Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello, everyone, Welcome back to the hammerh Territory Podcast, Episode
two five seven. I am your host, Brad Roland, coming
to you on a Wednesday evening here at the end
of August, and I'm joined. I almost say as I
always have not lately. It's been a while, Scott, Scott
Coleman's here, how are you, sir?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hello Brad. It has been a little while, at least
for our standard. And I got to say, listening to
you and our old co host Eric cole on the
pod over the weekend, it brought back memories. I think you.
I'm sure you sent me the file, but on my
desktop I have the audio file of Game six of
(01:00):
the World Series in twenty twenty one, where you, Eric
and I did the most celebratory podcast we will ever do,
Braves winning the World Series. I have that file. If
folks want to go find that episode. It still is
on the internet on the Battery Power podcast feed. But
you know, it brought back memories and just nice to
hear Eric's voice and maybe maybe brighter days for the
(01:22):
Braves than what we're currently in. But nonetheless plenty to
talk about on this edition of the show tonight. I
mean the Braves of maybe they're out of the playoff race,
but there is plenty going on.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, there is plenty of going on. And of course
I think Eric comments that you were ducking him on Sunday.
You were traveling, I was traveling. Spoiler, I'll tell you're
traveling again. So we haven't talked in two weeks essentially,
which is an eternity for you and I. And it's
going to be a while after this too. It seems
like it's the season it was. I guess it's better
(01:56):
only one aspect that the Bridge are not winning and
that we were going to have to do this travel anyway,
like it wasn't like we were gonna We're just changing
our plans because the Braves are out of it. We
are responsible podcasters, but we will cover it as we
cover it. And yeah, twenty nine gifts left in the season.
The finale of the season is a month from people
listening to this on Thursday. We're recording late late wenes
(02:16):
a night because weren't listening to this, I'm sure on Thursday,
one month from today, September twenty eighth is the finale.
We are down the stretch. We are one month for
mating in the season. And you know, first of all,
please subscribe to the podcast. We are Hambor Territory. Check
us out, subscribe. We're always here, rain or shine. But
(02:36):
you allude to it. It's been a little bit interesting recently.
And the way to talk about this team, because I
said this the other day, I got in trouble. I
this is the way that I talk I said that
the Braves chose to or decided to wait until they
were out of it to play well. And someone will
say they didn't just they didn't choose them. Thank you.
I understand they didn't choose that, but it is what
(02:57):
it is. But they they're really playing extremely well right now.
We'll get into it. But the Braves are thirteen and
five in the last eighteen games, and the offense has
been like remarkably good for about the last six weeks
or so, seven weeks or so. How does that make
you feel, Scott? Now that we've done the tekathon stuff
(03:19):
like that debate still rages, but the Braves are now
in a position where they're not going to be picking
at least entering the lottery in the top two anymore.
That's kind of gone. How are we feeling about this?
Little mini surge that they're going on in August.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It kind of felt predictable, didn't it. Like as terrible
as this baseball team was the first three or four
months of the season, I think we all knew deep
down that the talent level was far better than that.
God knows. They could not win a close ball game.
They were just terrible in one run games, which is
something that tends to balance out over the course of
(03:52):
the season. The back into the bullpen, blowing up, all
of the things that we have lamented on the show
for months, and it just felt like devitably this lineup
in particular was going to start hitting at some point.
Of course, it's coming now, as the entire starting rotation
is hurt and the team is well beyond the chance
at any kind of a postseason. It's fitting. And I
guess in some ways it's maybe the cherry on top
(04:14):
of this year. I guess, if you're trying to be
optimistic and glass half full, say, okay, maybe this offense
has figured some things out going into twenty twenty six.
Maybe the pitching staff, with some of the emergencies at
first and Waldrip is you know, another reinforcement next year
and let's hope they add some external pieces as well
this offseason. So maybe if you squint, you can come
(04:36):
up with some positive talking points going forward. But yeah,
I mean, I don't think anybody actually thought this was
a bottom five team in baseball, but clearly there's still
a lot of things this team needs to get figured out.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, for sure, Like we'll be talking about some legitimately
positive quality stats and nuggets and things on this podcast,
And just to give the blanket, now, we understand it
does not make up for everything else that's happened. It
does not mean that everything is fixed all of the above,
But look, the Marlins are a cure sometimes for this
(05:09):
Braves team. We'll get into some specifics of what transpire
the last couple of days in between our podcast episodes,
but the Braves just walloped the Marlins back to back
days on Tuesday and Wednesday. They're five to one against
the Marlins in those eighteen games. Four of those five
were total blowouts against Miami. That helps to pad stuff
a little bit. But the offense, I mean, it's been ridiculous, honestly,
(05:31):
Like the sample size is not that big, but they
have SCO one hundred and seventeen runs in the aforementioned
eighteen games. That's six and a half runs a game.
That's ludicrous if you don't know, like league leaders average
like five point run five point two runs per game.
The twenty twenty three Braves, the best offense basically of
all time, averaged about five point seven runs per game,
(05:54):
and the Braves have put up six and a half
runs now for it's always three weeks, but it just
kind of tells you how good they have been in
that sample. One more fun one from Mark Bowman. The
Raves have always scored ten runs or more eleven times
this year, which is not that many times for this
deep end of the season. But five of those eleven
times are in the last fifteen days. So basically half
(06:17):
of the output of explosive offense has happened in the
last two weeks. Crazy, And you.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Know it's not hard to figure out why, because, I mean,
we were going to talk about Jerks and Profar, I
maybe we just talked about this guy. His impact on
the top of the order has been so dynamic. Profars
on the season has been even better than he was
last year with the Padres, where he had that career
breakout and was a legitimate Silver Slugger and All Star,
(06:44):
one of the best hitting players in all of the
National League. Profar's impact to the top of the lineup
has been felt. It seems like Ronald Acunya Junior is
starting to feel a little better, more like himself. Matt
Olsen's starting to hit for some power. Michael Harris was
unbelievable and then had a two for thirty stretcher. He
wasn't very good. But now Michael Harris is hitting, Ozzy
Albey's is hitting again so again, and it's like it's
(07:08):
the back of the baseball card thing. A lot of
track record with these hitters, and when you get the
production and you just have players readily available other than
I guess Austin Riiley at this point in the year,
you can see why this lineup was not just by us,
not just by the Braves podcasters, but by like everyone
in baseball thought this was gonna be a good lineup,
and it just didn't click until basically the season was over.
