160
Speaker 1: number five spot between Rick Porcello, who's a former cy

475
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 1: Young Award winner, a very sketchy Cy Young winner when

476
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: he got it with the Red Sox, and also Michael Waka,

477
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,119
Speaker 1: who had a lot of hype when he was originally

478
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 1: in the Cardinals' rotation a few years ago. He's certainly

479
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: fallen on some tough times, his raw stuff has declined

480
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,199
Speaker 1: a little bit and simply isn't missing as many bats

481
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 1: as originally hoped as a pitcher. But that's a really

482
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 1: great group to go with, the only problem is there's

483
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,639
Speaker 1: not really any depth behind them, because the Mets have

484
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 1: mortgaged a lot of their future in order to make

485
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,960
Speaker 1: some of these short term improvements, including Stroman, They traded

486
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 1: away a couple prospects to the Blue Jays in order

487
00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 1: to get Stroman, and same with Edwin Diaz, who is

488
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,120
Speaker 1: in their bullpen and lining up to be their closer

489
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,679
Speaker 1: once again, coming off the worst year of his career

490
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,720
Speaker 1: after previously in twenty eighteen having won the all time

491
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: great relief pitcher seasons that anybody could ever hope for.

492
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,360
Speaker 1: He still throws gas, he still has that amazing slider,

493
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 1: lots of swings and misses. The question is going to

494
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: be managing the quality of contact and keeping the ball

495
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 1: in the yard. Gave up a ton of home runs,

496
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: especially in high leverage situations, and so he was extremely

497
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,840
Speaker 1: unpopular among Mets fans in his first year with the team.

498
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,159
Speaker 1: Also in their pen, they made what I think is

499
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,720
Speaker 1: a very good addition, high risk, high reward signing Dellan Betansis,

500
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,400
Speaker 1: who for years has been amazing as a setup guy

501
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: with the New York Yankees, an All Star about four

502
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 1: different times, who has been pretty durable in the past,

503
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,680
Speaker 1: but just this past year that was wiped out by

504
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 1: a couple injuries, including finishing the year with an Achilles

505
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 1: injury that could make him somewhat questionable opening day, thirty

506
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 1: two years old. A two pitch guy just like Diez,

507
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 1: but with a slower breaking ball that just is such

508
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 1: a big contrast with his high heater that he throws

509
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 1: in the mid to high nineties. So those two of

510
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: the as much potential as pretty much any pairing of

511
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: relievers in baseball this year. Behind them on the depth

512
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,000
Speaker 1: seth Lugo, Justin Wilson, Jerry's familia, who is their highest

513
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 1: paid reliever, coming off a really ugly year in the

514
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,199
Speaker 1: first year of his free agent contract, returning to the Mets,

515
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 1: who he originally had his first run of success with.

516
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,840
Speaker 1: Brad Brock is also in here. He's had a pretty

517
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 1: nice track record, primarily with the Baltimore Orioles. It's a

518
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,880
Speaker 1: talented team and it's one that even though people love

519
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: to tease the Mets, and I think many of us

520
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 1: think that they made the wrong decision in terms of

521
00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 1: their leadership by going all in on these next couple

522
00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,680
Speaker 1: of years. Well on twenty nineteen. In twenty twenty, once

523
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 1: they hired their GM Brody van wagon In, it looks

524
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 1: like a good opportunity to rebuild for the team, but

525
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: they used whatever prospect depth they had, and we're willing

526
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: to spend a little bit more money than they have

527
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,920
Speaker 1: historically in order to put this team together. They've really

528
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 1: hit on some of these controllable position players, especially McNeil

529
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 1: and Pete Alonzo. So the whole team that's coming together

530
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: is going to be a really competitive one. Is it

531
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,440
Speaker 1: going to be the best team in this division? Probably not.

532
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 1: I think it's reasonable to expect the Braves to have

533
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 1: that more well rounded roster, and of course have these

534
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 1: great reinforcements standing and waiting at TRIPLEA. The Mets do

535
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,520
Speaker 1: not have that kind of depth. If they stay healthy, though,

536
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: they could be really good. One prominent source that does

537
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: believe in the potential of this Mets team is Baseball

538
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 1: Prospectus and their Pakoda projection systems that has them as

539
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 1: the highest projected win total in the Nation East this

540
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 1: year at eighty eight wins. That of course assumes pretty

541
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 1: good health, and if the Mets have gone this far

542
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 1: with mortgaging their future and trading away their depth in

543
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 1: order to win now, then presumably they'll be able to

544
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: make some of those choices during the season as well.

