1
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,160
Speaker 1: Hello everyone and wecos Episode twenty four of the Hammer

2
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,120
Speaker 1: Territory podcast. I am your host, Brad Rowland, coming to

3
00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,880
Speaker 1: you on a Sunday evening. It is June ninth, and

4
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,360
Speaker 1: the vibes are really really rough running of Braves right now.

5
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,960
Speaker 1: I am joined by Scott Coleman. Scott, I know you

6
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:39,120
Speaker 1: are excited like I am to we talking about this

7
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:40,040
Speaker 1: baseball team right now.

8
00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,720
Speaker 2: Hey, Brad, it has been a rough couple of weeks

9
00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,040
Speaker 2: for this team. I was trying to think back, and

10
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,920
Speaker 2: maybe it's because things have just come so easily to

11
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,200
Speaker 2: the Braves, maybe since halfway through that twenty twenty one

12
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,280
Speaker 2: magical season, But really the Braves just haven't had a

13
00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,000
Speaker 2: ton of adversity since they went on the crazy run

14
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,520
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one one, and then twenty twenty two,

15
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,600
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, they just kind of breezed to one

16
00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,039
Speaker 2: hundred plus wins. I don't know, it feels like, for

17
00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,640
Speaker 2: the first time in a long time, the Braves really

18
00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,200
Speaker 2: do have some like genuine adversity to it, and I

19
00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,000
Speaker 2: don't know, it just feels like we're kind of out

20
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:14,840
Speaker 2: of practice with it.

21
00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, coming off of the World Series in twenty two.

22
00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,520
Speaker 1: I believe they started twenty three and twenty seven, and

23
00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:24,880
Speaker 1: it was a little bit of similar to this, not

24
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:29,080
Speaker 1: necessarily offense, but just a general production. But we of

25
00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,840
Speaker 1: course have the glow of the World Series, and it's

26
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,640
Speaker 1: a little bit, I don't know, a little bit harder

27
00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,840
Speaker 1: to complain about the way the team is performing when

28
00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,400
Speaker 1: they just won won the World Series six months before.

29
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,840
Speaker 1: So it's like that's the closest out of lug I have.

30
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 1: But I think you're right that it's this is kind

31
00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,880
Speaker 1: of a new area, at least for the last few years,

32
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,360
Speaker 1: after that slow start in twenty one, et cetera, and

33
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,720
Speaker 1: especially given that this team was supposed to be you know,

34
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,000
Speaker 1: back then they were the favorites at some points and

35
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,280
Speaker 1: all that stuff, but they weren't necessarily projected to be

36
00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,920
Speaker 1: a juggernaut like they are what they were, I should say,

37
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:01,960
Speaker 1: into this season, and that just hasn't happen yet, Scott,

38
00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,640
Speaker 1: I know you noticed, but it's not been a whole

39
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,280
Speaker 1: lot of fun since about the first three weeks of

40
00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:06,600
Speaker 1: the year.

41
00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,400
Speaker 2: No, it hasn't. It looked like it was gonna be

42
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,160
Speaker 2: all roses coming out of the gate. I believe they

43
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:18,079
Speaker 2: were nineteen and seven after walking off the Cleveland Guardians

44
00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,160
Speaker 2: towards the end of April, and then came that West

45
00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 2: coast trip to Seattle and then la which really sticks

46
00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,519
Speaker 2: out in my mind as when this downturn really started.

47
00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,120
Speaker 2: And that's six weeks ago at this point, sixteen and

48
00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,880
Speaker 2: twenty one over their last thirty seven games. Again, sixteen

49
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 2: and twenty one, that's pretty bad. Nine and fifteen over

50
00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,760
Speaker 2: the last twenty four games, and as has been the case,

51
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,160
Speaker 2: basically every night, even if the pitching is good, they

52
00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,640
Speaker 2: just cannot hit the damn baseball. And it is It

53
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,519
Speaker 2: is truly bizarre to watch, after again, in some ways

54
00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,560
Speaker 2: a historic lineup just a year ago, basically the same

55
00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,040
Speaker 2: players you swapped out left field a little bit, and

56
00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,040
Speaker 2: of course you don't have wrong to Kuna Junior now healthy,

57
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,960
Speaker 2: but it is just genuinely bizarre to watch all but

58
00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,720
Speaker 2: one or two guys in this lineup struggle basically every night.

59
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,000
Speaker 1: Yes, I would agree, it is bizarre. We're going to

60
00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,799
Speaker 1: get into how we're feeling, I think, although you could

61
00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,320
Speaker 1: probably get the sense of that by this introduction, we

62
00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,520
Speaker 1: should at least say that we are part of foul territory.

63
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,800
Speaker 1: It void heart to her network. We appreciate you listening

64
00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,240
Speaker 1: to this podcast. Please subscribe. We cover the land of

65
00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,880
Speaker 1: Rapes in comprehensive fashion. This is our sixth show in

66
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,760
Speaker 1: the last seven days, so we're not going anywhere. We

67
00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,000
Speaker 1: sort of relaunched a a podcast around this downturn, which

68
00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:37,720
Speaker 1: people sort of notice this weekend. I think we're getting

69
00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:39,760
Speaker 1: blame for that. Scott by the way the Brigs are playing,

70
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,080
Speaker 1: that's kind of a part of the course this time around.

71
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it really is vexing and they lost

72
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,520
Speaker 1: four last seven series. To add to your staff from

73
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,360
Speaker 1: a second ago, they are just not scoring runs. Eighty

74
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,240
Speaker 1: seven runs in the last twenty four games during that

75
00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,000
Speaker 1: nine to fifteen strection. That's about three and a half

76
00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:56,560
Speaker 1: per game. That isn't going to work. And look, as

77
00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,240
Speaker 1: of June ninth, they are nine games back in the

78
00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,640
Speaker 1: national egueast part of that is the Phillies have been incredible,

79
00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,280
Speaker 1: but still that's the deficit. And while they are four

80
00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,440
Speaker 1: and a half games up on the last wild card spot,

81
00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:10,880
Speaker 1: which is probably better than you would think based on

82
00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:12,640
Speaker 1: the tone of the fan base and the tone of

83
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,880
Speaker 1: this podcast, it is a little bit, you know, concerning

84
00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,760
Speaker 1: vexing frustrating. You know that it's been two and a

85
00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,760
Speaker 1: half months of this and yet they started off pretty well,

86
00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,360
Speaker 1: but since then not so much. And I'm going to

87
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,680
Speaker 1: quote a very wise man who happens to be my

88
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,040
Speaker 1: co host on this podcast to tweet it today, and

89
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,520
Speaker 1: I'm going to quote you here, maybe this team this

90
00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,839
Speaker 1: isn't that good. And I'll ask you that now, Scott,

91
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,520
Speaker 1: you've had a few hours. Are you thinking that way,

92
00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,000
Speaker 1: feeling that way at this point in time? Was that

93
00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:43,960
Speaker 1: just in the moment of frustration, or do you actually

94
00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,000
Speaker 1: start to believe now this team is just not as

95
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:46,840
Speaker 1: good as it was supposed to be.

