July 16, 2024 • 10 mins
The great Chris Crawford joined us to tell us why he really, really likes the Reds' 2024 draft class.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In fifteen you have found this connectthem. In thirty minutes, we're gonna
give away more Thomas Rhett tickets.Yesterday we played a relatively easy game,
and I think it was easy ofknow your Reds home run derby connections.
So you know what we're doing today, Yes, yes, that's right,
(00:22):
your Reds All Star Game connections.If you know a lot about the Reds,
and you know a lot about theAll Star Game and the blended history
of the two, and if youwant to go see Thomas Rhett and the
Reds play the A's because Thomas Rhet'splaying after a Red Z's game, We've
got your chance coming up. Injust about thirty minutes, another wide receiver
(00:43):
has asked for a trade. I'lltell you what I'm not reading. We
have Brennaman and Jones on baseball,and the All Star Game is tonight.
Ellie and Hunter could have a chancefor a big moment. First, Christopher
Crawford is here NBC Sports rode Owar KJRN, Seattle. One of my
go to experts when it comes tothe draft, when it comes to prospects,
(01:08):
join me late last week, soit's good to have you. As
always, the Reds take Chase Burnsfrom wig Forest. This is not the
player you said on Friday that youthought the Reds would take, or that
you would take if you were runningthe Reds. So how surprised were you
that that's what they chose to do. I was very surprised when we talked
(01:33):
on Friday. I was less surprisedwhen we talked on Monday. It's started
seeming a little more likely that thewe're going to go that route, in
part I think because maybe a littlebit disswayed by the bonus demands of Charlie
Condon more than anything else. Butit's still a solid pick. It's surprising,
though, for sure. I meanI really thought it was going to
(01:53):
be either Condon or Jack Condon tightlyand noon. That's such a difficult name
to say. I'm sorry, Elsie, wonderful Italians out there. Maybe just
drop a couple syllables, but no, It's it surprised me for sure when
we talked on Friday, but moreand more that I heard it sounded more
and more likely that they were goingto go with Burns at number two.
(02:15):
All right, so they take ChaseBurns, put the film on. For
me? What do we like.There's a lot to like. I mean,
this is a guy who came justunder two hundred strikeouts in just over
one hundred innings, a ridiculous strikeouts, a rattio of something like seventeen point
nine K nine and it's not smokingmeres this is a guy who has four
(02:35):
plus pitches can get his fastball upto one hundred and two miles an hour.
Goodness gracious, that's fast. Istill remember. I'm old enough to
remember when ninety miles per hour waspretty fast. It's crazy that these are
guys throwing change ups and sliders thatfast. And he can do that with
his slider. He's got his qualitycurve ball, so the decent change as
well. Command is a little bitof a work in progress. But I
(02:57):
think he's gonna throw more than enoughstrikes to be a quality pitcher or a
quality starter is what I meant tosay. Obviously quality pitcher, but he
should be able to stick in arotation. He's got the prototypical size that
you're looking for from a starter.I mean, everything here is there for
him to be a frontline guy.So to get that with the number two
pick is pretty solid value, allright, so I have seen people whose
(03:17):
opinion I value far less than yours, suggests that one day he is going
to be a back of the bullpenguy. What do you make of that?
I would disagree with that. Ithink some of the concern is the
command and some of it is there'sa little bit of effort in the delivery.
