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July 25, 2025 37 mins

Scott Coleman and Shawn Coleman discuss a completely new trade deadline approach for the Braves. Plus Spencer Strider, Jesse Chavez calling it a career, and much more. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome one and all to the Here Territory Podcast. My
name is Sean Coleman. Hope, wherever you are and wherever
you are listening, you're having a great week so far
listen to Braves may have the day off. We have
some days off here in the week as well, but
not tonight, as we're back with you once again the
Coleman and Coleman Wall Firm. Glad to join you for
a second straight time. And Scott, I'm getting familiar with you.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Man.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't know what's gonna happen when Stephen comes back,
but it good as always to talk with you, sir.
I hope you're doing well.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Hey, Sean, nice to do another episode with you, my friend,
and you know, I just wanted to ask. I don't
know if anybody else is feeling this, but as we're
recording this here Thursday night, not long ago, a pretty
good sized trade went down with the Diamondbacks and the Mariners,
and when I got the push alert from Jeff Passing,
it kind of made me sad. And it was maybe

(01:11):
my first not realization that the Braves weren't gonna be
buying this deadline because obviously we've known for weeks now
that they're basically out of it. But it's the first
time since twenty seventeen that the Braves are not actively
trying to buy and to win and to give themselves
a chance to make a run in the playoffs. I
don't know, man, It just I don't know why. A
trade between the Mariners and the Diamondbacks kind of hit me,

(01:33):
but it did that. You know, for the next week,
when we're usually so excited about the trade deadline, what
are the Braves going to do? It's more of okay,
maybe they're going to sell Iglesias or Ozuna or you know,
at a mediocre piece for next season. I don't know, man,
It's just kind of where I'm at.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
No, I absolutely agree. And the problem is is because
of the fact that at this dead l at the deadline,
you get those immediate benefits, right like, not only you
get not only are you getting someone that you immediately
will get to see how they contribute to your team.
It's you're wanting to do it in a way to
where they're going to help you win. And that's what's
so exciting about it. And the other thing about it

(02:12):
is is that we've been so used to it. You know,
when we talk about things that this Braves team is
doing this year, it's literally been nearly a decade since
twenty seventeen twenty sixteen since they were this bad, since
they had stretches of losing as long as they have
had this season. So yes, it's one thing to prepare
yourself for it, to know that it's going to come

(02:33):
at some point. It's another thing when the realization actually
settles in. And I'm sure the Braves will make a
move or two, but at the the most immediate timeframe
that that move may help us out is next year,
which is.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
A good thing.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
You want for that to be the case. If they're
making moves, you want for their assets to that are
coming back to be here to benefit us in twenty
twenty six and beyond. But that doesn't take away from
the fact that it really is a disappointment.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Yeah, you know, and even going back to like twenty fifteen,
sixteen seventeen, sure the Braves weren't necessarily buying, but in
a way they were like they.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Were selling pieces to then have a future.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
And right now the Braves are obviously still in the
middle of a contention window. Even if it doesn't feel
like it. This team has a lot of talent signed
for next season, so we'll see what they ultimately decide
to do. And I guess this, at least for the
next couple of months, Sean will be watching from the sidelines,
and of course we'll always do a podcast, especially if
they sell I mean, obviously, then it's like, Okay, who

(03:33):
are we getting back? Who?

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Who could this?

Speaker 3 (03:35):
What does this player mean for this year next year
beyond whether it's a you know, advanced minor leaguer who's
probably more major league ready, or if they take a
chance on an eighteen year old lottery ticket who's in
a ball who we may never see or could end
up being something special. One day, we'll see what the
braves in the front office are doing. I guess we
should timestamp this episode. It's a little bit after ten

(03:57):
pm Eastern Time on Thursday, Lie twenty fourth, so inevitably,
when a trade goes down, I don't know, at one
or one am Eastern time tonight, Sean, we'll we'll have
to round the horses and get another show up.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
I was about to be like, we're gonna be recording
here in two hours anyway, when when something big goes down,
but you know, it's gonna be very interesting to see.
But of course I also think that, you know, trade
deadlines of the past, I think that it may be
hard to approach that level of excitement again, you know,