545
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 1: To plug some holes as they come up in the organization. Yeah,

546
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 1: if they do that, this could be the best Mets

547
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: season in a while, and that would make all this

548
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,920
Speaker 1: risk worth it. But if you know the Mets recent history,

549
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,000
Speaker 1: a lot of the best laid plans blow up in

550
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 1: their face. Always a team that's easy to laugh at,

551
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 1: even when the Marlins themselves aren't in the mix. The

552
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 1: Mets always find a way to put themselves in the

553
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 1: news for the wrong reasons. Now we go to the

554
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:52,240
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Phillies. Projected lineup looks pretty similar to last year.

555
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:57,520
Speaker 1: Jeans Sigura, jt real Muto, Bryce Harper, Reys Hoskins, Jay Bruce,

556
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,520
Speaker 1: New Edition, d D. Gregorious, and then Scott Kingery and

557
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 1: Adam Hazley. Gregorious was a guy that I really liked

558
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 1: as a free agent target for the Marlins coming into

559
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 1: this year. I figured that he'd be open to a

560
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 1: one year deal after he had Tommy John surgery and

561
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 1: had a shaky twenty nineteen season trying to recover from that.

562
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 1: So I thought it was a nice, relatively low risk,

563
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,520
Speaker 1: high upside pick considering how popular he is as a

564
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: personality and how well rounded his game is when he

565
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 1: is fully healthy. Ultimately, I guess you could say in

566
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: hindsight that he probably wouldn't have taken the same kind

567
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: of one year pillow contract from the Marlins that he

568
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: would have with the Phillies, and the Marlins were able

569
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,640
Speaker 1: to swing that trade for Jonathan vr who was a

570
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 1: similar type of player that adds even more versatility. So

571
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 1: when all the dust settled, I think the Marlins chose

572
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,600
Speaker 1: right with the decision they made. But it is going

573
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,080
Speaker 1: to be tough to watch Deedy in the division. Someone

574
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,320
Speaker 1: that is pretty well suited for the Phillies' ball park

575
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: in that it's relatively friendly to left handed hitters, and

576
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: even though Gregorious overall doesn't have great batted ball quality

577
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,280
Speaker 1: to him, he's able to pull the ball with a

578
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 1: lot of authority and get good home run power off

579
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 1: of that. He was with the Yankees, and that should

580
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: carry over pretty well to the Phillies. Real Muto was

581
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: even better than the Phillies could have hoped for. Last year,

582
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 1: frankly was his best year of his career, and he's

583
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 1: seeking to get paid big time off of that. They

584
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,640
Speaker 1: went all the way to an arbitration hearing. This is

585
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,080
Speaker 1: his final year before earning free agent eligibility, and most players,

586
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,800
Speaker 1: of course, during their arbitration years, they'll find a way

587
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,719
Speaker 1: to reach a one year settlement with their teams to

588
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 1: avoid a contentious hearing. He wasn't willing to avoid that.

589
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: He wanted to get paid, and as he said in

590
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: some public comments, he was very determined to raise the

591
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,440
Speaker 1: entire level the set a new bar for how catchers

592
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 1: were being compensated across the end. He coming off such

593
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,760
Speaker 1: a well rounded season, one that even his team would

594
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 1: have a hard time denying, was amazing and established him

595
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,440
Speaker 1: as the best player at the position. The Phillies still

596
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 1: ended up winning their arbitration case against him. He'll be

597
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 1: earning just ten million dollars this coming year, which is

598
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 1: such a bargain for someone in the prime of their

599
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,720
Speaker 1: career twenty nine years old, coming off the kind of

600
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,560
Speaker 1: year that he had, and we'll see how that affects

601
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: their long term negotiations. Because real Muto, he's always seemed

602
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 1: like the guy that at the right price, he'd be

603
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 1: willing to forego free agency to sign an extension. The Marlins,

604
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,120
Speaker 1: as we've mentioned, did not really make him a very

605
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 1: reasonable offer before trading him, and that was just a

606
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,680
Speaker 1: decision that they made, and ultimately they were able to

607
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 1: get a really good package in return from the Phillies.

