7/7/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Make sure this nationwide. Keward on our website. Credit that's

(00:03):
credit enter it now, Yeah, what's not Maleger ESPN fifteen thirty.
Thanks for listening. Hopefully you had an awesome Fourth of
July weekend. Awesome, I said, fourth of July weekend. Reds
did not have an awesome weekend in Philadelphia, did not
have an awesome road trip, lose two out of three.

(00:23):
Saturday's loss I thought, in particular was frustrating. I do
sort of agree with what Austin was saying earlier, which
is they look like a team that was content to
have gotten the game they got on Friday Show. Rundowns
available on Twitter at Moeger thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union,
The Emery Federal Credit Union Golf outing is coming up
soon as six weeks from today at four Bridges August eighteenth.

(00:46):
Sign up now, get a foursome together and see if
you guys can come in second to my forsome. EMORYFCU
dot org. That's EMORYFCU dot org. Jeff Carr is going
to join us at four twenty. This is an enormous
week for the Reds, enormous, and we'll talk about the
week that was two out of three, losing in Boston.

(01:06):
They lose two out of three to the Phillies. Andrew Abbott,
I hate to say this, in a game they won,
kind of fell flat on his face, and he's allowed
to do so. He's allowed a bad start. But I
can't help but think that he at least had a
significantly better chance of being chosen for the National League
All Star Team had he pitched better in Philly on Friday.

(01:26):
They won that game, they did not win the last two.
You'll hear Chase Burns here in just a second, But
let's look ahead. First. The Miami Marlins are here. The
Colorado Rockies will be here this weekend. We are at
a point in the season that we said the Reds
would be at back in March. You know, we do

(01:47):
it every year, right, Look at the schedule, Try to
find the gauntlet, try to find the pockets that are
going to be really tough. Try to find some situations
where the travel may catch up to him, and try
to find areas where you can stack. As they say,
we have been talking about this this week since March.
Tony and Austin and I were at Smoke Justice on

(02:09):
opening Day. Hopefully you were there with us, and we
were talking about the schedule, and we were looking at
areas where you go, Okay, here's where they can make
a move, or here's where they're going to be content
to just tread water. And I remember each of us
brought up this week in the middle of July, right
before the All Star break. They have a seven game

(02:29):
homestand where they're going to play the Miami Marlins, who
are not likely to be all that good, and the
Colorado Rockies, who may be historically bad. That stretch right
there is going to go a long way toward determining
whether or not this team can seriously contend for a
playoff spot, and perhaps what the trade deadline strategy is. Well,

(02:51):
what has happened. The Reds have arrived at this week
forty six and forty four. That record is okay. Now,
I'll also go back to Opening Day. So I was
among those who said the Reds are gonna win eighty
three games. And it's an inexact science, an inexact exercise.
It's not my favorite thing to do right to pinpoint
exactly how many games they're gonna win, But I said

(03:12):
on Opening Day, put a gun to my head. I
don't know why you would do that, but put a
gun to my head and make me pick how many
games the Reds, how many games the Reds are gonna win?
And my take was eighty three. I think they're an
eighty three win team. They have played ninety so far.
Their winning percentage has them on track for winning eighty
two point seven games. Since you cannot win seven tenths

(03:32):
of a game, round it up, it's eighty three. Over
the course of the first ninety games of the season,
when they have been playing well, I have felt like
this is an eighty three win team. When they've not
been playing well, I have felt like this is an
eighty three win team. Eighty three wins will not be
good enough, and so we looked at this stretch. We
looked at this stretch knowing that the Reds gonna be

(03:57):
playing two teams that aren't that good and believing that
they could at least get to this stage of the
season kind of hanging in there. Well, that's where they are.
They're not going to win the National League Central. They
have to leap frog three teams. They're eight games at
a first place. Let's be honest, we're talking wildcard and
almost exclusively wildcard. And if I'm wrong about that, that

(04:19):
means that everybody else in the division has fallen flat
on their face, and the Reds have played excellent baseball
the rest of the way. So let's hope I'm wrong
about that. But it's the wildcard, and it's this week,
it's the Marlins, it's the Rockies. Six wins in seven
games should be considered almost mandatory. Now, I know what
we'll do. If they go five and two, we'll look

(04:40):
at the bright side. But come on, man. The Miami
Marlins earlier this year did take two out of three
from the Reds, and the Miami Marlins just over the
last couple of weeks have enjoyed an eight game winning streak.
But come on, dude, you want to be taken seriously
as a contender. The Marlins come to your building, you
win three out of four, I'll give them a loss.
You win three out of four. We've already watched the

(05:03):
Reds play the Rockies this season. You saw what that
look like. We've seen how bad Colorado is. They're on
pace to win thirty seven games. Their current pace has
them on track to finish with the worst record in
modern Baseball history, worse than last year's White Sox team,

(05:23):
which was worse than the nineteen sixty two New York Mets.
The Colorado Rockies, and obviously, first things first, you play Miami.
The Colorado Rockies through ninety games have a run differential
of minus two twenty nine. Like I love to laugh
at the people that cling to run differential, there's only
one team in baseball with a run differential that's below

(05:47):
minus one hundred. It's the should still be in Oakland
A's at minus one. Forty six wins in seven games
is mandatory this week. You genuinely want Nick Crawl to
be backed into a corner where he has pretty much
no choice but to buy to go, get a guy
to go, make some moves to go, legitimately make this

(06:08):
team better via trades. Then the way that happens is
for the Reds to play so well that going into
the All Star Break they are sitting there with a
record of fifty two victories and forty five losses. They're
two over five hundred right now. It's mathematically impossible, I guess,

(06:33):
for them to still be two over five hundred at
the All Star break. But for me at least anything
shy of fifty two and forty five going into the break,
massive disappointment. This is the week. This is the week
where they can make a move in the standings. This
is a week where they can make it known rather emphatically. Hell, yes,
our front office should be in by mode, clear by mode.

(07:00):
Not We're still not sure. Not well, we want to
see how the rest of the month plays out, by mode.
So we'll see by the way they come out of
the break. They're gonna have to go to New York
to play the Mets. Not gonna be easy. They're gonna
have to go to Washington to play the Nationals with
a new manager, Miguel Cairo, former Reds utility ace.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
They have Tampa Bay here, who's good. They have the
Dodgers here, who are really good. Leading right up to
the deadline, forget those series for a moment. These next
two series. We have talked about this for months. Could
the Reds get to mid July? Could the Reds get
to the second week of July in a place where
they could be considered contenders, And could they play well

(07:43):
enough during this week to go into the All Star
Break clearly in contention and could they put the front
office in a position where it's obvious they need to
buy Here we are, how do we feel about their chances?
Five point three seven, four nine, fifteen thirty is our
phone number. You'll here. Chase Burns coming up in just
a bit after his start yesterday, which it kills me

(08:05):
that we're not talking more about his start yesterday because
I think he showed a lot of maturity. Unfortunately, the
bullpen let him down. And more than anything, Zach Wheeler
was just awesome in the offense for the Reds was
mostly non existent. How about FC Cincinnati? Look, man, whether
you're a soccer die hard, whether you're a soccer casual,

(08:26):
or whether you don't care at all, credit where it's due.
FC Cincinnati today is in the driver's seat for the
supporter shield. They have done this largely recently on the
play of Evander By the way, name two team in
the match day again has a decent chance to be
MLS MVP. He is getting better and better. This team

