June 7, 2024 • 21 mins
Tony and Austin talk with Charlie Goldsmith from Cincinnati.com about the Reds and Bengals, on ESPN 1530!
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(00:00):
This is Cincy Shirts Cincy three sixtyabout Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in part
by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts AllCincy, all Day. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station. Songgot up with Charles Charles. Come on
(00:36):
now, m Charles Jublue. Herewe go, Here we go, Here
we go. Welcome back, Cincythree sixty. It's our number two.
Thanks to our friends at Cincy Shirts. Download the app today, visit Cincy
Shirts dot com or any of theirretail locations, where you could also get
the Good Time Charlie T shirt,which features our guest right here at the
(01:00):
top of the second hour each andevery Friday, Charlie Goldsmith joining us.
Now, Charlie, what's up?How you doing, Tony? Charlie,
not gonna lie. A little nervous, a little bit uneasy. I know
you've probably seen this by now,but I want Austin to play this little
audio for you, and I wantto tell I want to get your opinion
if there's any level of concern,Austin, can we get this audio?
(01:26):
Hey, sports, it's in thegame, Charlie. Is that Joe Burrow
hinting the Madden release cover? Andif so are we concerned. I think
it's Joe Oh No, I thinkI think it worried or it matters less
if we care about the Madden curse. I'm very curious. Clearly Joe isn't
(01:47):
as concerned about the Madden curse.You know, Burrow is the guy who
broke a playoff throughout the last ata long time. I think Burrow is
a guy who's confident staring the cursedown in the Facebook. My theory on
this is, I think there's beentoo many quarters on the cover recently.
I think that this isn't the righttiming for Burrow. I think I'll have
a better chance in terms of whatit would make sense for Madden to make
him the cover athlete. I thinkthe timing is perfect for you know,
(02:10):
we someone had a receiver in likefive years a Jefferson Chase co cover,
is my theory. Some of myfavorite Madden covers have been two guys on
it. Palamoloum Fitzgerald. You know, Brady and Mahomes. We're both they're
both quarterbacks. But I think someof the coolest things they do when they
put guys together like that. MaybeBurrow is an East Fragg that his two
(02:32):
most famous receivers he's played with thecover. Okay, I'll take that.
I love it. See Charlie's alwaysable to spin it in a positive for
us. Now were here, Iwould say this, Justin Jefferson just got
paid. Joe Burrow is the highestpaid quarterback. Justin Jefferson's the highest paid
non quarterback. What if they arethe duo on the cover, I'd be
(02:54):
fine with that as well. Ithink it's a little bit less of a
connection. Obviously, they play togetherand they started at LSU. I think
Jamar and Jefferson just makes so muchmore sense as a parent. Like they
do commercials together, they do allthis stuff together. Like we haven't seen
the Burrow Jefferson pairing in the sameway we constantly see the Chase Jefferson pair.
(03:15):
All right, Charlie, let's talkabout the red hot Cincinnati Reds,
winners of five in a row.They've got themselves right back in the middle
of the NL Central. They're rightin the middle of the wildcard race.
It's crazy the difference that just aweek or two can make. Also the
difference that that can make with aguy like Ellie day La Cruz. You
highlighted this on your social media today, the high points of Ellie season.
(03:38):
And is there a way to predictthose stretches or find ways when he finds
that rhythm? What is it aboutthese stretches that you see different about Ellie
da la Cruz. Well, first, I was gonna tell a story that
I mentioned in that video you referencedon social media. Batting practice yesterday,
maybe the best batting practice I've seenEllie take so much that he drew crowd
(04:00):
and they were starting to like hypehim up. Momentum was building, and
then he caps it off with aswing to dead center right off the riverboat.
His teammates swore him of Will Bensondoes the Vince Carter dunk contest.
It's over celebration and how do youknow when good things are coming from Elie
dela Cruz, Like, obviously,bad in practice can only show you so
much. But he is the guywho is like he struggled because of pitch
(04:24):
selection, timing and rhythm, notbecause he got out of his mechanics or
because he was changing his approach ortrying to do too much. He is
the guy who when it's clicking,it's very obvious there are signs. You
look at his takes and how andyou know the pitches that he's laying off
of. I think something that's hugefor Elliot's his aggressiveness so much, or
(04:44):
like I believe four of his sixhits this week have been within the first
four pitches of the at that andI believe three were on the first pitch
of the at that. You're seeingthat all combine together and then just watching
him swing as timing makes sense,the pieces linked up and that happens.
We've seen weeks where Ellie's the bestplayer in baseball and this week when you
combine in the defense too, Like, I don't know that just this week
(05:06):
many players have been playing better inbaseball than out. What is it about
this team or what you've seen withtheir approach at the plate? A thirteen
run performance, a twelve run performance, eight runs on nine hits last night.
Has anything from an approach standpoint changedor is this just players that are
finding their rhythm and gaining confidence atthe dish? Aren't there four main things?
