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

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

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Speaker 1: you are listening, you are having an absolutely outstanding start

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Speaker 1: to your week. If you're a Braves fan, it's been

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Speaker 1: a fun two days. But I can tell you maybe

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Speaker 1: who's having the most fun tonight, you know, Stephen. They

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Speaker 1: used to talk about the fact that every year the

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Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins would get together and have some type of

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Speaker 1: you know, big party or have a case of beer,

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Speaker 1: have cigars together, or something like that. The nineteen seventy

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Speaker 1: two Dolphins, when the last undefeated team each single season

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Speaker 1: lost in that in that respective season. Well, you have

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Speaker 1: to think, you know, hey, every time the Braves come

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Speaker 1: close to a no hitter, Kim Merker may have himself

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Speaker 1: a cool winder or you know, a cigar or something

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Speaker 1: like that. That's probably not true to wherever Kimp Mercury is.

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Speaker 1: Hope you're well, sir, But we mentioned this because tonight

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Speaker 1: was an absolutely spectacular pitching performance from a J. Smith

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Speaker 1: Shober and we're here to break it all down. Stephen.

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Speaker 1: Before we do that, good talk with you, partner, Hope

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Speaker 1: always been well. You are a hard working man when

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Speaker 1: it comes to the Hammer Territory podcast.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what's up, buddy. We were not planning on doing

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Speaker 2: a show tonight, obviously, Brad and I just did a

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Speaker 2: show last night, and then Seaun and I did a

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Speaker 2: show on Friday night, and so we were gonna take

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Speaker 2: the night off. But listen. A. J. Smith Shalver had

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Speaker 2: other plans, and he was unbelievable tonight. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we're gonna break the news here if you didn't watch

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Speaker 2: the game, but you know, he didn't give up a

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Speaker 2: hit to the eighth inning. He threw a one hit,

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Speaker 2: eight inning shut out. The Reds are a good team.

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Speaker 2: Brad and I talked about this on Sunday. The Reds

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Speaker 2: are above five hundred team. They've got like a plus

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Speaker 2: thirty five run differential. They've been a good team all

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Speaker 2: year long. And AJ, you know, it was just really impressive.

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Speaker 2: I thought he found his command late in the game.

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Speaker 2: I didn't think he had his best command early in

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Speaker 2: the game, and then he just kind of got hot

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Speaker 2: and he got settled in and it was just it

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Speaker 2: was fun to watch. We're going to talk about it

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Speaker 2: more in depth, obviously, but yeah, big game, big win.

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Speaker 2: You know, start of the series against the Reds and

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Speaker 2: a J. Smith Schover with these big, big starts when

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Speaker 2: they need him obviously with the the uh injuries in

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Speaker 2: the rotation. So great, great game from the Braves tonight,

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Speaker 2: and I.

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Speaker 1: Think it's all about natural maturation.

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Speaker 3: You know, a J.

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Speaker 1: Smith Shover what still twenty two to twenty three years old.

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Speaker 1: Believe he's twenty two this season. But the thing that

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Speaker 1: stands out to me, Stephen is that you're seeing the

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Speaker 1: confidence happen every single start. You know, coming into a

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Speaker 1: couple years ago, when we first caught our glimpse of

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Speaker 1: a J. Smith Shov, it was, you know, pretty good fastball,

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Speaker 1: but not the best of command. You know, he had

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Speaker 1: good natural stuff, didn't know where a lot of it

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Speaker 1: was going to go. Last year started to hone it

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Speaker 1: in a little bit. But this season what has really

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Speaker 1: stood out is he's finally starting to find the compliments

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Speaker 1: to the fastball. But now he's not throwing his hard

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Speaker 1: as he once did. He still can dial it up

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Speaker 1: to ninety six to ninety seven if he needs to,

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Speaker 1: but he finds his comfort zone that ninety four to

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Speaker 1: ninety five range. But that splitter has become a very

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Speaker 1: very effective pitch, one of the best over a forty

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Speaker 1: percent with rate on the splitter coming into tonight, one

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Speaker 1: of the most effective. You know, swing of his pitch

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Speaker 1: is out there, and he throws it with confidence early

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Speaker 1: in the count, late in the count, what have you.

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Speaker 1: He throws a pretty heavy dose of them. But that's

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Speaker 1: what I think is standing out. His control still is

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Speaker 1: a work in progress, but you're seeing a pitcher this season,

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Speaker 1: especially over the past couple and starts Steven who really

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Speaker 1: is standing out as having not only confidence in his pitches,

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Speaker 1: but knowing him he can throw him at any place,

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Speaker 1: at any time in the count for a strike.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and people were old enough will remember this. With

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Speaker 2: John Smoltz, the splitter is is an incredibly effective pitch

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Speaker 2: when you're ahead in the count because the by definition,

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Speaker 2: the splitter, it's it's it sinks below the zone very hard,

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Speaker 2: very late, and it's a very tough pitch to lay

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Speaker 2: off when you're behind in the count. And with aj

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Speaker 2: when he's ahead in the count, that splitter is so devastating,

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Speaker 2: and we saw it a lot tonight. The problem he

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Speaker 2: has is when he gets behind in the count, obviously,

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Speaker 2: the splitter is not a pitch that it rarely ever

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Speaker 2: actually ends up in the strike zone. So when he's

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Speaker 2: behind in the count, you know, guys just don't have

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Speaker 2: to swing at it. And so it's so much more

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Speaker 2: effective when he's ahead in the count. And you know,

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Speaker 2: early in the game, I thought he was getting behind

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Speaker 2: in the count. He had a couple of walks, Cincinnati

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Speaker 2: had some hard hit balls. I was thinking, well, this

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Speaker 2: is probably gonna be a five and dive game for AJ.

