August 14, 2025 • 34 mins
Episode 249 of the Hammer Territory Podcast reacts to a fun comeback win for the Atlanta Braves in New York on Wednesday night. Brad Rowland and Scott Coleman discuss Michael Harris continuing to punish baseballs in the second half of the season, Marcell Ozuna's recent hot streak, and injury updates on Sale, Acuña and Riley.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Hammer Territory Podcasts,
Episode two four nine. I am your hosts, Brad Roland,
coming to you on a I guess it's checks notes
Thursday morning. As a broke this podcast on the East Coast,
I've joined my Scott Coleman. As always, Scott, it was
a long one, but the Braves won a weird game
on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How are you hello, Brad? I'm doing better because the
Braves won a really fun game tonight. I mean, I
tell you what, man, we missed out on the opportunity
of a lifetime because if you would have put a
few dollars on the Braves winning when they were down
six to nothing after two innings with Carlos carrasco on
the mound, you could have gotten some pretty incredible odds.
(01:01):
Unfortunately I did not make that bet, so I have
to keep doing podcasts with you, my friend. But I mean,
what a weird ass game, long rain delay, massive inning.
The Braves scored a million runs, but they only had
hits from four players. It was just a weird game.
And then after all the offense early, there was like
not a peep after that. Just an unconventional night in
(01:22):
city field, and I mean, man alive. Are Mets fans
going through.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
It right now? Yeah, we're not going to be doing
a ton of like full on game breakdowns for obvious
reasons with one of the Braves are. But this is
kind of a weird game. It was a rain delay game,
so it started late. It got weird in a hurry.
The Raves not won five of the last seven games
like they lost last night. Our our guys did a
show Sean and Steven talking about a thirteen to five
(01:48):
like kind of a bummer loss with Strider and all that.
It's like, all right, and then they're does six nothing tonight.
It's like, well, here we go, Scott, what are we
gonna talk about? I don't mind saying let's pull the
curtain back. We talked about maybe recording during the game,
like it was when it was six nothing. We were
thinking about starting because it was already rady delayed. I
am kind of glad we didn't, although it would have
(02:08):
been funny had we been on the air as they
scored nine runs in an inning, because that would have
happened tonight. That's that's why the Braves. You missed this game.
The Braves again toss stuffing. They scored nine runs on
four hits in the fourth inning and that propelled them
to eleven runs and eight hits in the game, and
truly bizarre stuff. I mean, where do you want to
start on this game, because we should talk about it
(02:30):
in some depth, probably more depth we normally would right now,
anything you want to lead off? Is it Carlos carrasco
to wead.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Off the show? No, it is not. I mean, hey, Carlos,
he's doing his very best out there, but holy cow,
I mean that's just uh that that's just not gonna work.
But hey, isn't it kind of a sick and cruel
joke that after watching this Braves team for the better
part of the season be held up and kind of
(02:57):
kept in the race by a really solid pitching staff,
but the offense just could not score. It was We
talked about it seemingly every single episode of this podcast,
and then of course, as they lose Sale, they lose
schwallenbax mis Shover Lopez. The whole pitching staff is hurt.
The offense has been legitimately pretty good for a little
while now and continues to put up crooked numbers and
(03:20):
is bailing out the pitching staff. Of course, the Braves
are so far buried in the standings it doesn't matter.
But it just kind of feels like the cherry on
top of a weird baseball season that this lineup is
now legitimately figuring some things out.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, we kind of for shouted that, I mean, even
talking about the season being functionally over and try not
to have everybody forget what happened, because we knew when
the pitching staff was became as battered as it was.
No Sale, much Swallenbach and a little bit you know,
no Holmes, all of that. It was like, all right,
from this point forward, the pitching staff is not good enough,
(03:55):
and we kind of understand that. But the season was
kind of already over before that because of the not
doing its job, So you're right, it's it is funny.
The Braves are now averaging more than five runs per
game since the All Star Break. It's like, that's a
cruel and usual joke. They're leading the league and walks
by a ton like by like twenty five percent more
than the rest of the league since the All Star Break.
(04:15):
It's just all these numbers are crazy. But tonight was
kind of in that spirit. Honestly, they walked seven times,
so you know, eleven runs and eight hits sounds weird,
but they walk seven times. The ending that did all
the damage we mentioned already, but nine rouns and four
four hits. It was five walks, a three run double
y profar, it was bass clearing a single by I
(04:37):
was doing its score run and then Michael Harris, they
love the basis again, Michael Harris, It's a Grand Slam,
just like a ridiculous ending and an example of what
the Braves were not doing forever this year, Like how
may times we made the same joke between us and
Steven and Sean about how the Braves get the least
out of every possible rally, and they have all year long.
This time they got the absolute most out of a
(04:59):
rally and a game that again doesn't matter except for
to tournament the Mets, which I'm certainly on board with,
certainly the Mets. I know you are. You already watched
the Frank video after the game that was I would love.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I wish we could live like tune in live to
Mets Radio like the call in shows tonight it what
is it just after midnight on the East Coast. I
mean you can imagine. I mean, what a horrible loss
for the Mets. And that feels good to say, Like,
I know, this year sucks in a million times out
of a million. We would trade places with the Mets
in the standings right now if we could, but it
(05:31):
just feels good to make their fans sweat. And clearly
the Braves wanted to win this game tonight, like during
that biginning, doug Out was going crazy, big time celebrations.
And I mean, let's talk about Michael Harris for a second.
If folks didn't hear the show, I guess two days
ago now on the feed a day ago now with
(05:51):
Steven and Sean had a really good conversation about Michael Harris,
and I thought Steven had a great kind of comparison
between Charlie Brown and getting the football pulled away from him,
and that's kind of what it feels like with Michael Harris,
because we have seen this player be so special, but
you don't know when that football is gonna get pulled.
(06:14):
And it was a perfect analogy for Michael Harris right now.
And man, I mean, he just keeps having big night
after big night. I pulled the numbers in the second
half of the season, Michael Harris is comfortably a top
six hitter in all of baseball. He had the Grand
Slam tonight that was absolutely launched. He's just he has
(06:34):
it all working right now. And that's why, even when
it was so dark maybe two months ago, this season
we have seen Mike be just such a special player.
And I think most of us, I'm sure there were
fans who had maybe given up on Michael a little bit,
but I think I can speak for this podcast that
even though it was really bad and every night we
were banging our heads against the wall, Michael Harris still
(06:57):
has too much talent to just completely fall apart and
figure this thing out.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Scott went to TV up because we are sponsors today
by pixixs half from Draft Kings, and all you have
to do is pick more or less on the staff
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mix of cash prizes. And Michael Harris is our Draft
Kings player spotlight for obvious reasons. Michael Harris has been
a star now for a month. I mean, it's crazy
to say you teed it up, but the numbers are
what they are. I mean even tonight you too, it's
(07:22):
at a home run. He has seven home runs, six doubles,
and three triples in twenty five games since the break, Like,
is that sustainable? Probably not, but I think we can
when we talked, We've talked about it many times, but
the adjustments he's made, he's ambushing the ball, hitting for
power in the way that he was not before entering today,
(07:43):
he had an ops of like ten sixty and I
think it's over eleven hundred now when you factor in
tonight's performances, it's something a monitor all year long, like,
and it's you know, it's one game tonight, but it was.
It has not been one game for him. He has
he has three walks. Three walks is better than zero walks.
