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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hammer Territory Podcast.

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Speaker 2: My name is Sean Coleman.

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

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Speaker 1: are having a great endto your Thursday start, to your

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Speaker 1: Friday start to your Memorial Day weekend. And I'm here

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Speaker 1: with my co host, Stephen Tolbert. Stephen, always a pleasure

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Speaker 1: to be with you again The Hammer Territory Podcast part

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Speaker 1: of the Foul Territory Podcast Network. But Steven, we get

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Speaker 1: to talk about a series win, two straight wins for

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Speaker 1: the Braves of three to nothing win over Chicago. It

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Speaker 1: was a really impressive game overall once again for the

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Speaker 1: pitching staff.

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Speaker 2: But it's good to talk with you. How are you tonight,

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Speaker 2: sir Sean.

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Speaker 3: What's up, buddy? Yeah, man, it's good to do. Good

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Speaker 3: to do another one of these with you. Yeah, since

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Speaker 3: last week talk, obviously, the team went two and oh

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Speaker 3: last two games, so that's obviously improved the the mood

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Speaker 3: around the team versus when we talked on on Tuesday,

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Speaker 3: where it was pretty bleak and you know, they were

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Speaker 3: coming off a pretty brutal stretch of baseball and just

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Speaker 3: kind of an ugly stretch of baseball for being honest,

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Speaker 3: but yeah, two wins since then, you know, the offense

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Speaker 3: is still you know, they had a good they had

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Speaker 3: a good game on Wednesday, uh, you know, and they

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Speaker 3: had a decent game today. The wind was blowing in

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Speaker 3: in Chicago. So but we'll get we'll get to all

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Speaker 3: that in a minute. But yeah, the you know, two wins.

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Speaker 3: The pitching staff has been incredible, which is going to

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Speaker 3: be the main topic tonight. But two two wins and

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Speaker 3: two wins and and it's better than two losses. And

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Speaker 3: you know, it's it's good to get a series win

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Speaker 3: when things were looking kind of bleak and and off

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Speaker 3: to Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 1: We go absolutely and you know, it was it's just

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Speaker 1: good to get this series win. And you know, this

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Speaker 1: is four out of six now against Chicago, as you

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Speaker 1: pointed out on on Twitter, slash X, you know, we

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Speaker 1: won four out of the six games. We have a

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Speaker 1: tiebreaker for Chicago, who I believe is right there with

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Speaker 1: us right now. I want to say, you know, in

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Speaker 1: that wildcar, Max, I think their fifth right now, we're fourth,

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Speaker 1: no long way to go. But this is a you know,

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Speaker 1: this is one of the better teams in the National League,

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Speaker 1: a team in Chicago who legitimately has a chance at

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Speaker 1: a postseason birth and the Braves were did a good job.

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Speaker 1: You know again, no they should have been a series sweep,

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Speaker 1: but they got the job done on Wednesday and Thursday

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Speaker 1: behind some excellent pitching performances. And that's where we'll start,

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Speaker 1: because the story of the game today was the fact

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Speaker 1: that A. J. Smith Jaber made his two thy and

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Speaker 1: twenty four debut season debut for the Braves, one of

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Speaker 1: the Braves' top two pitching prospects last year, showed a

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Speaker 1: bit of a glimpse of just the overall talent that

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Speaker 1: he has, you know, someone who could be a top

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Speaker 1: of the rotation starter in time. He looked impressive at

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Speaker 1: times last year, including in the playoffs against the Phillies.

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Speaker 1: But on Thursday, Steven, we were really interested to see

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Speaker 1: how he looked at after going through you know, some changes,

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Speaker 1: you know, some adjustments down in Triple A. He had

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Speaker 1: his struggles at times this year so far in Triple A.

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Speaker 1: But what really stood out to me in his start

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Speaker 1: today four and one thirds innings, four strikeouts, no earned runs.

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Speaker 1: He got up to ninety nine, the velocity was up.

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Speaker 1: He carried it and he carried it into the fourth inning.

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Speaker 1: It seemed like it kind of tailed off a bit

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Speaker 1: in the fifth inning, but his velocity was up and

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Speaker 1: he was able to carry it into the game. He

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Speaker 1: also kept the ball on the ballpark, which obviously was

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Speaker 1: a great thing, and he seemed to have good command

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Speaker 1: of the strike zone. He seemed to be throwing several

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Speaker 1: of his pitches for strikes at different parts in the count,

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Speaker 1: so his overall understanding of his stuff and how to pitch.

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Speaker 1: He was a pitcher instead of a thrower, and he

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Speaker 1: was able to do it at ninety nine miles per

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Speaker 1: hour plus with good breaking stuff. He looked really, really

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Speaker 1: impressive for his season debut.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we you know, we obviously everybody wanted

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Speaker 3: to see what he looked like with the twenty twenty

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Speaker 3: four version. Looks like versus last year. You know, last

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Speaker 3: year he came up, he had flashes. The big thing

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Speaker 3: we saw last was he had a really hard time

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Speaker 3: holding velocity throughout a game. He would start out throwing

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Speaker 3: you know, ninety six ninety seven in the first inning,

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Speaker 3: and then by the usually by the third or fourth inning,

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Speaker 3: he was down to ninety two ninety three pretty consistently,

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Speaker 3: and you know, you're just such a different picture. I

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Speaker 3: mean just the level of command. We've talked about this

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Speaker 3: before with with Tyler Matsik, but like the level of

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Speaker 3: command you have to have it ninety two ninety three

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Speaker 3: versus ninety seven, ninety eight ninety nine is is you know,

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Speaker 3: leagues apart, and you just got to be a leak

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Speaker 3: command guy when you're throwing ninety two ninety three. So

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Speaker 3: the fact that he was a you know, he's added velocity,

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Speaker 3: he was pretty consistently throwing ninety seven ninety eight ninety

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Speaker 3: nine today and the fact that he was able to

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Speaker 3: hold it. He threw I think three I think he

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Speaker 3: threw three in the in his last inning of work.

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Speaker 3: I think he threw like three ninety eight minar fastballs

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Speaker 3: and one ninety nine milinar fastball in his last inning.

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Speaker 3: So that's tremendous. Our buddy Garrett Spain Olbert Battery Power

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Speaker 3: was talking about that about that's been one of the

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Speaker 3: bigger developments this year is he's he's added muscle, he's bigger,

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Speaker 3: he's stronger, so he's added velocity, but he's added some

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Speaker 3: endurance where he can maintain that pilosity, and that's what

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Speaker 3: they you know, they had seen in the Miners and

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Speaker 3: Brad did a whole show that Garrett. You should go

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Speaker 3: check it out. It it's on the it's on the

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Speaker 3: podcast feed about the minor league system. If you haven't

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Speaker 3: listened to that show, go listen to it. It's a

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Speaker 3: really good episode. But but yeah, that was the big

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Speaker 3: thing for him, is can he hold his velocity because

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Speaker 3: he's just so much easier to pitch it in ninety

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Speaker 3: eight ninety nine. I mean, that's a you know, that's

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Speaker 3: an obvious statement. But when you could throw that hard,

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Speaker 3: you don't have to be as sharp everywhere else. You

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Speaker 3: can get away with some hanging, breaking balls, You can

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Speaker 3: get away with some if he command, you know, you

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Speaker 3: can get away with leaving some pitches over the middle

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Speaker 3: of the plate just because it's just hard to hit.

