April 1, 2025 • 22 mins
The shortest show of all-time!
Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Brady Singer do their thing.
Pearl-clutchers do theris.
And....torpedo bats!
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
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Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Brady Singer do their thing.
Pearl-clutchers do theris.
And....torpedo bats!
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 (00:01):
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All right, here we go. Good afternoon on Moegar. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. A very brief figures Agram Molleggar
Show on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you so much for.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Joining us, and a very abbreviated version of the Mikeelobe
Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks
to our friends at michelob Ultra. No matter what you're doing,
if you're going to the ballpark tonight, first of all,
bundle up. If you're going to the ballpark tomorrow, maybe
not so much. Might want to wear a rain slicker
if you have one. Either way, enjoying ice cold Mick Ultra.
(00:36):
And if you're at the Holy Grail tonight, which I
will be as soon as I get off the air,
we'll have a mcultra together. Michelob Ultra is awesome. We
thank them for us sponsoring the michelob Ultra five o'clock
Happy Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Do you see? Basketball season continues.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Cincinnati beats to Paul in the College Basketball Crown in
Las Vegas, and now you see will await the winner
of the game today between Oregon State and UCF. How
about last night at Great American Ballpark. You know all
the griping yesterday, which I don't think I was guilty of,
(01:13):
but I got accused of. Right, you're griping, You're overreacting.
All kind of a distant memory. By the middle innings
last night, Reds pound the Rangers fourteen to three. An
extraordinarily fun night at GABP last night. What was there
not to like the Reds? They didn't have enough of
those last year. Hell, they didn't have enough of them
(01:35):
two years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Games where you.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Could just put your feedback and watch them cruise to
the finish line. Let's start with Brady Singer. I think
most of us would agree with this statement that the
strong suit of the Reds should be the starting pitching.
That doesn't mean that offensively they can't exceed expectation. That
doesn't mean that offensively they can't carry this team at times.
Last night, offensively they were awesome, But darting staff for
(02:00):
this team is probably going to be a strong suit.
Brady Singer is one of their starting pitchers, and he
kind of got lost in the flood for two reasons. One,
the trade that brought Brady Singer to Cincinnati was talked
about more from the standpoint of who the Reds sent
to Kansas City, Jonathan India, and also that deal happened
(02:22):
kind of early during the offseason, and then a bunch
of other stuff happened. Since Brady Singer last night was awesome.
See Trent Rosecrants had this nugget in the Athletic. You
have to go back to nineteen hundred nineteen hundred, which
is when baseball's modern era began. In one hundred and
twenty five years, no Red's pitcher had gone at least
(02:42):
seven shutout innings and allowed one hit or fewer in
his debut with the club until Brady's Singer did that
last night against the Rangers, did something that had not
been done in one hundred and twenty five years, and
yet his performance, because of all the other cool stuff,
(03:03):
barely a footnote. Here's the important part. Brady Singer was
awesome last night and it helped the red scored a
bunch of runs for him. Early Red starting pitchers have
thrown twenty four innings this year, six innings per start,
seven for Brady last night, five for Hunter on Opening Day,
and then six apiece. Obviously, Nicolodolo and Nick Martinez twenty
four innings. In twenty two of those innings, the opposing
(03:27):
team has scored either zero runs or one run. Only
two innings has the other team scored multiple runs. That's
really good. That is a really encouraging sign. And yes
it's really really early, but that is a really encouraging
sign here early in the season. And there's another one
that we'll get to here in just a bit. So
Brady Singer a starring role last night. Same for Matt McClain.
(03:52):
We said this often during the offseason, and I don't
think anybody disagreed. The most significant addition to this year's
team from last year's team. Now, I don't know that
the Reds would be an eighty seven win team last
year if they had Matt McClain, But you can't help
but wonder for a team that won seventy seven games
last year, that had a guy who the year before
(04:13):
was probably the best player on the team. Can you imagine,
Jess for a second, how the makeup of last year's
team would have been, how last year would have unfolded
have Matt McLain been healthy. You also cross your fingers
hoping he could stay healthy. He is a foundational piece.
Three homers in three games.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
He is a guy.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Here's the good news. Matt McClain is under Red's team
control for the rest of the decade, and he and
Elie Dela Cruz have a chance to make up one
of the best double play combinations and one of the
best offensive won two punches in Reds franchise history. I
mentioned Elie dela Cruz. Say what you want about him,
(04:52):
whether your expectations are so massive that you believe he
could contend for the National League MVP Award, or whether
you see on your hands a little bit because you're
just not sure he's going to be able to smooth
out the rough edges in his game. Regardless, isn't this
guy just a blast to watch? Like legitimately just as
(05:14):
as as entertaining as a player as the Reds have had.
