Cincy 360 w/ Tony Pike & Austin Elmore -- 5/21/24

Tony is back and he talks Reds, Bengals, and more with Austin. Plus, Justin Williams and Chad Brendel stop by on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Thousand dollars entered this nationwide keyword onour website. Bank that's bank and enter
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(00:23):
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station. All right, welcome in, Happy
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feeling great, it is Skyline Time. Thanks to Skyline Chili for sponsoring
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getting ready to leave us at talkback, certainly that is appreciated as well.
And before we even go further today, speaking of talkbacks, we're gonna do
those at the start of our numberthree today, very simply put, because
we're gonna get Justin Williams on withus, not Austin, Justin Williams covering
the Bearcats, Justin Williams essentially justcovering college sports. Yeah, justin Hollywood,

(01:07):
as he's not justin Hollywood. Willjoin us at one thirty today,
so talkbacks go to two o'clock.That is a little housekeeping to start the
show. Chad Brenda will be infor quick hits and locks of the night.
As I believe Mo is off today. Shout out to Chad and Austin
for covering for me yesterday as Imissed yesterday's show. Will not miss today's

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show. Will not miss segment onewhere we now review yesterday's top sports stories.
And that is thanks to our friendsat Klaus Roofing Klous Roofing System of
Cincinnati, the trusted local roofing andgutter company. Visit Krscincey with a y
dot com that is krscincy dot com. No Reds game to report on from

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last night, Austin, Is thata good or a bad thing? Right
now? Uh? It saves thepain of what it's been like watching them,
I guess as of late. Butevery day that goes by that they
don't play a game is an opportunitymiss for them to get back on track.
Man. That's true. There's oneway to look at it. Missed

(02:14):
opportunities all around for the Cincinnati Bengals. Right now, there's one thing Reds.
There's one thing the Reds do.It's miss opportunities. Because while the
Reds didn't play, the Bengals areon the field right now, Bengals are
on the practice field. There's goingto be an open locker room from twelve
to fifteen to one o'clock. We'llgrab some audio from that. We'll play
that in our number three. Butwhat it does with no Reds game is

(02:38):
it does give you a chance tokind of reset. It gives you a
chance to take a little bit deeperdive into where this team is. And
I followed along with Lance McCallister onTwitter last night. He was going at
it. I didn't get a chanceto listen to it, but I think
Lance may have base we may havestruggled a little bit last night. From

(03:01):
what I've said, there is thereis a lot now that's made of the
whole fire. David Bellcamp and whatI want to try to figure out today,
Austin, because we did have theday off yesterday. I want to
want to figure out what is theanswer, and that's not an easy ask.
This team has been horrendous in manycategories during this season. This team

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has also dealt with a ton ofinjuries to very key parts of this team.
So as we sit here today,the Reds have the third worst record
in the National League. They havethe same amount of wins as the Los
Angeles Angels in the Oakland A's So, what's the fix? What's the answer?
Is there an answer? I don'tthink you're going to like my answer

(03:46):
to what the answer is? Okay, well we'll get to that here in
our number one. And as weget to that in our number one,
we'll also dive around what is happeningaround the rest of Major League Baseball.
See Bryce Harper made his way intoa homecoming man announcement. Can you imagine
I think it's prom or prom?Yes? Can you imagine comings in the

(04:09):
fall? Dude, grow up,you're the you're you're a high school girl.
And here's a knock at the door. I can't imagine that. And
you open it up and whether it'syour boyfriend or friend whatever he is,
and standing next to him is BryceHarper, and Bryce asked you to attend
with him. And then once shesaid yes, Bryce got the first hug.
Yeah, he didn't even get thefirst hug. Yeah, but ah,

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you know, a credit to thegirl though. You take your shot.
You got the MVP got on yourdoorstead there he is. I'm gonna
hug him first, sure if Iwere her, Sure, and then I'll
go get this kid next to him. There was also this stack going around
speaking of Major League. I thinkif he's trying to ask her to be
his girlfriend. Oh, like there'sno way she could say no, right

(04:54):
or where if they're already dating everytime they get in a fight. I
got Bryce Harper come to your doorstep. Correct, it's a Galaxy brain play
by that guy. Yes, there'salso this stat going around baseball, and
this was a player that we hadtalked about throughout the last couple weeks.

(05:15):
Luisa Rise, who was traded.He was traded to the Padres. Right,
Yes, traded to the Padres,who happened to be coming into town
to face the Cincinnati Reds. Butthere's a stat going around a Rise.
I'm trying to look at the exacttotal number of strikeouts with something like over
twenty three hundred appearances in his leagues, which have resulted in just one one

(05:42):
strikeout, looking twenty three hundred eightynine career plate appearances. Luisa Rise has
struck out looking at a third pitchonce one time. That is an incredible
number. And his team, theSan Diego Padres, who did just win
a series against the Atlanta Braves,are coming into town to face the Cincinnati

(06:04):
Reds. We'll get to that series, we'll look around the rest of baseball.
The news coming out of Cincinnati yesterday, T Higgins not expected at OTA's.
Was that a surprise to you,Austin. That's not news, not
a surprise to me now. Butit's like saying the sky is blue and
water is wet. Correct, nokidding, But it did lead into some

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T Higgins cryptic tweet season, andI don't even think this is cryptic.
He quite simply said, folks callingout my name is crazy work. I
ain't did poop emoji to y'all,so I just have to say bleep.
I don't know if T Higgins emojiis something you want to keep saying.
T Higgins has spoke, Justin Jefferson'sspoken Justin Jefferson speaking as well. He's

(06:49):
not at a Vikings OTAs as they'restill trying to get a deal done or
figure out what's next. So outsideof that Jamal Adams is visiting the Baltimore
Ravens. Not really worried about JamalAdams at this point in his career.
I hope he signs with the Ravens. It'd be great news for the Bengals.
Man Adams stinks, I sure.I am worried though, Austin about

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the hair of Joe Burrow. Ihave to talk about that today, telling
you what, man, because nowwe're in this stage where we actually have
to have a serious conversation and letpeople know that Joe Burrow's that's not as
real hair. The picture that's goingaround. Dan Horde solidified that today by
taking a video of Joe Burrow onthe field, not a doctored photo,
not an altered photo in any way, just normal Joe Burrow with normal hair.

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Yeah, let's just pump the brakeson everything else. It's just a
photo. Can we do that,listen. I love Twitter and the weekend
that it had following the Scotti Schefflerarrest was one of the truly great runs
in the history of that website.And I've been on the website now for

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fifteen years. I just had myfifteenth anniversary of being on Twitter. A
couple of days ago, and thispast weekend was one of the truly truly
ritist. And then you have what'sgoing on with the Burrow photo, and
you gotta take the good with thebad. I guess there is a photo

(08:20):
out there of Joe Burrow and thisphoto is probably two or three years old,
and it features him, you know, kind of holding a football prior
to a it's like a photo show. It's like a photo yeah, and
it has been doctored to give Joevery long hair, which that's a good

(08:43):
look. He can pull off,you know what. He looks fine,
but it's not real. Correct.Now, speaking of real hair, Austin,
Justin Herbert went from long hair toshort hair. Good, that is
real, Justin Herbert. I'm notgonna say it's a lot going on.
We'll talk Bengals today. Obviously,we'll get some audio, all right,

(09:03):
we'll get some audio from the lockerroom. I'm sure there'll be some t
Higgins for nickname opportunity though. FlowBurrow, Yeah, he's already got that
working. Other news, but it'snot real. Yes, it's not real.
Let's just stop with that other newsgoing around. How about Birmingham Southern
did You have Birmingham Southern on yourSincy three to sixty Bengo car today because

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they have advanced to the D threeSuper Regionals Austin. Now here's the caveat
Birmingham Southern. The college is shuttingdown on May thirty first. It will
no longer exist, meaning if theywin their super regional they would advance to
play in the D three College WorldSeries. Well, they'll be playing for

(09:46):
a school that no longer exists.How about that? Can you imagine?
Oh? Hear the boys from BirminghamSouthern in the D three College World Series
appearance, although the college no longerexists. Guys are just out there balling
for nothing. Yeah, that's trulyplaying for the name on the back of
your chest and not the front theback of your chest, the back of

(10:07):
your body, the back of yourjersey. Yeah. Yeah, shout out
to Birmingham Southern though, Man,you just shut out to Birmingham Southern.
Yeah. I mean that's kind ofstrange, isn't it. It'd be weird.
I'm rooting for them. Hopefully theyadvance. I hope they go on
to run. I'm in for madness. I think they What is that this

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selection Sunday. Is this Sunday right? Yes, the Bearcat baseball team is
in action tonight. Yes, Ithink. I think they need to win.
They have to win at least onegame. They got to win at
least one and then they've got achance to get in to the dance themselves,
which will be awesome. You're oneof the Big twelve, and what
this turnaround has been for a teampicked at the bottom of the Big twelve
preseason baseball standing so postseason Bearcat baseball. Today, We've got the NBA Final

(10:54):
four set Austin MAVs and Timberwolves,which I think is going to be a
fascinating series. Oh yeah, thatMinnesota team, what they did going into
Denver in Game seven, handling thejoker and the defending champs like that versus
a team in Dallas who win Kyrieand Luca at the top of their game.
Give me a better one two punch. Right now, You've got the

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Celtics, who have been otherworldly formuch of the season. Verse here's the
upstart Pacers, a team that getsafter it defensively, that also won a
Game seven on the road. TheMadison Square Garden two really good Eastern Conference
Final in Western Conference final matchups,with Game one of the Celtics and Pacers
happening tonight. Speaking of professional basketball, Austin, Caitlyn Clark and the Indiana

(11:41):
Fever lost again last night. Theywere winless on the season. Caitlyn Clark,
I believe twenty six turnovers through fourgames. She left the game with
an ankle injury, she came back. Did we underestimate at all, Austin,
how big this was going to befor Caitlyn Clark against every other person

(12:03):
she plays against. I think becausethey are making it personal. The first
play of the game yesterday, CaitlynClark took a brutal screen. These other
teams and these other women have beenwaiting for a chance to get it Caitlyn
Clark, which is different because she'salso brought a ton of the game for
them, but they're trying to makea name for themselves as well. We

(12:24):
probably underestimated a little bit because we'veseen her just kind of do everything and
you expect it, Okay, Well, she'll figure it out in the w
NBA, and I do still thinkshe will. It's just it hasn't been
immediate success, and teams have hadreally good plans for her, and as
we said last week, it's ajumpee. College professional basketball is an entirely

(12:46):
different level and she's gonna have togo through that learning experience. And also
they have a terrible team. Theyhad the number one pick for a reason.
They stink. But also Caitlyn Clark, maybe let's not you know,
look at referees in the league andsay, that's an effing foul. You
can get cheat up with under threeminutes left. You cannot get away with
that in the w NBA. No, this is this is the pros.

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Do you know they let her getaway with so much in college? I
mean yeah, so it's different.Good good for the league for saying,
hey, you can be a star, but you can't act up and do
whatever you want. Speaking of toearn it. Speaking of stars, Austin
Luciana Acosta star another goal in FCCincinnati's Saturday night win against Saint Louis.