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Speaker 3: And you know, that's that's what we saw today. The

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Speaker 3: wind was blowing in. You know, Chicago's a lineup that's

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Speaker 3: kind of going through a dry spell, you know, not

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Speaker 3: not too dissimilar from the Braves, and so you know,

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Speaker 3: he he definitely got a nice draw in terms of

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Speaker 3: when to make his debut. But you know, four innings,

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Speaker 3: four shutout in or I think four and two third

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Speaker 3: shutout innings, four strikes outs, two walks. You'll take it,

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Speaker 3: you know, especially for his first start. But the stuff

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Speaker 3: looked good. And you know, I mentioned see what they

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Speaker 3: do if you know, how they play with the rotation,

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Speaker 3: if they if he's up for a little bit and

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Speaker 3: gets a run here, if he's gonna you know, go

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Speaker 3: back and forth, we'll see what they do. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: it was a really good outing by him. It was

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Speaker 3: nice to see and it was nice to see the

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Speaker 3: things that he struggled with last year are the things

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Speaker 3: that he is. You know, you can clearly see the

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Speaker 3: improvement that he's made this year.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And just like AJ Smith Shaub did on Thursday,

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Speaker 1: the Braves had a big need to feel when it

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Speaker 1: came to their rotation, and A. J. Smith Shauber delivered well.

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Speaker 1: So Stephen building off this performance, you know, Spencer Strider

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Speaker 1: goes down obviously, so he's not an option for the

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Speaker 1: rest of the year. Whatever the Braves may do with

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Speaker 1: the trade deadline, will wait and see. Obviously, the Braves

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Speaker 1: had a natural first option to go with with Bryce Elder,

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Speaker 1: who you know last year was great in the first half,

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Speaker 1: struggled in the second half, but struggled in spring training.

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Speaker 1: He struggled once again, you know, in his you know,

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Speaker 1: a few starts that he's had this year. Bryce Elder

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Speaker 1: just right now does not seem to be a valuable

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Speaker 1: option for the rotation. So the Braves have this open

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Speaker 1: spot in the rotation. And of course, as we're going

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Speaker 1: to discuss a little bit later on the episode, going

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Speaker 1: into Thursday, they had a need for a starter on

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Speaker 1: Thursday as well as Friday. But Aj Smith Shover with

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Speaker 1: some other moves that have been made in the minor leagues.

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Speaker 1: AJ Smith Shover's performance on Thursday and then even seemed

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Speaker 1: as if this may have been the thought before he started.

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Speaker 1: He could now get an extended look, and Thursday certainly

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Speaker 1: offered promise and validation that he should get a few

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Speaker 1: more starts in that rotation spot. The Braves have opened.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, that's gonna be the question, right they

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Speaker 3: you know, they had they had moves that they had

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Speaker 3: to make because of the doubleheader and because they wanted

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Speaker 3: to get Elder back in Triple A just because he

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Speaker 3: hasn't looked very good. So there was some necessity to

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Speaker 3: this week's moves. It wasn't just purely because AJ was

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Speaker 3: you know, blowing them away at Triple A and and

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Speaker 3: was clearly ready for a call up. That this was,

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Speaker 3: you know, a product of necessity more than anything else.

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Speaker 3: But in saying that, you know, he clearly has the

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Speaker 3: highest upside of any of the you know candidates for

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Speaker 3: the five start, you know, for this five spot in

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Speaker 3: the rotation, whether it's Dylan Dodd or Alan Winings or

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Speaker 3: Darius Fines or Bryce Elder, like, none of those guys

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Speaker 3: have the ceiling that that Aj has. So and you know,

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Speaker 3: he's he's clearly improved on some of the areas that

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Speaker 3: he was weekend last year. His numbers were't great at

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Speaker 3: Triple A and that's you know that that's part of it.

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Speaker 3: And he he definitely got you know, some good fortune

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Speaker 3: today with the wind blowing in. There were some balls

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Speaker 3: that you know, maybe would have left the yard if

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Speaker 3: if not for that. So you know, he's not perfect.

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Speaker 3: He's certainly not a finished product. But relative to the

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Speaker 3: other options in that spot, yeah, I mean, he's clearly

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Speaker 3: got the highest upside. I don't know how much more

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Speaker 3: they want him in triple A. You know, it's gonna

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Speaker 3: be interesting what they do. You know, obviously, with Elder

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Speaker 3: being optioned, he's got to stay down there for fifteen

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Speaker 3: days unless somebody goes on the IL. So this could

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Speaker 3: be I mean, he could get it. This could be

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Speaker 3: an extended run from uh Aj where he gets through

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Speaker 3: four starts and you know, if he if he grabs

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Speaker 3: hold and and does well, he might just keep the job.

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Speaker 3: I'm sure the Braids would love that. So it will

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Speaker 3: be interest to see what they do. But you know,

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Speaker 3: tomorrow the Brads need and other starters, so there's gonna

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Speaker 3: have to be some sort of decision made in the

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Speaker 3: next twelve hours about who's going to start tomorrow, and

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Speaker 3: that might give us some indication of what they're thinking,

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Speaker 3: but yeah, the fifth starter job is kind of an

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Speaker 3: open competition right now. For being honest, and you know,

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Speaker 3: Aj looked good today. We'll see what they do going forward.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And the thing though that stands out is this

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Speaker 1: is that, yes, the Braves certainly need that fifth starter

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Speaker 1: role to be filled. But Stephen, this pitching staff just

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Speaker 1: keeps coming along.

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Speaker 2: You know, Brad did a great job.

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Speaker 1: You know, if you haven't listened to the Hammer Territory

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Speaker 1: podcast after Wednesday's game in which you know, Max Freed

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Speaker 1: went five perfect innings, he got the complete game, I

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Speaker 1: did a great job just giving the bullpen arrest. You know,

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Speaker 1: he was outstanding. Ag Smith Shouper was outstanding. What's really

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Speaker 1: starting to emerge, Like, you know, we've talked about the

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Speaker 1: fact that, you know, over this stretch, the Brave's pitching

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Speaker 1: staff has been good, but that spreatch has started in

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Speaker 1: that stretch is starting to expand you know, we talked

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Speaker 1: about it for the past few weeks, we talked about

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Speaker 1: it for a month. It's really been the whole season.