(07:30):
And now the pitching staff is being held together by
Scotch tape and it is what it is, but it
is It's been encouraging to see these guys finally figure
some things out and string together big crooked numbers. Because
you just had that stat you could probably count on
one hand the number of times the Braves did that
from the end of March until.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
The All Star break. Yeah, it was like one hundred
games or so where they only had like four times
this were ten runs. And now they've done it five
times in two weeks. You mentioned Profar. We'll talk abut
him a little bit. Now we talked about Michael Harris
a ton. We'll come back to him, I'm sure a
little bit on this podcast. He's been a theme now
for the last couple of weeks. Ozzy always will be
a theme later on the podcast. But Profar is a
good like encapsulation of what has happened, his impact, not
(08:14):
individually but also on the lineup. Like you mentioned, but
since the All Star Break, the Braves are third in
Major League Baseball and run scored. Now, the All Star
break is an arbitrary endpoint. It's just by nature, it's
an easy place to divide the season. And Profar came
back a little bit before that, but just a little
bit before that. For the most part, he's been back
roughly that long and he has been a massive catalyst
(08:36):
for that. He hit two home runs today on Wednesday.
And in August, it's only it's four weeks now, that's
a full month almost. In August, he has nine home runs,
which is a ton for a guy who's not known
for home run hitting. He has twenty three walks sixteen strikeouts.
That's the ratio you want, more walks than strikeouts, and
(08:57):
an OPS over eleven hundred this month and it looks
like that like he has dialed in, Like it's absolutely
dialed in, and the numbers for the season look like
a star like. I'm not saying it's going to continue,
but he's been playing. He's been hitting like a star
now for six seven, eight weeks.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, on the season now, and that includes the first
couple of games where Profar I think he went like
one for sixteen or something.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yeah, he was quite bad pre suspension, which weighs ways
some stuff down.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So on the whole, Profar has an eight seventy seven
OPS and a one hundred and forty five WRC plus
And as a reminder, one hundred is is league average,
so one forty five is a fantastic number. And even
let's if you take out the first week of the
season where he didn't do a whole lot, maybe because
he knew he had a PED suspension looming at that point.
(09:48):
Maybe they were holding out of prayer that somehow he
could get out on appeal. But regardless, since returning, I
think on July second, Profar has a nine hundred OPS
with a one hundred and six DWRC plus one hundred
and sixty WRC plus is closer to like what Ronald
Acuna Junior did the year he won MVP and what
Matt Olsen did the year he was fourth in MVP voting.
(10:11):
I don't think anyone is necessarily saying that that's the
kind of hitter Jerson Profar is going to be moving forward,
But I mean, we probably said it a million times
on the show. How does Profar look in the second
half after getting popped for peds was maybe like the
storyline of the second half because the Braves, Oh, this
guy legitimate money for two years, and they also just
flat out need him to be good because that's the
(10:33):
reason they brought him in to be a lead off
hitter or at the very least the top of the
order hitter in the first place. Yeah, the lot just
makes so much more sense with that skill set. Even
if the power levels off a little bit, and it
probably will, the walks, the lack of strikeouts, professional approach,
all those things, and he unlocks some stuff. So not
everything's fixed, but certainly it's been a lot more fun
(10:55):
to watch the Braves the last few weeks, objectively speaking,
the offense rolling the way it has been. We'll get
into some more of the game action later on in
the podcast, also on Tuesday Baseball in baseball fashion, as
I'll let you vote on them later on Scott Bachley Baseball,
and that's in the schedule the way they did. We'll
get into the schedule, some thoughts on next year's schedule,
et cetera. We'll have much more of that coming up,
(11:16):
but first we have our segment from Draft Kings and
a player spotlight were sponsro today by the Pick six
app from Draft Kings. All you have to do is
pick more or less on the staff for two or
more of your favorite players and you are in the
mix for cash prizes with Draft Kings and Pick six.
And today we are going to go off the board
(11:37):
a little bit. Scott, I gotta be honest with you,
not exactly a major name that we'll be talking about today,
but it is Tyler Kinley.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Remember Tyler Kinley. Four weeks ago the Braves made Bras
did very little of the deadline. We've made fun of
that in some respects. They brought Tyler Kinley from the Rockies.
It's a relief pitcher. It was a Bible opportunity. But
spoiler at Scott It's actually been quite good for Tyler
Kinley for the four weeks with the Braves, and he's
controllable long term, always beyond this season. So it actually
(12:07):
kind of matters that taler Ki was pitching pretty wall
to bullpin.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
So I think everybody was maybe mildly confused while the
Braves went out and traded for a reliever instead of
trading away a reliever at the deadline. But if there's
one thing I trust Alex and Thopolis in this front
office to do for the most part, is to identify relievers.
And I know at the start of the year this
year's bullpen was not the greatest. I would also probably
(12:31):
counter argue that they could not have necessarily foreseen Rice
lacy As falling off a mountain cliff for two months
and Joe Hammen has getting heard in all of those things.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
But I digress.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
But Tyler Kinley has been good, and there were some
interesting parts of his profile. Getting a picture out of
course Field and just the overall stink of the Rockies
is always a worthwhile gamble. And he has a sub
one ERA over the last month since coming to the Braves.
And for Kinley, he has a five million dollar option
(13:04):
for twenty twenty six. When they traded for him, it
kind of felt like, Okay, they gave up nothing to
get him. This is going to be a two month
trial run. And if he keeps us up the last month,
why not. I mean it would be basically four point
twenty five million dollars is the difference in salary because
he has a buyout for four million bucks. If he
throws anything like he has thrown recently, I think the
(13:26):
Braves are going to bring him back for a middle
relief role in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, a guy his thirty is not a huge upside play,
but a relatively bargain deal if it's his solar lever
and he looks like he looks like that, and look,
there's more to life than ERA, for sure. You don't
want to value out an Era over eleven appearances, but
the FIP is in the twos sub three FIP. The
underlying stuff looks decent. They've had success buying low from
(13:52):
Rockies relievers trying to find something that they like. So
we're not declaring that it's definitely gonna happen that he'll
be here long term or even here for next year.
But it's a quiet by low And the whole thought
process was basically like you just said, if it works,
it works, and so far it's working through a month.
So there you go, SHOs Tyler Kimbley, who's done well
since arriving from Colorado. Now before we move on a
(14:18):
couple of selections on the pick six options. This time
I took the liberty. I made Scott who this last time,
I did it this time. Some NFL options for Week one.
