WEBVTT - Matt Olson's Big Blast Helps Braves Avoid Sweep 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.040 Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Hammer Territory Podcast, 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.760 episode four three three. But it was Brad Roland coming 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:29.480 to you on a Sunday evening, and I am joined 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:31.880 by someone who is not Scott Coleman. In fact, I've 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:36.200 smashed the upgrade button on this Sunday evening. Stephen Tolbert 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:38.919 is here as Scott wanders the Midwest. Steven, what's up man? 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:39.400 How are you? 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.559 What's up, buddy? Yeah, Scott's in Chicago. I think I 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:47.360 was in Chicago not too long ago. Scott had a 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.640 fun weekend in Chicago. We had a kind of average 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:53.360 weekend here watching Braze baseball. We're gonna talk about it all, 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.320 of course, but it was nice to get a win today. 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:00.000 Had they lost today, it's kind of, you know, very 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.080 similar to how it's been, I think last weekend with 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.240 the Yankees, Like, you know, winning on Sunday kind of 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.560 salvage the series. So you know, it's it's been an 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.240 up and down, but you know, when you have the 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:13.920 lead the Braves have, they don't. We don't have to 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:15.880 live and die on every game like some teams are 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:16.720 having to do right now. 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:19.679 Yeah, I heard you say that on a recent episode. 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:21.479 And I not on my head along and I knew 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:22.800 people would be mad at you for saying it, but 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:26.480 it's also true. So with that said, Stephen, let us 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.320 waste no time. Let us mix it up, engineered by 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:30.720 our friends at fastenal. 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:36.839 Steve. 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:38.240 As you just laid out, it was kind of a 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.039 weird weekend for the Braves. We'll talk about the losses 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.919 on Friday and Saturday in a moment, but the Braves 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.480 did avoid the sweep behind mostly a big swing from 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.560 Matt Olsen on Sunday afternoon on a three to zero 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.320 pitch to basically win the game. It didn't clitch the 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.960 game officially, but that was the biggest swing. They did 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:00.400 go only four and five in the last three series 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:04.400 following that eight game winning streak ear this month. No 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.720 reason to panic. They're not losing to terrible baseball teams, 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.040 aside from the one Mets loss. Haha insert laughter here. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:13.960 But no, you know, I do think it's if we 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.440 say it often on Sundays, it's kind of funny for 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.000 our podcast schedule, but when on a Sunday it can help. 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.280 I would say, ease a lot of worries going into 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.520 the new week. But uh, you know, as always or 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:26.880 maybe as usual, and I've seen your tweets about this too. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.120 It's like, Hey, Chris Sale, Matt Olsen are good, and 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.280 mett Olsen happens to be the hero on this Sunday 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:33.360 with just a by the way, a three to zero pitch, 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.920 just an absolute mammoth blast. As I will say, his 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:38.480 all he can do. That's not true, but he is 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:39.799 on the short list of guys that I would like 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.760 to see hitting a fastball down the middle on a 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:42.239 three account. 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.680 Yeah. I mean, I've said this a couple of times. 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.160 People get mad when I say it for some reason, 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.520 but like twenty twenty six really has been There's been 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.480 other guys, but it has been like the Chris Sale 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.640 Matt Olsen show in a lot of way. They've been 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.440 the most consistent players on the team. I you know, 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.360 you could probably throw Dylan Lee in there as well, 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.720 but the only two players on the team that have 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:07.040 have surpassed the four win mark for war Mark and 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:08.960 you know, obviously Matt had a big swing today. You know, 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.000 it's it's kind of a weird time of year for 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:15.360 baseball because we're very much in the dog days of August. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.480 You know, football is starting back up. Everybody's doing their 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.200 fantasy football drafts. Brad and I are both Falcons fans, 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.320 which is is typically more of a threat than anything 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.040 to be excited about. But you know, this is the 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:29.760 time of the year where baseball kind of goes on 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:32.880 autopilot a little bit, and especially when you have a 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.360 team that's very comfortably in the playoffs. I checked this afternoon. 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.320 The Braves playoff odds are at like ninety nine point 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.160 eight percent or something like that. Division odds are at 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.720 like ninety three percent, So you know, I know I 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:48.800 saw some people freaking out this weekend because the Braids 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.040 didn't play great baseball. We're gonna talk about the losses too, 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.080 But I find myself in a little bit more of 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:59.280 a you know, keep keep zoomed out, just big picture takes, 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:01.840 you know. That was my first take on today's game, 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.600 was like, man, Matt Elson and Chris Sale have just 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.280 been unbelievable this year, and Maddilson won the game today. 