7/11/24 - The Mo Egger Show w/ Mike Petraglia

Instant reaction from the Reds series win over the Colorado Rockies.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Line time, no one covers theBengals like ESPN fifteen to thirty, Cincinnati's
sports station. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Mike Petralia Tracks,
filling in for the one and onlymo Egger. As my predecessor Tony Pike

(00:23):
just revealed on the air, moeis enjoying what is now a four to
one Reds lead heading into the bottomof the seventh inning. As Fernando Cruz
gets the job done first and thirdand two out, he induces a pop
up from Hunter Goodman, and Moeggeris out at the ballpark. Therefore,
I am here filling in on themo Egger radio program on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen

(00:48):
thirty. It is my pleasure tofill the next three hours of whatever you
might be doing listening to the radio. We're going to talk obviously the Reds
game today and why it's such acritical game for them to close out,
and why this has been such adisappointing home stand up until this point.
Can it really be salvaged even ifthey win today and win three against Miami.

(01:11):
We'll get into that. We hopeto have Tommy Thrall on in the
five o'clock hour toward the bottom ofthe hour. He of course the play
by play voice on seven hundred WLWN, the Reds Radio Network. In the
three o'clock hour. Over the nextsixty minutes, we want to talk and
focus on the Bengals. Three pointfifteen, we're going to have James Rapine

(01:33):
of All Bengals Talk dot Com.He will join me and he does a
great job with the Locked In podcastscovering the Cincinnati Bengals. So he'll be
on at three point fifteen. Thena half hour later three forty five another
one of my great friends on theBengals Beat, the one and only Richard
Skinner Skinny from Local twelve. Wewill be talking all things training camp,

(01:57):
what the Bengals have to do,the checklist as we look ahead to ten
days from now when the Bengals report, believe it or not to pay Corps
Stadium and get ready for the twentytwenty four season. A lot of things
that the Bengals want to get accomplishedin the training camp to get ready for

(02:17):
the opening of the season September ninthagainst the New England Patriots at pay Corps
Stadium. So we'll talk about thatand then in the four o'clock hour that
leaves the four o'clock hour, wewill talk recap the Reds game and again
get into the pluses and minuses ofwhat's been a disappointing homestand we will of

(02:38):
course take your calls. We wantto hear your thoughts on what could the
Reds possibly do in the next weektwo weeks leading up to the MLB trade
deadline. What do they have todo on the opposite side of the All
Star break to get themselves in contention? Have we not been saying that pretty
much the last six to eight weeks? What do the Reds have to do

(03:01):
to get themselves in contention? It'spretty simple. Play consistent baseball. They
haven't been able to really do thatall season long. Yes, they had
the seven game winning streak, andwe thought that that was a sign of
good things to come. Extended goodthings to come didn't turn out that way.
They swept the New York Yankees inNew York, they completed a five

(03:22):
and two run through Saint Louis andthe Bronx. We thought that was a
sign of good things to come.Surely against three losing teams on the home
stand, the Detroit Tigers, theColorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins. Doesn't
get much easier than that in termsof the opposing records and do it at
home. We thought surely they wouldfind their mojo. Hasn't really turned out

(03:45):
to be the case. But again, the Reds do lead this one.
For one. The story of theday, without question, is Hunter Green,
the All Star replacement for the NationalLeague pitching staff Tyler Glass now is
the place he took, a player'splace that he took. That was on
Tuesday, it was announced by MajorLeague Baseball. Tyler Glass now out and

(04:10):
Hunter Green making his first All Starappearance this year. That game, of
course, will be July sixteenth inTexas at the home of the defending World
Series champions. So we'll talk aboutHunter Green, certainly we should. And
Elie de la Cruz, he isthe other All Star that the Reds will
be sending there. We'll always talkEllie, just like we'll always talk Joe

(04:32):
Burrow in this town. That's justkind of the way it is. But
Hunter Green today a season high tenstrikeouts, and if you missed the first
part of this game, you missedquite a bit. He struck out the
first six batters that he faced,then he struck allowed to walk, and
then he struck out another batter,and then it was a caught stealing.

(04:54):
That caught stealing was the first nonstrikeout that the Reds recorded on the day.
But Hunter Green finish with six innings, two hits, one run.
One of those two hits was asolo home run, two walks, and
the season high ten strikeouts. HunterGreen just like he was on Saturday against
Detroit, dominating. He went sevenshutout innings. Should have been a win

(05:17):
that day, but of course FernandoCruz and the Reds bullpen couldn't close the
door, allowed the five runs inthe eighth inning, and the Reds fell
on Saturday and cost Hunter Green avictory. They fell in that game five
to three, but they lead thisone four to one. So many good
things to talk about. How aboutTyler Stevenson the three run homer to right

(05:39):
field to get the offense going afterthe red stranded runners at second and third
with nobody out in the first inning, and we thought here we go again
with the Reds offense, but Tyler, Tyler Stevenson came to the rescue in
the third inning, got the Redson the board, and they really have
not been headed in this game whatsoever, and they haven't been threatened. So

(06:02):
that is what is on tap forus in this program today. We will
have a lot more to say aboutHunter Green. We'll have a lot more
to say about Ellie Daily Cruz,and of course we'll talk Bengals, Joe
Burrow and what Bengals need to doto get ready for the season. All
of that ahead and more. Butup next it's James Rapine of Allbengals dot

(06:28):
Com. He will be joining mehere on the Mowegar Radio Show, Cincinnati's
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's ES Mike Petraliatrags back with you on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen
thirty, filling in for Moegger onthe Moeger Radio program. Mo out at

(06:53):
the Ballpark enjoying. I presume theCincinnati Reds now making it nothing as they
got an RBI two run double fromJamer Candelario and the Reds are cruising right
now, bottom of the seventh.This one should be in the bag.
Hunter Green should rack up a sixthwin of the season. Some clown,

(07:15):
some fan down the right field linereached over and tried to get a ground
rule double or tried to get theball as it bounced into the stands.
It's just that is a pet peeveof me. Don't reach over, especially
when it's your team playing. Presumablyhe's a Reds fan and he reaches over
and interferes or tries to interfere withthe ball and play. That is really

(07:38):
a pet peeve of mine. Youknow who's not a pet peeve. My
next guest, my first guess onthe program today. He is James Rapine.
He does many many things and doesthem very well. First of all,
he's host of Locked on Bengals.He's also a host of Bengals Talk,
Bengals Talk, s I, Red'sTalk, s I I, Bearcat's

(08:01):
Talk, and Cincinnati Bengals Talk onYouTube dot com. But maybe most prominently
with Andrew fox Miller, he ishost of Enter the Jungle. You can
follow that on Ballet Sports. JamesRapine joins me this, I think our
first time together on the airwaves.Like this, yeah, first time together.

(08:22):
Tracks and the thing that I'm shockedabout. You didn't even get to
introduce me and you bring up petpeece and I have a long list of
tracks. Pet peeve. If youwant me to share them. I'm sure
you don't, but our listeners do. But go ahead, think I'm on
that list. Sometimes I'll just singthat out there. I think I'm on

(08:43):
that list sometimes. So how's yoursummer going. Summer's going great, Summer's
going great. How Jars not bad? As everybody knows. I've been moving
from Liberty Township closer to the studioshere and it's been some then, I'll
tell you that much. But weboth getting ready for the upcoming Bengals season.

(09:05):
We are, of course in theperiod of the off season where the
Bengals players and coaches are getting alittle bit of R and R. Some
of the Bengals players are over inEurope in Paris at fashion shows, on
the cover of Vogue and whatnot.Some are not. And I want to
get your impressions, James Rapine,of what the Bengals need to do to

(09:28):
get ready for the upcoming season.Maybe a checklist, if you will,
of some of the biggest priorities yousee heading into training camp in about eleven
or twelve days. Well, Ithink the first one, and it's an
interesting one, is what they dowith this roster right now. They're sitting
at this roster. We talk aboutit on Lockdown Bengals coming up later this

(09:50):
evening on our latest show coming out. They have three roster spots that are
just sitting there tracks and so theygot to do something. You're going to
add someone you want to go inwith, probably eighty nine. Maybe you
don't go all the way to ninety, but you're gonna get close, and
maybe you go all the way toninety. And so who fills those voids
that are on the roster? Ithink that's a big one. And then

(10:13):
as far as the checklist goes,I think it begins and ends with the
health of Joe Burrow and having aplan in place. They do have a
plan in place, but having theright plane in place to monitor his wrist
as he continues to go through thethrough training camp because we know that he's
not going to be one every singleday and go fill go every single day.

(10:39):
So what does he do? Howdoes he do it? I think
that'll be a big topic as well. I really did not make a big
deal of him going full speed ornot full speed. Toward the end of
mini camp this year. I thinkhe is starting to finally listen to his
body. If he was experiencing somesoreness, he knows now to lay off
and to me, and I knowhe acknowledged this when he first spoke with

(11:01):
us in the off season. Ithink it was like May sixth or May
seventh. He said, I haveto listen to my body more, and
I think I'm doing a better jobof that. To me, that's a
big sign of Joe Burrow really growingup. Sure, because look, and
we're going to be there every day, covering every second of it, but

(11:24):
getting every wreck in camp does notmatter. In a perfect world, would
you have them? Absolutely right?In a perfect world, a lot of
things will be different. But theworld that the Bengals are living in,
and certainly the one that browneds tolive in, is be healthy for week
one when the Patriots come to townon September eighth, and all eyes are

(11:48):
on pay Coorse Stadium, Be healthythe one hundred then, And whether or
not he's feeling great on August twelfthor full go on practice in practice on
August fifth, it really doesn't matter. And so I'm going to have to
remind myself that as well. Ithink if he is limited, because I'm

(12:09):
expecting him to be limited throughout camp, because even if he's taking eighty percent
of the reps on average and hassome off days built in there, that's
plenty as long as he's ready togo week one. What do you think
of his thoughts? He was onPardon My Take on Barstool Sports, and
he said this before. It wouldbe a big ask for the NFL to

(12:31):
ask for an additional game added tothe regular season schedule to move it to
eighteen games. But if that isgoing to be the case, there has
to be a second bye week.I think that makes sense, but I
don't know if the NFL schedule makersand the Commissioner's office thinks that makes sense.
Read the quote and it's in yourstory on si dot com. I

(12:54):
think it would be cool to havethe normal bye week schedule that it is
now, have it spread out,but then like week thirteen, do like
the Pro Bowl break where you're doingthe seven on seven and all the skill
challenges like the NBA does. Ithink that would get more ratings for the
Pro Bowl and then it would alsoget everybody that bye week going into the
last six games of the year.Your thoughts on that, James, Yeah,

(13:18):
I like the idea. I thinkwhat it comes down to as far
as the Pro Bowl start there,does the NFL feel like it needs to
make a Pro Bowl more relevant?Because if so, if you have it
and it's a Pro Bowl weekend AANFL fan fest in the middle of the
year, well and you're probably morethan likely going to get the Joe Burrows

(13:41):
and the high end talent to participatein it and do a challenge or too,
or be there at present for autographsand stuff like that. And so
that element would be huge because it'sin season. It's not like they're making
off season plans after the year andeverything the week in between the Super Bowl

(14:01):
and the AFC Championship and NFC Championship. So I like that idea. As
far as the two bye weeks,to me, it would be a a
non negotiator. If I'm the NFLPAto go to eighteen games without two by
weeks, it is a grind,you know how it is. I bet
mentally you're thinking like man camp isabout to start, and so you're mentally