I am going with Christian McCaffrey more than zero point
five touchdowns, so basically too scoring touchdown against Seattle in
Week one. I always feel about Christian McAfrey scoring when
(14:38):
he's healthy, and so far he's healthy. The big thing
with him is not his health. He's healthy right now,
give me Christian McCaffrey and Just for Scott, I am
taking Indianapolis Colt's running back Jonathan Taylor more than zero
four five touchdowns, so basically to score against Miami Week one, Scott,
I have to ask you, are you okay with john
and Taylor's short touchdowns? That's part of pick six.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
If you were an NFL coach and Daniel Jones was
going to be your quarterback, what are you going to
do a lot of If you have a running back
like Jonathan Taylor.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You are going to run the football, Scot, run.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
The damn ball. Yes, so I like it. Christian McCaffrey
when healthy is an unbelievable talent. Jonathan Taylor is going
to get the rock a million times. And I mean
we're like a week and a half away from NFL,
which is probably a welcome distraction for the football fans
to tune into this show because we all know, sadly
September is not going to be quite the month we
were all hoping it would be for the Atlanta Braves.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
That's right and normal football today, but we will say
down on the draftings. Pick six app right now and
use code foul. That is code foul. If your new
customer play five dollars, give me fifty dollars in bonus
picks instantly ride the upside, where a few bucks are
turn into a bag. Only on Draft Kings Pick six
the crown is.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yours gambling problem called one eight hundred. Gambler Help is
available for a problem gambling called eight eight eight seven
eight nine seven seven seven seven, or is at CCPG
dot orgon Connecticut. Must be eighteen and over age and
eligibility restrictions vary by jurisdiction. Pick six down available everywhere,
including New York and Ontario. Void were prohibited one pre
new customer bonus awarded as none withdrawable. Pick six bonus
picks that expire in fourteen days eight twenty four to
(16:14):
twenty five at eleven fifty nine pm Eastern time. Terms
at Pick six dot DraftKings dot Com slash promos.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
All right, Scott, Before we dig into the schedule, a
couple of notes on the last two days of blowout
Victories If you missed it. The most recent show in
this feed was Monday from our guys Sean Steven. Listen
to that show, Watch that show on YouTube, Subscribe, tell
your friends, et cetera. But since then, an eleven to
two win on Tuesday and a twelve to one win
(16:43):
on Wednesday. Doesn't get more dominant than that over two
days Tuesday, first it was two to two going to
the ninth on Tuesday, and then the Braves scored nine
runs at the ninth inning, six hits, three walks, and
then a three run home run by Ozzie Albi's and
suddenly it went from a close game but the prayers
were like in danger of losing to a legitimate blot victory.
(17:04):
I think Ozzy's gotta be a story. He hit two
home runs in a game on Tuesday, and this kind
of blows on. I mean, I'm not sure, I'm sure
you saw this set. It blew my mind that he
had not hit two home runs in a game since
July fourth, twenty twenty three. That's twenty five, twenty six
months ago. And he wasn't like hurt for like paths,
(17:25):
Like it wasn't like one of those where Kunya has
some weird stat because he missed like a lot of
a season, Probay's had some injuries, but like he hasn't
been like out for that long.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
That's a long time. Well and maybe like the craziest
thing with the two home run game for Ozzy Alby's
is that one of them came as a right handed hitter,
which was the first right handed home run of the year.
That's for Ozzy Alby's. This dude was was legitimately Mike Trout,
(17:53):
like Mike Trout's prime was essentially what Ozzy Alby's production
level was as a switch hitter on the right side.
And he went this entire year without a homer. Really
makes me think that after he broke his wrist last season,
maybe he still just does not have all of that
strength back. He's, of course a small guy, so every
ounce matters and really good. He had another homer on Wednesday,
(18:17):
and you know, we're going to talk about Ozzy Alby's
here for a bit because he is a player who
I think is having a good enough second half to
feel more confident in bringing him back for next season, because, frankly,
before the All Star break where he started to figure
some things out, even though he is dirt cheap for
twenty twenty six, I think you could make a legitimate
argument for not bringing Ozzy Alby's back, not because of
(18:39):
the money and the contract, but just from a pure
performance standpoint. I think he has maybe put some of
those concerns behind him and by all means keep hitting
the home runs because that is how Ozzie gets home offensively,
so so often over his entire career.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
He does rely on power in a white people don't
always appreciate because of the size, but he is a
power hitter. That might seem but you're right. I mean,
he has a six hundred ops this year as a
right handed hitter. Like, that's that is insane for Ozzy
Albey's for comparison's sake, his career number and that includes
this season his career number as a right handed hitter
eighty three ops. Like he's been a star as a
(19:16):
right handed hitter for his entire career. Yeah, above nine
hundred before this season. Yeah, and last year was, you know,
in the nine hundred range. The year before that was
over one thousand. Like, he's consistently been a star from
the right side. This year not so much. But let's
just talk about it for a second. I thought it
was funny the timing because every like a month or so,
(19:38):
it seems that the OSSI option discourse like really pops
up again in full force on braves, Twitter or wherever,
and I think it happened like a Monday before he
had this three homer stretch in two games, because he
hit another home run today. Part of that was that
Mark Feinsen of MLB dot com wrote about all kinds
of options and he was one of them. But Vien
(19:59):
Sin wrote about it as if like it was a
pretty obvious pickup for the Braves. The way that he
phrased it was as follows, the three million dollar difference
between the biotic contract quote makes it very likely that
the Braves bring him back next season. It looks to bounce back.
End quote our old Power Demetrius Bell, who has been
a podcast guest for us. He's the manager, I think
the managing editor or editor of something at Battery Power.
(20:21):
Demetrius shouts to you. He wrote it up and got
some blowback, but his headline was that it was a
note brighter pickup. I don't share that sentiment. I've always
kind of leaned to the pickup. But okay, we're starting
to work to change our mind, Scott. But as of
August twenty seventh, you are the Braves. If season ends today,
(20:42):
there's an act of God and you have to choose
right now pick up or note pickup.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So I think it's important to note just before we
get into this conversation that the second base market this
offseason looks pretty terrible and now.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Look always does too, Like it's like, yeah, almost always terrible.
Between that and it's that in the biot right like
the two days we have. People always forget it's not
just seven million. They owe him a buyout number. That's
a big buyout number, which matters.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yes, So because of that, Glabor Torres, I believe is
like the only second baseman who's maybe going to hit
free agency. He's having a nice season with Detroit. But
besides that, there's nothing out there. And sure, like if
you feel that legitimately that like Katel Marte of the
Diamondbacks could actually be available in a trade, then sure
(21:33):
I would obviously take katel Marte every day of the
week on the Braves. We'll see if they can even
come close to matching a package for what it would
take to get him, assuming Arizona even is entertaining trading Marte,
even though there were some rumors in speculation a few
weeks ago. But to me, I think my preference is
to bring Ozzie Alby's back, it's so little money next
(21:56):
season and he has had a better second half, and
then put that money into getting a shortstop and getting
another starting pitcher for this rotation, because we know, God knows,
this rotation is not going to stay healthy for all
of twenty twenty six. We cannot possibly do another season
where Bryce Elder is going to make twenty five starts
and they're picking up every veteran with a pulse off
(22:18):
of the waiver wire. They can't do that next year.
