All Episodes

January 23, 2025 11 mins
Jeff Brantley, known to some as "The Cowboy," joined us to talk about the Reds, on ESPN1530.

Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.

Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.

Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen

Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger


Follow on X: @MoEgger

Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
First Reds Cactus League game, which means the first Reds
Cactus League broadcast, which means we'll be listening to Jeff
Brantley and Tommy Thrall and it can't get here soon enough.
But first we get a chance to chat with Jeff Brantley.
It is awesome to have him here in studio as
part of the Red's caravan. How is the caravan treating you?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
So far?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
So good?

Speaker 4 (00:21):
This is our first stop, this is got just got
finished with the affiliate luncheon, and we are this is
our first stop.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Man, very good, and your first top is with me.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
That's exactly right. Oh boy, how does that make you feel? Honored?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Honored, honored to be in your presence? Yeah, honored to
be the first.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Right, let me start with with this Terry Francona, So
like what an injection of enthusiasm and energy just as
a fan?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Right, you find out, say which one.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
About David Bell who had a lot of positive attributes,
but they replace him with a guy who could not
be more accomplished. If you're looking for somebody who has
done everything in this game, it's Terry Francona.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
You've been around him, you know him. Where's biggest impact
going to be.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
I think part of it for Tito, and this is
a great part of it, is his ability to communicate
and to be able to push guys together. That you
hear so much about analytics and how we evaluate the
game today, Hey, it's still a team sport, and you've

(01:22):
got to figure out a way to put twenty five
in this day and age, just thirty five guys that
all come together and figure out a way to get
it done.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:32):
I don't know if you know this or not, Mo,
but in nineteen ninety nine and two thousand, I played
for Terry Francona in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform. Now, we
were not very good, and part of the reason we
were not very good is because I was not very good.
You know, you can't win if you don't get those
last three outs, you know. But that was the beginning

(01:54):
of his managerial career, and you just even in times
of desperation because we were we were bad, but you
could see the makings of a form a future really
good manager just by the way he handled Kurt Shilling.
I mean, Shilling was on that club and he handled

(02:14):
the great players as much as he did some of
the guys that were just trying to break into the
big leagues.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
He's one with veteran players, he's one with younger players.
He's one in the big market, he's one in a
smaller market like Cleveland, like there's no there's no box
that he has and checked. One word that you've heard
used often is accountability. Right, managers have the hold players accountable.
And I'm I'm interested in seeing this is more of
a comment than a question. I'm interested in seeing how
that plays out once the season gets underway.

Speaker 4 (02:42):
Well, I think if anybody that's had a conversation with
with Tito knows that his he defers to that self
deprecating humor and and that's who he is, and he
uses that in a way that when he gets on
you or he's telling you about something that's a weakness
or trying to push you in a different direction to

(03:04):
help you figure out some success, he does it in
a way that makes you when you're finished with the conversation,
you think, man, I love this guy. Now, that's what,
in the real sense of the word, you're managing people.
And that is who he is because he's a great
communicator and he does it he does it in such

(03:25):
a different way that every conversation that you have with him,
you leave thinking, well, I can't wait to run through
a wall for this guy. And I think that's part
of the reason that he's had such great success on
both of those realms that you mentioned, not only with
the clubs that had the two hundred and fifty million
dollars payroll, but also with clubs that had a ninety
five million dollar payroll.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Right.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, And he's one with younger players, and he's one
with experienced players, and he's got a lot of young players. Now,
what was so encouraging about last year and then kind
of fell apart in the last five or six weeks
was the starting pitching. You know, it was frustrating because
the team, relative to how good the starting pitching was,
the team kind of underperformed.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
You know.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
It's like, man, they're wasting a lot of really good starts.
At the same time, get those guys healthy. It is
a great foundation on top of what you could build
this year.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, I think part of that is going to have
to be developed. Now.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
You have Derek Johnson here, which helps Tito greatly. But
I think from Tito's standpoint, He's going to have to
get to know the personality of those starting pitchers, so
he understands when a guy tells him, hey, I can
go two more, I'm good. He knows whether to push
that button or pull it back. And I think that

(04:39):
for this club, yeah, we'd love to have everybody healthy
for one hundred and sixty two ball games. That hasn't happened,
nor does it happen in the big leagues period. I
think we've got a little bit more insurance after the
Jonathan India for Brady Singer trade. We've got some guys
that may very well be big League ready coming through
our system. I think the biggest key to this is

(05:04):
can you figure out what it takes to get the
guys through that August tenth to the finish line. I mean,
the last two years, that's where everything is suffered. Now
you'll have people look back and say, well, the bullpen,
you know they really faltered there. Well, yeah, because there
were Warren flat out and we've got a pretty good bullpen,
and we've had a pretty good bullpen. But if you're

(05:26):
leaning on your bullpen, then you're looking at pitching totally different.
You're supposed to lean on your starters, and then your
bullpen picks up the rest of the slack.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
So the starting pitching conversation always starts with Hunter Green,
who was an All Star last year and deservedly so.
I think he finished eighth or ninth in the Say
Young voting he had before he got hurt in excellent season.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
What's the next step?

Speaker 1 (05:49):
I know you're asked this every off season, but this
step is big because he's already taken so many well.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
I think for Hunter and for Ellie Dayla Cruz, and
maybe a spin or steer guys that have been around
Tyler Stevenson, for example, I think the biggest issue for
that age player is you have to figure out how
to take off because you're no longer just trying to survive.