But honestly, though he's striking out less, he's just attacking
(08:04):
the ball more and more often. And when you're slugging
like seven hundred for a month, you know, it covers
up a lot and Michael's baseline, as we've discussed many
times as well, when you defend like he does, if
you hit like this, like I mean, he really has
been like one of the ten best players in baseball
over the last four weeks. Like that's insane from where
(08:27):
he was as one of the worst hitters in baseball
most of the season, But like it does the reminders,
it's a reminder of his talent level, you know what
I mean, Like the guys like this have had this
much talent, you can't it's hard to quit on.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Oh yeah, I mean that's why you can't quit on
a player like this, because there's only so many humans
on the planet who can play Gold Glove level defense,
legitimate Gold Glove level defense and also hit like this
for weeks at a time. And there's still some things
I think with Mike that I'm a little nervous about.
He's still i mean, the walks have gone up a smidge,
(08:58):
but he's still not getting on base at a super
high clip. But I mean that's never been his game.
I mean never. He has never been an on base guy.
He's never been a drawl out of walks guy. He
really gets there with contact and power, and if that's
who he is, he's obviously not gonna be Barry Bonds
for the rest of his career. But it's just it's
(09:19):
been so much fun to watch and it feels like
Mike has his swaggerback. He's playing loose. I mean, clearly
this was wang on him in the first half when
he was legitimately one of the worst players in the game.
He looks good, he looks like himself, and I mean,
man alive, Brad. I mean, this Braves team couldn't count
on Michael Harris moving forward. It was gonna get really
(09:39):
hard just to kind of get there. I'm like, how
is this team gonna win ninety plus games and contend
for a World Series? They already have other issues they
could not withstand to just completely lose Michael Harris, and
the last month sure makes it seem like they are
not going to have to deal with that, and they
have kind of gotten their five tool star in center
field back one more statum.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
My and then we'll move on. But he went into
the All Star break with a forty seven WRC plus
for the season. Obviously, that's extremely bad, just saying that
out loud. He now, after tonight updated in real time,
has an eighty one WRC plus for the season. Now,
(10:19):
eighty one is not where anybody wants me to be.
But raising his WRC plus thirty four points from forty
seven to eighty one in again three and a half
four weeks this late in the year is kind of insane,
Like for a guy who's played basically every day the
whole season, like he's one of their highest guys in
games played and played, appearances, all those things, for him
to do that that is just it's a reminder of
(10:40):
how bad he was. It was also a reminder of
how truly like dominant he's now been four month and
wanted to spotlight him on this segment of the podcast.
With that said, Scott, I'm gonna leave it to you.
I'm gonna throw you the lob today and take a
look at some pick six options from our friends at DraftKings.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
So I have I mean, I'm going to play the
hot player here, Brad. It makes a lot of sense
to ride this this streak from Michael Harris and also
Matt Olson, who has come to life the last couple
of games after a little bit of a slump. So
I went more than a hit and more than a
hit for Matt Olsen and Michael Harris. Why not you know, like,
if you had to bet on players just blindly in
(11:20):
this lineup right now to have good games, I'd go Harris.
I think I go Olson, and I go Drake Baldwin,
and that's a that's a trio that's really kind of
carrying this team offensively right now.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Bank on the young talent, and then you know Matt's
not young anymore, but Matt's been their best player this
year overall. So I am with you on all of that.
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Speaker 1 (12:22):
All right, Scott, let us discuss a little bit more
of what happened today. I mean, we've kind of laughed
it off, but Carlos Carrasco is not very good. Three
starts for Carrasco with the Braves fifteen runs alot in
thirteen and two thirds innings. That's a microcosm of where
the rotation currently is. We will not rely re litigate
everything that Shawn and Stephen shared on was It Whatday?
Speaker 4 (12:44):
It was?
Speaker 1 (12:44):
A Tuesday Night show about the rotation, about Strider, all
of that, But if you go into like where the
team are, the team era is, and some of the
numbers since the All Star Break, as good as offense
has been, the picture staff has been the exact inverse
of that. And look, it's not a rocket science thing.
If you look at the names and the profiles of
who is pitching, particularly starting pitching for the Braves right now,
(13:08):
it is pretty dire. They entered today with the second
worst era in baseball, with the rotation ahead of only
the Rockies, who have the double whammy of being quite
bad and also playing course field. So the Braves have
been that bad in the rotation. It got worse tonight.
We don't have to talk about this, but I want
to always ask you takeaways. I mean, Spencer Strider stuff
(13:31):
you have, even the thirty second spiel on Spencer. I mean, again,
listen to the show for yesterday. But I feel like
people were asking us, like what we think, and I
feel like we I should at least ask you because
that was a big story this week, and I don't
want to bring the whole mood down, but it's a thing.
And also I think that at least I am, for one,
I'm kind of optimistic.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Still, yeah, I think it's probably fair to say that
Spencer might be hitting a wall in this first season
back from elbow surgery. He has been really bad for
four starts now and just doesn't look as crisp and
as good as he looked even a month ago, where
he was just he looked like Spencer Strider. And I
(14:07):
think the fact now he's approaching one hundred innings. He
had the ramp up period, then he was shut down
with the hammy. Then he came back, he was kind
of okay, and then he was really good, and now
he's really bad. I do think, though, in my heart
of hearts, that with a normal off season and another
eight months removed from the elbow surgery, I have to
(14:29):
think Spencer Strider is going to be better than what
he has been especially lately. I don't know if he
still has best pitcher in baseball on a per innings basis,
which was arguably what he was in his absolute peak
a couple of years ago, but I do still think
he can be a good front end starting pitcher, a
really good number two, especially just he's such a maniac
(14:52):
man like, he is a master of his craft, and
I say maniac in the best way possible. You know
that Spencer is going to go into this offseason healthy
and really kind of study what worked and what didn't work,
presumably come back throwing harder next spring with an off
season and normal off season of strength conditioning. So I
do think Spencer's gonna be okay. I think it's very
(15:13):
normal and natural to be a little concerned right now
based on where he's at, But I just have to
think this guy is gonna figure it out eventually.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, we share that opinion. I mean we're not getting
into all but the super duper advanced you know stuff
plus metrics, and I think that stuff's very useful, and
it also backs up the eye test on Spenser right now.
But the long and short of it essentially is that
his fastball, wants arguably the best in baseball for at
starting pitcher at least in the top five, is now
(15:41):
a below average pitch at this moment. And that is
a big, big, big, big change, and that is explains
what's going on to some degree. The slider still looks
good by the numbers, by some of the misbad stuffs
when you know he's getting whiffs on it, But the
fastball is where I'm kind of with you, like he's
gonna go into the LABIS winner, I think, and figure
out how to be a different picture. And I don't
(16:03):
mean that in a negative way. I might sound like
I do because I'm with you. I mean it's hard
to see him being a best pitching baseball level pitcher
with not being able to throw as hard as he
used to throw. Now it's not all about velocity, like
I think you'll find. I think you'll have to find
a different way to operate with his fastball. I think
he will. That's based on just logic with him, and
(16:26):
also like even it's easy to forget this, but go
back like two weeks, three weeks, there was like a
stretch of like two months where he was still pitching
at a really good level, like a low three z
R level, And that's probably more realistic than the guy
he was prior. And we won't do it tonight. But
there's the whole debate right now. I've seen it raging today.
I'm sure you saw this too during the rain delay,
(16:48):
especially if there's nothing else to talk about the strider
extension wars. Was that a mistake and look, it was aggressive,
it was pitching extensions happened less than position player extententions
for a reason. But I do think that he could
still be worth that contract. He's got to figure some
stuff out. But the maniac thing is a good way
to describe it. So like, if you want more on that,
(17:09):
listen to the gush from yesterday. But I wanted to
spoilt because it's a it's a big story. I mean,
he's unfortunately for the Braves, he's the only storry pitcher
right now that has that kind of juice to appeal
to people watching, and he isn't that guy right now,
it's unfortunate for him. We'll see what it looks like
in a few days when he pushes again.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yep. And you know, Striider makes twenty million dollars next year,
he makes twenty million dollars the year after that, and
he makes twenty two million dollars in twenty twenty eight,
all guaranteed. And that's the risk we talked about it.