And they also have to find a way to improve
shortstop because Nick Allen is legitimately the worst hitter by
like a considerable margin of players who play every single day.
I know the glove is great, but you just you
cannot have a player who's running like a five hundred
ops over the last couple of months. He just can't
(22:40):
do it, even if the glove is really good for
Nick Allen.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah, Nick Allen is currently slugging two forty nine for
the season while playing every single day, So that's not
gonna work. Max Freed.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Max Freed might have had a higher slugging percentage than
that when he was still hitting for the Braves.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah, whatever, We've all enjoyed Nick Allen's glove. You're right
about all the things you just said. But yeah, on
the Aussie front, Look, this is not a gospel number,
but Fangrafts has this value metric where it's basically like
what you are quote unquote worth, and it's by their
war metric entering today before we had a home run
to this, I'm sure I'm sure it's gone up from this.
(23:20):
Ozzie was already worth five point nine million this year,
despite how not very good he has been quite honestly,
So if you want to be like raw numbers, yeah,
there's some opportunity cost that will come up. That's why
you led with the market thing. That's a great point. Also,
I would note that the buyout number is like half
(23:42):
the salary. I mean, if there was no buyout and
it was just okay Ozzie for zero, cut Ozzie for zero,
or pay him seven million dollars, I would find it
to be a much more interesting discussion, honestly. But because
the buyout number is literally half the salary, it's like
they have to really really not want him on the
(24:02):
team to not pick him up to pick up the option.
And also there is a world in which you could
pick it up and try to trade him. No, I'm
not saying that's going to happen, but that's possible too,
to the point where I bet you if they I'm
not say you get a great haul for him, to
be very clear, but I bet you could pick that
option up and then put him on the trade block.
(24:24):
Someone would want him and just just a bio, just
a bible basically as a biolo. When a guy who's
still in his twenties, who has a record of being
a basically a star level player for multiple seasons, you.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Know, and you can also say that Ozzie's going to
be more distanced from the risk surgery, which is not
a small thing. I think that's looking back on it,
we probably should have given him some more grace or
at least been more aware of the fact that it
might hold him back for a player who almost exclusively
needs power in order to be productive. So yeah, I mean,
if it was ten million, fifteen million, anything more than that,
(24:57):
then I think it's probably a no for me because
is it just the production? But it's so little money
if that means and assuming the Braves are not cheap
asses and don't keep cutting payroll and don't buy themselves
some nice office chairs to go with all those office
complexes they're buying. I think my preference is to have
legitimate money to throw a shortstop, help out the pitching staff.
(25:18):
You can never have enough depth and have Ozzy Alby's
as the eighth hitter in your lineup. Like I, I
can't imagine that in a year's time if the Braves
do these things we've talked about, they upgrade shortstop, they
add to the pitching staff, and they have Ozzi Alby's
batting eighth. I can't imagine this time in a year
we're banging our heads against the wall because Ozzi Alby's
(25:39):
is the team's second baseman.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah, and we'll move off of this, but just as
a again arbitrary endpoint, but it's the All Star break.
Ozzy has a seven sixty two OPS since the All
Star Break. That's thirty eight games. If the Braves thing
that is a realistic projection for next year, it's an
automatic pickup all daily on. The only way they would
think to not pick that option up is if they
(26:03):
think Ozzy is not even capable of that. And that's
not where he used to be like there have been
many seasons where he's been a eight hundred plus ops
guy and all that. If he can have a low
seven hundred's ops, he's worth that money given what he's
out on the option and all the flexibility stuff that
you just said. So also great vibes guy, which is
only a tiebreaker, but like beloved guy in the locker room,
(26:26):
and that stuff does matter on the margins. So if
it's close, I've always thought they were going to keep him,
and he unless he has a terrible September, I am
projecting them to pick him to pick it up. Yeah,
I think that's fair.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Time stamp it last couple of days in August. These
things are fluid, they can change, but I think I
agree with you. It seems like Ozzie will be back
next season, all right.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
More to get to in a second when it comes
to Hurston waldrip the schedule. A crazy third inning on
Wednesday in Miami that featured some trademark history between the
Marlins and Rolling the Coutage Junior. We'll get all that
more after a word from our partners ft FAM.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Welcome to the world's most comfortable swimwear For a moment,
we are talking about Fair Harbor. We actually have some
show and tell today. This is the liner that you're
working with inside of the shorts and the bathing suits.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
You know what the best part is about this gut
what They have a lot of different options because these
are clearly yours because I would never order this pattern.
But that is so mazing on you. That is so
many These are so you. Mine are a little bit
more plain than this, yes, but they are super comfortable.
The liner. I love liner shorts. Some people don't, but
these liners are better than most that I've had on,
if not all of them.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Yeah, this is the best liner out there.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
No mash. All the above is perfect exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
It's really good. You got to give it a shot.
Also fun random facts. You get a new shirt, it
smells really good. So head to Fairharbor Clothing dot com
slash foul and use code foul for twenty percent off
your first purchase. Once again, Fair Harbor Hbor Clothing dot
Com backslash foul for twenty percent off your first purchase
and use that promo code foul so they know ftcent.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
You all right, Scott Quickly On Tuesday, person Waldrope didn't
have his best stuff by everyone's account on Tuesday, but
still managed to throw five and a third innings with
only one run zero strikeouts. That's like hard to do.
It's hard to throw five and a third with one
run and not strike anybody out. But he managed to
do that on Tuesday. But hey, only walked one and
(28:28):
the eer first, and Walterrup remains sub one in his
thirty innings this month. I gotta say he was very
fortunate to only allow one run on Tuesday, but hey,
you need some good fortunate of it to have a
zero point nine r for five starts.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Well, and I think even though it was clearly the
worst performance from Waldrop that we have seen this season
since he was called up, I think Waldrop does deserve
some credit for pitching through it and only giving up
one run, because, frankly, I mean, we saw it in
that one game against the Nationals last season where in
any kind of spiral bonhom and you blinked and he
had given up like nine runs in an inning, and
(29:05):
he deserves credit. He loaded the bases at one point
with nobody out and worked out of it, and he
just did not have his good stuff, didn't have command.
The splitter was all over the place. It was the
second time the Marlins had seen Waldrip in a couple
of weeks, so maybe that had something to do with it.