(13:31):
FC Cincinnati's won six in a row. They are on absolute fire. Shout
out to the Orange and Blue forwhat they continue to do. And uh,
we have a couple different college topicsthat we can get to today,
one being just a follow up fromthe Dylan Mitchell UC commitment and Big Twelve
scheduling next season. The schedule isa little different in the Big Twelve College

(13:56):
Basketball Conference. We'll get to thattoday. An unbl believable story about Jayden
Rashada, who committed to Florida nilessentially was a lie. He goes to
Georgia. Now he is suing Floridafor not being able to fulfill the promise
that the NIL was that they offeredhim. It's a crazy story. We'll

(14:18):
get to Jayden Rashada today. We'llget to a little bit of college football.
The first year is coming up uponus here Austin with the college football
twelve team playoff format. Yes,we'll look ahead to that today and one
more time, as we're going todo this all week Friday, noon to
three, this show on the road. Yes, Holy Grail Live noon to

(14:43):
three, not Holy Grail. We'regonna record a bunch of stuff and we're
gonna play it while we're sitting atthe Grail having drinks. We are going
live at noon at the Holy Grail. Noon to three will set the stage
for everything going on for the weekendwith the Bengals, with the Reds,
so many other things. Speaking ofthe Reds, they'll be in town against
the Dodgers that night. Yes,Austin, Hey, Austin's b Day bash,

(15:05):
Moegger's anniversary. Yes, we're gonnago to the ballpark. I don't
think Moe is going to be ableto make it, okay, He's gonna
try, okay, but we willcelebrate him whether he's there or not.
We have confirmed, We have confirmed, Charlie Goldsmith will make an appearance with
us live at the Holy Grail atone o'clock. Beautiful. Excited to talk

(15:28):
to Charlie before he heads across thestreet to work and go. Bring us
some great coverage in the Reds.Charlie werod a lot of good stuff about
the Bengals today in his chalkboard andabout Dan Pitcher, which I'm excited to
ask him about that later on thisweek as well. We'll get to all
of that. We have a loadedshow today. We're here till three o'clock.
Phone lines are open five, one, three, seven, four,
nine, fifteen thirty. Here's thedeal today. Talk backs at two Justin

(15:50):
Williams at one thirty. I needto know what the fix is. What
is the answer? There might noteven be an answer for the Cincinnati Reds
right now, who again enter playtonight at nineteen and twenty eight. That
is the third worst record in allof the National League and it's tied with

(16:11):
the Angels in the Athletics at nineteenwins in baseball. The only worst teams
right now in the NL Colorado andMiami. So what is the answer?
Is there an answer for the CincinnatiReds. I want to hear from you
today five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty or
via the iHeartRadio app where you canleave us at talkback. We'll get into

(16:33):
some of those calls. We'll getinto the Cincinnati Reds when we return.
Since e three to sixty a serviceof Skyline Chile on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station. Hey Alexa, HeyAlexa, what's going on in the NFL?
Getting ESPN fifteen thirty from iHeartRadio.You two and that's at ARC the

(16:55):
left field. It is going havea chance and Brent Rooker with a long
homer here, three run bomb andBrent Rooker has eleven on the season.
Okay, that was the call ofthe night last night in the Uh yeah,
Brent Brooker with a long homer here. That is Oakland's eight to four

(17:18):
loss to the Royals. The problemis Austin. It was Sunday. Yeah
that that home run didn't just havea chance. That home run went four
hundred and thirty one feet ye,off the bat of Rooker, off the
top of the scoreboard. More thanhaving a chance. I mean it was
like one hundred feet over the wall. Yes, that was one of the
longest home runs this season. Wouldhave been out at any ballpark in the

(17:44):
in the the the MLB. Thisone's got a chance. Yeah, here
we are Brent Rookers having a niceseason. Good for him. Yes,
yes, that was a call courtesyof the NBC Sports Athletics broadcast. Okay,
I want to get into some ofthese calls, and then I want
to dive into the Cincinnati Reds becauseI want to know the fix today.
I want to know what the answeris, if there is an answer right

(18:11):
now, because no one saw thiscoming with the Reds. No one,
I would assume saw nineteen and twentyeight. Sure you could have pitched me
with the schedule that it might betough in May and you might hover around
five hundred or a game or twounder nineteen and twenty eight is different,

(18:37):
and I know that it's taken withsome optimism because there is a lot of
plans of guys getting back from injury. I know there's the hope that,
you know, a Matt McClain canrejoin this team, and I want the
optimism around the cent Sinnati Reds.The summer is better in Cincinnati. Baseball

(19:06):
in Cincinnati is better. But whenyou go through the amount of injuries that
the Reds have gone through, itbecomes a question can they stay afloat?
Can they stick it out with allthe injuries going around? Can they stick
it out enough to be relevant whenthese guys start getting healthy. We'll go

(19:27):
through a lot of these injuries injust a few minutes. But I just
I struggle at this point at nineteenand twenty eight of borderline is the season
getting away from you? And Iget that in baseball, you're a five
game winning streak away from feeling likeyou've entered right back in What about this

(19:48):
team's play as of late would signifythat they're close to going and figuring it
out and going on a run.Let alone, the schedule that's coming up,
and I know there's a lot ofNL Central games coming up in June,
and they've not played many yet outsideof the Brewers to this point.
But it's still three against the Padres, it's three against the Dodgers over the
next six here at home, theygot the Saint Louis Cardinals coming in.

(20:11):
It's a nine game homestand and look, we'll be wrong. Wins seven and
nine, And I guarantee you thatnext week we're having a completely different conversation.
Right, they have an off dayon Thursday, May thirtieth, that
will be after they play nine gamesagainst the Padres, Dodgers, and Cardinals

(20:36):
six and three, seven and two. We're singing a different tune, and
we're having a different conversation. Butright now, as I said, what,
what is giving you the reasoning thatthis team is going to figure it
out? What's giving you the reasoningthat they're going to turn this around sooner
rather than later? As the seasonkind of hinges on the verge of getting

(20:57):
late, very early in a longbaseball season. Right, it's such a
long season. They've got plenty oftime talked endlessly already about it. The
time will run out sooner rather thanlater. If you don't figure this out.
Soon. Uh, Mark is waitingto talk to us. What's up,
Mark? How are you? Okay? I'm doing great now that Tony's

(21:18):
back. That's always, that's alwaysa great thing. Nothing against Austin.
But I got two fixes. Okay. My first fix is replace Lance with
Austin on us. Yeah, Imean yeah, I already listen to Austin
over Lance. Okay here the week. Uh and now you know that saying

(21:40):
something. But but the fix,my fix is, and it won't never
happen because of the analytics department andthe way they do it. You look
at all your hitters and just lookat the hitters that's available to you.
Now. I ain't talking about thepeople that's hurt, that's heard and not
available, because I don't think itwould matter. I still think they will

(22:04):
win about eighty five games if everybodywas healthy. I think they'll be right
about five hundred. But to me, the fix is look at your hitters
one through nine and make a decisionon a lineup is broken down into three
parts. Who are my top whoare my first three hitters, who are

(22:25):
my middle three hitters, and whoare my bottom three hitters. Make your
decision on that and put those hittersin those places and leave them there.
Now in the middle of the lineup, you can shuffle a guy here or
there. If somebody goes in aslump, you could maybe move a guy
back. Okay, the top threehitters say like your freedom was healthy,

(22:48):
you can say, Okay, Fredo, you're leading off today, India you
second, or Lefty India you're leadingoff Freedom you second, and then Dada
Cruise third. You know, makea decision on where you're going to back
these guys and stick with it.So these guys can get in the middle
and a mental comfort zone, knowingthat when they come to the ballpark,

(23:11):
it's just like a job. Theyknow where they're gonna bad at, and
they pretty much know where they're gonnaplay at, except for a couple of
guys that they kind of move around. And I think that's a starting point
to get into the fix, youknow, right, I mean it'll never
happen because analytics, yes, yeah, and the way they like to move

(23:34):
around. But I think I've watchedthis analytics since David Bell has been the
manager, you know, I havehow many seasons has he been there?
Five, six or however? Manhe's been there and I've yet to see
that that really works. So tome, that's the fix. I'll get

(23:55):
off and now, Austin, Idid hear some of them with Lance last
night of you know, David Bell, and the thought is they've had winning
seasons under David Bell. Now havethey won enough that David Bell's job should
be one secure? Probably not.But what I want to do today is

(24:15):
when we do get calls or wedo get talkbacks, I'm I'm gonna chart
and and well we'll rationalize and goover each of these pieces of input.
What what do you make of Mark'spiece? I'm just going to call it,
what consistency with the lineup? Yeah? I think that that is something
a lot of Red's fans have askedfor. And I think that Mark makes
a good point. Is that aviable fix? A viable answer? Not?

(24:37):
We don't know what the fix is, but I do that to me,
is at least a viable answer.More consistency in the lineup, especially
at the top. Yeah. Idon't know if you put those guys in
the lineup that it's automatically going toin those spots that it's automatically going to
fix it. I don't know,but the logic behind it does make sense,

(24:59):
you know. I I have neverbeen one to historically freak out about
the lineup on a day to daybasis, But this stretch of time with
Mike Ford batting third, if thatwas a joke on if Mike Ford would
be on a team, If that'swhat your analytics are telling you, then
you may need to look around andsay, is there something wrong with our

(25:22):
analytics? Because everybody who knows andwatches baseball will tell you Mike Ford is
not a three hole hitter. Heis barely a major league player, correct.
So I don't have any problem withthe fact that he's filling a hole
and he's someone that you need inyour lineup. Okay, that's fine.
You have those holes that need tobe filled with all the stuff that's been

(25:45):
going on, that's great. Buthe shouldn't be batting third. Yeah,
I mean he came in Mike forMike Ford. He came in as the
replacement for Nick Martini. In NickMartin, he wasn't batting third, correct,
So why is there a significant differencebetween Martini and Ford. Nick Martini,

(26:07):
by the way, has gone downto Triple A and been very,
very good he's having a great seasonin Louisville right now, but it's triple
A pitching for a reason. Ijust don't look at it and say this
decision makes sense. I would liketo know, and I don't know why
there has been this question has notbeen asked. What goes into the decision

(26:32):
to make him the third batter?Give me some sort of explanation as to
why you feel this way. Iget that they cite analytics, and I
get that they have a philosophy that'sgreat analytics. I want to be told
about it. I want to learnabout it rather than continuing to yell about
it and want to pull my hairout. I think if Cincinnati baseball fans

(26:56):
are smart, Okay, they arenot dumb people. They know and Mike
Ford batting third is probably the leastof their issues, but it's an issue,
and they know that dude is nota three hole hitter. Find some
consistencies in the lineup. I agreewith that statement, but that's what I
want today to be about. Let'slet's throw some stuff at the board and

(27:17):
let's see what sticks with the CincinnatiReds, which, by the way,
mentioned earlier. According to Mark Sheldon, this was about an hour ago.
I'm getting this on on inside theReds. Here's the latest of all the
injuries that the Reds are dealing with. We'll just go through these. Justin
Wilson placed on the injury list withleft shoulder tightness. Estimated return to be

(27:37):
determined. We know about Edwin Royoout for the year. This is not
citing nolve Marte on the suspension.Nick Lodolo, I believe it's one month
from today that he's that he cancome back, Nick Lodoo. Lodolo is
expected to miss two starts return tothe rotation. Ces right hand fracts are
expected to miss four to six weeksin return sometime in June. And Brandon

(28:00):
Williamson, dealing with left shoulder strain, made two rehab starts, on track
to return late May or early June. Alex Young is yet to pitch for
the Reds due to a lower backinjury. Expected to return in late May.
However, the Reds will still haveto make a decision on him if
they want to add him to theroster. Matt McClain Reds are hopeful for
a return in August or September.Ian Jabbo was close was close recently transferred

(28:25):
to the sixty day il no timetable. TJ. Friedel team has yet to
release a time release of timetable.Amelio Pagan left the game on Sunday,
optimistic that the injury isn't serious.Scheduled to meet with the doctors yesterday.
Tjn Tone right elbow surgery out forthe year. That's where things are at
right now with the Reds. Lotof tow be determined, a lot of
hopeful that said player returns in Mayor June, or August and September.

(28:51):
None of those are guarantees. Soif you just take out, well,
they've just dealt with injuries and guysgot to get healthy. What's the fix?
Mark? Appreciate the input. We'llask for more input five one,
three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty, more of your phone
calls and more Cincinnati Reds when weget back. ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station thanks to Skyline. ChiliLoegar. Let's pretend that today is the

(29:15):
day after the Bengals, the voiceof the Tri State sports fan have just
won the Super Bowl. Loegar todayat three on ESPN fifteen thirty. Welcome

(29:37):
back since he three sixty just dournumber one, pooh, we're here till
three ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Stationand a service of our good friends.
It's Skyline Chili. You already knowwhat it is. Anytime you're feeling good
and hungry, it is always Skylinetime. Thank you for joining us.
We're going to talk more Reds,looking for Reds fixes today. What's viable?

(29:57):
What's not? Things on the table? How about this tone? Reds
batters in the third spot in theorder this year, okay, two hundred
and two played appearances. Okay,it's a good sample size. Twenty nine
hits, eight doubles, three homers, twenty five runs batted in the slash

(30:18):
line, which is average on basepercentage and slugging is one fifty eight two
fourteen two fifty. That's not ideal. That is horrible. What do you
want the answer to be? Whatcan David Bell do about that? Uh?
Before we go any further, Jaycalled it in the first second.

(30:40):
We haven't got to his call yet. Let's give Jay a second. What's
up, Jay? Hey? What'sup? Guys? Yeah? How are
you hey? I always it's acouple thing. I'm gonna get on real
quick, and I want to hangup here your these poses? How can
you measure? How can analytics measure? You can't turn it on and off

(31:00):
whenever you want to. The Redsteam looks like to me that they kind
of turn it on when they wantto and it's just turned off and and
how and you know the whole clichein basketball you can't turn on and off
when you want to. So howdo they how does the analytics measure that?