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.400 The offense hasn't looked great. That's fair. I'm fine with 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.160 people saying that. I mean, if you look at their 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.440 overall numbers, they're kind of down, like middle of the 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.560 tier in terms of like the league. I think they're 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:20.120 like fifteenth in WRC plus for the year. So, like, 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.520 I understand people being a little concerned about that because 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:24.960 it's been a weird year and if you kind of 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.120 look at the team right now, especially with how Glacier 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:28.880 says backed up, it's tough to find a part of 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.160 the team that you would label elite right now, and 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.080 that worries people, like they don't really know what to 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.880 stand on, what to kind of hold on to as like, 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:38.520 this is the thing we do great, this is the 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.039 thing we do better than everybody else. And so I 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.400 get like there's a little bit of consternation, especially when 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.680 they don't play well. But I find myself in a 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.160 little bit more of autopilot mode just as we get 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:49.560 kind of through the dog days. 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:50.880 I think that's right. 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.320 And you know, I hadn't thought about that until we 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.680 were talking about earlier, and I don't know the bullpen 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.239 has had been the unit that you could say that about, 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.640 right And I think the best version of the bullpen, 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.000 which includes Robert Suarez hopefully and the Iglesias that's back 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.760 to being Iglesias, probably has the clearest path to being elite, 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.080 given the fact that Dylan Lee and did Frontids are 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.120 still there. But you're right, there's not really a world 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.640 in which rotation is elite at this point. It could 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:19.920 be good. Chris Sale is good enough on his own 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.880 to make it potentially good. In the lineup when it's 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.000 right can be good as well, and we've seen that. 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.320 But it's not like one particular area where they are dominant. 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.320 And that's kind of hard to parse at times, even today, 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.159 Like they didn't blow the doors off the Diamondbacks in 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.559 this win on Sunday. It was basically the one swing 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.480 from Olsen, a four hundred and thirty seven foot home 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.560 run in a tie game in seventh inning, and that 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.640 was enough. Bryce Elder did a good job today. His 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.600 last start did not go well. It was reactions were 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:56.159 everywhere about that particular outing. It was interesting today he 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.800 naviget six innings, only allowing one run with five strikeouts 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:04.240 on walk. Interestingly, his velocity was down like across the board, 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.080 like a decent amount, like probably not like troubling him out, 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:08.960 but like when I was like, oh, that's he's already 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:10.680 not a he's not a hard thrower. So it isn't 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:14.920 quite as evident just watching it when the velocity is down, 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:17.080 but that was the numbers painted that pretty clear picture there. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.840 And apparently he has a knee issue, Like why simingly 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.960 just drop that kind of out of nowhere in postgame today, 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.160 and apparently it's been on an issue for a while. 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.080 We don't know any more about that now as we're 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.880 talking on Sunday evening, maybe that we'll get more information 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.640 on that. But I think even then, like Bryce this 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:37.280 is he's good for some of these starts, Like he 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.839 can do this six innings, one run. I wouldn't project 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.320 that from Bryce Eller, but he can do it. We've 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:45.119 seen that. And then the bullpen was not particularly awesome today. 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.200 Glacis wasn't dominant in the ninth inning. Diddy or Flint says, 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:49.839 who is really really good? I think we agree on 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:52.440 that allows a home run. That's gonna happen sometimes. But 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:54.360 you know, there was a nice Ozzie defensive play to 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:55.960 save a run. But it was like kind of this 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:57.760 and that and this and that and this win on 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.600 Sunday and they got it over the line. But that's 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.320 kind of how sometimes baseball goes. I mean, it's it's 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.400 one of those weird things. The dog days is the 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.320 right phrasing even right now this is something we probably 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.720 shouldn't say on the podcast, but even like I think 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.120 fan interest is a little bit lower the deadline, you 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.920 wain the reason out why, Like there's football starting up. 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.720 We were from a south, not every risk from the South, 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:23.600 but it's a football territory, and there's this le between 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.760 the deadline and the playoffs, especially when the Braves are 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:28.600 eight games up or whatever they are at the starry moment, 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:30.680 like seven and a half as we're talking, there is 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:32.840 kind of a lull and the team maybe is they're 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.200 not they're not thinking that on the field every day. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.960 But it's like, you know, maybe we're only fighting about 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:39.760 the things that don't don't matter that much right now. 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:41.680 This is one of those fun times of the year. 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:45.560 Yeah, and like from our perspective, like just from the 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:47.800 four of us people that do this, like we've been 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:52.320 kind of going full boar every day since January February, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.200 especially March when you know, and so like you get 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.440 to this time of year and the trade deadlines passed, 0:07:57.760 --> 0:07:59.520 you know, there's not going to be any like crazy 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.640 news and it's injury stuff, which you can't predict, you know, 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:05.760 and especially when you have a team that's you know, 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.680 if you're if you're a fan of the Phillies or 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.440 the Padres, or the or the Diamondbacks or the Marlins, 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.760 and like, you know, you got two teams for our 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.280 four teams for two spots in the wild card. Yeah, 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.400 every day is much different. But for right now, for 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:20.920 brace fan, it is kind of like a it is 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.080 kind of a weird place to be. It's not a 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.040 bad place to be, it's you know, it's a it's 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:27.800 a blessing to be this far up in the standings, 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.360 to have the playoff odds that they have. You know, 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.599 there's nothing crazy happening with the roster. We're going to 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.560 talk a little bit about it, but like you know, 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.320 there's a j Smith schaalv stuff that's interesting that's coming up. 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:39.880 But yeah, it just kind of feels like it. And 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.080 also with how they're playing, Like I know, they had 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.840 the eight game winning streak, but I'll you know, beating 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.200 the Gnats and the Mets or whatever, you know, I'm 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.120 not going to freak out about that. I do feel 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:52.680 like the team is just kind of just kind of 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.520 hovering right now, which is fine. It's you know, I 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.640 don't really expect them to go just balls to the 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.960 wall in the middle of August when when they've are 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.520 we played so many games and still it's one hundred 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:04.520 degrees outside as well. I mean the game they play, 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:08.600 they looked miserable out there. They had like a wide 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:11.320 shot of the stadium. The stadium was like half empty 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:13.400 today because if you're living the South, it is literally 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.280 ninety nine degrees outside right now, and like it's just 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:18.720 you know, that's why they call it the dog days. 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.960 It really is just kind of a you know, it's 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.200 it's kind of autopilot mode for a little bit until 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.800 we get probably another few weeks into September, rosters expand 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.920 playoff races really start to crystallize. You know, it'll pick 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.000 back up, but this is this is a very normal 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:34.560 part of the baseball schedule. 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:36.480 Yeah, and we feel pretty good. We'll talk about the 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.520 losses and those are of course less fun to talk 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.760 about in a moment, but yeah, still still feel totally fine. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.480 And I want to speak for you, but the Braves 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:47.000 are depending on what which playoff odds I think you 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.880 like to reference where it's fangrass or whatever, ninety five 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:53.000 plus percent, division odds, ninety nine percent, playoff odds, et cetera, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:53.480 et cetera. 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:56.040 Not one hundred percent, Not think's ever one hundred percent, 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:56.800 but that's pretty good. 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.880 And also when that's out here from Chad Bishop of Ajac, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.880 the Braves are sixty three and two when leading after 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:05.840 eight innings this season. That's a good way to win 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:07.600 a lot of baseball games, if you are winning and 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:09.960 you don't blow games at the end of it, even 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:11.840 if it's a little bit a little bit uncertain sometimes 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.320 with rice El sixty three and two after eight innings, 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:17.240 that's how you maintain a division lead. 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:19.120 And I do want to I do want to make 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:21.720 sure we highlight what you said earlier is that if 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.520 there is a union on the team that can be elite, 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:28.040 like the clearest path to be elite, it is the bullpen. Obviously, 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.280 a lot of it's iglesias. You know, when your closer 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.040 is not having a like good stretch, it kind of 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.280 muddies everything, you know. And Fontes has given up a 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.079 couple of home runs. I'm always worried about guys that young. 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:41.959 As we get to this point in the season, is 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.079 there gonna be a wall. It's a very common thing 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:48.440 with rookies, so you know, we'll see. But one hundred percent, 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:50.560 like the thing that the team does the best, that 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.600 has the clearest path to being elite is definitely the bullpen. 