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Speaker 1: And Stephen, when you look at the numbers, this Braid's

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Speaker 1: pitching staff is arguably top five in baseball. I think

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Speaker 1: second in era now in the n L, you know,

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Speaker 1: fourth overall in MLB. Don't quote me on that, but

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Speaker 1: I think that's the numbers that I saw. But the

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Speaker 1: big that stands out is that it's it's the starting rotation.

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Speaker 1: Each and every one of your you know, regular members, Freed, Morton, Sale, Lopez,

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Speaker 1: each and every one of them are out have had

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Speaker 1: outstanding stretches so far this year.

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Speaker 6: A J.

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Speaker 1: Smith Shauber. Hopefully we'll be able to build off this performance.

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Speaker 1: But what also stood out after you know, some struggles

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Speaker 1: on Monday, Steven this phrase bullpen over nine innings against

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Speaker 1: the Cubs between Tuesday and Thursday, added on a lot

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Speaker 1: only two runs, and you saw everybody pitch Jose or

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Speaker 1: Joe Jimenez, you saw Pierce Johnson pitch right Soll Iglesias.

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Speaker 2: So overall, we're not just.

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Speaker 1: Talking about one part of the Braves pitching staff, it

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Speaker 1: as a whole. The quality of its depth is really

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Speaker 1: showing up. And it's great to see that happen against

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Speaker 1: quality competition.

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Speaker 2: Like the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that look great, and we listen, we talked about

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Speaker 3: it on Tuesday that you know, the key for this

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Speaker 3: team right now is when they pitch like unbelievably well

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Speaker 3: they win, you know, and in the last two games,

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Speaker 3: the Braves gave up two runs total over two games,

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Speaker 3: and so obviously they won those two games. Now, on

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Speaker 3: on Wednesday's game, the offense obviously showed up in a

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Speaker 3: big way. Scored nine runs. First time they had scored

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Speaker 3: nine runs and over a month. And obviously today the

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Speaker 3: wind was blowing in offense was a little harder to

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Speaker 3: come by. But again, you know, today they pitched a shutout.

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Speaker 3: I think it's their eighth shutout of the year as

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Speaker 3: a teams. So yeah, when they pitched like this, they win.

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Speaker 3: You know, the the question for this team, and we

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Speaker 3: talked about it on Tuesday and I'll talk about it

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Speaker 3: again now. The question is like, when you don't get

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Speaker 3: that elite level pitching, can you still win games? When

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Speaker 3: your starter gives up three runs, your bullpen gives up

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Speaker 3: two runs, Like can you cover that up? And you know,

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Speaker 3: when you know, when other teams score runs against your pitching,

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Speaker 3: you know, how how well do you cover that stuff up?

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Speaker 3: That's this that's still the question like that, you know,

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Speaker 3: the offense still needs to be more consistent. Even in

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Speaker 3: this series. They won the series. But you know they

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Speaker 3: had like two hits the whole series with a runner

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Speaker 3: and scoring position or something like that. It was like

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Speaker 3: two for twenty six or something like that. Now, again

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Speaker 3: that's having that many opportunities is a good sign. So

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Speaker 3: you could read that both ways. But yeah, the offense,

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Speaker 3: you know, you still need the offense to be more consistent.

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Speaker 3: But when this team pitches, and when this team gets

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Speaker 3: elite level pitching like it has, it's gonna win it's

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Speaker 3: fair share of games. The pitching is just so good,

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Speaker 3: like you said, I mean the Braves even without Strider,

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Speaker 3: I mean the four guys the Braves have in their rotation.

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Speaker 3: If Aj is ready to take a step and be

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Speaker 3: that fifth man, you could add him into that equation

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Speaker 3: as well. The Braves are still incredibly talented there. And

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Speaker 3: then the bullpen is in really deep, you know, seven

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Speaker 3: eight guys that are really quality. Plus Ray Kerr is

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Speaker 3: still in Gwinett. He's not going to get him back

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Speaker 3: at some point. He's he's been fantastic. So yeah, the

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Speaker 3: depth on this pitching staff has just been absurd. We

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Speaker 3: talked about it all winter, you know, Alex. The thing

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Speaker 3: he wanted to do was was add high level, high

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Speaker 3: quality depth and really have a full thirteen man pitching staff.

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Speaker 3: And that's what he's done, and it's been fantastic. That

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Speaker 3: pitching has saved the Bradves baking. I can't even explain

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Speaker 3: how I mean, if the Braids weren't pitching like they

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Speaker 3: have been the last month, you know, they would be

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Speaker 3: in much much worse shaped than they are. That pitching

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Speaker 3: staff has just been nails for over a month now.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and as we mentioned also, you know, I believe

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Speaker 1: it was last week we talked about the fact that

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Speaker 1: along with the pitching, the defense has stood out as

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Speaker 1: being a strength as well. So two of the three

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Speaker 1: biggest facets of the game, pitching and defense have been

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Speaker 1: right there for the Braves. Is it's a reason why

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Speaker 1: they're in there. They're now twenty nine to eighteen.

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Speaker 2: When you look at the.

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Speaker 1: Overall production of Atlanta, you see the reason why they

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Speaker 1: have a winning record, why they're ten games over five hundred,

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Speaker 1: still less than fifty games into the season, and it's

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Speaker 1: again because of the fact that they're pitching and defense

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Speaker 1: have been so good. And one player that I think

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Speaker 1: has you know, contributed to that, one player who I

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Speaker 1: definitely think is added to the overall defensive upside of

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Speaker 1: this team is Jared Kellnick And of course he hit

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Speaker 1: a home run to give the Braves, to give the

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Speaker 1: Braves the lead that would last, but also their first

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Speaker 1: run of the day on Thursday. He loves hitting, you know,

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Speaker 1: in Wrigley Field, if you go back to last year,

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Speaker 1: he hit that four hundred and eighty two foot shot

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Speaker 1: in Wrigley Field. But I want to spend a bit

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Speaker 1: of time talking about him, Stephen, because you know, it

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Speaker 1: was great to see him put the ball in play,

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Speaker 1: you know, with hard contact, and to see him hit

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Speaker 1: a home run. I believe it's fourth of the season.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it was his third, third or fourth of the season.

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Speaker 1: But I do want to bring him up because I

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Speaker 1: definitely think that he's been a positive value so far,

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Speaker 1: at least on the defensive end. But I also think

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Speaker 1: it's worth discussing kind of fifty games in, you know,

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Speaker 1: where is the opinion on Jared Klnick. Again, I think

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Speaker 1: overall him and left field is a positive value because

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Speaker 1: he does add good defense. But Stephen, I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: find some glimmer of hope, something to say, Okay, yes

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Speaker 1: he's struggling, but this number or that number may indicate,

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Speaker 1: you know, reason to have faith that he'll get better

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Speaker 1: in time. I'm sure as time goes on he'll be

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Speaker 1: a bit better. It's going to be hard not to be.