608
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: So it's I guess he could work out well for

609
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,880
Speaker 1: everybody how this has gone. Of course, the Phillies are

610
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: not coming off a good year at the major league level.

611
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: They were the only team in this division that struggled

612
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 1: against the Marlins. They we just went nine ten against

613
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,640
Speaker 1: the Marlins last year, the only team that lost most

614
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,880
Speaker 1: of their games against them, and as as a hole,

615
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:08,840
Speaker 1: they ended up as a five hundred team. It was

616
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,200
Speaker 1: a second straight year of this window of contention where

617
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,839
Speaker 1: they showed promise at some points early in the year

618
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:17,960
Speaker 1: and weren't able to follow through on that. They were

619
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,120
Speaker 1: playing out the string when it came to the end

620
00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 1: of the year. They ended up firing Gabe Kapler and

621
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,760
Speaker 1: bringing in Joe Girardi. So so who knows if having

622
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,839
Speaker 1: someone like Girardi, who was a longtime catcher himself, whether

623
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,239
Speaker 1: that makes real Mutau more open to signing an extension.

624
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,239
Speaker 1: Any estimate that he make on this would put real

625
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 1: Muto in north of one hundred million dollars in guarantees

626
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,520
Speaker 1: if he's gonna forego free agency just because he would

627
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,279
Speaker 1: be the best catcher to reach free agency in a

628
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 1: handful of years. Maybe not quite on the same level

629
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,600
Speaker 1: that Joe Mauer was when he signed his deal with

630
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:58,600
Speaker 1: the Twins eight years, one hundred and sixty million, one

631
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty four million dollars. He won't quite be

632
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,600
Speaker 1: in that territory. But for a team that already has

633
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 1: huge commitments to Bryce Harper to still paying Jake Arietta

634
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 1: a lot of money, we're going to get to him

635
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,839
Speaker 1: in a moment and a handful of other places. The

636
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,920
Speaker 1: Phillies are certainly spending their money, but don't have a

637
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 1: whole lots of show for it, and the fans are

638
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 1: going to get pretty antsy considering all the years of

639
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:26,000
Speaker 1: losing that preceded this spending spree. The last couple some

640
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 1: other notables on the position player side they have Neil

641
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,280
Speaker 1: Walker old friends spent last year with the Marlins. Eh

642
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 1: was more or less what the Marlins signed up for,

643
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 1: but that's not really saying much as he's a non

644
00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,399
Speaker 1: roster invitee. He wasn't able to get a major league

645
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: deal from the Phillies coming off the season that he had,

646
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,479
Speaker 1: including missing some time with injury, but a switch hitter,

647
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,399
Speaker 1: good veteran, great track record at the major league level

648
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,000
Speaker 1: and has now shown more versatility defensively than he had

649
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 1: early in his career. So I was currently projected by

650
00:35:57,719 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: roster resource. They think he's going to get onto the

651
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,480
Speaker 1: team somehow off the bench. Other than that, their position

652
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 1: player depth is pretty weak. The big drop off in

653
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 1: quality behind the plate from Real Muto to Andrew nap

654
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:12,080
Speaker 1: It pretty much assures that real Muta will be starting

655
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,120
Speaker 1: five days a week, if not six days a week,

656
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,239
Speaker 1: and he's been up to the tesk to doing that historically.

657
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 1: In the pipeline, they have a couple of good prospects,

658
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:25,440
Speaker 1: not great depth with some of the aggressive moves they've made.

659
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,360
Speaker 1: Alec baum Bomb he always forget how to pronounce his

660
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,360
Speaker 1: last name, but he's a good, power hitting third baseman

661
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:37,360
Speaker 1: they have in the pipeline, and aside from that, really

662
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,800
Speaker 1: lying more on their pitching depth and the position player

663
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 1: side as things currently stand out, a lot of these

664
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 1: guys had the potential to be in the lineup every day,

665
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,319
Speaker 1: sort of unlike the Marlins. This is a team that

666
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:53,080
Speaker 1: could have a very steady lineup every single day throughout

667
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,440
Speaker 1: most of the year. The Phillies' pitching staff has a

668
00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,359
Speaker 1: few major question marks. Aaron Nola at the top, coming

669
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,400
Speaker 1: off a solid twenty nineteen season, but it kind of

670
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,279
Speaker 1: paled in comparison to his breakout in twenty eighteen when

671
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,359
Speaker 1: he emerged as their ace. The team spent big money

672
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 1: on Zach Wheeler five years, one hundred and eighteen million.