(04:31):
not only because you know we're buying, but with the
introduction of the third wild card, you just have less sellers,
you have less teams that are selling, so you're likely
going to have a smaller pool of quality players that
are going to be out there. That makes sense, which
gives me actually a little bit of excitement when it
comes to this trade deadline. Scott, I'm gonna get your

(04:51):
thoughts on this. I know that the Braves have positioned
themselves as sellers. I know that the Braves have positioned
themselves to where they're likely going to sell only free agents,
but they could potentially buy as well. And I really
do think that Alex and Thopless is probably looking at
the opportunity to see if there is some underperforming reliever

(05:13):
orm especially that he could go get. Could you see
that potentially be in the headline of this deadline for
the Braves, No pun intended.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, you know, I think one thing we've learned with
Alex and Thoplss over the years, is that he is
an outside the box thinker. Nobody had Chris Sale on
the Bingo card a year and a half ago, trades
for Sale. So I think Alex does a really good
job of maybe thinking, like every offseason there's obvious targets,

(05:42):
but I feel like he doesn't generally go get the obvious.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Target for better or for worse.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
And because of that, while I think we can all
say with a straight face that this is not a
year where the Braves can win and they have pieces
to sell off, I don't think he would be a
huge shock to anybody if Alex went out and traded
for you know, player X who could be part of
the team next year. A controllable starter, a controllable reliever
would be of interest, especially with Ryce e Iglesias said

(06:09):
to become a free agent or well, frankly, Rice El's
probably in his last week of being with the Braves anyway.
You know, the one thing I will say about a
long term asset on the offensive side of the ball,
there's really nowhere to put them outside of maybe shortstop.
I mean, I know ozsy Alby's is not having a
good year, but I mean, you're not going to trade

(06:30):
for a second basement and bench Ozzy Alby's for the
second half like that. That's just you're not going to
do that to a veteran like him. I guess if
by some chance there's a shortstop out there that we
are thinking of and Alex goes out and acquires, then
I'm sure Nick Allen then becomes a really good backup
infielder defensively, But I think if we're going to see
a more of a controllable asset added, I do think

(06:51):
it would be on the pitching side, maybe a reliever,
maybe a starter, just because frankly, this team is going
to need it both immediately just to kind of bridge
the gap to the end of the year, but then
also obviously in twenty twenty six, you can never have
enough good quality, dependable pitching.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
And the idea of player profiles that I think that
we would potentially see Alex and thoughtless look to target
are maybe there is an intriguing middle infield bat profile
that's blocked in an organization that that specific player is
in the minor leagues they're doing well. He kind of
did that with Nick Allen, you know, and because he
loved his fielding, and I know that they would need

(07:28):
to be a strong fielder, but maybe the Braves could
go out and get that type of player in a deal.
Another thing that stands out to me are pitchers who
may be underperforming this year, but their metrics seem to
encourage plenty of opportunity for growth. We know that He's
gone out and looked at those type of players before,
you know, acquiring such players like Pierce Johnson from Colorado

(07:50):
and Aaron Bummer from the Chicago White Sox. A name
that I like that I've consistently liked, though I think
that he's, you know, kind of struggled to live up
to his potential that he showed a few years ago.
I believe maybe his first name is near a inner
canoe from the Baltimore Orioles. He's got a really, really
intriguing relief profile. He's controllable. I know that the Orioles

(08:11):
have every reason to keep him just as much as
we want to have him. But I think that that's
the type of player that Alex and Popless can go
get because that's the type of player he's had success
going to get in the past.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And you mentioned
like Bummer and Pierce Johnson. When the Braves traded for
those guys, neither of them had good standard stats, like
era was awful. I think I think Pierce Johnson's era
was in the sixes when they traded for him and
everyone looked around like, oh my god, what on earth
are they doing? This guy's terrible, And then you dug

(08:41):
in a little bit more and you saw Pierce Johnson's
splits or Aaron Bummer was really unlucky this season before
they traded for him. So yes, I mean, I think
in general, you don't want to overpay for those kind
of stats that maybe aren't as sticky, like they're not
necessarily predictive of future performance. So yeah, I mean, if
there's a player who is either blocked in the organization somewhere,