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Speaker 2: But around the middle innings, he just got his command.

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Speaker 2: He was in the strike zone a lot more. He

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Speaker 2: started having much more efficient innings. That splitter is just

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Speaker 2: so much better. It's just so much more effective when

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Speaker 2: you're ahead in the count like he was. And I hope,

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Speaker 2: I hope tonight is a like an eye opening kind of,

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Speaker 2: you know, light bulb goes off kind of moment for

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Speaker 2: him where he's like, man, if I just start every

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Speaker 2: you know, every count, if I just you know, the

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Speaker 2: first three pitchers I throw, if two of them are

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Speaker 2: in the strike zone, that splitter, even major league kidders

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Speaker 2: don't know what to do with that splitter. That splitters real,

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Speaker 2: and it can it can take my career to another level.

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Speaker 2: If I'm in the zone and you're right, he does

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Speaker 2: back down off the fast boy. He doesn't throw ninety

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Speaker 2: nine ninety eight like he used to. I think some

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Speaker 2: of that is command related, quite honestly. I think he

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Speaker 2: commands it better at ninety four ninety five. And it's

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Speaker 2: nice to know you have it in there when you

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Speaker 2: need it. But if it's gonna be in this zone

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Speaker 2: more at ninety four ninety five, then I'm okay with

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Speaker 2: him cutting some off, you know, to be in better counts.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, really impressive night from him. Obviously, I really

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Speaker 2: thought we might have something special. It really started feeling

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Speaker 2: like it. He really got his pitch count under control

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Speaker 2: to the point where he thought, man, he could do this,

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Speaker 2: like if he he could do this. And then obviously

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Speaker 2: they got a single on the eighth then that that

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Speaker 2: ended it. But I was impressed he got he gave

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Speaker 2: up that single on the first hitter in the eighth

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Speaker 2: inning and then immediately got three outs. You know a

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Speaker 2: lot of times after you give up that first hit,

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Speaker 2: the air comes out and you give up a three

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Speaker 2: run homer and now it's a game again. And he

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Speaker 2: didn't do that, and I was very That was honestly,

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Speaker 2: and maybe more impressive to me than the start itself

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Speaker 2: was how he responded after he gave up the hit

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Speaker 2: to get out of that any clean. So really really big,

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Speaker 2: big time performance from a twenty two year old.

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Speaker 1: And of course, you know, the Braves had been hoping that,

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Speaker 1: you know, at some point they would not necessarily get

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Speaker 1: a you know player to step up like Bryce Elder

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Speaker 1: did or excuse me, I'm Bryce Elder. We're good to

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Speaker 1: him in just a second, but like Spencer Swellerbach did

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Speaker 1: last year. But they were hoping they really needed to

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Speaker 1: see one of their young pitchers step up to deliver,

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Speaker 1: especially early in the season as they were waiting on Spencer.

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Speaker 1: Strider had come back, and A J. Smith Shauber is

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Speaker 1: starting to do that. But it's not just a J.

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Speaker 1: Smith Schauber. We've talked about Grant Holmes, you know, Friday night,

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Speaker 1: Grant Holmes struck out show hey O, Tani, Mookie Bets

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Speaker 1: and pretty freeman in the row. Bryce after did the

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Speaker 1: same thing and had a really good start. If you

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Speaker 1: look over the past three weeks, you start to see

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Speaker 1: Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, and A. J. Smith Schauber, all

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Speaker 1: three of them really starting to give some confidence in

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Speaker 1: their pitches and pitch well. And then you look back

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Speaker 1: at the schedule and you're like, over the past ten

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Speaker 1: games that Bryce Selder, Grant Holmes or A. J. Smith

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Speaker 1: Schapper has started for the Braves, the Braves are nine

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Speaker 1: and one, nine and one on those last ten starts

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Speaker 1: that those three pitchers have pitched. You want to talk

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Speaker 1: about the depth of this starting rotation really starting to

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Speaker 1: step up, especially when Chris Selle has not found his

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Speaker 1: groove yet and Spencer Swellerbach has run into a bit

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Speaker 1: of a struggle. It's really awesome to see Holmes Elder

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Speaker 1: as well as Ad Smith Schouber step up. And then

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Speaker 1: once you get Strider back, you now got some depth.