673
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:14,800
Speaker 1: There's this perception of him as a guy that hasn't

674
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 1: fully put it all together yet. But you look up

675
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:20,839
Speaker 1: and he's already entering his age thirty season, So it's

676
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,839
Speaker 1: certainly a risk for the team to take. But he

677
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,279
Speaker 1: has great raw stuff on his own and has at

678
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,320
Speaker 1: times with the Mets the past couple of years looked

679
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 1: like a potential top of the rotation talent. Jake Arietta

680
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,839
Speaker 1: is still there. He battled through some elbow trouble last year.

681
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 1: Just doesn't miss bats the same way that he did

682
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:41,919
Speaker 1: during his prime years with the Cubs. But he's been

683
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,840
Speaker 1: a veteran that is open to working well with younger pitchers,

684
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 1: a guy that has a lot of good advice to

685
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:51,400
Speaker 1: give about the mentality you want to have as a

686
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,200
Speaker 1: starter and the training that he puts in to stay

687
00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 1: on top of his game. There are some benefits that

688
00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 1: he brings to the table, even if he's not getting

689
00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 1: all the outs himself as you would want from someone

690
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 1: on such a big deal with his reputation. Vince Velasquez,

691
00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:11,279
Speaker 1: Zach Eflin, they're in the mix as well. Some of

692
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 1: those guys have had some great outings against the Marlins

693
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:18,280
Speaker 1: last year, and their bullpen was a disaster in twenty nineteen,

694
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,120
Speaker 1: so they're hoping that good health is going to lead

695
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 1: to some bounce back there. Hector Nouriss currently projected as

696
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:29,360
Speaker 1: their closer. Sir Anthony Dominguez, he tore up his elbow

697
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 1: after he briefly emerged as one of the hot relievers

698
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:35,719
Speaker 1: in all of baseball a couple of years ago, has

699
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,440
Speaker 1: since torn up his elbow. It seems I guess that

700
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,480
Speaker 1: he's gonna be healthy now to have an impact for them.

701
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 1: From the beginning of the season. They re signed Tommy Hunter,

702
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,960
Speaker 1: who's coming up an injury as well. Nick Pavetta showed

703
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 1: some nasty stuff as a starting pitching prospect, but he's

704
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:54,920
Speaker 1: now being shuffled into the bullpen, and there's some other

705
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,799
Speaker 1: guys in here that frankly, just do not have a

706
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:02,439
Speaker 1: lot of name recognition around the league, so I would

707
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,560
Speaker 1: imagine that the Phillies are gonna be looking during the season.

708
00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,000
Speaker 1: If they do find themselves in the mix, they're gonna

709
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,120
Speaker 1: be a team that's really fixated on adding some relief

710
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,480
Speaker 1: depth to their equation. A big X factor that I

711
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,520
Speaker 1: didn't mention already was Andrew McCutcheon, the former National League MVP.

712
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,160
Speaker 1: He was great for the Phillies at the start of

713
00:39:21,239 --> 00:39:24,920
Speaker 1: last year, but then tore up his ACL. He wasn't

714
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 1: in their current roster projection because he's going to begin

715
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 1: the year on the disabled list. On the injured list,

716
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,200
Speaker 1: the Phillies have already made that clear because it's gonna

717
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,560
Speaker 1: be close to a full year of him coming back

718
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,080
Speaker 1: from that knee injury, and for a guy that is

719
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,880
Speaker 1: later in his career, still effective, but later in his career,

720
00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 1: they want to be cautious to get the most out

721
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,799
Speaker 1: of him. He's still under contract for an additional year

722
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:50,200
Speaker 1: beyond twenty twenty. What he was right, He was an

723
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 1: amazing leadoff guy for the Phillies and you could really