(05:31):
One of them, I mean theyplayed the Rockies at course Field.
That helps, Let's let's be realabout that. But I think there are
some very tangible, noticeable things aswell. This is the best collective team
approach we've seen from the Reds thisyear, passing the baton, not trying
to do too much, taking theball the other way. How many of
these big hits have been the otherway. On top of that, you're
seeing like seven different guys have madeadjustments that have taken their swing to another
(05:56):
level. Jonathan India has done stuffwith his hands to help pull the ball
more down the line. Will Bensonwrote in his journal two weeks ago,
Hick ground balls to the shortstop andhe used that as kind of a building
block, and he's now he's anover one ops. Over the last two
weeks. Candelaria made some tweaks andhe's kind of a timing and rhythm and
field guys well, similar to Ellie, and he has just been a really
(06:19):
consistent piece over the last thirty days. Steer said it was some mental stuff
that he broke through and now he'sback to being the spencer. Steer,
we all know, you know,some more guys in that camp, and
then there's a hitting his contagious aspectof this as well. They're picking each
other up. You're seeing guys bethe best versions of themselves. There's an
energy that's help them pick the teamoff the mat when they're down like four
(06:40):
runs or three runs in Colorado.All these things combined together, I mean,
they're just playing good baseball. It'sas simple as that. They've had
two out RBIs. The amount ofthose have been incredible. You mentioned the
mental side, Charlie. How muchof that can be in play for a
guy like Jonathan India, who's nowup to two forty four on the season.
It seemed like he struggled batting higherin the lineup, and it seems
(07:01):
like he's just more comfortable where he'sat eighth in the lineup. Is that
a mentality? Is that the typeof pitches you're seeing that it just seems
like he's more comfortable at the eighthole rather than higher in the lineup.
This is a really interesting conversation.I don't know. Going back to opening
day, they said we're gonna putyou in the leadoff spot. We're gonna
(07:24):
let you beat Jonathan India, theleadoff hitter. This is the version of
you that's been the best go beyou, and he wasn't in those first
two months he had this season.Was really your six weeks. That was
really the first time in his careerwhere he's been healthy and he hasn't been
good like usually when he hasn't beengood, he's been dealing with an injury.
He made an adjustment, you know, with the hands to turn the
(07:46):
ball down the line. Like Imentioned hitting eighth. They've really been committed
to that, even hitting guys likea Herdabies or you know, back in
the day, Mike Ford above him, to make sure Indian Benson are slotted
at eight to nine. I don'tthink there's a lot to that, like
it takes the pressure off or anythinglike that. I just think it's a
place that kind of lets the lineupreset with India Benson Friedel as kind of
(08:09):
a you know, second top ofthe order. You have like two double
leadoff hitters or for whatever you wantto call it. It's been a comfortable
spot for India, so they haven'tmessed with it. But certainly, like
even against left handed pitchers especially,I expect to hit higher. But it
has worked out the rhythm of thelineup with the way it's so recently,
Charlie, the offense has been upand down, the pitching staff has been
(08:31):
solid, the pitching staff has beenconsistent. I'll set aside Graham Ashcraft.
We'll talk about him in just aminute. When you look at the other
four starters, all of their erasare now under four. Hunter Green,
for five straight starts, has lastedsix or more innings. Frankie Muntoss is
coming off to off arguably his bestout end of the year. When you
look at Green, Lodolo, whenyou look at Abbott and Montoss, how
(08:58):
impressive is it what this starting rotationis being able to do right now?
They're just good and like each ofthose pitchers just kind of level of you
know, either you could say maturityor focus or intent the way they've you
know, Hunter Green, I thinka great example. Faces the Cubs.
He pitched in the pouring rain lastweek. He gave the Red you know,
(09:20):
six innings, but he allowed agrand Slam. Well, then he
comes back, he faces him againand he goes, you know what,
I'm just gonna throw my splitter thistime more than I've ever thrown it in
my life, because I need todo something to shake it up, to
keep a team that knows me welloff balanced. And I know he holed
two pitches yesterday that turned into homers. But that's a perfect example of a
game to game adjustment that Green literallydidn't have the tools to make last year
(09:43):
because he didn't have a third pitch. Also maybe didn't have the mindset the
intent to make those types of changes. He was just gonna throw his fastball
one hundred miles an hour and tryto beat you with it. Well,
now he's mixing his fastball. You'reseeing ninety four's, ninety six, ninety
nine, one hundred. It's allin different situations so he can get the
pitch to a specific spot or sohe can dial it up when he needs
(10:05):
it. And he's just been soconsistent. I think he's a perfect encapsulation
Abbot Lodolo have their versions of that. And then Frankie's just getting healthier.