96
00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,040
Speaker 2: So I think two things can be true in regards

97
00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:55,159
Speaker 2: to maybe this team just isn't that good. On one hand,

98
00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 2: there is still a lot of talent here. Even without

99
00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,159
Speaker 2: Ronald and Cunya Junr the front runner for MVP coming

100
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,680
Speaker 2: into the season, and the loss of Spencer Strider, the

101
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,919
Speaker 2: front runner for cy Young Winner in the National League,

102
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,960
Speaker 2: there is still plenty of talent here. And maybe the

103
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,919
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one season where the Braves lost Ronald and

104
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,839
Speaker 2: then flip the switch so quickly is so fresh in

105
00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,040
Speaker 2: our minds that we're just kind of expecting the Braves

106
00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,760
Speaker 2: to be able to withstand the loss of these two

107
00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,839
Speaker 2: superstars and not really skip a beat. And maybe we

108
00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,040
Speaker 2: are underestimating just how much the loss of those two

109
00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,279
Speaker 2: players are going to mean to this roster, because obviously

110
00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,360
Speaker 2: the Braves are not as good as they are today

111
00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:40,279
Speaker 2: as they were on opening Day. So the objective and

112
00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,719
Speaker 2: maybe last half full take is there is still plenty

113
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,599
Speaker 2: of talent here. You mentioned the standings, the Braves have

114
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,840
Speaker 2: a significant lead in the wild card race, even if

115
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:52,599
Speaker 2: they are nine back of the Phillies. But at the

116
00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,880
Speaker 2: same time, it is impossible to not argue this team

117
00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,560
Speaker 2: has been objectively pretty bad for six weeks. Weeks now

118
00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,320
Speaker 2: you mentioned that record in thirty seven games, I mean,

119
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,480
Speaker 2: that's close to a quarter of the season where this

120
00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,719
Speaker 2: team is barely scoring and even if the pitching is

121
00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,240
Speaker 2: really good, the offense has not put up runs consistently

122
00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,040
Speaker 2: enough to win these games. And it would be one

123
00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,680
Speaker 2: thing if the Braves were just in this brutal stretch

124
00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,880
Speaker 2: of schedule where they were playing the Dodgers or the Yankees,

125
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,760
Speaker 2: or the Phillies or the Orioles like the best teams

126
00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,279
Speaker 2: in baseball. They're struggling against about as soft of a

127
00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,080
Speaker 2: schedule as a team is going to get all year long.

128
00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,359
Speaker 2: And it's it's concerning. It's we talked about how bizarre

129
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,560
Speaker 2: it is to watch this team struggle the way they've

130
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,640
Speaker 2: been so dominant the last couple of seasons. It is

131
00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,760
Speaker 2: just up and down the lineup and in the rotation

132
00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,480
Speaker 2: and the bullpen. That there's I mean, how many players

133
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,559
Speaker 2: right now can you genuinely say are playing well? Like

134
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,919
Speaker 2: like five of them, six of them. It is just

135
00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,560
Speaker 2: a weird situation all the way around. They are saying

136
00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,719
Speaker 2: all the right things in the clubhouse to the media.

137
00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,720
Speaker 2: I would be curious to know behind closed doors what

138
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,320
Speaker 2: the vibe is like in the clubhouse, if there is

139
00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,760
Speaker 2: no concern, or if they're starting to press a bit.

140
00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,720
Speaker 2: But overall, it has just been a very weird couple

141
00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,000
Speaker 2: of weeks. And at this point it's not just a

142
00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,360
Speaker 2: mini slump. You're talking about a pretty hefty chunk of

143
00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:17,480
Speaker 2: the season at this point.

144
00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:20,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's all it's all fair. I can assure you

145
00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,920
Speaker 1: of that. I'm gonna give a little bit of contrast

146
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,440
Speaker 1: to that in a second before we get to that,

147
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,320
Speaker 1: and I promise you we will have much more coverage

148
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,880
Speaker 1: of all of what's going on and worth more friends

149
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,840
Speaker 1: at sea Geek. Today's show is sponsored by folks at

150
00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:36,880
Speaker 1: seat Geek. Seek is official ticket market place at Major

151
00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:38,560
Speaker 1: League Baseball, so they have you covered for all if

152
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,800
Speaker 1: your baseball ticketing needs. They'veiro twenty eight million downloads at

153
00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,320
Speaker 1: sekig gets the number one rated ticketing app. They are

154
00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,760
Speaker 1: more than seventy thousand events at sea Geek, including concerts,

155
00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,240
Speaker 1: sports festivals, theater events and much more. Baseball seasons of

156
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,000
Speaker 1: course in full swing, and you do not want to

157
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:53,880
Speaker 1: miss out on any of the action. They have your

158
00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:55,600
Speaker 1: tickets to sea Geek to every single game, and of

159
00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,480
Speaker 1: course that includes Brave stuff whether they're at home in

160
00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:59,160
Speaker 1: Atlanta or on the road in other ballparks. I don't

161
00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:00,960
Speaker 1: have you SeatGeek for a long time for Braves tickets

162
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,200
Speaker 1: and Focust tickets and many more things in the past

163
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,200
Speaker 1: they had covered across the board. Plus they put all

164
00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:06,840
Speaker 1: the tickets across the web in one place to make

165
00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,080
Speaker 1: sure you are getting the best possible deal at sea Geek.

166
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:10,840
Speaker 1: Each tickets ran on SCOE to one to ten. Keep

167
00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:12,560
Speaker 1: an eye ones for the green dots as well as

168
00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,280
Speaker 1: the best values to kind of steer you in the

169
00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,040
Speaker 1: right direction at sea Geek, and every ticket is backed

170
00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,239
Speaker 1: by their buyer guarantee and seek is the only site

171
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:20,760
Speaker 1: that lets you to return your tickets ahead of the

172
00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:22,880
Speaker 1: event with swaps and you know that we are coming

173
00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,800
Speaker 1: through for you guys. You can use our code hammer

174
00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,520
Speaker 1: for twenty hours off tickets at sea Geek. That is

175
00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,240
Speaker 1: twenty dollars off your first purchase with promo code hammer.

176
00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 1: When you use seat geek, make sure you could come

177
00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,160
Speaker 1: a link and our project's description to download the sea

178
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,240
Speaker 1: Geek app today one more time. That is promo code

179
00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,520
Speaker 1: Hammer twenty dollars off your first purchase with the folks

180
00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,960
Speaker 1: at sea Geek. Scott, I want to build on what

181
00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:43,760
Speaker 1: you were saying, and you know, we're going to kind

182
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,920
Speaker 1: of diverge from our usual breakdown of games and we're

183
00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:47,400
Speaker 1: gonna get some of the game stuff. It's probably the

184
00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,000
Speaker 1: appropriate time to do a little bit more of a

185
00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:50,800
Speaker 1: of a deep dive here. And you sort of alluded

186
00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:52,680
Speaker 1: to the fact that nobody's playing well, at least on nobody.

187
00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,360
Speaker 1: Most of the team isn't playing well, and look, without

188
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,600
Speaker 1: going through the entire roster, you're right about that. I mean,

189
00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:01,360
Speaker 1: you could argue with a straight face that Marcelo zun

190
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:06,439
Speaker 1: is the only position player regular who has met projections

191
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,920
Speaker 1: this season. Matt Olson's been decent, but not the guy

192
00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,920
Speaker 1: he was last year. Darnolt has been pretty good, but

193
00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,880
Speaker 1: he's in the next tier down of like overall team,

194
00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,000
Speaker 1: sort of tier quality. Austin Riley has been really bad,

195
00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,520
Speaker 1: Michael Harris been really bad. Particularly those two guys supposed

196
00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:23,880
Speaker 1: to be like borderline stars in Harris's case and established

197
00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,040
Speaker 1: stars in Riley's case, haven't been that so far this year.