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Speaker 1: But I will say, despite his home run offensively, when

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Speaker 1: it comes to Jared Kilnick, you hope that this is

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Speaker 1: the start of a good streak moving forward. But right now,

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Speaker 1: when it comes to his performance at the plate, the

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Speaker 1: overall results are pretty in line with the expected results,

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Speaker 1: and that doesn't leave a whole lot of room for encouragement.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, listen, he homewared today and that you know,

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Speaker 3: he hit a ball very hard. I mean he hit

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Speaker 3: it to the teeth of the wind and still got

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Speaker 3: it out. There's no joke, and rigally as hard as

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Speaker 3: that wind can blow. So he's got like, in terms

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Speaker 3: of his raw skill, he's got tremendous talent. I mean,

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Speaker 3: this guy was like a top five prospect in baseball

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Speaker 3: like two years ago. So you know, he's got unbelievable

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Speaker 3: raw skills, which is why the Braves. You know, the

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Speaker 3: Braves took on quite a bit of money to get him.

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Speaker 3: Now they have him for five years, and he's got

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Speaker 3: minor league options, which is obviously helpful. So if he

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Speaker 3: you know, even if you do have to send him down,

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Speaker 3: if he struggles so much, then you have that option

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Speaker 3: to do so. But he's got tons of all talent.

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Speaker 3: But yes, if we're being objective about it. At the plate,

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Speaker 3: so far in twenty twenty four, he's been very bad.

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Speaker 3: I mean, there's just there's really no other way to

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Speaker 3: sugarcoat it. His expected numbers are down and like you know,

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Speaker 3: kind of where you would expect if pitchers were still hitting,

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Speaker 3: that's kind of where they lived. I remember the last

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Speaker 3: year that pictures hit, Max Freed had like an expected

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Speaker 3: OBA of like two seventy and right now Jerry Kelnick

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Speaker 3: hasn't expected OBA in the two sixties. So that's very bad.

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Speaker 3: There's just no there's no sugarcoating. And his defense has

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Speaker 3: been exceptionally good. He's a fantastic defender. The problem for

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Speaker 3: him is he plays left field. And you know, if

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Speaker 3: you're if you're playing shortstop, or you're playing center field,

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Speaker 3: or even right right field or maybe third base, you

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Speaker 3: can produce enough defensive value where your offense doesn't matter

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Speaker 3: that much, especially at shortstop, catcher in center field. The

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Speaker 3: critical defensive positions. At left field, it's much harder to

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Speaker 3: do that. There's just only so much value you're ever

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Speaker 3: going to extract defensively in left field. Typically speaking, you

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Speaker 3: need your left field or to hit to be valuable,

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Speaker 3: and if they're not hitting, you typically replace them with

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Speaker 3: somebody who is going to hit, because it's an offensive

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Speaker 3: driven position. And to this point, Kelnick has been very

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Speaker 3: poor offensively. He strikes out a ton. He's got like

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Speaker 3: a thirty four percent strikeout rate, which is very, very

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Speaker 3: very high. He's got a very low walk rate. I

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Speaker 3: think he's got six walks all year. So you know, they,

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Speaker 3: like I said, the expected numbers are not great. He

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Speaker 3: hasn't been good. I mean, he had a good start,

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Speaker 3: but other than that, he has not been that good.

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Speaker 3: And you know, it is what it is. You're the

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Speaker 3: Braves are probably gonna give him a decent leash. None

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Speaker 3: of this would be as important if the entire offense

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Speaker 3: was hitting better. You know, if all the guys that

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Speaker 3: were supposed to be hitting great were then this would

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Speaker 3: be much less of an issue. But when the whole

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Speaker 3: offense struggles, then you know, the guys at the bottom

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Speaker 3: who are really, really struggling, they get noticed more. So

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Speaker 3: that's part of it too. But yeah, he hasn't been great.

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Speaker 3: There's no I mean, I can't there's no numbers I

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Speaker 3: can spit out that paints a rosier picture than what

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Speaker 3: it is. He just he hasn't been good at the plate.

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Speaker 3: He's been very good defensively. I don't know that that's

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00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,040
Speaker 3: gonna be enough to keep the spot. I would not

431
00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:13,639
Speaker 3: be stunned. And obviously homeer today, so he's gonna get

432
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:15,720
Speaker 3: plenty of leash to see if he can get hot.

433
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,760
Speaker 3: But you know, if it continues at this pace, I

434
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,120
Speaker 3: wouldn't be surprised to see Duval a little bit more.

435
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,520
Speaker 3: I also wouldn't be surprised to see them maybe go

436
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,080
Speaker 3: get somebody at the deadline if neither guy has really

437
00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,360
Speaker 3: taken off. You know, outfielders are pretty easy to acquire,

438
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,879
Speaker 3: so we'll see what they do. He's got a ton

439
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:32,440
Speaker 3: of potential, he's got a ton of talent. He's really

440
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,240
Speaker 3: good defensively, but if we're being honest, they need more

441
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 3: out of him from the you know, with the bat,

442
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,080
Speaker 3: because that's you know, you put guys in left field

443
00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,480
Speaker 3: to hit, and they need somebody that's gonna hit a

444
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,320
Speaker 3: little bit more. And if it's him, great, he's got

445
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,640
Speaker 3: a ton of talent. He can do it. If it's

446
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,840
Speaker 3: not him, it becomes a little more interesting to see

447
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:49,200
Speaker 3: what they.

448
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:54,240
Speaker 1: Do absolutely, and I think that the key that you

449
00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,600
Speaker 1: hit on there is that, yes, you have a clear

450
00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,439
Speaker 1: area where he adds value and for the break, if

451
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,240
Speaker 1: their offense is at its normal level, as you mentioned

452
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,600
Speaker 1: at shortstop at left field, if a guy's at he

453
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,119
Speaker 1: mainly defensive value at those two areas, because again the

454
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,600
Speaker 1: defense was pretty bad last year, but the defense is

455
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,399
Speaker 1: pretty good this year. Arcia as well as Kellnick have

456
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,840
Speaker 1: done very well. But if the rest of the offense

457
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:19,480
Speaker 1: is not point its weight, if it's not doing what

458
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,320
Speaker 1: it needs to do, then those two areas shortstop in

459
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 1: left field, those become the prime areas where if the

460
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,239
Speaker 1: Braves need to go do some type of move to

461
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,800
Speaker 1: get an offensive upgrade. It makes sense that those will

462
00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 1: be the top two areas to look at. I'm not

463
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,399
Speaker 1: saying to expect that or anything like that, but if

464
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 1: we go further into the season where Arcia and Kellnick

465
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,440
Speaker 1: are offering, you know, they're kind of where they are now.