(31:22):
And my second point is about youknow, all the publicity kit and
Clark has been getting, which isgood, but how does she measure up
against a Diana Tarassi or or orwhat was her name? Uh, Breonna
Stewart. Yeah, yeah, theyall won, they won. Breonna Stuart

(31:44):
won four national championships MHM and andDinah Tarassi won three and my more won
three. But yet uh Caitlin Clarkkiss, I mean her games on TV
almost every every time. Yeah.So much of Jay I appreciate the call.
We're gonna hit on that. Somuch of Caitlin Clark is what she

(32:06):
did at Iowa, what she's donefor the women's game. I mean,
look, they're they're taking chartered flightsnow, they're they're playing in front of
sold out venues. I think therewas a point Austin. I believe it
was the New York Liberty game withBrianna Stewart where they announced as she came
up to the podium post game,they said, hey, you know,
what's it feel like? Because BriannaStewart's been in the WNBA for a while,

(32:28):
they said ticket sales alone tonight surpassedtwo million dollars in revenue. And
you could see the excitement Brianna Stewartbecause the game's growing, and so you
can't talk about the game growing andignore Caitlyn Clark. But there is a
learning curve. And when I lookat the game and watch her, Austin,
the physicality is different. She's goingagainst bigger, more athletic defenders and

(32:52):
she's gonna have to kind of rewritewhat her game is to be able to
do the things that she was ableto do what I will. Yeah,
And it's also just her style ofplay is intriguing to people, much like
it was with Steph Kurrk, whereit was just so fun to watch that
anywhere on the floor she can pullup and make buckets. And obviously the

(33:14):
amount of scoring that she did incollege and setting the records and all that
translated to a lot of excitement aswell. And you know, it is
about her impact right now more thanit is her performance. Sure, you
need her performance to get better forsustained impact. That I think is where
people are interested to see. Well, all this is good, and she

(33:35):
is having a profound impact on theleague, but can she do that for
an extended amount of time. Imean, even Brianna Stewart, who comes
into the WNBA wins a couple ofchampionships, is really good her first few
years in Seattle. She spent acouple of years playing overseas as well,
and you know during the off seasonto go and play and get better and

(33:59):
stuff like that. So is CaitlinClark going to have to do something similar
going and playing in other professional leaguesto kind of round out her game while
also still playing in the WNBA,Because it's not easy. Yeah. The
first point that Jay made this lineupessentially turning it off and turning it on.
Now that's not a fix. That'sa criticism of what this lineup is.

(34:22):
But I don't really know what hemeant by that. Well, I
think and I guess from my viewof that, it was the conversation to
kind of piggyback on what we talkedabout last week when they played against the
Dodgers and Tyler Glass now and itfelt like a completely different lineup. It
felt like they were locked in.It felt like they were battling from pitch

(34:42):
one to the end of the game, whereas just the day before they lost
a game in one hour and fiftynine minutes where they had three hits.
So I don't know if it's turningit on and off is the right term,
but there is something to be saidabout and we made this point last
week. At times it feels thislineup chooses to battle, and other times

(35:04):
it feels like this lineup doesn't havea real plan when they go to the
play. And I think that's oneof those things that makes me skeptical of
the coaching and skeptical of what's beingtaught hey, and skeptical of the scouting
and the way that they are approachingparticular pitchers on a night in, night
out basis. That is, bythe way, I believe Joel McKeithen,

(35:24):
who is I got like three hittingcoaches at this point. I mean Joel
mckeithan. I think it's thirty twoor thirty three years old. He served
as the Tigers minor league hitting coordinator. Yeah, they were really good the
last ten years, right, Imean, now here's the quote when mckeithan
was hired. Nick Kral said,he works well with the players. We

(35:45):
actually had some improvement last year withpeople that he worked with directly, whether
it was Brandon Drewery or guys likethat that have come in. He's done
a job with a lot of theyounger players that have come up. And
he also understands a lot of technology. So I get at the saying,
Okay, let's go with a youngerhitting coach who can maybe get across to
this young core nucleus that the Redshave the problem with. That would be

(36:08):
a guy that's still so young whenthe offense struggles. What can he rely
on from an experience standpoint to helpget guys through these hitting slumps that they're
going through. By the way,noelv Marte eligible to return to the Reds
roster one month from today. Thisaccording to Chad dots And he also said

(36:28):
incited that you know he Chad Dotson'sa great follow on Twitter, and I
know he's been on Moe's show before. He writes for Cincinnati Magazine, and
I do agree with him. Hesaid, I would temper my expectations about
NOELV. Marte when he returns,considering he's only had one hundred and fourteen
Big League at bats in his career. But on the other hand, he

(36:49):
could hardly be worse than the slashline of one seventy five, two forty
and two ninety five that the Redshave gotten from their third basement so far.
Yeah, I mean, if ifwe're worse than the third spot in
the lineup, if we're coming intotoday, listen to some of these numbers
here. Also, it's not threethree Hoole Hitter, Mike Ford, one

(37:10):
fifty six Maley one fifty eight,uh TJ Friedel before he went down one
eighty two, Cees one ninety,Will Benson one ninety one, Espinal two
hundred, India two nineteen, Candelariotwo to twenty, Spencer Steer all the
way down to two twenty four,Stuart Fairschild two twenty six, Elie two
fifty six, Jake Frailey two seventytwo, Tyler Stevenson by the way up

(37:32):
to two seventy three. Go aheadand have yourself a month, Tyler Stevenson.
But it's not like the numbers aregetting better. It's not like they're
taking big jumps. So again,this could go into part of the answer.
Part of the solution is that hittingcoach. Do you make a change
with your thirty two thirty three yearold hitting coach that just doesn't have a

(37:55):
ton of experience on how to dealwith a lineup that almost across the board
is not hitting consistently enough for MajorLeague Baseball. More of your advice will
wrap things up with the Cincinnati Reds. When we get back again, Talkbacks
move to our three today. Thetop of our three, Justin Williams will
join us at one thirty. We'vegot a ton more to go since e

(38:17):
three to sixty A service of SkylineChile. Right here on the home of
the Bengals, ESPN fifteen to thirtyCincinnati Sports Station, ESPN, Welcome back,
cinty three sixty ESPN fifteen thirty CincinnatiSports Station, a service of Skyline

(38:43):
Chili. We have Justin Williams comingup at one thirty. Bengals open locker
room happening right now. If there'sany audio from that, we'll grab it
for the third hour, which we'llstart with your talkbacks. Today. We
have some college football news. We'lldo a college football segment today. We'll
mix in a little college basketball.We'll talk Cincinnati Bengals. The news.

(39:06):
I don't think it is news.T Higgins not expected at OTA's surprise surprise.
Uh, just kind of follow alongthe path that Jesse Bates took,
and you'll probably see the similar paththat that T Higgins is going to take.
Noteworthy news in the NFL. JustinJefferson is not at OTAs And Joe
burrows hair is actually short. It'snot long. Contrary to some popular beliefs

(39:29):
on Twitter out there must be Juneor must be May, it is May,
and unfortunately it's May with a baseballteam that's not doing very well right
now. That is what it is. Uh. And Jamal Adams reported to
be visiting the Baltimore Ravens. Icould care less about that. Derrick Henry
made his debut in Ravens practice.Okay today, Okay, that was I

(39:52):
didn't like that. This Friday noonto three, this show will still be
able to be found the same wayit always is the radio app ESPN fifteen
thirty, or you can come seeus live at the Holy Grail. We
had the Holy Grail noon to threeon a Friday for a live edition of
since E three to sixty. Oh. By the way, we're giving away

(40:13):
Dirks Bentley tickets today as well.Yes, Dirks Bentley after Justin Williams will
do a Dirks Bentley tickets. Shedidn't have a clue. Dirk five to
one. Five oh. Somebody calledthe post thank you, thank you.
Dirks's fantastic. Dirks is awesome tohear and kind. What we're looking for
today is answers fixes help us outwith the Cincinnati reads. Is there even

(40:37):
an answer at this point? Uh? So far? Mark called in and
said that his answer is more consistencyin the lineup. Jay chimed in and
said that he believes that this teamturns it on and off too many different
times. So those are options.We're trying to get as much on the
table as possible. We're trying towork through this other pieces that I've heard.

(40:58):
Do they need more of a veteranpresence in the line and room?
Would that help what's going on onthe field? I don't know, but
that's a solution that people are throwingout. Moving on from the hitting coach?
Do you need to move on fromJoel McKeithen Terry Bradshaw's the assistant hitting

(41:19):
coach. Tim LaMonte is the assistanthitting slash integrated performance coach. Something's not
right with this team's offense. Doesthat come at the expense of the hitting
coach? Do they need to changetheir view on analytics? Do they need
to fire David Bell? All ofthese things I've heard out there. What's

(41:43):
the most viable option to fix thisCincinnati Reds team other than saying, well,
they just need guys to get healthy. They'll make a run. They
just need guys to get healthy.I told you that the answer, that
is the only answer. What ofall the things you just listed, what

(42:04):
fixes it right now? Yeah?I don't know that. That's what I'm
trying. Yeah, that's I thinkthat's the most frustrating because last year,
what was it, Austin, Whatwas the fix? If the offense was
doing this last year? The fixis very easy. Well, we can
fix and help the offense. Wecan also provide a jolt to the team
and the fan base because guess what, We're gonna call up Elie de la
Cruz. We're gonna call up Cees. We're gonna have Spencer Steer and Mount

(42:28):
McClain and nuelve Marte. That wasan easy answer last year. Also,
you signed up for this. Thisis what happens exactly. Young players will
struggle. This is part of lifein the major leagues. This is part
of growing through a young team.And injuries are a part of the game
as well. You can't control that. And we have seen some development from

(42:50):
the pitchers. We have seen somesignings that have worked out, and you
feel better about the pitching than youdid a year ago. And what was
the problem last year? All thoseguys were and you couldn't really do anything
about it other than try to getsome young guys up here and try to
eat up as many innings as youcould. But I don't know that any
of the things you just listed canfix this team right now? Can I

(43:13):
can? I ask a rebuttal towhat that would be fixing the team right
now? You need Will Benson toplay better, You need Spencer Steer to
play better. You need Elie dela Cruz to strike out less. You
need Jonathan India to return to form. Now, there might be reasons that
those players aren't performing as well thatyou would have to look at, But
does firing David Bell or Joel McKeithenfix that right now? There's a legitimate

(43:38):
reason for why they aren't as goodoffensively right now, and it's that they're
missing three good players. Can Iask you a rebuttal would be In this
previous offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers losttheir manager, They lost Corbyn Burns,
they lost Brandon Woodruff, guys thatare on top of cy Young List major

(44:00):
League Baseball at different points of theircareer. They've also dealt with, as
we've mentioned on this show, alot of pitching injuries, a lot of
injuries, and yet as today rollsaround, the Milwaukee Brewers sit atop the
NL Central. So there are teamsout there, and I know the sample
size is different and the impact ofwho the Reds are missing, but there

(44:22):
are teams that move on from losingkey players or a manager, or deal
with injuries throughout the course of aseason and still find ways to have success.
The Braves are dealing with multiple injuriesto key players on their team.
We've talked about the Cubs early inthe season have dealt with different injuries at

(44:44):
different times. Garrett Cole is yetto pitch a game for the New York
Yankees, who lead the Al East. So I get that it's easy to
say, well, there isn't ananswer because the injuries are the answer.
But there have been other teams thatfigure out winning while also not having any
full complement of weapons. And again, how you and how you add the

(45:05):
impact of missing pitchers versus who theReds are missing and how many players?
I get all of that, butthere are more than teams just sitting around
saying, well, we've lost alot of guys, we lost a manager,
so we're not why even worried aboutit, We're not expected to do
anything. I also would I wouldcounter that by saying those teams have played
lesser competition. The Brewers are elevenand twelve against teams that are above five

(45:30):
hundred, the Reds are eight andeighteen. You know, it's like,
yes, I hear you, onehundred percent, like they have figured it
out. And maybe it's easier tosurvive with better hitting than it is with
poor with poor pitching. Let mesee if I can say that again,

(45:51):
maybe it's easier to win when youhave poor pitching as opposed to poor hitting.
Saw that with the Reds last year. We're seeing it with the Brewers
right now now. Internally, Ido think this organization has to look inward
and say, what about what weare doing isn't working because the Brewers just

(46:13):
mash correct and I think there isa belief that eventually it'll all catch up
to them. And that is thata lineup that you would look at and
say, man, they're gonna mash. And it did with the Reds for
a while, and the Reds wentice cold at the plate for a little
bit, primarily against the Brewers,ended up costing them HM. So it
is gonna happen. I understand thatwe want everything to be fixed right now.

(46:39):
I don't know that there's a fixright now. The problem is if
there's not a fix right now,and this way the offense is constructed goes
on another two weeks, it's notgonna matter when they come. What do
you mean by the way the offenseis construction, Well, I mean with
with the injuries and Mike Ford battingthird, and and how this offense is
pieced together. It won't matter whenthe guys get healthy, because they'll be

(46:59):
fit fifteen games out. Yeah,I know that. I think that's that's
the ultimate struggle. We are latefor a break. More of your phone
calls five, one, three,seven, four nine, fifteen thirty to
get our number two started right hereon the Home of the Bengals, ESPN
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(47:23):
keyword on our website. Money,that's money. Enter it now. This
is Cincy Shirts Cincy three sixty AboutCincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by
Cincy Shirts. Cinci Shirts All Cincy, all Day. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Here wego our two thanks to our good friends

(47:50):
at Cincy Shirts on ESPN fifteen thirtyCincinnati Sports Station. We have Justin Williams
at one thirty, so we'll changeup how we start the hour a little
bit shorter segment here. We'll giveaway some Dirks Bentley tickets at the end
of this hour. Talkbacks will startthe third and we've got some Bengals that

(48:12):
we need to get to in betweenall of that, some players talking now
some open locker room for the Bengals. We'll get the audio of that play
that for you later in today's showas well. Let's uh, let's continue
on a conversation we've had from fromtoday the fixes for the Reds. Even
if there isn't a fix, someof the options that this team could look
for. Fred is calling in rightnow, Fred, what's up? Hey?