It's it's so much fun to watch him. Whether the
Reds are winning losing, whether they have a great year
and awful year. We get to watch Ellie Delacruz play
baseball every single day, And we get to watch Ellie
Dela Cruz play baseball every single day for the rest
of the decade. Last night he hits two homers, he
(05:37):
doesn't hit for the cycle. He has seven RBIs the
first home where he hit last night. Looked like he
barely swung, like that left handed swing is a thing
of beauty. It also looks like he is exerting zero
amount of energy, like there's there's.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Never been anything like.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
I've a lot of great Reds players, we have not
seen anything like this man, not even in his prime,
yet still ascending, already established as one of the most
fun players in the sport to watch. And the calculus
for this team changes significantly if Matt McClain stays healthy,
(06:22):
and if he ascends and takes what he did two
years ago and improves upon it, and if Elie de
la Cruz ascends and takes what he has done so
far and improves upon it and reaches his seemingly limitless potential.
Like you do not find an evaluator anywhere who will say, yeah,
(06:45):
you know, I just don't think he has a chance
to be that good, Like everybody universally will say, this
dude's got a chance to be among the very best
players in baseball. It is so fun to think about
what that could look like if it happens here and
what it would mean for this team. And by the way,
Matt McClain kind of gets lost in the flood a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
That's a former first round pick.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
That's a guy they think really highly of, and when
he's healthy he shows you on.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
A near daily basis. Why they do I know where
the conversation drifts. I know.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And by the way, with Ellie really quick only seventeen
played appearances, the strikeout rate is down twenty three and
a half percent was up over thirty one percent last year.
I know where the conversation goes because this is what
we do as sports fans. Are they going to sign him?
Why not sign him right now? I saw somebody on
Twitter said, well, you know, they could take Matt McClain
(07:38):
and Ellie Dela Cruz and make them like Burrow and
Chase and keep him here forever.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Well, here's the good news.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Burrow and Chase are pretty much locked into the Bengals
for the rest of the decade. So are Matt McClain
and Ellie Dela Cruz. I and I know this is
not the first time I have said this. I have
decided to operate under the assumption that Ellie Dela Cruz
will play somewhere else in twenty thirty, and maybe we'll
do the same thing with Matt McLean and perhaps the
Reds can do something with one or both similar to
(08:05):
what they did with Hunter Green, which is, you know,
buy out their arbitration years, maybe by a year their
free agency, get him at a bit of a discount.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
I'm i'm I'm going to operate under the assumption that
Ellie Dela Cruz is going to hit free agency and
become a billion dollar player. And that's in play here. Man,
somebody's going to be Baseball's first billion dollar player. I
don't know that Ellie will be the first, but he's
going to be a billion dollar player. You have to
(08:33):
win while you have these guys, for two reasons. You
can't continue to waste really good talent. I mean, now,
you think of all the really good players the Reds
brought up late two thousands, and a bunch of them.
Obviously Joey Vado's going to Cooperstown, but a whole bunch
of guys that they either brought up through their system
or acquired from other organizations.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
A lot of really good players.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Dudes. We are going to be in the Reds Hall
of Fame, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, Brandon Phillips, A Bronson Royo,
and again some they got from other organizations like BP
and Bronson. Others they brought up Devin Mezerako, who is
an all star. A collection of really good players or
role as Chapman, I can keep going. They didn't win
with them. They won kinda. They made the playoffs. You've
(09:15):
got to win while you have players like this. You
have to win while you have a foundation, and the
Reds do. We can argue whether or not the foundation
is big enough. We could argue whether or not Nick
Crawl is going to do what's necessary to win with
this foundation.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But they've got to do it.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
When you have a foundation in place, you have to
win because, as we've seen, there have been a lot
of times in this franchise's history when there is no foundation,
like you're just trying to just scrap together a team,
much less a found They've got one now and it's
not just Ellie and Matt McLain. You could add a
couple of other names to that list. But also if
(09:51):
you if you're interested in even having a chance, let's
just make it about Ellie for a second. Nothing against
Matt McLean if you even even want to have a
chance to get Ellie Dela Cruz to consider spending the
rest of his baseball career in Cincinnati. And again, I
am operating out of the assumption that come twenty thirty,
(10:11):
he's going to be playing somewhere else, likely close to
an ocean. You can't approach him with a string of
fourth and fifth place finishes. Ellie Dela Cruz, this came
out I think on Monday, has the thirteenth highest selling jersey.