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Speaker 1: We've all desperately been warning for this rotation, especially with

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Speaker 1: how much they've lost in the off season.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you might look back at this stretch where those

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Speaker 2: three guys kind of kept this team, kept this team

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Speaker 2: afloat while sel figured his stuff out, while Schwallenbach figured

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Speaker 2: his stuff out, and while Strider got healthy. You might

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Speaker 2: look back at this stretch as one of the keys

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Speaker 2: to the season. If the Brave's going to run and

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Speaker 2: those three guys finally find their form, because that's incredible.

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Speaker 2: And me, that's when you told me that before the

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Speaker 2: we started to record. That's an incredible stet. Nine to one,

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Speaker 2: last ten guy, last ten games. Those three guys have started.

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Speaker 2: The offense is some of that, but those guys have

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Speaker 2: pitched well. I mean, I can't only think of maybe

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Speaker 2: one time where like the offense had to bail one

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Speaker 2: of those guys out in that stretch. So incredible. And

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Speaker 2: the Brave, I mean, my god, you talk about timing.

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Speaker 2: The Braves desperately needed it. You know, the season was

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Speaker 2: kind of slipping away. They finally went on this run.

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Speaker 2: A lot of it contributed by those three guys you

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Speaker 2: just mentioned, and they've kind of righted the ship and

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Speaker 2: at least you know they're they're not in such dire

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Speaker 2: straits as they were three weeks ago. And yeah, if

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Speaker 2: theyre going to run after this, then we're gonna look

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Speaker 2: back on this stretch where those three guys were in

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Speaker 2: the rotation out of pure necessity and delivered like this.

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Speaker 2: Because it's been massive and so I get some tough

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Speaker 2: opponents in some tough parks, these guys have really done well,

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Speaker 2: and so hats off to all three of them. The

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Speaker 2: Braves would be in a lot of trouble without these

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Speaker 2: three guys, and all of them deserve tons of credit

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Speaker 2: for what they're doing right now.

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Speaker 1: So Stephen, obviously when we took you know, you talk

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Speaker 1: about the fact that you know, the season was you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of teetering on the brink there for a while,

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Speaker 1: and it's been awesome to see how Bryce Elder and

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Speaker 1: Grant Holmes, as well as A. J. Smith Shauber have

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Speaker 1: really helped kind of write this ship. You know, yes,

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Speaker 1: we're still two games that are five hundred, but we're

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Speaker 1: coming along. You've been a pretty you know, better rate

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Speaker 1: than we were. But I go back to April eighteenth,

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Speaker 1: you know, we that was two weeks after you know,

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Speaker 1: we had found out that Jerks and Profar was going

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Speaker 1: to be out for the first half the season, also

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Speaker 1: out for the playoffs. We were kind of scuffling, you know,

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Speaker 1: when my Harris be the leadoff hitter until Ronald came back.

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Speaker 1: Would osi Albiz, you know, who would fill in and

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Speaker 1: then lo and behold, Alex Rdugo comes up, and Verdugo

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Speaker 1: has a good game. He has another good game, and

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Speaker 1: he has another good game, and lo and behold. I

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Speaker 1: know I've said that two times now in the past minute.

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Speaker 1: We're now nearly two and a half weeks into the

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Speaker 1: Alex Redugo experience, and I know that in recent years

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Speaker 1: he has struggled at the plate, but he is making

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Speaker 1: a huge difference out of that leadoff spot. And it's

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Speaker 1: not like he's putting up otherworldly power numbers or anything

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Speaker 1: like that. He's just consistently putting together good at bats

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Speaker 1: since April eighteenth, when Alex rdu Verdugo took over the

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Speaker 1: leadoff spot for the Braves. The Braves among all the

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Speaker 1: MLB teams, they have a one to twelve WRC plus

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Speaker 1: out of the leadoff spot. That's twelfth among MLB teams

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Speaker 1: out of the leadoff spot since April eighteenth. But the

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Speaker 1: biggest stat of all that is such an awesome, awesome

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Speaker 1: compliment to the rest of this lineup. Out of the

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Speaker 1: leadoff spot, the Raves hitters have only struck out five

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Speaker 1: point eight percent of the time over the past two

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Speaker 1: and a half weeks. That's the best strikeout rate out

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Speaker 1: of the leadoff spot in the Majors since Verdugo came

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Speaker 1: enjoyed the Braves. That is such a huge asset to

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Speaker 1: the rest of this Braise lineup. A guy that can

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Speaker 1: put the ball in play, a guy that can put

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Speaker 1: together good at bats. You had hoped Profar would be

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Speaker 1: that guy, but when he wasn't, Dugo coming in and

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Speaker 1: maybe even doing better than many of us could have

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Speaker 1: expected Profar to do. It's been awesome to see and

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Speaker 1: it's been a big reason why our lineup is again

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Speaker 1: coming along. Get a good clip, yeah, I mean, just

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Speaker 1: look at the last two games. Tonight he had two

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Speaker 1: hits in a walk. He was on base three times.

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Speaker 1: Last night, he was on base both times.