Go find that episode. I think we can say that
we were okay with the extension when it went down
in twenty twenty two. But I also know for a
(17:47):
fact that we were saying, hey, Pitch, your extensions are risky.
There's a reason you don't see a lot of them.
And to this point, Striider really has not made much money.
I think in total he's made like eight million dollars
or something like that. But when he said to make
sixty two million dollars the next three years, the Braves
obviously need him to be much better than what he
has been lately.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yes, and I but I at the same time, I'd
also encourage people to look and see what twenty million
So that's a lot of money, and it is. But
if let's say, for instance, this winter, guys who would
command three years sixty two million. It's a good picture,
to be sure, but you don't have to be at
(18:29):
a capital aace to be worth twenty million dollars a year.
That's how much good pictures cost.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Our good friend Charlie Morton at age forty one.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
A great example.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
We need fifteen million dollars from the Baltimore Orioles last winter,
and that's a one year deal and compared to Strider,
but I mean, that's that is the going rate for
pictures in the year twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
If you are an established top three in rotation veteran
starting pitcher, you're getting paid fifteen to twenty million dollars
in freegency. So it's a lot of money. And I
don't I wonder if you gave Alex schrucierm right now
about that deal what he would say. But it doesn't
mean it's a disaster. So that's we're kind of in
the middle ground now where it could be it could
(19:12):
be bad. I mean, there's there's definitely a world in
which if he's this guy right he's right now, it's
gonna look bad. If he's the guy he was from
June one to like late July. It's totally fine and
it'll be fine, so we'll see.
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Speaker 1 (20:26):
Foul elsewhere on some other stuff takeaways from you know.
Recently we discuss the offense being better. It's been up
and down. Oh, a interesting topic that I have to
bring up, and only because it's going to be more
polarizing because this player has been really good lately, and
(20:48):
that's more Solo. Zuna, Marcelo Zuna has been great lately.
He's second to Michael Harris and all the offensive stats
says the All Star break, he's been really good. He
was good tonight as we're talking on Wednesday. At the
same time, marcel A Zuna has now sat only one
time in the last eight days, and the only time
(21:12):
he sat in the last eight days was half of
the doubleheader on Saturday against Miami. He is playing effectively
every single day right now. Drake Baldwin in that same
time has played a decent amount. He's played I think
six out of nine games, but he's sat three times.
And it's funny because we kind of predicted this if
(21:33):
Ozuna was good, it was gonna play, and that's exactly
what's happening. And Baldwin isn't sitting a ton. But for me,
it's it's an eyebrow raise. It's an alarm bell that
over an eight day period, Ozuna has played two more
games than Drake Baldwin. Even Thasuma be good, we're leading
with that. Ozun has been good. But when you look
(21:55):
at the actual context of the season and where they are,
that doesn't matter that much. And I'm not saying you
don't play as it at all, but boy, I'm kind
of done with Dray Baldwin playing. Listen, Ozuna, it's only
by eight days.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yeah, we knew this was gonna happen. I mean the
night of the trade deadline. This was the whole point
with Ozuna was if he's hitting the baseball, Brian Snicker
is going to play his veterans. And we're not saying
that Baldwin needs to play every single inning of every
single game from here until September thirtieth, but it makes
(22:28):
no sense to not play him. The Rookie of the
Year thing We've talked about a million times. It is
very important to the Braves long term with the draft
next summer, that Baldwin Win's rookie of the year. It's uh,
but you know what, man, we can yell about it
until we're blue in the face and guess who's gonna
be in the lineup on Thursday, Marcelo Zuna and hopefully
(22:51):
Baldwin is catching and give Murphy a night off. But
moving forward, it should not be this heavy of a
lean towards Ozuna, and I have a feeling it probably
is going to be.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, and you know, Murphy was good tonight. He's not
been great lately. He's sat more than Baldwin, so that's fine.
I certainly think Balwen should play more than Murphy right
now because of obvious reasons. I think Murphy should still play.
If it's me, I prefer Murphy to play over Ozuna,
because Murphy is going to be a long term part
of the team, probably in a way that Ozona it
(23:24):
probably won't be. But I'm also fine with when Baldwin's catching,
if you want to play Azuna. I'm not particularly bothered
by that. It's it's the nights when Ozuna is playing
DH and Baldwin is not playing that those are the
rights that we actually care about.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I have a pop quiz for you and everyone listening.
If Marcello Zuna has a really good final two months
of the season, uh oh, is there a world where
they bring him back on like a one year, twenty
million dollars deal for next season? So I I, of
course I don't know if I don't know if task
(23:58):
is the right word, but I monitor their YouTube comments
for us and also most of the social media comments.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
There are already people talking about this. This is already happening.
People are already like, well, maybe they'll just bring up
Zona back. And for the record, we've never said that
it's possible that they would do you say, twenty million.
If they give him twenty million dollars, I'm gonna have
a heart attack on you.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
It felt hot the moment I said, okay, one year,
fifteen million dollars to a Zuna.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Look, okay, I would not like that, and not because
Marcel is not necessarily worth that. This is probably a
different discussion for a nother day and more depth. But
it's the situation more than the player. Like if you
told me Marcel Zona is healthy, he might be worth
that much money, like we've seen him now be back
to kind of old Marcel the last few weeks. He's
(24:43):
still a good hitter when he's when he's right, obviously,
But when you have Ronin Akunya who might need a DH,
when you have Joyson Profar who might need a DH
for another reason, and then you have two catchers, it
would be a hard sell. I guess that they all
(25:04):
like every By the way, again, we said this mony times.
Everyone loves Oz in that clubhouse, like the Offield stuff happened.
We all know that. But in that clubhouse Marcel is
very well liked, and he has been a really good
hitter for most of the last two and a half seasons.
But boy, it is a really hard sell to pay.
And by the way, this would be for any player
(25:24):
if they signed a D a similar DH to Marcel,
and gave that player any money next year, it would
be an ibor raise for me. Because of the situation.
It almost dictates that you have to trade somebody else. Yeah, like,
I don't know, I don't know how you can pay
Marcel eight figures, even if it's ten million, and keep
(25:45):
all four guys that just obviously Runnalds a different but
keep Murphy and Profar. Basically like having Murphy Profar and
Ozuna on the roster next year seems insane to me.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, you know, it's funny. Earlier on Wednesday, Jeff Passing
went on ESPN Radio in Atlanta, Your Guy, and was
was talking about just the weirdness of this Brave season
and like, what do you do Like it doesn't feel
like you can run it back next season. But if
you go through this lineup and this this team right
(26:18):
now on the offensive side, it's shortstop, which is obvious,
but we've seen for three years they haven't really been
able to add a shortstop or have been unwilling to
make the financial commitments at a shortstop. Will that be
different this offseason? I don't know. I guess second base
you could maybe upgrade, but trying to upgrade both second
and short good luck with a with an okay farm
(26:39):
system that you're gonna need. Good luck, And then you
know the catcher and the DH thing. So it is
an interesting conversation. I am not sitting here saying the
Braves need to bring back Ozuna because I agree with
everything you said about just how complex the roster becomes.