And you saw in Colorado. Youknow, we've seen a couple of starts
this year. He kind of don'twant to compare him to Ellie, but
has had Ellie like hot stretches combinedwith cold stretches. But when he's firing
too, that's another top half ofthe rotation quality pitcher. How would you
(10:28):
at this point, Charlie describe thebullpen at this point of the season and
the job that they've done for theReds. I had a good conversation with
Fernando Cruz yesterday. I think yougot to start with him. What I
talked to him about was Fernando Cruzwas not trusted in high levelage situations last
year. He was a nice story, he was a durable arm, but
(10:48):
he wasn't the setup guy. Andmost notably, you know, the worst
game maybe the last decades for theReds was there up nine to nothing in
Pittsburgh the last week of the season. Cruz allows that believe four runs helped
me out for that game. Thisis on me and that ended up being
one of the things that you know, ended the season for To be that
much of a different pitcher and highleverage situations from last year this year,
(11:11):
I don't know that I've seen apitcher get better at that, you know,
the leverage part of it on aone year basis to another, and
than Fernandar Cruz has. Part ofit is he's able to control and locate
his splitter better. Part of itis, he says, the pitching staff
the uh, you know, thecoaching staff has helped him develop different strategies
and approaches to what he does inthose moments. And part of it is
he's just fearless and he's emotional andthe rector getting the best version out of
(11:35):
him for three straight days. It'spretty rare to do what he's done,
three high leverage spots back back toback. Time Diez is pitching better.
We all know who Sims is.They have more quality lefties than they've ever
had, so they can bring in, you know, famously like Sam mall
to face show Heyo Tani and hebeats o'tany twice. Like. They just
have the options in the versatility todo that type of stuff and it's working.
(12:00):
As much as we highlighted the goodand I don't want to say terrible
Graham Ashcraft all off season, wewould mention Green Lodolo Ashcraft Are's kind of
that three headed monster at the top. Now flash forward to where we are
today. Graham Ashcraft is in TripleA. I know David Bell spoke a
(12:20):
little bit about Graham Ashcraft. What'syour take on where Graham Ashcraft is and
where the disconnect maybe is right nowwith what we're seeing on the mound.
I think the key to understanding thismove is the timing in terms of the
off dage that the Reds have.They're not in a situation where they needed
a starter obviously, because they cango with the form in rotation the foreseeable
(12:41):
future. I mean, they werelooking at what was best for Ashcraft.
The guy they've stressed is still onthe best version of the Red team in
a big role, giving him thischance to be set basically like he had
last year when he went on theIL with I believe it was a shitting
contusion or something like that, lethim get a couple of starts in Triple
A. It's really he's I don'twant to say overthrowing, but his mechanics
(13:03):
can can kind of get away fromhim when he's trying to do too much
on specific pitches, and I thinkto the big thing with Graham is he
needs to work on that change up. A huge problem is his cutter looks
a lot like his spider, andhitters are just they're only like eight miles
an hour apart or something like that, so hitters are just looking for a
hard thing that moves one way,and it's not a way to keep hitters
(13:26):
off balance. He needs to beable to slow guys down or else he
might end up being a lever inthe long run. So those are a
couple of things that he can workon to get back on track for right
now, would that better serve thereds of Graham Ashcraft being a reliever for
this team depending on the health ofI think Brandon Williamson. I think now
they obviously sending him to triple akind of opens up that conversation for the
(13:48):
long run. The upside and potentialof Ashcraft, who literally throws a cutter
harder than any pitcher in baseball,combined with his ability to get ground balls
at a high level and pitch deepinto games. Like, what's the line,
Like, you give a guy achance to be a starter until they're
not. Like, I'm trying tothink a million guys have done the quarterback
(14:09):
to receiver move in football. Well, you give that guy every chance to
be a quarterback before you end upmoving him to be a wide receiver.
So I would want to give Ashcraftas much time as possible this season.
But I also like, maybe he'sNick Martinez, and like, in the
long run, you know, inthe long future, Nick Martinez is making
twelve thirteen million dollars this year,like there's no, there's nothing wrong with
(14:31):
that. That's a very good living. I think, like when I look
at Ashcraft, maybe that's who heis. Obviously still the potential to be
a top half of the rotation starter, but definitely some stuff to work up.
Charlie. From a health standpoint,we know this team is through a
brutal part of the schedule. Weknow their run differential is there. We
know that they've lost a lot ofone run games and they've just not been
(14:54):
healthy. You look at guys likeafore mentioned Brandon Williamson, look at a
Marte uh cees, where are weat in some of those key pieces for
the Cincinnati Reds getting back to joiningthis team. Ces has been cleared the
ramp up, but he's requested asecond opinion. We'll be hearing that before
he keeps going. Williamson's pitching andtriple A did the Belts that he needs
(15:16):
more time? Bell reference, theReds could use a spot starter. I
believe it would be next week thenext time they'd need a fifth starter.
Williamson could be an option for that. But but maybe what this is is
Williamson on his rehabit sign and ashCraft in triple A competing to be a
guy who comes up in the longterm for the rotation. And then two,
I mean, you know, it'stime to start talking about Nolovie.