But I still think that he's goingto be a frontline starter to begin
(03:38):
his like obviously to begin his careerprobably admit rotation. For every Paul schemes,
there's lots of guys who struggles tocome out of things. I think
that there is lots of reasons tobelieve that he's going to be a starting
pitcher long term. My biggest concernwith Burns is the fact that his fastball
shape is an elite and playing agreat American ballpark and having a fastball shape
(03:59):
that is ant elite can lead tosome trouble. So that's why the command
is going to have to be atleast average for him to become a strong
starting option. I think there's everyreason to believe that he can get there
if things go well. Could Ibe watching him in Cincinnati as soon as
next year? Absolutely? Now,look again, for every Paul schemes that
comes up this quick, there's goingto be a guy who takes a little
(04:21):
bit longer to develop. And Iwould still guess that he makes his debut
sometime in twenty twenty five, justbecause the stuff is so readily apparent,
like this is not smoke again,not smoking mirrors, and it's not well,
it's there one day and it's notthere the next day. His entire
season at Wake Forest, he wasjust absolutely dominating bats. I think it's
(04:43):
absolutely realistic to see that he'd bein that rotation by the All Star break
of twenty twenty five, and ifnot, certainly a guy who's helping him
in twenty twenty six. And youknow that's what you're really drafting for,
right is you're not really drafting forthe help, obviously, not this year
twenty twenty five. You know it'dbe nice, but it's not not necessarily
a necessity. That college arm likethat helping you in twenty twenty six is
(05:03):
what you're really hoping for. Allright, let me ask you about the
player they took in the second round. They needed another shortstop, so they
took one, Tyson Lewis high schoolkid. What do you like about him.
There's a lot to like, andI was actually a little surprised he
felt this far. Scouts just lovedthis kid. I think one thing that
hurt him a little bit is thathe's a Nebraska kid, and there's not
(05:24):
a ton of history of these typeof guys being successful players. But you
just take on talent, and thisis a guy with a chance for above
average hit and power, really goodrunner, really good arm. I should
be able to take a short stopwithout any issue. Doesn't turn nineteen until
January, I believe, so there'slots of long term upside with this type
(05:44):
of bat. He's an interesting onebecause I think he's you don't see this
with a lot of high school players, but I think he has a high
floor and a high ceiling, soto be able to get that at fifty
one was a really strong pick bythe Cincinnati Reds. I like this big
a lot. It was one ofmy favorites of the day. You know,
they're tapping into that LSU pipeline thathas produced Paul Stein's to take their
next guy and Louke Coleman another pitcher. Alrighty, talk to me about Luke
(06:08):
Coleman. Yeah, Luke Coleman isand by the way, no relation to
Brian Holman for those remember Brian Hellman. But unfortunately, what Luke Coleman was
probably most famous for is a prettybig betting scandal. I don't know if
you remember this, but there wasan issue where he got scratched and some
people got a lot of money andsome people lost their job. This update
(06:28):
brought to you by Fan Kings.The stuff is all here for him to
be a starting pitcher, like hehas a plus slider, fastball is an
elite, curveball is an elite,change of is an elite, but all
of those are average. But ifyou combine that with the slider and the
fact that he throws everything for strikes, he's ready to be a back end
starter. It wouldn't one hundred percentshot me if he the guy who ended
(06:53):
up being the guy who ended upbeing into the majors quicker, even quicker
than Chase Burns, because the stuffin the command is so ready to go.
Now, you're not talking about nearlythe same type of upside. But
I think that Brian there I go. I do think that Holman has a
chance to be a solid back endstarter and one who can get to the
(07:14):
big leagues pretty quickly. All Right, I'm not going to ask you about
every player they have taken through tenrounds. The thing that stands out to
me more than anything is they tookthree catchers, the guys below Luke Coleman.
As we talk rounds three through tenfor the Reds, is there a
name that jumps off the board toyou. Yeah, I'll tell you that
Mike Serad is one of the mostinteresting players that they took, and that's
an outfielder out of Northeastern. Thiswas a guy who, if this draft
(07:39):
would have happened after the season,and it obviously did not, probably would
have been a top fifteen pick.There were people who were really infatuated with
the bat, and to be justcompletely honest with you, be stunk.
He was not good in his junioryear, but the talent is still there
and he's a really good defensive playerwho can play all three outfield positions.