But it's gonna become a discussion. I think if Ozuna
is really good in August and September.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, I mean even the big numbers. Ozuna is currently
lead the teamn home runs this year. He has twenty
home runs. He has eight hundred roops this season, which
isn't incredible for a DH only player, but he's it's
a good hitter. I mean he had the time, he
had the time when he was not good. But yeah,
it's in a vacuum. He is worth that kind of
contract if he's healthy.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
It's just the team. Another team might value that bat
more than the Braves do with their current situation. I'm
guessing if you put a gun in my head, I'd
say Ozuna is not back with the Braves next season,
but more so because another team is gonna say, hey,
we really want that bat because we have a zero
at DH. We want that bat in the middle of
(27:43):
our order more than the Braves probably do. Even if
the Braves still need offensive help they do. It's just
not in the form of a DH only player for me.
And it wouldn't matter if it was Marcel or any
DH only player.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't think. Maybe if it's like Kyle Schwarber, who's
like an elite elite hitter. It's an easier it's an
easier sell.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I will personally fly to Atlanta and drive College Warber
around the city for a month if if they want
to make that deal happen.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
But again I'll say, well, if they do that, orro Zuna,
I think it almost requires you to do something else,
like because I have a hard time with the DH
spot being at a written in Penn spot every night,
with the situation when you probably need Ryan to go there.
Sometimes pro Farce is a bad defender all this. Anyway,
(28:30):
That's that's for another discuy.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I like to sup you off off tangent here and
at twelve thirty three in the morning your time.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
It is two thirty three am. That's okay, a few
more notes and we'll get out of here. Brus Nicker
unsurprisingly said he is planning to use a six men
rotation for as long as he can. The Braves have
not announced probables yet for the weekend. They'll probably do
that at some point on Thursday. It's Bryce Elder on
Thursday on the probable sheet and I haven't heard otherwise,
(28:59):
so I'm expecting him to be tomorrow or today as
we're recording this. But then it's if it's sim me
rotation that implies Hurst and Waldrop, who's still on the roster,
will get a start this weekend. What do you make
of that? I mean, Chris Sale, of course pitched in
Gwinette on Tuesday, mixed results, But he's Chris Sale. I'm
not worried about that. But six man until Sale gets
(29:20):
back six man for a while, Like, I'm fine. I
don't really care roster man agel wise. I just think
it was at least notable to bring him up.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
You know, it makes sense get us to the finish line, Waldrip.
You want to keep him up. I would keep Waldrop
up as long as you can. Let him keep growing,
let him build off of this really strong start that
he's had. Even when Chris Sale comes back, you can
be sure they're gonna want to give Sale an extra
day of rest whenever he does pitch. Yes, and everybody else,
(29:48):
I mean, why not, you know, like, there's no need
to run a five man rotation here and really push people.
Sure why? I mean when he said it, it's like, okay, yeah,
that makes sense. Maybe an I'm guessing that Carlos Krosco
will be the odd man out when they bring sale
back because he's just but I mean, honestly, the Corosco
(30:09):
one was the one that always felt like we literally
need a live arm to beat four innings every five days. Yeah,
there's maybe a not twelve thirty am raucous discussion about
Bryce Elder versus Carlos Carrasco. We will not be having
that right now. But Carrasco, you know, at least if
you want to be charitable to Elder, I think he
might have a minor league option down the line.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Carrasco does not. Uh, And if you have to get
rid of somebody, it's probably gonna be him. So we
will see on that front. Sticker also said today, I
don't know this was talking about a little last night, but
fresh until Acunya could be ready soon, Like they've not
set a date, but it seems like he's gonna be
within the next couple days. It feels like Rian's gonna play.
And Austin Riley, on the other hand, has not wrapped
(30:54):
up yet. According to what stints that on Wednesday, he
quote still feels it end quotes that was a dob
tweet about the lower abdom Laura Adamin strain that he
has That's not great for Riley. Not surprising. He had
the same injury twice, and usually you want to be
even more careful the second time around. But seems like
Ronnie's close and Austin is not.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm glad they're being smart with
these two. It felt like Acunya might be activated over
the weekend, and they've clearly given it at least a
few more days. Of course, you had a wet outfield tonight,
so I don't hate Acunya being on the bench instead
of running and chasing down baseballs in the gap. And
with Riley, I mean, it feels like labor day to
(31:36):
me is when we might see Riley again. It's it's
gonna be a while. It was a reaggravation of that
injury from before, and why push it, like, there's no
need to get this guy. If the Braves were a
game ahead on the Phillies in the East, sure, maybe
you really have Austin attack that rehab and recovery, but
there's just no need to be smart. Don't don't get
(31:56):
a serious core muscle injury here and make sure he
is one hundred and ten percent before you bring him back.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Strongly agree on that one more against the Mets. On Thursday,
as mentioned, it was it's Bryce Elder against CODEI senga.
Not ideal, but hey, the Braves one tonight with Carls
Carrasco and a six front deficit, so anything as possible,
Scott and also the green full circle. The New York
Mets have lost twelve of the last fourteen games and
(32:25):
I am enjoying that gravely.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
So if the Mets lose this series at home to
the Braves with a struggling Spencer Schreider, a thirty seven
year old Carlos Carrasco and a six plus era for
two full seasons Bryce Elder, and they lose that series
at home, it is going to be cinema in New York.
I mean, I'm I'm a Siico, you're a Sico people
(32:48):
tuning into the show every night or Sickos. We love it,
We're here for it. Let's just frustrate the hell out
of the Mets and their fans for one more night
and just kind of you know, dig that, dig the
knife and twist it a little bit deeper, because I mean,
you're up six to nothing against Carlos Carrosco and you
lose a game at home. I mean, imagine if it
was the other way around. Imagine if the Braves were
in a tail spin and they have a thirty eight
(33:10):
year old journeyman on the ropes and they blow a
six run lead at home. I mean this podcast, man,
I mean, we might lose our family friendly rating because
some things would be said.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
I know that much, is sure. Yeah, listen to our
friends that messed up. They're on our network. We do
like them, but I'm sure they're not having a lot
of fun right now. And by the way, the Mets
fin go face the Mariners over the weekend, who are
good in the marriers of what a to the last
nine Mets? Sports Radio would be entertaining. All right, Scott,
why should have anything else to add? We can sign
off here late in the evening into the morning on
(33:43):
this Thursday. Folks can follow you where and again, feel
free if you have hot takes about anything, feel free
to let them go.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
We're off the rills.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It's funny you ask, Brad, I have a seventeen minute
thought about.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
And that's gonna imply if you're watching YouTube, I just
term of microp my camera off and we're gonna that's
going to bed.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
This show is gonna hit live about one am, so
shout out Brad, a man who's going to be doing
some international travel here pretty soon.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
So it's all good. We're all good.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
We'll be back. A big thank you to everybody as
always for checking out the show. This was a fun episode.
We hope you enjoyed listening. Big comeback win tonight. It's
always fun to beat the Mets. I don't care what
the situation is. I am at Scott Coleman fifty five.
If you want to send all the hot takes that way.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Follow Scott Fall. They show at Hammer Territory. Anywhere you
find your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Please subscribe and
also please tell your friends if you are a sicko.
We definitely appreciate you help us spread the word as well.
Even during this interesting part of the season, We'll say
for the Braves part of the character of the franchise.
(34:51):
We're covering the team all the time, so hang with us.
More to come and we'll see everybody next time.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Hammer Territory Podcasts,
Episode two four nine. I am your hosts, Brad Roland,
coming to you on a I guess it's checks notes
Thursday morning. As a broke this podcast on the East Coast,
I've joined my Scott Coleman. As always, Scott, it was
a long one, but the Braves won a weird game
on Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How are you hello, Brad? I'm doing better because the
Braves won a really fun game tonight. I mean, I
tell you what, man, we missed out on the opportunity
of a lifetime because if you would have put a
few dollars on the Braves winning when they were down
six to nothing after two innings with Carlos carrasco on
the mound, you could have gotten some pretty incredible odds.