(48:34):
Hey? Yeah, First of all, thank you for taking McCall.
Second off, I appreciate the wayy'all criticize the teams here in Cincinnattie.
And the third one of the thingsthat I don't understand is when I was
watching the game over the weekend,you know, six or seventh Penn and
get down to you got a manon second, you get a hit to
bring him in, so you geta man on second again, but you

(48:54):
don't buy him over. Of course, that's what I didn't understand. The
third thing is is I, onceagain I appreciate how y'all talk about the
Reds and the Bengals, and alsohow y'all give me information about the NBA
because I'm an NBA fans. Nobodyelse does it here in the city.

(49:15):
And I appreciate that too. Well. The last thing I said to hang
up is there being would change foris going down to that that y'all would
change? How y'all talk about theReds and the Bengals. I'm gonna hanging
up with lista. Thank y'all,All right, Fred, appreciate that.
Now. The last question that alshow would something happen for how we change
we talk about the I don't thinkso, No, I mean so much

(49:37):
about what we try to do onthis show is as Fred just outline,
is be real and be honest withwith what's going on here in Cincinnati.
Yeah, I mean, and Iappreciate that from Fred. Yeah, I
very much appreciate. It's very nice. In an NBA compliment, how about
that? Yeah, listen, it'sno secret our company is aligned with the
Reds and the Bengals and we arein partnership with them, and that's great

(50:00):
and that's good for us, andit's a really good working relationship. But
that doesn't mean we can't be critical. Sure, and I'm not going to
sit up here and blow smoke upanybody. We say what we think,
and I think that's part of partof you know, we've said things that
people don't agree with and people don'tlike us saying. But it's our job

(50:21):
to be honest with you and tellyou people and anyone who listens, how
we feel. If you were togive a grade, not you people,
I didn't mean it like that.Man tell people if you were to grade
not not the roster, but managingthis year from David Bell. We've had
multiple times where we've said, didDavid Bell punt on that game? We've

(50:42):
seen sometimes where the lineup gets constructedin certain ways. We've seen this team
and I know that's not exactly onDavid Bell. We've seen this team run
into a lot of outs. We'veseen this team struggle defensively. If you
had to just give David Bell agrade, Okay, David Bell as a
manager at this point in the CincinnatiRed season, you give David Bell a

(51:05):
what U c plus? I wasgonna say, see yeah, because this
team makes a lot of mistakes.This team, and I know again that
they're shorthanded in different positions, butteams that are shorthanded do not get afforded
the mistakes that the Reds consistently make, mistakes of giving up extra outs,
mistakes on the base pass getting pickedoff, the decision there that Fred just

(51:30):
talked about, of of do youplay small ball and you try to get
the runner over it. I it'sgreat when it works, and we have
praised David Bell for the pressure thatthis team puts on opposing teams. But
as much praise as you get,you're also going to be on the other
end of it. This is thelife of a quarterback in the NFL.
When things go well, you getpraised. When things don't go well,

(51:52):
you take the brunt of the criticism. I think overall, the game to
game impact that a manager has isminimal. Therefore, the overall impact he
has on a season it's harder thanjudge. But he does have a lot
of responsibility in the way that thingsare being taught and the way that practice
is being run, and the pointsof emphasis for the team and speaking to

(52:14):
them about what he wants to seethem do. Now. I appreciate the
organizational philosophy and have seen good thingsfrom it. However, when you are
mired in a slump, you've gotto be able to have an open mind
to change things. You've got tobe able to put a point of emphasis
on fixing issues. I think wesaw that to an extent with Ellie Day
La Cruz. Early on in theseason he was atrocious in the field,

(52:37):
and then he really battened down thehatches and was able to be a much
more solid and reliable defender. He'sgoing to make mistakes, he's going to
use his arm too much instead ofthe fundamentals, and that has happened since
the early struggles, but he hasimproved as a fielder since the beginning of
the season. Now, the smallball thing, most teams in Major League

(52:57):
Baseball don't bunt in that situation.The the game has just changed since the
last thirty five years. Bunting doesnot happen in that situation very much across
all of Major League Baseball, especiallywhen you have guys up there that you
know can hit for power. SoI don't have any problem with that.
However, if again you are strugglingoffensively and struggling mightily, you have to

(53:19):
be open to those decisions. Youhave to be open to saying, all
right, listen, we're gonna dosomething a little bit differently because we need
this runner to score, we needthis win. It does change the way
that you manage. And I dothink that sometimes David has stayed the course
a little bit too long where you'dlike to see something shaken up. Maybe,
But I think overall, the impacthe has had his minimal. And

(53:43):
I think if this team was hittingbetter just in general, and it's not
his job to hit, it's nothis job to teach them how to hit.
If they were hitting better in general, the impact that he would have
game by game and some of thesebigger situations might be easier to Whose job
is to teach them how to hit. I believe that would be Joel McKeithen
correct. I think to an extentit would be I think to an extent

(54:04):
it's on their own as well,sure that the stuff that they know they
have to be able to fix.And even I think it was I can't
remember who it was that Charlie Ithink wrote about this that Spencer Steer is
struggling, and David said, Ithink he's pushing too hard. I think
he's trying too hard to be apower hitter and things like that. That
can be a good conversation for DavidBell to have, you know, keep

(54:27):
the guys on the straight and arrowa lot of a thought. I just
for a team that's nineteen and twentyeight, I can't give him a bee.
So I'm going to start at seafor David Bell and see what continues
to shake out. Mike, what'sgoing on? How are you hey?
Guys enjoying the show? Thank you? Hopey had a good weekend. Austin
and Chad together were an interesting duoyesterday, I'll have to say that.

(54:52):
And I was real happy to getto pick up the Pacers at twenty five
to one and whin the whole thing. I'll tell you what, Tony three
guards and them Hart and Haliburton areoffensive daggers. Yeah, and then you
throw TIFJ mcconnellan, who's a who'san All League defensive player. That that
trio in their backcourt is special.Yeah. Anytime you get to the Final

(55:14):
four and you can get someone attwenty five to one to win a championship,
you would you would have to atleast take a little bit of a
of a flyer on that, especiallya younger team that can ride a little
bit of confidence. The Celtics havebeen in this situation before where they have
lost as a team that is notexpected to lose, and these two teams
out west are gonna They're gonna weareach other out. But Timberwolves and Mavericks

(55:36):
are gonna wear each other down inwhat I think is gonna be a fantastic
series. Who knows, if ifthey can get past the Celtics, it
might bode well for the Pacers.Yeah, look at the Celtics. Forty
lead to league of their shots orthrees, which is ridiculous. Sure,
and but Andy defends the three pointline better than anybody, So that makes

(55:57):
for an interesting series. I didn'treally mean to get off on that,
but I want to. You haveme thinking about the Brewers and how they
are able to accomplish what they're doingwith injuries and some trades and what have
you. Yes, uh, theykind of did what I had hoped the
Reds would have done and talked themall about it extensively. But they could

(56:20):
have just spound spent some money andgot a few veterans and still left a
couple of these guys downstairs in thefarm. Then when something comes up,
you got, you know, reputablehelp. But they've completed that farm system.
So I'm looking at Milwaukee. Contrerasis hitting three point thirty two.
The catcher, yep, yellows backup there. Three one, Yellot's see

(56:43):
they kept that veteran presence. Yellousis there, and then the terrang their
their young second basement, he's hittingover three hundred. Ortiz the third basement,
he's hitting three hundred. And thenyou come down in a lineup,
Adamas, sorry about the snaze.A Dominas is hitting up. He's hitting

(57:06):
in the two thirties, but he'shitting a home runs just like the Hoskins
the first station. So uh,I know it can be done. I
just I still think the Key wasjust trying to spend a little money and
picked up some vents. Sure,sure, And I what do you think
I mean? Because right now I'mscratching my head. I don't know what
to say about the Reds. Yeah, I really don't. Yeah, Mike,

(57:29):
I appreciate the call. Look,I feel like with the Reds and
Austin, you've you've been adamant aboutthe Brewers from an offensive staff. Is
there anything you can pin like canwe pinpoint exactly why we we always say
the Brewers are just some dogs atthe plate. Like the Brewers, the
way they approach the batter's box iscompletely different. Is it because they're aggressive?

(57:51):
Is it because they are the sameteam every single day? You see
him as far as the aggression,and we've seen that at times in sparks
for the Cincinnati Reds, but wehave not seen the consistent aggressiveness at the
plate from this Reds team that youdo consistently see from the Milwaukee Brewers when
they go up there and hit.Yeah. I mean, I don't think

(58:12):
it has anything to do with theconsistent lineup. I think Lance had the
stats. They're just like the Redsin terms of different players at different positions
all over the place. That's verycommon in Major League Baseball in today's day
and age six best, I'll profaceit with that, they're the sixth best
offensive team right now in Major LeagueBaseball. Yeah, they're fourth in home
runs, they hit for power,they hit for average, And that's I

(58:34):
think part of it that we're missingwith the Reds here is they're twenty first
in home runs. They don't hita lot of homers in a very home
run friendly park. Yeah, theydon't have a lot of home run hitting
guys. And I think sometimes SpencerSteers is an example of that where it's
like, gosh, I'm trying tohit some home runs, trying to get
something going. Yeah, you know, that's part of it as well.

(58:58):
So, Yeah, the Ers justkind of do everything well. It seems
like they always have a good plan. I think that's the biggest thing their
plan. Again, maybe that's scouting, Maybe that's preparation. Maybe that's the
way that they look at a certaindata point and value that more than anything
else. I don't know. Idon't have an explanation for what separates them

(59:22):
from from the Reds other than maybethere's just a lot more big league experience.
I mean, that's that's part ofit as well. Right, A
few more thoughts, perhaps even aphone call when we come back, we'll
get to Justin Williams and we'll switchgears to the ever changing world of the
college landscape at one thirty, talkbacksat two plenty more to go between now

(59:45):
and three o'clock, Sincy three sixtythanks to Cincy shirts on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station, Welcome back sincehe three to sixty, PESBN fifteen thirty

(01:00:10):
Cincinnati Sports Station service of CINTI shirts. Justin Williams coming up in just a
few minutes, meaning we have timefor one more phone called Greg is calling
him. What's up? Greg?What's up? Hey? Tell you?
How's it going good? To me? Right now? I don't think there
is a quick fix. You know, when we get the guys back that
are heard, I think that'll help. And you know my answer is,

(01:00:36):
I always want to say new ownership, but obviously I don't want that to
happen. Somebody comes in here andmoves them out. But what I really
think they need is to go outand get a proven winner like a theo
Epstein or a match to him.I know that would be difficult, but
to me, I think this organizationneeds a culture change, just like the

(01:01:00):
Bengals a few years ago. Ireally do. I think you get a
guy like theo. He's looking overeverything. I'm talking about the front office.
This stuff is changing managers, andif you move Will Benson from one
to nine, he's going to bebetter. Whatever. You know what if
a guy like theo Epstein was incharge, I got a feeling Will Benson

(01:01:23):
wouldn't even be on this team.So my overall, they need a cultural
change and they need a proven winnerin here running this organization. And you
know. It also wouldn't help ifa guy like THEO had I wouldn't say
an unlimited budget, but you know, more money to spend. I don't

(01:01:45):
think the Castolines want to do that. And over the Winner Crawl, he
said he spent one hundred and fivemillion dollars. Now I'll give him about
a D minus on that one,just because Kamier is starting to work like
he had some wives. But Ijust think they need somebody at the top.