(14:26):
preparing. I know, I am, yeah, and we're going We're not
We're not the ones running out theregetting hit and jumping in ice tubs.
And going through all the different redlight there, all these different things that
they do each and every week toget ready. And so I think that
if you're going to ask for anothergame, but which by the way,
eighteen regular season games and two preseasongames, it makes a lot of sense

(14:50):
to me. But if you're goingto do that, I think bye weeks
should certainly be built in and havingone and tying it with the Pro Bowl.
I do think that say a prettygood idea. I do wonder if
NFL would be on board. Andby the way, if they're not,
fine, then just spread the byeweeks out. There's enough teams, there's
enough football. You can give theseguys two bye weeks and still have plenty

(15:11):
of great football each and every Sunday. Does Joe Burrow play in the preseason?
I would not play him in thepreseason, I'll tell you right now.
I wouldn't even would consider it.And if because he probably wants some
reps, you know I can hearhim already, then yeah, I'd love
to get out there and get somereps. And that's probably what he'll say
when we ask him in two weeksor so, or whenever we talk to

(15:35):
Joe. I think when you havetwo joint practices like you do, one
on the road in Chicago one athome against the Colts, why not just
take take advantage and bounce out thepractice schedule where he's getting all of those
reps. If he's getting all ofthose, what's the point of playing him

(15:56):
for what a series in one ofthese preseason games. And maybe maybe that's
that's the route they choose to do. And if they do it, I
imagine it would be the second preseasongame. Well do you want to go
that route? I don't know,so I wouldn't play him. I would
just let him get a ton ofreps in during these joint practices and call

(16:18):
it a day and say see youon September eighth. Now, I know
you love to work out, you'lllove the waight lift, and I know
that you can do what Chris Jenkinsdid, and that is you know what
I'm referring to. And one ofthe one of the reasons I think you're
a great follow, James, isbecause of your post on Chris Jenkins has

(16:41):
a And then let me see ChrisJenkins pulls off freaky workout ahead of Bengals
training camp. And if you haven'tseen the video, you should go to
James's story on All Bengals Talk dotcom. By the way, am I
screwing up the name of the uh? You got close Bengals Talk Bengals really
close? Yeah, I'm trying anyway, Go to James's post and you see

(17:08):
Chris Jenkins pulling off the one armlift of how much weight does that?
I want to say forty five fivepounds. It looks like it's one thirty
five Yeah, But the thing that'stough is he's doing that with a bar.
It's not just one hundred and thirtyfive pounds, umboll. It's it's
a bar that you would bench with. And so to do that and to

(17:32):
have that balance and control of thatway, it's because a lot of people
can lift a lot of people canlift a lot, but to have that
kind of control is right, it'sit really is freaky. And so he
made it on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List. He's someone that and you've obviously talked
with him, whether it's his personality, his work ethic, his excitement to

(17:55):
be in Cincinnati. I just thinkhe's going to fit right in, make
an impact right away. A culturefit work ethic fit Like all of the
above, it just fits. Andso I'm pretty bullish on Chris Jenkins.
I think he's going to be abig, a big factor on this defense
right away. And obviously the freakishworkout stuff is fun to cover as well.
He's lying on the ground, he'she's not on a bench, he's

(18:18):
lying on the ground with the hisI want to say, right, arm
extended fully and he's going to liftone hundred and thirty five pounds with a
bar. It's just unbelievable. Itis freakish. But I don't think there's
another Bengal that can do that.Probably say that right now, Yeah,
I would say you're pretty safe insaying that. It's just what every Bengal

(18:41):
fan wants to know is is thatfreakish athleticism that he shows here, that
he showed at Michigan? Is thatgoing to translate to the field. Yeah?
I think one. I think itwill. And I think what's what's
fun about Chris as a prospect ishe's going to be great against the run
right away. No, he's nothis dad, he's not DJ Reader either,

(19:04):
where he's you know, three twentythree thirty right He doesn't have that
size, but you see the strengthand we know he can move. We
know he's an elite athlete. Sothe question is not how Holby against the
run, but it's will he beable to give them some juice as a
pass rusher as well? I thinkhe will. I think he has pretty
high upside. I think he's goingto be one of those high floor prospects

(19:29):
that you may look up and realizethat he can be an eight sack guy
in the middle of your defense.And by the way, if you get
eight sacks a defensive tackle, youtake that all day long. That's really
hard to do. So I think, and I don't think he's geno,
to be clear, like he won'tbe Gino. There aren't many genos,
But can he can he give yousome juice on the interior when you have

(19:52):
a Trey Hendrickson and you have honestlySam Hubbard and then a guy in Miles
Murphy on bullish trunk like, Ithink there's a path for this this group
to be improved, even though youlose a DJ Reader, which was pretty
pretty painful, I would say,in free agency. And I'm going to
wrap it up here, James,I'm a big fan of Enter the Jungle.
I think you and Andrew Fox Millerdo a terrific job. And you

(20:15):
said you are taping tonight. Isthat correct? So we just had our
show air and hears every Tuesday ateight on Cincinnati Bengalstock on YouTube and then
weekly on Valley Sports, so Icould certainly see airing. I haven't checked
the TV schedule, but who knows. It may be airing later today on

(20:37):
BALI the beauty is. I'll bewatching something on Ballely's and then randomly your
muggle just jump up on the screenand I'll jump up out of my couch
and be startled. And then wereyou going to say the beauty? Are
you sure? Are you sure that'sbeauty? I don't know, but I'll
take it all right? He is, James Rapine, you do a tremendous
job. My friend. I'm gonnahave to have you over for a housewarm

(21:00):
party. We've been promising that fora little while, so that's going to
happen. I don't know if it'sgoing to happen before training camp, before
players report July twenty fourth, thatis two weeks from yesterday. Correct.
If I'm doing my math correctly.July twenty fourth is the first day of
training camp and then five days lateris the first public practice down at Pey

(21:22):
Course Stadium, and I know JamesRepaine will be there. He does everything
for covering the Cincinnati Bengals and doesa great job of it. Locked on
Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals Talk and Alland Bengals Talk dot Com. Correct,
look at that? How about that? You nailed it all? Right?

(21:45):
Well, on that note, I'mgoing to let you go, James.
We got to take a break here. He is James Repaine. My name
is Mike Petralia Trags. You arelistening to Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati's
esp fifteen thirty. Mike Petrallion Tragsback with you here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen

(22:11):
thirty, filling in for mo OeggerMoeger Radio Show. I said, it
is appropriately called. The Reds arelooking like a team today that wanted to
let out some frustration on Austin Gomberand the Colorado Rockies. They are pounding
them eight to one. Two starsof this game that everybody's going to be

(22:32):
talking about postgame, and they should. First of all, Hunter Green Struck
out the first six batters of thegame. Actually, the first seven outs
of the game that he recorded wereall via the K. Ten strikeouts is
what he finished with. That's anew season high. Just two walks,
two hits, one of them asolo home run. So he gave up

(22:52):
one run in six innings. Butthe only criticism of hunter Green today is
that he just went the six innings, but he was overpower. He lowered
his ZRA to three point three four. He definitely looks like the All star
that he became earlier in the weekwhen he took the roster spot of Tyler
glassnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers.So hunter Green, following up what was

(23:15):
a seven inning shutout performance against theDetroit Tigers, left with a two to
nothing lead that should have been awin. Today there will be no doubt.
We go to the bottom of theeighth inning at Great American Ballpark,
reds up on the Rockies eight toone. The other player that would be
Tyler Stevenson. He has been whitehot in the last three games. Three
games, four home runs. Hehad one on Tuesday, one last night,

(23:41):
and two today. He is twofor four. He has driven in
five runs and really had the biggesthit of the game for the Red Legs,
that three run homer in the thirdinning. Why was it so big
because in the first inning, theReds had runners at second and third,
nobody out, they did not score. They had the same situation two innings

(24:03):
later, and Tyler Stevenson comes awaywith an opposite field home run into the
Rockies bullpen down the right field lineand gets the Reds off and running.
You could tell not only the Paullparkbut the Reds dug out a collective sigh
of relief when that ball went overthe fence. Three nothing, Hunter Green
on the mound, and finally theReds were giving Hunter Green their ace some

(24:27):
run support in this contest. Andyes, the Rockies did get the solo
home run in the fifth inning fromMichael Taglia, but that was it in
terms of any threat in this game. That made it for to one.
But the Reds came back with fourruns in the bottom of the seventh,
featuring another home run from Tyler Stevenson, this one a two run shot.

(24:49):
He's got five RBIs. He's drivenin five of Cincinnati's eight runs on the
day. Tyler Stevenson batting clean uptoday, and it appears as though Cincinnati's
other All Star Elie de la Cruz, will miss his first game today.
He had played in the ninety threeprevious games of the year. Looks like

(25:11):
he will get the day off today. He did have a minor hand injury
that he went into the dugout lastnight. I believe it was in the
sixth inning, but he came backfrom the tunnel, went back on the
field and finished out the game lastnight. But dal la Cruz is getting
the day off today. Starting atshortstop was Santiago Espinal Babe Ruth Espinal.

(25:34):
He hit a home run to thedeepest part of left center field in the
lower seats in the lower Bowl today. That was just a sight to behold.
When espinall catches a fastball and turnson it, I believe it or
not, goes a long way,so he came up with a home run.
He is two for four. Hehas actually raised his average above the

(25:55):
Mendoza line. He is hitting twoto three on the season. Also two
hits for the rookie Reese Hines whomade that incredible debut on Monday and Tuesday
for that matter, the first rookieever in major league history with five extra
base hits in his first two majorleague games. That's still hard for me
to comprehend. But the Reds gettinga lot of offensive production today, getting

(26:21):
a lot of frustration out after losingthose three games to the Detroit Tigers,
losing a game last night that theyreally had no business losing, Tyler Stevenson
getting thrown out in the seventh inningwith nobody with nobody out getting thrown out
at third base. That was reallya tough one, considering the fact that
the Reds came back and scored threeruns in the bottom of the ninth inning

(26:44):
to make it a one run game. But again, they lost last night
six to five. But the Redsbounced back today and that was good.
So the Reds are in position nowas they face the Miami Marlins. They'll
wrap up this ten game homestand andhead into the All Star Break. They
really do need to win all threegames. We said that they needed to
win seven of the ten. They'renot going to do that. They've already

(27:06):
lost four games on this homestand,but maybe they can win three more against
the Miami Marlins. Head into theAll Star Break with a six and four
homestand and one game under five hundredand then hit the reset button and we'll
see where we're at when they comeback from the All Star break. After
this break, we're going to haveRichard Skinner Skinny from Local twelve. We're

(27:29):
going to talk tight ends and whythe Bengals may be in a position to
make that position one of the mostimportant that it's been in the Joe Burrow
era. That's coming up next.We're going to take a break. You're
listening to Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty twoGuys fived. Mike Petralia trags back with

(27:55):
you on the Moegger Radio Program.On Cincinnati's ESPN fifth Team thirty, Lucas
Simms is on the mound and heis trying to finish out without any drama
and eight to one Red's romp overthe Colorado Rockies one out in the top
of the ninth inning. Reds areon their way to their third win of
the homestand they will be three andfour. We want to wrap up this

(28:18):
hour of the first hour of theMoegger Radio Program talking Bengals. We had
James Rapin on about a half hourago. We were talking most things Joe
Burrow and what the Bengals have todo to get ready for the upcoming training
camp in of course, by naturethe upcoming season. Now, I want
to welcome Richard Skinner, Skinny tothose of us who know and love him

(28:41):
on the Bengals beat. Richard Skinnercovers the Bengals and has for many,
many years, many moons for Localtwelve and does a great job of it.
Skinny. How you doing. How'syour summer? It's been all right,
mikey know. I got a littlegolf in, not as much as
I would have liked, took avacation and all things are going well.
Trying to read the heat today,though. Did you stay safe on the

(29:02):
fourth of July? I worried aboutyou, by the way I did.
I went to the Actually it's theonly culture I get, Mike. I
go to the Pops concert at RiverBend and took that in and enjoyed the
fireworks show afterwards. But then inthe neighborhood I live in, we had
a two top fireworks too many.I'm not gonna lie to you. Yeah,
all right, let's get on tothe Bengals and you have a terrific

(29:25):
story up on Local twelve dot comand it is Bengals twenty twenty four position
analysis, tight end quote or colondeepest room in Zach Taylor's tenure. I
think it's that's an accurate one.I not only think it's deep, I
think the quality is probably as goodas it's been in Zach Taylor's tenure.