(01:01):
Unfortunately I did not make that bet, so I have
to keep doing podcasts with you, my friend. But I mean,
what a weird ass game, long rain delay, massive inning.
The Braves scored a million runs, but they only had
hits from four players. It was just a weird game.
And then after all the offense early, there was like
not a peep after that. Just an unconventional night in
(01:22):
city field, and I mean, man alive. Are Mets fans
going through.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
It right now? Yeah, we're not going to be doing
a ton of like full on game breakdowns for obvious
reasons with one of the Braves are. But this is
kind of a weird game. It was a rain delay game,
so it started late. It got weird in a hurry.
The Raves not won five of the last seven games
like they lost last night. Our our guys did a
show Sean and Steven talking about a thirteen to five
(01:48):
like kind of a bummer loss with Strider and all that.
It's like, all right, and then they're does six nothing tonight.
It's like, well, here we go, Scott, what are we
gonna talk about? I don't mind saying let's pull the
curtain back. We talked about maybe recording during the game,
like it was when it was six nothing. We were
thinking about starting because it was already rady delayed. I
am kind of glad we didn't, although it would have
(02:08):
been funny had we been on the air as they
scored nine runs in an inning, because that would have
happened tonight. That's that's why the Braves. You missed this game.
The Braves again toss stuffing. They scored nine runs on
four hits in the fourth inning and that propelled them
to eleven runs and eight hits in the game, and
truly bizarre stuff. I mean, where do you want to
start on this game, because we should talk about it
(02:30):
in some depth, probably more depth we normally would right now,
anything you want to lead off? Is it Carlos carrasco
to wead.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Off the show? No, it is not. I mean, hey, Carlos,
he's doing his very best out there, but holy cow,
I mean that's just uh that that's just not gonna work.
But hey, isn't it kind of a sick and cruel
joke that after watching this Braves team for the better
part of the season be held up and kind of
(02:57):
kept in the race by a really solid pitching staff,
but the offense just could not score. It was We
talked about it seemingly every single episode of this podcast,
and then of course, as they lose Sale, they lose
schwallenbax mis Shover Lopez. The whole pitching staff is hurt.
The offense has been legitimately pretty good for a little
while now and continues to put up crooked numbers and
(03:20):
is bailing out the pitching staff. Of course, the Braves
are so far buried in the standings it doesn't matter.
But it just kind of feels like the cherry on
top of a weird baseball season that this lineup is
now legitimately figuring some things out.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, we kind of for shouted that, I mean, even
talking about the season being functionally over and try not
to have everybody forget what happened, because we knew when
the pitching staff was became as battered as it was.
No Sale, much Swallenbach and a little bit you know,
no Holmes, all of that. It was like, all right,
from this point forward, the pitching staff is not good enough,
(03:55):
and we kind of understand that. But the season was
kind of already over before that because of the not
doing its job, So you're right, it's it is funny.
The Braves are now averaging more than five runs per
game since the All Star Break. It's like, that's a
cruel and usual joke. They're leading the league and walks
by a ton like by like twenty five percent more
than the rest of the league since the All Star Break.
(04:15):
It's just all these numbers are crazy. But tonight was
kind of in that spirit. Honestly, they walked seven times,
so you know, eleven runs and eight hits sounds weird,
but they walk seven times. The ending that did all
the damage we mentioned already, but nine rouns and four
four hits. It was five walks, a three run double
y profar, it was bass clearing a single by I
(04:37):
was doing its score run and then Michael Harris, they
love the basis again, Michael Harris, It's a Grand Slam,
just like a ridiculous ending and an example of what
the Braves were not doing forever this year, Like how
may times we made the same joke between us and
Steven and Sean about how the Braves get the least
out of every possible rally, and they have all year long.
This time they got the absolute most out of a
(04:59):
rally and a game that again doesn't matter except for
to tournament the Mets, which I'm certainly on board with,
certainly the Mets. I know you are. You already watched
the Frank video after the game that was I would love.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I wish we could live like tune in live to
Mets Radio like the call in shows tonight it what
is it just after midnight on the East Coast. I
mean you can imagine. I mean, what a horrible loss
for the Mets. And that feels good to say, Like,
I know, this year sucks in a million times out
of a million. We would trade places with the Mets
in the standings right now if we could, but it
(05:31):
just feels good to make their fans sweat. And clearly
the Braves wanted to win this game tonight, like during
that biginning, doug Out was going crazy, big time celebrations.
And I mean, let's talk about Michael Harris for a second.
If folks didn't hear the show, I guess two days
ago now on the feed a day ago now with
(05:51):
Steven and Sean had a really good conversation about Michael Harris,
and I thought Steven had a great kind of comparison
between Charlie Brown and getting the football pulled away from him,
and that's kind of what it feels like with Michael Harris,
because we have seen this player be so special, but
you don't know when that football is gonna get pulled.
(06:14):
And it was a perfect analogy for Michael Harris right now.
And man, I mean, he just keeps having big night
after big night. I pulled the numbers in the second
half of the season, Michael Harris is comfortably a top
six hitter in all of baseball. He had the Grand
Slam tonight that was absolutely launched. He's just he has
(06:34):
it all working right now. And that's why, even when
it was so dark maybe two months ago, this season
we have seen Mike be just such a special player.
And I think most of us, I'm sure there were
fans who had maybe given up on Michael a little bit,
but I think I can speak for this podcast that
even though it was really bad and every night we
were banging our heads against the wall, Michael Harris still
(06:57):
has too much talent to just completely fall apart and
figure this thing out.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Scott went to TV up because we are sponsors today
by pixixs half from Draft Kings, and all you have
to do is pick more or less on the staff
two more of your favorite players and you're in the
mix of cash prizes. And Michael Harris is our Draft
Kings player spotlight for obvious reasons. Michael Harris has been
a star now for a month. I mean, it's crazy
to say you teed it up, but the numbers are
what they are. I mean even tonight you too, it's
(07:22):
at a home run. He has seven home runs, six doubles,
and three triples in twenty five games since the break, Like,
is that sustainable? Probably not, but I think we can
when we talked, We've talked about it many times, but
the adjustments he's made, he's ambushing the ball, hitting for
power in the way that he was not before entering today,
(07:43):
he had an ops of like ten sixty and I
think it's over eleven hundred now when you factor in
tonight's performances, it's something a monitor all year long, like,
and it's you know, it's one game tonight, but it was.
It has not been one game for him. He has
he has three walks. Three walks is better than zero walks.
But honestly, though he's striking out less, he's just attacking
(08:04):
the ball more and more often. And when you're slugging
like seven hundred for a month, you know, it covers
up a lot and Michael's baseline, as we've discussed many
times as well, when you defend like he does, if
you hit like this, like I mean, he really has
been like one of the ten best players in baseball
over the last four weeks. Like that's insane from where
(08:27):
he was as one of the worst hitters in baseball
most of the season, But like it does the reminders,
it's a reminder of his talent level, you know what
I mean, Like the guys like this have had this
much talent, you can't it's hard to quit on.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Oh yeah, I mean that's why you can't quit on
a player like this, because there's only so many humans
on the planet who can play Gold Glove level defense,
legitimate Gold Glove level defense and also hit like this
for weeks at a time. And there's still some things
I think with Mike that I'm a little nervous about.
He's still i mean, the walks have gone up a smidge,
(08:58):
but he's still not getting on base at a super
high clip. But I mean that's never been his game.