(09:04):
if there's a pitcher who's maybe having an unlucky or
down season but you feel like you can fix something
with his mechanics or build them back up to once
promising level, why not try to buy low. I mean,
this team could use all of the lottery tickets that
can take and if you strike gold, great, And if
you're buying a player who's not having a good season,
You're probably not having to give up a whole lot.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Absolutely, and you could take some of the returns that
you get from selling off players to go buy these players,
because you're likely only going to get lottery tickets for
the players that you're selling off. So it makes sense.
And the other part of it is that, especially when
it comes to those type of relief arms, you know,
we've been so used to Alex and Thoughtless really being
okay having an expensive bullpen will if those purse strings
are going to be a little bit tighter moving forward,

(09:48):
which the past twelve to fifteen months have indicated that
could be the case. Getting those controllable relievers you can
get good value of but they're cheap. That could be
a really good get for Atlanta. So if that type
of profile, that type of player is out there, I
could see Alex and Thopless easy going to make that move.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And I think you know we've said
this on the show a couple of times now, but
all cards are on the table, like there's no dumb ideas,
Like it's when you have a failing business, Like no
idea is a bad idea necessarily whenever you're kind of
up against it. Clearly, this is a kind of a
year of transition for Atlanta, a new manager very likely

(10:27):
coming in next season. They could have significant money and
roster flexibility depending on what they do in the next
week at the deadline. We'll see what the payroll is
next season. That is anybody's guests. But yes, it feels
like we're at a moment of hey, what if we
think about this, or maybe this is an unconventional player,
but is there something we can do to tap into

(10:47):
him If a team is looking to sell low, sometimes
teams are looking to unload a contract, like behind the scenes,
the team might be in a bad shape financially and
they it's like Derice e Iglesias trade a couple of
years ago. Now, obviously were contending when they traded for
Isel four years ago, but he's he was under control.
He had three and a half years and fifty million
dollars left on his deal. So if that player is available,

(11:11):
and if they really like a player, then sure go
out get them add for the future if you feel
like they can be a core piece moving on. You
could always trade from now, and you could always kind
of lay some foundation for a trade this offseason. If
the two sides aren't like desperate to get a deal done,
you could always wait until early November and swing a
deal that first or second.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Week of the offseason.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
That's an excellent point. You see that happen a lot
of times in the NBA, where the players will be
discussed at the NBA trade deadline and then four months
later said player goes to said team. That's a great point, Scott,
and I think that's one thing that definitely could occur
if we're hearing rumors about certain players right now, but
it doesn't happen. Maybe that changes as we go into
the offseason. But we talk about relievers, We talk about

(11:54):
pitchers who maybe elsewhere did not you know, live up
to the potendial or add a lot of value, and
then they came to Atlanta and wound up being awesome here.
That is kind of being a staple of the Alex
and Thopless era. And it's hard to find any relievers
who have been more beloved in Braves Country than when
Jesse chob is more on him in just a moment

(12:15):
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Speaker 1 (13:19):
So Scott I don't know if I've ever mentioned to you,
but you know, not to reveal our age or anything,
but I think we're probably around the same age, and
you know, I'm probably a little bit older, you know,
to make you feel better. But the point that I'm
lisening is is that one of the shows that I
grew up with, one of my favorite shows of all time,
is Full House. And of course there was Uncle Jesse,
who is one of the more Jessic Cassopolis, one of

(13:40):
the more beloved sitcom characters over the past half century,
if you will, And I never thought that there would
ever be another Uncle Jesse that I would care for.
But then along comes Jesse Chavez. He came again, and
he was a part of the team again, and he
once again became a part of the team. All joking aside,
just see Chabz today on the flagship show of Foul Territory.

(14:04):
Foul Territory itself actually announced his retirement from baseball, and
of course many a Brave's country A fell in love
with Jesse Chabez. I know, it's been kind of a
running source of you know, humor, how many times he's left,
the team joined, the team left, the team joined, the team,
but he's added value in so many ways. First, let's
look at the clip that he had with vou Territory

(14:25):
where he announced his retirement, and Scott myself will discuss
just how much much Jesse has and does mean to
this Brace franchise.