(29:48):
And you have Mike is sicky andDrew Sample making it as locks. What
was your point behind breaking down thetight end group here? Yeah, so
I did the position groups and Iput guys who were locks to make it,
guys who were likely gonna make it, and guys who are battling to
make it. You know, DrewSample signed a three year deal. I
can't imagine he would not be alock to make it. And certainly they

(30:10):
you know, Brian Callahan told thislast year in in a you know,
for both way of how much theyreally respect the job that he does for
them. You know, maybe fansdon't see it and maybe we don't even
see it, but what he doesfor them is a blocker. And then
that role they created for him lastyear, Mike, when he was the
third down blocking backslash safety valve guy. I thought it was a really good
nicheal for him and for them andthen gets sicky. Obviously, you know

(30:32):
you signed him. He's not whathe was probably in Miami where he had
that three year run of seven hundredyards seasons and you know, a couple
of seventy catch seasons in there,or seventy catch season, a couple of
high fifty catch seasons. He's probablynot that guy, but he still holds
value as a receiver. And Iprobably should have put Tanner huts in the
locked category at him and the likelyto make it category. You know,

(30:53):
Joe Burrow loves him, trusts him, and that's a big thing. The
thing for Tanner is he's still gotto get better as an in line blocker,
and maybe he never does. Andthat's where this position, to me
is really interesting, because you know, probably their best three down tight end
might be Eric All and he mightwind up on one of the injured lists
to start the year. I wasjust going to ask if you think he

(31:15):
might be a red shirt candidate.Yeah, I do, and I think
that's why they took Tanner McLaughlin aswell. I do think four tight ends
make it and freer up on gameday and it'll probably be the three that
you can be logical about Hudson,Gasicki and uh and Andrew Sample. And
then they got to find roles forthose guys. You know, when Hudson's
on the field, you pretty muchknow they're gonna throw it. Well,

(31:36):
you got to figure out a wayto get him to be able to block
on rundowns. When Sample's in thegame as an inline guy, pretty much
think they're they're gonna run it.And then Kasiki's probably best served as a
as a Slottish split tight end.And but I do think from a receiving
perspective, you can do a lotof things with those guys. And they
have says. With the tight ends, I mean they tyers last right,

(31:56):
he catches. You know, erSmith was supposed to be the guy.
He wasn't. But the other guysdid just fine. And Tanner Hudson came
on great as a receiver. Howmuch of that was because it was Jake
Browning as the quarterback and he wasn'tnecessarily going to throw downfield as much as
Joe Burrow liked to. Yeah,it's probably some of that, but you
know I thought Joe, you know, throw some of Tanner Hudson and started

(32:17):
to find some trust in him,and as we know, that goes a
long way. Trent Irwins aren't thetrust of Joe. Burt's why Trent Erwins
still on this roster. He truststhose guys that be in the right place.
But I think you see that you'reright with it. With a lot
of backup quarterbacks, they're normal modeis the safest past possible and the tight
end of the safest guy. Butyou know, I thought Joe did a

(32:37):
pretty good job of getting Tanner involvedin. Tanner got involved himself. I
mean, he started to make playsand you know, it's it's amazing to
think he came from practice squad toleading the tight end room and receiving last
year and leading it by a longshot. So yeah, and then you
had a free agent Yasicki, whoagain, I don't think he's the guy
he was at his heyday in Miami. Mike. I don't know if you
agree with that or not, butI still think he has value. And

(32:58):
you know, if Mike Yasicki itgives you value, can get you forty
for four hundred and ten and Hudsongets you thirty five for three fifty and
Sam picks up some scraps. You'regonna have a nice tight end room.
Well he's not. He doesn't haveMac Jones throwing to him. He has
Joe Burrow throwing to him this year. So, uh, there is that.
And you know, I just didn'tthink it was a great fit for
him last year. And I thinkhe's acknowledged that, you know, certainly,

(33:21):
you know, he made the bestof the situation. But it was
an ugly, ugly situation. Butwe're here talking Bengals, not Patriots.
Nobody has to remind me of thatanymore. You Right, last season,
Bengals tight ends averaged more receptions pergame five point two and for the second
most yards per game forty point threein Zach Taylor's tenure as head coach.

(33:42):
I think that's those are very interestingnumbers, and as you just mentioned a
couple of moments ago, I thinkthey're only going to increase all off season.
All I have heard is Mike Kasickicould be Tyler Bloyd's replacement, even
though he's a tight end and nota slot receiver. Yeah, and can
you imagine, I mean, youhave so many options with that too,

(34:04):
that you know, you could usemore two tight end packages of this year
where uh Gasiki is the slot guywith with with Higgins and Chase on the
outside, and then a Samples inline or maybe Hudson's in line, and
then you've got two receiving tight endsof the game. I do think you're
gonna see some of that. Andthe thing that Kiki has a chance to
do that that probably Cana Hudson isn'tquite there yet. And then there's no

(34:24):
Doubtor Sample just doesn't have has nobig playability, but again has a great
role, has a great niche.Kasiki might be able to get you a
couple of those seam routes that thatif he gets the right matchup. You
know, c j Uzama had somesuccess with with doing that. Hayden Hurst
had a little bit of success withthat, but you know he didn't have
big numbers. He had a niceyear to year he was here, Earn

(34:46):
Smith they were hoping to do thatdid not. But yeah, I think
Kiki could be that guy that you'llsee in the slot sometimes with the second
tight end of the game. Howbig will Zach Boss's role be. That's
a great question. I wrote aboutthe running backs of the day before.
And I even I think that wayI wrote it was, you know,
it's it's Zach Moss Chase Brown,but in what order? And that probably

(35:08):
is going to be fluid in camp, and honestly, Mike, I think
it'll be fluid during the season.I was going to say, Skinny,
not to interrupt you, but Idon't even think the Bengals know the answer
to that question until it organically evolves. Yeah, I agree with that,
and I think some of it willbe you know, hot hand in a
way for a guy, matchups ina way for for for one of those

(35:29):
guys, you know, maybe oneof them really just steps forward. You
Chase Brown, there's still so muchuntapped there that we haven't seen because he
hasn't touched it a bunch. Youknow, maybe he really is just a
big play threat that you got toget as many touches as possible with the
ball in his hands. And ZachMoss had showed big play stuff last year
six runs and twenty yards or more, two runs of forty yards or more

(35:50):
in Indianapolis, and that was,you know, not as a full time
running back, because Jonathan Taylor cameback and took a bunch of snaps away
from him, so I do.I'd like to say, in a perfect
world, it's you know, theyget eight eighteen touches a game each and
somehow they find a way to dothat. That's probably not going to happen.
But yeah, I don't think theyeven know, and they won't know
until it sorts itself out in camping, in games. He is Richard Skinner.
We know and love him as Skinnyof Local twelve dot com. You

(36:15):
can follow all of his Bengals coveragethere. He will, like the rest
of us, look forward to thestart of Bengals camp. That will be
two weeks from yesterday. That willbe July twenty fourth down at pay Corpse
Stadium. Skinny, thanks so muchfor joining me, you bet, Michael,
look forward to listening to the restof the way. All right,
sounds good. We are coming upon another break. This is the Mowegar

(36:36):
Radio Program on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. This Reap thirty, Mike Petralia tracks
back with you on the Mowegar RadioShow here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

(37:01):
It's a winning Thursday for the RedLegs eight to one over the Colorado Rockies.
They wind up taking three out offour from Colorado after losing three straight
to the Detroit Tigers. That meansthey are three and four on the home
stand so far. They can maybesweep Miami Marlins coming up to finish the

(37:22):
ten game homestand and now we givethem a winning mark of six and four
still will not get them to Ithink what was really truly their goal going
into the All Star break. That'sa winning record. The best they can
do now is go forty eight andforty nine heading into the All Star break.
Right now they are forty five andforty nine. They are just ten

(37:45):
games behind the Milwaukee Burrs and theNL Central, but that's not really their
concern. Their concern is trying tomove up the wild card standings. That
is really the big objective, andthat's what they're going to have to do
coming out of the All Star Break. As far as today's game is concerned,
you have to start with Tyler Stevensonhis first career two homer game.

(38:07):
He drove in five to the eightruns on the day for Cincinnati. He
had that three run homer in thethird inning that really broke things open again.
I said it in the last hour. The reason that home run was
so big is not just because itgave the Red Say three to nothing lead.
It's because they had runners on secondand third with nobody out in the

(38:29):
first inning and couldn't score a singlerun, and they had Hunter Green on
the mound just blowing away everybody thatcame up to the plate. He struck
out the six first six batters ofthe game for Colorado. The first seven
outs of the game that he recordedwere by a strikeout, and he managed

(38:50):
to really dominate in this game tenstrikeouts a season high on the day.
But getting back to Tyler Stevenson's homerun, that three run shot in the
third end really broke things open.Allowed everybody in the ballpark and more importantly,
everybody in the Reds dugout to takea deep sigh of relief, gather
themselves, and it was three tonothing after three innings, Hunter Green and

(39:13):
complete control. The Reds added anotherin the fourth inning on a Santiago Espinal
home run. If you haven't seenthis home run, please do either get
online, get on x or geton YouTube and do a Google for Santiago
Espinal's home run. It was amassive blow to left center field. Don't

(39:35):
have the distance on it officially,but it certainly approached four hundred feet.
And when Santiago Espinal is hitting homeruns that approach four hundred feet or this
one might even gone over, thenthat's the site to behold. He really
got every last piece of the pitchthat made it four nothing. Colorado got
on the board with their only tallyof the day off Green and in general.

(39:57):
Solo home run by Michael Taglia camein the fifth inning that made it
four to one, But the Redsput this game away in the bottom of
the seventh. You like to seethis. They talk about adding on all
the time. Well, the Redsfinally added on in the seventh inning and
put the game completely out of reachTyler Stevenson with his second homer of the
day, a two run shot toright field. The Reds managed to add

(40:23):
two more runs in that inning andmake it an eight to one final.
Stevenson wasn't the only one producing today. How about the top of the order
batting leadoff Jonathan India three for four, two runs scored, and a double.
He's been electric in the last threeweeks or so. One of the
best players in the National League.He actually made a late push for an

(40:46):
All Star nod and he still mayget it if there are injuries that come
up. Whatnot. He's hitting twoseventy six batted lye off today he had
three hits. The number two hitter, Spencer Steer, he had three,
yet he went three for five withtwo runs scored and also a double.
How about this for numbers at thetop of the lineup for the Reds.