724
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:56,680
Speaker 1: see their offense struggle without him. He was kind of

725
00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 1: the key to keep things going working deep counts and

726
00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:01,880
Speaker 1: getting on base, so they'll be relying on him again,

727
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:04,400
Speaker 1: and of course they're going to be relying on Bryce

728
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,279
Speaker 1: Harper to take another step forward. Last year he put

729
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,360
Speaker 1: up amazing numbers in clutch situations. His overall numbers, though,

730
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,799
Speaker 1: were kind of meh, more or less in line with

731
00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:18,319
Speaker 1: his whole career, but like his career averages, but not

732
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,880
Speaker 1: necessarily close to what he was at the top of

733
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:24,640
Speaker 1: his game. When he's winning an MVP with the Nationals.

734
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 2: One zero pitched, Harper swung on, drilled in the air,

735
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,160
Speaker 2: deep out towards right center field, back goes to ball

736
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 2: at the track at the wall and it is off

737
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,640
Speaker 2: the top of the wall. Three runs are gonna score,

738
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,320
Speaker 2: as real Muto was on the heels of Tias. Harper

739
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:41,040
Speaker 2: pulls into the second with a bases clearing double and

740
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:42,799
Speaker 2: the Phils take a three to two lead.

741
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: They just have these other questions like Bruce and Gregorious.

742
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:49,560
Speaker 1: Those are streaky players as well. This season could go

743
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:52,440
Speaker 1: into a lot of different directions for the Phillies depending

744
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:55,960
Speaker 1: on what happens with a lot of these guys that

745
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:58,880
Speaker 1: you see the upside, you see the track record, but

746
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,200
Speaker 1: not necessarily the most consistent bunch. So we'll see what

747
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:06,120
Speaker 1: the upgrade at the manager spot does from Gabe Capillary

748
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 1: to Joe Girardi. And if some of these star players

749
00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 1: are at their best, then the Phillies can compete with anybody.

750
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,680
Speaker 1: But there's enormous pressure on them because their farm system

751
00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:21,360
Speaker 1: overall is not in great shape and there's only so

752
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:25,080
Speaker 1: much wiggle room for them financially, especially if they are

753
00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,480
Speaker 1: in a position to extend real Mute long term. That's

754
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:30,800
Speaker 1: gonna be another big contract on their books that is

755
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:39,400
Speaker 1: gonna deplete their other alternatives to plug roster holes. We

756
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 1: finish up with the Washington Nationals, coming off the franchise's

757
00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 1: first ever World Series championship last year. They bulldozed through

758
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: Marlin's going fifteen and four. Some of the old friends

759
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:57,680
Speaker 1: from with Marlins ties that are on their roster, Annibal Sanchez,

760
00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: who had some big moments for them postseason, and Starlin Castro,

761
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:07,439
Speaker 1: who reached free agency this past year, did a little

762
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,800
Speaker 1: bit better than I feared, because remember last year, he

763
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,879
Speaker 1: got off to that terrible, terrible start offensively, certainly turned

764
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,240
Speaker 1: it on over the final three months of the season,

765
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,120
Speaker 1: and he even showed the versatility to play third base,

766
00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,080
Speaker 1: so he was able to get a two year guaranteed

767
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 1: deal from the Nationals. It's still going to be a

768
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 1: big adjustment for him because he took a lot of

769
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:31,120
Speaker 1: pride in playing every single day. That's what he did

770
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,879
Speaker 1: last year. He played all one hundred and sixty two

771
00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:36,480
Speaker 1: games for the Marlins, and that's not going to be

772
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:40,279
Speaker 1: the case for the Nationals this year because they took

773
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,360
Speaker 1: an interesting approach to addressing their infield. Their big subtraction

774
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,840
Speaker 1: was Anthony Rendon, who was their best all round player

775
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:50,560
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, but signed in free agency with the Angels.