(01:02:05):
Yeah, Greg, a very point, well take, and I appreciate
the phone call. Thank you forlistening. It's a fair point, Austin,
because the Bengals in the Marvin Lewisera, they were going to the
playoffs. They did have some success, they had some winning seasons, and
yet it felt like a change wasneeded to push them back over the top.
But you know what was the sameget over the top. But it

(01:02:28):
didn't change anything within the organization.The ownership was the same, but it
was a different head player. Personnelwas the same, yes, but it
was a different voice at the top. It was a different point voice.
And every day in the locker room, Nick Krawl is a different voice.
And we are just now seeing thefruits of his labor get to the big
leagues, right, because after DickWilliams goes and then you know, Dick

(01:02:49):
Williams was the guy who did ShogoAkiyama and Mike Mustakis. That wasn't Nick
Krawl. And Dick Williams leaves theorganization, Nick Krawl takes over. He's
got to convince bobcasts Seleni and PhilCastelini, which nobody in this town really
seems to like or trust, tosay, hey, let's change the way
that we go about building this team. And he had, you know,

(01:03:10):
after the pandemic, some struggles withhow much money he can spend. And
they've done a really good job ofacquiring young talent. Now you get to
the point where can you develop itinto big league consistent play. I am
not quoting this on Nick Crawl yetbecause we're still so early in the first
round of him getting guys to thebig leagues. Free agent acquisitions. Fair

(01:03:32):
to criticize. I'll give you thatEmilio Pagan has stunk, Jambercandelarrio not been
great. I'll give you that onehundred percent, yes, But I'm not
ready to be all out on whatNick Crawl is doing with the acquisition of
these young players. Yet, especiallyhis way, he's been able to trade
and get all this talent that isnow underperformed. They but you mentioned and

(01:03:55):
I know we got to get tobreak to Justin. You mentioned the organization
and those stayed and tacked with theBengals. But we have raved since Zach
Taylor took over on how the organizationnow handles free agency, how they handle
the draft. So even with youalso got a once in a generation quarterback.
Sure, but that but those conversationswere had before. Who's to say

(01:04:16):
Zach Taylor got Joe Burrow for sure? Yes, they changed correct, but
Burrow made it easier. And who'sto say Ellie Da La Cruz can't be
that as well? Well, ifyou listen to the masses, he'll be
in New York in a couple ofyears. Yes, that's why Justin Williams
covering do we just say college sportsnow college Football Insider, the college football
Insider for the Athletic Justin Williams willjoin us when we get back. Since

(01:04:40):
He three sixty ESPN fifteen thirty CincinnatiSports Station, the service of Cincy Shirts
take prive episode of Since He threeto sixty Here every show at ESPN fifteen
thirty dot com. Welcome back Cincythree, ESBN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station,

(01:05:03):
and a service of our good friendsat Cincy Shirts. As we roll
along here, our number two talkbackswill get kick our number three off.
But I wanted to have a chanceto get with our guy Justin Williams of
The Athletic today. He's pretty muchcovering college football, college basketball at this
point. He is all over abig day, in a big week in

(01:05:26):
the college landscape, and he joinsus right now. Justin Williams, what's
going on, man, I'm good, I'm good. Look, Justin there
is and it's kind of been alittle bit behind the scenes because we've had
an NFL schedule release and Red's baseball. But there's a lot going on right
now as it pertains to the NCAA, as it pertains to the government.

(01:05:49):
Get us up to speed on what'sbeen going on between college athletics and college
athletes and what this now lawsuit andsettlement has become across college sports. Yeah,
so the kind of the big lawsuitwe're talking about called House first the

(01:06:09):
NCAA, it's one of these antitrust lawsuits that the NCAA has kind of
been dealing with and reckoning if withfor a while. And for the House
suit, you know, the easiestway to explained is kind of go back
to the beginning and the lawsuits.Basically a lawsuit in two parts. The
first part is retroactive back pay basicallyfor nil for Division one athletes who did

(01:06:32):
not have a chance to earn nilbefore the rule was changed in twenty twenty
one. So basically, any athletegoing back to the twenty sixteen season can
make the argument that, hey,I could have made money on nil,
but the rules weren't in place tostop me from doing that, and so
it's retroactive back pay damage for that, which I realized some people might be
saying, how does that work ifif the rule is different, But this

(01:06:55):
is the American legal system. Andthen the other part of it is moving
forward revenue sharing with Power conference,specifically Power Conference athletes basically saying, hey,
all that money that the Big tenand the SEC and the Big twelves
get from their TV deals with theESPN and CBS and all that kind of
stuff, well the players should haveaccess to that too, and so that

(01:07:16):
would be part of the revenue sharingmoving forward. The NCAA was in a
bunch of trouble because if they wouldhave taken this case to trial and lost,
basically the damages that it would costthem and the rules that would be
lifted on nil, basically, itwould be the end of the NCAA.
They would have to declare bankruptcy,all the guard rails would be lifted.
They'd be in huge trouble. Andthis is in front of the same judge

(01:07:40):
in Northern California which has ruled againstthe NCAA and some of the big cases
like Obandon and Austin in the past. So essentially the NCAA's best move going
forward was to settle the House lawsuit, and that's what we're talking about.
This week. The NCAA and thePower Conferences are voting on settlement agreements,
which if passed, based on reportingwe've done, would basically equate to nearly

(01:08:04):
three billion dollars for that first partof the lawsuit and back pay damages and
then revenue sharing going forward for thePower Conferences kind of in the range of
like twenty to twenty five million dollarsa year. So you know, for
the longest time, the NCAA wasbuilt on amateur athletes. Now, the
power conferences that you you know,power commerce teams that you root for,

(01:08:24):
whether that's Cincinnati, Ohio, State, Washington, and USU, whatever,
they'd be able to directly pay theirathletes with a kind of a pot of
money moving forward for about twenty totwenty five million dollars and so kind of
everything that we've ever known about collegeathletics, which has changed a lot in
recent years with then IL and allthat kind of stuff. It's basically just
completely ending that whole long standing modelof amateurism that existed with the NCAA,

(01:08:49):
and it's going to be totally differentmoving forward if this settlement ends up going
through. So you're essentially going tobe treating these athletes in college as professionals
in a sense. So this,you know, there's also been this talk
about well, our college athletes employeesbecause they correctibly bargain. This is actually
kind of like a middle step beforethat happens. I think all that stuff

(01:09:09):
that fight is still going to continueto happen legally, but this is kind
of like, all right, beforethey were amateur athletes, they couldn't make
any money. Then they could makesome NIL money. Now, all this
money coming in from the TV deals, they're going to share a little bit
of that with the athletes as well. So we're continuing to kind of move
towards this fully professionalized college sports thatyou're referencing. We're not there yet,

(01:09:32):
but this is like the biggest stepso far and kind of the move towards
that, which is probably going tobe the ultimate endgame year. Are you
sure it's twenty sixteen and not twothousand and nine that you're able to retroactively
go back for NIL. Yeah,I don't think it goes back to the
Tony Pike era, but you knowyou were there for for what Anyways,

(01:09:55):
maybe yeah, maybe you can tryand kind of kind of pudge the numbers
and then if you can get somethingin your opinion, because you are you
are very in depth with college sportsin your opinion, is there any end
in how lucrative NIL can become.We're we're hearing stories today of Jayden Reshada

(01:10:16):
and now he's suing Florida for whathe was thought to be what he was
receiving from name, image likeness,what he ends up receiving now he's at
Georgia. It feels at times likethis is a runaway train. Is there
any is there any wrangling this inyour opinion in the future for the NIL
landscape. So one of the kindof parts of the settlement, if it

(01:10:39):
gets agreed to, is that schoolswould basically be incentivized to move their NIO
collectives and operations within the athletic department. So I'll almost become part of that
revenue sharing model where the schools willnow control, Hey, we're going to
pay athletes this much money for NIL, as opposed to the way it is
now, which is these collectives whichtechnically exist outside of the athletic department and

(01:11:02):
can kind of do whatever they want, like Jaydenbrashata Florida situation, as you
reference, there's a lot less guardrails than that situation. So I think
we are moving towards probably after thislawsuit gets settled and then kind of figured
out if that's the way it happens. I wouldn't be surprised if you start
to see some schools move towards bringingtheir NIL in house, which just gives

(01:11:24):
them a little bit more control overyou know, why they're paying their athletes,
how much they're paying their athletes.But look, this is you know,
athletes have been getting athletes have beengetting kind of money, whether it's
as part of the system or outsideof the system, for a long time.
Now. I don't doubt that evenif these changes are made that,
you know, if you're a schoolthat really wants a player, you're going

(01:11:44):
to find a way to maybe incentivizea little bit more to come to your
school. But I think part ofthe issue the NCAA is realizing is like
they fought so hard against this andnow they're kind of losing control over how
this whole situation works. And thesettlement is actually, you know, a
step towards them trying to regain alittle bit more control and kind of put
some limitations in place. And Ithink Nil's part of that justin how long

(01:12:06):
after this settlement, which is,assuming it's going to be reached, how
long from the settlement being reached untilthis is actually in practice and this revenue
sharing is happening, and these organizationsare in house and the players are getting
a piece of a pie, andwho is there to make sure that all
of this stuff is above board inthe meantime and once it does get settled,

(01:12:30):
Yeah, so the revenue sharing couldstart as soon as next season,
like the twenty five, twenty sixyou know, sports seasons for college Even
if the settlement is approved this weekby like the NCAA and the Power conferences,
there's still some legal steps that youknow, the settlement have to be
approved by a judge and then there'slike a rookie period, so the settlement
wouldn't officially got into action until probablythis fall. But if all of that

(01:12:55):
happens, then yeah, we're talkingabout you know, next season, your
your favorite Power conference team has twentyto twenty five million dollars that it can
disperse among its athletes. You know, again, starting with next season,
the NIL thing, you know,I think that it's one of those some
schools will do it sooner than others, you know, you start moving nil
in house, it's gonna some schoolsmight be more ready and prepared to do

(01:13:16):
that based on how their collectives areset up and how many collectives and things
like that they have. But definitely, by next football season, I think
we're gonna be looking at a modelthat even today with the the NIL and
the pay for play that's kind ofgoing on a little bit behind the scenes,
it's going to look a lot moredifferent and honestly be a lot more
formalized in terms of schools paying athletesand things like that. Justin from from

(01:13:40):
your view, from your vantage pointis nil. Is the transfer portal from
a from a grand scheme? Isit a positive or negative for the sport
in your opinion? The transfer portal, yes, portal nil. In just
ways that you know this game,this game has changed more in the last
five years than has in decades.Is that good for college athletics at the

(01:14:03):
very root of it? Yeah,I mean that's I guess your knowledge may
very depends on which part of collegeathletics you like, because I totally get
it. If you're a fan ofcollege football or college pass WORL what effort,
and you're looking at it and beinglike, man, this is not
at all the college sports you knowmodel or or structure that I grew up
with. I totally understand that.And I realized if some might feel a

(01:14:26):
little bit icky about how it's justbecome minor league NFL or minor league NBA
or whatever, I think the thingthat people need to realize is the TV
money for college sports, football inparticular has just gotten so big over the
past couple of decades, and somaybe it was made a little bit more
sense that college athletes were amateurs anddidn't get any money back in the seventies

(01:14:48):
or eighties when they weren't really onTV as much or or they weren't these
multi million dollar TV deals. Butnow there's a bunch of money that's coming
in, and it's going to theuniversity, and it's going the coaching contracts
that are up over ten million dollarsand buyouts when the coach doesn't work out
two years later. They're paying abouta bunch of money, and they're building

(01:15:08):
rec centers and locker rooms for twentythirty three hundred million dollars whatever it is.
And so far the players haven't seenany of that money from a revenue
standpoint. And that's just based onthe way that the American you know,
market is set up in capitalism thatjust doesn't really translate to anything else in
our society. And so I actuallythink you're seeing kind of the capitalistic market

(01:15:31):
of America is catching up the collegesports. Finally, with that in mind,
locally, in your opinion, howimpressive has what Wes Miller done this
offseason and you're because we don't seethis anymore because he has kept the core
group of players from last year tocome back to the basketball team. He

(01:15:53):
has added very talented players, thelatest being Dylan Mitchell. What Wes Miller's
been able to do this offseason justdoesn't feel like it's done that much because
guys can't keep their core group becauseother schools are offering them more money or
different playing time. When you lookat what Wes has done at Cincinnati this
offseason in the in the new role, in the landscape of Nil, in

(01:16:14):
the transfer portal, how impressive isit? No, It's definitely unique and
it's it's impressive, and I think, you know, Wes deserves a bunch
of credit for that. I thinkyou also have to point to something like
Cynthy Rains the you know, theCincinnati collective because you know, you're eason.
A lot of those players are staying. Is clearly Wes Miller as a
connection and brought them there and theywant to play for him. But I

(01:16:35):
think also, you know, somethinglike Cyncia Range is incentivizing them, you
know, to stay with some ofthe work. It's it's done from an
nil perspective, and you know,Wes Miller is kind of like the the
ideal coach for this new modern collegebasketball, right. He's still pretty young,
he's energetic. I think he connectswith players not just as a coach,
but as a former player himself whoplayed in North Carolina. And so

(01:16:57):
I think he's done a good jobof identifying the players that he wants to
bring in and kind of you know, motivating them and getting them to buy
into the program. But then he'salso working with you know, the university
and the collective, which is Ithink, you know, even further incentivizing
those players to either want to cometo Cincinnati, like you know, Dylan
Mitchell and some of the other transfersthey've they've had, or keeping guys like

(01:17:18):
Gisel James and Dan Skillings from wantingto look and go elsewhere. And you
know, it's gonna have to translateonto the floor for Sinnatti. We saw
some some promising signs of it lastyear their first year in the Big Twelve.
But I think you're just looking onpaper of what Wes Miller has kind
of tried to do and and kindof the way the roster has worked out,
what they've been able to to keepand bring in. It's pretty impressive

(01:17:38):
considering all the turnover that's happened,especially in college basketball. When this is
all said and done, justin lookingat it primarily from college football and college
basketball's perspective, do you think thatthis can ultimately help the product on the
field, help the product on thecourt to improve or is just it's hard

(01:17:59):
to tell. There's definitely we've seenin recent years kind of the benefits rights
of and I all has kept someguys who maybe would have gone to the
NFL. You're the NBA a littlebit sooner than they're staying in college basketball,
whether that means they'referring to a differentprogram or staying with their team.
But I do think we've seen someearly signs of maybe the talent level and

(01:18:26):
retention level benefiting a little bit.And I think that's a good thing we
saw, especially with women's basketball,right like kaland Clark being there for four
years and kind of building a legacyat I of the growth of that game.
I think it'd be great if youcould see that in football and basketball,
where you know, maybe a quarterbackcomes around to a couple of schools,
but if you can just kind ofget familiar with some of the big
names in the sport. I actuallythink that helps just from a fan perspective,

(01:18:49):
but also from a quality of thegame perspective. But yeah, I
mean, the truth in the bigpicture is like all of this is changing,
and I think in five, ten, fifteen years, what we're even
looking at right now in terms ofyou know, power conference football, maybe
it does look a lot difference.Maybe they do break away and there's a
super league or super conferences of somesort. And I realize that change can

(01:19:10):
be a little bit scary, butI also think that based on the TV
numbers and the TV dollars, it'spretty clear that people are going to keep
watching too, So no matter whatit does or looks different here in the
in the near future, I havea sense that fans will probably keep watching
the ever changing world of college athleticsvery well put Justin Williams, a changing

(01:19:32):
the Insider reporter, Hollywood man,Justin Williams, Justin, what's the easiest
way to follow along with everything yougot going on, which which is a
lot. I'm at Williams Underscore Justinon Twitter, and you can subscribe to
the athletic where we're covering all ofthis. Love it justin always always appreciate
of your time. Man, Thankyou, thanks, guys, appreciate him.