(08:47):
is getting better and better. It's it's kind of remarkable, man.
And look, I say this as a soccer casual, but
I listened to all the noise before the season about
players who weren't at preseason training, and then all the
conjecture around trading away Lucho Acosta and all the uncertainty
about what the team was gonna look like moving forward,

(09:07):
and then watched as the team back in late May
looked discombobulated, played unevenly. They were obviously dealing with injuries,
players not available. They've overcome so much of that. They've
got a guy who might actually be better than Luco Acosta.
They're in first place in the entire league. They lead

(09:29):
the supporter shield race. This is a tremendously well run organization.
Think about that. How many teams trade away a recent
MVP and then are maybe even better afterward. So give
it up to them. Obviously a massive tilt. On Saturday,
the hell is real derby FC Cincinnati hosting Columbus, which
is gonna be a lot of fun and I'm sure

(09:49):
we'll get one of the announcers, if not multiple announcers
on from that match from Apple TV. But you know,
you think about all the preseason talk, and then you know,
even once the season began and Pat Noonan was not
happy with the team's offense, and then he was not
happy with the team's defense, and then he was not
happy with anything that the team was doing, and you
could certainly understand why. And there were a couple of matches,

(10:10):
and we've talked about this with the people who covered
the league. There was a stretch of time in there
where FC Cincinnati played as poorly and looked as bad
and as out of sorts as I have seen them
with Pat Noonon as the head coach anything. But they
go on the road, they win three straight, they win
on Saturday. They might have the best player in the league.
And despite the turnover and the injuries and the defections

(10:32):
and the preseason frustration and the absences and trading away
the best player in the sport from two years ago,
they've got a chance to win the Supporter Shield again.
And they're clearly in a crowded mix to win the
MLS Cup. That is a really well run organization. That
is an organization that to a large degree, and it's

(10:53):
not apples to apples by any stretch. You look at
and go, are there any elements from FC Cincinnati that
the other our proteins in town can borrow? It's a
fair question. At Moeger on Twitter. Thanks to Delta Dental
Delta Dental is building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all
good to Delta Dental, oh dot com. We are gonna

(11:13):
give away tickets. We've got Dirk Spentley tickets to a
giveaway which is gonna be terrific. That show is coming
up July eighteenth, week from Friday at Riverbend. That's gonna
be awesome. And then obviously we also have Upper Deck
Golf which is coming to GABP July seventeenth through nineteen.
This event will sell out. We have two spots per giveaway.

(11:39):
We're giving them away every day this week, and we're
gonna give away two spots to one person. Coming up
in just about fifteen minutes. We're gonna make you play
stupid trivia today because everybody's talking All Stars. Red's All
Star History that coming up in just about ten to
fifteen minutes if you want to go play golf at GABP.
Speaking of All Stars's Andrew abbod to not make the

(12:02):
National League team, I was disappointed for him. I was
not shocked that he didn't make it.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
I just wish one thing would go away, and I
think most will agree. We'll get to that next on
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (12:15):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the u see
Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (12:23):
You see Health has expert traumacare focusing on prevention, treating injuries,
and supporting long term recovering and rehi publitation. Learn more
u see health dot com. Well good news. Cole Raine
has reopened between Rouge twenty seven and Gayler that had
been shut down due to construction. Seventy five souths bound
as your child, So the frend Spence Bridge is stomp
and go and reading at Boyer accident Here a car

(12:45):
went into a poll. When you have police down the scene,
getting that screen down. Rick Trent with traffic here.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
This reporting is sponsored by Rent Tomorrow. Netflix debuts season
two of Quarterback, starring Joe Burrow, and last week we
had on the producer of the Joe Burrow parts of
Quarterback from NFL Films. Go listen to that conversation. It's
available right now on the iHeartRadio app. It's also available later.
It's not like we're gonna take it down. Podcasts of

(13:12):
the show come your way thanks to Long Neck Sports Grill.
Anything Netflix, anything NFL Films does is awesome hard knocks.
I still think is a really entertaining show. I thought
the Inside the AFC North in season was a very

(13:33):
mild disappointment, but it's still so well done. And Quarterback
Season one, even though there was no Bengals quarterback of
a part of it, I thought was really really good,
really well done. I can't wait for tomorrow night. And
if you're into that show or NFL films at all,
you'll enjoy our conversation with the guy who helps produce

(13:53):
that show. It's available now on the iHeartRadio app. He
criticized Terry Francona for taking out Chase Burns when he
had throw ninety one pitches and he wants to go
left versus left against Kyle Schwarber. So there is a
big part of me that would have loved to have
seen Chase Burns finish off the fifth inning. But I

(14:14):
can understand why Tito did what he did, and frankly,
I think most managers would have done the exact same
thing he had labored Chase had he had thrown ninety
one pitches. He was not yet through the fifth. His
team is not hitting at all, Like that's the ballgame
right there, So let's turn it over to I left
me in Sam Mall, and I think a lot of
managers would have done exactly the same thing. Unfortunately it

(14:35):
didn't work. The real story yesterday was Zach Wheeler. It's
frustrating that the Reds did not win the game, that
said Chase Burns. I thought, in the first inning, man,
it looked like, holy crap, they're gonna have to find
another option for this open spot they have in the rotation,
and maybe you're gonna have to skip Hunter Green's rehab
assignment to give him a chance to come back and

(14:58):
pitch as quickly as possible. But in the first inning, uh,
he gives up the trade turner single, he walked Schwarbert.
He has Bryce Harper coming to the plate, Alec Bohm,
and I'm going this is about to get away from
him the way that Boston start got away from him,
and he ends up striking out the next three hitters,
including Nick Castianus, to end the first inning. It was
a successful third start for Chase Burns, even though the

(15:20):
Reds did not win the game. The Reds rookie pitcher
talked afterward, of course, corrected and got Harper and got
kind of found a little bit of a grieve.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
Yeah. Yeah, sometimes they can come out there a little
two stuff. So I'm just taking a deep breath and
taking it pitch by pitch and just getting one out
at a time.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
So it's kind of my mindset. Given that first pitch
to Harper did not help you kind of.

Speaker 6 (15:42):
Get back to the track.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah, I mean I said, I'm just taking it pitch
by pitch, you know, just attacking each guy.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
So and Tito said, you were using your fast one
war as the game went on. How did that help you?

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, I felt like it was a really good pitch
on my other pitch. You know, they're a very selective team,
so attacking with that fastball and letting them see it
first is kind of huge for me.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
There's some good questions about tipping pitches and stuff like that.

Speaker 7 (16:10):
How is the work that you've done in the last
few days with DJ and correcting that issue.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah, a lot of reps, two touch and feels this week,
just to kind of go through the motions and making
sure I'm not giving the other team any advantage. And
I feel like it helped and clean out my mechanics
a lot.

Speaker 8 (16:27):
Not often that you get, you know, your first three
starts Yankees at Finnway and then against this line up here,
what do you think you've learned over that three game stretch?

Speaker 3 (16:36):
A lot more more than I could even say. But
I'm just talking with the guys with the other starters.
They've been helping me a lot, kind of joking around
about going against three really good lineups that been been
thrown into the fire.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
So that's the best way to learn. So Chase Burns
after the game, unfortunately, as well as he pitched, something
wasn't perfect by any stretch you did walk for guys,
he wasn't that efficient, but he was a hell of
a lot better than he was against the Boston Red
Sox and a step in the right direction for a guy,
you know. Chris Welsh said yesterday in the radio broadcast.