776
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:52,880
Speaker 1: So to replace him at third base, it's going to

777
00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:59,120
Speaker 1: be a combination of Castro, of Esdrubil Caprera, of Howie Kendrick,

778
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:03,879
Speaker 1: and of Carter Keeboom. Currently from roster resource, they see

779
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,920
Speaker 1: Key Boom getting the majority of at bats at third base,

780
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:10,759
Speaker 1: with Castro seeing more time at second base. They also

781
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:15,000
Speaker 1: signed Eric Thames to be their platoon at first base,

782
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:19,319
Speaker 1: playing a lot against right handed pitching. Other notables in

783
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,400
Speaker 1: the Nationals lineup include Wan Soto, who, may I remind

784
00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:26,919
Speaker 1: you only twenty one years old. Man, If that guy

785
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:31,120
Speaker 1: gets better, the rest of the world is screwed, and traditionally,

786
00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,840
Speaker 1: when a player is this good so early in their career,

787
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,320
Speaker 1: they go on to having a Hall of Fame caliber career.

788
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:43,000
Speaker 1: So get used to him in the division terrorizing Marlins

789
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,440
Speaker 1: pitching and all other pitching that exists. Also keep your

790
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,319
Speaker 1: eye on Victor Roblace, who quietly had a very good

791
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,720
Speaker 1: year in their outfield, especially defensively and on the bases.

792
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:57,600
Speaker 1: But he's got some solid potential at the plate as well.

793
00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:00,360
Speaker 1: He's a guy that came up as a prospect, was

794
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,440
Speaker 1: generally regarded more highly than Soda was a couple of

795
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,959
Speaker 1: years ago. Someone who has the makings of all five

796
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:10,839
Speaker 1: tools as a player, currently projected as their leadoff hitter,

797
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:14,640
Speaker 1: and he's only gonna be entering his age twenty three season.

798
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 1: Trey Turner is still there, Adamitez is still there. The

799
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,120
Speaker 1: void left by Rindon is gonna be difficult to fill.

800
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,359
Speaker 1: Aside from Soto, there's not really any one of these

801
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,439
Speaker 1: guys that you fully trust to be an All Star

802
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,400
Speaker 1: caliber hitter. They're trying to add value in other aspects

803
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:34,399
Speaker 1: of their game. So I think it's safe to say

804
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:37,839
Speaker 1: that the Nationals won't score quite as many runs this year,

805
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:41,160
Speaker 1: as they did last year, they'll have to rely plenty

806
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:43,799
Speaker 1: on their defense and on their pitching staff. So we'll

807
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,160
Speaker 1: go to that staff as well, where you have a

808
00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: couple of very recognizable names at the top. Steven Strasburg

809
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,240
Speaker 1: who re signed with the Nats on a huge seven

810
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:56,160
Speaker 1: year deal, and then Max Scherzer on his own seven

811
00:44:56,239 --> 00:44:59,080
Speaker 1: year contract that has worked out extremely well for the Nats,

812
00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:03,239
Speaker 1: but he missed plenty of time last year, primarily with

813
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 1: back issues, and if those linger into this upcoming year,

814
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:10,560
Speaker 1: then that will certainly test the depth that the Gnats have.

815
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,840
Speaker 1: Patrick Corbin in the middle of his contract, Annibal Sanchez

816
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:17,240
Speaker 1: in the second year of his deal at age thirty six,

817
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:21,520
Speaker 1: and Joe Ross is currently slotted into the number five

818
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:25,240
Speaker 1: spot for the Nats. Not a whole lot of prospect

819
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:28,120
Speaker 1: depth for this team. One of the pitchers that they

820
00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:30,880
Speaker 1: did have in the pipeline was right hander Sterling Sharp,

821
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:33,880
Speaker 1: and they didn't leave him protected on the forty men roster,

822
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,200
Speaker 1: which allowed the Marlins to get him in the Rule

823
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 1: five draft, so further taking away from a division rival.

824
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 1: In the bullpen, they got Daniel Hudson, Sean Doolittle, Will Harris,

825
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:49,799
Speaker 1: who pitched very well quietly for the Houston Astros last

826
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:54,360
Speaker 1: handful of years. Tanner Rainey has amazing pure stuff and

827
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,479
Speaker 1: his results last year we're kind of hit or missed,

828
00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: but certainly has his stuff to be a difference maker

829
00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:02,800
Speaker 1: for them. Hunter Strickland, who is now in the journeyman

830
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:06,640
Speaker 1: phase of his career, but not all that long ago,

831
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:09,120
Speaker 1: he was a great option in the later endings for