198
00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,160
Speaker 1: Arcia has gone back to being a pretty bad hitter

199
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,880
Speaker 1: instead of an average one. Sean Murphy's been banged up

200
00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,280
Speaker 1: all year long. I can keep going and I won't,

201
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,720
Speaker 1: but that's that's kind of what's going on here. And

202
00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,319
Speaker 1: while the pitching has been pretty darn good outside of

203
00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,199
Speaker 1: the fifth starter spot, you know, you're kind of playing

204
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,800
Speaker 1: with fire if your lineup is not doing what it's

205
00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,560
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing. And you know, I would say this,

206
00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,800
Speaker 1: I am kind of always the captain of don't panic

207
00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,400
Speaker 1: and kind of being level headed, probably to my detriment

208
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,880
Speaker 1: at times. Occasionally I I probably should go a little

209
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,400
Speaker 1: bit further in my takes or whatever you want to say.

210
00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,120
Speaker 1: But even I, you know, if you're talking about the division,

211
00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:09,320
Speaker 1: even I would say you should be worried about that.

212
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,040
Speaker 1: You're not by nine, and given this team is on

213
00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,640
Speaker 1: this division title streak, that is very very much in jeopardy.

214
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,400
Speaker 1: At this point. The Braves are I would say, solid

215
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,080
Speaker 1: underdogs to the Phillies as far as the division is concerned,

216
00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,280
Speaker 1: just by logic of that deficit. On the other hand,

217
00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:28,720
Speaker 1: as far as the team being a playoff team, still

218
00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,080
Speaker 1: I'm I am not particularly worrying. Look, I could be

219
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:36,079
Speaker 1: wrong about that. I lean probably too heavily on history

220
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,680
Speaker 1: and baselines and what guys are supposed to do, what

221
00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,640
Speaker 1: guys generally do in baseball. But you know, just as

222
00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,640
Speaker 1: a one stat here, the folks at DraftKings currently list

223
00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,720
Speaker 1: the Braves as minus fourteen hundred favorites to make the playoffs.

224
00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,199
Speaker 1: I'm not making that up. Minus fourteen hundred favorites to

225
00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,480
Speaker 1: make the playoffs at this point in time. Now, that's

226
00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,440
Speaker 1: one betty market, but you know, that's kind of indicative

227
00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,480
Speaker 1: of where things are at this point. Like even you know,

228
00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:01,440
Speaker 1: fangrafts way down in the brains before they were early

229
00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:03,520
Speaker 1: in the season, they're giving them a ninety one percent

230
00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:06,320
Speaker 1: chance to make the playoffs. Still, so yeah, I have

231
00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,680
Speaker 1: a hard time totally melting down given those numbers. At

232
00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,320
Speaker 1: the same time, I'm not picking on you. I think

233
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,640
Speaker 1: you are maybe reacting more appropriately than I am. I

234
00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:18,679
Speaker 1: think my brain won't allow me to do it necessarily.

235
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,560
Speaker 1: But I think to anybody who's frustrated, and I'm sure

236
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:24,840
Speaker 1: we already got some people telling us before we've recorded

237
00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,240
Speaker 1: about some hate listening tonight, and I totally get it,

238
00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,160
Speaker 1: because trying to put my fan hat on, my more

239
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:34,400
Speaker 1: emotional hat on. Watching this day in and day out

240
00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,880
Speaker 1: for six weeks is enough to make anyone, even the

241
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,240
Speaker 1: most levelheaded people, a little bit off kilter, because it's

242
00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,760
Speaker 1: just been like, it doesn't compute even to someone who

243
00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,280
Speaker 1: likes the math all that stuff. Watching all of these

244
00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,959
Speaker 1: established especially hitters, these established hitters do this as a

245
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,360
Speaker 1: collective for this long is just bound to make you crazy.

246
00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is miserable to watch. I mean, I have

247
00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,960
Speaker 2: not had fun watching the Atlanta Brits Braves play baseball

248
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,280
Speaker 2: and quite some time. There was a clip the other

249
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,000
Speaker 2: night where the Kansas City Royals had this crazy comeback

250
00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,400
Speaker 2: they were down eight to nothing early and came back

251
00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:12,920
Speaker 2: to win ten to nine in the ninth inning, and

252
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,080
Speaker 2: it just looked like so much fun and there was

253
00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,840
Speaker 2: so much energy, and the vibes were great. And I

254
00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:19,720
Speaker 2: know the Royals are having a really great start to

255
00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,840
Speaker 2: the season, and obviously that's an organization that hasn't been

256
00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,120
Speaker 2: good in a long time. But it felt like you

257
00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,640
Speaker 2: were watching two different sports with just the energy level

258
00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,160
Speaker 2: and the excitement and the passion. And it just kind

259
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,280
Speaker 2: of feels to me like the Braves are just going

260
00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,880
Speaker 2: through the paces and going through their motions. It's been

261
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,960
Speaker 2: very frustrating. It is worth noting we talked about the standings.

262
00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,400
Speaker 2: I guess the glimmer of hope if you're looking big

263
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:50,720
Speaker 2: picture is the rest of the National League is wildly

264
00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,800
Speaker 2: mediocre so far this season. There are only four teams

265
00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,520
Speaker 2: in the NL above five hundred right now. You have

266
00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,920
Speaker 2: two soon for teams at the top with the Dodgers

267
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,679
Speaker 2: and the Phillies. You have the Brewers, who kind of

268
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,640
Speaker 2: out of nowhere have been fantastic this year, and then

269
00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,559
Speaker 2: you have the Braves who are eight games above five hundred.

270
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:12,160
Speaker 1: Which, by the way, let's just stop for a second,

271
00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,080
Speaker 1: if you were just falling out of the sky right

272
00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,080
Speaker 1: now and you listen to the first twelve minutes of

273
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,400
Speaker 1: this podcast, and then we just kind of casually said

274
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:20,880
Speaker 1: the branches are thirty five to twenty seven, you might

275
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,840
Speaker 1: think we're crazy. Sorry, three point twenty eight right now.

276
00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,280
Speaker 1: But a loss today, but like, yeah, it feels much

277
00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:27,840
Speaker 1: worse than that. But it is true that the brands

278
00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,240
Speaker 1: are still in a ninety one pace. As funny as

279
00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:29,520
Speaker 1: that is.

280
00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:32,240
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, and that's you know, goes back to the

281
00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,880
Speaker 2: sixteen and twenty one over the last seven or eight weeks.

282
00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,800
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's why it feels so bad. And

283
00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:43,320
Speaker 2: even the wins, it feels like the losses have been early,

284
00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,480
Speaker 2: like you know, like they're not losing heartbreakers here. But

285
00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:48,560
Speaker 2: even the wins, it feels like they're just kind of

286
00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:50,720
Speaker 2: scraping by to get a win. I mean, the one

287
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,080
Speaker 2: game they won in Washington, d C. This weekend on

288
00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,360
Speaker 2: Thursday was like a scrape and claw and try to

289
00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,839
Speaker 2: come back to win at late innings. And that's a

290
00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,720
Speaker 2: good and dandy, but the Braves are just not dominating

291
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,560
Speaker 2: teams the way they did a year ago. Again, it

292
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,560
Speaker 2: is it's it's early June, early mid June. Right, it's

293
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,920
Speaker 2: no longer early in the season, but there is a

294
00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,360
Speaker 2: lot of baseball to be played, about one hundred games.