(17:11):
He went out to point point out all the different
ways where Chase Burns is not even close to being
a finished product. And well, you talk about somebody who
has been absolutely thrown to the Wolves his first start
at home against the Yankees, then he has to pitch
at Fenway Park, and then trying to navigate that Philly
lineup yesterday. He was good, He was good enough. He
certainly put his team in a position to win, and man,

(17:34):
I wanted to see him finish off the fifth inning.
I think Terry Francona did with Sam Maull in that
situation against Kyle Schwarber did what most managers in his
position in that particular game situation would have done. The
other news yesterday, let's start with who made it. Elie
Dela Cruz is an All Star for the second time,

(17:54):
you know, And let's be honest, there were times in
April and May where we wondered is this guy going
to be good enough to be an All Star? He
has been? Andrew Abbot did not make it. I watched
his start on Friday, the game the Reds won. Andrew
Abbott was not very good, couldn't get out of the
fourth and my guess was his All Star hopes went

(18:19):
up in smoke with that performance. And maybe that's not
a very fair way to do things. Maybe it is,
but I just I had the sense as he came
off the mound in Philadelphia on Friday that as much
as we have all hoped that he would have his
name called as a National League starter or a National
League starting pitcher on the National League squad. Excuse me

(18:40):
that those hopes were dashed when he pitched as poorly
as he did against Philadelphia on Friday. I think there
are exclusions, and I think there are snubs. I think
Andrew Abbott is an exclusion where clearly he had a case.
The rules, the preferences for the people who chose the

(19:03):
NL All Star reserves and pitchers didn't favor Andrew Abbitt.
I would have taken Andrew Abbott ahead of Matthew Boyd.
Jeff Carr, who's going to be on our show at
four to twenty, does a good job today of kind
of outlining all the ways where Andrew abbit is better
than Matthew Boyd. It wouldn't have been a big deal

(19:23):
for me, the fact that he hasn't pitched in nearly
as many innings as so many of these other guys.
He has a higher war than eight of the eleven
pitchers who are on the National League squad. But I
can understand why somebody in a position to pick may
have preferred somebody with a larger body of work. And
Andrew Abbitt's body of work this year has been awesome,

(19:44):
but he yet he has yet to pitch in enough
innings to qualify for the EER title, and he had
a chance to go deep into the game on Friday
and did not. I would have taken him. I also
would have done away with the stupid rule, and this
rule is so out dated as far as I'm concerned,
I would have done away with the stupid rule that
says every team has to have at least one guy,

(20:06):
and that one guy for the Washington Nationals is Mackenzie Gore,
who is a good pitcher, a good pitcher having a
good season. Andrew Abbott has been better. I don't view
his exclusion as like highly egregious, like Joey Vado in
twenty ten, if you remember, and they did the voting
a little bit different back then, was leading the National

(20:27):
League and might have been leading all of baseball in ops.
He ended up making the All Star team because he
was placed on that last ballot where there were like
three or four guys and everybody had a chance to
vote on one, but the initial team that was announced
he wasn't on it. That to me was egregious. The
league's leader in ops not being in the All Star

(20:47):
team is egregious. That to me is a snub. I
view Andrew Abbott as an exclusion and an unfortunate one
because we all wanted to see him, you know, get
a chance to be on the team, and he might
still because of injuries. We'll say I feel like he's
an exclusion. And again my preference would have been Andrew Abbott.

(21:08):
I would have taken him ahead of Matthew Boyd. I
would do away with the rule that says every team
has to get a guy. But maybe it's just me.
There are a lot of things I can get worked
up about his exclusion. When there are exclusions every year,
is really not one of them. Our phone numbers are

(21:28):
five point three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty. Upper Deck
Golf is returning to a GABP. This is your chance
to play a round of golf inside Great American Ballpark
with Upper Deck Golf. This is gonna take place from
July seventeenth through the nineteen three days. It's gonna be
rain or shine. This event will sell out. You'll have

(21:50):
a chance to play a round of golf all throughout
GABP down to custom greens on the field. There's gonna
be drinks, there's gonna be food, there's gonna be music.
So this is really cool. You can reserve a tea
time now go to Reds dot com and UH. I've
done something similar at GABP and it's a lot of fun.
So we're giving away UH tickets and you get two,

(22:12):
so one person gets you and a buddy can go
play a round of golf inside GABP. Since the All
Star Game and All Star selections are on everybody's mind,
let's test your knowledge of Cincinnati Red's All Star Game history.
We're looking for a contestant to win tickets to play
upper deck golf at GABP five one, three, seven, four nine,

(22:33):
fifteen thirty and eight six six seven oh two three
seven seven six. We'll get you in and you'll have
a chance to go t off inside GABP upper deck Golf.
Upper deck Golf, I should say coming to the ballpark,
UH in ten days, contestants line or open lines are
open five point three seven four nine fifteen thirty will
play after sports headlines on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (23:01):
Traffic from the u See Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
U See Health has expert traumacare focusing on prevention, treating
injuries and supporting long term recovery and recapilitation. Learn more
U see health dot com. Seventy five north bound before
the Brens Spence Bridge in Kentucky. An accident has a
right lane block and de leaves the Buttermilk Pike. We're
looking at a bond a twenty minute delay and on
right lane taking up at MLK approaching Central Parkway due

(23:26):
to the way sinkhole watermain break there in the repairs underway.
It's going to continue at least through Wednesday. Rick Shrimp
with traffic.

Speaker 9 (23:35):
In fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Sports headlines are a service at Kelsey Chevrolet Home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval from their family
to yours for life at kelseyshev dot com, Reds and Marlins.
First to four tonight at GABP Rain could be a
little bit of an issue right around the scheduled first
pitch time, which is at seven ten tonight. The game
can be heard on seven hundred WLW. Brady Singer pitches

(23:59):
against right now Jansen Junk Connor Joe is back off
the injured Listy and handfoot and mouth disease. Reese Hines
option to Louisville. That guy can't hit a lick right now.
Starting lineup Tonight Friedel's and center Matt McLain at second base,
All Star Eli Deayler Cruz at shortstop, Austin Hayes and
left field Gavin luxdh's Spencer Steers at first base. Tyler

(24:19):
Stevenson catches in bat seventh, Will Benson and Wright and
Noelvee Marte at third base, batting ninth. Miami recently won
eight consecutive games. They lost three out of two out
of three this weekend in Milwaukee or against Milwaukee, and
they come into play eight under five hundred and twelve

(24:40):
games at a first place in the NL East. You
gotta win this series. So there are certain series on
the calendar, on the schedule that you go, you just
you gotta win them. And it's four games, and you know,
I know when you go two and two and then
sweet the Rockies, you know, we'll we'll put a we'll

(25:01):
look at it through rose colored glasses. You gotta win
this series against Miami seven to ten, first pitch tonight
Tomorrow Wednesday, five to ten, first pitch on Friday. For
the first time in club history, FC Cincinnati has a
player who has been named Team of the Match day
for three consecutive weeks. Evander named to a Team of
the Match day for match day number twenty two. Scored
a goal and had an assist in FC Cincinnati's victory