I mean never. He has never been an on base guy.
He's never been a drawl out of walks guy. He
really gets there with contact and power, and if that's
who he is, he's obviously not gonna be Barry Bonds
for the rest of his career. But it's just it's
(09:19):
been so much fun to watch and it feels like
Mike has his swaggerback. He's playing loose. I mean, clearly
this was wang on him in the first half when
he was legitimately one of the worst players in the game.
He looks good, he looks like himself, and I mean,
man alive, Brad. I mean, this Braves team couldn't count
on Michael Harris moving forward. It was gonna get really
(09:39):
hard just to kind of get there. I'm like, how
is this team gonna win ninety plus games and contend
for a World Series? They already have other issues they
could not withstand to just completely lose Michael Harris, and
the last month sure makes it seem like they are
not going to have to deal with that, and they
have kind of gotten their five tool star in center
field back one more statum.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
My and then we'll move on. But he went into
the All Star break with a forty seven WRC plus
for the season. Obviously, that's extremely bad, just saying that
out loud. He now, after tonight updated in real time,
has an eighty one WRC plus for the season. Now,
(10:19):
eighty one is not where anybody wants me to be.
But raising his WRC plus thirty four points from forty
seven to eighty one in again three and a half
four weeks this late in the year is kind of insane,
Like for a guy who's played basically every day the
whole season, like he's one of their highest guys in
games played and played, appearances, all those things, for him
to do that that is just it's a reminder of
(10:40):
how bad he was. It was also a reminder of
how truly like dominant he's now been four month and
wanted to spotlight him on this segment of the podcast.
With that said, Scott, I'm gonna leave it to you.
I'm gonna throw you the lob today and take a
look at some pick six options from our friends at DraftKings.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
So I have I mean, I'm going to play the
hot player here, Brad. It makes a lot of sense
to ride this this streak from Michael Harris and also
Matt Olson, who has come to life the last couple
of games after a little bit of a slump. So
I went more than a hit and more than a
hit for Matt Olsen and Michael Harris. Why not you know, like,
if you had to bet on players just blindly in
(11:20):
this lineup right now to have good games, I'd go Harris.
I think I go Olson, and I go Drake Baldwin,
and that's a that's a trio that's really kind of
carrying this team offensively right now.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Bank on the young talent, and then you know Matt's
not young anymore, but Matt's been their best player this
year overall. So I am with you on all of that.
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Speaker 1 (12:22):
All right, Scott, let us discuss a little bit more
of what happened today. I mean, we've kind of laughed
it off, but Carlos Carrasco is not very good. Three
starts for Carrasco with the Braves fifteen runs alot in
thirteen and two thirds innings. That's a microcosm of where
the rotation currently is. We will not rely re litigate
everything that Shawn and Stephen shared on was It Whatday?
Speaker 4 (12:44):
It was?
Speaker 1 (12:44):
A Tuesday Night show about the rotation, about Strider, all
of that, But if you go into like where the
team are, the team era is, and some of the
numbers since the All Star Break, as good as offense
has been, the picture staff has been the exact inverse
of that. And look, it's not a rocket science thing.
If you look at the names and the profiles of
who is pitching, particularly starting pitching for the Braves right now,
(13:08):
it is pretty dire. They entered today with the second
worst era in baseball, with the rotation ahead of only
the Rockies, who have the double whammy of being quite
bad and also playing course field. So the Braves have
been that bad in the rotation. It got worse tonight.
We don't have to talk about this, but I want
to always ask you takeaways. I mean, Spencer Strider stuff
(13:31):
you have, even the thirty second spiel on Spencer. I mean, again,
listen to the show for yesterday. But I feel like
people were asking us, like what we think, and I
feel like we I should at least ask you because
that was a big story this week, and I don't
want to bring the whole mood down, but it's a thing.
And also I think that at least I am, for one,
I'm kind of optimistic.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Still, yeah, I think it's probably fair to say that
Spencer might be hitting a wall in this first season
back from elbow surgery. He has been really bad for
four starts now and just doesn't look as crisp and
as good as he looked even a month ago, where
he was just he looked like Spencer Strider. And I
(14:07):
think the fact now he's approaching one hundred innings. He
had the ramp up period, then he was shut down
with the hammy. Then he came back, he was kind
of okay, and then he was really good, and now
he's really bad. I do think, though, in my heart
of hearts, that with a normal off season and another
eight months removed from the elbow surgery, I have to
(14:29):
think Spencer Strider is going to be better than what
he has been especially lately. I don't know if he
still has best pitcher in baseball on a per innings basis,
which was arguably what he was in his absolute peak
a couple of years ago, but I do still think
he can be a good front end starting pitcher, a
really good number two, especially just he's such a maniac
(14:52):
man like, he is a master of his craft, and
I say maniac in the best way possible. You know
that Spencer is going to go into this offseason healthy
and really kind of study what worked and what didn't work,
presumably come back throwing harder next spring with an off
season and normal off season of strength conditioning. So I
do think Spencer's gonna be okay. I think it's very
(15:13):
normal and natural to be a little concerned right now
based on where he's at, But I just have to
think this guy is gonna figure it out eventually.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, we share that opinion. I mean we're not getting
into all but the super duper advanced you know stuff
plus metrics, and I think that stuff's very useful, and
it also backs up the eye test on Spenser right now.
But the long and short of it essentially is that
his fastball, wants arguably the best in baseball for at
starting pitcher at least in the top five, is now
(15:41):
a below average pitch at this moment. And that is
a big, big, big, big change, and that is explains
what's going on to some degree. The slider still looks
good by the numbers, by some of the misbad stuffs
when you know he's getting whiffs on it, But the
fastball is where I'm kind of with you, like he's
gonna go into the LABIS winner, I think, and figure
out how to be a different picture. And I don't
(16:03):
mean that in a negative way. I might sound like
I do because I'm with you. I mean it's hard
to see him being a best pitching baseball level pitcher
with not being able to throw as hard as he
used to throw. Now it's not all about velocity, like
I think you'll find. I think you'll have to find
a different way to operate with his fastball. I think
he will. That's based on just logic with him, and
(16:26):
also like even it's easy to forget this, but go
back like two weeks, three weeks, there was like a
stretch of like two months where he was still pitching
at a really good level, like a low three z
R level, And that's probably more realistic than the guy
he was prior. And we won't do it tonight. But
there's the whole debate right now. I've seen it raging today.
I'm sure you saw this too during the rain delay,
(16:48):
especially if there's nothing else to talk about the strider
extension wars. Was that a mistake and look, it was aggressive,
it was pitching extensions happened less than position player extententions
for a reason. But I do think that he could
still be worth that contract. He's got to figure some
stuff out. But the maniac thing is a good way
to describe it. So like, if you want more on that,
(17:09):
listen to the gush from yesterday. But I wanted to
spoilt because it's a it's a big story. I mean,
he's unfortunately for the Braves, he's the only storry pitcher
right now that has that kind of juice to appeal
to people watching, and he isn't that guy right now,
it's unfortunate for him. We'll see what it looks like
in a few days when he pushes again.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yep. And you know, Striider makes twenty million dollars next year,
he makes twenty million dollars the year after that, and
he makes twenty two million dollars in twenty twenty eight,
all guaranteed. And that's the risk we talked about it.
Go find that episode. I think we can say that
we were okay with the extension when it went down
in twenty twenty two. But I also know for a
(17:47):
fact that we were saying, hey, Pitch, your extensions are risky.
There's a reason you don't see a lot of them.
And to this point, Striider really has not made much money.