466
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 1: A month or so from now, then maybe that conversation changes.

467
00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,360
Speaker 1: But as we are recording right now, I will say this,

468
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,879
Speaker 1: We're now going into the weekend. Of course, the Braves

469
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,000
Speaker 1: will be going to Pittsburgh to face the Pittsburgh Pirates,

470
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,520
Speaker 1: But the biggest storyline of the weekend will be Sean Murphy.

471
00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:01,800
Speaker 1: Watch when might he be activated to potently join the Braves,

472
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,679
Speaker 1: And the thought was was that he would do it

473
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,640
Speaker 1: on the next homestand but Steven, as we're doing this recorning,

474
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,880
Speaker 1: Sean Murphy went deep again his second home run on

475
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,359
Speaker 1: this rehab assignment, second home run of the week. Of course,

476
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,440
Speaker 1: he hit a four hundred and fifty foot bomb on Tuesday,

477
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,520
Speaker 1: you know, when his first at bat. But hey, his

478
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,680
Speaker 1: next start, he's hit another home run, so he clearly

479
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,679
Speaker 1: is ready. Getting him back into the lineup in a

480
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,560
Speaker 1: series where it's definitely an opportunity for you to be

481
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,320
Speaker 1: able to sweep or get the series win. You know,

482
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,879
Speaker 1: we talked about it on Tuesday. It's the biggest storyline

483
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,639
Speaker 1: out there. If we can get Sean Murphy back and

484
00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,040
Speaker 1: if he's ready to produce, that is going to be

485
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:39,760
Speaker 1: such a huge boost to the lineup.

486
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:41,879
Speaker 2: But that certainly is the biggest storyline to watch over

487
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:42,359
Speaker 2: the weekend.

488
00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, call him up, get him, get him up here.

489
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,119
Speaker 3: The Braves need it. The Braves need some offense. No,

490
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 3: I'll be in to see what they do. You know,

491
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 3: when you have an oblique injury, obviously, how you swing

492
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 3: the bat is the biggest thing you're looking for. He's obviously,

493
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,840
Speaker 3: he's hit two home runs in two games. The bat

494
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,479
Speaker 3: looks pretty good as long as he's healthy. I mean,

495
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,280
Speaker 3: here's the thing about position players, especially like catchers who

496
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 3: have been catching bullpens and live VP, Like, once you

497
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 3: got your timing, you're good.

498
00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 2: You know.

499
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,920
Speaker 3: For pitchers, rehab assignments can take two three weeks because

500
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 3: of how much rest they need in between starts. But

501
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,840
Speaker 3: position players can knock out a whole rehab assignment in

502
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 3: a few days if they get enough at bats. So,

503
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 3: you know, I would be a little surprised to see

504
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,680
Speaker 3: him this weekend, just because he's only two games into

505
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 3: a rehab assignment. But you know, I think it's probably

506
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,399
Speaker 3: more likely that we see him at the beginning of

507
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,320
Speaker 3: next week in Atlanta. But hey, if they want to

508
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 3: call him up, I'm all about it. The Braves could

509
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,960
Speaker 3: use the boost offensively. I'm sure Travis Darnaut would love

510
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,679
Speaker 3: a little more help. You know, Shadowy Trump has been

511
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 3: really really good behind the plate, throwing out runners, call

512
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,639
Speaker 3: him games. He's been tremendous. He deserves credit for some

513
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,399
Speaker 3: of this, you know, elite pitching that the Braves have had,

514
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 3: but all offensively. Obviously, he's a third catcher. I mean,

515
00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,080
Speaker 3: he's a very very limited got two hits today, which

516
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:05,400
Speaker 3: is you know, stealing, like stealing, stealing candy from a baby.

517
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's it's it's found money at that

518
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:14,520
Speaker 3: point anytime he gives you anything offensively. So yeah, I

519
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,199
Speaker 3: I don't know what they're gonna do. I would I

520
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 3: would guess they're gonna they're gonna bring Murphy back on Monday.

521
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,159
Speaker 3: But we'll see. It wouldn't stun me to see him

522
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 3: in Pittsburgh, you know, the fact that he would have

523
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,119
Speaker 3: to get on a plane. I think, you know, if

524
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 3: the Braids were playing at home this weekend, I think

525
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 3: there's a better chance that they would call him up.

526
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,159
Speaker 3: But the you know, being on the road and then

527
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 3: coming back home Monday, I think Monday is what they're

528
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,200
Speaker 3: gonna end up doing. But yeah, two home runs and

529
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,200
Speaker 3: two games and a rehab assignment. You know, especially with

530
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 3: the offensive problems that the Braids we're having, that's enticing.

531
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,760
Speaker 3: And we know, I mean we saw last year, especially

532
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,199
Speaker 3: in the first half, Murphy's got unbelievable offensive potential. I mean,

533
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,119
Speaker 3: he destroys baseball. He hits the ball as hard as

534
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,360
Speaker 3: anybody in baseball, anybody on the team, as hard as

535
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 3: Matt hits the ball, as hard as a Kuna hits

536
00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 3: the ball. Sean Murphy hits the ball is just as

537
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,639
Speaker 3: hard as any of those guys. And so I'd love

538
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 3: to have him. But my guess is it's going to

539
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:02,120
Speaker 3: be Monday.

540
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,959
Speaker 1: Which will be perfectly fine, And because at the at

541
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 1: the very least, why not just let him keep building

542
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 1: off this success, get a couple more games behind the plate,

543
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 1: and be able to really you know, put a good

544
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,880
Speaker 1: you know performance in place. As far as the rehab

545
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: assignment goes, then you can get him right back into

546
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,879
Speaker 1: the lineup, you know, starting next week when they arrive

547
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 1: in Atlanta.

548
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:25,360
Speaker 2: But the other thing that stands.

549
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 1: Out is, you know, we could talk all day long

550
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:28,879
Speaker 1: about the potential of what could happen with Sean Murphy.

551
00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 1: One thing we do know is that there is an

552
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 1: opening when it comes to who is going to be

553
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,159
Speaker 1: on the mound to start the game on Friday for

554
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,680
Speaker 1: the Braves. Bailey Falter, left hander for Pittsburgh, will be

555
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: going against Atlanta, but on the mound for the Braise

556
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 1: is to be determined at this point in time.

557
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:43,120
Speaker 2: Now.

558
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,439
Speaker 1: Darius Findes is with the big league club and I'm

559
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 1: pretty sure he's not been used in his time, you know,

560
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: since he's been caught up on Monday. But the thing

561
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,439
Speaker 1: is is that the typically you would see, you know,

562
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,680
Speaker 1: the Braves at times, they can announce who they will

563
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 1: do and they'll wait till the next day. But there

564
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 1: was an expectation that we know by now who was

565
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 1: going to start on Friday. We don't know that is yet.