295
00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,000
Speaker 2: I do agree entirely that I think this team starts

296
00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,840
Speaker 2: to figure it out at some point, but until that happens,

297
00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 2: and knowing that there is a much more difficult schedule

298
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,280
Speaker 2: on the horizon, I mean, it's just hard to go

299
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,240
Speaker 2: out there and expect the Braves to win right now

300
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:29,360
Speaker 2: the way the team is played.

301
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, what we didn't want to do is just handwave

302
00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,200
Speaker 1: because I know our reputation is and it's earned of

303
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,120
Speaker 1: particularly you, and I of kind of like, you know,

304
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,560
Speaker 1: don't panic everybody. It's gonna be okay. And that's again,

305
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,600
Speaker 1: it's kind of still how I feel with a minor adjustment.

306
00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,280
Speaker 1: But you know, given what they've done recently, you know,

307
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,360
Speaker 1: losing a couple series of the Nationals, losing a series

308
00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:51,560
Speaker 1: of the Pirates, losing six out of eight games in

309
00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:53,640
Speaker 1: the Nationals, it was like they lost you know, two

310
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,320
Speaker 1: three game series two to one, losing three to one,

311
00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,120
Speaker 1: and back to back series of the Nationals is just

312
00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:00,240
Speaker 1: like pretty tough stuff.

313
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:00,680
Speaker 2: I know.

314
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:02,800
Speaker 1: Our guy Stephen Tolbert was at the game today was

315
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,320
Speaker 1: I'm sure not in a most positive place in the

316
00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:07,080
Speaker 1: world in DC as he travels to Baltimore for the

317
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 1: rest for the rest of the week. But anyway, we

318
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:12,360
Speaker 1: didn't want to handway of that, and it is really maddening.

319
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,120
Speaker 1: I do understand and look, and there's there are people

320
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,240
Speaker 1: that are still overreacting and that's kind of the nature

321
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,200
Speaker 1: of the Beast with fandom about you know, just this

322
00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,680
Speaker 1: guy stinks and I get it, it's just part of

323
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,520
Speaker 1: the deal. But we certainly did not want to overlook

324
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,080
Speaker 1: how rough it's been for quite some time. And if

325
00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:29,680
Speaker 1: you're worried, I don't necessarily blame you. And this is

326
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,000
Speaker 1: probably the first time I've been like a little bit

327
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,720
Speaker 1: less in my everybody calm down kind of rhetoric as

328
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:35,440
Speaker 1: of June nine.

329
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I would agree with that. I think everything

330
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,400
Speaker 2: you said is very fair and valid. And I think

331
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,880
Speaker 2: the one thing, and I am knocking on wood as

332
00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,040
Speaker 2: I say this, but the one thing that would genuinely

333
00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,120
Speaker 2: have me concerned about the season as a whole would

334
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,520
Speaker 2: be more season ending injuries to any of the impact players. Yes,

335
00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,400
Speaker 2: because right now I think there is enough to weather

336
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,080
Speaker 2: the storm without Strider and without a Kunya. But man,

337
00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 2: I mean, god forbid, if one of the big starters

338
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,000
Speaker 2: go down they can't find a fifth starter, if suddenly

339
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,360
Speaker 2: they need two starters to fill in from Gwinnett, or

340
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,480
Speaker 2: if they lose one of the few guys in the

341
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,640
Speaker 2: lineup who are producing or have historically produced at a

342
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,120
Speaker 2: high level, that would would really have me concerned. Let's

343
00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,920
Speaker 2: hope not. Of course, you can never predict injuries, but man,

344
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,000
Speaker 2: it's just been it feels like every week we've come

345
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,560
Speaker 2: on here and we've said, well, surely the Braves are

346
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,440
Speaker 2: going to break out of this at some point, and

347
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:35,560
Speaker 2: here we are almost what a month and a half

348
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,560
Speaker 2: later in this downturn and seemingly no end in sight.

349
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,520
Speaker 2: Let's hope even though they have a couple of really

350
00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,520
Speaker 2: tough games on the horizon in Baltimore, which might be

351
00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,480
Speaker 2: the best team in baseball right now, Yeah they you know,

352
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,040
Speaker 2: maybe it'll wake the Braves up. I mean it is

353
00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,080
Speaker 2: going to be. We talked about how good this team

354
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:55,520
Speaker 2: has been for two plus years.

355
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:55,960
Speaker 3: Now.

356
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 2: The Braves are probably going to be underdogs in at

357
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,760
Speaker 2: least two of those games in Baltimore. They might be

358
00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,639
Speaker 2: favorites with Max freed on the mound on Tuesday. But

359
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,919
Speaker 2: it's going to be rare for the Braves to go

360
00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,639
Speaker 2: into a series where they're going to be underdogs, and

361
00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,480
Speaker 2: that has just not been the case for three years

362
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,760
Speaker 2: now at this point. Yep, it's absolutely right and we

363
00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:18,360
Speaker 2: will see if that wakes them up. We'll get into

364
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,399
Speaker 2: that a little bit later in the podcast as well.

365
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,359
Speaker 1: We should do a little bit of talk about what

366
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,000
Speaker 1: happened over the weekend. We'll start with the most competitive

367
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,280
Speaker 1: the losses, which was Friday. They lost two to one

368
00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,240
Speaker 1: in the Nation's Capital and man, I have a list

369
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,240
Speaker 1: here of the offensive opportunities that were squandered. Kind of

370
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,320
Speaker 1: on brand with the rest of this podcast so far,

371
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,320
Speaker 1: but literally five things here. In the third inning, they

372
00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:44,720
Speaker 1: had a basis load situation with Marcelo Zuno. It's been awesome,

373
00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,600
Speaker 1: but he did not come through that in that instance.

374
00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:48,920
Speaker 1: In the fifth inning, they had a guy on third

375
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,000
Speaker 1: with one out, a spot where you got to score.

376
00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:53,960
Speaker 1: They didn't score. In the sixth inning, second and third

377
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,719
Speaker 1: with no eltse and they didn't score. They finally did

378
00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,000
Speaker 1: score in the eighthning, and then they had a little

379
00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,480
Speaker 1: bit of a spark on the ninth and then of

380
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:05,000
Speaker 1: course double play by Arcia, end of threat, end of game. Yeah,

381
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:06,639
Speaker 1: two to one. I mean that was more of like

382
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,680
Speaker 1: a loss that we're used to now over the last

383
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,639
Speaker 1: six weeks. And what great pitching Chris Sale was tremendous.

384
00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,760
Speaker 1: That's the one bright spot from really the whole weekend.

385
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: Is it Chris like Chrisale again after his one start

386
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,000
Speaker 1: hiccup before that? But man, Friday was I guess a

387
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,960
Speaker 1: pre conventional loss. They just couldn't score well.