I think in total he's made like eight million dollars
or something like that. But when he said to make
sixty two million dollars the next three years, the Braves
obviously need him to be much better than what he
has been lately.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yes, and I but I at the same time, I'd
also encourage people to look and see what twenty million
So that's a lot of money, and it is. But
if let's say, for instance, this winter, guys who would
command three years sixty two million. It's a good picture,
to be sure, but you don't have to be at
(18:29):
a capital aace to be worth twenty million dollars a year.
That's how much good pictures cost.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Our good friend Charlie Morton at age forty one.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
A great example.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
We need fifteen million dollars from the Baltimore Orioles last winter,
and that's a one year deal and compared to Strider,
but I mean, that's that is the going rate for
pictures in the year twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
If you are an established top three in rotation veteran
starting pitcher, you're getting paid fifteen to twenty million dollars
in freegency. So it's a lot of money. And I
don't I wonder if you gave Alex schrucierm right now
about that deal what he would say. But it doesn't
mean it's a disaster. So that's we're kind of in
the middle ground now where it could be it could
(19:12):
be bad. I mean, there's there's definitely a world in
which if he's this guy right he's right now, it's
gonna look bad. If he's the guy he was from
June one to like late July. It's totally fine and
it'll be fine, so we'll see.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Hey, we love ripping slab packs on Arena Club. I
just ripped one in a Ruby pack. Those are fancy
schmancy kip and I pulled a matt Shaw twenty twenty
three Bowman Draft Aqua Lunar Crater refractor card and I
guess what.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Guess what?
Speaker 4 (19:43):
I got a little offer. You get the instant offer
right away. Okay, so they're offering me one hundred and
twenty one bucks. Sell it back and then I can
get a new slab pack. What do I do?
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I want to see this thing. Hold on, look at that.
That's a beautiful card.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
You know what.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
I think that's a safe bet. I think it's gonna
make you a little bit of money. I think the
more more big league time he gets, I'd almost take
the deal, though. I'm in it for the chase. I
like opening more packs. I think that one hundred and
twenty one can buy you a couple more slabs to open,
and I think you keep chasing until you get someone
you really like. But that's the best part about it
for me.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
You can sell it back one hundred and twenty one
bucks and then open up another slab pack. Use the
code foul to receive twenty percent off your first slab
pack or card purchase at arenaclub dot com slash.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Foul elsewhere on some other stuff takeaways from you know.
Recently we discuss the offense being better. It's been up
and down. Oh, a interesting topic that I have to
bring up, and only because it's going to be more
polarizing because this player has been really good lately, and
(20:48):
that's more Solo. Zuna, Marcelo Zuna has been great lately.
He's second to Michael Harris and all the offensive stats
says the All Star break, he's been really good. He
was good tonight as we're talking on Wednesday. At the
same time, marcel A Zuna has now sat only one
time in the last eight days, and the only time
(21:12):
he sat in the last eight days was half of
the doubleheader on Saturday against Miami. He is playing effectively
every single day right now. Drake Baldwin in that same
time has played a decent amount. He's played I think
six out of nine games, but he's sat three times.
And it's funny because we kind of predicted this if
(21:33):
Ozuna was good, it was gonna play, and that's exactly
what's happening. And Baldwin isn't sitting a ton. But for me,
it's it's an eyebrow raise. It's an alarm bell that
over an eight day period, Ozuna has played two more
games than Drake Baldwin. Even Thasuma be good, we're leading
with that. Ozun has been good. But when you look
(21:55):
at the actual context of the season and where they are,
that doesn't matter that much. And I'm not saying you
don't play as it at all, but boy, I'm kind
of done with Dray Baldwin playing. Listen, Ozuna, it's only
by eight days.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yeah, we knew this was gonna happen. I mean the
night of the trade deadline. This was the whole point
with Ozuna was if he's hitting the baseball, Brian Snicker
is going to play his veterans. And we're not saying
that Baldwin needs to play every single inning of every
single game from here until September thirtieth, but it makes
(22:28):
no sense to not play him. The Rookie of the
Year thing We've talked about a million times. It is
very important to the Braves long term with the draft
next summer, that Baldwin Win's rookie of the year. It's uh,
but you know what, man, we can yell about it
until we're blue in the face and guess who's gonna
be in the lineup on Thursday, Marcelo Zuna and hopefully
(22:51):
Baldwin is catching and give Murphy a night off. But
moving forward, it should not be this heavy of a
lean towards Ozuna, and I have a feeling it probably
is going to be.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, and you know, Murphy was good tonight. He's not
been great lately. He's sat more than Baldwin, so that's fine.
I certainly think Balwen should play more than Murphy right
now because of obvious reasons. I think Murphy should still play.
If it's me, I prefer Murphy to play over Ozuna,
because Murphy is going to be a long term part
of the team, probably in a way that Ozona it
(23:24):
probably won't be. But I'm also fine with when Baldwin's catching,
if you want to play Azuna. I'm not particularly bothered
by that. It's it's the nights when Ozuna is playing
DH and Baldwin is not playing that those are the
rights that we actually care about.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I have a pop quiz for you and everyone listening.
If Marcello Zuna has a really good final two months
of the season, uh oh, is there a world where
they bring him back on like a one year, twenty
million dollars deal for next season? So I I, of
course I don't know if I don't know if task
(23:58):
is the right word, but I monitor their YouTube comments
for us and also most of the social media comments.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
There are already people talking about this. This is already happening.
People are already like, well, maybe they'll just bring up
Zona back. And for the record, we've never said that
it's possible that they would do you say, twenty million.
If they give him twenty million dollars, I'm gonna have
a heart attack on you.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
It felt hot the moment I said, okay, one year,
fifteen million dollars to a Zuna.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Look, okay, I would not like that, and not because
Marcel is not necessarily worth that. This is probably a
different discussion for a nother day and more depth. But
it's the situation more than the player. Like if you
told me Marcel Zona is healthy, he might be worth
that much money, like we've seen him now be back
to kind of old Marcel the last few weeks. He's
(24:43):
still a good hitter when he's when he's right, obviously,
But when you have Ronin Akunya who might need a DH,
when you have Joyson Profar who might need a DH
for another reason, and then you have two catchers, it
would be a hard sell. I guess that they all
(25:04):
like every By the way, again, we said this mony times.
Everyone loves Oz in that clubhouse, like the Offield stuff happened.
We all know that. But in that clubhouse Marcel is
very well liked, and he has been a really good
hitter for most of the last two and a half seasons.
But boy, it is a really hard sell to pay.
And by the way, this would be for any player
(25:24):
if they signed a D a similar DH to Marcel,
and gave that player any money next year, it would
be an ibor raise for me. Because of the situation.
It almost dictates that you have to trade somebody else. Yeah, like,
I don't know, I don't know how you can pay
Marcel eight figures, even if it's ten million, and keep
(25:45):
all four guys that just obviously Runnalds a different but
keep Murphy and Profar. Basically like having Murphy Profar and
Ozuna on the roster next year seems insane to me.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, you know, it's funny. Earlier on Wednesday, Jeff Passing
went on ESPN Radio in Atlanta, Your Guy, and was
was talking about just the weirdness of this Brave season
and like, what do you do Like it doesn't feel
like you can run it back next season. But if
you go through this lineup and this this team right
(26:18):
now on the offensive side, it's shortstop, which is obvious,
but we've seen for three years they haven't really been
able to add a shortstop or have been unwilling to
make the financial commitments at a shortstop. Will that be
different this offseason? I don't know. I guess second base
you could maybe upgrade, but trying to upgrade both second
and short good luck with a with an okay farm
(26:39):
system that you're gonna need. Good luck, And then you
know the catcher and the DH thing. So it is
an interesting conversation. I am not sitting here saying the
Braves need to bring back Ozuna because I agree with
everything you said about just how complex the roster becomes.