I think this was for the month of March, thirteenth
(10:31):
highest selling jersey in Major League Baseball, which is really good.
And above him a bunch of Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees.
So the brand is being built. The brand really only
gets built if the player has a chance to play
on the sport's biggest stage. So you want to convince
Ellie Dela Cruz one day to stay here. And again,
(10:51):
this is not really something I spent a lot of
time on because the end of this decade is so
far away. I'm more interested in winning now. But if
you win, and you prove to the guy, you know what,
we'll do what it takes to get you to the postseason.
You'll have a chance here to play on the biggest age,
which is only going to help you build your brand.
Winning is very important. The most important negotiating tool is money.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
We know that.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
The second one I think is success. You could have
team success and your individual brand could succeed because of
our team success. Like that's vital. You want to keep
these guys here, win with them. The best way to
convince them to stay here is to not finish in
fourth and fifth place every year. But in the interim,
(11:36):
I would just tell you this, enjoy that we are
so lucky we get a chance to watch these guys
in our backyard. We'll talk about Ellie de la Cruz
and the torpedo bat here in just a few minutes.
We do have to address something that I guess some
folks have chosen to clutch their pearls over. So this
made the rounds on social media. This is from the
(11:59):
Fian Old Sports Network broadcast last night.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
But Terry Francona loves to play cars. He has an
affinity for cribbage. You might even find him at a
casino now and then. So this is the players completely
playing off of their manager of letting the bills fly?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Is that a gold bill shooting gun?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Yes, And don't be surprised if you don't see another
prop along the way, maybe a sli no boy.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
And they're just having fun.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
And Frank ConA and I asked him about this today,
is said, Okay, I say this on the air. He said,
listen to a team that gambles together wins together.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
All right, unlike some I will give credit words due.
That's the fan Duel Sports Network and Jim Day last
night during the TV broadcast, and maybe you've seen it,
the Red's home run celebration. Is they essentially make it rain.
They've got I think it's a dollar I don't know
what it's called. A dollar bill gun that shoot. It's fake, fake,
fake money in the air all over the player after
(13:04):
he celebrates a home run coming back to the dugout.
It's fun, it's cheeky, it's innocuous, and if you have
a problem with it, we probably aren't going to enjoy
each other's company. So that was a Jim Day now.
Of course, because nothing can happen without somebody clutching their pearls,
and because social media exists, for people to clutch their pearls.
(13:27):
You have people clutching their pearls today. The great Paul
Doherty in his Morning Line newsletter, which is terrific and
love Paul. He is clutching his pearls today because of that,
because of Jim Day, because of a Terry Francona, because
of the gambling references. He writes, I know MLB has
given up any pretext of caring about betting's potentially devastating
(13:50):
impact on the sport. Every sport has done that. But
this is beyond that. This is flaunting gambling. This is
celebrating the potential to lose your assets right there on
a live baseball broadcast. Okay, First of all, the game
is being televised on the fandual Sports Network. Now, I
(14:11):
love FanDuel, I endorse FanDuel. I've got some dinger. Tuesday
plays tonight on FanDuel. It's on the FanDuel Sports Network. Second,
nowhere in there did you hear any reference to gambling
on baseball? You heard Jim Day reference Terry Francona's affinity
(14:34):
for playing cards cribbage. I guess now, I've never played
cribbage in my life, but I love to play cards.
Playing cards is okay. Big League ballplayers play cards in
the clubhouse, in the dugout, on the bus, and god
knows wherever else, including in a casino, and casinos are
(14:58):
also okay. Nobody referenced betting on baseball, which you're not
allowed to do. Everybody understands that. Terry Francona, I'm sure
understands that more than anybody else. They were referencing doing
things that are kosher playing cards. Was there anybody watching
(15:19):
that game last night who saw the dugout celebration heard
that story from Jim Day that went out and lost
their life savings on the Reds game last night? If so,
you bet on the Texas Rangers, which you shouldn't have
done in game?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Really?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I saw this on social media, like, oh, you know what,
you gotta read the room, Jim read the room.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
To read the room.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
It's a dugout celebration involving fake money where the players
are paying homage or needling their manager who likes to
play cards. Because you like to play cards doesn't mean
you bet on baseball. If so, my mom would be
a big baseball gambler.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
She's not.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Can we just have anything without somebody clutching their pearls.