(41:07):
Six for nine between India and Steer, four runs scored and two doubles.
Really an electric job by the Redswithout their most electric player for the first
time this year. For the firsttime in nine game ninety four games that
the Reds have played in twenty twentyfour, they did not have Ellie de

(41:29):
la Cruz, and before the game, the Reds made clear that this was
not injury related. Ellie was justgetting the day off against Colorado, night
game after a day game after anight game. Yes, Ellie had some
issue with his hand caused him togo down the tunnel briefly in between innings
yesterday after sliding in for a doubleplay in the sixth inning. He got

(41:52):
tended to, but went back onthe field finished the game last night,
so the Reds say everything's aokay withEllie de la Cruz. Just got a
day off, first game he hasmissed all season. He had started ninety
two of the previous ninety three gamesbefore getting the day off today. And
even the bottom of the order.How about rookie Reese Higns. Everybody's been

(42:15):
talking about res Higns this week.He's hit in all four games he's played
in for the Reds, including twofor four today with a double Santiago Espinal.
As I mentioned, he had thetape measure home run to the back
of the lower deck in left centerfield today in the fourth inning. He
went two for four and had thatone run scored and the one RBI.

(42:38):
So really up and down the orderfor the Reds today, great offensive production
and you'll like to see it whenyour ace goes out and gives you six
innings, two hits, one runearn, two walks, and again ten
strikeouts a season high for Hunter GreenReds hitting on all cylinders today and they
really needed that in terms of goinginto the Miami Series with some momentum.

(43:04):
Everybody knows at the beginning of theweek was really a train wreck for the
Reds. They lost three games toa sub five hundred team at home after
sweeping the New York Yankees. Itseemed like all of the air had gone
out of the balloon. And thenEllie gave them some energy in that first
inning of the first game against Colorado. He stole second, stole third,

(43:24):
obviously got thrown out at the plateon an attempted steal. But the energy
and the tone setting that Ellie providedin that first game against Colorado I think
got the Reds back on track atleast for the chance to salvage a winning
homestand and that's the position they're ingoing into the final three games of the
homestand starting Tomorrow night against the MiamiMarlins. The probable pictures set up for

(43:51):
the Reds this way heading into theMarlin series. Carson Spires two and two,
three sixty four. That'll be onFriday night, Saturday after noon.
That's a four to ten start.Andrew Abbott. Not enough people have talked
about Andrew Abbott as a sneaky AllStar candidate. They should. He's nine
and six with a three to zerosix er. He has been as good

(44:15):
as Nick Lidolo, who comes inon Sunday and will make his second start
back from returning from that blister thatkept him out for a couple of starts
on the injured list. Nick Lodolofinishes up the ten game homestand on Sunday
at one point forty. He iseight and three with a three point thirty
er. One of the reasons headinginto the second half of the season once

(44:37):
we get there that there is hopefor this Reds team is their starting pitching,
and their pitching overall has been terrific. You couldn't have asked for anything
more from the Reds pitching staff thanwhat the Hunter Greens, the Andrew Abbots,
and the Nick Lodolo's have given you. Yes, Graham Ashcraft has been

(44:58):
a disappointment that may be injury related. We'll find out more, of course.
Nick Crawl, president of Baseball Operations, after or before the game last
night, clarified the move to takehim off of his option to Triple A
and put him on the fifteen dayinjury list with a right elbow strain.

(45:20):
We'll see if there's more there.They're going to let that elbow settle down
as they should, and then seewhat happens. From there, if they
make a determination that he needs tobe out longer term, or God forbid,
go under the knife, they'll makethat determination down the road. But
even with Graham Ashcraft struggling this yearto find any kind of rhythm, the

(45:43):
Reds pitching staff has been terrific.It's been one of the certainly highlights and
bright spots of the first half ofwhat it's been really a frustrating uneven season
for a lot of Reds fans.And you hear this all the time.
If the Reds could just put togethera streak of fifteen wins out of twenty
games. Yeah, they had theseven game win streak, but they really

(46:06):
didn't sustain anything. And if youwant to make yourself a playoff team like
the Arizona Diamondbacks did last year whenthey got hot right about at this time
heading into the All Star break andafter the break, if you want to
make yourself a playoff team, thenyou have to start putting longer stretches of

(46:27):
good baseball together. I happen tobelieve this, and you know, I've
seen this team enough in person,been in the clubhouse, talk to the
players, talk to David Bell.This team believes they have it in them,
and yes they've had to overcome alot in the first half of the
season, but until they put itall together, the fans aren't going to
believe it. And obviously that's whereI think the disconnect is, frankly between

(46:52):
the fan base and the guys onthe inside the end. Guys on the
inside always believe that they have thetalent to get it done. For three
of the last four days, theywere able to get it done against the
worst team in the National League.Can they continue it against another bottom dweller,
the Miami Marlins in the National LeagueEast? Can they do that?

(47:12):
Can they finish up this homestand withsome momentum? That's why they play the
games, And of course we'll startto find out tomorrow night again Carson Spires
on the mound as the Miami Marlinscome to town in a seven to ten
game. Well, we'll have moreReds reaction and we'll take your calls coming
up after this break. Right now, it's four fourteen and you're listening to

(47:35):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Here's TylerStevens and he struck out with this same
spot his first time UH Runners atsecond and third, one out, and
he smokes this one down the rightfield line. It's got some distance.
It's go by in fail this timea three run home run for Tyler Stevenson

(48:02):
had to answering the call three andnothing read I love that call from Cowboy
Jeff Brantley on the Reds Radio Network, our flagship station seven hundred wl W.
That was the biggest hit of thegame by far, as Cowboy mentioned
there in his call of the homerun. He struck out his first time
up with runners at second and thirdand one out, but there was actually

(48:28):
second and third and nobody out.The Reds could not score in the first
inning. They got that three runhomer in the third inning, and you
could see their feel, the collectivesigh of relief throughout Great American Ballpark this
afternoon and certainly in the Reds dugoutas the Reds took a three to nothing
lead and with the Hunter Green mowingthem down season high ten strikeouts, that

(48:51):
game I wouldn't say was totally inthe bag after the Reds lost his two
nothing lead on Saturday against Detroit,but you did have a ping that with
Hunter Green and total command and athree to nothing lead that the Reds would
be in pretty good shape. Iwant to go to our first call of
the day, and that's Dick andDayton wants to talk. I presume about
some Reds. Hey, Dick,how are you doing, buddy? I

(49:15):
am doing well. How are youdoing? Okay? I like what you
said that. I agree with thepitching's going. You know, we're about
halfway now to the All Star Game. The pitch it looks pretty good,
doesn't it. It does. AndI don't know if a lot of people
figured going into this season that thatwould be the strength of this ball club.
You were talking about, Dick,a club that had from top to

(49:38):
bottom, not a lot of holes, if healthy. And certainly you figured
TJ. Friedel would be at thetop of the order. You figured that
you'd had Christian and Carnacion Strand,you had Elie de la Cruz, you
had Matt McClain, and you hadSpencer Steer. That's a lot of offense

(49:58):
in the top, let's say,four or five six spots in the batting
order. You thought if all ofthose guys would be on the field at
the same time, and Noelle veMarte, I didn't even mention him.
The Reds offense was really shaping upin spring training to be powerful, and
then all of the injuries, allthe suspension to Marte happened, and it

(50:19):
was like the air was taken outof the balloon. And the reason I
think the Reds pitching doesn't get enoughcredit and should is because they have picked
up the slack and kept this teamrelevant. They're not the Colorado Rockies.
They didn't fall off the face ofthe earth. And if the Reds can
find that magic whatever elixir to getwell and get consistent and play you know,

(50:42):
let's say twenty games above five hundred, there were fifteen games above five
hundred the rest of the way,they can find themselves making a playoff push.
And that's all any Reds fans,a Reds fan like yourself, I
presume, would want, Yeah,well, you have a good day,
all right, Dick, thanks forcalling in. I appreciate it. Again.
The Reds, that's what they reallyneed this year in the second half

(51:07):
of the season. They need tofind some consistent offense to go along with
the good pitching. Defense. Inthe base running that needs to improve.
I think it has picked up alittle bit in the last couple of weeks
with Santiago Espinal getting more reps throughoutthe infield, he has really really impressed

(51:30):
me. And if you did notsee his tag in the second inning today
on a third inning on a caughtstealing it was actually the first non strikeout
out recorded by the Reds with HunterGreen on the mound this afternoon, you
need to go back and watch it. It was tremendous. The runner was

(51:50):
headed towards second base and he wasinitially ruled safe on a stolen base.
Upon further review, Espinal, ashe was falling into the infield grass and
catching the throw from back up AustinWins the catcher, he managed to get
his glove on the left heel rightbefore the runner was able to reach second

(52:14):
base. The Reds smartly and DavidBell does this very well. I think
his timing for when to challenge andhis review people in the back room behind
the Reds dugout, they do agreat job of knowing when to challenge.
They challenge that safe call, andthe replay show that Espinal made a terrific

(52:34):
play, a terrific tag, avery athletic tag, as Barry Larkin pointed
out on the broadcast, and thentwo innings later, Santiago Espinall hit it
would have to be the longest homerun of his career, four hundred and
twenty feet to left center field,almost reached the back of the bleachers on
the lower level of Great American Ballparkin left center field. It was a

(52:58):
ninety one mile an hours ball rightdown the heart of the plate and Santiago
did not miss. It was fromAustin Gomber. The Reds really tattooed Gomber
on this Thursday afternoon, and theyneeded to, frankly, after losing last
night by a score of six tofive, making a couple of more pivotal
errors on the base paths, theygot to get that cleaned up. But

(53:20):
if they can get that cleaned up, get their defense really cleaned up as
well, and get some consistent offense, and get some bodies back, namely
someone like Matt McClain. Hopefully inAugust. They got some good news from
Nick Crawl and David Bell on anupdate before Wednesday's game that things are progressing

(53:40):
very well from Matt McClain. Baseballactivities are beginning, So that's something to
look forward to in the second halfof the season. Well, I want
if Tarin, if you're listening,I want to get to that Santiago Espinol
home run and hear the call onthe Reds Radio network. Just because it
was a tape measures shot from somebodyyou don't expect. This is Santiago Espinal's

(54:07):
home run off Austin Gomber in thefourth inning. Rocky shade Espinal a little
bit up the middle of their secondbasement Rogers to pitch East Wings had put
a charge into this deep left centerfield. It's way back. It is
gone, way back into the lowerlevel and left. That's a solo home

(54:28):
run for Espinall is fifth of theyear and the Reds have a four nothing
lead. And that is Tommy Thrallon the Reds Radio Network. I just
I was in here getting ready forthe show actually with Tony Pike, and
I saw that home run and I'mlike, you gotta be kidding me where
that landed? And then I foundout who hit the ball, and I'm

(54:49):
like, wow, that has gotto be the longest home run of Santiago
Espinal's career. I'm curious on acouple of things. When the reporters get
back from the clubhouse today talking tothe Reds a lot of storylines in this
game, but Austin Wins did aterrific job calling the game for Hunter Green,