388
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,520
Speaker 2: And it was good to see Chris Sale bounce back

389
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:30,080
Speaker 2: after the very just out of character loss to Oakland

390
00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,040
Speaker 2: last weekend. And I think everybody expected Chris to bounce

391
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,160
Speaker 2: back again. He has been so dang good. I believe

392
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,160
Speaker 2: he leads all pitchers in the National League in war

393
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,040
Speaker 2: the last time I looked yesterday, that might I guess

394
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,760
Speaker 2: that might have changed. But he has been quite literally

395
00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,520
Speaker 2: as good as anybody in the game. And then yeah,

396
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,359
Speaker 2: I mean, not to be the broken record, but just

397
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,440
Speaker 2: the offense, man, I mean, second and third with nobody

398
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,800
Speaker 2: out in the sixth inning, if you hit two decently

399
00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,720
Speaker 2: far fly balls, you scored two two runs. Right runner

400
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,520
Speaker 2: comes in to score from third, you tag up at second,

401
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,960
Speaker 2: another flyball you come into score. That's two runs without

402
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,960
Speaker 2: even the need to get a hit, and they can't

403
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,800
Speaker 2: do it, and it's just frustrating. It feels like even

404
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,000
Speaker 2: when the Braves do come up with a rally and

405
00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,360
Speaker 2: get some runners on, they've been really bad this season

406
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,840
Speaker 2: with runners in scoring position and in high leverage. It

407
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,680
Speaker 2: also kind of feels like the wrong hitter is always up.

408
00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,520
Speaker 2: I don't want to pick on Orlando Arcia or Adam

409
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,760
Speaker 2: Duvall or some of the lesser guys in the order,

410
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,119
Speaker 2: but every time it feels like the Braves have a

411
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 2: chance to break through, it's not one of the few

412
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,199
Speaker 2: players who are hitting that are coming up. And to

413
00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,119
Speaker 2: lose two to one on Friday after a nice comeback

414
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,000
Speaker 2: win on Thursday was just pretty deflating.

415
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was We'll put a pin in that because Rcia,

416
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,359
Speaker 1: hitting six in the lineup, will come up in a second,

417
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:52,439
Speaker 1: I can assure you, all right. We'll have more on

418
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,639
Speaker 1: Saturday and Sunday, as well as a brief look ahead

419
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,560
Speaker 1: to the Oriel Series and beyond. But first of work

420
00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:00,359
Speaker 1: from our friends from foul Territory, and that is Scott

421
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,400
Speaker 1: Braun and aerokrats about ag.

422
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 3: One Aironkratz here from FT. I'm a former athlete that

423
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,680
Speaker 3: really pays attention to his routine, and AG one every

424
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 3: morning before my workouts is something that gets my day going.

425
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,680
Speaker 4: Hey Broun here. Ag one is a foundational nutrition supplement

426
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,840
Speaker 4: that delivers daily nutrients and gut health support, and it's

427
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,480
Speaker 4: backed by multiple research studies, so you can trust what

428
00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:24,600
Speaker 4: you're putting in your body.

429
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 3: Unlike other products which only test their ingredients in isolation,

430
00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:31,000
Speaker 3: ag one tests their formula as.

431
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,600
Speaker 4: A whole Ready for this stat ninety seven percent of

432
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,560
Speaker 4: people in a research study felt more energy after thirty

433
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,360
Speaker 4: days of drinking AG one. If I had to recommend

434
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,400
Speaker 4: one product to support whole body health, it's AG one

435
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,399
Speaker 4: and that's why FT is excited to have them as

436
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,199
Speaker 4: a new partner. Starting your journey with AG one is

437
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,640
Speaker 4: a win. Try AG one and get a free one

438
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,960
Speaker 4: year supply of Vitamin D three, K two and five

439
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,760
Speaker 4: free AG one travel packs with your first purchase at

440
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,640
Speaker 4: drinkag one dot com slash foul that's drinkag one dot

441
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:04,000
Speaker 4: com slash fo u l go check it out FT FAM.

442
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: So Saturday's game, Scott was almost nothing was good? I

443
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,919
Speaker 1: thought our guy Ivan at battery power dot com detailed

444
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,480
Speaker 1: things very well in his written breakdown. I recommend that,

445
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,960
Speaker 1: but basically, the pitching wasn't awful if you go through

446
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,280
Speaker 1: what transpired. Dylan Lee wasn't his best for sure, but

447
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,000
Speaker 1: even Morton like didn't miss a lot of baths. I

448
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,200
Speaker 1: got bout it pretty hard in the game defensive mishaps

449
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,320
Speaker 1: which nothing went well, man like nothing offensively. I tease

450
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:31,119
Speaker 1: this a second ago, but Arcio is hitting six in

451
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,080
Speaker 1: the lineup on Saturday, and I know that this kind

452
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,400
Speaker 1: of breaks Steven's brain. It also breaks mine, and yes,

453
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 1: just to say this out loud, A lot of people

454
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 1: have argued, including to Stephen, that you know, why does

455
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,479
Speaker 1: it matter no one's hitting, And that's a fair retort,

456
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,199
Speaker 1: but I would say that there is more reason to

457
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 1: believe that other guys down there will hit than there

458
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,600
Speaker 1: is for Rcia, and Arcia is not hitting, and I

459
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 1: think there's just no scenario with a semi healthy lineup

460
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 1: where he should be hitting sixth doesn't matter that much, No,

461
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 1: But I just wanted to to note that for something

462
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:02,919
Speaker 1: that was frustrated on Saturday, especially because he came up

463
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: in probably the biggest spot of the game in the

464
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,479
Speaker 1: sixth inning and that was sorry the first inning and

465
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:07,240
Speaker 1: did not score.

466
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, another frustrating loss. I mean you mentioned Charlie Morton

467
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 2: was not terrible. Maybe wasn't great. He didn't miss enough bats,

468
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,399
Speaker 2: but he was not terrible. He didn't give up a

469
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,600
Speaker 2: lot of heart contact, and it just happened to find

470
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,639
Speaker 2: some outfield grass, which is always a bummer. Yeah. The

471
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,120
Speaker 2: one positive and maybe quite literally the only one positive

472
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,199
Speaker 2: from Saturday was Sean Murphy hit a home run. That

473
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:35,720
Speaker 2: was a very welcome sight for sore eyes because Murph,

474
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 2: of course injured the first two months and clearly he

475
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,119
Speaker 2: is still trying to get his timing back, just hasn't

476
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,159
Speaker 2: looked comfortable just yet. But as we documented well in

477
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 2: the off season, you know, Sean was so good in

478
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 2: the first half of last year, but then admittedly it

479
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,479
Speaker 2: was not very good in the second half of the season,

480
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,919
Speaker 2: and then you get injured on opening Day and just

481
00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 2: you're finally seeing a small glimpse of what he can do,

482
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,359
Speaker 2: because we did zee in the first half of last

483
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 2: season just how impactful this guy can be offensively. And

484
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,480
Speaker 2: it was just one swing, just one home run to

485
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 2: dead center field, which was encouraging. But let's hope. I

486
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,400
Speaker 2: mean if Sean Murphy, I mean, somebody has to step up, Brad,

487
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,560
Speaker 2: Like this team is going to get the train back

488
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 2: on the tracks. Somebody has to start hitting other than

489
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 2: Marcelo Zuna and Matt Olsen. And if Sean Murphy can

490
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,560
Speaker 2: give him a spark as he distances himself from the

491
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,760
Speaker 2: oblique injury, that would go a long way in getting

492
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 2: this lineup more than basically praying that Marcello Zuna comes

493
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,120
Speaker 2: up and hits a three run homer, right.

494
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: And I saw some pretty out of pocket discourse about

495
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,480
Speaker 1: Sean murphyver the weekend before the home run, and yeah,

496
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 1: he was not that good this season in like thirty

497
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,760
Speaker 1: seven plait appearances. And he was awful in September of

498
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:50,360
Speaker 1: last year. I mean you said second half. I looked

499
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,200
Speaker 1: the numbers today. It really was September where he was bad.

500
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 1: Like he was actually pretty good in July and August.