The other thing we have happening in baseball right now
is the torpedo bat. Ellie de la Cruz talked about
using the torpedo bat last night.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Yeah, I used some of the protests today. Why did
you decide to go to that. I just want to
know how, if if it feel good? And definitely don't.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Did you know anything about the torpedo bat before this
weekend or was it talked about a lot of mons
players after what the Yankees.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Did Tavina talk about in springs training. But I haven't.
I haven't really used it to today.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Have you talked to him to say, Trevino about is
he future?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Yeah, he say he's, uh, he feels pretty good using
that's that's what you use.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
All right. So the torpedo bat.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
I'm not gonna get two into the weeds with this,
but it's about where the weight has been distributed, and
the weight has been shifted down closer to the handle
of the bat. It kind of some say it looks
like a bowling pin. It's a larger barrel. Number one,
it's not illegal. Number two, it shouldn't be made to
be illegal. Pitchers have taken over this sport. If there
(17:27):
is an infusion of offense that is not artificial. This
is not steroids, it's doing something that's allowed. Go read
the rule book. It's not legal. It would be, and
I'm gonna get out in front of this really quick.
It would be the most Major League Baseball thing ever
to take something that is generating a lot of conversation,
Like I have watched shows that typically spend no time
(17:47):
on baseball, or if they do sound ignorant about baseball,
and they're talking about the New York Yankees hanging twenty
runs on the Milwaukee Brewers hitting nine homers, the offensive
number they've put up, and they're not artificial, and some
of them are going to come back to Earth, and
many I don't think you could attribute to the torpedo bat.
(18:08):
The torpedo bat is legal. The torpedo bat is creating
really good and interesting conversations and creating buzz about baseball.
That's exactly what the sport needs. By the way, not
about the lockout, not about the financial disparity between the
Dodgers and the Reds, not not about labor issues, not
(18:32):
about the A's who are playing in a junkyard minor
league ballpark and Sacramento because they should still be the
Oakland A's not about the Rays messed up stadium situation.
No about something happening on the field that's legal. Nobody
is shooting steroids and anybody's butt like, we're not. We're
we're discussing something here that is I think part of
(18:54):
the natural. In fact, I think to a large degree,
it's amazing that it's taken in the sport so long
to figure out, you know what, maybe maybe especially for
hitters who have a propensity for getting jammed, maybe let's
redistribute the weight.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
In the bat.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Maybe, But it's happened. It's good for the sport. Offensive
numbers aren't gonna get all crooked. It's not gonna look
like the late nineties. Pitchers will adjust, But it would
be the most Major League Baseball thing ever to get
rid of, something that has created some really good conversations
about baseball, Reds and Rangers. Again tonight at GABP, it's
(19:35):
time for Tonight's Postman Law Injury Report. It is delivered
by Postman Law. Injured Postman delivers this is good news.
So we've talked about among all the guys who have
had to miss time either toward the end of spring
training or start the season on the injured list.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Andrew Abbott.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Andrew Abbott is going to start a rehab assignment at
Triple A Louisville. He obviously dealt with shoulder issues missing
time last year as well, but issues that held him
back during spring training and so he started the season
on the injured list. He has been progressing very well.
His last Cactus League start was really good. He is
scheduled to get the ball tonight's against the Omaha storm Chasers.
(20:15):
MLB dot COM's Mark Sheldon reporting that Abbot's gonna begin
his rehab tonight and then get a second rehab start
on Sunday, and then ideally he joins the Reds rotation.
But the good news is Andrew Abbott taking a step
toward joining the Red's rotation. And we all know how
good when healthy Andrew Abbott can be. That is today's
(20:36):
Postman Law injury report. It is delivered by Postman Law.
If you're injured, call eight four to four Postman. That's
eight four to four Postman. All right, the shortest show
in ever is just about done. I am taking tomorrow off.
Tomorrow is my opening day. A few years ago, I
decided Opening Day's a blast. I love opening day. Opening
days a big work day for us. This is not
(20:58):
a complaint. It's our favorite day to be on the air.
But I was going to take the first business Day
special and make it my opening day and enjoy it
the way people who don't work on Opening Day enjoy
their opening day. Now, each of the last two years
that game has been rained out. We'll see if that
happens tomorrow. Nonetheless, I am off tomorrow. I believe Chad
Brendel is filling in. I'll be back here on Thursday.