566
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,880
Speaker 1: So the Braves could go with Vines, but they also potentially,

567
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,680
Speaker 1: I believe Dylan Dodd, Alan Winings, you know from tripa A.

568
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 1: Those could be options as well. It remains to be

569
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,359
Speaker 1: seen what the Braves are going to do for Friday's start. Stephen,

570
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:18,320
Speaker 1: as of right now, what are your thoughts kind of

571
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 1: a who would make sense to be on the mound

572
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,119
Speaker 1: for the Braves in what direction you'll think they'll go

573
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,719
Speaker 1: to to feel Friday starter position.

574
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a bit weird that they didn't announce

575
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,560
Speaker 3: after the game. Everybody, you know they called up Vines. Now,

576
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:36,359
Speaker 3: obviously the reason they called up Vines was to have

577
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 3: some some length in the bullpen in case something got

578
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,439
Speaker 3: crazy during the Cup series, and it almost did, right,

579
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,399
Speaker 3: Charlie had a rough start to Monday's game and almost

580
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 3: had to be pulling the second inning. But you know,

581
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,679
Speaker 3: the expectation was Vines was up to pitch one of

582
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,119
Speaker 3: these two games, either today or Friday, And so when

583
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,439
Speaker 3: they didn't announce it after the game today, you know,

584
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,920
Speaker 3: people kind of raised an eyebrow. You know, they said

585
00:26:57,920 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 3: they're going to talk about it on the plane and

586
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,160
Speaker 3: lead you to believe that maybe the guy who's gonna

587
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:03,720
Speaker 3: start tomorrow is not on the team yet and they're

588
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,880
Speaker 3: gonna make another move tomorrow. I don't know. If they

589
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:11,679
Speaker 3: did that, my guess would be probably Dylan Dodd. You know,

590
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 3: I was looking earlier. Ray Kerr technically hasn't thrown a

591
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,880
Speaker 3: pitch for Guinette yet since he's been since he's been

592
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 3: since he got sitt down at the beginning of the week.

593
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,280
Speaker 3: You know, the Braves would have to make an IL

594
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,239
Speaker 3: move to get him back up because he hasn't been

595
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 3: down in fifteen days. But if somebody went on the IL,

596
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 3: ray Kerr could come up and potentially start tomorrow. So

597
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 3: my guess is gonna be Vines. But the fact that

598
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 3: they didn't announce it today is definitely weird after the game,

599
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,400
Speaker 3: so maybe you know if they're going to make a move,

600
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:42,360
Speaker 3: you know, it's like you said, it could be DoD,

601
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,800
Speaker 3: it could be Whinings. If they put somebody on the IL,

602
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,919
Speaker 3: it could be Elder or ray Kerr, because then that

603
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 3: would waive the fifteen day rules, so they could bring

604
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 3: either of those guys back if they wanted to. So

605
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:56,960
Speaker 3: we'll see what they do if they've got, you know,

606
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,760
Speaker 3: you never know if they've got a nagging injury somewhere

607
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 3: on the pitching staff and use an eyel trip to

608
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,400
Speaker 3: maybe get a guy up earlier than otherwise he would

609
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 3: have been able to. So we'll see what they do.

610
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 3: My guess is going to be Vines, Winings or DoD.

611
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,440
Speaker 3: They'll just make a typical roster move tomorrow and then

612
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:13,400
Speaker 3: go from there. And then once you get past tomorrow's game,

613
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 3: the rotation kind of levels back out again from the

614
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 3: doubleheader and all the fallout from you know, the rain

615
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,960
Speaker 3: out and stuff. So it'll get easier out this week.

616
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,480
Speaker 3: But that's my guess. Is it going to be Vines

617
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 3: or one of the Triple A guys tomorrow?

618
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 2: Absolutely?

619
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 1: And so you know, when you look at the Braves schedule,

620
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 1: when you look at their calendar, you know, typically throughout

621
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,480
Speaker 1: the season, you know, over the past several years, you know,

622
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 1: when you've seen the Braves play Pittsburgh, it's.

623
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 2: Been one of the expectations.

624
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,720
Speaker 1: Okay, this is a series where if Atlanta needs to

625
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 1: get right, this is an opportunity to do it. And

626
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 1: this is especially the case this year because Pittsburgh, I think,

627
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 1: to the surprise of some maybe many, you know, the

628
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 1: fact that they've had Paul Schemes as well as Jared Jones.

629
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: I mean, if you were to talk about a duo

630
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,840
Speaker 1: of young pitchers on the same team this year who

631
00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 1: have really turned some eyes with.

632
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 2: Success, it would be those two.

633
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: The Braves actually are going to have avoid both of

634
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: them in this series. On Friday, You've got Bailey Falter

635
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,480
Speaker 1: for Pittsburgh against whoever the Braves will name is their starter. Saturday,

636
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: Ronaldo Lopez versus Mitch Keller, and then Sunday you've got

637
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:16,719
Speaker 1: Chris Sell versus Martin Perez. So the Braves have an

638
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 1: opportunity to you know, really be able to again either

639
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 1: get a series win or be able to get a

640
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 1: series suite. But to me, what stands out, Stephen, is

641
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,959
Speaker 1: that Atlanta needs to have something when it comes to

642
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 1: their offense, step up. Something last year that or over

643
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 1: the past two years that has clearly been their identity.

644
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: That's either Ronald Acuna Junior or Matt Olsen having a

645
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 1: big series, the Braves' ability to hit left handers especially,

646
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 1: you know, maybe a big series from an Adam Devaal

647
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 1: or Travis Darnaut having another great weekend. Something about the

648
00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,640
Speaker 1: Braves offense that has clearly been a big source of

649
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 1: their success in the past. It seems like a good

650
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 1: weekend for that something to show up. I can't necessarily

651
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 1: put my finger on what exactly that would be, but

652
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: this seems like a good time for Atlanta to really

653
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: get going offensively. Because they're ninth in Major League Baseball

654
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 1: in terms of production against left handed pitchers. They face

655
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: some decent left handers this weekend, but some two Pitchers

656
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,000
Speaker 1: and Falter and and Perez that they should be able

657
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,440
Speaker 1: to have success against. I think that this is a

658
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 1: good opportunity for this Atlanta offense to really get going.

659
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,160
Speaker 1: But again, it's got to start for the top.

660
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 2: Of the order.

661
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you definitely catch a break, you know,

662
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 3: playing Pittsburgh and not having to play you know, have

663
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 3: to go against Schians or Jared Jones. Those two guys

664
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 3: are nasty and then both throw you know, one hundred

665
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 3: miles an hour. So playing a three game series and

666
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 3: missing both of those guys is a nice break. But yeah,

667
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 3: I mean, hopefully this is kind of the series where

668
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 3: it gets going. You know, Bailey Falter Braces fans will

669
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 3: remember from Philadelphia, he played in Philly for a couple

670
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 3: of years and is with Pittsburgh now. Kind of saw

671
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 3: a soft tosson lefty. The Braves have typically destroyed those guys.