Speaker 7 (14:34):
All honesty, I haven't picked up a baseball since my
last pitch in Saint Louis. As of now, I don't
think we're gonna keep going. I think this is it
time to turn the page, focus on the next chapter
in life and go help all the young kids all
the stuff that I did, so they don't have to
take two steps.

Speaker 6 (14:50):
Backwards, they can take those three steps forward.

Speaker 8 (14:53):
Well, you've that's incredible for you to come on here
and basically, you know, say you're retirement. I'm not going
to say you're fully retired because all of a sudden
somebody might give you a call for an injury. But again,
you know, your career has been absolutely spectacular. Every time
I look, I'm like, how's my boy still playing here?
How the heck is he doing it? Because guess what,

(15:13):
one determination too pure athleticism as a pitcher, and you're
a healthy man. You're healthy as can be, and you
threw strikes and you got after vibe. I appreciate everything
you've done for me. Even though we played for a
little bit in Texas. We had such a good time
being with the boys. And I'm going to say, not congratulations.
If this is the end, well deserved, right off in

(15:36):
the sunset and your new cars, those old school cars
you got, and just skate yourself away baby in California.
Let's go.

Speaker 6 (15:43):
Thank you. I appreciate it, man, that means a lot.

Speaker 7 (15:45):
I mean, yeah, this has been a great ride, you know,
way more than I expected to from a forty second
round draft pick.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
You know.

Speaker 7 (15:54):
The thing was is I was giving a gift early on.
I understood it, but it was how am I going
to make it last? How can I keep it going
for this long? And I always said I want to
go out the way I came in, being able to
roll out of bed and throw baseball.

Speaker 6 (16:07):
And fortunately I'm still able to do that.

Speaker 7 (16:09):
And like I said, I had a conversation with my
college coach. He's one of the biggest mentors in my life.
Then you go to the background of my family, you know,
my wife and kids being there the entire time from
day one, you know, and then allowing me to go
through this being a knucklehead and just being stubborn with this,
you know, trying to get what we wanted to get accomplished,
you know, to where we're at today. And then the

(16:29):
people that I came across, you guys you tune the booth,
you know, those conversations we had, the talks, you know,
watching you guys go about your business as professionals, the
guys I had my first year in pro ball, all
the way up through till my last day, you know,
all the conversations we had.

Speaker 6 (16:44):
I still took that and tried to learn.

Speaker 7 (16:46):
And you know, this game's still about adapting, right, So
I felt like I went from you know, throwing ninety
one ninety two, and I came in to throwing a
hundred and then now throwing you know, eighty nine ninety.
So I knew how to. I always has understood how to.
You know, if I wanted to stick around, you had
to make make moves, make adjustments, whether it was you know,

(17:09):
moving on the rubber, throwing a different pitch, coming into one,
you know, banging one so it doesn't work because it
doesn't work anymore.

Speaker 6 (17:15):
You know.

Speaker 7 (17:16):
It was all about that and the conversations I had
early on. You know, I think that's all boys it.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Down to, man.

Speaker 3 (17:24):
I mean, first of all, doesn't Jesse Chov has just
seemed like such a good human being, just absolutely just
so insightful. I think, so genuinely appreciative that a guy
who was taken so late in the draft, and I
looked it up. I mean, Jesse Chaves' debut was the

(17:44):
summer of two thousand and eight. Sean two thousand and eight.
It's a lifetime ago, man, I mean, that's that's crazy.
Jesse also has the famous claim that he is the
most traded player in baseball history. It's been traded a

(18:05):
million times and has pitched all over the country. And
I mean, what a just what a career, what a
beloved figure in Atlanta. You know that anytime Jesse comes
back for a game as a you know, as a fan,
and they show him on the big board, he's gonna
get a huge ovation. A guy who did anything. It
feels like the Braves asked him to. He'd go out

(18:26):
there and pitch four innings in a blowout, and he'd
go out there and pitch in a tie game, Especially
earlier in his tenure when he was better and really
performing with the Braves. And I think just maybe my
favorite Jesse Chavas thing is he'd be with the Braves
and he'd be awesome, and then he would go somewhere
else and he'd be terrible, and then he'd come back
to the Braves and he'd be great, and then he'd