(21:19):
We are pretty much finished my Thanks to a. Tarren
Bland for producing, and thanks to you for listening. Have
a great night. I returned Thursday. This has been the
michelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour and The Moeggers Show
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
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Speaker 2 (00:08):
All right, here we go. Good afternoon on Moegar. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. A very brief figures Agram Molleggar
Show on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you so much for.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Joining us, and a very abbreviated version of the Mikeelobe
Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thanks
to our friends at michelob Ultra. No matter what you're doing,
if you're going to the ballpark tonight, first of all,
bundle up. If you're going to the ballpark tomorrow, maybe
not so much. Might want to wear a rain slicker
if you have one. Either way, enjoying ice cold Mick Ultra.
(00:36):
And if you're at the Holy Grail tonight, which I
will be as soon as I get off the air,
we'll have a mcultra together. Michelob Ultra is awesome. We
thank them for us sponsoring the michelob Ultra five o'clock
Happy Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Do you see? Basketball season continues.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Cincinnati beats to Paul in the College Basketball Crown in
Las Vegas, and now you see will await the winner
of the game today between Oregon State and UCF. How
about last night at Great American Ballpark. You know all
the griping yesterday, which I don't think I was guilty of,
(01:13):
but I got accused of. Right, you're griping, You're overreacting.
All kind of a distant memory. By the middle innings
last night, Reds pound the Rangers fourteen to three. An
extraordinarily fun night at GABP last night. What was there
not to like the Reds? They didn't have enough of
those last year. Hell, they didn't have enough of them
(01:35):
two years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Games where you.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Could just put your feedback and watch them cruise to
the finish line. Let's start with Brady Singer. I think
most of us would agree with this statement that the
strong suit of the Reds should be the starting pitching.
That doesn't mean that offensively they can't exceed expectation. That
doesn't mean that offensively they can't carry this team at times.
Last night, offensively they were awesome, But darting staff for
(02:00):
this team is probably going to be a strong suit.
Brady Singer is one of their starting pitchers, and he
kind of got lost in the flood for two reasons. One,
the trade that brought Brady Singer to Cincinnati was talked
about more from the standpoint of who the Reds sent
to Kansas City, Jonathan India, and also that deal happened
(02:22):
kind of early during the offseason, and then a bunch
of other stuff happened. Since Brady Singer last night was awesome.
See Trent Rosecrants had this nugget in the Athletic. You
have to go back to nineteen hundred nineteen hundred, which
is when baseball's modern era began. In one hundred and
twenty five years, no Red's pitcher had gone at least
(02:42):
seven shutout innings and allowed one hit or fewer in
his debut with the club until Brady's Singer did that
last night against the Rangers, did something that had not
been done in one hundred and twenty five years, and
yet his performance, because of all the other cool stuff,
(03:03):
barely a footnote. Here's the important part. Brady Singer was
awesome last night and it helped the red scored a
bunch of runs for him. Early Red starting pitchers have
thrown twenty four innings this year, six innings per start,
seven for Brady last night, five for Hunter on Opening Day,
and then six apiece. Obviously, Nicolodolo and Nick Martinez twenty
four innings. In twenty two of those innings, the opposing
(03:27):
team has scored either zero runs or one run. Only
two innings has the other team scored multiple runs. That's
really good. That is a really encouraging sign. And yes
it's really really early, but that is a really encouraging
sign here early in the season. And there's another one
that we'll get to here in just a bit. So
Brady Singer a starring role last night. Same for Matt McClain.
(03:52):
We said this often during the offseason, and I don't
think anybody disagreed. The most significant addition to this year's
team from last year's team. Now, I don't know that
the Reds would be an eighty seven win team last
year if they had Matt McClain, But you can't help
but wonder for a team that won seventy seven games
last year, that had a guy who the year before
(04:13):
was probably the best player on the team. Can you imagine,
Jess for a second, how the makeup of last year's
team would have been, how last year would have unfolded
have Matt McLain been healthy. You also cross your fingers
hoping he could stay healthy. He is a foundational piece.
Three homers in three games.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
He is a guy.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Here's the good news. Matt McClain is under Red's team
control for the rest of the decade, and he and
Elie Dela Cruz have a chance to make up one
of the best double play combinations and one of the
best offensive won two punches in Reds franchise history. I
mentioned Elie dela Cruz. Say what you want about him,
(04:52):
whether your expectations are so massive that you believe he
could contend for the National League MVP Award, or whether
you see on your hands a little bit because you're
just not sure he's going to be able to smooth
out the rough edges in his game. Regardless, isn't this
guy just a blast to watch? Like legitimately just as
(05:14):
as as entertaining as a player as the Reds have had.