672
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 3: You know, last year they just mashed mashed lefties, you know,

673
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 3: the you know they had you know with Riley Murphy,

674
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 3: Acunya Ozuna or see a left handed Ozzie. You know,

675
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 3: they can really stack up against lefties. We'll see, you

676
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 3: know what Austin Riley, Sean Murphy's statuses are for for

677
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 3: this weekend. You know, Riley's been out forever, Murphy's been

678
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,680
Speaker 3: out forever, so we'll see. I'm not necessarily expecting either

679
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 3: guy back. But even without those guys, you know, they

680
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,560
Speaker 3: still got a Cunya, they still got Duval, they still

681
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 3: got Ozuna, they still got right handed Ozzie. You know,

682
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 3: they can do damage against left handers if they get going.

683
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 3: So and these are two left handers who aren't you know,

684
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,200
Speaker 3: no disrespect, but these aren't two of the you know,

685
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 3: greatest pitchers you'll ever see. So it is an opportunity,

686
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 3: you know, you get a break not seeing the best

687
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,080
Speaker 3: guys from Pittsburgh. It's an opportunity to really get the

688
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,520
Speaker 3: offense going. And the Braves have played well in Pittsburgh

689
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 3: the last few years. It seems like they play the

690
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 3: Pirates pretty well. So it'd be great to see. It'd

691
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 3: be great to see acun You get going. And you know,

692
00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 3: the Braves need him to be you know, they don't

693
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 3: need twenty twenty three Ronalds, but they need all they

694
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 3: need more than they've gotten so far. They need, you know,

695
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,520
Speaker 3: they need him to be a little more consistent. He's

696
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 3: just you know, he it seems like he takes one

697
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:10,800
Speaker 3: step forward and two steps back. You know, you had

698
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,600
Speaker 3: that three hit game on Monday and against San Diego

699
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 3: and then kind of had a rough series against Chicago,

700
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,080
Speaker 3: didn't do much. So we'll see, we'll see if he

701
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,239
Speaker 3: can get going. It's a good opportunity to do so.

702
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,800
Speaker 3: It would be tremendous to get the offense going to

703
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,400
Speaker 3: you know, I've said it before. The pitching is not

704
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 3: gonna throw seven shutout innings every game. You know, what

705
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 3: they did the last two games was fantastic, you know,

706
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,440
Speaker 3: giving up two runs total in two games. But that's

707
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:36,960
Speaker 3: not that's not sustainable. You got to be able to

708
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 3: win games five to four, you know, you gotta be

709
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 3: able one to a seven, a seven to five game.

710
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:43,920
Speaker 3: And you know, that's kind of what this team was

711
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 3: built on. It was built on, you know, a tremendous

712
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,200
Speaker 3: offense to cover up anytime the pitching. You know, the

713
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,040
Speaker 3: pitching isn't as best. So that's what we're everybody's still

714
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 3: waiting on. Obviously, the record are still good, the team's

715
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 3: still in good shape in terms of the standings. You know,

716
00:32:57,560 --> 00:32:59,600
Speaker 3: Philadelphia is as hot as any team I've ever seen.

717
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,520
Speaker 3: That's a whole separate discussion that we can have later.

718
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,480
Speaker 3: But you know, there's still so much baseball left. I mean,

719
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 3: the Braves were down ten games, you know, a couple

720
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:09,960
Speaker 3: of years ago against the Mets. Everybody remembers at this

721
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,880
Speaker 3: point and chase them down. So there's plenty of baseball

722
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,040
Speaker 3: left that that's not a concern at all. Just got

723
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 3: to get the offense going. Just get the top guys going,

724
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 3: get Acuona going, and everybody will feel a lot better

725
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 3: about this team. And you know, it is a good team,

726
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 3: but it's having to rely too much on elite pitching

727
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 3: right now. For my comfort level, I want to see

728
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,520
Speaker 3: them be able to win win games when the pitching isn't,

729
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 3: you know, elite, because you can't ask for that all

730
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 3: the time. Your pitching is not gonna be elite all

731
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 3: the time. We need a little bit more balance and

732
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 3: there needs to be a little bit more balance in

733
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,640
Speaker 3: the team where the offense is pulling some weight. So

734
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 3: hopefully that starts in Pittsburgh.

735
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 1: It's kind of crazy, you know how, you know, as

736
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 1: much as things change, they say the same Steven, you know,

737
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: Brad Rowland, fellow podcast host, with Hammer territory. He pointed

738
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,080
Speaker 1: out that, you know, forty seven games into last year,

739
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 1: the Brave were twenty nine and eighteen. Forty seven games

740
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: into this year, the Braves were twenty nine and eighteen.

741
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:07,960
Speaker 1: But if you go to this time last year, the

742
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 1: Braves that had just gotten you know, word or you know,

743
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,560
Speaker 1: we were fresh off knowing that both Kyle Wright as

744
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,800
Speaker 1: well as Max Freed coming off there incredible twenty twenty

745
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: two seasons. Both those pitchers were going to be out

746
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,759
Speaker 1: for a long period of time due to injury. So

747
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,800
Speaker 1: you know, there was you know, no you know, efforts

748
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:27,759
Speaker 1: by the Braves to get their pitching staff going. But

749
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:31,080
Speaker 1: at this time last year, the Braves offense was humming

750
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,719
Speaker 1: along at a you know, historic pace. May was a

751
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 1: bit of a struggle, but it was still a good offense. Well,

752
00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:38,680
Speaker 1: you come a year later, it's a bit of a

753
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 1: one to eighty. It's the Braves offense that is awaiting

754
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,800
Speaker 1: some key members to get back Sean Murphy and Austin Riley.

755
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,240
Speaker 1: And yes, even though the pitching staff is Aspenser Strider,

756
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,839
Speaker 1: though the pitching is what stands out is the clear

757
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:50,720
Speaker 1: strength of this team.

758
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:52,120
Speaker 2: But I say all.

759
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: That to say this, I would much rather bet on

760
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,680
Speaker 1: the offense getting back to the level that we expect

761
00:34:57,719 --> 00:34:59,800
Speaker 1: from it to be at than I would the pitching

762
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,440
Speaker 1: be there. I'm like you, I'm not saying this pitching

763
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,399
Speaker 1: staff is going to continue as good as it has

764
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 1: been to start the year throughout the whole year. But

765
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,200
Speaker 1: if our pitching can at least stay near the top

766
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 1: of the league and our offense, you naturally think will

767
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 1: get better. Like I say, even though we have the

768
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 1: same record, it's a bit of a different story this

769
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,480
Speaker 1: year compared to last year. But again, I would be

770
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 1: willing to bet on our offense being able to get

771
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,319
Speaker 1: back to at least a top of the league level.