(55:09):
and I thought again, Barry Larkinmade a great point with John Sadak
on the Bally's broadcast about how activeAustin Wins was catching Hunter Green today animated
really emphasizing as a catcher, keepthe ball down in the zone. Everything
was down, down, down.Yes, he would change the eye level

(55:31):
a little bit with the Hunter Greenfastball, up and in and up and
away, but for the most part, when Hunter Green was getting these swings
and misses, they were down atthe knees and below the knees in the
dirt. He looked terrific. Andyou really have to give credit to Austin
Wins for staying prepared, working asmuch as clearly he did with Hunter Green

(55:54):
to get to know and develop arapport, because obviously Austin Wins hasn't in
with the Reds very long. He'sfilling in for Luke Mayley who was dealing
with a back issue herniated disk inhis back as a matter of fact,
and he's probably going to be outcertainly until after the All Star break,

(56:14):
so Austin wins getting some reps hereto show what he's got and today,
as Barry Larkin pointed out on thebroadcast, very animated and it was fun
to watch Austin wins. Wins madea very quick release. It wasn't maybe
the most accurate throw down the secondbase to get that caught stealing that Espinal
made the great tag on, butit was still a terrific release. And

(56:37):
really, if he throws out abase runner, that's great, But his
primary job, especially on a daylighttoday, is to handle a ferrari in
Hunter Green, and he did thatvery very well. And obviously, when
you start the game striking out sixbatters, Hunter Green felt pretty dog on
uncomfortable throwing to catchure Austin Wins Well. Coming up on the bottom of the

(57:00):
hour here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirtyon the other side of the break,
and we'll talk more Red's Rockies today. We'll take your calls, uh seven
four nine fifteen thirty here, Sofive point three seven four nine fifteen thirty
is the number. Mike Petrolia tragsfilling in for Moegger who was down at

(57:23):
the ballpark, taking in an eightto one Reds victory. Today, you're
listening to Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.I'd like to stay around that fifteen to
seventeen per inning pitchmark. If yourhundred greens strike three called fastball at ninety
nine over the inside corner. HunterGreen has struck out the first six batters

(57:46):
that he's faced, and that wasCowboy Jeff Brantley and Tommy Thrawl on the
Reds Radio Network again recapping what wasan extraordinary start for Hunter Green. Really,
I think it's safe to say heis the ace of the red Staff
right now. He's going to theAll Star Game, of course, taking

(58:07):
the place of Tyler glassnow of theLos Angeles Dodgers. That was announced on
Tuesday night, and Hunter Green makinghis first All Star appearance and selected to
the All Star Game for the firsttime in his career, joining teammate led
de la Cruz. La de laCruz got the day off today, the
first day off he's had all seasonlong. He had played in the Reds

(58:30):
first ninety three games before getting theday off. He had started in ninety
two of those ninety three games beforegetting the day off. But Hunter Green
today just unreal. He was overpowering. He was able to keep his slider
down low, he was able tokeep his split finger fastball down in the
strike zone. Everything was down,down, down. We mentioned before the

(58:53):
break, Austin Wins did a terrificjob of really handling Hunter Green today and
certainly it showed. The sixth innings, two hits, one run, it
was earned. It was the solohome run from Michael Michael Toglia, the
first baseman for the Rockies, thatcame in the fifth inning, two walks.

(59:14):
But the season high ten strikeouts.Ten strikeouts was great, But it
was the start to this game thatreally stuck with me, because when you
can come out and show that youmean business, and you put that on
top of what Hunter Green went throughlast Saturday, which was a big disappointment.
Seven shutout innings. He leaves witha two nothing lead heading in the

(59:37):
top of the eighth inning and ina rare failure this year, Fernando Cruz
couldn't hold it. Red's bullpen givesup five runs in the eighth inning and
they lose, and that was disappointing. But after the game, I remember
asking Hunter Green, you know,how do you deal with the disappointment,
knowing that you had a two tonothing lead and you figured, the way
the bullpen had been going, you'regoing to save that a get that win

(01:00:01):
lockdown, you'd be six and four. And then really the world implodes for
him as the Reds lose that gamefive to three. For the Hunter Green
to bounce back today, lower hisera to three point three four on the
season shows what kind of character hehas. And more than anything, I
think the Reds already knew this.People inside the organization knew this about Hunter

(01:00:24):
Green. But he's an incredibly mature, intellectual and really well thought out individual
on that roster and in that clubhouse. And that's why they like him so
much because they know, yes,last Saturday was really disappointing, but just
go out and go about your businessthe way you should. Don't mope,

(01:00:45):
don't complain about you know what theteam couldn't get done for you on Saturday.
Go about your business. And HunterGreen came out on fire. That's
why I think those six strikeouts tostart the first two innings were so important.
And then you know he walks abouther in the top of the third
inning, but again that doesn't fadehim and again face him, and again

(01:01:07):
I cannot speak more highly of theplay, the athletic play that Santiago Espinal
made filling in for Elie de laCruz today, a shortstop reaching behind him
and tagging the would be bastealer outat second base. Reds did a lot
of good things today and they neededa game like today to feel good about

(01:01:28):
themselves. They win the series,it's just their second series win in the
last two months, and obviously,when you're talking about a team again trying
to build momentum going into the AllStar Break, they need a game and
they need a series like today.It would have been great to sweep all
four games from the Rockies, whichthey could have very easily done had you

(01:01:52):
know, Tyler Stevenson not got thrownout at third base last night to start
the seventh inning. But they managedto take three out of four. Are
there three and four on the tengame homestand as it is right now,
and you know, you have tomake the best of the situation, and
that's what the Reds did today.Again, great games from Jonathan India,

(01:02:13):
Spencer Steer, even Candy Jamer Candelariohad a hit today. Tyler Stevenson the
two home runs his first two homecareer two homer game, a three run
shot in the bottom of the third, and a two run shot in a
putaway four run seventh inning. Thatreally was important in this game because at

(01:02:35):
four to one, as we learnedon Saturday against Detroit, game's not over.
But at eight to one, prettymuch the game is in the bank.
And that's why that Again, everybodytook a deep sigh of relief in
that third inning when the Reds wereable to finally break through. They really
relaxed in that seventh inning. Itwas a good day all around at Great
American Ballpark. The Reds improved toforty five and forty nine on the season.

(01:03:01):
Again, the phone lines are openhere at ESPN fifteen thirty. Anything
on your mind, we'll obviously opento talk Cincinnati Reds, talk about the
Bengals and what they need to getdone as training camp begins in a couple
of weeks, actually in thirteen days. Bengals will report to pay Corps Stadium

(01:03:23):
a couple of days before that,but then the first practice is July twenty
fourth. If you're wondering if you'remaking those plans for the end of the
month if you want to get thatappropriate summer gear ready, get the sunscreen
ready. The first public practice forthe Bengals is July twenty ninth, again

(01:03:43):
at pay Corps Stadium. Bengals willhave a couple of joint practices this year,
one at pay Corps before the finalpreseason game against the Indianapolis Colts.
I believe that game is on Augusttwenty second, so the joint practice will
be August twentieth, and before theroad preseason game against the Chicago Bears.
Two days before that, they willbe in Lake Forest, Illinois at the

(01:04:08):
Bears training camp facility, taking onthe Bears in a joint practice. And
you know, Skinny Richard Skinner ofLocal twelve Sports pointed this out, and
it's very true. I think themost important reps for Joe Burrow will take
place in those joint practices because that'swhen you can control the situation. You
obviously can't control the environment in afull fledged preseason game, but you can

(01:04:33):
do that in a joint practice.And that's probably where Joe Burrow is going
to be aiming towards testing that rightrisk to see how it responds to all
simulated game conditions. You're listening toESPN's fifteen Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. My
name is Mike Petralia, filling infor Mowger. We'll be back right after

(01:04:57):
this. What does another three twopitch from Melina? This is clowber the
left field. It's high, it'sdeep. It tinn of here Tyler Stevenson
with a two home run holding.The Reds are jumping all over the Rockies

(01:05:18):
here in the seven. That's thecowboy. Jeff Brantley on the Reds Radio
Network earlier today, the Reds clobberthe Colorado Rockies eight to one. They
take three out of four from theRockies. They are now three and four.
On the homestand first career two homergame for Tyler Stevenson. He was

(01:05:42):
having a lot of fun with AnnySabo in the Bally Sports on Field interview
right after the game. I wouldhighly advise if you can get a hold
of that or watch the replay ofthe game tonight on Bally's, do so,
because at the end, Tyler Stevenson, who's been through a lot,
obviously just brought another baby daughter intothe world celebrating that, so he's definitely

(01:06:05):
a girl dad but he had alot to celebrate today, and he's had
a lot to celebrate this week.He had the home run on Tuesday night,
had another home run on Wednesday night, and two home runs today by
my new math, that's four homeruns in its last three games. Certainly,
no one is hotter in the lineupand the Cincinnati lineup than one Tyler

(01:06:27):
Stevenson. Before the break, wewere talking about the standings, and I
want to bring this up because itreally puts perspective on where the Reds are
and where they could be going forward. With today's win, they are now
forty five and forty nine. Ifthey sweep the Marlins, which might maybe
or maybe not asking a lot ofthis Reds team, they would still get

(01:06:51):
to forty eight and forty nine beforethe All Star break. But right now
they are forty five and forty nine. They are just three games out of
the third and final wild card spot. The three wild card spots right now
in the National League are Atlanta fiftyone and forty Saint Louis forty eight and

(01:07:11):
forty four. By the way,you have to give Oliver marmol a heck
of a lot of credit for thejob. He's done with Saint Louis.
They had an incredibly disappointing season lastyear. They were pretty much out of
it the entire second half of theseason. But like the Cardinals do,
they regroup and they are certainly backin the thick of it this year.
And the New York Mets. Anybodyremember the beginning of the year when the

(01:07:35):
New York Mets were floundering, andthen they caught themselves, and then they
approached five hundred again, and thenthey went into the tank again. Well,
no one has been hotter in thelast four weeks. Then the New
York Mets they win their third straightagain today and they are now forty seven
and forty five. They are tiedwith San Diego, actually percentage points ahead,

(01:07:59):
one percentage point ahead of San Diegoat forty nine and forty seven for
the third and wild final wildcard spotin the National League. After that,
you have Arizona forty six and fortyseven, Pittsburgh forty five and forty eight,
San Francisco forty five and forty eight, and the Reds forty five and
forty nine. If the Reds,We've been saying this all show long,

(01:08:21):
if they can find some consistency.Finally in the second half of the year,
get some bats back, get somebodies back. You're talking about a
team that could put it together,get into the postseason, and then we
all know what happened. But theArizona Diamondbacks last year, they got hot
at the right time, made itall the way into the World Series before

(01:08:41):
losing to the Texas Rangers. There'sno reason the Cincinnati Reds can't do that
very same thing. And that's gotto really be the theme for the Reds
coming into this final three game series, going into the All Star Break,
anything is possible. And that iswhere you have to take advantage of the
restructured culture of the baseball postseason.It is four teams and cities and markets

(01:09:10):
like Cincinnati, baseball is relevant inthe second half of the season instead of
endless talk about you know, buyingor selling heading into the trade deadline,
and certainly there will be a lotof that. That would be all you
have in the second half of theseason. Well, with Cincinnati at forty
five and forty nine, it's stillrealistic just three games out of a postseason