(15:37):
Martet. Reports are he's been ingood shape, he stayed ready the red
to find have found you know,game like environments for him to be a
part of, to get as manyreps in at bats as he possibly can.
The big question is is just theoverall way, the overall style he's
playing with, from a timing,from an athleticism, from just the way
(16:00):
he again just playing the game.Will fifteen games be enough for him to
come back on June twenty seventh.That's a very interesting conversation. That's a
question that Marte will answer himself bythe preparation he's doing to get ready for
his rehabit signment. Again, earlyearly signs have been positive, but there's
definitely a lot for him to showon that rehabit signment in Louisville. And
(16:22):
then how much more time does heneed, how much of a spring training
does he need for him to getready to be, you know, a
big piece of the Reds game.He's still as much of a part of
that young core as anyone, butobviously coming back from this suspension a big
time for him to prove it.Cees requesting a second opinion, Is that
normal? Is that something we seemore often than not? Or is that
(16:45):
a bit of a surprise. It'snormal. It definitely is notable from you
know, considering they miss this fracturefor ten days, so it's definitely you
know that that raises a fly,not a fly, but that raises an
interesting topic to discuss there. BogMat McLain did the same thing when he
(17:06):
injured his shoulder and he ended upgrowing, i believe through Ella Trash and
then they kind of took leadership overthat process. And so like we've definitely
seen other examples of this happening withRed and with a lot of big leaders
as well. Charlie Goldsmith covering theCincinnati Reds Real Quick one question, mandatory
mini camp next week. Any surprisesthat you're expecting or are you expecting everyone
(17:30):
except probably t Higgins to be there? Were you concerned it all this week
with Joe Burrow not throwing anything ofnote right now for the Cincinnati Bengals.
In your opinion, there's an oldline that you can't win a super Bowl
in May, but you can losea super Bowl in May. I was
thinking a lot about that with Burrowthis week. I want to say,
(17:51):
like what I've seen and what I'veheard, and most of the are almost
all this was before this week.Like there's a slank he threw over the
middle to Yoshivash two weeks ago andJoshbah dropped it. And he said he
dropped it because frankly, he wasn'tused to the ball getting throwing that hard
and it was an adjustment process forhim. It was like an RPO slant
seeing the ball come out that quickly, timing over the middle. So you
(18:14):
know, he told me that,and all of a sudden, I was
ready to start leaning all the wayinto the velocity and aggressiveness of Burrow getting
back exactly where you'd expect. Butas Burrow said, they are good days
and there are bad days. Youknow he's been upfront about that from the
start. You want the Bengals tobe proactive about this. There's still is
so much time for Burrow to getexactly where he needs to be for the
season that you want to manage thisthe right way, like follow with what's
(18:37):
going on in Indianapolis right now,Like I'm more worried, not worried because
the Coles don't worry about Anthony Richardson. But you'll take this Joe Burrow situation
over. You know, Anthony Richardsonthrowing left handed passes in practice yesterday because
his right shoulders still dealing with sorenessor whatever wording they're using. So I
mean, of course, mandatory minicamp watching Burrow throw will be the first
(19:00):
thing we'll be doing. Charlie,when Zach said this week that they have
not gone two days in a rowwith him throwing, was that new information
or was that something that was okay, that was new to me, Charlie,
before I let you go, waslast night all you needed to see
are the Celtics the world champions orthe MAVs. Can the MAVs find a
(19:23):
way to rebound? I felt likeI was watching five, Charlie Goldsmiths shoot
threes last night in the first halffor the Celtics, you know what,
in all seriousness like, so forI'm sticking to my pick MAVs and seven.
That would be the first off moveto change a pick after one game,
you say five Charlie Goldsmiths and Idon't want to talk about my basketball
(19:45):
game too much, but five CharlieGoldsmith's what that would look like would be
five switchable athletics, yepy Sam Hawsersand like what Boston has done better than
anywhere else is everyone says you wantto f offense with guys who can switch
and guys who are athletic. Everyonein the league wants that. That's the
name of the game. That's wherethe NBA the holy grail of what you
(20:08):
want to line up to look like. The Celtics aren't the best team in
the last decade, but the Celticshave done a better job getting actually six
guys because you know they can haveCorford in there o Poison gets it White
or Holiday or Catamum Brown. Havingthat many guys who can do that many
things, they can attack the weekestmatchup. You can't attack a week matchup
for them. That's why Lucas struggledso much, and that's why the defense
(20:30):
struggled so much, because the Celticshave the strongest weakest link That are few
num of basketball team, probably sincelike the early twenty ten Sperms are the
closest thing a mind me of crazycrazy to watch Charlie wwitchable, athletic playmake
that's it, That's it. Thatis Charlie Goldsmith in every segment that he
does. Charlie appreciates your time asalways, man, I look forward to
(20:51):
talking again next week. Have agreat weekend. See you guys. Yes,
sir, there he is simply putsee ya say it, Charlie Goldsmith.
Fantastic stuff. That's a great wayto kick off the first hour.