(25:24):
over Chicago. The Orange and Blue will take on Columbus.
They call that game the Hell is Real Derby and
looking ahead to Saturday. That could be heard on ESPN
fifteen thirty an. It's rare that we have two giveaways
a day, but this week two giveaways a day. We
got Dirk Spentley tickets every day this week, including at

(25:45):
five thirty three today, and Upper Deck Golf your chance
to play around of golf at GAVP every day this week,
including right now. So what we're gonna do today is
because you know, All Stars, the All Star Game, in
the All Star our selection process, which I'm gonna help
out Major League Baseball and I'm gonna help out ESPN

(26:06):
coming up at four oh five. But since the All
Star Game and All Star snubs and All Stars selections
are on everybody's mind, I have five questions relating to
Cincinnati Red's All Star Game history. Are Contestant musket Three
of five correct, and I believe our contestant is with us. Nick. Nick,
you're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Are you excited for the

(26:27):
opportunity to play upper deck Golf of GABP Absolutely mo,
thanks so much. Well, you're very welcome. You're a big
Reds fan. I take it. Oh yeah, all right, very good,
A knowledgeable Reds fan, deep and well versed in Red's history.

Speaker 10 (26:43):
I like to consider myself one.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
Yes, very good. We're gonna ask you five questions. You
got to get three of the five correct. There are
multiple choice and I think, for the most part, rather easy.
But we will see. Nick. Are you ready? I am ready?
All right, Tarren? Are you ready with sound effects? WHOA,
there we go? Question number one? Nick Elie de la
Cruz is just the second Reds player to make the

(27:07):
All Star Game as a shortstop since the year two thousand.
Who was the other? A Zach Cozart, B Felipe Lopez
or C. Rich Aurelia.

Speaker 10 (27:19):
I'm gonna go see rich.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
Can I get see rich Aurelia? Terren? It was uh,
It's all right. Zach Cozart made the All Star Game
as a member of the Reds the year he got
a donkey in twenty seventeen. That is okay, You're still alive,
you still have a chance. Here we go, all right,
question number two. Twice in All Star Game history, did

(27:45):
a pair of Reds teammates hit homers? I mean in
the All Star Game? Two Reds went deep? Nineteen fifty four,
Ted Klezuski and Gus Bell each went deep. Which other
pair of Reds teammates went deep in the All Star Game?
A George Foster and Johnny Bench, B Joey Vado and
Scooter Jeanette, or Ce Barry Larkin and Eric Davis.

Speaker 10 (28:10):
I'm going to go a.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Mo Can I go?

Speaker 3 (28:12):
He?

Speaker 1 (28:12):
Can I get George Foster and Johnny Bench, Joey Vado
and Scooter Jeanette each homered in the twenty eighteen Midsummer Classic.
That is okay, you just have to Yeah, he was
and hit a homer. Represented the Reds in the All
Star Game in twenty eighteen. All right, here we go.

(28:34):
This is the only Cincinnati Red to start an All
Star Game as the designated hitter for the National League.
A Ken Griffy, Junior, b Ron Gant or C Dave Parker.

Speaker 8 (28:52):
I will go.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Can I get a kN Graffy junior terren Ron Gant
nineteen ninety five was the starting DH for the National
League in the All Star Game that year. Nick, you're
over three. My apologies.

Speaker 11 (29:10):
Ouch wow, sorry move.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
That's okay, no problem. We appreciate you being a contestant. Matt.
You have done absolutely nothing to deserve upper deck golf,
but you're still gonna play hang title. Okay, yes, it
sounds very enthused. All right, Matt. Congratulations, you are gonna
go play upper deck golf at gav More tickets to
a giveaway tomorrow. Tarreen, do you want to take your

(29:32):
crack at the last two questions or why not? By
the way, I made a mistake and it didn't cost
Nick there Fully, this was incorrect. I there were three
Reds players. There are three Reds players too have made
the All Star Game as a shortstop since Barry Larkin
and Felipe Lopez is one of them. Zach Cozart is

(29:55):
the other. Rich. Really, I was the incorrect answer, That's
what Nick guessed. I did not. I didn't write that
one correctly because as I read it, I'm like Felipe
Lopez did make the All Star team. So I screwed up. There,
but I don't think it costs Nick a chance. I
don't think we screwed Nick over. I don't think we did.
Here we go Taran. Two Reds pitchers have recorded saves

(30:17):
in an All Star Game. One is Yule Blackwell. Who's
the other Worldest Chapman, John Franco or Tom Hume against Chapman.
Chapman finished the All Star Game in fourteen and fifteen
did not get a save, though Tom Hume recorded a
save in the nineteen eighty two All Star Game. And
then who is the last Reds pitcher? The starting pitcher

(30:38):
to start an All Star Game? Mario Soto, Danny Jackson
or Jack Armstrong See Jack Armstrong Yes at Wrigley Field
in nineteen ninety. Mario Soto started the game in nineteen
eighty three. Danny Jackson pitched or represented the Reds in
an All Star Game in nineteen eighty eight, but he

(30:59):
did not start. Alk Armstrong did start the game in
nineteen ninety. We have more. We have more coming up
at five thirty five for a chance to go see
Dirk s Bentley at Riverbend. That is just about two
hours away. Quarter to four. An amazingly disorganized start I'm

(31:19):
off to This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports.

Speaker 9 (31:22):

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Speaker 1 (32:01):
This report is sponsored by Rapping from four o'clock. This
is ESPN fifteen not Connor John. He's back after having hand,
foot and mouth disease. Thank god he's back. I could
be that is contagious. Jeff Carr is going to join
us in thirty minutes. Locked on Reds, we'll talk about
all Star exclusions and the trade deadline, which is twenty

(32:26):
four days away. Nick Crawl talked a little bit about
the trade deadline. Frankly, didn't say a ton of major consequence.
They're in weight and see mode, and they're in weight
and seed mode regarding you know, how well the team plays.
You know, let's be honest, if if they fall flat
in their face during this homestand and we're to do
something like fall to I don't know, three games under

(32:50):
five hundred or something like that, then I think the
conversation is going to be a little bit different. Also,
I think there is something to be said about waiting
to see how the market materializes, and I'm not sure
sure that is necessarily happened yet. I think there's room,
as there often is in life, for multiple truths, and
this is something we talked about a little bit last week.

(33:11):
I can find folks, especially on social media. We're on
social media. You can find folks who believe anything. You
can find folks on social media who believe this Reds
team is not worth being aggressive with at the deadline,
either because they don't realistically have a chance to get
to the postseason, or the team is just fine as

(33:34):
is and will only get better with improved health. And
you can find folks who believe that this team is
absolutely worth not just adding to the deadline, but being
aggressive with and rushing to the front of the line
and making a trade now, and making multiple trades to
help all the areas where they have needs. By the way,

(33:56):
I think one of the more interesting things about the
Reds if you're a nick crawl, it's you know, if
you decide you're in bymode, what are you prioritizing Because
I think there's a very clear and convincing argument that
bullpen help needs to be a priority. We've seen the
Reds get some really good relief work. We've seen the
Reds get some shaky relief work. We've seen some guys

(34:18):
who have performed well that you're being fair if you
wonder if they're going to continue to perform as well
in the second half. And we've also seen some guys
thrown in some high leverage situations that you might not
yet want pitching in high leverage situations. Tony Santien was
a hero of sorts on Friday, he was a goat
of sorts yesterday. Is he a guy you want getting

(34:39):
critical outs in the middle of a Pennant race in
the later innings or would you prefer there be another option?
And there's obviously the discussions we've been having since last
offseason about just the overall incomplete nature of this team
offensively and the general lack of production they're getting from
first base, of overall production they get from the outfield.