(01:19:55):
Yes, sir, there he is, Justin Williams. Here you go.
I asked ever changing world. Iasked him today. I Sai,
can you come on and explain thisto us like we are five years old?
And I think you did a greatjob. I feel good about it
now. I feel like a morespeed of an understanding. And it is
when you think about it, howfar the game has advanced in just the

(01:20:15):
last couple of years to where nowwith this settlement and with the nil and
with the transfer portal, and oh, by the way, here comes a
twelve team college football playoff. Collegesports is evolving rapidly, rapidly right now.
It's kind of exhausting to try tokeep it. Yes, it is

(01:20:38):
before we transition. I do wantto set up this giveaway because we're going
to do one segment here, yes, and we're going to give away Dirk's
Bentley tickets to the Gravel and GoldTour that is with special guests Lee Brice
in Graham Barum that is Saturday,June fifteenth at the river Ben Music Center,
and the phone lines are open nowfive to one, three seven four,

(01:20:59):
nine, fifteen thirty. You canalso get tickets at ticketmaster dot com,
riverbend dot org or dirks dot com. That's d I E r ks
dot com. So now's the timeto call five one three seven four nine,
fifteen thirty. And in the meantime, tone, there's some breaking news
with the Cincinnati Reds. Are youready for this? Let's do it.

(01:21:20):
Oh, it's gonna be a specialone, Tony. The Reds begin at
home stand tonight against the San DiegoPadres. First pitch is at six forty,
and they've made a transaction. TheReds today have recalled from tripa a

(01:21:42):
Louisville infielder outfielder Nick Martini, andin a corresponding move, they have optioned
to Louisville outfielder Connor Capel. ConnorCapele goes back to Louisville. Nick Martini,
the big left hander, return Burnsto Cincinnati. Martini had a one

(01:22:02):
point three eight one ops in Louisvilleafter he was optioned down, and he
comes back now, okay, withMike Ford already on the roster, we'll
see how those at bats gets.Wow, how do you Martini for?
Yeah? I mean David Bell canonly put nine guys in the lineup.
Maybe he'd start putting ten in.There you go, uh, Dark Legal

(01:22:26):
Dirk's Bentley ticket. He has asong, I hold on, phenomenal song.
Okay, that's what we're asking youto do right now when you call
in, hold on. You gota question? Yes, I don't have
one yet, but I'll figure,well, give me the category, give
me a topic. I'll find aquestion. Cincinnati Bearcats basketball. There it
is. When we return five one, three, seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty, we're giving away Dark'sBentley tickets right here thanks to our friends

(01:22:49):
at CINTI scharts here for hour numbertwo on ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincy three
sixty continues on ESPN fifteen thirty,Cincinnati's sports station. It's just no beat

(01:23:10):
up truck. Some say that Ishoot trade up now that I got some
jangle in my pan. Little inyour pocket, little jingle in the pocket.
This is Dark Spentley. We've askedour listeners to hold on. Darks
is asking you to hold on,and now we're ready to give away tickets
to go see Dirk Bentley. Oh, if you look at Dirk's Bentley like
top fifteen songs, all bangers,bangers. Yeah, very very underrated is

(01:23:34):
dirk s Bentley. And all youneed to do to win tickets today is
no little UC basketball trivia. Yes, and we are ready. This is
the sounds you're looking for. Ifyou hear that sound, that means you've
won two tickets to go see Dirk'sBentley at River Bend Music Center on June
fifteenth, so less than a monthfrom today, at the Gravel and Gold

(01:23:57):
Tour. Lou Brice Lee Brice Granta sweet lot. I'm gonna be there
as I was thinking of those Cardinalssleek connect uniforms. Our first caller on
hold was Dan in Liberty Township.Dan, do you like Dirk's Bentley and
Bearcats basketball? Oh? Love themboth? All right, you're in good
Shaw, But Dan, this isgonna be easy for you. All I
need is the name of the formerthree time Greater Catholic Catholic League Player of

(01:24:21):
the Year, Cincinnati Player of theYear in nineteen ninety four and also for
a summer was also one of mytrainers. Oh crap, and he went
to Molar High School. Yes,he did uh oh, oh, shoot,
shoot shoot. Oh, dang it, guys, I got the ballot.

(01:24:42):
I know he played forward, butI cannot remember his name. Gotta
give us a guest, Dan Man, you can't look at the third strike.
You gotta swing the bat here.Yeah, I'm sorry, guys.
All I can think of is uh, I've hovered on the brain. It's
not that, not that, Thankyou, Dan. Sorry. Dave in

(01:25:04):
Fairfax, oh man, oh geez, three time GCL Player of the Year,
Cincinnati Basketball Player of the Year inninety four, in ninety four.

(01:25:26):
I know this isn't right, butoh man five four three, Jasey Williams,
I know that. Sorry, Sorry, Dave. Let's go to Forest
Park where Craig is standing by.Hello, Craig, what's up, fellas.
It's not Bobby Brannan. It isBobby brann Bobby Brandon. Let's go.

(01:25:49):
How about that we've been to I'vebeen to his bar and reading the
backyard bar. Is that the hintof training tone? He should have given
it away. It's a reading.God, that's it. That's it,
all right. Congratulations, hold onfor me. Thank you. Not to
be confused with John Brannon, who'sin the news. As well. For

(01:26:12):
you know some big time I heardJohn is considered as being considered for a
basketball head coaching John really, yeah, I forget where I saw that.
Yeah, a lot going on.I'm a big John Brandon guy. But
concrats to Craig who knew Bobby Brandon. Bobby Brandon. Then we'll be going
to see Dark Spentley. Let's gowell played talkbacks when we get back.
Nancy three sixty ESPN fifteen thirty CincinnatiSports Station ESPN thousand dollars entered this nationwide.

(01:26:39):
Keward on our website. Now,grand, that's grand. Enter it
now. This is Pennstation East CoastSubs since e three to sixty of bound
Cincinnati from Cincinnatis, sponsored in partby Pennstation East Coast Subs. Handcrafted hot
grilled subs, fresh cut fries andlemonade. It's all about good taste.
Penn Station in East Coast Subs orderonline today. This is ESPN fifteen thirty

(01:27:04):
Cincinnati Sports Station. All right,welcome back, Thank you to Penn Station
for getting us underway here in ournumber three. Chad Brenda will join us
for quick hits, Locks of thenight. We've got some Bengals from OTA's
today. But before any of that, because we had to move things around
today, it's time, Austin foryou know what. It is, That

(01:27:26):
time for talkbacks. Press the microphone, hand record your message for Austin and
tone, please keep it clean anddon't be mean. Uh huh and a
sprinkle sprinkled drip drip. It's thattime for talkbacks. It's our favorite part
of Sancy three sixty. Austin,buddy, play that talkback on your screen

(01:27:49):
and please try not to Saba tajayoutu. I read start a nine game
home series tonight playing the who cares? Starting pitchers are who cares and who
really cares? First pitch is atwho cares? Well, it sounds like

(01:28:14):
Jim has maybe given up on theReds. That's kind of what it sounds
like to me. Tony Audie Clifffrom Melsmere, Hey, with a little
trivia for you, all right,Cliff Elie Delacruz, at his current pace,
will strike out two hundred and eleventimes, which would eclipse the current

(01:28:34):
Reds record for strikeouts in a season. Name the player, the year,
and the amount of strikeouts and nocheating by looking up in the stats.
I don't know the I'm gonna guessAdam Dunn two thousand and seven, two
and two strikeouts, but I truthfullydon't know. Well, I don't know

(01:28:57):
what that is. I have noidea what that was. But yes,
that's my guess. Who's your guest? I don't know. Okay, done
was terrible. Dune never made contact. I did look it up. He
had one hundred and ninety five strikeoutsin two thousand and four. I'm assuming
that's the record. Okay, wrappingRonnie here, Well, the time is

(01:29:23):
here when we used to have somefun following the Reds in the summer in
the sun, but now all wegot is a whole bunch of losing,
save for the occasional Li de Lacruising. But I'm kind of worried when
I heard all La say that hisfavorite city is the city of La When
the Reds are down, there ain'ta big selection, but summer will be
saved by the talk back electionend.Okay, I like that, by the

(01:29:46):
way, I looked it up.Austin Drew Stubbs, Oh really five two
five back in twenty eleven. Ohgosh, I'm pretty tired of anytime someone
brings up the Reds underperforming immediately sayinjuries, which, yeah, okay,
we've had injuries there right now,Marte and mclann are hurt, and yeah,
McLain's probably our best player, andMarte would be very poor to our

(01:30:10):
team. But those are two injuries. Are you telling me that two players
come off injuries is going to getus like fifteen extra wins or we're peneus
about five hundred right now? Imean no, But there are such bigger
issues on this team. I'm nearingthe point where I'm tired of hearing about
the injuries. I hear that,but it's also a big part of their
story. There's also TJ. Friedelwho's been out most of this He's played

(01:30:31):
six games. That is a thirdof your lineup that has missed the entire
season, with the exception of sixgames. So I do think that maybe,
just maybe there's an impact on howmany games you win when those guys
What would the impact be, Idon't know. Would you feel better about
them in one run games? Imean, replacement as a stat will use

(01:30:55):
a ton now in baseball? Okay, what's the war on those guys?
All right? All together? Maybethey give you three or four extra wins.
Okay, do you think it makesthe other team and the the other
players on the team better, Iwould hope. So I'm not saying they're
gonna it's gonna be a fifteen gameswing, but to the point where you
feel better about them now, right, Yeah? I mean if there in

(01:31:18):
one run game or they get backand they don't live up to the hype,
and then you're looking at what's next, which is always a possibility with
young players. Austin and Toni it'sa boomer drew from South Bend. I
really enjoyed the PGA tournament. Thatwas great. Great to see Shoffley win,

(01:31:39):
long overdue for him. He's sucha good player. But what I
really enjoyed was these guys that wereyelling who day When he for teeing off.
One guy yelled Joe Burrow. Igot such a kick out of it.
But my guys on my golf chatthey didn't like so much. Their
heads were exploding. Have a greatday, guys. I saw this a
lot. Austin, there was alot of people. Dan Horde was down

(01:32:00):
there, yeah, and mentioned thatthere was a lot as the players were
hitting of people yelling hooday Bengals nationis everywhere. I love Joe Burrow so
much that you know I count mywoman looking at a picture to him on
online with the long hair. Oursurch treasure is nothing. We're not gonna
do this. Hey, Tony,hey Allstee, Kevin Andaric Keev tack here

(01:32:25):
when I send some love out toyour sponsor and friends at Sinsey Shirts,
man, they'd do it right there. Try to order our shirt last week
online and said can't send it toyour location. I thought, what the
Friday, I'm like forty minutes fromyou, guys, What do you mean
you can't ship it? I reachedout to under Customers Supports. They fixed
the issue. Now I got mySincy three sixty nineties retro wrap stout Insuranton

(01:32:46):
and Nadi and then ready to wearto see you guys at the banks Friday.
keV. I can't wait to seeyou. I love that, keV.
Thank you. Uh. This appearsto be one from your buddy Tony
Austin stick Foo from the Ding.This is just a temporary fix for the
Reds, but I say you,uh, get rid of the Viking helmet,