Your talkbacks will be next right hereon ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station
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This is Cincy Shirts Cincy three sixtyabout Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in part
by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts AllCincy, all Day. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station. Songgot up with Charles Charles. Come on
(00:36):
now, m Charles Jublue. Herewe go, Here we go, Here
we go. Welcome back, Cincythree sixty. It's our number two.
Thanks to our friends at Cincy Shirts. Download the app today, visit Cincy
Shirts dot com or any of theirretail locations, where you could also get
the Good Time Charlie T shirt,which features our guest right here at the
(01:00):
top of the second hour each andevery Friday, Charlie Goldsmith joining us.
Now, Charlie, what's up?How you doing, Tony? Charlie,
not gonna lie. A little nervous, a little bit uneasy. I know
you've probably seen this by now,but I want Austin to play this little
audio for you, and I wantto tell I want to get your opinion
if there's any level of concern,Austin, can we get this audio?
(01:26):
Hey, sports, it's in thegame, Charlie. Is that Joe Burrow
hinting the Madden release cover? Andif so are we concerned. I think
it's Joe Oh No, I thinkI think it worried or it matters less
if we care about the Madden curse. I'm very curious. Clearly Joe isn't
(01:47):
as concerned about the Madden curse.You know, Burrow is the guy who
broke a playoff throughout the last ata long time. I think Burrow is
a guy who's confident staring the cursedown in the Facebook. My theory on
this is, I think there's beentoo many quarters on the cover recently.
I think that this isn't the righttiming for Burrow. I think I'll have
a better chance in terms of whatit would make sense for Madden to make
him the cover athlete. I thinkthe timing is perfect for you know,
(02:10):
we someone had a receiver in likefive years a Jefferson Chase co cover,
is my theory. Some of myfavorite Madden covers have been two guys on
it. Palamoloum Fitzgerald. You know, Brady and Mahomes. We're both they're
both quarterbacks. But I think someof the coolest things they do when they
put guys together like that. MaybeBurrow is an East Fragg that his two
(02:32):
most famous receivers he's played with thecover. Okay, I'll take that.
I love it. See Charlie's alwaysable to spin it in a positive for
us. Now were here, Iwould say this, Justin Jefferson just got
paid. Joe Burrow is the highestpaid quarterback. Justin Jefferson's the highest paid
non quarterback. What if they arethe duo on the cover, I'd be
(02:54):
fine with that as well. Ithink it's a little bit less of a
connection. Obviously, they play togetherand they started at LSU. I think
Jamar and Jefferson just makes so muchmore sense as a parent. Like they
do commercials together, they do allthis stuff together. Like we haven't seen
the Burrow Jefferson pairing in the sameway we constantly see the Chase Jefferson pair.
(03:15):
All right, Charlie, let's talkabout the red hot Cincinnati Reds,
winners of five in a row.They've got themselves right back in the middle
of the NL Central. They're rightin the middle of the wildcard race.
It's crazy the difference that just aweek or two can make. Also the
difference that that can make with aguy like Ellie day La Cruz. You
highlighted this on your social media today, the high points of Ellie season.
(03:38):
And is there a way to predictthose stretches or find ways when he finds
that rhythm? What is it aboutthese stretches that you see different about Ellie
da la Cruz. Well, first, I was gonna tell a story that
I mentioned in that video you referencedon social media. Batting practice yesterday,
maybe the best batting practice I've seenEllie take so much that he drew crowd
(04:00):
and they were starting to like hypehim up. Momentum was building, and
then he caps it off with aswing to dead center right off the riverboat.
His teammates swore him of Will Bensondoes the Vince Carter dunk contest.
It's over celebration and how do youknow when good things are coming from Elie
dela Cruz, Like, obviously,bad in practice can only show you so
much. But he is the guywho is like he struggled because of pitch
(04:24):
selection, timing and rhythm, notbecause he got out of his mechanics or
because he was changing his approach ortrying to do too much. He is
the guy who when it's clicking,it's very obvious there are signs. You
look at his takes and how andyou know the pitches that he's laying off
of. I think something that's hugefor Elliot's his aggressiveness so much, or
(04:44):
like I believe four of his sixhits this week have been within the first
four pitches of the at that andI believe three were on the first pitch
of the at that. You're seeingthat all combine together and then just watching
him swing as timing makes sense,the pieces linked up and that happens.
We've seen weeks where Ellie's the bestplayer in baseball and this week when you
combine in the defense too, Like, I don't know that just this week
(05:06):
many players have been playing better inbaseball than out. What is it about
this team or what you've seen withtheir approach at the plate? A thirteen
run performance, a twelve run performance, eight runs on nine hits last night.
Has anything from an approach standpoint changedor is this just players that are
finding their rhythm and gaining confidence atthe dish? Aren't there four main things?
(05:31):
One of them, I mean theyplayed the Rockies at course Field.