It's it's so much fun to watch him. Whether the
Reds are winning losing, whether they have a great year
and awful year. We get to watch Ellie Delacruz play
baseball every single day, And we get to watch Ellie
Dela Cruz play baseball every single day for the rest
of the decade. Last night he hits two homers, he
(05:37):
doesn't hit for the cycle. He has seven RBIs the
first home where he hit last night. Looked like he
barely swung, like that left handed swing is a thing
of beauty. It also looks like he is exerting zero
amount of energy, like there's there's.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Never been anything like.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
I've a lot of great Reds players, we have not
seen anything like this man, not even in his prime,
yet still ascending, already established as one of the most
fun players in the sport to watch. And the calculus
for this team changes significantly if Matt McClain stays healthy,
(06:22):
and if he ascends and takes what he did two
years ago and improves upon it, and if Elie de
la Cruz ascends and takes what he has done so
far and improves upon it and reaches his seemingly limitless potential.
Like you do not find an evaluator anywhere who will say, yeah,
(06:45):
you know, I just don't think he has a chance
to be that good, Like everybody universally will say, this
dude's got a chance to be among the very best
players in baseball. It is so fun to think about
what that could look like if it happens here and
what it would mean for this team. And by the way,
Matt McClain kind of gets lost in the flood a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
That's a former first round pick.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
That's a guy they think really highly of, and when
he's healthy he shows you on.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
A near daily basis. Why they do I know where
the conversation drifts. I know.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
And by the way, with Ellie really quick only seventeen
played appearances, the strikeout rate is down twenty three and
a half percent was up over thirty one percent last year.
I know where the conversation goes because this is what
we do as sports fans. Are they going to sign him?
Why not sign him right now? I saw somebody on
Twitter said, well, you know, they could take Matt McClain
(07:38):
and Ellie Dela Cruz and make them like Burrow and
Chase and keep him here forever.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Well, here's the good news.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Burrow and Chase are pretty much locked into the Bengals
for the rest of the decade. So are Matt McClain
and Ellie Dela Cruz. I and I know this is
not the first time I have said this. I have
decided to operate under the assumption that Ellie Dela Cruz
will play somewhere else in twenty thirty, and maybe we'll
do the same thing with Matt McLean and perhaps the
Reds can do something with one or both similar to
(08:05):
what they did with Hunter Green, which is, you know,
buy out their arbitration years, maybe by a year their
free agency, get him at a bit of a discount.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
I'm i'm I'm going to operate under the assumption that
Ellie Dela Cruz is going to hit free agency and
become a billion dollar player. And that's in play here. Man,
somebody's going to be Baseball's first billion dollar player. I
don't know that Ellie will be the first, but he's
going to be a billion dollar player. You have to
(08:33):
win while you have these guys, for two reasons. You
can't continue to waste really good talent. I mean, now,
you think of all the really good players the Reds
brought up late two thousands, and a bunch of them.
Obviously Joey Vado's going to Cooperstown, but a whole bunch
of guys that they either brought up through their system
or acquired from other organizations.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
A lot of really good players.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Dudes. We are going to be in the Reds Hall
of Fame, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, Brandon Phillips, A Bronson Royo,
and again some they got from other organizations like BP
and Bronson. Others they brought up Devin Mezerako, who is
an all star. A collection of really good players or
role as Chapman, I can keep going. They didn't win
with them. They won kinda. They made the playoffs. You've
(09:15):
got to win while you have players like this. You
have to win while you have a foundation, and the
Reds do. We can argue whether or not the foundation
is big enough. We could argue whether or not Nick
Crawl is going to do what's necessary to win with
this foundation.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
But they've got to do it.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
When you have a foundation in place, you have to
win because, as we've seen, there have been a lot
of times in this franchise's history when there is no foundation,
like you're just trying to just scrap together a team,
much less a found They've got one now and it's
not just Ellie and Matt McLain. You could add a
couple of other names to that list. But also if
(09:51):
you if you're interested in even having a chance, let's
just make it about Ellie for a second. Nothing against
Matt McLean if you even even want to have a
chance to get Ellie Dela Cruz to consider spending the
rest of his baseball career in Cincinnati. And again, I
am operating out of the assumption that come twenty thirty,
(10:11):
he's going to be playing somewhere else, likely close to
an ocean. You can't approach him with a string of
fourth and fifth place finishes. Ellie Dela Cruz, this came
out I think on Monday, has the thirteenth highest selling jersey.