He's a good run So you've gotthat floor of a potential fourth or fifth
(08:03):
outfielder, and then you have theceiling of maybe he does revert back to
the player that they saw as asophomore when he was at and to be
fair, he was at Northeastern,and Northeastern is not exactly a baseball hotbed
who played the strongest schedule, buthe was outstanding and that's kind of one
of the reasons why I think hefell was because he didn't put up great
numbers and he was playing in apretty mediocre baseball conference. But I think
(08:26):
he was outstanding value. And I'llalso mention staball out of Arkansas plus hit
tool should be a solid second basement. The Reds had my favorite draft.
Even though they've passed on what was, in my opinion, the best player
in the draft and Cleveland daft onhim as well, they still got a
top five player in this draft andlike four guys that would be in my
(08:46):
top fifty. That's a pretty darkgood draft and helps re establish that farm
system that we were talking about onFriday. Awesome stuff. You've made my
day. The trade deadline is gettingcloser. If the Reds make any trades
involving players I've never heard of,You're gonna get my phone call. I
appreciate it as always, man,thanks so much, my pleasure, my
friend. It's my guy. ChrisCrawford, NBC Sports Rodeo World also fills
(09:09):
in as he is this week onk JR. In Seattle. Uh.
There are a lot of experts outthere as it relates to college baseball and
high school baseball and the amateur draft. Chris is one of my favorites.
The other is aarm Layton. He'sgonna join us on the five o'clock hour.
Uh. Until then, five pointthree seven nine fifteen thirty is our
(09:31):
phone number. Eight sixty six seventwo three seven seven six works as well.
You can send a tweet thanks toDelta Dental. Delta Dental is building
healthy, smart and vibrant communities fora Gonda Delta Dental. Oh dot com
uh t Higgins. The the deadlinepassed and they didn't get a contract done.
So he's gonna play for the Bengalsunder the franchise tag, which is
(09:56):
what everybody who followed this situation closelysay was going to be the outcome.
But when he announced, or whenwe found out, I should say that
he was requesting a trade, whichhe did. Well, there was a
narrative out there. Another wide receiverhas reportedly requested a trade from his team.
(10:18):
I don't see that same narrative nexton ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station
In fifteen you have found this connectthem. In thirty minutes, we're gonna
give away more Thomas Rhett tickets.Yesterday we played a relatively easy game,
and I think it was easy ofknow your Reds home run derby connections.
So you know what we're doing today, Yes, yes, that's right,
(00:22):
your Reds All Star Game connections.If you know a lot about the Reds,
and you know a lot about theAll Star Game and the blended history
of the two, and if youwant to go see Thomas Rhett and the
Reds play the A's because Thomas Rhet'splaying after a Red Z's game, We've
got your chance coming up. Injust about thirty minutes, another wide receiver
(00:43):
has asked for a trade. I'lltell you what I'm not reading. We
have Brennaman and Jones on baseball,and the All Star Game is tonight.
Ellie and Hunter could have a chancefor a big moment. First, Christopher
Crawford is here NBC Sports rode Owar KJRN, Seattle. One of my
go to experts when it comes tothe draft, when it comes to prospects,
(01:08):
join me late last week, soit's good to have you. As
always, the Reds take Chase Burnsfrom wig Forest. This is not the
player you said on Friday that youthought the Reds would take, or that
you would take if you were runningthe Reds. So how surprised were you
that that's what they chose to do. I was very surprised when we talked
(01:33):
on Friday. I was less surprisedwhen we talked on Monday. It's started
seeming a little more likely that thewe're going to go that route, in
part I think because maybe a littlebit disswayed by the bonus demands of Charlie
Condon more than anything else. Butit's still a solid pick. It's surprising,
though, for sure. I meanI really thought it was going to
(01:53):
be either Condon or Jack Condon tightlyand noon. That's such a difficult name
to say. I'm sorry, Elsie, wonderful Italians out there. Maybe just
drop a couple syllables, but no, It's it surprised me for sure when
we talked on Friday, but moreand more that I heard it sounded more
and more likely that they were goingto go with Burns at number two.