(01:09:31):
birth to think, well, ifyou get hot, you're in the postseason
and That's what the Reds have tohold on to. In terms of the
divisions, Philadelphia is the best teamin baseball. They are sixty and thirty
two twenty eight games over five hundredin the Central Milwaukee is fifty four and
forty and the LA Dodgers, whatelse is new? They are fifty five

(01:09:54):
and thirty eight, well in commandof the National League Central Division. Who
are the players who have to reallystep forward and get the job done in
the second half of the season.We want to hear your calls here on
ESPN's fifteen thirty in the third andfinal hour, we look forward to having
Mark Sheldon of Reds dot com recapnot only today's game, the eight to

(01:10:17):
one victory over Colorado, but also, like what we just have been saying
all show long, what do theReds have to do in the second half
of the season to really catch fireand make a run at the postseason.
We'll take your calls after the break. We'll talk to Mark Sheldon of Reds
dot Com. But up next hereon Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Brenneman and Jones

(01:10:42):
on Baseball Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center.
The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center isopening the most comprehensive blood center in the
nation. The future of cancer ishere. Paul five one three five eight
five CC. You're looking at afifteen minute slowdown due to some stop and

(01:11:02):
go traffic on southbound seventy five betweenHopple Street and Fort Washington Way, and
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I'm Nicole with traffic. This reportis sponsored by oh No. One
covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station, proven to the

(01:11:33):
tunes heading into the final hour theMoeger radio program here on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen
thirty. I am not Moeger.He was enjoying himself down at Great American
Ballpark today. My name is MikePetralia. You can find me on x
at trags trags where you can followme on CLNS Sincy dot com and follow

(01:11:59):
my two podcasts that I do,the Jungle War podcast, which is on
YouTube at Jungle War Pod, aswell as my Code Reds podcast and that
is also on the Seal on USMedia Network. The only gentleman before this
week, before I had Mark Sheldonon, the only guy that's been on
it twice since its inception, joinsme next, joins me now on Cincinnati's

(01:12:26):
ESPN fifteen thirty. A good friendof mine and somebody I've gotten to know
this year at Great American Ballpark doesa great job giving you the play by
play on the Reds Radio Network.The one and only Tommy Thrall. Tommy,
thank you for joining me. Howyou doing, Hey, I'm great
tracks. Good to see that youwere out of options yet again. So
glad, glad that I could couldhelp out. I don't look at it

(01:12:48):
that way, speaking out of options, we'll go from the sublime to the
ridiculous or whatever however you say it, ashcrap. Is there some concern there
that this could be a lingering issuefor the rest of the year or maybe
beyond, well, I think Ithink anytime you're talking about an elbow of

(01:13:10):
the picture, I think it's concerning. The hope, obviously, is that
it gets resolved with a little alittle bit of a layoff here. The
parts that I wonder about is isthis something that's maybe been bothered him for
a little while and he's been tryingto pitch through. I mean, I
think that's that's one of the thingsthat you kind of have to wonder and
and has he been as a resultof that? Has it affected him?

(01:13:33):
I mean, is that is thatpart of the problem that he's been experiencing.
So I think all those are arefair concerns at this point, and
you just kind of wonder, well, maybe maybe that's been been kind of
the issue with him. And ifthat's the case, what what is the
answer? I mean, that's that'sthe other part is okay, is it

(01:13:54):
just as simple as letting it heal, getting to feel better, and then
then he's good to go and beback the grand ashcraft were used to.
I think it's that the reality isprobably a little bit of both. I
mean, I think there are somethings that he needs to clean up from
a pitching standpoint, For one,throwing more strikes, getting ahead of hitters.
I think if he can do thatmore consistently, and maybe who knows,

(01:14:15):
maybe the arms part of the problem. I don't know, but it's
it's always good to be able tofigure out some answers, and I think
anytime you're talking about the elbow,you just you just hope that it's caught
early enough and it's not a majorissue that gets bigger. Speaking, Yeah,
speaking of pitching, have you everseen a guy strike out six batters
to start a game? You knowwhat? I think? I was there

(01:14:36):
when Anthony d Sklifani did it.Yeah, so he was the last one
to do it, and I actually, believe it or not, I actually
remember that game a little bit,so that was That's the only other time
I think I've seen it. Butpretty impressive today that, you know,
as that game was kind of goingalong today, I thought, well,

(01:14:57):
he got the bottom of the ordercoming up. Hunter Green may very well
strike out up nine straight to startthis game. But because you know,
obviously the hardest hitters are at thetop of the order, so you get
those guys and then in theory itshould get easier the farther down the lineup
you go. But it's certainly adifficult thing to do. And impressive,
impressive start for Hunter Green today.And I said this in the last hour

(01:15:18):
Tommy that what impressed me about todayis it came off a very disappointing which
should have been a victory last Saturdayagainst Detroit. He didn't sulk, he
didn't mope. He certainly didn't complain, not that he ever would publicly.
But he went about his business.He got ready, had a new catcher

(01:15:39):
and Austin Wins who did a terrificjob, and we can talk about him
as well. But for Hunter Greento collect himself and come out and take
care of business today, that wasthe most impressive part of his start today
for me. Well, it's funnyyou say that. I kind of had
the same curiosities going into that start. I was really wondering how he would

(01:16:00):
look. You know that that startedhis last time out, he was dominant.
The Reds ended up losing that gameand through no fault of Hunters,
and I was kind of curious ifthat might at all in any way impact
him, And you're right, itdidn't at all. I mean, he
just went out, he pitched great, and he was on top of his
game today and I thought that thatto me was really impressive, especially you

(01:16:26):
know the Reds have that opportunity earlythey have second and third, nobody out
don't score. I would think itwould be very easy to fall into the
trap of oh no, here wego again. But he didn't. I
mean there, if he did,he didn't allow to affect his pitching because
he just went right out and justkept attacking. And then all of a
sudden, the Reds opened things upa little bit, gave him a little

(01:16:47):
bit of a cushion to work withright after the red scored the three runs
on the home run by Stevenson,a little traffic on the basis a Hunter
in panic ends up getting out ofthat inning no damage and really just made
the one mistake where he kind ofhung the breaking ball and paid the price
to totally, I believe it wasso other than that, he was outstanding

(01:17:10):
and nothing seemed to phase him.And I think that's part of the maturity
that we're seeing out of Hunter thisyear. He just doesn't seem to be
phased by anything, and if anything, he just seems to keep getting better
and better and better, and we'reseeing him pitch more and more as well.
I mean, that's that's the otherpart. I mean, he can
mix speeds, he works in andout and change his location really well.

(01:17:31):
Along with changing speeds, he's heis becoming a really, really fun pitcher
to watch on an every five daybasis. The other thing that really sticks
out is Hunter Green has this kindof start after he gets tabbed to take
the place of Tyler Glass now theDodgers on the All Star team, along
with teammate Ellie daily Cruz. Thatjust shows to me a lot of maturity.

(01:17:56):
He's going to go out show everybody. He's not gonna think that,
I'm sure, but he goes outand shows everybody that he has the maturity
to take care of business. Andthat to me is where just over the
course of two plus seasons now twoand a half seasons in the majors,
I think Hunter Green's starting to putit all together. Oh, I think

(01:18:17):
so. I think there's no doubt. And it's always important anytime in kind
of looking at where he's at inhis career, he's probably a little bit
farther behind than just won his ageto the number of years in the big
leagues, because one, he gotto the big leagues really quick. Two,
he hadn't pitched a whole lot evenbefore he got into pro ball,

(01:18:40):
so he was relatively inexperience. Sojust about everything he learned along the way
has been new. He hasn't reallyhad to truly pitch until he got to
the big leagues because his arm wasso good. So all of this stuff,
I think is probably a pretty normaltimeline for a guy in his situation.
We're fairly in I think all ofus are collectively. Then I'll throw

(01:19:02):
myself in that we want to seea guy get to the big leagues and
have instant success right away, Butsometimes these things take time, and I
really feel like it's probably been apretty normal timeline for him to kind of
get to this point, and he'sgetting to a point now where he can
flat out dominate every time he's onthe mount. You mentioned it a couple

(01:19:25):
of moments ago, Tommy, thatthat home run by Tyler Stevenson to me,
really allowed the entire ballpark ends.Certainly the Reds dugout to exhale and
breathe a sigh of relief, don'tyou think. Yeah? I think so,
because you know so much has beenmade over the last well, it's

(01:19:46):
really come to the forefront. Ithink more in the last few starts for
Hunter, and that he pitches reallywell and gets no run support, so
you get those three runs on theboard. I mean, that's not like
hanging an eight spot, but stillit's some runs on the board. It
was still fairly early in the game, and I do I think it helps
everybody just relax a little bit,takes the pressure off everybody. Hunter's got

(01:20:09):
a little bit of room for airthere after that point, and so I
think, yeah, I think thoseruns are huge, especially after, like
I said, you get those tworuns a board, second and third,
nobody out right out of the gateand the first thing you don't score.
I mean, that's one of thosethings. We've seen it a thousand times.
It's like where you have an inninglike that, where you don't capitalize

(01:20:30):
on an opportunity and that's the lastchance you get to score a run.
I think it feels like, atleast to me, those are the types
of situations that can kind of createthat pressure. Whether it's fair or not,
whether it's it's real or not,I don't know, but it just
seems like when you miss those opportunitiesthat a lot of times becomes the only

(01:20:50):
opportunity you got. The reds urin the exact same situation again, Tyler
Stevenson comes up hits the home run. All Right, that's not gonna be
the story of this game, thehome run will be and then he goes
and hits another one a little bitlater on and really open things up.
So yeah, I agree. Ithink that can help the team relax a
ton. Tommy Thrall, the voiceof the Cincinnati Rens on the Reds Radio

(01:21:14):
Network on our flagship station, ofcourse, seven hundred wl W. One
thing that stands out about what TylerStevenson has done this week four home runs
in three games. He's going tobe sad to see the Rockies take off
for New York and the New YorkMets this weekend, for sure, But
two of those four home runs Tommyto the opposite field, including one today,

(01:21:36):
including the three run shot. Well, yeah, I think that's one
of the things that Tyler Stevenson doesso well is he can go the other
way, and he can go theother way with some power, and he
did that today. That's one ofthe things I love about his game.
He's got a little he's got alittle juices that he's never been a real
prolific home run hitter, but there'ssome power in there, especially when he

(01:21:59):
starts to get his timing down.I think we're starting to see that timing
come around now for him, andhe's definitely strong enough to hit the ball
out of the ballpark. But he'salways been an opposite field hitter, and
so I loved it today. Yousee him go po his first time up,
or in his first home run,his last home run was pulled.
It just really kind of shows hisrange and and what he's capable of.

(01:22:23):
But I I I'm always a bigfan of guys that can consistently go the
other way. You're still going topull the ball from time to time,
especially if you can still pull theball with some authority, as he clearly
can. I just there is alot to love about a guy with a
very balanced approach, and that that'she showed it all today. Have you
did you ever think, in yourwildest dreams, Santiago Espinaal could hit a

(01:22:45):
ball four hundred and twenty feet Idid. There's no way. We've seen
him every now and again he can. He can square one up, and
you know that. I know that. Well, you know you turn on,
you get it on the best wing, you know, best basketball wing,

(01:23:06):
and good things can happen. Idon't remember actually what the pitch was,
but hey, it was a centercut, prime beef of rib.
It was three. It was aninety one mile an hour right down Broadway.
To quote your partner. It wasthere to be hacked upon, and

(01:23:27):
he did not miss it. Whodoesn't Who doesn't like his center cut file
at right? I certainly do so, hey, by the way his I
thought his best play though, wason the tag when he went reached behind.
As he's falling down to the infieldgrass catching the throw from Austin Wins,
he reaches behind and gets the Ibelieve the left heel of Nolan Jones.