(01:33:10):
cape and the curved bat just forthe time until they can get it
together. Don't know if other peoplefeel the same way, but eh,
we'll try it. So six sticksays, take away the fun. Yeah,
so stick says, if you don'tplay well, you can't have fun.
There you go. I don't mindthat stick. Yeah, I'd like

(01:33:32):
to take the over Stick's head forsaying something like that. Hey, guys,
talk back banners. I happy Tuesdayto you, Tony. Glad that
you're back. Ched did a greatjob though yesterday you Anyway, what's the
over under? If the over under, I'm sorry, if the over under
is twelve strikeouts for Ellie for thisseries and La, do you take the

(01:33:57):
over or the under? Sober orunder on Ellie for twelve strikeouts for San
Diego? Yeah, we got Iwould say under, just because I'm banking
on him bouncing back from what wasa rough final three games. Yeah,
I guess I'll say the same.I'll try to be positive. Hey,
Tony and Austin. It's Adam andunfortunately in the sad state of the Cincinnati

(01:34:21):
Reds. There's an unwritten rule inbaseball the States. Once you're ten games
back, it doesn't matter if it'sMay or July, you're done. And
the Reds are getting dangerously close tothat. It's going to be hard enough
climbing out of an eight game hole, let alone ten, which is impossible.
See you next year, guys.Yeah, lucky to feel that it's

(01:34:43):
spiraling. You got to put astop to it on a nine game homestand
yeah, hey guys, great show. Thank you for the after year.
It's always something, whether it's injuries, whether it's stillness, whether new players
are coming up in their rebuilding.It's always something, and there's never a

(01:35:06):
plan on what plan A doesn't work, what are we gonna do? It's
always throw your hands up and let'svote for the best. Yeah, I'm
just in a tough spot of likelooping the guys that are currently on the
team with their last thirty years ofmediocrity, what this organization has been as

(01:35:30):
not their fault. Yeah, thatgoes back to the performance. Is that
goes back to the most point ofyou know you, you feel bad because
as a fan base, you expectmore. These current players should get benefited.
Doubt for the Reds. I wouldtry two different things. The first
thing is we need stability and thetop half of the lineup India Ellie Stevenson

(01:35:54):
Candelario steer one through five. Youcan go righty, switch righty, switch
right, so you can do anytype a picture. Then the bullpen.
I would take Suitor and Martinez andmake them both multi inning, late inning
guys, and take all the restof the bullpen and make them middle relief.
But those guys have histories of beingable to do that before. Okay,
all right, there we go.We're trying to somebody who's coming up

(01:36:15):
with a plan of action to fixthe ball club. Hey, guys,
I'm out here in Vegas just absolutelydumping them. Okay. One thing that's
crazy to me is how many peoplein Cincinnati own lizards, Like every single
one of your guys commercials talking aboutreptile dysfunction. I hope these people's lizards

(01:36:38):
get the help they need, rightright, Well said, yeah, there's
the appears to be a lot oflizards that are dysfunctional. Hodyboy, it's
true. But in the tuk backcameboy. Who I think is around with
the local ball club is these guysare not playing to the names on the

(01:37:00):
back of the gift thes are notplaying like, yeah, these young years
don't know or appreciate the rich historyand tradition of the sitars. Thank you
Jay, Well, guys gets inlove. One Happy Tuesday. I wanted
to get Tony's take on my questionfrom yesterday's talkback since he wasn't here,

(01:37:25):
U can we ever see an NFLquarterback who is Ambi dexterus? Now?
We talked about some of the advantagesavoiding a really good blind side pass rusher,
switching sides if you have an injury. Chad talked about some of the
disadvantages with mechanics and footwork. Youthink it's possible. Also, look up
mikey Gao, he's a high schoolquarterback. I think he's done it before

(01:37:46):
at the NFL level. No,and it's so hard to play quarterback at
the NFL level that you don't havethe time to do both. You don't
have the time for the footwork,you don't have the time for the different
drops, the different reads. Youcould do it as a as maybe a
caveat in high school football, maybeeven at a college level, but that'll

(01:38:06):
never happen in the NFL. Ilike in our solutions to the red Heads,
like we do with those men's performancethings you guys promote. We got
the long term like Tri State Men'sHealth. That's letting the Reds get healthy.
Maybe not pursuing it this year,We'll go for it again next year.
Okay, came old, then yougot the blue Choe. Oh and
I would say the blue Choe wouldbe the Castelini spending some money and us

(01:38:28):
bringing in some guys. But weknow that ain't gonna happen. So what
it really is gonna be a heartattack, dead on the floor in a
hotel room in Mike Forger three holehitters, Hello, Tony and Austin.
It's him from point so known andyour reloquent words reminded me of that old
song we've never heard, goes likethis when we're the resbid in their quest,

(01:38:49):
how can our hitters be among theleague's best. They're playing now for
Pride. We'll find out what's insideits hold choice. Jim, I hope

(01:39:09):
you come out on Friday, Buddy, I hope you come out Friday.
You might have you. We mighthave you sing the national anthem prior to
our show starting at the Grails RatsFans Jump. I was there, shues
it with the presidential campaign update.Of course, I'm running for president of

(01:39:29):
doc backs and as president. Youhave to be a utility player, play
lots of different positions like the followingrats Chris high Ezy, Yeah, Rightan
Friel and of course no other thanJerry Harristad June Jerry Harriston. He told

(01:39:50):
him instead of Hairston. That's unbelievable. And uh, I know it's been
a minute since I've left it.Whoa an audie? What's going on?
It's Maso And I know it's beena minute since I've left one of these
things. So I apologize if If this up. First things First,
has anyone done a welfare check onyets in Loveland after his Calves and Thunder

(01:40:13):
got eliminated for the playoffs? Oh? Second, Ronald Reagan, you've got
to be held accountable for your actionsyour MAVs in twenty five take how's that
looking? Oh? No, bowyanoman, Maso just been sitting back keeping
receipts, hadn't he? Did youknow that chicken once lived for eighteen months
without its head? Hmm, that'stough to do. I'm kind of surprised

(01:40:38):
Maso can count to twenty five.Yeah, that's your problem, Reds,
and it's been your from all along. You don't play like your name is
on the back of your chest.Man. One mess up is all it
takes in this world. Guys,Oh my god, I would get my

(01:41:00):
arm to be ambidexterous. That soundsgreat. Last one yo, today's talk
back fire. I love it.I love it. I don't have I
don't have a solution to fix theReds. They're just young and it is
what it is. It's very painful. Is it football season? Yet something

(01:41:20):
that matters to be? Hopefully,like I said, gott into June,
to the end of June. Let'ssee what the Reds can do, you
know, Austin. This started todaywith talkbacks of asking people to help fix
the Reds, and all because Isay, play for the names on your
back of your chest. We justget crushed, you know, to of
thought. But our show, thisteam, this is what our show is

(01:41:43):
supposed to be about. We're supposedto be a distraction from the struggles of
everyday life. We are supposed tobe a place of comfort rather than a
place of fear and struggle like theReds bring us to. And your mishaps
can often lead to the joy ofothers. That's how you have to look
at it when you fail over andover and over again. Well said,

(01:42:05):
we got some Bengals, maybe someeven Bearcats when we get back Saint three
sixty, ESPN fifteen thirty, CincinnatiSports Station, Thanks to Penn Station.
Loegar. We've talked about this alot. He's got what you want,
like, who's the go to guy, gonna be the interviews, his views
and your calls. Cecil guy,isn't the team's leading school? Loegar Today
at three on ESPN fifteen thirty.Hey, imagine waking up. The sixty

(01:42:30):
is back on ESPN fifteen thirty,Cincinnati's Sports Station. Welcome back since E
three sixty. Thank you to ourfriends at Penn Station. ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station. A lot goingon. OTA's are happening today,

(01:42:56):
No surprise, No T Higgins don't. I don't even get why. It's
a I guess for those that coverthe NFL you have to report on it.
But at this point, man,it's just we know what this is
going to look like. Yeah,and he's going to just take on the
same Jesse Bates outline and it's probablygonna follow along with that. He's one

(01:43:17):
of three wide receivers who are notgoing to OTAs Ceedee Lamb of the Dallas
Cowboys, Justin Jefferson of the MinnesotaVikings, and T Higgins. No big
deal. I don't see this bigHe knows the offense, he knows Joe
Burrow. It's it's not going toput him way behind. I will say

(01:43:38):
I think that it's going to beinteresting to see over the next few weeks
how different the offense is. AndCharlie wrote about this and I look forward
to talking to Charlie about it onFriday that he said, this is the
most the Bengals playbook has changed sinceBurrow got there, with Dan Pitcher being

(01:44:00):
the new offensive coordinator, and ZachTaylor told Dan hord On on the Bengals
Booth podcast that he's going to kindof take a step back this spring and
let Dan Pitcher, you know,make his mark on the offense. I
think that's really interesting. I thinkit's interesting. I think it's welcomed to
have another voice in there. Andlook kind of mentioned this last week and

(01:44:25):
we alluded to Joe Burrow and doyou play him at all in the preseason,
and one of the reasoning reasoning forit would be not having that feel
yet with Dan Pitcher, which meansthe more Dan Pitcher can be involved now
and the more you hear from DanPitcher and get comfortable with his thought process,
the better it's going to be forJoe Burrow in this offense. So
maybe that's one of the ways tocombat that. For the Cincinnati Bengals and

(01:44:49):
this offense who it looks to,you know, obviously, uptick from where
they were last year and get backto one of the best offenses in the
National Football League. Hopefully one oftheir draft picks will help them get back
to that offense. And it's ait's a player that is receiving a lot
of hype through the early parts ofthese offseason workouts, and that is Jermaine

(01:45:13):
Burton. Our guy Jeremy Ralph fromFox nineteen posted this on his Twitter just
under a minute of Jermaine Burton fromearlier this afternoon talking about learning from Joe
Burrow. I mean, truld betold, I'd rather both of those guys
be here now, but you know, I understand how stuff works. But
yeah, if anything, I wouldrather just be like working and learning from
those guys and you know, beingaround them just as much as I'm doing

(01:45:36):
with the other guys who's been herebefore me. So yeah, but I
mean it's also been good working withJoe, you know, getting any kind
of reps and stuff like that.I just look forward to keep doing it,
like keep working chemistry grow. Imean, you guys have training camp
coming obviously, but to get thatchemistry now with Joe Burrow, how big
is that? Found Ober that washuge. You know, you gotta you

(01:45:57):
know, that's the man, soyou gotta you know. I like learning
how he likes certain things and detailson certain routes. So and he does
a pretty really good job explaining ofyou know, how he wants it and
how it should be. So yeah, after him explaining things is it's a
bit more easier. That's the keypart for me, Austin. Really,
all the takeaway is is hearing theimportance of Joe Burrow with with Jermaine Burton,

(01:46:21):
and I think that goes into evenmore of Burrow's stance and not anything
that Joe Burrow has openly made lightof, but everyone that we've talked to
that has been at these Bengals practices, regardless of what they've thought of the
risk or throwing or where he's thatin his progression. Everyone agrees on the
same thing, and that is JoeBurrow's leadership on display right now, being

(01:46:45):
more vocal working with the new players, the offensive lineman, and we kind
of meshed that with gone as TylerBoyd, Gone is Joe Mixon, Gan
as Jonah Williams, and and JoeBurrow now sliding into a little more of
that leadership role and a little moreof that vocal role for this team.
Yeah, and he talked about thatwhen he met with the media at the
beginning of the second phase of OTA'sabout being that guy who's a little bit

(01:47:09):
more vocal. And the video thatthe Bengals posted yesterday of him being very
hands on with Jermaine Burton about comingout of a route and how he's going
to throw the ball and where heexpects him to be and that sort of
stuff is just really really important fora young player to get on the same
page with the quarterback. And again, you know, it kind of goes
to prove the point about Higgins.Higgins knows that stuff. Now, maybe

(01:47:31):
the foundation of the offense and whatexactly is going to look like. Maybe
he'll have some catching up to do. But Joe and Jamar don't need those
reps right now. Great if theydo, wonderful, but they don't have
to have that right now, andit creates more reps for the young guys.
If I also believe we have justa few seconds here from Jeremy Ralligan
of the new graduate graduated this pastweekend, Cam Taylor Brent Husker about what

(01:47:57):
growth he expects this year from thedeep the best in the league. There's
no inf answer but about it.I think we started, you know,
so as he got in the building, and it's continued and it's going to
continue with the guys in his room. I don't cheer it down for all
anywhere. Everybody could play in hisroom. Uh, you know how the
scene is along. You never knowwho will have the opportunity to play GodFor
Billy and you know we stay healthy. But well, was definitely no I

(01:48:20):
can trust these guys in the room, you know, to get the job
done. All right, sign meup for that best in the league.
I'm okay with it. Best dBroom in the league. Thank you,
Cam Tyler Britt for that audio.No problem with that. Love it Ton
when we get back. Uh,this has not been posted by the Reds
on social media yet, but accordingto the MLB at Bat app, the
Reds lineup card for Tonight's game againstthe Padres has been submitted. And I

(01:48:46):
just love this ball club. Wecan get to that when we come back.
Since e three sixty thanks to PennStation on the ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station, neat Inspiration, Welcomeback Cincy three to sixty. Thank you

(01:49:06):
to our friends at Penn Station ESBNfifteen thirty. We will get more into
the Bearcats, more into college footballagain. On the show tomorrow, we
have a Red's lineup in just asecond. Can I give you a crazy
Can I give you a crazy NBAstat? Real quick? All right,
go ahead, listen to this.The fifteen highest paid players in the NBA.