501
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 1: Last year. He wasn't as Goes he was in the

502
00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:59,720
Speaker 1: first half, but he was still like an above average

503
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,040
Speaker 1: hitter until September, where he just kind of was awful.

504
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:03,200
Speaker 1: He might have been heard at the end of the season.

505
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,400
Speaker 1: You never want to guess that. But if you combine

506
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 1: September of last year and this season entirely for him

507
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,320
Speaker 1: so far, it's less than one hundred play appearances where

508
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 1: he's actually struggled, and yeah, that matters, But like it's

509
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 1: a hundre play appearances, I don't really worry about that

510
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 1: too much. And look, maybe he's never gonna be great again.

511
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm gonna go with

512
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: his record of performance, and I think he's pretty good.

513
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,800
Speaker 1: Sean Mark peeb was a starletable player even last year,

514
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 1: so I don't worry much. But it was good to see,

515
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,400
Speaker 1: to your point that he homered in that game, even

516
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: though there wasn't a lot going on in the positive

517
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,959
Speaker 1: realm on Saturday. By the way, in between Saturday and Sunday,

518
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 1: how about your emergency podcast day you, Scott.

519
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 2: I will say this, Brad, and I hope I did

520
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,200
Speaker 2: all right on the solo show. It is not easy

521
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 2: to record a solo show. I know you do it

522
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 2: quite a bit. I know Sean Coleman on this feed

523
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 2: does it quite a bit. It is you all do

524
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,400
Speaker 2: a fantastic job doing solo episodes, because it's pretty hard

525
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 2: to talk basically to yourself or any length of period

526
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,679
Speaker 2: about a topic. It was something I had never done before,

527
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 2: and you know, it was exciting on Saturday when it

528
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 2: was coming out that Hirston Waldrip was being called up,

529
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 2: it was definitely exciting, and I hope folks had a

530
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 2: chance to listen to that mini breakdown over the weekend.

531
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, you look up and you think you've been talking

532
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: for two hours, and it's like you're eight minutes into

533
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,080
Speaker 1: your solo podcast and it's like yeah.

534
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,160
Speaker 2: And inevitably you're like fighting a sneeze in minute six

535
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,399
Speaker 2: of it, and it's like, oh, man, do I keep going?

536
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,119
Speaker 2: Do I edit this out? It's inevitably the dog starts

537
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 2: barking or the mailman hits well, there's always something.

538
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:35,639
Speaker 3: Right I am.

539
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,240
Speaker 1: I am glad you were able to do that. I

540
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,280
Speaker 1: didn't mean to leave you out to dry. But I

541
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 1: was not even in distance of my computer, which hardly

542
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:45,879
Speaker 1: ever happens. But I was out of pocket. Sean was

543
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:47,639
Speaker 1: out of pocket. Stephen is in DC, and it was like,

544
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,400
Speaker 1: all right, Scott, it's either you were nothing my friend,

545
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: go ahead and do it. And you know, you did great.

546
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: But that's sort of a tradition point talking about hurst Water,

547
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,040
Speaker 1: but a little bit because he of course debuted on Sunday,

548
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 1: they actually kept Schwellenbach up and he's going to pitch

549
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,560
Speaker 1: it seems like on Wednesday, which is talking point that

550
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 1: we'll talk about in a second. But you know, it

551
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 1: was obviously two polls first and Waldrop the first three

552
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,000
Speaker 1: innings and then after that. So I'll see it up

553
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 1: for you. What did what did you make of his start?

554
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,400
Speaker 1: Because I think it's the easiest thing in the world

555
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,119
Speaker 1: to be like, he looked good and they didn't. But

556
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 1: maybe the next step down from that, what did you

557
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 1: make of the top prospects debut in the major leagues?

558
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 2: It was very encouraging those first three innings, quite a

559
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 2: bit of swing and miss. He only walked one. And

560
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,760
Speaker 2: not only was there there was just one strikeout, but

561
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 2: there were a couple of infield pop flies, which in

562
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 2: the eyes of the advanced metrics I believe they basically

563
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,560
Speaker 2: credit infield pop flies as essentially a strikeout because there's

564
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 2: like a ninety five plus percent chance that it's going

565
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 2: to be an out. And then he also kept the

566
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:55,639
Speaker 2: ball on the ground. I think he had three or

567
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 2: four balls that he kept on the infield dirt, including

568
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 2: one of which was a double play. The brain turned

569
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:05,120
Speaker 2: so for three innings the kind of ominously, I tweeted

570
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 2: that the Nationals had not gotten a ball to the

571
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,199
Speaker 2: outfield through the first three innings of Waldrop's debut, and

572
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 2: then it all just kind of fell apart in the

573
00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 2: fourth inning. It just, you know, there were concerns, I

574
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 2: think valid ones that Hirston, being less than a year

575
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,479
Speaker 2: removed from pitching in college, that he still has a

576
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 2: considerable way to go before he can be a top

577
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 2: end or even middle end starting pitcher in the major leagues.

578
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 2: And I think we saw some of that as things

579
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 2: unraveled in the fourth inning.

580
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,199
Speaker 1: Yes, and I think that, look, we always you and

581
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: I or we're not prospect experts. We're not watching every

582
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,679
Speaker 1: pitch of person and Waldrope in the minor leagues. But

583
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 1: you know, it kind of mirrored what I had heard

584
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 1: from people who are smarter than I am, like Garrett Spain,

585
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,440
Speaker 1: who's been on the show before, from Battery Power, people

586
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 1: that watch the minor leag system very closely, and they've

587
00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 1: kind of worried or wondered aloud of the slider in

588
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 1: particular not being that good. And he's kind of been

589
00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: a two pitch pitcher a lot of the time, and

590
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 1: that's more of a reef, a relief profile. And look,

591
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 1: I know Strider has been able to do it. He's

592
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:10,959
Speaker 1: been he's sort of the outlier of being able to

593
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 1: actually live with two pitches at times. But kind of

594
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,640
Speaker 1: the worry there is that can you go deep into

595
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,240
Speaker 1: a game, can you get through a lineup two or

596
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,440
Speaker 1: three times if you only have two pitches, and you

597
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,000
Speaker 1: know it's never going to be as convenient as convenient

598
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 1: or you know, linear as it was today. But you know,

599
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,360
Speaker 1: first three innings face the minimum, that's one time through

600
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 1: the order. He breathes through it. The splitter is just disgusting,

601
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: by the way. And then in the fourth inning he

602
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 1: gets two outs and then a decent slider I thought

603
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,160
Speaker 1: for the first run, and then the next pitch literally

604
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:42,920
Speaker 1: is through at home run. And then I don't know

605
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 1: if it was composure or just noise or whatever, but

606
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,240
Speaker 1: he unraveled after that, you know, two walks, et cetera.

607
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,320
Speaker 1: Like he was not good after that. Uh, and again

608
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: you want to we can't know how much of that

609
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,960
Speaker 1: had to do with just like inexperience or whatever. But

610
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: there was a little bit of you know, there was

611
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 1: certainly no evidence against the theory that he just isn't

612
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: quite there yet yet with his secondaries allah basically anything

613
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 1: beyond his fastball and a splitter, and we'll see if

614
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:11,400
Speaker 1: they if he's still up for the next start or whatever.

615
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,440
Speaker 1: But I liked what I saw. I don't think that

616
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: if all you saw was the final line, you might

617
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 1: have thought, oh, he got killed. If you watch the start.