(18:47):
leave and he'd be terrible and he'd come back. And
it wasn't just a thing like you and I are
Braves fans knew like it was a thing around Major
League Baseball where if Chavas was with Atlanta, he was awesome,
and if he was anywhere else quiet really anywhere else
for like the last seven or eight years, he was terrible.
And it's just special player was Jesse. Wish Jesse all

(19:07):
the best, and I mean, I'm sure man he has.
I mean talk about someone who could write a book.
I mean that that would be such an insightful read
to just hear about all of his memories in the league.

Speaker 6 (19:17):
Well, and to.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
Your point, you know, he is. There's there's just so
much to like about Jesse Chobs. Number One, he's a
genuinely good person. Number Two, he far exceeded I'm sure
the expectations that anybody had for him. I think there
was one year where he kind of came out of
nowhere as a pretty good starter. I think for the Athletics.
It was here for the Athletics or the Blue Jays,
I believe, I can't remember what year it was. But

(19:39):
then after that, you know, a career kind of you know,
fell off to the wayside of it, but then came back.
He reinvented himself, you know, kind of like with that cutter,
you know, not not doing Marian Marian or rivera cutter,
but I think with the Braves he threw that cutter
like seventy five percent of the time. The point that
I'm getting at is is that Jesse chab Is just
has is a wealth of information, not only in terms

(20:00):
a being successful with other teams, but how to reinvent himself,
how to be able to show versatility as a starter
or as a reliever. So many of those things stand out,
and that's why I think, and he's also a baseball
lifer like that stands out as well. He's a baseball
lifer who wants to coach. And I would not be
surprised Scott if we find him again in the Braves organization.
We know Alex dopplss has loyalty to his former players,

(20:22):
we know how much he loves Jesse chobb is. I
would not be surprised at all if in a year
from hours so we find him having a role with
the Braves.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, they call him coach and coach for a reason.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
And not only does he have a wealth of baseball knowledge,
but clearly people like the guy. I was just looking
at his career stats and he had a good year
you mentioned with Oakland about a decade ago, made thirty
starts and was good.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
But other than that one season, this is a.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
Guy who has a career era of four point twenty seven.
So the fact that Jesse was able to stick around
for almost two full decades, there's a reason and that
this guy stuck around. And yeah, if you're telling me,
then in a year or two it gets announced that
Jesse as a you know, special advisor to the pitching
coach or an assistant pitching coach or something like that.

(21:11):
I could totally see it, and something tells me he'd
be pretty darn good at it.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
Absolutely, and we wish him the best in retirement. Career
well worth so many stories. Again, if he wants to
write a book, if he wants to have a snicker
like presence in baseball for so many years, I don't
think anybody's going to get in the way of that.
Baseball is just better when you have people like Jesse
chab is involved with it for decades. So wish him
all the best, and hey, you know, if it includes

(21:37):
being with the Braves once again, certainly look forward to it. Scott.
I also wanted to you know, transition to you know,
we're talking about, you know, players that you just love
and personalities that you just love, and one that clearly
stands out for this Brave's team is Spencer Strider. Wanted
to take a few minutes to speak with him. Spencer,
you know, yesterday, you know, was on the mound against

(21:58):
the Giants once again. You know, okay, kind of struggled
on the mound. You know, I think that you know,
we see glimpses of his old stuff being there. The
fastball velosity isn't where it once was, but it's pretty
above average to elite at times. But there is also
a bit of concern. I don't necessarily think that it's

(22:19):
just long term concern. But clearly something that's going to
have to work through. And that's the fact. It's a
couple of things. When you look at Baseball savonn Spencer
Strider is in the one percentile when it comes to exitvelocity,
meaning that he is one of the hardest hit pitchers
in the league. And it's his foreseen fastball. Two thousand

(22:39):
and two, two thousand and three, two thousand and four,
hitters were hitting that ball off of their bat at
about ninety miles proud. This year, they're doing it at
ninety three point three miles per hour. That is a
huge jump, and I feel like that we're to the
point to where fifty percent of the runs he's given
up this year have come off home runs. It just
seems like that more home runs are being hit off