That helps, Let's let's be realabout that. But I think there are
some very tangible, noticeable things aswell. This is the best collective team
approach we've seen from the Reds thisyear, passing the baton, not trying
to do too much, taking theball the other way. How many of
these big hits have been the otherway. On top of that, you're
seeing like seven different guys have madeadjustments that have taken their swing to another
(05:56):
level. Jonathan India has done stuffwith his hands to help pull the ball
more down the line. Will Bensonwrote in his journal two weeks ago,
Hick ground balls to the shortstop andhe used that as kind of a building
block, and he's now he's anover one ops. Over the last two
weeks. Candelaria made some tweaks andhe's kind of a timing and rhythm and
field guys well, similar to Ellie, and he has just been a really
(06:19):
consistent piece over the last thirty days. Steer said it was some mental stuff
that he broke through and now he'sback to being the spencer. Steer,
we all know, you know,some more guys in that camp, and
then there's a hitting his contagious aspectof this as well. They're picking each
other up. You're seeing guys bethe best versions of themselves. There's an
energy that's help them pick the teamoff the mat when they're down like four
(06:40):
runs or three runs in Colorado.All these things combined together, I mean,
they're just playing good baseball. It'sas simple as that. They've had
two out RBIs. The amount ofthose have been incredible. You mentioned the
mental side, Charlie. How muchof that can be in play for a
guy like Jonathan India, who's nowup to two forty four on the season.
It seemed like he struggled batting higherin the lineup, and it seems
(07:01):
like he's just more comfortable where he'sat eighth in the lineup. Is that
a mentality? Is that the typeof pitches you're seeing that it just seems
like he's more comfortable at the eighthole rather than higher in the lineup.
This is a really interesting conversation.I don't know. Going back to opening
day, they said we're gonna putyou in the leadoff spot. We're gonna
(07:24):
let you beat Jonathan India, theleadoff hitter. This is the version of
you that's been the best go beyou, and he wasn't in those first
two months he had this season.Was really your six weeks. That was
really the first time in his careerwhere he's been healthy and he hasn't been
good like usually when he hasn't beengood, he's been dealing with an injury.
He made an adjustment, you know, with the hands to turn the
(07:46):
ball down the line. Like Imentioned hitting eighth. They've really been committed
to that, even hitting guys likea Herdabies or you know, back in
the day, Mike Ford above him, to make sure Indian Benson are slotted
at eight to nine. I don'tthink there's a lot to that, like
it takes the pressure off or anythinglike that. I just think it's a
place that kind of lets the lineupreset with India Benson Friedel as kind of
(08:09):
a you know, second top ofthe order. You have like two double
leadoff hitters or for whatever you wantto call it. It's been a comfortable
spot for India, so they haven'tmessed with it. But certainly, like
even against left handed pitchers especially,I expect to hit higher. But it
has worked out the rhythm of thelineup with the way it's so recently,
Charlie, the offense has been upand down, the pitching staff has been
(08:31):
solid, the pitching staff has beenconsistent. I'll set aside Graham Ashcraft.
We'll talk about him in just aminute. When you look at the other
four starters, all of their erasare now under four. Hunter Green,
for five straight starts, has lastedsix or more innings. Frankie Muntoss is
coming off to off arguably his bestout end of the year. When you
look at Green, Lodolo, whenyou look at Abbott and Montoss, how
(08:58):
impressive is it what this starting rotationis being able to do right now?
They're just good and like each ofthose pitchers just kind of level of you
know, either you could say maturityor focus or intent the way they've you
know, Hunter Green, I thinka great example. Faces the Cubs.
He pitched in the pouring rain lastweek. He gave the Red you know,
(09:20):
six innings, but he allowed agrand Slam. Well, then he
comes back, he faces him againand he goes, you know what,
I'm just gonna throw my splitter thistime more than I've ever thrown it in
my life, because I need todo something to shake it up, to
keep a team that knows me welloff balanced. And I know he holed
two pitches yesterday that turned into homers. But that's a perfect example of a
game to game adjustment that Green literallydidn't have the tools to make last year
(09:43):
because he didn't have a third pitch. Also maybe didn't have the mindset the
intent to make those types of changes. He was just gonna throw his fastball
one hundred miles an hour and tryto beat you with it. Well,
now he's mixing his fastball. You'reseeing ninety four's, ninety six, ninety
nine, one hundred. It's allin different situations so he can get the
pitch to a specific spot or sohe can dial it up when he needs
(10:05):
it. And he's just been soconsistent. I think he's a perfect encapsulation
Abbot Lodolo have their versions of that. And then Frankie's just getting healthier.