772
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:25,640
Speaker 1: And if you can get Havy get back going, then

773
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:27,440
Speaker 1: and we could take off like we could in June.

774
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:29,520
Speaker 1: I think it's a great thing. So to anyone who's

775
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,280
Speaker 1: still really concerned about this team. Again, we're record wise

776
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,040
Speaker 1: right now, we are right where we were last year.

777
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,200
Speaker 1: The pitching has been incredible, and you have to think,

778
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,960
Speaker 1: especially with getting Riley and Murphy back, this offense is

779
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:42,080
Speaker 1: going to get going once again.

780
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the calendar's turn into June, and you know,

781
00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:49,759
Speaker 3: we know, I don't know why but this, you know,

782
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,239
Speaker 3: once we get to summer of this team goes bananas,

783
00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:57,320
Speaker 3: especially offensively, So you know, maybe that's the magic collicksor

784
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 3: again and the calendar flipping and getting some guys back

785
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,880
Speaker 3: will be the difference. And you're right, listen, this team,

786
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,080
Speaker 3: you know, has a bunch of individuals on it who

787
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,719
Speaker 3: are underperforming, you know, versus what they normally do offensively.

788
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,640
Speaker 3: And if you're going to bet on anything, the you know,

789
00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 3: the best bet is that at some point they're going

790
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:16,799
Speaker 3: to break out. Like Acuna is not going to have

791
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,560
Speaker 3: this kind of year all year. Olsen's not gonna have

792
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 3: this kind of year all year. You know, when Riley

793
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,680
Speaker 3: gets back, he's gonna get going at some point. Ozzie,

794
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:27,920
Speaker 3: you know, same thing. Like the smart bet is that

795
00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 3: these guys are going to break out of this and

796
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,279
Speaker 3: and their numbers at the end of the year are

797
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,799
Speaker 3: going to look similar to what they normally do. The

798
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:35,600
Speaker 3: race just need to see it, They just need you know,

799
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,799
Speaker 3: you're not guaranteed anything in baseball, So that's just what

800
00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:41,759
Speaker 3: they're waitness, what everybody's waiting on, just waiting on the

801
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,840
Speaker 3: offense to look normal. I don't think the pitching is

802
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 3: bad I know. I say the pitching is gonna regress,

803
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,400
Speaker 3: I don't mean the pitching is going to regress to

804
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,480
Speaker 3: a bad level. I mean lately they're they're they're pitching

805
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 3: at like a A one E r A level lately,

806
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,440
Speaker 3: and that's not going to continue. That's what I mean

807
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,959
Speaker 3: by regress. You know, regress for them is still gonna

808
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:06,319
Speaker 3: be a very very good pitching staff, but they're gonna

809
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 3: have games where they give up three or four runs.

810
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,919
Speaker 3: Can the Brigs win those games is really the question,

811
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,720
Speaker 3: And that's gonna come down to the offense. And lately,

812
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 3: if the pitching staff gives up three or four runs,

813
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:17,520
Speaker 3: the Brads can't win the game. And that's what we

814
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:19,080
Speaker 3: got to fix. That's what we got to change. And

815
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:22,240
Speaker 3: that's what I'm waiting for, a little bit more balanced

816
00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:24,399
Speaker 3: to the team, where you're not so reliant on one

817
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:26,600
Speaker 3: part of it that if that if that part doesn't

818
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,680
Speaker 3: show up, you just can't win. You know, you don't

819
00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,360
Speaker 3: want to be there. So that's what I'm waiting for.

820
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,479
Speaker 3: Hopefully it starts in Pittsburgh and you know, we'll see

821
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,759
Speaker 3: and hopefully is pretty soon the Brads can get healthy

822
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,879
Speaker 3: and get and get get Riley and murphback. That will

823
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 3: help tremendously, and.

824
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,759
Speaker 1: It's always more fun, I'll be honest with you, it's

825
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,759
Speaker 1: always more enjoyable to to talk out you know, you know,

826
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,960
Speaker 1: discuss where you know your team struggling after a few

827
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,919
Speaker 1: wins instead of after losing five out of six games.

828
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 1: So that's why there's a much more positive vibe to

829
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 1: this edition of the Hammer Territory Podcast with me and

830
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 1: Stephen versus two Tuesday. But can thank you enough again

831
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,320
Speaker 1: for all the support and definitely for y'all tuned in.

832
00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 1: We're coming up on about a month of having the

833
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:11,760
Speaker 1: Hammer Tory Podcast back and going. Hopefully better times are ahead.

834
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: And also certainly want to say with Memorial Day weekend

835
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,440
Speaker 1: being here, want to wish everyone a very safe and

836
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:20,040
Speaker 1: enjoyable I'm a long weekend for your friends and your

837
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 1: family from us here in Hammer Territory. But Steven, as

838
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,719
Speaker 1: we wrap up this edition of the show, you know,

839
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:29,480
Speaker 1: Brad Rowland, another special guest host, will be back on Sunday.

840
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:31,200
Speaker 1: Anything you'd like to add as we head to the

841
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,919
Speaker 1: long weekend and the Braves hopefully getting the offense rolling

842
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:35,200
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh.

843
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:39,439
Speaker 3: Nope, everybody have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. Yeah,

844
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 3: go Braves. Well, you know we'll be here to cover

845
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:43,840
Speaker 3: it all. Like you said, Brad, we'll be back on Sunday,

846
00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,080
Speaker 3: I think with another guest host Scott gets back pretty

847
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,359
Speaker 3: soon and then we're off into the summer and we'll

848
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:51,879
Speaker 3: be here for the whole thing. So we appreciate it as.

849
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:54,920
Speaker 1: Always, absolutely For Steven Talvert who you can find it

850
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:59,120
Speaker 1: be underscore Outliers on Twitter, myself at Stat's sac at

851
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 1: Hammer Territory, across all forms of social media, part of

852
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,839
Speaker 1: the Foul Territory family of podcasts. Make sure you check

853
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,080
Speaker 1: out all the great content across that family of podcasts

854
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:11,920
Speaker 1: at Foul Territory, but obviously Hammer Territory as well. For

855
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,920
Speaker 1: all Braves fans, make sure you hit that subscribe button

856
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your podcast. That's where we'll be

857
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Speaker 1: for free. Just hit the subscribe button and you'll get

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Speaker 1: the latest content when it's available again. My name is

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Speaker 1: Sean Coleman here with Steven Tobert Brad Rowland. Will be

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Speaker 1: back with the special guests on Sunday, but until then,

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Speaker 1: have a great weekend, Go Brave. We'll talk to you

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Speaker 1: again here on the Hammer Territory podcast.

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Speaker 6: The ms to the lads to lead.

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Speaker 1: Let's from the Ta