618
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,360
Speaker 1: It felt like everyone that watched the start had kind

619
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 1: of the same reaction of like, man, he looked great

620
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: and then he didn't, and that's okay. It's just that

621
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 1: maybe it's a reminder that he's not quite there yet.

622
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 1: But I think the Braves probably know that. I mean,

623
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 1: I'd be surprised if they thought he was a finished

624
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: product as he arrived, or he would have been up sooner.

625
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, that fourth inning was very much his Hey rookie,

626
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:47,320
Speaker 2: welcome to the NFL. Yeah kind of where I mean,

627
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 2: everything was going swimmingly. They kept showing his family and

628
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,560
Speaker 2: his parents and what a cool moment for them to

629
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 2: be able to be there and celebratory, and everything was

630
00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,120
Speaker 2: going well and then within a span of about fifteen pitches,

631
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 2: everything went to hell, and I think that's going to

632
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,880
Speaker 2: be part of the learning process for Herston. Nothing has

633
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 2: changed in the long term outlook for him even after

634
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 2: the not so great fourth inning today, and I am

635
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 2: curious to see what the Braves do. You know an

636
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 2: interesting note about the bullpen, so by keeping Spencer Schwellenbach up,

637
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 2: the Braves currently have six starters in the rotation and

638
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 2: only seven relievers, and generally teams want those eight relievers

639
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:34,200
Speaker 2: there because bullpens get used so heavily in this modern era.

640
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 2: But coming into Sunday, Braves relievers were actually fourth fewest

641
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 2: in innings pitched because the starters have done generally a

642
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,960
Speaker 2: really good job of working deeper into games, so it's

643
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 2: not like the bullpen has just been taxed every single night.

644
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 2: So maybe they are going to opt to go with

645
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 2: a six man rotation, maybe give Schwellenbach a chance on Wednesday,

646
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 2: and then potentially give Waldrip a chance to face the

647
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,720
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay Rays at home. I had truest on probably

648
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 2: Saturday or Sunday next weekend, so we will see. They

649
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 2: could also opt to just call up a reliever, but

650
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 2: I am I would like to see Waldrop get a

651
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 2: couple of starts in the majors, just so he can

652
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 2: get a taste of what it's like up here, and

653
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: if it's not working out, then you very easily can

654
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 2: send him back to Grunette and just kind of say, hey,

655
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 2: you learned what you have to work on, keep working,

656
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 2: and at some point we'll give you a call again.

657
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, that reminds me. I lost I lost the bet

658
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,480
Speaker 1: you teed me up earlier last week on the show

659
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: about over Under. I think it was a July thirty

660
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 1: first or something.

661
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 2: I lost that.

662
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,239
Speaker 1: I lost that bet on that one pretty quickly, by

663
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: the way.

664
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 2: I was, I was surprised. Admittedly I was too a

665
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:44,440
Speaker 2: little bit only.

666
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:46,040
Speaker 1: I mean part of that, and we're gonna have to

667
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 1: talk talk about all of it, but part of that

668
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 1: is that they had a listed probable picture on Sunday.

669
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,360
Speaker 1: It was like that was not the spot where they

670
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 1: had this TBD that was looming that everyone knew it

671
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 1: could be a call up. They pushed Max Free back

672
00:31:57,480 --> 00:31:59,800
Speaker 1: two days so they could do this on Sunday. Yeah,

673
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 1: and I think it's pretty clear at this point the

674
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 1: Braves are going to do whatever they can to push

675
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,360
Speaker 1: back their starters, and by bringing up Waldrip on Sunday,

676
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:13,080
Speaker 1: they give everybody one or two extra days of rest,

677
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,240
Speaker 1: with the off day on Monday heading to Baltimore. I

678
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,080
Speaker 1: think that's going to be the case. I know people

679
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,240
Speaker 1: don't love when they go to a fifth or sixth.

680
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,360
Speaker 2: Starter, but at the end of the day, it's early June.

681
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,440
Speaker 2: They are firmly in the playoff mix. As we kind

682
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 2: of outlined, I think they're going to have to be

683
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 2: smart and their preference is to give the Big four

684
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 2: an extra day whenever they can, even if that means

685
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 2: it's going to be Schwellenbach or Bryce Elder or one

686
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,480
Speaker 2: of the other arms waiting in Gwinett. It feels like

687
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,480
Speaker 2: that's really what the Braves want to do, especially over

688
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 2: the next maybe two months until the trade deadline, on

689
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 2: the opportunity to add another starter to the rotation.

690
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,840
Speaker 1: To bring things full circle. You could read that as

691
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,440
Speaker 1: Alex not panicking, you know what I mean. They're not.

692
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,840
Speaker 1: If they were in a panic, you could say they're

693
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: going to throw their guys every fifth day and you know,

694
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 1: come what may. Basically they're taking this long term view.

695
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,560
Speaker 1: You know, obviously it's probably more about, you know, protecting

696
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 1: guys arms, but going with the sixth me rotation for

697
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: a week, or giving Ronaldo Lopez an extra day almost

698
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 1: every start, giving Max Freed an extra two days here,

699
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 1: giving Chris Sales some extra time could be read and

700
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:27,640
Speaker 1: I actually end reading in a little bit like this,

701
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,200
Speaker 1: where like Alex is, you know, managing the team for

702
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 1: the full season and not for June, which you could

703
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,640
Speaker 1: say that doesn't light up with the team struggling right now.

704
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 1: But you know, if you're taking the level headed approach

705
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 1: that I often take, I don't think I would guess

706
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 1: that somewhere in the analytical sheets of the front office

707
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,080
Speaker 1: they're thinking, this is not going to be a team

708
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:51,120
Speaker 1: that's going to have to scratch and claw its way

709
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. Again, divisions different now because Philly is

710
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,400
Speaker 1: because Philly is where they is where they are, But

711
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: this reads to me like they're not particularly word missing

712
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:01,960
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I mean, worried is the wrong word, but

713
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,320
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Projection wise, we're like, it's like, okay, guys, yeah,

714
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 1: it'd be great if we have Max on the mound today,

715
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,040
Speaker 1: but how about we have everybody healthy in three months? Yeah?

716
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,480
Speaker 2: Now they are playing the long game. Yes, is probably

717
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 2: how I would think of it. Right now, it's June.

718
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:19,359
Speaker 2: Maybe they continue this for another month or two, and

719
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 2: if they, if a point arises where they can no

720
00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 2: longer have the luxury of pushing starters back, maybe in

721
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,359
Speaker 2: August and September they lock in five starters and and

722
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,399
Speaker 2: they go with that every single week. Yes, but again

723
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:37,960
Speaker 2: I think with the age and injury and workload questions

724
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 2: that basically everybody in the rotation has right now, it

725
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 2: only makes sense to play this smartly and give guys

726
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 2: an extra day of rest.

727
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:47,040
Speaker 1: You take the words out of my mouth on that

728
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,280
Speaker 1: one I was gonna I was in my head formulate

729
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,920
Speaker 1: how I was going to say. You know, other than Max,

730
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:55,959
Speaker 1: the other three guys who are counting on have either

731
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,879
Speaker 1: age or converted reliever questions, So there's even more reason

732
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,919
Speaker 1: to take it easy. And also, you know, look, maybe

733
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,080
Speaker 1: Waldrip is great in his next start and never really's rotation.

734
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,839
Speaker 1: That's very much possible, but until then we won't know.