And you saw in Colorado. Youknow, we've seen a couple of starts
this year. He kind of don'twant to compare him to Ellie, but
has had Ellie like hot stretches combinedwith cold stretches. But when he's firing
too, that's another top half ofthe rotation quality pitcher. How would you
(10:28):
at this point, Charlie describe thebullpen at this point of the season and
the job that they've done for theReds. I had a good conversation with
Fernando Cruz yesterday. I think yougot to start with him. What I
talked to him about was Fernando Cruzwas not trusted in high levelage situations last
year. He was a nice story, he was a durable arm, but
(10:48):
he wasn't the setup guy. Andmost notably, you know, the worst
game maybe the last decades for theReds was there up nine to nothing in
Pittsburgh the last week of the season. Cruz allows that believe four runs helped
me out for that game. Thisis on me and that ended up being
one of the things that you know, ended the season for To be that
much of a different pitcher and highleverage situations from last year this year,
(11:11):
I don't know that I've seen apitcher get better at that, you know,
the leverage part of it on aone year basis to another, and
than Fernandar Cruz has. Part ofit is he's able to control and locate
his splitter better. Part of itis, he says, the pitching staff
the uh, you know, thecoaching staff has helped him develop different strategies
and approaches to what he does inthose moments. And part of it is
he's just fearless and he's emotional andthe rector getting the best version out of
(11:35):
him for three straight days. It'spretty rare to do what he's done,
three high leverage spots back back toback. Time Diez is pitching better.
We all know who Sims is.They have more quality lefties than they've ever
had, so they can bring in, you know, famously like Sam mall
to face show Heyo Tani and hebeats o'tany twice. Like. They just
have the options in the versatility todo that type of stuff and it's working.
(12:00):
As much as we highlighted the goodand I don't want to say terrible
Graham Ashcraft all off season, wewould mention Green Lodolo Ashcraft Are's kind of
that three headed monster at the top. Now flash forward to where we are
today. Graham Ashcraft is in TripleA. I know David Bell spoke a
(12:20):
little bit about Graham Ashcraft. What'syour take on where Graham Ashcraft is and
where the disconnect maybe is right nowwith what we're seeing on the mound.
I think the key to understanding thismove is the timing in terms of the
off dage that the Reds have.They're not in a situation where they needed
a starter obviously, because they cango with the form in rotation the foreseeable
(12:41):
future. I mean, they werelooking at what was best for Ashcraft.
The guy they've stressed is still onthe best version of the Red team in
a big role, giving him thischance to be set basically like he had
last year when he went on theIL with I believe it was a shitting
contusion or something like that, lethim get a couple of starts in Triple
A. It's really he's I don'twant to say overthrowing, but his mechanics
(13:03):
can can kind of get away fromhim when he's trying to do too much
on specific pitches, and I thinkto the big thing with Graham is he
needs to work on that change up. A huge problem is his cutter looks
a lot like his spider, andhitters are just they're only like eight miles
an hour apart or something like that, so hitters are just looking for a
hard thing that moves one way,and it's not a way to keep hitters
(13:26):
off balance. He needs to beable to slow guys down or else he
might end up being a lever inthe long run. So those are a
couple of things that he can workon to get back on track for right
now, would that better serve thereds of Graham Ashcraft being a reliever for
this team depending on the health ofI think Brandon Williamson. I think now
they obviously sending him to triple akind of opens up that conversation for the
(13:48):
long run. The upside and potentialof Ashcraft, who literally throws a cutter
harder than any pitcher in baseball,combined with his ability to get ground balls
at a high level and pitch deepinto games. Like, what's the line,
Like, you give a guy achance to be a starter until they're
not. Like, I'm trying tothink a million guys have done the quarterback
(14:09):
to receiver move in football. Well, you give that guy every chance to
be a quarterback before you end upmoving him to be a wide receiver.
So I would want to give Ashcraftas much time as possible this season.
But I also like, maybe he'sNick Martinez, and like, in the
long run, you know, inthe long future, Nick Martinez is making
twelve thirteen million dollars this year,like there's no, there's nothing wrong with
(14:31):
that. That's a very good living. I think, like when I look
at Ashcraft, maybe that's who heis. Obviously still the potential to be
a top half of the rotation starter, but definitely some stuff to work up.
Charlie. From a health standpoint,we know this team is through a
brutal part of the schedule. Weknow their run differential is there. We
know that they've lost a lot ofone run games and they've just not been
(14:54):
healthy. You look at guys likeafore mentioned Brandon Williamson, look at a
Marte uh cees, where are weat in some of those key pieces for
the Cincinnati Reds getting back to joiningthis team. Ces has been cleared the
ramp up, but he's requested asecond opinion. We'll be hearing that before
he keeps going. Williamson's pitching andtriple A did the Belts that he needs
(15:16):
more time? Bell reference, theReds could use a spot starter. I
believe it would be next week thenext time they'd need a fifth starter.
Williamson could be an option for that. But but maybe what this is is
Williamson on his rehabit sign and ashCraft in triple A competing to be a
guy who comes up in the longterm for the rotation. And then two,
I mean, you know, it'stime to start talking about Nolovie.
(15:37):
Martet. Reports are he's been ingood shape, he stayed ready the red
to find have found you know,game like environments for him to be a
part of, to get as manyreps in at bats as he possibly can.