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Speaker 2: When Riley hit his homers, so that you know it

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Speaker 2: took two solo homers into two two run homers. He's

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Speaker 2: got a one thirty two WRC plus since joining the team,

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Speaker 2: which is tremendous. I think my favorite Brudugo s dadd

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Speaker 2: is he's got six walks and four strikeouts. He's got

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Speaker 2: more walks than strikeouts since joining the team. You don't

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Speaker 2: see a lot of that in this day and age.

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Speaker 2: You don't see a lot of guys. You know, that's

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Speaker 2: it's not easy to do in today's game to have

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Speaker 2: more walks and strikeouts. He's been, I mean, he's been

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Speaker 2: everything the Braves needed, and you're right, everything the Braves

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Speaker 2: kind of thought Profar was going to be at the

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Speaker 2: top of the lineup. He's just been on all He's

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Speaker 2: got a three to eighty five on base percentage since

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Speaker 2: joining the team. Three eighty five. That's like, that's like

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Speaker 2: Akunya's average. That's like a Kunya's career average like that,

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Speaker 2: that's the level that he normally sits at. So you

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Speaker 2: can't say enough. I mean, this guy was signed in

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Speaker 2: late March for like two million bucks. You know, there

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Speaker 2: are anybody in baseball could have had Alex Radugo, anybody

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Speaker 2: The Braves didn't exactly go out and you know, have

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Speaker 2: to beat a bunch of teams in a bidding war

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Speaker 2: to get him. And where would they be without him

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Speaker 2: right now? I mean, the outfield was such a disaster.

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Speaker 2: You know, Eli White Nick Allen have also come along

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Speaker 2: and and shored up some black holes that the team

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Speaker 2: had for a long time. The entire outfit was just

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Speaker 2: a disaster for the first three weeks of the year,

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Speaker 2: and then Dugo and Eli White have kind of taken over,

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Speaker 2: and then you know, Nick Allen at shortstop, I don't

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Speaker 2: know where the Brads wo be with that. You know,

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Speaker 2: we talked about the three guys. Maybe that's the theme

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Speaker 2: now is you know, you got these three unheralded guys

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Speaker 2: in the rotation and Smith, Shoalver Elder and Holmes, and

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Speaker 2: you got the three unheralded guys in the lineup and Verdugo,

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Speaker 2: Eli White and Nick Allen. I mean, where would the

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Speaker 2: Brads be without those six guys. I mean, not only

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Speaker 2: have the Brais had injuries, but some of their best

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Speaker 2: players have not performed to the level we thought they would.

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Speaker 2: Those six guys out of nowhere have kind of righted

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Speaker 2: the ship and helped save the Brave season. And so

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Speaker 2: massive credit to them, Massive credit to Alex Rodugo. You know,

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Speaker 2: he did not have the year he wanted with the

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Speaker 2: Yankees last year. Obviously did not have a free agency

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Speaker 2: that he wanted. And you know, if he keeps playing

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Speaker 2: like this, he's gonna get a nice payday in the offseason.

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Speaker 2: He's obviously going to be a free agent again, and

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Speaker 2: we've talked about it before. I'm very interesting what happens

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Speaker 2: with jerksip Profile comes back, because are you just gonna

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Speaker 2: t away starts from Alex Radugo. I mean, I don't

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Speaker 2: know if you have an opinion on this, but like

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Speaker 2: I don't, I'm not I'm not just taking Verdugo out

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Speaker 2: of the line. I mean, I know, I know Profile

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Speaker 2: makes a lot of money, but like, if Dugo's earned

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Speaker 2: the starts, he's getting you muted, Sean, you muted.

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Speaker 1: Give me goodness production overpay all day long. When it

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Speaker 1: comes to the leadof Spot, especially when it comes to

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Speaker 1: what we kind of know Profar has been, you know,

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Speaker 1: suspended for you know, I think Profar could definitely be

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Speaker 1: a useful piece. But if Dugo is doing well, I mean,

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Speaker 1: neither one of them are going to be the leadof Spot. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: when Ronald comes back, that's something to remember. So I

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Speaker 1: think that kind of plays into it. But if Alex Rdugo,

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Speaker 1: you're not getting Profar back to the first of July.

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Speaker 1: So if Alex Verdugo wants Macune comes back, if he

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Speaker 1: still has a WRC plus well over one hundred, he's

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Speaker 1: playing good left field defense. I think you certainly continue

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Speaker 1: to plug and play him, and then of course if

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Speaker 1: you falls off, then you could just play profar. But

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Speaker 1: the other thing that I want to speak to We've

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Speaker 1: got Ridugo out and left, We've got Nick Allen at shortstop.

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Speaker 1: We've got Eli White out in right field. Something that

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Speaker 1: I don't think is being talked about enough. We talk

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Speaker 1: about what is this team going to do? Where is

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Speaker 1: this team going to be elite in order to win

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Speaker 1: at the rate that it needs to to be able

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Speaker 1: to get out of the hall that it started in

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Speaker 1: the season. Well, what a lead aspect of this team

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Speaker 1: is the defense.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: I know that defense overall is tough to measure depending

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Speaker 1: on which metric you use, but I'm a believer in

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Speaker 1: if you see your team among the top five and

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Speaker 1: several defensive metrics, that means they're a pretty good defensive team.