(01:49:28):
There's a list of the fifteen highestpaid players, from Steph Curry at
number one to Anthony Davis at numberfifteen. Of those fifteen highest paid players,
guess how many are still in theplayoffs. One one I heard this
earlier. One Rudy Gobert. RudyGilbert, last of the Mohicans. Rudy
Gobert. He's making well like fortymillion dollars a year. He's making a
lot of money, keeps getting thosedefensive Player of the Year awards. I

(01:49:51):
know the basketball Hall of Fame doesn'tmean anything, but he's gonna be a
Hall of Famer. He is soand a lot of people don't think so.
Good for all right, that's goodfor Rudy, Rudy. What about
the Reds Austin Many are wondering comingoff the losing streak. This lineup tone.
This is the day. This isthe day that the Reds turn around

(01:50:13):
with this as the lineup tone.Game forty eight of one and sixty two
tonight at Great American Ballpark, Firstpitch, six forty as the Reds look
to turn things around in homestand hereis how they will line up. Leading
off in left field, Jacob hrdAbes just restart lead off. Who leading

(01:50:39):
off in left field Jacob Herdebes.The second batter is the shortstop, Lie
de la Cruz. The third batteris first baseman Jamer Candelario. The cleanup
batter is the right fielder Jake Fraley. Tyler Stevenson bat's fifth he's the catcher.
Mike Ford is the sixth batter inDH batting seventh. The second baseman

(01:51:00):
Jonathan India. The eighth batter isthird baseman Santiago Espinall Will Benson will bat
ninth, then play center field withAndrew Abbott on the mound. Once more.
For the Red Legs, it's Herdibe'sde la Cruz, Candelario, Frehley,
Stevenson Ford India, Espinal Benson withAndrew Abbott on the mound. Okay,

(01:51:25):
let me be the Brian Windhorse memeright here now, why would they
do that? Question? Mark?Spencer Steer did not start Sunday's game in
La starting to worry about that.He comes in as a pinch hitter.
Yep, gets the walk to tiethe game. They lift him immediately leaves
the game for a pinch runner.Pinch runner Jacob Herdabies off day yesterday,

(01:51:48):
not in the lineup today, andthey're facing Joe Muskrove, a right hander
Who's Steer hit a home run offof in San Diego at the beginning of
this month. Yeah, we knowwhat this means your reaction. I'd be
a day or two before we hearthat. Spencer Steeer is probably on the
injured list for some So that's whereyou're at. That's my thought. What

(01:52:09):
would be yours? Uh didn't startI'm just Finaley against the Dodgers, didn't
run when he got on base offday yesterday, not in the lineup today
against a hitter or pitcher that he'shad success with as early as this year.
Yeah, I don't quite understand it. I do worry a little bit
about what might be going on there. Also, David Bell has done in

(01:52:31):
the past where he sits a playerthat he feels like is not performing well,
Spencer Steer. Perhaps that could beit. Okay, I hope so
maybe they just really like the matchupof you know, the first four batters
in that lineup are going to beleft handed hitting left handed before you get

(01:52:51):
to Stevenson, who's been playing who'sthe best hitter in the line Like four
drops from the three slot to thesix and then we're just throwing darts at
a board on where Indian benching aregoing to hit on a nightly basis pretty
much great. One of the favoritepastimes I have at this point Austin is
when the Reds officially tweet this lineup, reading the comments, oh yeah,

(01:53:12):
it's fun and maybe we'll brighten yourday, as Chad Brenda will try to
do when we come back. QuickHits, Locks of the night, since
He three sixty, ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station. Thank you to
our friends at Penn Station ESPN fifteenyears on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports
Station, It's time for Cincy threesixty quick Yes on ESPN. We're bat

(01:53:35):
it's since He three sixty. Thisis quick hits and we're getting ready to
pass off a baton here or atorch, whatever you want to call it
to Chad Brendle, who was infor me admirably filling in yesterday quickly.
What the heck was Mike talking about? I don't know you and Austin?
That was that was an interesting combination? No, god, a problem,
Mike. Interesting combinations lead to goodradio. Yeah. I think that's what

(01:53:57):
we produce it. That's the pointof radio, right, That's an interesting
combination. That's what you want tohave, Austin, what do you got?
By the way, some information onSpencer Steer. I was questioning a
potential injury. I see now thatMark Sheldon reported, yes, that Steer
is dealing with a sore ankle.Okay, and he is currently listed as
day today. Did not see thatnow, Yes we all know. And

(01:54:18):
also Charlie Goldsmith spoke with Emilio Pegan. Pagan said his MRI was quote super
super clean okay, and he isgoing to play catch today and a positive
update for him. Okay, great, good updates for the Reds. Let's
now go to positive updates from ChadBrendle. Chad, you just got a
chance to uh to hear the Redslineup for today. How much Reds will

(01:54:42):
you be doing from three to sixtoday? Well, it's actually funny,
Tony. I was I was drivingin today and I was listening to you
in Austin. Thank you, anduh, you guys pretty much did my
entire show. I'll talk to JustinWilliams today. Yeah, uh so you
guys, you guys already did that. I guess I'll have to have him
do like the two to oh one, Yeah, like you guys did one
oh one. Yeah, get him, have him do two oh one on

(01:55:03):
this, raise up the level.Yeah, that's you know, you took
the one class at one thirty.The next class you're gonna take it at
what what's that called? When youyou know, like fast track of class
or whatever that is. I don'talmost do it. You do it in
eight weeks instead of sixteen weeks.It's kind of what you're going through here
Austin. I didn't come here toplay school class class right, fast class.
God blessed Cardile Jones. But yetwe're we're gonna we're gonna talk to

(01:55:28):
Justin about some college sports stuff.We're gonna we're gonna talk to our guy,
Jeff f f car Yes about therads. We're gonna talk to Kegan
Nickoson about the the addition of DylanMitchell to the Cincinnati Bearcatch basketball roster,
and and we're gonna talk a lotof rads. And I I have a
lot of the same questions you do. We tried Chad, what what is

(01:55:50):
the how do you get out ofthis? I have a question, Tony.
Yes, they have a young,unproven hitting coach. Do you feel
like this team has good trips tothe plate? I don't. I think
there's games where they look lost,considering they played an hour and fifty nine

(01:56:11):
minutes last week. What is supposedto be the job of the hitting coach
better at bats, production at theplate, like develop break down the tape
development. Show a guy, thisis what he had, This is what
the pitcher has. Yeah, like, here's your cutups that you need to
watch. Here's how he pitches toguys with with your similar profile analytics,

(01:56:32):
which told a lot about that withthe Rents analytics. H but you talked
about the Brewers. Doesn't it feellike when the Brewers go to the plate
like they have they have an understanding. Saint Louis did this for years and
years and years and years. Youknow, Saint Louis's problem right now is
a talent issue. So I thinkthe Reds have a hitting coach problem.

(01:56:53):
I mean at the very core ofit. If you're gonna if you're gonna
pitch me that David Bell is managingwith a hand tied behind his back because
of the suspension and because of theinjuries. Okay, how can you pitch
me a team that is tied fordead last in baseball in team batting average?

(01:57:13):
Right, And it's it's in ayoung, inexperienced hitting coach in the
core part of a lot of playerscareers, the young part where you're looking
for development. If you can't pitchme on David Bell, surely you can
pitch me on a hitting coach thathas no experience on a team right now,
that is the worst than base platelost at the plate? Correct?

(01:57:34):
So that part, I mean,look the other thing, Okay, they
have injuries, three injuries, andand and we just write that that's it
for the season, that's it.How many how many wondering games? They're
one and eleven in wonder und games. You think Will Benson being on the
Interstate doesn't have a hand in that. Jake Frayley hasn't done anything in a

(01:57:56):
month. Those guys are still healthy, right, He's got to play with
what other teams play with what theyhave. I just look, I understand
that a couple core pieces are notaround. That does not mean you wave
the white flag at the end ofMay. Baseball is also different than let's
say you lose a quarterback in football. Sure, let's say you lose one

(01:58:16):
of your five starting players in basketball. Baseball is a much bigger roster.
Baseball is position players. And let'sbe honest, in baseball, if you
get three hits in every ten atbats, you're a Hall of Famer.
One player, two players, threecannot make up as much as that would
be a quarterback or a player inbasketball, right, I've got to get

(01:58:38):
over the injury comment when it pertainsto the Reds. There are excuses and
there are reasons. Is it areason that the Reds are underperforming. Yes,
but it's also an excuse because whatyou're doing when you blame it all
on that, when you shove itall on those three guys being out,
you are not holding the guys thatare here that are part of this core

(01:59:01):
accountable for being terrible. Yeah,they can't play defense. They run themselveselves
out of innings. When they canget on base, they find a way
to run themselves out of an inning. Give away outs on the they give
away outs. Uh. The pitchingwas starting. Pitching has been great.
But you know what's gonna happen,Tony. I told Austin this yesterday.
I'll tell you exactly what's gonna happen. The bats are gonna come around a

(01:59:24):
little bit m hm, and thepitching is gonna follow. See the regression,
and and and then we're dealing withthe same thing. And they're still
gonna lose one run games. Insteadof losing three to two, they'll lose
six to five. They've they've they'velost they've they've given up so many quality
starts. Yeah, Andrew ab wentseven and is his last outing. Hunter
Green has gone seven and they've gotnothing to show for it. It's they

(01:59:45):
are playing with fire and this whole. If it's not its injuries, it's
well, it's a long season.The season gets a lot shorter if you
don't take care of I mean,you've got a nine game homestand starting tonight.
Yeah, at minimum you have tohave a winning homestand at minimum anything
worse. And just how much ofyour hard earned money are you putting on

(02:00:06):
them going five and four in thishome stand against right, I just don't
hankes against the Dodgers or the Lockswho are playing really well. But that's
the thing, there's no optimism rightnow. There's no reason to look at
this and say, Okay, they'rethey're getting close. They're nine games under,
they're what eight and a half back. It's getting late. It's getting
late early, very early Mother's Day. It was a week ago. Yes,

(02:00:30):
man, Chad Brendle is up fromthree to six, But before that,
can we get a lock of thenight. Austin Hay degenerates, it's
time for locks of the night.Presented by Sincy Shirts. Is it either
store in Hyde Park or on DixieHighway and Fort Mitchell and always online at
sincey shirts dot com. Now let'smake you some money now saying all that

(02:00:51):
we just did, Chad Reds orhome Dogs tonight you like them? No,
Austin, you tweeted, the homedog strategy has been working lately.
Home dog strategy has been wonderful.It has treated me well. I will
continue to follow it from now untilthe end of the season. All right,
so you get to double dip tonighthome Dog and hope that the Cincinnati

(02:01:11):
Reds win a game. I'm lookingmore towards the National Basketball Association here.
I'm looking at Game one Celtics andthe Indiana Pacers. Look, I know
the Pacers are a younger, alittle bit more experience. Defense, though,
is always going to travel, andduring the season, Boston gets a

(02:01:32):
lot of their offense from the threepoint line, and Indiana is a team
that defends the three point line verywell. The numbers ten and a half.
I'm not going to come in hereand say that that Boston is going
to lose Game one of the EasternConference Finals at home. I am going
to come in and say that ateam that just shot over seventy percent for

(02:01:53):
much of Game seven on the roadin Indiana is playing with a little confidence.
They're coming into Boston with a littleconfidence that defense will travel. I
think Boston wins, but I'm prettycomfortable with Indiana covering ten and a half
the rest of the way for Boston, right, Yes, like they have
to win a championship. Yeah,anything less than a title is disappointing for

(02:02:13):
this. They pressure on the Patrisback, a lot of pressure on the
on the Celtics, the pressure onthe Pacers ten and a half. That's
a lot of points for Game oneof the Eastern Conference Finals. And I
don't see the Celtics being better thaneither of the teams in the West.
No, And you get like this, Boston's head rest. So do you
come out a little rusty? Alittle rusty versus Indiana, who played their
best game of the series in Gameseven on the road of Madison Square Guard.

(02:02:36):
What's Boston known for? They giveaway a couple of games every series.
Amen, We're done. Chad Brendle'snext since he three to sixty ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Thanksto our callers, listeners, talkbackers,
and sponsors. Listening to Chad onESPN fifteen to thirty ESPN City