(23:02):
of him as will pay. Hitters are certainly having more
success against his fastball than in the past. The lower
velocity could have something to do with that. But what
are your thoughts on Strider now about ten to fifteen
starts into his return.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
So it's a great question, and I think the first
thing that comes to my mind is just I'm really
happy and relieved that Spencer was able to come back
from this elbow surgery and be effective because his numbers
are good.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Now are they prime Spencer Strider good? No, and we'll see.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
But I'm really relieved that Spencer was able to come
back from this brace surgery, which has some mixed results
I think you could say among major leaguers compared to
the Tommy John but the fact Spencer was able to
come back.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
He did have the hiccup with the.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
Hamstring strain, which was really unfortunate with the timing. But
you know, for me, I think the fastball is clearly
something that Spencer needs to continue to work on. I
think the slider looks good, and he still also throws
that curveball on occasion. But for me, I think if
we're going to get to see Spencer fully establish himself
and be back to the legitimate ace, top ten pitcher

(24:14):
in baseball that we know and love so much, I
do think the fastball is something he's gonna have to
work on, and hopefully fingers crossed Spencer pitches well maybe
for the next month, month and a half, and then
I do think they're gonna limit his innings and not
have him go up until the very final day, and
then you have a full off season of six months
for Spencer to have like a normal off season of

(24:36):
routine building strength, building a throwing program. I think that's
only going to help him moving forward next year. And
I mean, let me ask you, Sean, I mean, this
time in a year, do you think Spencer will be
better than what he's shown? Do you think he'll be
about the same, do you think he'll be worse?

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Kind of what do you see for that?

Speaker 1 (24:52):
I think he'll be better. And the reason why that
he is has actually less to do with the talent
that he is and more to do with the person,
the mental aspect, and the approach that he has. The
reason why I say that I'm a bit concerned is
because it seems as if hitters, with Spencer now being
in his third or fourth round around the majors, hitters

(25:13):
are starting to figure him out a bit, and that
coinciding with a bit lower tick fastball. That's not necessarily
a good thing. But his fastball still is good enough
to be a weapon. Obviously, it's still good enough to
support him being at an all star level, even at
a cy young level. And the reason that I say
that is because even if Spencer may not have fastball

(25:33):
velocity where it once was. There's no doubt in my
mind he is fully capable of reinventing his approach, reinventing
his overall you know, the way that he works through hitters.
I think Spencer Strider's got the mentality that anybody would
want in their ace in a pitcher. That's there. And
I also think he's someone that wants to be on
the big stage of winning World Series and be a

(25:55):
big reason why the Braves winning World Series. So I
think there's no doubt he's going to be better. Will
it be to the point that we once saw It
could be in time, or it may not be, but
I definitely think that he's going to continue to be
an asset for his Braves team. Just wanted to point
out that there's some things that still need to be
worked through and hopefully they'll we figured out sooner rather
than later.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:15):
I loved the comments that Spencer made after the game. Obviously,
the Braves got their butts beat on Wednesday afternoon, and
Spencer was very candid in a way that he just
about always is. I think so many athletes are media
trained and don't say anything ever, and Spencer is very
forthcoming and he will say what is on his mind,
and not just about himself, but the team is the

(26:37):
whole and the fact that this season has just been
anything but what they were expecting. So yeah, I'm curious
to see what the next month entails for Spencer. He
was not very good coming off the hamstring strain, and
then he had a stretch of maybe six or seven
starts where he was legitimately good and then that giant start. Man,
it just was never pretty. The first inning, I think

(26:57):
he threw thirty pitches, did give up an unlucky home
run to Raphael Devers, who is just ridiculously talented and
just kills the braves in the wheels kind of fell
off the third time through for Spencer, and obviously the
offense did basically nothing.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
But yeah, I think that's one.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
Of the real storylines that I have my eye on
is among many, what does Spencer Strider look like down
the stretch and is there anything to give us concern
moving forward or do we think with the normal offseason
he'll be even better come twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
There's no doubt in my mind that he is going
to certainly make sure that he is affected once again
for a winner. But hey, part of the process through
covering the team is looking at content in so many
different ways. It's always fun to see Spencer Strider on
the mound. You just hope that can elite consistency gets
there once again. And I would be if I was
a Betty Man, I would put more money on the
fact that I think that that will be the case