832
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:12,680
Speaker 1: the Giants. The Nats seemingly every year are never able

833
00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:15,319
Speaker 1: to get this bullpen alignment quite right. There was that

834
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 1: segment a couple months into the twenty nineteen season that

835
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:23,000
Speaker 1: the bullpen almost derailed their entire season and pushed them

836
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:26,040
Speaker 1: on the brink of firing their manager and considering making

837
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:29,600
Speaker 1: some trades. Like the bullpen is a big reason why

838
00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:32,360
Speaker 1: they've underperformed, especially in the playoffs, with the exception of

839
00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:36,239
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, trying to get it right this time. Of course,

840
00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,359
Speaker 1: they have those older options currently slides to line up

841
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,840
Speaker 1: in the later innings, so that experience matters. But a

842
00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:46,920
Speaker 1: couple injuries and they'll of course be scrambling again to

843
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:50,160
Speaker 1: try to figure it out. And now, even though Rendon

844
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:54,720
Speaker 1: is gone by resigning, Strasburg still having Sureser and Corbin.

845
00:46:55,960 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 1: They have some big contracts on the books, and we'll

846
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,520
Speaker 1: see how much flexibility they have have to add during

847
00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:06,160
Speaker 1: this upcoming season. Last year, heading into twenty nineteen, I

848
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:07,960
Speaker 1: thought they were the best team in the division, and

849
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:10,440
Speaker 1: it took them a while to show that. They finally

850
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:12,439
Speaker 1: had to prove it in the nick of time during

851
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:16,040
Speaker 1: the postseason. Once again, if I was to pick the

852
00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:17,799
Speaker 1: best team in this division, I think this time I

853
00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:21,680
Speaker 1: had lean towards the Braves just because of all the

854
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:24,719
Speaker 1: depth that they have ready to impact them, especially at

855
00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:27,760
Speaker 1: the TRIPAA level, and of course some of the players

856
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,840
Speaker 1: that they have that will just continue to get better

857
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:32,960
Speaker 1: after stepping up last year. It's going to be a

858
00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:36,040
Speaker 1: great division yet again. I mean that's what we said

859
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:38,759
Speaker 1: coming into last year. It might be even deeper this

860
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:42,319
Speaker 1: time in twenty twenty. And it's a reason why it's

861
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:44,840
Speaker 1: difficult for me to get a great feel on how

862
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,200
Speaker 1: many games the Marlins themselves are going to win, because

863
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:49,760
Speaker 1: we look at them. We've been talking about for months

864
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:52,440
Speaker 1: and months now how they're an improved team over what

865
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:55,960
Speaker 1: they were in twenty nineteen. The question is how much

866
00:47:56,040 --> 00:47:58,040
Speaker 1: that is going to be reflected in the wins and losses,

867
00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:01,640
Speaker 1: because when you're playing seventy six combined games against the

868
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,080
Speaker 1: Braves and the Mets and the Phillies and the Nationals,

869
00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:07,719
Speaker 1: all those teams under significant pressure to win this year,

870
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:12,120
Speaker 1: all of them with the flexibility you'd think to add

871
00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:16,080
Speaker 1: during the year if the needs present itself, that there's

872
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:19,280
Speaker 1: just not gonna be very many easy wins against these teams.

873
00:48:19,719 --> 00:48:22,479
Speaker 1: The silver lining to this, I suppose, is that every

874
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:25,040
Speaker 1: time you go to Marlins Park in twenty twenty for

875
00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:29,000
Speaker 1: an NL East matchup, there's gonna be amazing talent on

876
00:48:29,080 --> 00:48:31,880
Speaker 1: the other side. It's a great measuring stick for this

877
00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:34,960
Speaker 1: young Marlins team as they try to figure out how

878
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:42,640
Speaker 1: close they are to building that sustainable contender. Thank you

879
00:48:42,760 --> 00:48:46,359
Speaker 1: as always for tuning in. Three more weeks of spring

880
00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:49,000
Speaker 1: training and we're gonna get through it together here on

881
00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:52,040
Speaker 1: fish Bites and of course on fish stripes dot com.

882
00:48:52,360 --> 00:49:12,640
Speaker 1: This is Eli Sussman. Go Fish