But it's gonna become a discussion. I think if Ozuna
is really good in August and September.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, I mean even the big numbers. Ozuna is currently
lead the teamn home runs this year. He has twenty
home runs. He has eight hundred roops this season, which
isn't incredible for a DH only player, but he's it's
a good hitter. I mean he had the time, he
had the time when he was not good. But yeah,
it's in a vacuum. He is worth that kind of
contract if he's healthy.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
It's just the team. Another team might value that bat
more than the Braves do with their current situation. I'm
guessing if you put a gun in my head, I'd
say Ozuna is not back with the Braves next season,
but more so because another team is gonna say, hey,
we really want that bat because we have a zero
at DH. We want that bat in the middle of
(27:43):
our order more than the Braves probably do. Even if
the Braves still need offensive help they do. It's just
not in the form of a DH only player for me.
And it wouldn't matter if it was Marcel or any
DH only player.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't think. Maybe if it's like Kyle Schwarber, who's
like an elite elite hitter. It's an easier it's an
easier sell.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I will personally fly to Atlanta and drive College Warber
around the city for a month if if they want
to make that deal happen.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
But again I'll say, well, if they do that, orro Zuna,
I think it almost requires you to do something else,
like because I have a hard time with the DH
spot being at a written in Penn spot every night,
with the situation when you probably need Ryan to go there.
Sometimes pro Farce is a bad defender all this. Anyway,
(28:30):
That's that's for another discuy.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I like to sup you off off tangent here and
at twelve thirty three in the morning your time.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
It is two thirty three am. That's okay, a few
more notes and we'll get out of here. Brus Nicker
unsurprisingly said he is planning to use a six men
rotation for as long as he can. The Braves have
not announced probables yet for the weekend. They'll probably do
that at some point on Thursday. It's Bryce Elder on
Thursday on the probable sheet and I haven't heard otherwise,
(28:59):
so I'm expecting him to be tomorrow or today as
we're recording this. But then it's if it's sim me
rotation that implies Hurst and Waldrop, who's still on the roster,
will get a start this weekend. What do you make
of that? I mean, Chris Sale, of course pitched in
Gwinette on Tuesday, mixed results, But he's Chris Sale. I'm
not worried about that. But six man until Sale gets
(29:20):
back six man for a while, Like, I'm fine. I
don't really care roster man agel wise. I just think
it was at least notable to bring him up.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
You know, it makes sense get us to the finish line, Waldrip.
You want to keep him up. I would keep Waldrop
up as long as you can. Let him keep growing,
let him build off of this really strong start that
he's had. Even when Chris Sale comes back, you can
be sure they're gonna want to give Sale an extra
day of rest whenever he does pitch. Yes, and everybody else,
(29:48):
I mean, why not, you know, like, there's no need
to run a five man rotation here and really push people.
Sure why? I mean when he said it, it's like, okay, yeah,
that makes sense. Maybe an I'm guessing that Carlos Krosco
will be the odd man out when they bring sale
back because he's just but I mean, honestly, the Corosco
(30:09):
one was the one that always felt like we literally
need a live arm to beat four innings every five days. Yeah,
there's maybe a not twelve thirty am raucous discussion about
Bryce Elder versus Carlos Carrasco. We will not be having
that right now. But Carrasco, you know, at least if
you want to be charitable to Elder, I think he
might have a minor league option down the line.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Carrasco does not. Uh, And if you have to get
rid of somebody, it's probably gonna be him. So we
will see on that front. Sticker also said today, I
don't know this was talking about a little last night, but
fresh until Acunya could be ready soon, Like they've not
set a date, but it seems like he's gonna be
within the next couple days. It feels like Rian's gonna play.
And Austin Riley, on the other hand, has not wrapped
(30:54):
up yet. According to what stints that on Wednesday, he
quote still feels it end quotes that was a dob
tweet about the lower abdom Laura Adamin strain that he
has That's not great for Riley. Not surprising. He had
the same injury twice, and usually you want to be
even more careful the second time around. But seems like
Ronnie's close and Austin is not.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm glad they're being smart with
these two. It felt like Acunya might be activated over
the weekend, and they've clearly given it at least a
few more days. Of course, you had a wet outfield tonight,
so I don't hate Acunya being on the bench instead
of running and chasing down baseballs in the gap. And
with Riley, I mean, it feels like labor day to
(31:36):
me is when we might see Riley again. It's it's
gonna be a while. It was a reaggravation of that
injury from before, and why push it, like, there's no
need to get this guy. If the Braves were a
game ahead on the Phillies in the East, sure, maybe
you really have Austin attack that rehab and recovery, but
there's just no need to be smart. Don't don't get
(31:56):
a serious core muscle injury here and make sure he
is one hundred and ten percent before you bring him back.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Strongly agree on that one more against the Mets. On Thursday,
as mentioned, it was it's Bryce Elder against CODEI senga.
Not ideal, but hey, the Braves one tonight with Carls
Carrasco and a six front deficit, so anything as possible,
Scott and also the green full circle. The New York
Mets have lost twelve of the last fourteen games and
(32:25):
I am enjoying that gravely.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
So if the Mets lose this series at home to
the Braves with a struggling Spencer Schreider, a thirty seven
year old Carlos Carrasco and a six plus era for
two full seasons Bryce Elder, and they lose that series
at home, it is going to be cinema in New York.
I mean, I'm I'm a Siico, you're a Sico people
(32:48):
tuning into the show every night or Sickos. We love it,
We're here for it. Let's just frustrate the hell out
of the Mets and their fans for one more night
and just kind of you know, dig that, dig the
knife and twist it a little bit deeper, because I mean,
you're up six to nothing against Carlos Carrosco and you
lose a game at home. I mean, imagine if it
was the other way around. Imagine if the Braves were
in a tail spin and they have a thirty eight
(33:10):
year old journeyman on the ropes and they blow a
six run lead at home. I mean this podcast, man,
I mean, we might lose our family friendly rating because
some things would be said.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
I know that much, is sure. Yeah, listen to our
friends that messed up. They're on our network. We do
like them, but I'm sure they're not having a lot
of fun right now. And by the way, the Mets
fin go face the Mariners over the weekend, who are
good in the marriers of what a to the last
nine Mets? Sports Radio would be entertaining. All right, Scott,
why should have anything else to add? We can sign
off here late in the evening into the morning on
(33:43):
this Thursday. Folks can follow you where and again, feel
free if you have hot takes about anything, feel free
to let them go.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
We're off the rills.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It's funny you ask, Brad, I have a seventeen minute
thought about.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
And that's gonna imply if you're watching YouTube, I just
term of microp my camera off and we're gonna that's
going to bed.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
This show is gonna hit live about one am, so
shout out Brad, a man who's going to be doing
some international travel here pretty soon.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
So it's all good. We're all good.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
We'll be back. A big thank you to everybody as
always for checking out the show. This was a fun episode.
We hope you enjoyed listening. Big comeback win tonight. It's
always fun to beat the Mets. I don't care what
the situation is. I am at Scott Coleman fifty five.
If you want to send all the hot takes that way.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Follow Scott Fall. They show at Hammer Territory. Anywhere you
find your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Please subscribe and
also please tell your friends if you are a sicko.
We definitely appreciate you help us spread the word as well.
Even during this interesting part of the season, We'll say
for the Braves part of the character of the franchise.
(34:51):
We're covering the team all the time, so hang with us.
More to come and we'll see everybody next time.
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