(27:50):
rather than it not. More to come in just a
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Speaker 2 (28:56):
So Scott.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
Of course, the Braves will be back on the road tomorrow. Actually,
the braz will not be back home at Truis Park
until after the trade deadline. So it's very realistic that
some players could have thrown their last pitch or had
their last bat, maybe for this season, maybe forever in
a Braves uniform. This past week, the Braves that will
be traveling to Global Life Park. They'll be planning another

(29:18):
team in the Texas Rangers, who kind of like the Braves,
after they won a World Series, fell off a bit
more than people may have thought. I think that Texas
is definitely still in the mix this year for the playoffs.
Their pitching has been outstanding. But the thing that strikes
me is that the first picture that that we're going
to be facing is nearly old friend Nathan Eovaldi. And

(29:40):
the reason that I say that is because he may
have been the most prominent name that the Braves were
connected to early in the offseason, and there's no doubt
that there was likely legitimate interest, but he wound up
re upping with the Rangers. I'll give Alex in the
thoughtless credit Scott, because Eobaldi is once agaven incredible this
year when it comes to old pitchers who were remained

(30:00):
effective in their mid thirties or later, and Bobus does
well and identifying them more like, say he does well
doing that?

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, he does.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Alex has a type with his pitchers, And I mean, okay,
would it be the difference in the Braves being good
or not this season if they would have come to
terms with Nathany Evaldi, Probably not, But the guy has
been awesome, one of the best.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
Pitchers in the American League.

Speaker 3 (30:23):
The Braves will see Euvalde on Friday night, it'll be
Joey Wentz starting for Atlanta, so that's interesting. Joey pitched
well in his two appearances so far with the team
and then we have Grant Holmes and then we have
Bryce Elder, So say a prayer. The Rangers are really
hot right now. Think they've won something like eight out
of ten and ten out of fourteen or something going back.

(30:45):
So Texas playing goodball. They're a fringe playoff team. And
then I mean you mentioned it, man, this is a
long road trip. Now you have the Rangers. They won't
see any great teams, but they see the Rangers. Then
they go to Kansas City to see a Royals team
that's hanging around, and then they go play the Cincinnati Reds.
Who I mean, the Reds might be the quietest above

(31:06):
five hundred team in the majors right now. So yeah,
I mean, it's not that we're.

Speaker 6 (31:10):
Goad Classic Speedway Classic.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Did you see those hats for that was the flame hats?
Did the jokes about those? They said, every small town
in America has that same Braves hat at a at
a mechanic shop, at a dairy queen. Like it's they
knew what audience they were targeting.

Speaker 1 (31:29):
Grant Holmes look absolutely immaculate in that hat.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
Yeah, yeah, it's great. If folks missed it, The.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Braves are playing a game at a speedway, and they
have special jerseys for them that actually looked pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
So it'll be Braves and Reds.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
That'll be I mean, aren't they trying to sell like
seventy thousand tickets or something crazy like that.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Absolutely, And the thing is is that it needs to
be said. It's in Bristol, Tennessee. I didn't mean to
kind of derail the conversation, Scott, but it's in Bristol, Tennessee.
The last big event sporting event that occurred there was
Tennessee versus Virginia Tech back in twenty sixteen. We're talking
about a place that can hold up to one hundred
and fifty plus thousand fans. I'm surprised for a baseball game.

(32:11):
They're not able to sit there and get one hundred
thousand in there. But yes, I think that they may
be even going for seventy five thousand plus.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
Wow, that'll be cool.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
I mean, it's it's unique, it's I mean, it makes
sense for two teams from the general region to play there.
So yeah, so we'll see obviously, wins and losses.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Right now, what are you gonna do a win?