(06:16):
You're here now, you've already got a nice contract through
your first arbitration series. You've got to figure out, Okay,
what do I need to do to be great? Because
it's no longer about just keeping your nose above the
water and drowning. It's about exploring the whole pool. Get
out there and hey, let's figure out how fun it
is to jump off the high dive. I mean, this

(06:37):
is about figuring out how to win and how to
be great. And I think that goes back to your
original question, what does Terry Francona bring to this club?

Speaker 3 (06:47):
That's it?

Speaker 1 (06:49):
You know you mentioned Ellie, and it's he does so
many great things, and yet there are times, and you know,
I could hear the frustration in your voice calling the games,
and you could hear from the stands when he gets
picked off, or when he's a little bit too aggressive
and gets thrown out, or when he makes a great
play in the third inning and then botches the routine
play in the fifth inning. I'm interested in the impact

(07:11):
of a manager on that stuff being cleaned up for him,
for others, but I think for Elie specifically, because we
all know how good he can be.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
Well, every time I think of this now that Tito
is here, and I think of that same question that
you just asked. The name that keeps popping into my
head is Jose Ramirez, because that was Jose Ramirez early
in his career, and you look at him now and
you think, what would the Indians be without this guy?
I mean, he's he is a He's not just a

(07:42):
really good player, he's a Hall of Fame player. He
is legitimate, bona fide scary. You know, if you're on
the mound and it's late in the ballgame, you don't
want any part of that, dude. And I think that's
where Francona helped manifest that. I mean, the talent obviously
was always for Jose, but I think Francona, through his

(08:03):
coaches and some other things, kind of funneled him in
that direction. I think the same can be said of
what we hope will happen with Elie de la Cruz.
We know the excitement and all of the strength that's
there from rally. I mean, there's nothing he can't do
on a baseball field. Now, it's a matter of being
consistently great. Not consistently okay, not consistently. Oh well, you

(08:26):
know I made a great play every night, be great
every time you walk out.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
There was a game late in the season and he made,
you know, highlight reel play early in the game and
you're you're salivating over it. And then in the seventh inning,
Paul hits off the heel of his glove and it's like, man,
I might have been able to make that play, right,
And so that's the stuff and It's like, man, I
know you could do this and it's awesome, but you
got to be able to do that.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
If you're gonna be what we think you can be.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
Be consistent because if you're if you're all, if your
expectation is always to be good, well you're gonna drop
down below that expectation. So you're dictation has to be
I want to be elite. I want to be great
on every single pitch, because if you do drop off,
instead of dropping off from seventy five to fifty, you're

(09:11):
going to drop off from ninety five, ninety nine to
eighty five.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
And that's pretty good if you're Eli Day La Cruz.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
No question, need more from Ellie.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
There's a lot of guys who I think we believe
have a tremendous amount of upside. You think of Christian
and Karnassi on strand, and you think of a handful
of players that have shown glimpses maybe at the big
league level or large glimpses at the minor league level.
When you go to Goodyear, give me one or two
guys that you're going to be watching for closely knowing
their keys for this club this year.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
Well, you named one of them, and that's Christian in
Karnassi on Strand, the second being Matt McClain, and not
from a standpoint of how great their spring goes, but
I want to know that they're healthy. I want to
know that McClain is not having any ribcage issues. I
want to see how that front shoulder does. I mean
it was the left shoulder.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
That he hurt. That's his front shoulder, his pull shoulder.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
I want to see how the risk, how the risk
for Inchronice on Strand rolls over. You know, some of
those finer things that you know you can fight through
and maybe April and May, but when you get to
June and July, you can't do it. It just it
catches up to you. So you want him to be
healthy right out of the shoot, and you want it
to be fluid. I'd also like to to kind of

(10:24):
keep an eye on Spencer Steer because the Spencer Steer
that we saw last year was not really the same
Spencer Steer that we saw in year one. Now, not
that that's good or bad, but I think from from
Spencer's standpoint, he's got a pretty good idea about what
he needs to do to be successful up here. And
I expect him to take a big jump next year.

(10:45):
I mean, he's a he's a guy that has that
low heartbeat. He never gets way up too high, he
never gets down on himself, and he just kind of
stays that even kill and that that may be a
boat that a lot of these guys can ride.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, it's interesting. He's kind of a guy you forget
and you shouldn't. I mean, because you could play a
thousand positions. We've seen offensively what he can do, and
yet he sort of gets lost in the mix. But
I think that's also reflective of the collection of town.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
There you go. That's a great point.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
I know you have a lot going on. I can't
thank you enough. Enjoy the rest of the off season.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
Great joy, goodyear. Good talking to you.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Man, always the cowboy, Jeff Brantley.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
One month from yesterday, the first Cactus League broadcast Next
Hour Ballplayers in Studio coming up in ten minutes, our
buddy Chad Brendle on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
UC Health Traffic Center at u See Health.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
You'll find comprehensive care that's so personal it makes your
best tomorrow possible.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
That's boundless care for better outcomes.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
Expect more at u sehealth dot com.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Excident now cleared away on Red Bank Road. This is
over at Columbia Parkway on bind Street.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
It's an accident north of Clinton Springs Avenue vivehicle.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
They're going into a pole.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
And southbound four seventy one closed off bridge repairs seventy
one to the Bellevue exit.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
I'm at Ezelic with traffic.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
This report is spawn

Mo Egger News

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial

Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial

Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.