(35:05):
And so I think one of the more interesting questions
that if you're Nick Crawl you have to sort of
wrestle with is what should we prioritize, and by the way,
you may prioritize getting a bat, there's no bat to
be had, so then you kind of default to getting
a relief pitcher. And are we completely completely convinced the
Reds have enough starting pitching depth for the rest of

(35:26):
the season. But I do think there's room for multiple truths.
And one of those truth is if the Reds are
a playoff team by the end of the season, that
the guys who are going to get them there are
pretty much already on this team. I didn't put that
very well. But what is going to have more to

(35:47):
do than anything else with the Reds getting to or
not making the postseason is the current roster construction, the
health of players currently on the roster, the performance of
players currently on the roster. I think that's a fair
statement that if they're still playing past Game one sixty two,

(36:10):
the biggest reason why is going to be the overall
performance of players who have been on this team all season.
I think that is a fair and accurate statement. We'll
call it a truth. I think it's also completely fair
and accurate to look at the current construction of the

(36:30):
roster and believe that there's room for help, and that
help from outside is almost a necessity. I think you
could do it both ways. I think you could look
at this team and how so many individual players have performed,
and look at its overall construction and feel comfortable in

(36:53):
making the assertion that whether or not the Reds make
the postseason is going to be more dependent upon this
collection of players right now performing better in some cases individually,
performing a lot better in some cases individually, just being
healthier than they were in the second half of the season.
Ellie De la Cruz and Matt McClain and Tyler Stevenson

(37:17):
and TJ. Friedel and hopefully healthy Austin Hayes and Hunter
Green who's gonna start a rehab assignment, and Andrew Abbott.
They're gonna have a lot more to do with whether
or not the Reds make the postseason than anything else.
But you mean to tell me there's no room for
help from outside. The word that has been used most
often in describing this roster has been incomplete. If you

(37:40):
have an incomplete roster, there's room for help from outside.
The question is how much are you willing to give
up to get it. I'm here to help. I'm here
to help Major League Baseball because I cannot, for the
life of me understand what Major League Baseball did yesterday.
Will make that make sense. We've got a minute Jones

(38:00):
on baseball coming up at the end of next hour.
Room for your phone calls. At five point three seven
four nine, fifteen thirty. We've got a slight Trey hendrickson
update and Tony and Austin. We're talking about the Bengals
offensive line rankings from Sharp Football in PFF. We'll get
to that coming up in the four o'clock hour plus.
Jeff Carr on ESPN fifteen thirty. Out here you got dollars.

(38:27):
Enter this nationwide keyword on our website. Okay, that's pay.

Speaker 4 (38:32):
Enter it now you've found Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen pay.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
You said, Hey, what's up moreger, This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Thank you for listening. Hopefully had like their greatest Fourth
of July weekend of all time, of all time, I said,
Jeff Carr, lockdown. Reg is going to join us at
about fifteen minutes. We are looking forward to that. Your
phone calls are ahead, as well. Thought or two on

(39:01):
something that was broached, if you will on Sincy three
to sixty regarding the Bengals offensive line and Brendanman and
Jones on Baseball Busy Hour for Us. We were talking
a little bit earlier about MLB's All Star selections ends
MLB All Star voting. I take for what it is.
It is not about encouraging fans to pick the best

(39:25):
or most deserving players. It's about getting fans to stay
on MLB dot com for as long as possible. And
that's fine. That's fine. They're very transparent about that. I mean,
I remember going back years ago when the Reds very
seriously were telling you vote Reds now. There were obviously

(39:45):
players worth voting for, like at the time, this is
twenty thirteen, so Joey Vado and Brandon Phillips among others,
but also they were telling you to vote for Ryan Ludwick,
who that season, in the first half had two at bats.
It's it's not about picking the best players, and that's
that's okay. I take it for what it is. I'm

(40:06):
always a little bit more interested in who the reserves
are because those are those are voted on by players.
There are those are selections out of the hands of fans,
and that's really where you find out, you know who
was a tough exclusion, like Andrew Abbott, who was a
snub whose exclusion was egregious. It's it's always an interesting day.

(40:33):
I do not understand, and maybe this is not something
that matters to anybody except for me, But for a
long time I have wondered why Major League Baseball insists
on having events, big events that you would imagine you
want people to pay attention to, while it's actual on

(40:54):
field product is being played. So yesterday at five o'clock,
ESPN had scheduled the MLB All Stars Selection Show at
five o'clock when actual Major League Baseball games were being played.

(41:15):
For the life of me, I do not understand this.
This should be one of the signature non game events
you have as a sport. It doesn't have to be
drawn out for an hour. But how you don't configure
your schedule in a way that has the All Star
Game selection show as this own separate entity that isn't

(41:41):
competing for eyeballs with actual Major League Baseball games is
beyond me. Plus and I didn't know about this until
after the fact. I found out about this because I
was just curious, like, when do we find out who
the all Stars are in? What manner is this going
to be announced? And I'm like, wait a minute, it's
on at five o'clock. Aren't there actual and that the

(42:03):
Reds game was over by then? But aren't there actual
baseball games being played? Wouldn't that be something you would
want as many people to come to as possible. Isn't
this solving a half season's worth of debates announcing your
all star teams? That to me, and maybe I'm in
the minority here, would be the sort of thing that
you would want as many people to come to and

(42:25):
pay attention to as possible, And instead they had it
while games in the western part of the United States
were taking place. Then the show itself was pushed back
ten minutes because ESPN was airing a cornhole tournament. Now.
I love to play cornhole. I played cornhole on Friday.

(42:48):
I like cornhole. It's not a sport that I really
want to watch, but fine, it's out there. I'm sure
people do watch it. I'm sure there are folks listening
to me right now who are television cornhole enthusiasts. Far
be it from me to tell you that your chosen
sport is a bad thing or anything. Like that. But

(43:11):
it's not like you're delaying the start of your All
Star Game selection show, which should be a big deal.
It's not like you're delaying it for an NBA playoff
game or a WNBA regular season game, but instead it's
being delayed for cornhole like way to tell your viewers
that this matters, but not so much, because we're asking

(43:34):
you to divide your attention between this All Star selection
show and maybe your favorite team playing and your favorite
team with some of those All Stars that you want
to see their name get called. Oh and by the way,
it might not start at five o'clock because we got
dudes throwing bags on TV. Major League Baseball does this
on a on kind of a recurring basis, the Futures

(43:59):
Game this year. The Futures Game is, I would imagine,
and again maybe I'm wrong, one of those things that
you would want as many people to pay attention to
as possible, except that it takes place at four o'clock
on Saturday afternoon. Now at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon.