(01:23:54):
You have to see the replay toappreciate the athleticism there. Well,
that's exactly what it was. Itwas athleticism. It's body control that is.
That is such a difficult play toexecute because one a lot of times
when you're lunging, you lose alittle bit of that athleticism. He was
lunging, he was getting the ballin the short hop, so his glove's

(01:24:15):
coming up as the throw and thenhe's got to get a back down quickly
twist behind him and reach back toget the tag down on the guy's heel.
I'm with you. I thought thatwas an incredible play. That and
then the happening before when he slidinto second base, looked like he was
going to the outside, basically swimmingthrough the dirt to get to the inside

(01:24:36):
of the bag to avoid the tagon the hustle double. Just just a
really good showcase of athleticism from SantiagoEspital. The guy can flat out play
defense. I know the numbers don'treflect it. I've said this several times
and people probably think I'm crazy.There's something about his approach at the plate
that I really like to I thinkif you gave that guy a chance to

(01:24:59):
play every day. Maybe I'm wronghere, but he just always seems to
have a really good approach at theplate. And he's kind of one of
those guys too that likes to gothe other way if there's a runner at
first, there's one out or less. I really like him and his ability
to move that base runner, justbecause one of his approach. He always

(01:25:21):
seems like he's got a good ideawhat he wants to do at the plate.
He knows he's not a power hitter. He's not going to go to
the plate trying to hit a homerun. That ball that he hit today
guarantee you one trying to hit itfour hundred and twenty feet. He was
just trying to put a good swingon it and they'll run into some home
runs. But I really like everythingabout his game, and I wonder if

(01:25:41):
he were in there on a moreregular basis, if he'd hit for a
little better average. And I knowthat's not his role on this team,
but he's an exciting player to me. I like him. Well, he
was a really nice edition. No, I just think he's a really nice
edition. Late there, camp,we will wrap it up here. Tommy
on La Daily Cruz for the firsttime in ninety four games, he did

(01:26:02):
not play today for the Reds,first game he's missed all season long.
I guess before the game David Bellsaid that it's not injury related. He's
just getting the day off. AndI want to get your thoughts on it.
If there's any late developing news onEllie Dela Cruz, who had his

(01:26:23):
hand examined, I believe during thegame last night, but stayed in the
game, came back out after slidingin a double play. Anything new on
Ellie, No, I think it'sexactly that. I mean, he's played
in every game, even the othergame. He didn't start, he still
got into and played. He's goingto the All Star break. Everybody else

(01:26:43):
is going to get a break,and he's really not. And it's in
a hunter to play in the AllStar Game. I know he's pumped about
it, but it's just kind ofa way to give him a little breather.
I mean, look at the wayhe plays the game. I mean,
you will be hard pressed to findsomebody that can do as many different
things on a field and play thegame as hard as he does. Other
guys play the game really hard,and that's fine, but they don't have

(01:27:08):
almost fifty stolen bases before the AllStar break. I mean that all the
little things that he does, takingthe extra base, playing with the energy
that he plays at a very highlevel, that takes its toll on a
body. So I thought it wassmart to give him the day off today.
And David and I were talking beforethe game today and he said there
may be a time even after theAll Star break, shortly after the break,

(01:27:31):
to give him a day off too, just to kind of fully recharge
him as best you can, justto keep him healthy. And he's the
type of guy that never wants tocome out of the lineup, So yeah,
I don't think there's any concern nowif he's not in the lineup tomorrow
that that would certainly change things.But I think it was just strictly to

(01:27:53):
give him a little bit of abreather here before the break. Get yourself
a center cut prime rib of beeffor whatever you're going to have for dinner.
I hope you have a good day. Sounds very good, it does.
Yeah, yeah, that might thatmight be in the cards tonight.
All right. He is Tommy Thraw, great voice of the Cincinnati Reds Network

(01:28:13):
radio network, the Reds Radio Networkon seven hundred WLW and uh the many
many stations that are on that saidnetwork. Tommy, thanks for taking time
out here on the Mowagar Radio program. All right, sounds good, mo,
I mean Trags, appreciate it.Thanks for the time you got it,
Tommy. Take care. It isfive twenty two and you are listening

(01:28:33):
to the Moager Radio Show on Cincinnati'sESPN fifteen thirty on Mike Petralia Trags.
We'll be back after this, backhere on the Moeger Radio Programs, Cincinnatis
ESPN fifteen thirty. My name isMike Petralia Trags follow me on x at

(01:28:56):
said name that would be Ags.You can also follow me on Clnssinc dot
com, as well as follow meon Instagram if you like if you're so
inclined at Trags one, and onYouTube at the Jungle War Pod on YouTube,
I host The Jungle War Pod,talking everything Cincinnati Bengals and Code Reds

(01:29:21):
talking everything about the first professional baseballfranchise. Before we hit the bottom of
the hour, I have a personalnote. As many of you know,
I covered the Patriots for twenty sevenyears in New England and covered Bill Belichick
and Tom Brady between obviously two thousandand twenty and twenty. I find this

(01:29:45):
story hilarious and I'm curious to seehow it turns out. As six times
Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick is joiningInside the NFL as an analyst for the
twenty twenty four NFL season, thenetwork, which announced it today. Belichick
will join former NFL players Ryan Clark, Chris Long, and yes, Chad

(01:30:08):
Johnson, all of whom who playedon the Patriots under the legendary head coach
for at least one season. Ofcourse, Chad Johnson played only one year
and went to a Super Bowl intwenty eleven, of course, lost to
the New York Giants in Super Bowlforty six. Belichick says, I'm thrilled
to join my new team at NFLFilms and to work on such a historic

(01:30:31):
television franchise. Indeed it is.And for those who don't know Belichick and
the Sables, Steve and his fathered very very close before both of them
passed away. Belichick has the utmostrespect for NFL Films, always has,
and it'll be interesting to see howBelichick does in front of a desk,

(01:30:55):
I think in a studio behind adesk, I should say, I think
he's going to do terrific because Belichickcan offer insight that nobody else can,
and I think he's going to bringthat to that show. I'm also curious
to see how he does working withPeyton and Eli on the ESPN Monday night

(01:31:17):
football broadcasts, which are supposed tobe unique, and I'm sure with Peyton
and Eli joining Bill Belichick or viceversa, that will be unique, to
be sure. So instead of coachingthis year in the NFL, Bill Belichick
is going to work on his broadcastskills. I think he's going to do
very well. Will he do betterthan Tom Brady? I think he might.

(01:31:40):
I think he actually might be morecomfortable behind the microphone for an extended
period of time than Tom Brady is. But we'll say tom Brady's first broadcast
for Fox, of course, isthe Dallas Cowboys at the Cleveland Browns in
week number one. It'll be interestingto see how both of them do in
their maiden voyage as NFL broadcasters thisyear. It is five thirty. It

(01:32:02):
is time to take another break.You are listening to the moe Egger Radio
Program. My name is Mike PetraliaTrags on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen to thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station ESPN fifteen thirty heddens ofthe home stretch of the Moegger Radio Program.

(01:32:28):
Here on a Thursday afternoon. Myname is Mike Petralia Trags filling in.
I want to thank mo. Iwant to thank Tarren Bland, by
the way, having mentioned Taron Blandin the three hours, and that's me
dropping the ball. That's me bootingthe ball in center field, allowing the
runner you go from second to third. That's my error. So Tarren Bland
has been doing a great job runningthe board, getting all the great cuts

(01:32:51):
lined up, getting all the guestslined up, including our fourth and final
guest of the day in the secondone in this hour to talk Red's Baseball.
Good friend of mine covers the Redsfor MLB dot Com and Reds dot
Com and is a guest on CodeReds this week, talking all things Eli,

(01:33:12):
Daily Cruz and Rookie Reese Hines,Mark Sheldon, Mark, how you
doing. Thanks for taking time outafter postgame responsibilities. I'm doing well.
If you want some traffic updates,I'm sitting on I seventy one. It's
bumper, a bumper near Hyde Park. I would assume you're talking northbound seventy
one. Yeah, this is anorthbound Well, we'll try to make the

(01:33:33):
commute go quickly for you. Mark, Just like you were calling in as
a fan, I want to getyour summary, your view and of what
was the vibe in the Reds clubhousetoday after an eight to one win when
you know, and I said thisto Tommy Thrall a couple of moments ago,

(01:33:54):
there's so many storylines today, goodwholesome, energetic story lines for the
Reds. Which one stuck out toyou? And how was the Clubhouse after
the game, I'm going to gowith a little differently. I think the
storyline is a composite of This wasas complete of a win as they as
they could have, and they neededit badly. This is one of those

(01:34:15):
games like they had in the Yankeeseries in New York, where the starting
pitching was was strong, the offensewas strong as well, and they did
just about everything correctly, and theydidn't make any mistakes on the bases and
the field and things like that.So I think those are the kind of
wins they have to have. Theyneed more of those, especially the rest

(01:34:35):
of this homestand and going into thesecond half. As far as the Clubhouse,
everything was pretty upbeat as they've been. Hunter Green mentioned that that was
about as a fun of a gameas he could have. Every inning,
he said, it was just likewhether you were playing the game or you
were a fan watching the game fromthe dugout. In their case, they

(01:34:55):
just enjoyed themselves because it was sucha complete victory. I really think Mark
that the big hit of the gamewith Tyler Stevenson's three run homer, not
just because it gave them the threeto nothing lead. With Stevenson punching out
the first six batters that he faced. But because of what happened in the
first inning, second and third,nobody out, they don't score. Here
we go again, Tyler, youknow, you know, obviously, Hunter

(01:35:17):
Green last Saturday against Detroit, sevenshutout innings, leaves with a two to
nothing lead. They lose the gamefive to three. Hunter doesn't get the
win for that. Two innings later, Tyler Stevenson, who had struck out
in the first inning with runners onsecond and third, comes up hits the
ball the other way, three runhomer, his third home run at that

(01:35:40):
point in as many games he obviouslyhad another, finished with four home runs
in the three game span. Howbig was that moment in the third inning
for Stevenson and the reds oh itwas huge, and right before that they
held up India from trying to score. It would have been the first out
of the inn at home played becauseit was a ball hit, you know,

(01:36:02):
hit off the shortstops glove and itwent to this kind of short no
man's land center field, and itlooked like he was going to get waved
home at first. But it wouldhave been a very risky venture and it
didn't look good and India was heldup and went back to third to put
runners on second. Third. Uh, yes, Steers on second, I
believe, and fans booed, andI know on Twitter, I got some
negative feedback. You got negative feedbackon Twitter. I know you really seriously

(01:36:27):
shocking. But the the funny thingis, though, is that the same
fans would would blow them up forbeing too aggressive. And we've seen that
throughout the year. The Reds havemade some aggressive mistakes at third base,
like yesterday, just just yesterday,getting Stevenson thrown out of third base,
so they went a little conservative.I think this case they made the right
decision and they were rewarded for itbecause Stevenson picked them up. You don't