I think this was for the month of March, thirteenth
(10:31):
highest selling jersey in Major League Baseball, which is really good.
And above him a bunch of Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees.
So the brand is being built. The brand really only
gets built if the player has a chance to play
on the sport's biggest stage. So you want to convince
Ellie Dela Cruz one day to stay here. And again,
(10:51):
this is not really something I spent a lot of
time on because the end of this decade is so
far away. I'm more interested in winning now. But if
you win, and you prove to the guy, you know what,
we'll do what it takes to get you to the postseason.
You'll have a chance here to play on the biggest age,
which is only going to help you build your brand.
Winning is very important. The most important negotiating tool is money.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
We know that.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
The second one I think is success. You could have
team success and your individual brand could succeed because of
our team success. Like that's vital. You want to keep
these guys here, win with them. The best way to
convince them to stay here is to not finish in
fourth and fifth place every year. But in the interim,
(11:36):
I would just tell you this, enjoy that we are
so lucky we get a chance to watch these guys
in our backyard. We'll talk about Ellie de la Cruz
and the torpedo bat here in just a few minutes.
We do have to address something that I guess some
folks have chosen to clutch their pearls over. So this
made the rounds on social media. This is from the
(11:59):
Fian Old Sports Network broadcast last night.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
But Terry Francona loves to play cars. He has an
affinity for cribbage. You might even find him at a
casino now and then. So this is the players completely
playing off of their manager of letting the bills fly?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Is that a gold bill shooting gun?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Yes, And don't be surprised if you don't see another
prop along the way, maybe a sli no boy.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
And they're just having fun.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
And Frank ConA and I asked him about this today,
is said, Okay, I say this on the air. He said,
listen to a team that gambles together wins together.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
All right, unlike some I will give credit words due.
That's the fan Duel Sports Network and Jim Day last
night during the TV broadcast, and maybe you've seen it,
the Red's home run celebration. Is they essentially make it rain.
They've got I think it's a dollar I don't know
what it's called. A dollar bill gun that shoot. It's fake, fake,
fake money in the air all over the player after
(13:04):
he celebrates a home run coming back to the dugout.
It's fun, it's cheeky, it's innocuous, and if you have
a problem with it, we probably aren't going to enjoy
each other's company. So that was a Jim Day now.
Of course, because nothing can happen without somebody clutching their pearls,
and because social media exists, for people to clutch their pearls.
(13:27):
You have people clutching their pearls today. The great Paul
Doherty in his Morning Line newsletter, which is terrific and
love Paul. He is clutching his pearls today because of that,
because of Jim Day, because of a Terry Francona, because
of the gambling references. He writes, I know MLB has
given up any pretext of caring about betting's potentially devastating
(13:50):
impact on the sport. Every sport has done that. But
this is beyond that. This is flaunting gambling. This is
celebrating the potential to lose your assets right there on
a live baseball broadcast. Okay, First of all, the game
is being televised on the fandual Sports Network. Now, I
(14:11):
love FanDuel, I endorse FanDuel. I've got some dinger. Tuesday
plays tonight on FanDuel. It's on the FanDuel Sports Network. Second,
nowhere in there did you hear any reference to gambling
on baseball? You heard Jim Day reference Terry Francona's affinity
(14:34):
for playing cards cribbage. I guess now, I've never played
cribbage in my life, but I love to play cards.
Playing cards is okay. Big League ballplayers play cards in
the clubhouse, in the dugout, on the bus, and god
knows wherever else, including in a casino, and casinos are
(14:58):
also okay. Nobody referenced betting on baseball, which you're not
allowed to do. Everybody understands that. Terry Francona, I'm sure
understands that more than anybody else. They were referencing doing
things that are kosher playing cards. Was there anybody watching
(15:19):
that game last night who saw the dugout celebration heard
that story from Jim Day that went out and lost
their life savings on the Reds game last night? If so,
you bet on the Texas Rangers, which you shouldn't have
done in game?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Really?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I saw this on social media, like, oh, you know what,
you gotta read the room, Jim read the room.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
To read the room.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
It's a dugout celebration involving fake money where the players
are paying homage or needling their manager who likes to
play cards. Because you like to play cards doesn't mean
you bet on baseball. If so, my mom would be
a big baseball gambler.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
She's not.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Can we just have anything without somebody clutching their pearls.
The other thing we have happening in baseball right now
is the torpedo bat. Ellie de la Cruz talked about
using the torpedo bat last night.