(44:26):
First of all, every major League team is going to
be playing on Saturday. Every major League team plays every
Saturday during the season. While the MLB Futures Game is
taking place. There will be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight four o'clock games just getting underway, including for what
it's worth, the Reds and Rockies. Now, you might be

(44:49):
like most and you would rather watch a Major League
Baseball game than the Futures Game. But the Futures Game
is still something, and the Reds have two prospects in it.
Sal Stewart is one of them. It would strike me
as the sort of thing that if you're pushing, these
are the future players that you want to get a
you know, you want to be familiar with, you want
to get a chance to know. This is a big deal,
pay attention to it. Why then, would you put it

(45:11):
on opposite a full slate of Major League Baseball games.
By the way, the National Hall of Fame National Baseball
Hall of Fame induction ceremonies also take place at like
noon on a Sunday. Now, Major League Baseball doesn't control
the Hall of Fame, doesn't have jurisdiction over the Hall
of Fame. But why you wouldn't work with the people

(45:34):
who run the Hall of Fame to put it on
not opposite major League Baseball games. Is beyond me. So
they've done this with the draft before to the draft,
they've made it a little bit better, they've made it
a better television event, and frankly, I think they've done
a good job with the draft. I think the baseball

(45:55):
Draft matters more than it ever has because there's a
pretty good chance, like with Chase Burns this year, those guys,
especially the dudes taking in Round one, you're seeing them
sooner than at any other point in baseball history. But
it has always confused me as to why Baseball takes
things that you would imagine they would want a lot
of people to pay attention to, regardless of which team

(46:16):
you're root for, and they put them on opposite the
actual on field product. That doesn't make any sense. If
you want the All Star selections to seem like a
big deal, put it on at seven o'clock. I know
they had a Sunday Night Baseball at doubleheader. They had Cubs, Cardinals,
and Padres Rangers, which, by the way, that's good. There

(46:38):
should be more of that, right, more national double headers
on Sunday night. Let's do it one game in the
eastern Ish part of the US, so though Chicago is
in the central time zone at one on the West coast.
But somehow, some way figure out a way to put
your All Star selection show in a place where the
people who care most about it aren't having their attention

(46:59):
divided by actual Major League Baseball games. I'm just trying
to help, Like I, you're the Pro Football Hall of
Fame has its Hall of Fame Induction and they do
a really nice job with it. They put it in
Canton at the Hall of Fame Stadium, and it's, uh,
you know, obviously, in the preseason. The Hall of Fame

(47:20):
game is a part of the weekend and it's a
primetime event and it's really well done and it's really good,
and it's not competing with the actual product because it's
happening in the off season. I don't understand where the
Baseball Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies can't take place during
the off season. You might say, well, Cooper'stown is a
chilly place to be. You can't find an indoor spot
for it somewhere somewhere. But to have the Future's Game

(47:44):
and to have the All Star selections happening while the
games are being played, I need someone to make that
make sense for me. Five point three seven nine fifteen
thirty is our phone number. Sixteen days until Bengals training camp.
We got the news over the weekend. Jeremy Fowler of
ESPN talked on Sports Center and I saw this Saturday

(48:04):
morning where he says, despite the fact that the Bengals
and Trey Hendrickson have resumed contact with each other, they're
no closer to a deal. The one thing that I
saw this weekend that was kind of interesting that was
Bengals related. Since he Jungle dot Com has a piece
on Mike Hilton, Mike Hilton is still out there. Mike
Hilton obviously terrific slock corner for the Bengals last year

(48:27):
in the specific role that you would want him to
play in. I thought did a nice job. Ranked by
one media outlet, is among the best free agents who
are still available. I think most of us are kind
of surprised that he's still available, and it begs the question,
should they maybe reconsider their approach with Mike Hilton, And

(48:49):
I think the answer should be yes. And the role
that he was asked to play in last season did
a pretty nice job and could provide a level of stability.
Veteran leadership, so to speak, that perhaps that position group
could use spend some time on that. Coming up here
in just a bit, Jeff Carr is going to join

(49:12):
us in a few minutes. This is a major week
for the Reds. We've talked about this since March. The
trade deadline is approaching. They're two over five hundred. They
have an okay record. By the end of this week,
they need a better record. What should the approach be,
what might the market look look like, and so much more.
We'll do all that with Jeff coming up in just
a few minutes on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

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Speaker 1 (50:13):
Add free never sounded so good. Free in fifteen thirty three,
what's up? It's exactly before twenty. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty on OEGAR. Thank you for spending part of your
afternoon with us. Jeff Carr is with us locked onn
Reds podcast. I believe he just finished recording an episode
and he's going to the ballpark tonight, so he is

(50:35):
squeezing us in to answer my dumb Reds questions. Jeff,
how's it.

Speaker 8 (50:38):
Going getting the raincoat ready? It's now it's wet outside.
I don't know, doing pretty good though, Moke, i'd be
talking ritch.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
Well, the tarf will be on the field, I guess
at some point tonight, hopefully doesn't get in the way
of playing nine innings.

Speaker 11 (50:51):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
In your opinion, how egregious is the Andrew Abbott All
Star exclusion.

Speaker 8 (50:58):
I believe it's hilario that Matthew Boyd made the All
Star team over him. It's not as if Matthew Boyd
was the only Cubs appointment either Like I mean, obviously
PCA and Kyle Tucker deserve to be on that team.
But I think that Andrew Abbitt had a better quality
of seasons so far than Matthew Boyd did. But I
still think at the end of the day, he's going

(51:19):
to be on the roster. I just think he should
have been on the initial list.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
Yeah, no, I agree with you there, all right, Trade deadline?
First of all, let's talk about this week. Is six
and one against Miami and Colorado mandatory.

Speaker 8 (51:32):
I'd say six and one or five and two. I'd
be okay with five and two, but I think that
either one of those should set this up for the
Reds to absolutely have no reason to sit on their
hands at the deadline. It's gonna be leading into the
All Star break and hopefully fifty one and forty six,
and so you're looking at a team that could shoot
for the wild card, maybe even catch up to the

(51:53):
Cubs if to make the right moves at the deadline
that just can't stand pass standing Pat's not going to help.

Speaker 1 (52:02):
What do you make of Nick Kraul's comments about the deadline,
where he basically said we're gonna play wait and see
for a while.

Speaker 8 (52:09):
I tend to think that it's GM speak and he's
holding his cards close to the best, but I also
know that he said that a lot. That's kind of
his like favorite thing to say whenever a reporter asked
him about the trade deadline, to the point that I
feel like if he goes to Starbucks in the morning
and they ask him that they want cream with the coffee,
He's like, well, we're gonna wait and see.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
Oh yes, yes, I do want. What do you expect
the market to look like.

Speaker 8 (52:36):
It's gonna be intriguing because there's really only a few
teams that are bona fide sellers, and there's a couple
of teams that you think they probably should sell, but
they don't like to do that, Like the Los Angeles
Angels are one of them. There's a lot of people
that are like, hey, let's go get Taylor Ward. But
I mean the Angels buy when they should sell, you know,
see the final year of sho hey Otani's ten year

(52:58):
with the Angels. But at the end of the day,
I think that the Reds have an opportunity to maybe
even scout Dane Meyers a little bit. He's a guy
that not a lot of people are talking about with
the Marlins, and I think could really help out the Reds.
I don't necessarily believe that they need to go get
a big time, awesome bat in the outfield. They just

(53:19):
need to get a really consistent, left handed hitting masher
that plays really good defense, and that's exactly who Dane
Meyers is. And I don't think it'll cost what people
were talking about Luis Robert possibly costing, although he looks
like he won't cost anybody anything right now because he's
not worth.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Is is that type of player? Does he represent a
bigger need than a bullpen arm.