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Speaker 1: And that's what this team is. They're up there in

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Speaker 1: terms of out of average, they're up there in terms

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Speaker 1: of drs. Whatever you want to use as a metric,

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Speaker 1: this Braves team stands out and right now they're playing

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Speaker 1: some of their best defenders. I know that that may

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Speaker 1: go a little bit down once we get Ronald ocoony

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Speaker 1: Back and others. But the thing that stands out to

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Speaker 1: me is that that bench is still going to be

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Speaker 1: very versatile defensively. Steven the defense has been huge. If

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Speaker 1: he can continue to be that way, that's something that

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Speaker 1: can help your pitching staff sustain success to go along

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Speaker 1: with the offense.

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Speaker 2: Well, Nick Allen is as good a defensive shortstop as

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Speaker 2: I've seen in a Braves uniform, maybe since Angelton. You know,

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Speaker 2: I know Dansby had some really good years. I don't

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Speaker 2: want to discredit Dansby, but Nick Allen is nasty at shortstop.

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Speaker 2: He made some incredible plays tonight, made some incredible plays.

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Speaker 2: On Sunday, Brad and I talked about it. He's just

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Speaker 2: so solid and listen, I know he can't hit and

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Speaker 2: he's not gonna you know, he's not gonna hit, even

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Speaker 2: even though he's running like a three eighty batting average

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Speaker 2: of balls and play he's got like a ADWRC plus. So, like,

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Speaker 2: all signs point to the fact that he's not gonna hit.

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Speaker 2: But when you play shortstop at that level, like this

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Speaker 2: is what they thought Orlando Orsi was gonna be, right,

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Speaker 2: They thought he was gonna be this elite defender who

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Speaker 2: can live at the bottom of the lineup and maybe

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Speaker 2: every once a while get a big hit and you

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Speaker 2: live with it because the defense is so good. That's

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Speaker 2: Nick Allen to a t. So he's been a godsend

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Speaker 2: on defense. Eli White has been incredible. Obviously, Michael Harris,

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Speaker 2: we're not gonna go deep into I know a lot

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Speaker 2: have a lot of people tweeting me about Michael Harris

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Speaker 2: about are you worried about Michael Harris? What do you

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Speaker 2: think about Michael Harris? His numbers are just absolutely in

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Speaker 2: the toilet. He's got like a forty eight WRC plus

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Speaker 2: for the season. There will be time for that. We're

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Speaker 2: not gonna talk about that tonight. But he is still

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Speaker 2: an elite defender in center field. And that's to Shawn's point.

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Speaker 2: He does help the defense. Matt Olsen is playing unreal

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Speaker 2: defense at first. We haven't talked about that a lot.

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Speaker 2: You know, Murphy is a great defensive catcher. You know,

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Speaker 2: Albi's is not a great defensive second basement anymore, but

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Speaker 2: he's had a decent year over there. Riley is really

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Speaker 2: improved over there. I mean they are a strong defensive

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Speaker 2: team right now. And let's say when you're not scoring

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Speaker 2: a ton of runs. And they scored four runs tonight,

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Speaker 2: scored four runs last night. Catching the ball. You know,

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Speaker 2: it's a zero sum game and keeping runs off the

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Speaker 2: board is just like scoring more runs. Yeah, it's been

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Speaker 2: a it's been a huge help. And I think a

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Speaker 2: lot of it starts with Nicky Allen and Eli White,

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Speaker 2: who have really helped change the defensive, you know, culture

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Speaker 2: of the team a little bit. And yeah, it's been

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Speaker 2: a it's been a it's been incredible to watch, quite honestly.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And we'll have a few more thoughts on, you know,

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Speaker 1: some notable Braves who are on the field as well

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Speaker 1: as currently off the field, but hopefully on the field

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Speaker 1: soon here in just a moment, Steve, And I'll be

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Speaker 1: honest with you when it comes to the Braves, I

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Speaker 1: would think that if you were to look of the

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Speaker 1: ten or fifteen guys in the National League who you

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Speaker 1: were most confident would hit forty home runs, the Braves

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Speaker 1: probably had the two that you would be most confident.

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Speaker 1: None of those would be inside the park home runs

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Speaker 1: in Matt Olsen as well as Marcello Zuna, Neither one

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Speaker 1: of them are necessarily a speed Merchant on the base pass.

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Speaker 1: But lo and behold, Matt Olsen had an inside the

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Speaker 1: park home run tonight. That was the good news. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: the bad news was it Rocky Tyler, and only his

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Speaker 1: fourth game for the Reds, made a spectacular ep out

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Speaker 1: in left field. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any updates. It

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Speaker 1: looked like that he he had a pretty severe injury

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Speaker 1: to his his arm. That's what kind of contributed to

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Speaker 1: Matt Olson's inside the park home run. Seems like he

428
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:17,200
Speaker 1: may be out for a while. Certainly want to wish

429
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,520
Speaker 1: him the best. You hate to see that, especially for

430
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,800
Speaker 1: someone so early in his career. But I bring that

431
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,640
Speaker 1: up because I don't We've seen players get injured before

432
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,800
Speaker 1: and that's led to inside the park home runs.