(02:15):
All right, so they take ChaseBurns, put the film on. For
me? What do we like.There's a lot to like. I mean,
this is a guy who came justunder two hundred strikeouts in just over
one hundred innings, a ridiculous strikeouts, a rattio of something like seventeen point
nine K nine and it's not smokingmeres this is a guy who has four
(02:35):
plus pitches can get his fastball upto one hundred and two miles an hour.
Goodness gracious, that's fast. Istill remember. I'm old enough to
remember when ninety miles per hour waspretty fast. It's crazy that these are
guys throwing change ups and sliders thatfast. And he can do that with
his slider. He's got his qualitycurve ball, so the decent change as
well. Command is a little bitof a work in progress. But I
(02:57):
think he's gonna throw more than enoughstrikes to be a quality pitcher or a
quality starter is what I meant tosay. Obviously quality pitcher, but he
should be able to stick in arotation. He's got the prototypical size that
you're looking for from a starter.I mean, everything here is there for
him to be a frontline guy.So to get that with the number two
pick is pretty solid value, allright, so I have seen people whose
(03:17):
opinion I value far less than yours, suggests that one day he is going
to be a back of the bullpenguy. What do you make of that?
I would disagree with that. Ithink some of the concern is the
command and some of it is there'sa little bit of effort in the delivery.
But I still think that he's goingto be a frontline starter to begin
(03:38):
his like obviously to begin his careerprobably admit rotation. For every Paul schemes,
there's lots of guys who struggles tocome out of things. I think
that there is lots of reasons tobelieve that he's going to be a starting
pitcher long term. My biggest concernwith Burns is the fact that his fastball
shape is an elite and playing agreat American ballpark and having a fastball shape
(03:59):
that is ant elite can lead tosome trouble. So that's why the command
is going to have to be atleast average for him to become a strong
starting option. I think there's everyreason to believe that he can get there
if things go well. Could Ibe watching him in Cincinnati as soon as
next year? Absolutely? Now,look again, for every Paul schemes that
comes up this quick, there's goingto be a guy who takes a little
(04:21):
bit longer to develop. And Iwould still guess that he makes his debut
sometime in twenty twenty five, justbecause the stuff is so readily apparent,
like this is not smoke again,not smoking mirrors, and it's not well,
it's there one day and it's notthere the next day. His entire
season at Wake Forest, he wasjust absolutely dominating bats. I think it's
(04:43):
absolutely realistic to see that he'd bein that rotation by the All Star break
of twenty twenty five, and ifnot, certainly a guy who's helping him
in twenty twenty six. And youknow that's what you're really drafting for,
right is you're not really drafting forthe help, obviously, not this year
twenty twenty five. You know it'dbe nice, but it's not not necessarily
a necessity. That college arm likethat helping you in twenty twenty six is
(05:03):
what you're really hoping for. Allright, let me ask you about the
player they took in the second round. They needed another shortstop, so they
took one, Tyson Lewis high schoolkid. What do you like about him.
There's a lot to like, andI was actually a little surprised he
felt this far. Scouts just lovedthis kid. I think one thing that
hurt him a little bit is thathe's a Nebraska kid, and there's not
(05:24):
a ton of history of these typeof guys being successful players. But you
just take on talent, and thisis a guy with a chance for above
average hit and power, really goodrunner, really good arm. I should
be able to take a short stopwithout any issue. Doesn't turn nineteen until
January, I believe, so there'slots of long term upside with this type
(05:44):
of bat. He's an interesting onebecause I think he's you don't see this
with a lot of high school players, but I think he has a high
floor and a high ceiling, soto be able to get that at fifty
one was a really strong pick bythe Cincinnati Reds. I like this big
a lot. It was one ofmy favorites of the day. You know,
they're tapping into that LSU pipeline thathas produced Paul Stein's to take their
next guy and Louke Coleman another pitcher. Alrighty, talk to me about Luke
(06:08):
Coleman. Yeah, Luke Coleman isand by the way, no relation to
Brian Holman for those remember Brian Hellman. But unfortunately, what Luke Coleman was
probably most famous for is a prettybig betting scandal. I don't know if
you remember this, but there wasan issue where he got scratched and some
people got a lot of money andsome people lost their job. This update
(06:28):
brought to you by Fan Kings.The stuff is all here for him to
be a starting pitcher, like hehas a plus slider, fastball is an
elite, curveball is an elite,change of is an elite, but all
of those are average. But ifyou combine that with the slider and the
fact that he throws everything for strikes, he's ready to be a back end
starter. It wouldn't one hundred percentshot me if he the guy who ended
(06:53):
up being the guy who ended upbeing into the majors quicker, even quicker
than Chase Burns, because the stuffin the command is so ready to go.