Speaker 8 (53:44):
I knew you were gonna ask me that, and I've
been trying to figure out if I have a good
answer with this, because I feel like one day I'm like, oh,
get a bat. Like Saturday, they needed a bat, They
needed that guy that would bring in the runs because
they had guys on base and they just couldn't seem
to get over the hump against Philadelphia. But then you
also have those other days where they just can't seem

(54:05):
to hold the line on the bullpen side of things.
So I think ultimately with noelvi Marte kind of getting
back into it, I think if he can match the
scattery report, match what he was before he hits the il,
then I slightly lean more toward the bullpen side of things,
And the bullpen is really where I want the Reds
to take a big swing. I don't think they need

(54:26):
to take his biggest swing with the outfielder that they
go for, but they definitely need to take a big
swing in the bullpen because it feels like there's really
only two guys that we can trust on a data
in day out basis, and one of those guys gave
up a two run homer yesterday.

Speaker 1 (54:40):
Yeah, when you say big swing, I mean do you mean, like,
go get an established closer that would slide Amelia Pegan
down the depth charge, so to speak.

Speaker 8 (54:49):
Yes, I think that Emilio Pagan has performed admirably, but
I don't think he's performed to the point that he
has nailed down his spot as the unquestioned guy at
the end of this bullpen.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
Right when I hear people say and I'm certainly if
you told me they could upgrade their bullpen, sign me up,
I feel like that's the tricky one, because show me
a contending team and I'll show you a team that
could use an arms somewhere. Maybe it's a closer, maybe
it's a lefty specialist, maybe maybe it's just a long die. Like,

(55:21):
there's not a team that's that's in buy mode or
contention mode that couldn't use a bullpen arm and so
I would imagine that the derby to go get one,
so to speak, would be pretty competitive.

Speaker 8 (55:32):
No, absolutely, and I think a lot of it's going
to stem on what the Red Sox think they are.
I mean, obviously they had a nice week against the
Reds and then sweeping the National so they're probably not
in a mode where they want to sell. But they
might be one of those teams as well. But like,
whatever happens these next couple of weeks really determines what
they do. And they've got a couple of interesting guys

(55:54):
in their bullpen on expiring deals, namely a former Red
that would be an interesting ad and a roll to chatman.
But I also it's tough too because I feel like
it's easy to pick out the names that we know,
like a Kenley Jansen or something like that, and say
go get that guy. But I was reading an article
on ESPN dot com today talking about you know the

(56:16):
moves that happened and some of the moves that didn't happened,
and all the behind the scenes stuff. And they talked
about the Padres adding Ernesto Friari about a decade ago,
and I'm reminded of how good he was for the
Padres and how unknown he was before he got there.
Like that would be pretty cool too, write, go add
to this bullpen. Bring in a guy that you can

(56:36):
really trust in the back end. And if he doesn't
push down Emilia Pagon, fine, but maybe you push down
Tony Santion.

Speaker 1 (56:45):
Yeah, and I like Tony Santion. I don't know that
I won him pitching in the sort of situations we
saw him pitching in yesterday, though he thrived in a
similar situation on Friday night, can they? Because folks are
always worried about, like, you know, trading away too much
mortgage in the future, So let's start there. Uh. How

(57:06):
long is the list of quote untouchables?

Speaker 8 (57:10):
I don't think it's very long at all, at least
if they fancy themselves the contenders that we all hope
they are, there should be maybe two. And even then
I could entertain an offer if it's a big enough
player because I think I had a conversation with our
guy that handles locked on Orioles, and I said, what

(57:30):
if I gave you Chase Petty and you gave me
Yen Year to know? And Ryan o'hurt and he said,
sign me up for that, okay, And I'm like, wow,
if we could do a one for two like that, Like,
I don't know that the Orioles do that in real life,
but if that's the deal that Nipcral makes it the deadline,
then I think everybody who's asking if he should be
on the hot seat right now would give him a
contract extension. So anybody that wonders if Chase Petty's untouchable,

(57:54):
you get a deal like that. The Reds look a
lot better heading into the playoffs, and Yen Year can
know is a multiple year control guy.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
He's not just a one year player. We talked about
bullpen arm or a bat. Does it have to be
either or do they have the sort of of capital
that could allow them to address both.

Speaker 8 (58:11):
I think they can address both. I think they're in
a position and hopefully they come away with a better haul.
But remember back in twenty twenty, they went out and
they got bullpen guys, and they got an outfielder. And
you know, they didn't quite make the difference that we
hope that they would, but they at least did something.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
I think that they've got a chance. Now.

Speaker 8 (58:30):
They've got the kind of organization and they've got the
kind of draft pick coming up this year. They greater
two and not you know, mortgage the future as everybody's
worried about.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
They have nineteen games between now and four pm on
the thirty first. We talked about the stretch of very
winnable games they have before the break. After the break,
it's at the Mets. They have a series against the Rays.
The Dodgers are here in between. Of all that, there's
the Washington Nationals, who just fired their g and their manager.

(59:02):
Are are we still dealing with them being possible sellers?
And I know the obvious answers, well, if they go
and lose like sixteen of their next nineteen, how are
they not? But are we are we still?

Speaker 2 (59:13):
Like?

Speaker 1 (59:13):
Are they in a position where if they crater and
fall off the face of the earth. And now Nick
crals and sell mode, they could get something in return
for the guys he may sell for.

Speaker 8 (59:21):
Sure, and especially when you think of like Nick Martinez,
who could be available if they are a seller, and
then you could even entertain, and we talked about this
over the last couple of years with the Reds possibly
emulating the Tampa Bay Rays, they could entertain trading Gavin
Lux or Tyler Stevenson. As much as that sounds horribly tasteless,
and I mean, you would not get the kind of

(59:44):
response that fans would just be shown up to the
ballpark because they made those trades. But that might be
savvy business moves if they do crater, but I don't
expect them to crater. I think that it's very likely
over the next nineteen watching this team as we have
all year, that they go twelve and seven, and then
at that point they absolutely have to buy because they

(01:00:05):
will be right within the thick of it come four
o'clock on the thirty first.

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
All right, I'm doing quick math here, So twelve and
seven would mean they're fifty eight and fifty one at
that point. How are you? How are it? Because I
hear from people that go, look, the team is good
enough to hang in there, and they're good enough to
take a shot with. They're not good enough to do
something drastic at the deadline. And my response to that is, well,

(01:00:29):
the team is good enough to hang in there, but
probably not good enough to get to the postseason is
currently constructed, and so I think a deal is necessary.
And we've talked about the value of getting a bat
and the value of getting a bullpen arm. I don't
know how you look at your fans I don't know
how you look at some of these players and sit there.
Let's just say it's fifty eight and fifty one on

(01:00:50):
the afternoon of July thirty first and not do anything.
I mean, that's I don't know how you do that.
And we saw Nick Krall do it two years ago
with a starting road that was horrible. There's no glaring
hole like that two years ago. And so this is
more of a comment for you to address than it
is a question. But I've seen them stan pat when
they were in first place two years ago, So why

(01:01:11):
should I believe that definitively if they are in by mode,
that they're actually going to do something.