Speaker 3 (32:30):
Sure, you're happy the Braves won and a loss, it
makes you one game closer to better odds than the
lottery and maybe getting the number one, number two pick
next summer.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Well, Scott will in with this because there's one other
interesting dynamic to all of this is that we've talked
about the fact that the Braves offense over the past
ten games or so has been a bit better, has
seemed to click a bit more, and that coincides with
two things we've talked at length about the Murphy and

(32:59):
Baldwin Murphy being in the lineup together as the catcher DH,
but also no small fact Ronald being in the third
spot is something that has definitely been a change in
the lineup as well. Now, I'm not yet convinced that
is the best spot for Ronald. I just think at
the end of the day, all that he offers you
want that in the lead off spot number one is
being the bat that comes up most often for you

(33:21):
and sets the table for everybody. But there's no denying
that he also has been pretty successful and he does
get pitches consistently for Matt Olson. What are your thoughts
on that experiment so far, something we're likely to continue
to see going into the second half.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
You know, up until the last two games of the
Giant series, the lineup looked really good. It was putting
up crooked numbers and it was working. Of course, then
they scored three runs in garbage time and then got
shut out the other night, So what are you gonna do?

Speaker 2 (33:49):
But you know, I'm.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Curious, and we didn't say this earlier, but Austin Riley
is believed to be returning this weekend. We don't know that,
but with Riley back, I am interested to see what
kind of lineup Brian Snitker runs out there. I agree
with obviously Acunya batting leadoff.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
He's so dynamic.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
It means he gets the most at bats. But as
we saw for three months this season, the lineup just
wasn't working, so I was fine with changing it up.
I love Acunyan Olsen batting back to back because those
are your two best hitters. I love Baldwin batting fourth
because then you have a really good two three four
with Olsen, Acunya and Baldwin Murphy fifth. He can run

(34:29):
into a homer And I don't know. I mean, so far,
jerks and Profar hasn't set the world on fire in
the leadoff spot.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
But he's been fine.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
I think he has like a one oh five ish
WRC plus, which is a far cry from what he
was last year. But you know, I think you'd probably
take it, especially for a guy who missed half of
the season. So I'm curious to see what kind of
lineup they run.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
Out there, and if this is more of the norm,
or if Snith.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Says, Okay, that's enough, let's get Ronald back to the
first spot.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Absolutely, And I don't necessarily think anything that we see
this year. I enjoy the creativity trying something new. I
don't necessarily think it means it's going to work into
next year. But we'll wait and see, so obviously, and
you hope, obviously you know there's no lingering effects from
you know, Acunya. You know, I know that he got
a little banged up on Tuesday, was out of the
lineup on Wednesday. That's perfectly fine if they want to

(35:19):
hold him out of the lineup every now and then,
But just hope, you know, he's certainly in the light
of more fun when he obviously is. By the way, Scott,
I looked it up within point two five point two five,
What is Jesse Chabbs his career era at Truest Park
or or earlier first.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
Part, great question at Truest Park.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
I'm gonna go with three point four two point four eight.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
Two point four eight is his ra the best ra
of any park that he's throwing thirty career innings at.
He's thrown ninety eight innings at Truest Park, so legitimately
just how good he is. So again, congratulations Jujitsy on
an excellent career. Best of luck to him in his
future endeavors. And you know what, for all of you listening,

(36:09):
I hope that you have a wonderful night yourself, have
a great start to your weekend. If it includes the Braves,
absolutely hope they win for you. If it doesn't, heck,
I don't blame you. But the thing is, we're going
to have you covered no matter what as we lead
up through the trade deadline, past the trade deadline, and
going forward. Almost every single day, you can find Hammer
Territory across all forms social media, part of the Foul

(36:32):
Territory family of podcasts. Make sure you check out the show.
You never know what content is going to be on
the show. Scott Coleman at Scott Coleman fifty five on
next Slash Twitter. My name is Sean Coleman at stats SAC.
Make sure you check out all the great content that's
come recently, including some draft thoughts from a girl of
dd IT friend of the show who was with Brad

(36:52):
Rowan the last time where or just earlier this week
discussing the draft. So much more to come content wise
with the trade deadline and many other things to enjoy.
Until next time, Go Braze. We'll talk to you Cansume
here on the Hammer Territory podcast
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