735
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,080
Speaker 1: Speaking of which is we get out of here. They

736
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,440
Speaker 1: have these three games in Baltimore this week. Baltimore, as

737
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: you sort of said earlier, is awesome. They're currently leading

738
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:20,720
Speaker 1: all of baseball and home runs and slowing percentage. Okay,

739
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:22,520
Speaker 1: Max Freed's awesome.

740
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 2: Ronaldal A.

741
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 1: Lopez has been really good. Schwellenbach is currently the projected

742
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,200
Speaker 1: starter for Wednesday. Now they could change that, but not

743
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,839
Speaker 1: often do they announce the other guys and then make

744
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 1: a change in the middle of it, Like, for instance,

745
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,440
Speaker 1: if they wanted to be really cagy, they would have

746
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,239
Speaker 1: gone TVD on Wednesday, which they are allowed to do,

747
00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:45,440
Speaker 1: and they didn't. And I don't think they're going to

748
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 1: move Lopez up. So it seems to me, based on

749
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,960
Speaker 1: logic and history, that they're going to go with Schwellenbach.

750
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,040
Speaker 1: How do you feel about that for his first two starts,

751
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,080
Speaker 1: especially going into Baltimore against an aforementioned ausome offense.

752
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be a challenge, for sure. I've

753
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:04,400
Speaker 2: been encouraged by Schwellenbach's stuff. We talked about this or

754
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,840
Speaker 2: I talked about this pretty extensively with Sean on the

755
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:11,480
Speaker 2: show a couple of nights ago. Now, clearly Schwellenbach has

756
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,839
Speaker 2: the stuff to be a successful starter in the major

757
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 2: leagues at some level. Maybe not top end starter, but

758
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 2: back end for sure. But he's still very clearly learning

759
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,160
Speaker 2: how to attack big league hitters, and Baltimore's got a

760
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:30,239
Speaker 2: lineup as good as basically anyone Baltimore. Every day they

761
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,560
Speaker 2: call up a top ten prospect, it feels like, and

762
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:36,240
Speaker 2: they've been doing that for two years now, and they're

763
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,200
Speaker 2: very legitimate World Series contenders. It's going to be a

764
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 2: tough game on Wednesday and Thursday. But let's hope we

765
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,880
Speaker 2: kind of talked about this series earlier. Let's hope it

766
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 2: rejuvenizes the Braves a little bit and wakes them up

767
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,320
Speaker 2: a tough team on the horizon, and then this weekend,

768
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,560
Speaker 2: the Braves will finally get home. This has been a

769
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 2: very long road trip and it's not gone particularly well,

770
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,000
Speaker 2: but three games at home against the Tampa Bay Rays,

771
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 2: who are not great. This is probably the worst the

772
00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 2: Rays have been in a couple of years. But just

773
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,239
Speaker 2: the way that team operates, it's going to be a

774
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 2: tough series no matter what. We'll see if the Braves

775
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,680
Speaker 2: give Waldrop another chance to start.

776
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, missing a great Tampa team is probably helpful, but

777
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:21,239
Speaker 1: you know, they're still not a bad baseball team. I

778
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,720
Speaker 1: wouldn't say. You do have the day off on Monday,

779
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:26,200
Speaker 1: which we've kind of talked around a few times. Thursday

780
00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 1: is an early afternoon game, so a morning game for

781
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,759
Speaker 1: mister Coleman out there in Arizona. Get your coffee ready

782
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 1: for that one. I'm sure you already be at work,

783
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:35,680
Speaker 1: but it is what it is. A nice ten am

784
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,239
Speaker 1: start for you on Thursday in the middle of the week.

785
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:39,840
Speaker 1: Always a welcome side. Sure.

786
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, breakfast with the Braves.

787
00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,400
Speaker 1: So yeah, interesting week here on the horizon. You know,

788
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 1: obviously we went a big picture more than we usually

789
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:50,080
Speaker 1: would on this particular episode. But look, they didn't even

790
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 1: get some wins. We all understand this, and wouldn't it

791
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,560
Speaker 1: be kind of on brand in some respects of them

792
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,080
Speaker 1: to go in and win the series in Baltimore. I'm

793
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 1: not saying it's going to happen, but maybe that would be.

794
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 1: Maybe it's much for thinking that they can kind of

795
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 1: turn it on here and this would be the point

796
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,040
Speaker 1: when we can we kind of point to but a

797
00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:06,560
Speaker 1: challenge for sure, and look, if they loot, man, I'll

798
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,440
Speaker 1: say this right now. After all, you know, Braves fans,

799
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 1: brave social media, Twitter, Facebook, et cetera. Always goes it

800
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 1: always goes crazy on off days. If they go this

801
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:22,520
Speaker 1: three game losing streak to Washington off day Monday, and

802
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,799
Speaker 1: then Max loses on Tuesday, with Schwalmach going on Wednesday. Oh,

803
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,279
Speaker 1: it's gonna get a toxic. Gonna hurry and I'll be

804
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,680
Speaker 1: back into my defending posture as I always am. But anyway, Scott,

805
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:37,799
Speaker 1: that's all we have today, I think. On the podcast, Yeah,

806
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: we can keep going, but we probably shouldn't. Anything you

807
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:42,160
Speaker 1: want to get out there and plug. We did have

808
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 1: a very full week on the podcast last week. Again

809
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,280
Speaker 1: I mentioned Earler about six shows, including Scott's solo debuts.

810
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:49,719
Speaker 1: If you missed any of that, we would encourage you

811
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:51,480
Speaker 1: to listen to that. Anything else going on, Scott.

812
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of good stuff here on the show.

813
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,240
Speaker 2: As we get deeper into June and maybe July, perhaps

814
00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 2: we'll start getting some trade rumors or maybe an action trade.

815
00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:04,400
Speaker 2: Who knows what's such a top and middle heavy standings

816
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,520
Speaker 2: right now, Maybe they'll force the hands of some of

817
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,919
Speaker 2: the sellers. But regardless, a lot of good stuff coming

818
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:12,240
Speaker 2: on the show. Hopefully going to have a nice guest

819
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,320
Speaker 2: in the middle of the week as my professional tease,

820
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 2: so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

821
00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:19,160
Speaker 2: And Brad, I'm sure you and I will be again

822
00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:19,920
Speaker 2: together soon.

823
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:22,759
Speaker 1: And the special guest is not me. We wouldn't be

824
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,160
Speaker 1: a guest in the show, so yes, hopefully that comes

825
00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,640
Speaker 1: to fruition. But certainly certainly subscribe to this podcast. If

826
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:29,960
Speaker 1: you've made it to the end, you were probably a

827
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,640
Speaker 1: diehard already and we definitely appreciate that. But go ahead

828
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:36,000
Speaker 1: and subscribe and tell your friends about the show. We

829
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,000
Speaker 1: are earnestly trying to grow the podcast as well as

830
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:40,920
Speaker 1: the Foul to Her to our network in general, so

831
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 1: it'd be very helpful if you've found Brace fans in

832
00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:45,080
Speaker 1: your life and share the podcast with them. I know,

833
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: as someone who has lived in Atlanta for thirty plus years,

834
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,200
Speaker 1: how many Braves fans there are, and a lot of

835
00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:51,799
Speaker 1: them should be able to start a podcasts if they're

836
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 1: not already, So go ahead and the work for us.

837
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 1: As for Scott's, we'll sign off right now. Stay tuned,

838
00:39:57,680 --> 00:39:59,400
Speaker 1: we'll have more come this week and we'll see you

839
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:00,239
Speaker 1: all sup.