But while it was not a great start, I think
it's worth giving Waldrip some credit for figuring out a
(29:26):
way to cover five and a third innings on a
night where he just really did not have anything going.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
We've talked about him a lot recently. He is one
more start in August. There are some historical benchmark numbers
that he could do for a calendar month if he
pitches well on Sunday. Well in the podcast with that,
but he's been great. Obviously better revelation. He'll cool off,
but you know where the level is. There's something to
be said to your point about just navigating an alging
(29:51):
like that when you don't have your stuff, and yeah,
it's about offense and all that. But still notable and
impressive Onto Wednesday, which, by the way, it was the
final game between the Braves and Marlins this year, so
all the drama, there's no way for anything else to happen.
They don't play again until next year. But we already
mentioned profar homering. It was the third pitch of the
(30:12):
game when he went deep and the Braves never trailed
after that, but then the all the fun I don't
know if that's the right word or not. Scott. It
was the third inning, so first Matt Olsen hits an
absolute bomb to open the inning, basically home run four
to twenty plus. Brandon Gordon on the broadcast called it
a quote absolute tank. Seems appropriate from the way that
(30:35):
that ball was annihilated the next pitch, ron mccuney has
hit with the pitch and he did not like it.
I will let you go from there, Scott, what transpired?
What was your reaction all the postgame and just to
say it out loud, just for everybody that does maybe
not note the Marlins have a history with Ronald mccotony year. Yes,
(30:56):
that makes that underlines all of what transpired today.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Two real thoughts on Acunya getting hit. The benches did
technically clear, but I mean it was very slowly. This
was not who was it a mere Garrett that Red's
reliever who like took on it was tired dugout like
it was not that.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
I mean, I think Bowman said it had all the
aggression of like a postgame handshake line or something. It
was one of those like snarky things. But yeah, people,
the benches did clear technically technically.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
So I will say this, I absolutely understand why Ronald
Acunya Junior gets pissed whenever he gets hit by a pitch,
especially against the Marlins, because those those clowns intentionally. Jose
Urania needs like counseling because those clowns threw at him
for years and there was no denying it. Don Mattingly
(31:49):
allowed it to happen. Acune was seemingly getting hit every
time he played the Marlins, and that has calmed down
over the last maybe two years or so. But I
don't blame Ronald at all for being pissed. I would
be pissed too. That being said, I don't think Ryan Gusto,
a twenty seven year old journeyman who is going through
(32:10):
the Majors for the first time, he's a rookie. I
don't think Ryan Gusto is hunting for Ronald Duacunya Junior
with a two seam fastball that came in. Yeah, I
mean that was kind of my take. I mean, I
think of vacuum. Ronald was probably a little too hot
with his reaction, but I was don't blame him because
he's been hit a million times by these clowns who
(32:32):
play their baseball in Miami.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Yes, I tend to agree, and Snid said the same thing,
and you know we won't do it today. I have
taken some exception with Snit not defending Ronnie enough in
certain spots over the years. I thought it was fine today,
just for the record, But Smith said basically he didn't
think he hit him on purpose either. The context is important,
(32:56):
not only the history with the Marlins, but also it
was the first pitch after a home run. That heightens everything, right,
if you're if you're a pitcher, and again established we
don't think you hit him on purpose. But up you
give up a four and thirty foot tank home run
and the next pitch not the same about the next
(33:17):
pitch hits Ronnie. That's gonna heighten everybody, right, That's why
the betch is clear. Ryan reacted and I don't blame
him for that, But like Snit was mad and got
by the way, got tossed. And Snith's problem, by all accounts,
was that the umpire issued warnings to both teams, which
is like a default thing they do. But like Snith's
(33:37):
point is like, why are you warning us? We didn't
do anything other that hit a home run and get
hit by a pitch, Like why are you warning us?
And Stick goes out to it's basically make that point
and gets gets tossed, like you know, it is what
it is. It just became an incident. I think it
got more attention because it's Ronnie and the Marlins, but
I think it was a perfect storm of team history,
player history, and the fact that it was literally the
(34:00):
next pitch after a home run, all those things wrapped
into one. It's not a big deal and they won't
see each other again. I'm kind of glad they don't
play tomorrow because then it's like everyone's on a high alert.
And if the pitch is inside to Ronnie any point tomorrow,
it becomes a national store, you know, all this stuff. Yeah,
that won't happen anymore.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
So what Yeah, please stop hitting Ronald Acunya junior with baseball's,
especially if you're a Marlins pitcher. I mean, and again,
I don't think Ryan Gusto was had any intent. I
think it got away from him, maybe he was frustrated, whatever,
But thankfully it didn't get Acunya anywhere where it did
serious damage. It didn't get a hand or a wrist
or a finger, like those are the ones you.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Really, yeah, you really worry about, thank god. But later
in that same ending, Ozzie hit a three rou on
home run, so it went from Olsen to histrionics to
another Ozzie home run later in the game when they
blew it wide open. Michael Harris at a home run.
I think you mentioned it earlier in passing, but he
had gone like he was of course scalding hot. He'd
(34:58):
gone ice cold. A parment. Michael does not have him
middle ground. He's either scalding hot or absolutely eye s cool.
He reached base three times in the previous like thirty
played appearances before today, and then he had two hits
and looks better today. There's been a whole Are you
even following the discourse about like who fixed Michael and
like the drama about that online, because it's been it's
(35:19):
been flum mixing me. I have the interest in the
weighing in on it. Really, I just want to know
if you following. It's just funny to me. Everyone's like
draw their line in the sand and I have to
argue about everything.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
It's just yeah, no, I have seen it. I did
not indulge in it myself.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Why.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
I mean, the reason Michael Harris is either screaming hot
or ice cold is because he doesn't take walks. I mean,
this is it.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
He does not. Yep. Now, the adjustment, which we've covered
a lot, the adjustment is real. He didn't make a
swing adjustment. The battle ball contact is way better, but
his approach is still not fixed, so he has to
take some walks every once in a while. Anyway, it's
been still been encouraging to see Michael break back out,
and I think he can if he's just the guy
(36:01):
he's been over the last six weeks adjusted for Like,
he's not gonna be a thousand bo ps guy with
its approach, because that's kind of where I will leave it.