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.840 And you know, especially if AJ's smith Schaub is either 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:58.360 going to be in the bullpen or maybe gets in 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.319 the rotation, one of the one of the starters goes 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:04.080 to the bullpen like a Grand Holmes like, the bullpen 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.640 could be elite. And you know, we haven't seen it lately, 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:09.640 but that is clearly the part of the team that 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.240 you would you would circle as the thing that Braves 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.120 probably do as well, if not better than most other teams. 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:20.000 Yeah, even without even with this this Suarez absence, even 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.680 with hiccups from Kinley and Glacis being one, they're still 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:25.920 top five in baseball and bullpen era and I think 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:27.679 their top five or six and fag grafts of war 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.640 and bullpen like, this is a very very good bullpen 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:31.960 like just what it is. It's not as maximum self 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.160 right now and hopefully it will be between now and October, 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.600 all right, Stephen, Before we move on to the rest 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.480 of the weekend, plus the latest news in a preview 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.280 of the week to come. Let us shut out our 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:47.040 friends at fasten All. Fastenal Industrial supplies innovative solutions. If 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:52.600 you want to learn more, visit Fastenal dot com. 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.959 For the families out there looking for a new path 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.280 to help your child succeed, take a look at K 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:02.600 twelve Powered Schools K twelve tuition free, accredited online public 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.880 education for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. It's all 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.360 in a setting that works for your family, and K 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:10.880 twelve has been around. 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Slash 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.040 foul that's the letter k the number twelve dot com 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:51.120 slash foul K twelve dot com slash foul Stephen. 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.800 The rest of the weekend wasn't that much fun. I 0:12:55.840 --> 0:13:01.280 gotta say Friday's game was not one that anyone enjoyed. 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.400 I don't think it was a two nothing loss to 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:09.679 the Diamondbacks, an offensive disaster, basically two hits, no walks, 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.000 no one even reached second base along the way, which 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:14.800 I thought was a good nugget that I think you 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.480 shared on Twitter that I didn't really fully realize a 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.040 lot til you said it, And okay, I'll ask I'll 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.280 ask you this. How much of it in your mind 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.520 was that Brandon Fought is on an absolute mega heater 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:29.800 right now because he is for like a month and 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:31.000 a half maybe two months. 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:31.960 How much of it was that? 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:34.640 How much of that was the Braves just flopping for 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:35.760 two and a half hours. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.360 Yeah, it's some combination of the two. Right, Like, he 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.880 has been very he has been very good. He's been 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:42.280 very good. 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:44.120 I have a stat for you, by the way, just 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.800 said it up before before I forget Brandon fought last 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.679 nine starts and you and I are both driving the 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.360 cor of Elray is not all that matters, but in 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.199 fact it matter, probably less people realize it does. Anyway, 0:13:56.280 --> 0:14:01.240 last nine starts for Brandon fought one point five. That's 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.120 like two months worth it starts for him. And that's 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:05.960 a the area of basically Bob Gibson's era in sixty eight. 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:09.520 So the brace a part of that. But yeah, I mean, 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.280 he's not that good, but he has been lately. 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:16.480 Yeah, And it's on its own, it's it's not something 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:18.440 you think about, but there has been a number of 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:22.560 games lately where the offenses just looked very mediocre. And 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:24.760 listen to not get a runner to second base for 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.120 an entire game at home against a good team, and 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.680 it gainst a hot pitcher, but still, like you, we 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:32.200 got to get a guy a second base. I mean, 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:35.080 come on. And the Diamondbacks went oh for fourteen with 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.400 runners in scoring position in that game and still won, 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:40.640 which is insane on its own. It was such a 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:41.120 weird game. 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:42.320 It doesn't happen very often. 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.120 I mean, you know, when you don't allow any runs, 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:45.240 you're generally gonna win. 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.240 Yeah, but I just to have that many opportunities in 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:50.880 a game Chris Sales starts is just such a weird game. 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.160 The diamond Dicks have been red hot, like the diamond 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.880 back's been given that the Dodgers fits Corbyn. Carroll is 0:14:56.160 --> 0:15:00.440 an absolute monster guy. Terrifies me. He's got a little 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:02.000 bit Like you could tell Marte has been hurt. I 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.080 think he only played in one of three games of 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:05.880 this series. But like Gabby Mourno is having a really 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.920 good series or a really good year. Nolan Ernado has 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.120 kind of had a resurgence in terms of his career. 