433
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:29,000
Speaker 4: You know.

434
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,240
Speaker 1: Acune injury, I think was the one that stands out

435
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,240
Speaker 1: to me the most. But it's never one of those

436
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:37,640
Speaker 1: things that you like to see. Certainly wishing Tyler Callahan

437
00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:38,440
Speaker 1: the best.

438
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, jass Chisholm had a inside the park homer when

439
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 2: when Acuna tore his a cl in Miami in twenty one, Yeah,

440
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,399
Speaker 2: that was a nasty injury. The Reds did announce that

441
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,280
Speaker 2: he fractured his forearm, so he's obviously out for the season.

442
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:57,600
Speaker 2: That was. That was nice. It was a hell of

443
00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,760
Speaker 2: a play. I mean, to make that as close as

444
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 2: it was. I saw Reds fans who were adamant that

445
00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 2: that was a catch. I don't I don't think that was.

446
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,640
Speaker 2: I think the umpire's got that right. I'm gonna actually

447
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,160
Speaker 2: go back and look and read the rule, but I'm

448
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,960
Speaker 2: fairly certain the umpire's got that right on the ruling.

449
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:19,199
Speaker 2: I also saw some Reds fans who are mad that

450
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,439
Speaker 2: Matt Olsen was like running the bases like it's a

451
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,800
Speaker 2: live ball, Like your job is to score there, Like,

452
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,359
Speaker 2: you know, nobody wants to see anybody hurt. But when

453
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,280
Speaker 2: the ball's you know, it's a it's a live ball,

454
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 2: you gotta run. So, I you know, I thought that

455
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,840
Speaker 2: was a little ridiculous, But yeah, real, I mean that

456
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 2: was an I mean that that that was one of

457
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,840
Speaker 2: the more violent injuries I've seen on a baseball field

458
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,200
Speaker 2: that that did. That did not involve two players colliding

459
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,480
Speaker 2: or a ball hitting a player like that was. That

460
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,520
Speaker 2: was nasty and so yeah, all the you know, our

461
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:53,600
Speaker 2: thoughts are with that. With Tyler, I mean, that was

462
00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:55,520
Speaker 2: he's probably gonna be out for the year. But man,

463
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,239
Speaker 2: that was nasty and obviously did help the Braves end

464
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 2: up being a tour on Homer. But you never want

465
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 2: you you never we never want injuries. I don't care

466
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 2: who it is, I don't care what team they played for.

467
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:08,720
Speaker 2: You never root for injuries. You never want to see

468
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,439
Speaker 2: guys get hurt. And I hope that dude has a

469
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,480
Speaker 2: speedy recovery and gets back. It's such a bummer. He

470
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 2: just he literally just came up, like you said, it

471
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 2: was only his fourth game in the majors. Dude to

472
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,159
Speaker 2: live in his dream and then breaks his arm, you know,

473
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,359
Speaker 2: kind of a freak play. So yeah, all the best

474
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,400
Speaker 2: to him, you know. Obviously I hope for a speedy recovery.

475
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,520
Speaker 1: Absolutely and hope he's back on the field as soon

476
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,119
Speaker 1: as possible. The other thing that that, you know, was

477
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: a notable news today was that I know that last

478
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:37,640
Speaker 1: time we spoke on Friday, we just talked about ag

479
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,879
Speaker 1: or excuse me, aj Spens shopper, Ronald Accuoney junior, you

480
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 1: know how they had talked about it would probably still

481
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,000
Speaker 1: be kind of a month or so before we see

482
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 1: him on the field. Well, it was announced today, at

483
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 1: first that he was going to have to go back

484
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,680
Speaker 1: to LA get checked out one more time and after

485
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,120
Speaker 1: that probably would have the green light to do a

486
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 1: rehab assignment. Well then it was announced within I think

487
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:57,240
Speaker 1: about her of an hour or so that actually doesn't

488
00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 1: have to go back to LA. So nothing has really

489
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: changed in the ronald' kooney junior front, but it just

490
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,639
Speaker 1: what was confirmed today was that it literally now is

491
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,879
Speaker 1: up to the braves. Whenever the brave was feeled that

492
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,200
Speaker 1: he is ready to get on that rehab assignment, he

493
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 1: likely will start that rehab assignment. We won't cover it

494
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 1: like we did on Friday. The big thing is this

495
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,640
Speaker 1: is that now we're to the point where any day

496
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 1: now still likely going to be a bit of time,

497
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 1: but any day now we could hear that ronald' koune

498
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 1: junior will be ready to go. Still likely will be

499
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,119
Speaker 1: multiple weeks of a rehab assignment to really get him

500
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: in that game shape, but it's good to see that

501
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,240
Speaker 1: we're coming get into the ten yard line in the

502
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,640
Speaker 1: process of his recovery and there's not been any type

503
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,640
Speaker 1: of setback. Continues to be positive news, so hopefully sooner

504
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,800
Speaker 1: rather than later, maybe towards the end of this month,

505
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 1: likely early June. It's going to be good to see

506
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: Ronald back.