What do you think, Like, yeah, he could, he could,
he could be. He won't be the guy he was
earlier this season. I'm pretty confident in that. I always
kind of was that he was never gonna be that bad,
Like he was just broken for two months and like
(36:23):
that doesn't seem like it's a real thing. But I
also A'm not fully buying the recent surge. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, that's that's where I'm at. I don't think this
is Michael Harris going forward where he's like a top
five hitter in baseball. I also don't think he was
what he was early in the year when he was
the worst player in baseball. He has a truly fascinating
twenty twenty six ahead of him.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
He sure does quickly. A couple of notes on the games,
then we'll get to the schedule. Joey Wentz, who we
just I talked about a lot with Eric on Sunday
after he had his first bad start with the Braves. Honestly,
he came back today face to the Marlins. But hey,
six and two thirds innings, one run, four hits, two walks,
five strikeouts. Like, Joey Wentz has been good. He really
(37:06):
has like FIP and this is more important to me
than the era. Even FIP of three point zero three
in forty four and two thirds innings, like you can't
really fake that eras can fluctuate in that kind of
sample size. But the underlying stuff and Joey Wentz and
Eric talked about his extension. That's been the biggest change
is like he's getting way out in front. The extension
of being close. It's flomaxing batters that happened today, and
(37:29):
every start it's like, oh, a little bit more real
every five six days. But Joey, if you keep doing
this for another month, he's going to be a candidate
for rotation. He just has to be.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
It's almost too good to ignore at that point. And
when they signed Wentz, I don't know if anybody saw
this coming, but he's been really good, like legitimately good.
The surface level numbers say he's been good, The underlying
metrics say he's been good. He was obviously a very
touted prospect at one point. Sometimes especially lefty pitchers, take
a little more time to figure it out. Sure, I mean,
(38:00):
I think if Joey Wentz now gets blown up in
his next two or three starts, then it's okay. Well,
maybe he's like a sixth or seventh starter who they
can stash in Gwinnett next season. But if he has
a good final month, then I think he has a
real chance to throw innings of some kind for this team,
maybe out of the bullpen, maybe as a long man,
maybe as a hybrid, maybe as an opener. We'll see
(38:21):
what ultimately happens. But he's done far better than I
was anticipating when they signed him.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah, strongly agree with that, to be yeah, to say
it lightly, to say the least. Also, they dah with
an afternoon game today the dh Ronald, which I liked,
Actually like that. Give him a day off his feet
for the most part, and they actually played Jake Frailey.
Jake Freiley, who they acquired eight days ago, had not
played at all, and he finally started today. He's actually
(38:48):
a pretty interesting player, has a nice platoon split can
help them maybe off the bench, have some future control. Sure, sure,
I liked seeing that. We will not do the bit
I pledged myself today. We will not do the bit
about Drake Balwin not playing enough beyond just saying that
he has not played enough. That's all I will say
(39:08):
about that topic today. It's been litigated enough. You're a
wise man.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
I cannot have this argument for the tenth time this month.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Not even argument we agree, but every single time, without fail,
I see a lineup that has Barcelo Zun and not
Drake Baldwin. I want to bang my head into a wall.
And that didn't happen today. Drake Drake played today, so
we're good vibes only on a Wednesday. Okay, Scott, let
us discuss the twenty twenty sixth schedule, which came out
(39:38):
on Tuesday. We were going to do a podcast that
went through every single game of a schedule. It would
take several hours. It was gonna be awesome content. And
then Scott said, no, I pitched it. I wanted to
do No, no, no, you just understold this, Brad. The
schedule came out on Tuesday in very baseball form, in fashion,
but I wanted you to do this exactly. So let's
go come Glad, here we are.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Major League Baseball releases their schedule for twenty twenty six
at like one thirty in the afternoon on a Tuesday
in August, with no lead up at all, no buzz,
no nothing, not a thing. And I do think like
everything gets compared to the NFL because the NFL is
the biggest sports league in the country. The NFL overdoes
(40:18):
their schedule. They turn it into like a two weeks
because they can. People care about it. That's why people right,
and it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I'm not I'm not a tuos, but what I'm saying
is it was very on brand from Major League Baseball,
with no notice, no hype, no excitement, no build up. Like,
did our friends in Foul Territory even know on Tuesday
that the switch would have as Honestly, we should have
asked them and I did.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
I didn't do that. I would love to know if
they had any advanced notice. I don't know. Also, this
is not Baseball's fault, but the fact that the Taylor
Swift thing happened like at the same exact time, which
which was deeply hilarious. That's not that's actually not their fault.
But man, it was even funnier. It's like, by the way,
here's the one hundred and sixty two games schedule for you,
everybody in the middle of the tairas Travis kelcey engagement
(41:05):
so stipulated on the podcast. Funny that they didn't roll
it out. Also, like it's August and they're still playing
Like every other sport, they do it an offseason. I get.
I get why baseball does this because they have so
many games, Like I get it, but like I would
still want to when do you just do it in November?
Like can it not? Wait's November? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Or on like a Thursday night where there's only a
couple of games, or maybe like a Thursday, especially in
September when you have so many days off, like there's
always a Thursday where there's two day games and one
night game and everybody else is off. Again, I get it.
This is not the NFL. It's one hundred and sixty
two games. It's basically the same schedule every year. Just
teams move around. But still, I was like, Oh, they
(41:48):
put the schedule out, let's we should talk about this
at least for five minutes.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
It's literally a mark. It's it's it's great. It's great
for planning. If you are a season ticket holder, you
need that information to know when you're going to be there,
if you want to travel, if you're a diehard you
want to travel with some places to follow the team around.
Very important information to get an advance. We all get it.
It was just it was a funny roll out, and
I knew before we even talked. I knew you'd be
(42:12):
trigger and you were, so you came through for me.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
I appreciate that. I had thank you for letting me
get that out of my system. My wife was gonna
throw something at me if I kept talking to her
about it. So this is why I do podcasts with you, Brad.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
I'm sure she would have really enjoyed the discourse about
the pirates on a Tuesday. Okay, some notes, we won't
go we will not go through all the joking aside,
and we're not gonna go through everything. I thought the
most interesting thing of the whole schedule, honestly, was that
this is the earliest domestic start so like non like
Japan one off series. Ever, the standard opening day for
(42:47):
Badjeley baseball across the league is March twenty sixth. That
is super duper early, which means and by the way,
they're also going just as late, so it's like they're
not in theory, which means there's more off days in
the schedule. Not a ton more, but probably two or
three more than there used to be, which I tend
to like.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah, I think that was something the players pushed for
in the latest CBA negotiations.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
I mean it makes sense to me. I mean it's
a very long season. Of course. The counter is it's
cold a lot of places still in late March. Of
course you have to schedule around that and not play
in Colorado perhaps in late March, not play in Seattle
places that.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Are Chicago the outside ago.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, no thanks, But anyway, that was interesting to me.