Now, you're not talking about nearlythe same type of upside. But
I think that Brian there I go. I do think that Holman has a
chance to be a solid back endstarter and one who can get to the
(07:14):
big leagues pretty quickly. All Right, I'm not going to ask you about
every player they have taken through tenrounds. The thing that stands out to
me more than anything is they tookthree catchers, the guys below Luke Coleman.
As we talk rounds three through tenfor the Reds, is there a
name that jumps off the board toyou. Yeah, I'll tell you that
Mike Serad is one of the mostinteresting players that they took, and that's
an outfielder out of Northeastern. Thiswas a guy who, if this draft
(07:39):
would have happened after the season,and it obviously did not, probably would
have been a top fifteen pick.There were people who were really infatuated with
the bat, and to be justcompletely honest with you, be stunk.
He was not good in his junioryear, but the talent is still there
and he's a really good defensive playerwho can play all three outfield positions.
He's a good run So you've gotthat floor of a potential fourth or fifth
(08:03):
outfielder, and then you have theceiling of maybe he does revert back to
the player that they saw as asophomore when he was at and to be
fair, he was at Northeastern,and Northeastern is not exactly a baseball hotbed
who played the strongest schedule, buthe was outstanding and that's kind of one
of the reasons why I think hefell was because he didn't put up great
numbers and he was playing in apretty mediocre baseball conference. But I think
(08:26):
he was outstanding value. And I'llalso mention staball out of Arkansas plus hit
tool should be a solid second basement. The Reds had my favorite draft.
Even though they've passed on what was, in my opinion, the best player
in the draft and Cleveland daft onhim as well, they still got a
top five player in this draft andlike four guys that would be in my
(08:46):
top fifty. That's a pretty darkgood draft and helps re establish that farm
system that we were talking about onFriday. Awesome stuff. You've made my
day. The trade deadline is gettingcloser. If the Reds make any trades
involving players I've never heard of,You're gonna get my phone call. I
appreciate it as always, man,thanks so much, my pleasure, my
friend. It's my guy. ChrisCrawford, NBC Sports Rodeo World also fills
(09:09):
in as he is this week onk JR. In Seattle. Uh.
There are a lot of experts outthere as it relates to college baseball and
high school baseball and the amateur draft. Chris is one of my favorites.
The other is aarm Layton. He'sgonna join us on the five o'clock hour.
Uh. Until then, five pointthree seven nine fifteen thirty is our
(09:31):
phone number. Eight sixty six seventwo three seven seven six works as well.
You can send a tweet thanks toDelta Dental. Delta Dental is building
healthy, smart and vibrant communities fora Gonda Delta Dental. Oh dot com
uh t Higgins. The the deadlinepassed and they didn't get a contract done.
So he's gonna play for the Bengalsunder the franchise tag, which is
(09:56):
what everybody who followed this situation closelysay was going to be the outcome.
But when he announced, or whenwe found out, I should say that
he was requesting a trade, whichhe did. Well, there was a
narrative out there. Another wide receiverhas reportedly requested a trade from his team.
(10:18):
I don't see that same narrative nexton ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station
Mo Egger News
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