507
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, nothing else. Today's news just meant it might go

508
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,159
Speaker 2: a little quicker, you know. Obviously, the initial plan was

509
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:51,600
Speaker 2: he was going to go back to La get checked

510
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,120
Speaker 2: out again. They apparently had a phone call with his

511
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 2: surgeon today and he confirmed that they that he did

512
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,439
Speaker 2: not need to see Ronald, that he you know, it's

513
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 2: kind of up the team to decide, you know, if

514
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,159
Speaker 2: he's ready to do a rehab. He's been cleared of

515
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,119
Speaker 2: everything medically, and now it's just up to the team

516
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,040
Speaker 2: and Ronald to kind of figure out how quickly he's

517
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,920
Speaker 2: gonna come back. My guess is, whenever he starts a

518
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,119
Speaker 2: rehab stint, it's probably gonna be a couple of weeks

519
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,760
Speaker 2: of rehab games. I'm sure they're gonna want to see

520
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,640
Speaker 2: him play back to back games. They're wanna They're gonna

521
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 2: want to see him run around. They're gonna want to

522
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,480
Speaker 2: see how he responds after the game the next day,

523
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 2: you know, how much movement, how you know, any limitations.

524
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,880
Speaker 2: You know, even though we're in early May right now,

525
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,879
Speaker 2: even if he starts a rehab stint, you know, at

526
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 2: the end of the week or at the beginning of

527
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 2: next week. Even if it's something that quick, they're gonna

528
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 2: still take their time. So yeah, I still think it's

529
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 2: gonna be end of the month, probably most likely even

530
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,400
Speaker 2: into maybe early June. But listen, Brad and I talked

531
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,119
Speaker 2: about this. No, there's very few players in baseball that

532
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,200
Speaker 2: use their legs as much as Ronald and I don't

533
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 2: just mean running stolen bases speed, I mean when hitting.

534
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 2: The dude is an entire like lower half hitter. That's

535
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 2: why that's how he can hit a ball so far.

536
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,840
Speaker 2: Being this you know, weigh one hundred and eighty pounds,

537
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,120
Speaker 2: I mean, he's an entire lower half hitter. He uses

538
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,119
Speaker 2: his legs for everything. So it's worth it. It's worth waiting,

539
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 2: it's worth taking the extra time to make sure he's

540
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,639
Speaker 2: got his legs. It was a good update today, but

541
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,639
Speaker 2: you know, I am in I have no interest in

542
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 2: rushing this thing. Make sure that when you get Ronald back,

543
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,840
Speaker 2: he's got those legs. He feels comfortable and confident in

544
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 2: them because they are literally, quite literally the key to

545
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,320
Speaker 2: his entire game. And you know, we want to see

546
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 2: vintage Ronald back. We don't want to see, you know,

547
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:44,640
Speaker 2: a kind of a shell of what he can be.

548
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 2: So you want to wait. You want to make sure

549
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 2: you're patient and he comes back fully healthy.

550
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,640
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, And again, as we've discussed before, you want

551
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,400
Speaker 1: Ronald not only fully healthy, but to know be competent

552
00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 1: in the fact he's healthy. That's going to be your

553
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 1: best formula.

554
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:02,800
Speaker 2: And it is like a lot of it's mental, it

555
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 2: really is. And one good thing is he's done it before.

556
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 2: This is not his first time, but like, yeah, one

557
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 2: hundred percent, a lot of it is mental.

558
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's what's going to give you the best

559
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,159
Speaker 1: stavenue to get the Vinyl that we all know and

560
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 1: love back as soon as possible. Well, let's talk about this,

561
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 1: and I want to give a little bit of an apology.

562
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:20,760
Speaker 1: I kind of think I sell seldom a bit short

563
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,680
Speaker 1: to the Reds. The Reds are a really good pitching team,

564
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,800
Speaker 1: Like their starting staff is one of the best in baseball.

565
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 1: So if you're a fan of pitching, the remainder of

566
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,879
Speaker 1: this series is going to have plenty of good pitching matchups.

567
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: Tomorrow Andrew Abbott versus Chris Sale Christill of course coming

568
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,879
Speaker 1: off his best start of the season, Hunter Green versus

569
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,240
Speaker 1: Grant Homes on Wednesday, and then Spencer Swellerbock versus Nicoldolo

570
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,479
Speaker 1: on Thursday. What stands out to me is this, the

571
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 1: starting staff is going to have to remain on the

572
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 1: top of their game throughout this entire series, Stephen. But

573
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,719
Speaker 1: the offense what separates these two teams. The Braves offense

574
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: is better. So this pitching staff is going to need

575
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 1: to continue to do well. But this Braves offense, especially

576
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,639
Speaker 1: runs early in the game like they have over the

577
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,160
Speaker 1: past couple of games. If they can give their starters

578
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 1: room to work, we should be able to see good results.