But from a Braves perspective, I think the thing that
got the most attention is the Braves actually start at
home next season, and they haven't done that in a while.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
They have not done that. So technically in twenty twenty two,
the Braves opened up the season at home, but that's
only because the first week of the season was postponed
because of the lockout. So I believe, and correct me
if I'm wrong, comment between me, whatever, But I believe
this is the first scheduled opening day in Atlanta since
(44:04):
twenty nineteen, which was six years ago, seven years ago.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
By the time it comes, yeah, it'll be it'll be
seven my time comes around, and that's that's a long
I mean again, this is not something I get exercised about,
just to be honest with you everybody in this listening.
But I know fans will like get mad when they
don't open at home, and obviously you can't open the
home every year. That seems pretty obvious to everybody if
you understand the way things go. But when it's been
a long time, Like, you know, you want to have
your little showcase at home, and it's a very big,
(44:30):
obvious showcase event. It's also odd. I think. Actually dB
made the show and I laughed, so good job dB
about the traditional rival Kansas City Royals coming in for
the first week of the season. That was funny. But yeah,
it is the Royals and the A's the first two series.
Not exactly a flagsh of opponents, but hey, it's at home.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
So six home games against the Royals and the Athletics,
and then they go out west to play the Diamondbacks,
which you know, yeah, shout out to all of our
Braves fans in Arizona, a lot of you. Talk to
a few of you when they came out west. Be
there again in April, and then the Angels. So the
first four series of the year are Royals, Athletics at
(45:13):
Diamondbacks at Anaheim Angels.
Speaker 1 (45:16):
Just yeah, I speak for everyone I think when I
say I am excited that it's not at Dodgers at Padres. Yeah,
I don't want to see that. I don't want to
see that. Ever again, I don't care what happens. I
never want to see at Dodgers at Padres open season
ever again, because every time I don't know if you
see the you two comments that I see Scott, Almost
(45:38):
every show someone inevitably comments that the season was over
after the first week, which I actually don't agree with.
Still at me if you want to, but I never
want to see it again. All set, no more Dodters,
no where Padres that Firs speak of the season, I'm good.
So it seems like.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
A relatively friendly start to the season. Will take that probably,
I mean, we'll see, but generally Atlanta in late March,
Earley April not terrible for weather, and then in Phoenix,
I mean, best time to come out is April. So
if you ever wanted to come out West, do that.
It's a dome. Probably have the roof open in chase Field,
and then out in la and Anaheim to play the Angels.
(46:17):
So there's no I guess immediate like super concerns with
the schedule here, and it is on paper much softer
than what the Braves saw this past season.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
Yeah, and all of the West Coast trips for the
whole season are done by like the middle of June.
They have this The long one is a ten day
trip in May to Colorado, Seattle, and then to the Dodgers,
and then again they don't go out west again like
after mid June. It's an interesting way out there. MLB
is pushing the rivalry weekend thing. All their releases had that.
(46:50):
It's it's Braves red Sox. I don't care about that.
Rivalry doesn't exist, but that's my fifteenth through seventeenth. The
Braves do host the Mets on July fourth weekend. That
will be big if the Braves are competitive, and I
guess it's not given anymore. If the Braves are decent,
that will be a big time attention series. That's like
(47:12):
prime base Like even casuals are in on baseball that weekend.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
Oh like every Yeah, every stadium in I think like
thirteen out of fifteen stadiums this past year sold out
on fourth of July. So, I mean it's a pretty
favorable schedule from like a gate and revenue perspective. Fourth
of July, I think Father's Day weekend, the Braves are
at home. Labor Day weekend, the Braves are at home.
It's you know, there's some it's not as bad like
(47:38):
this year's schedule just felt really hard that you talked
about the early start was brutal. They weren't home for
a couple of key weekends. One interesting note, and this
is now the second year in a row the Braves
will not play the New York Mets until the middle
of June. But somehow, even though they don't play the
Mets until mid June, all four of the series against
(47:59):
New York are between like mid June and mid August,
and then they're they're done. It's the same way this year.
Like I that's a weird quirk. I get it. Thirty teams,
one hundred and sixty two games, it's not always going
to line up perfectly. But that's kind of I don't know,
that is something that caught people's attention. Yeah, so we'll,
you know, we'll see how it all shakes out. But
it's exciting for me at least. Maybe I'm weird, but
(48:21):
I get excited when I see a schedule for next year.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
I mean, we are, we are weird stipulated that not
a huge deal, I guess, But the Braves are not
playing on a World Day again next year, and this
year they din't play on a World Day either. I
don't understand an auto ye, I don't get how was that.
(48:44):
I don't get it either.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
That's really dumb. And that's like the unofficial start of
the summertime. Weather's usually really nice. It's everyone, you know,
not everyone. Most people are off work summer. You know,
kids are out for the summer. That that sucks. I
didn't realize they were off on Memorial.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Two years in a row. This year they were also off.
Next year they are off again. I don't understand that
one weird. Our friend Steven pointed this out to us.
The draft is July twelfth. Usually won't usually will not
plan on that one being as big of a deal
as it is. It's gonna be a bigger deal this year.
The Braves will pick higher than they have picked in
(49:19):
a very very long time circle that one. I'll go
ahead and test Carlos Calaza right now and say, Carlos,
what are we doing the pre draft podcast in early June?
Speaker 2 (49:29):
There we go, which it's coming, future first ballot Hall
of Famer? Are the Braves taking on July twelve? That's
the lead question to Carlos. Somebody we have them on
the show.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
Yeah, somebody they also And we'll get out of here.
I promise they end with nine of the last twelve
on the road, not ideal in a competitive scenario. But
they do play the Phillies seven times in September. They
don't play the Mets. They play the Phillies a lot
in September next year, so that'll be if the Phillies
are good, and presumably they will be good. They have
been good for a while now. Could be some showdown
(49:59):
games there. You don't want to get ahead of yourself
too much. That's the whole fun about doing the schedule. Also,
somebody asked us in thinkers on Twitter, there are no
times yet. They don't announce the times. It's it's a
giant tvd on every time. It's you only have the day.
I don't know, do you remember when when they announce
(50:20):
the times. It's like in the winter. I feel like they.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
Trickle out, like January February. There's always a few tvas
on like weekends or like the Friday night games, and
who knows what the national TV situation is going to
be next year, but usually it comes out like quietly
because it's baseball, but quietly. They kind of roll out
the start times in the offseason at some point, and
(50:43):
that is.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Actually part of what they don't do the times as
the national schedule, like you just said, and Baseball's national
TV partners are still in flux. There's been a lot
of reporting about that. Andrew March has been all over this.
But ESPN Sunday Night Baseball is gone, NBC is gonna
get some it's gonna be maybe even more confusing than
it's been. The Roku games are going away. It seems
(51:06):
like the Sunday morning ROCU games those are That's such
a bad apple. Apple is a hot button topic always
to like, we'll say that for the off season, but
like it's all changing. That's again, it's all changing again.