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Yeah, I used some of the protests today. Why did
you decide to go to that. I just want to
know how, if if it feel good? And definitely don't.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Did you know anything about the torpedo bat before this
weekend or was it talked about a lot of mons
players after what the Yankees.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Did Tavina talk about in springs training. But I haven't.
I haven't really used it to today.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Have you talked to him to say, Trevino about is
he future?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Yeah, he say he's, uh, he feels pretty good using
that's that's what you use.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
All right. So the torpedo bat.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
I'm not gonna get two into the weeds with this,
but it's about where the weight has been distributed, and
the weight has been shifted down closer to the handle
of the bat. It kind of some say it looks
like a bowling pin. It's a larger barrel. Number one,
it's not illegal. Number two, it shouldn't be made to
be illegal. Pitchers have taken over this sport. If there
(17:27):
is an infusion of offense that is not artificial. This
is not steroids, it's doing something that's allowed. Go read
the rule book. It's not legal. It would be, and
I'm gonna get out in front of this really quick.
It would be the most Major League Baseball thing ever
to take something that is generating a lot of conversation,
Like I have watched shows that typically spend no time
(17:47):
on baseball, or if they do sound ignorant about baseball,
and they're talking about the New York Yankees hanging twenty
runs on the Milwaukee Brewers hitting nine homers, the offensive
number they've put up, and they're not artificial, and some
of them are going to come back to Earth, and
many I don't think you could attribute to the torpedo bat.
(18:08):
The torpedo bat is legal. The torpedo bat is creating
really good and interesting conversations and creating buzz about baseball.
That's exactly what the sport needs. By the way, not
about the lockout, not about the financial disparity between the
Dodgers and the Reds, not not about labor issues, not
(18:32):
about the A's who are playing in a junkyard minor
league ballpark and Sacramento because they should still be the
Oakland A's not about the Rays messed up stadium situation.
No about something happening on the field that's legal. Nobody
is shooting steroids and anybody's butt like, we're not. We're
we're discussing something here that is I think part of
(18:54):
the natural. In fact, I think to a large degree,
it's amazing that it's taken in the sport so long
to figure out, you know what, maybe maybe especially for
hitters who have a propensity for getting jammed, maybe let's
redistribute the weight.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
In the bat.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Maybe, But it's happened. It's good for the sport. Offensive
numbers aren't gonna get all crooked. It's not gonna look
like the late nineties. Pitchers will adjust, But it would
be the most Major League Baseball thing ever to get
rid of, something that has created some really good conversations
about baseball, Reds and Rangers. Again tonight at GABP, it's
(19:35):
time for Tonight's Postman Law Injury Report. It is delivered
by Postman Law. Injured Postman delivers this is good news.
So we've talked about among all the guys who have
had to miss time either toward the end of spring
training or start the season on the injured list.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Andrew Abbott.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Andrew Abbott is going to start a rehab assignment at
Triple A Louisville. He obviously dealt with shoulder issues missing
time last year as well, but issues that held him
back during spring training and so he started the season
on the injured list. He has been progressing very well.
His last Cactus League start was really good. He is
scheduled to get the ball tonight's against the Omaha storm Chasers.
(20:15):
MLB dot COM's Mark Sheldon reporting that Abbot's gonna begin
his rehab tonight and then get a second rehab start
on Sunday, and then ideally he joins the Reds rotation.
But the good news is Andrew Abbott taking a step
toward joining the Red's rotation. And we all know how
good when healthy Andrew Abbott can be. That is today's
(20:36):
Postman Law injury report. It is delivered by Postman Law.
If you're injured, call eight four to four Postman. That's
eight four to four Postman. All right, the shortest show
in ever is just about done. I am taking tomorrow off.
Tomorrow is my opening day. A few years ago, I
decided Opening Day's a blast. I love opening day. Opening
days a big work day for us. This is not
(20:58):
a complaint. It's our favorite day to be on the air.
But I was going to take the first business Day
special and make it my opening day and enjoy it
the way people who don't work on Opening Day enjoy
their opening day. Now, each of the last two years
that game has been rained out. We'll see if that
happens tomorrow. Nonetheless, I am off tomorrow. I believe Chad
Brendel is filling in. I'll be back here on Thursday.
(21:19):
We are pretty much finished my Thanks to a. Tarren
Bland for producing, and thanks to you for listening. Have
a great night. I returned Thursday. This has been the
michelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour and The Moeggers Show
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
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