The big question is is just theoverall way, the overall style he's
playing with, from a timing,from an athleticism, from just the way
(16:00):
he again just playing the game.Will fifteen games be enough for him to
come back on June twenty seventh.That's a very interesting conversation. That's a
question that Marte will answer himself bythe preparation he's doing to get ready for
his rehabit signment. Again, earlyearly signs have been positive, but there's
definitely a lot for him to showon that rehabit signment in Louisville. And
(16:22):
then how much more time does heneed, how much of a spring training
does he need for him to getready to be, you know, a
big piece of the Reds game.He's still as much of a part of
that young core as anyone, butobviously coming back from this suspension a big
time for him to prove it.Cees requesting a second opinion, Is that
normal? Is that something we seemore often than not? Or is that
(16:45):
a bit of a surprise. It'snormal. It definitely is notable from you
know, considering they miss this fracturefor ten days, so it's definitely you
know that that raises a fly,not a fly, but that raises an
interesting topic to discuss there. BogMat McLain did the same thing when he
(17:06):
injured his shoulder and he ended upgrowing, i believe through Ella Trash and
then they kind of took leadership overthat process. And so like we've definitely
seen other examples of this happening withRed and with a lot of big leaders
as well. Charlie Goldsmith covering theCincinnati Reds Real Quick one question, mandatory
mini camp next week. Any surprisesthat you're expecting or are you expecting everyone
(17:30):
except probably t Higgins to be there? Were you concerned it all this week
with Joe Burrow not throwing anything ofnote right now for the Cincinnati Bengals.
In your opinion, there's an oldline that you can't win a super Bowl
in May, but you can losea super Bowl in May. I was
thinking a lot about that with Burrowthis week. I want to say,
(17:51):
like what I've seen and what I'veheard, and most of the are almost
all this was before this week.Like there's a slank he threw over the
middle to Yoshivash two weeks ago andJoshbah dropped it. And he said he
dropped it because frankly, he wasn'tused to the ball getting throwing that hard
and it was an adjustment process forhim. It was like an RPO slant
seeing the ball come out that quickly, timing over the middle. So you
(18:14):
know, he told me that,and all of a sudden, I was
ready to start leaning all the wayinto the velocity and aggressiveness of Burrow getting
back exactly where you'd expect. Butas Burrow said, they are good days
and there are bad days. Youknow he's been upfront about that from the
start. You want the Bengals tobe proactive about this. There's still is
so much time for Burrow to getexactly where he needs to be for the
season that you want to manage thisthe right way, like follow with what's
(18:37):
going on in Indianapolis right now,Like I'm more worried, not worried because
the Coles don't worry about Anthony Richardson. But you'll take this Joe Burrow situation
over. You know, Anthony Richardsonthrowing left handed passes in practice yesterday because
his right shoulders still dealing with sorenessor whatever wording they're using. So I
mean, of course, mandatory minicamp watching Burrow throw will be the first
(19:00):
thing we'll be doing. Charlie,when Zach said this week that they have
not gone two days in a rowwith him throwing, was that new information
or was that something that was okay, that was new to me, Charlie,
before I let you go, waslast night all you needed to see
are the Celtics the world champions orthe MAVs. Can the MAVs find a
(19:23):
way to rebound? I felt likeI was watching five, Charlie Goldsmiths shoot
threes last night in the first halffor the Celtics, you know what,
in all seriousness like, so forI'm sticking to my pick MAVs and seven.
That would be the first off moveto change a pick after one game,
you say five Charlie Goldsmiths and Idon't want to talk about my basketball
(19:45):
game too much, but five CharlieGoldsmith's what that would look like would be
five switchable athletics, yepy Sam Hawsersand like what Boston has done better than
anywhere else is everyone says you wantto f offense with guys who can switch
and guys who are athletic. Everyonein the league wants that. That's the
name of the game. That's wherethe NBA the holy grail of what you
(20:08):
want to line up to look like. The Celtics aren't the best team in
the last decade, but the Celticshave done a better job getting actually six
guys because you know they can haveCorford in there o Poison gets it White
or Holiday or Catamum Brown. Havingthat many guys who can do that many
things, they can attack the weekestmatchup. You can't attack a week matchup
for them. That's why Lucas struggledso much, and that's why the defense
(20:30):
struggled so much, because the Celticshave the strongest weakest link That are few
num of basketball team, probably sincelike the early twenty ten Sperms are the
closest thing a mind me of crazycrazy to watch Charlie wwitchable, athletic playmake
that's it, That's it. Thatis Charlie Goldsmith in every segment that he
does. Charlie appreciates your time asalways, man, I look forward to
(20:51):
talking again next week. Have agreat weekend. See you guys. Yes,
sir, there he is simply putsee ya say it, Charlie Goldsmith.
Fantastic stuff. That's a great wayto kick off the first hour.
Your talkbacks will be next right hereon ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station
thanks to our friends at CINCI Shirts. Hey Alexa, who got cut?
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