(01:36:50):
need to have that runner get thrownout, and I think that would have
been a problem. So uh,in this case, kudos to j R.
House for in the right decision thereand and they were rewarded and that
was a huge home run. Itdefinitely set the tone offensively for what happened
the rest of the day. Imentioned this to Tommy Thrall earlier in the
hour mark, and I think it'ssomewhat significant. Maybe it's not. Maybe

(01:37:15):
it's just what he does. Twoof the four home runs this week that
Stevenson has hit have gone to rightfield. He stays inside the ball with
power as well as anybody on theroster. I think, yeah, and
he's a guy too that when hegets hot kind of in a way like
Ryes Hines has done this week.But when he gets on these stretches,
he can, you know, stringtogether home runs several days in a row

(01:37:38):
or at least for the week.You know, his power has has always
been there. He didn't see awhole lot of it last season. But
what he can get into one ofthese as the the guys an MLB Network
will say, these heaters, uh, it's uh, it's it's pretty impressive
because he can do it, andhe's got the he's got the stuff to
do it. And and yes,if he's going the other way for like
a lot of hitters, sometimes whenyou can get it inside the ball and

(01:38:00):
go out, you know, hitone out, it's very good. It's
exactly what they needed well, andthe Colorado Rockies and their pitching staff was
exactly what the Reds needed. Eventhough they didn't win the game last night,
they made a good run at itin the bottom of the ninth inning,
three run ninth inning, coming upjust short, losing six to five.
It just feels like the Reds offenseis starting to click. I guess

(01:38:23):
you saw a little bit of thatin the Yankee series as well. I
don't know what happened with the Tigers. The Tigers do have I think better
pitching than a lot of people givethem credit for. But today's game,
Jonathan India three for four, SpencerSteer three for five at the top of
the order, they combined to gosix for nine, four runs, scored,

(01:38:43):
two doubles. When you have thatkind of production at the top of
the order, it really does havea domino effect, certainly, And that's
exactly you know. India has beenas hot as anybody on this team since
the last three or four weeks,and Elie de la Cruz given the day
off and they moved to Europe tothe number two spot and have Santiago Espin
all deliver two hits, including adouble and a home run from the near

(01:39:08):
the bottom of the order. Sobut yes, getting the guys on to
set up people like Stevenson later onis critical, and that's how you produce
a well played, complete win suchas today, Do you think Jonathan India
belongs in the All Star Game ifmaybe an injury crops up. I mean,
he can make the case, butI don't. I don't honestly have

(01:39:30):
enough information on the other second basementthat he would be competing against. But
essentially you're looking at four to sixweeks of great production, So I don't
know if that's enough. But hecertainly if you want to do a composite
thing, he had a He's aRookie of the Year. He's a guy
that plays hard and certainly deserves it. But I don't know if it's All
Star time for him or not.What about the job Austin Wins did behind

(01:39:50):
the played handling Hunter Green today,I you know, on the TV broadcast,
Barry Larkin on Bally Sports Cincinnati saidthat he would very animated, especially
down in the strike zone, reallyhelping Hunter keep the ball down on the
strike zone. Yeah, and HunterGreen gave Wains credit just for being there

(01:40:11):
able to step in. One ofthe things about Wins is he hasn't played
many games. He's he's been upthree times and he's caught, you know,
a couple of games here and there, and But the important thing is
he was at spring training for thewhole six weeks and he worked with all
the pitchers, so nothing is tooforeign to him. He's obviously a veteran,
it's been around, but he's he'scaught some of these guys in the
miners and he's caught the major leagueguys. He caught them in bullpens.

(01:40:33):
He probably caught a few of themin spring games. So that knowledge is
certainly helpful and it definitely helps HunterGreen today. What about Noelve Marte.
I know he had a couple ofhits last night, he went oh for
four today. What have you seenfrom him that leads you to believe that

(01:40:56):
he's eventually going to get warmed up, heated up, and really help this
team in the second half. Idon't want to be honest, I haven't
seen much. I mean, Iknow he had the hits yesterday, but
I think there's reason to be concernedthere just because, yeah, for the
cause of that suspension, and itcame in the middle of spring training.
I mean, despite the fact thathe did go play games in the Dominican

(01:41:16):
and on a rehabit, sigmon,he really did not get a real spring
training he did not get a fullchance to really play. I don't necessarily
think it was a bad thing tobring him up the day the suspension was
over, even though his numbers andtriple A weren't good. They felt good
about what his approach was and thingslike that. But I think expecting him

(01:41:38):
to be a big time contributor mayhave been a reach based on what happened
this year. I think maybe ifhe had not had the suspension and he
had not been out, I thinkthey could have expected more. But right
now, especially on the field too. His first eight games, I think
he made five errors. There's somework to be done there and he needs
to get better. Viosly, Alot of Reds fans remember Aristides Akino,

(01:42:02):
and a lot of fans remember WilliamOpana. You know where I'm going with
this. Reese Hines this week hasbeen pretty sensational. He's hit and I
believe all four games that he's appearedin, and he's really played a pivotal
role in terms of picking up theslack in a Cincinnati outfield that's really been

(01:42:24):
ravaged by both injuries and the personalsituation regarding Jake Freley, and he had
to miss time due to a familyemergency leave. What do you think of
rees signs and why has he beenable to kind of give the Reds an
emotional lift if you will. Yeah, he's been great and there's no complaints,

(01:42:44):
and certainly they hope that he's notjust a one month wonder like a
Kino was, and he's more ofa guy that can stick around and make
the adjustments. So obviously he's notgoing to get fastballs enough to keep hitting
home runs all the time. Butwhat's been good about what he's done in
this seriester the besides the home runs, he's starting to hit the ball in
all different ways and not just youknow, he's showing that he can hit

(01:43:05):
singles again, so it's you know, he hit some singles and he's done
a few things. He's also runningthe bases really well. He's got a
couple of stolen bases, so andhe played strongly enough in the outfield.
He's been He's made a really nicesliding catch in his first game, but
he's not hurt him in the outfieldeither. So you put it all together
and it's been refreshing. I thinkpart of it for him is another guy

(01:43:28):
he was at spring training He playedwith a lot of these guys in the
minor leagues as well, so it'snot like he's coming up to the major
leagues for the first time knowing nobody, feeling intimidated, feeling the pressure.
I think they've made it a verysoft landing, so to speak, for
him to come in here and feelat home, and he's talked about that
multiple times, that he feels athome. And when you're feeling comfortable,

(01:43:48):
that's half the battle, maybe fora rookie. He was really charismatic and
terrific to talk too. Early inthe week. Obviously, he had a
podium appearance after his rookie debut,and then even in front of his locker
when he had another moonshot home runtape measure home run on Tuesday night.

(01:44:08):
He's been a really a joy totalk to in the clubhouse. So great
story and guy that's written a lotof great stories. Mark Sheldon of Reds
dot com and MLB dot Com.I appreciate you joining me. I hope
the traffic eases up a little bitby the time you get off seventy one.
I'm doing ten miles an hour asthey approach Red Bank, so it's

(01:44:30):
very slow going, but yeah,there's your traffic and then somebody from what
can pick it up from there intraffic and weather together. I appreciate that.
Mark, thanks so much for takingtime out. We'll see it tomorrow
at the ballpark is the Reds andCarson Spires open a three game series with
Miami Marlins. Be good, besafe, my man. Thank you,
Mike pick care you bet that is. Mark Sheldon of MLB dot com does

(01:44:54):
a great job covering the Cincinnati Reds, has since way back in two thousand
and it is five forty seven.We're heading down the homestretch here on the
Moweger Radio show for a Thursday afternoonfollowing an eight to one win Red's win
over the Colorado Rockies at Great AmericanBallpark. You are listening to Cincinnati ZESPN

(01:45:15):
fifteen thirty. I need a smallorder of sheet metal wrapping up the Lowegger
Radio program for a Thursday afternoon.My name is Mike Petralia Trags. You
can follow me on Twitter x whateveryou're calling the platform these days, and
the platform formerly known as Twitter isnow x Trags. You can follow me

(01:45:38):
online seal on us sincywi ay dotcom and Jungle War podcast on YouTube dot
com, as well as code Redson the Sealing US media platform. Our
final call of the day. Iknow he called in earlier, and I
don't think he was able to hangon because we had a couple of interviews
lined up. But Mike in Losang Angels, what's on your mind?

(01:46:02):
I am Michael, good job asyou my friend, appreciate you. Nice
to hear your voice. I'm hadsome cancer surgery earlier today, so I'm
back to my lots and ostegia stillfeels pretty good, so I'm good in
every card. I guess what's onyour mind? Uh, I'll tell you.

(01:46:26):
You know when we talk about Andrewand I got a trivia question that's
got to hit you with the ifOtawani can win the MVP in the National
League, which I would say,there is a good chance. You know,
he'll be the first pure DH tohave done so well, there's no
question about that. Yes, Ididn't know if you knew that. I

(01:46:49):
thought that was an interesting Uh.It is, and he'll be the first
d H in the National League todo so. It is essentially your point
correct or overall, Yeah, Ithink overall, I don't think a DHO
but I could be wrong. Butin the National League, for sure,
I think David Ortiz would be theonly candidate that comes immediately to mine that

(01:47:13):
would have even had a shot atdoing that, him and Edgar Martinez way
back in the day with the SeattleMariners. But hey, Mike, I
got to let you go because weare up against the clock here as we
come to the end of the radioprogram here on ESPN's fifteen thirty. I
appreciate you calling in. I'm sureyou will hear from you again. And

(01:47:34):
by the way, Mike, getbetter soon and make sure you take care
of yourself. Nothing's more important thanyourself. I agree. Thank Hey,
the last switch hitter MVP in theAmerican League by Mike, you got it
a Mickey Mantle. I'm going toguess that the answer was Mickey Mantle.

(01:47:55):
I'll let that one sit and marinate, and we'll have to get back to
that answer in a while. ButI think it's Mickey Mantle, but not
one hundred percent sure on that.I don't know. If we have some
time here, Tarren Bland has donea great job. I want to get
Hunter Green's comments lined up. Youknow what, Tarran forget it. I

(01:48:16):
don't want to jam too much inhere. Towards the end of the hour.
We only have a couple of minutesremaining in the program before we get
you up to ESPN Radio. Atthe top of the hour, I do
want to thank all of the peoplewho called in and we're guests on the
Mowegger Radio program with me Mike Petraliaon this Thursday afternoon. James Rapine of

(01:48:41):
All Beengals Talk dot com and certainlythe Lockdown Podcast does a great job.
Richard Skinner of Local twelve covering theBengals since forever, Tommy Thrall he of
course the play by play voice ofthe Cincinnati Reds, and we wrapped up
the Reds disc ushion with Mark Sheldonin some traffic on I seventy one doing

(01:49:05):
a great job covering the Cincinnati Redsand their eight to one victory of the
Colorado Rockies. Today, the musichas started, so that is my queue
to wrap things up. I wantto thank again Tarren Bland for doing a
great job behind the control glass andon the control board getting all the sound

(01:49:25):
lined up for me today and gettingall of the guests. James Rapine,
Richard Skinner, Tommy Thrall, andMark Sheldon on the air. Really has
been a blast. Moeger take timeoff more often and go to a Reds
game. I'm here to help youout, my man. This is Mike
Petralia Trags and this has been theMoeger radio program for a Thursday on Cincinnati's

(01:49:48):
ESPN fifteen thirty. This report is