579
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:09,919
Speaker 1: This is a series since you won the series opener,

580
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,760
Speaker 1: you could take three or four and that'll be a massive, massive,

581
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,720
Speaker 1: massive response coming off what you did losing three straight

582
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,640
Speaker 1: to the Rockies and the Dodgers. So it's right there

583
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,320
Speaker 1: for you. But you can't let off starting Staff's got

584
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,399
Speaker 1: to be good. Bullpen asks to be Chris. But what

585
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: separates this team from the Reds is the offense. The

586
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 1: offense is gonna have to stand tall at the end

587
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:29,440
Speaker 1: of the day.

588
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, you got Chris Saylee, Grant Holmes and Spencer

589
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:41,920
Speaker 2: Swallenbach pitching the next three games at home. I think

590
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 2: the Braves have more talent than the Reds. The Reds

591
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 2: have played better than the Braves this year, but I

592
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 2: think the Braves have more talent. Like you need, now

593
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,200
Speaker 2: that you've won the first one, you can reasonably go

594
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 2: out and expect you need to win two of the

595
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,719
Speaker 2: next three games. Whether you're three best guys going. You know,

596
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,400
Speaker 2: the Reds have struggled on offense this year, especially away

597
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,439
Speaker 2: from home. They do have a really good pitching staff.

598
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 2: It is a good team, but you have sale homes Schwellenbach.

599
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 2: Next three games, you know, the offense looks better than

600
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,119
Speaker 2: it did in those two frustrating games against the Rockies

601
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 2: and Dodgers. Go win two or three, Go win two

602
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,160
Speaker 2: of the next three, win the series, and then go

603
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,359
Speaker 2: You know, the schedule lightens up a little bit and

604
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 2: you can make some hay again. But it'd be really

605
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:29,879
Speaker 2: disappointed at this point. You know, when coming into the

606
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 2: series a split would have been a reasonable outcome. I

607
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,160
Speaker 2: get with two good teams, but now that you've won

608
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,760
Speaker 2: game one, you can be a little greedy, like three

609
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 2: or four, that's fine, that like we should be aiming

610
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 2: for that now, and if you win the next one,

611
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,920
Speaker 2: then you know, maybe you can even look at a sweep.

612
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 2: But at this point, I think it's reasonable to say

613
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 2: anything less than three out of four would be disappointing

614
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 2: with your literally your three best pitchers going next against

615
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:02,440
Speaker 2: an offense that struggled. So yeah, I one hundred percent agree,

616
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,120
Speaker 2: go win three or four, get some momentum, get into

617
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 2: an easier part of your schedule, maybe get some better

618
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 2: and better news on Acunyon and Strider, and let's get

619
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 2: this thing roll.

620
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,440
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And if you can put together another series win,

621
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,960
Speaker 1: especially three or four, you're gonna have another tough series

622
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,120
Speaker 1: against another team that's you know, starting to play better

623
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,480
Speaker 1: in the Astros. But hey, you sit there, you put

624
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,080
Speaker 1: together another you know, you win four out of five,

625
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: basically going to that Astro series. Now you're staring five

626
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,800
Speaker 1: hundred in the face and really starting to see your

627
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: season turn around. Steven, anything else you have for us

628
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,280
Speaker 1: on this edition of the Hammer Territory Podcast.

629
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 2: No, I know you guys have seen us a lot.

630
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 2: We don't typically do this many shows this you know soon,

631
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 2: but obviously A J. Smith Shaver was so good tonight

632
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,480
Speaker 2: we could not talk about it, and so credit to him.

633
00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,160
Speaker 2: What a game, what an awesome best game of his career.

634
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 2: And I haven't even looked that up, but I'm almost

635
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,080
Speaker 2: positive that was the best game of his career only

636
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:01,200
Speaker 2: twenty two years old. Tons of talent, keep commanding that fastball,

637
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 2: use that splitter as a weapon, and man, you know,

638
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 2: the sky's the limit. Fore aj, He's got all the

639
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,400
Speaker 2: talent in the world. So unbelievable game, a lot of fun,

640
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 2: really fun game to watch. And keep it going. Boys,

641
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,600
Speaker 2: let's get let's let's win at least two of the

642
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 2: next three. Win this series and then go from there.

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Speaker 1: Listen us being a part of the foul Territory family

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Speaker 1: that's just a year and a few days old. This

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Speaker 1: honestly has been one of the better months of baseball

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Speaker 1: that we've seen in our time covering the Braves. So hey,

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Speaker 1: if we're gonna be able to talk about stuff quite

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Speaker 1: a bit, it's much more fun to talk about them

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00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,959
Speaker 1: when they're doing well than not so well. You can

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Speaker 1: find me at Stat's sec on Twitter. You can find

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Speaker 1: Steven Tobert at Bender score Outliers. One of the best

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00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 1: when it comes to covering the Braves. Hair a territory

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Speaker 1: across all forms of social media. Foul Territory part of

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Speaker 1: the great family of podcast at foul Territory. Find it

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Speaker 1: all over social media as well. Until next time for

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Speaker 1: Sean Coleman and Steven Tobert, as always, go braids. We'll

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Speaker 1: talk to you again soon here on The Hammer Territory,

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Speaker 1: the podcast