So strap it everybody. Well, we'll tell you where to
watch the games at some point. Okay, Scott, let's get
out of here. But a brief look at the weekend
(51:26):
because it's Wednesday night going into Thursday, and a series
that should have been a lot more important than it
actually is. But four games in Philadelphia beginning on Thursday.
And just like we talked about earlier with the with
the Mets and the Marlins, the Braids don't play the
Phillies after this. This is the final Philly series of
(51:48):
the year.
Speaker 2 (51:49):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (51:49):
Four games the Braves did announce their probables today. It's
Cali Quantrill is still throwing me off that he's in
the rotation. That's on Thursday. Then Bryce Elder, then some
one named TBA on Saturday. Uh, that is going to
be Chrisale unless something drastically weird happens in a return.
That'll be fun to just watch Chrisale. I know it
(52:10):
doesn't matter whatever. And then Hersta Waldrip on Sunday, and
that's a Sunday night baseball game, So Hersta Waldrop with
a national showcase and he's gonna happen a zero point
ninety already to begin the game. Hopefully he has his
best stuff. That would be fun if he did.
Speaker 4 (52:25):
So.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
Really excited to see Chrisale. It'll be great to have
him on the mound. We of course will be holding
our breath just a little bit, but yes, good to
have Chris sail back. And then for Waldrip, I think
especially all eyes on Hurston Waldrip, because even though he
has the stellar era and you can only pitch against
the teams who are in front of you, it is
fair to say that Waldrip's opponents so far have been
(52:47):
very bad. The Marlins twice the White Sox, the Guardians,
the Reds. I believe last time I looked, all of
those opponents are in the bottom ten in baseball and offense.
I think two of them are in the bottom five.
So it's been an easier rollout for Waldrip and now
he's going to get a big test on Sunday night
against Philly. But let's hope he's able to build and
(53:08):
show something there. But yeah, Brad, I mean, in another world,
we would. I mean, honestly, in another world we're probably
doing a fifteen to twenty minute preview of this series.
We're not doing that. It is what it is. We're
just kind of going through the motions. But let's let's
try to beat up on the Phillies this weekend and
make life.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
A little difficult for them. Yeah, this could have been
a crossover with the Phillies Show our colleagues on the
Network kind of series if the Braves were not where
they are in the standings. But hey, it still it's
it's still fun and also, no matter where you stand
on the tanking debate, it's fun to beat the Phillies.
(53:45):
So if the brisk of beat the Phillies, I want
to go to put them on that and the slightest
it'd be fun to knock them off a little bit
and always a little bit of juice flowing when you
played the Phillies. Oh, I just saw something Friday night's
game Scott Apple TV Plus, so I can tell you
I was gonna say, I could tell you with a certainty.
(54:06):
It's Bryce Utter against Ranger Suarez. That's a it's a
very bad matchup and it's an Apple TV Plus game.
So people, I think and.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
The Braves have not had a good game against Ranger
Swarez ever, so correct in just one. No, man, it's
such a legitimate bummer that Zach Wheeler is done for
the season. Maybe, I mean his career might be on
life support at this point. I mean it's bad. Folks
can look up Wheeler. He has a serious medical condition thing.
Speaker 1 (54:32):
Going on right now.
Speaker 2 (54:33):
And yeah, so no more Zach Wheeler at least this
year for the Phillies, and legitimately hope he's back because
Wheeler is one of my favorite players to watch in
all of baseball, regardless of the team.
Speaker 1 (54:44):
Agreed, He's a guy we we used to want the
Braves to sign several years ago, and I wish they had.
Uh yeah, but this the first two pitching match ups
are not favorable. Cala quash Or against Aaron Nola and
then Bryce Older Raders Suarez is pretty tough on paper.
But hey, it gets better as the we can a
long Chris Sale Saturday, Hersel Water up on Sunday, and
(55:04):
they did push specially start back a day. That's probably
give me to plan. It seems like the rest of
the season. Give me an extra day every time. Bye
with me doesn't bother me at all. He looked better
at his last start, and we'll cover that as we
need to. Scott. We have done almost an hour. Anything
else you want to add before we sign off on
this podcast, And I believe for you for a little,
a little while you are you're traveling.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
We are going to do some traveling. So I will
not see your beautiful face for a couple of weeks.
Maybe I'll watch on YouTube and watch you and Steven
and Sean whoever else, and I'll start commenting about how
good you guys are doing, and how Scott should never
come back and all of those good things. But yes,
we're gonna do some traveling. My wife and I looking
forward to it. In another world. We would have been
thinking about how I'd be missing out on some really
(55:48):
good important braves. Baseball didn't work out that way. But nonetheless,
I know you guys will do a fine job covering
the team while I am away.
Speaker 1 (55:57):
I have a similar intern nowational day job trip that
I have mandated to be on in October. And you
know this, but I had serious, serious angst about when
that trip is and I have to go and playoffs
and all that. And now that doesn't matter quite as
much as it was going to matter at one point.
(56:18):
So there are It's just what it is.
Speaker 2 (56:21):
Man.
Speaker 1 (56:21):
We do our best. We do spend this as a
job for us. We treat it like a job. We
work hard doing this. We try to be consistent. We
also have to do other things. We have to travel sometimes,
and that's why they're four of us as well. It's
nic stuff, that's right, That's right.
Speaker 2 (56:32):
So we s Stephen and Sean just running the ship.
We love it. Those guys do a fantastic job. YouTube
loves Sean Coleman. Sean's the man. I mean, he's just
such a just such a fun guy. Even before we
start recording, and she's like, Sean, what's going on in
your world man, and I love to hear it. But
as always, a big thank you to everybody checking out
the show, even as the Braves, even though they're playing
(56:54):
better right now of course not the season we wanted,
but a sincere thank you to everybody who's listing on
audio and watching on YouTube. You guys, I mean you
guys are awesome for sticking with us in this season.
Speaker 1 (57:05):
Yeah, strongly agree. Please subscribe if you are new to
the podcast or just checking us out for the first
time in a while or anything like that. Subscribe, rate review.
We're on Apple, We're on Spotify, we are on YouTube.
If you are an audio listener, as I always say,
I am an audio listener to podcasts, do us as
solid and just subscribe on YouTube anyway you're not gonna watch,
it's fine. Subscribe there helps us to grow the channel,
(57:26):
like the podcast, et cetera. Tell your friends holl Us
on Hammer Territory on social media. For Scott, my jam
is peraddirl and thank you for being here everybody. We
appreciate it and we'll see you all next time.