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:12.960 Looked like he was kind of over in Saint Louis. 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:16.240 He's come to Arizona. It's been really very good this year. 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:18.880 So they're a good team. But still like it was 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.840 just a very frustrating game. I mean, you know, the offense, 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.120 it's been a lot of Matt Olsen and it's been 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:26.840 a little bit of a Kunya and it's been a 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.640 little bit of Riley and Baldwin's having a really weird year, 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.320 like ever since he's come back from that injury, like 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:37.160 he's just not quite the same. Ozzy and Mike have 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.200 have kind of slowed down a bit. It's just the 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.560 offense is not playing great right now. And one thing 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:43.520 that people always have in their back of their minds 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.320 is if you go back and look at twenty twenty two, 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.440 twenty twenty three, you know twenty twenty four of the 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.160 playoff losses that they've had a lot of conversation has 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.160 been about the rotation in the pitching lately. But you 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:57.320 go look at those series one common denominators, they don't hit. 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:00.720 They haven't hit in like since twenty one. Really, they 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.280 haven't hit in a playoff series. And so anytime the 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.160 offense goes through this, and obviously last year the offense 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:08.200 was bad and twenty four of the offense was bad, 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:10.920 so you know people have this in the back of 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:13.960 their mind. So I get it. I completely understand why 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.240 people start freaking out anytime we go through these stretches 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.160 when the offense doesn't look good. Their overall numbers are 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.320 down kind of more middle of the pack than than 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:25.080 the close to the top. So it is a little concerning. 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.320 I mean, I don't think you can just hand wave 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.080 it away. I do. The talent on the team is 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.080 still something I can stand behind. But if you look 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.840 at like production, there have been there have been more 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:39.200 games than not lately where the production has been less 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:40.800 than I would have expected from this group. 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:44.320 Yeah, I definitely agree. And you know, you can find 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:48.160 some stuff to highlight in the positive way, like I'm 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:49.760 not we're not doing it today. I want I want 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.120 to allow it. Riley's been a little better. 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.320 Yeah, which is good. Yes, I'm not doing the rabbit today. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.800 But you show some show a little bit of signs. Yep, 0:16:57.640 --> 0:16:57.800 you know. 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.400 I think also it's been great. I think Ronnie has 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.280 shown some signs. I don't worry about Ronald Accunya. When 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.320 he is healthy, he's going to be better than he's been. 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.080 He had a homer over the weekend and look good 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.040 doing it. You can find that. But then you also 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.239 look look down in the lineup sometimes and it's like, oh, 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:17.520 there's Don Smith and he's finish. Jim Jarvis's ops is 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.960 like five ninety. It's just like there's some stuff in there. 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:23.679 And I actually wanted to ask you this later, We'll 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:25.600 just do it now. So we're talking about it. They're 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:30.159 not taking any walks lately. And this has never been 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.520 a high walk team this season. In fact, even I 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.040 looked it up through the end of July. So the 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.160 first three four months of the season they had eight 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:40.600 percent walk right as a team, which is like fifth 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.399 worst in baseball or something like that. They're near the 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.840 bottom of the league in August. It's only fifteen sixteen days. 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.520 It's like six percent, which is worse than baseball by 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.480 a lot. And you don't have to walk, as Michael 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.080 Harris always shows us, but like it does help to 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.560 have guys on base, and if you take more walks, 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.400 you get more guys on base. And I think there's 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.240 that's not exactly a shocking development that they've been scoring 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.440 a little bit less when they're walking less. It's not 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.720 not always parallel, but like there's some impact there in 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:09.160 my mind. 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.919 Oh yeah, I mean, you know, Moneyball, Billy Bean, they 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.000 taught us like, oh, on base percentages drives everything, like 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.200 get on base. The walk rate is someone I've definitely noticed, 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.480 like with Akunya and even matth Like even the guys 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.280 that walk a lot typically are not walking, and then 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.479 you have like guys who don't walk a lot who 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.680 are not walking. Is not is shocking, But yeah, it's 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:33.360 been a it's been a downward trend, and I think 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:35.760 I think it's mostly variance. I don't think there's anything 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.800