Speaker 8 (01:01:17):
I think that the moves that they've already made so
far this year in cutting Jamer Candelario and calling up
Chase Burns when it really almost felt like it might
have been too early, not because of Chase Burns himself,
but because of where the roster is. It seemed as
though that was a bit of an aggressive move and
the fact that they made both of those calls. I

(01:01:39):
expect them to be aggressive at the deadline, and I
think that Nikral understands he's got a wealth of prospects
that he can deal from and if he is not
going to be given the capital to sign big time
free agents, then he's got to use his trade capital,
and I think that we will see him do that
this year. I'm with you. I think that where they
are right now is right in the middle of expectations,

(01:02:02):
and that is the most frustrating place to be if
you're a Reds fan, because we expected them to be
pretty good. We want them to be really good, and
we're worried about them not being good, and they're not
in any of those other areas right now, so we're
trying to convince ourselves of how they could end up
in either side. But they're just right in the middle,

(01:02:22):
and that's the most frustrating place to be.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
They are like, they're a week away from making me
feel like they can get to the postseason to be dangerous,
and they're a week away, one bad week away from
having the sort of season that uhh, ninety losses as
possible like it's and I talk about I get accused
of talking about this team like they're better than they are,
and then I get accused of being a little bit

(01:02:44):
too negative. This team gives you reasons for both, and
they sometimes do so in the exact same series, much
less the same week or month.

Speaker 8 (01:02:53):
Right in our society, you're either great or you're horrible,
and they're neither. And that's what's most frustrating to most people.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
Yeah, well said, all right, man, I appreciate you doing
this as always. Enjoy the ball game tonight. We'll do
it again soon.

Speaker 8 (01:03:06):
Hey absolutely, Hey who if you got I Eva a
cat or ike irish whore you taking at number nine
on Sunday, you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Would be better equipped answer that than me. Far better
equipped answer that than me. That's why we get people
on to talk about that sort of stuff, because I
have no idea getting irish on the back of a
Red's uniform. I would take that's what he's Here's what
I can tell you. Last year they took petty second
overall that surprised a lot of people. And I heard
folks banging on the pick who acknowledge like he'll get

(01:03:35):
to the big leagues more quickly than anybody else. And
that has been the case. And I've seen I've seen
two starts that make me have made me feel pretty
good about what they did with him. Second, overall, and.

Speaker 8 (01:03:45):
For the first month of the season, Charlie Condon was
batt in about a book twenty five and high A
for the Rockies, and I think people would have lost
their minds had been doing that for the Dragons.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
Yeah, no question, All right, man, Thank you as always. Hey,
thanks good. Is twenty seven away from five o'clock. Brendiman
and Jones on baseball is coming up in just about
fifteen minutes. Your phone calls are ahead as well. In
sports Headlines two on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 9 (01:04:09):

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Speaker 1 (01:04:47):
This report is Cincinnati's sports station ESPN fifteen thirty. Sports
headlines are a service to Kelsey Chevrolett, home of lifetime
powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval from their family to
yours for life, Kelsey Shave, dot Comrades and Marlins. First
of four tonight, Brady Singer against Jansen Junk. I don't

(01:05:10):
know if that's an appropriate name for a starting pitcher.
Jansen Junk will throw for the Fish seven ten tonight's
first pitch seven hundred. Wlw's starting lineup for the Good
Guys tonight. That's right, I called him the Good Guys. TJ.
Friedel is leading off in center field, Mad McLay at second,
All Star, Ellie Dela Cruz at short, Austin Hayes and

(01:05:30):
left field. By the way, the dude who wanted to
make the wager with me that Ellie Dela Cruz would
not be an All Star last year and this year.
I wonder where he is. This is why I don't
make make wagers with strangers on the internet. Hayeses and
left field, batting fourth, Lux's Dhing steers it first. Tyler
Stevenson catches in bat's fifth, No. Heda's bats seventh, good
God Will Benson in right field. Noelve Martes playing third base.

(01:05:53):
Connor Joe is back after having hand, foot and mouth disease.
Reese Hines is being sent to Louisville. Evander name to
a Team of the Match day for the third consecutive week,
first player in FC Cincinnati history to have that honor
in three consecutive weeks. Had a goal and an assist
in the two to one win over Chicago. The Orange
and Blue currently occupying the top spot in the race

(01:06:15):
for the Supporter Shield in Major League Soccer. We have
yet to take a phone call today, Mike, go ahead
and end the drought. You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Mike.
How are you? It's okay? Everything okay? Can you can
you pull me off? The speakerphone.

Speaker 10 (01:06:34):
Please, yeah, I'm trying to get over here.

Speaker 1 (01:06:37):
I gotcha, I understand. I understand that, miss me. I'll
sing a song and stall for time for you.

Speaker 10 (01:06:44):
Okay, thanks. So first question is how did the little
one enjoy her fireworks weekend? Uh?

Speaker 1 (01:06:52):
Enjoyed it immenseally. We did a very mild fireworks show
at our house. And when I say mild, I had
three hundred and eighty eight fireworks that I shot from
a toy machine gun, and she and the other kids
enjoyed them.

Speaker 10 (01:07:08):
You I don't even want to know what that is.
I'm sure these fireworks now have gotten so freaking high tech,
awesome and safe, probably, but I haven't seen any in
so many years. But I bet it was pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (01:07:21):
It was pretty cool the keyword of safety. Everybody know.
No fingers were lost or in the course of our
homemade fireworks show.

Speaker 10 (01:07:29):
Well, you know, and I never once all these years
i've called you brought up politics or current events outside
of sports. But I got to tell you, mom, that
thing in Texas just tore me up off in a
father You're a father, I mean, and I'll drop it,
But my God in Heaven.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
That's not a politics story. That's a human interest story.
That's a human being story. Those are human beings. That's
not that's safe. I don't undert and you know, you
and I both know there are people, Mike who will
find a way to politicize that.

Speaker 8 (01:07:57):
That is.

Speaker 1 (01:07:58):
I don't care who you vote for, what you think
about the direction of the country. That is a sickening
story out there in Texas.

Speaker 10 (01:08:06):
Yeah it is. Okay, I got a bunch of red stuff.
Just depends on how long you're gonna let me be on.
I don't okay. So we got this seven games here.
He is coming up with the Rockies in the Marls. So,
like you said, let's hope we go six and one.
Now on with the Marlins. They're gonna face Sandy al Contra, right, yes,

(01:08:31):
not good. That guy is really good. I know it's
the right hander, but he's really pretty good.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
This year. He hasn't this year, he has not pitched
like Sandy al Contra.

Speaker 10 (01:08:45):
No, but he's still capable of it. That's what worries me,
you know, when he hasn't done well against this guy
and this guy and this guy, but now all of
a sudden he does really good against this guy. But
my question boils to this regarding making a move. Are
they more likely if they go six and one? Are
they more likely to go, Well, hell, we're gonna stay

(01:09:07):
in pat we got once. You know, Hayes hopefully won't
get hurt anymore. He's our second best power hitter. Hunter's
coming back. Let's stay packed. I'm just wondering if they're
not better off not doing quite that well to force
their hand. What do you think?

Speaker 1 (01:09:23):
I think the basic premise of your question is very fair.
Could they get to a point. Let's say they take
three out of four from Miami. By the way, all
Contra pitches on Wednesday against Andrew Abbott. Let's say they
take three or four against Miami, and then they sweep
the Rockies and they go into the All Star Break
at fifty two and forty five. Now I watched, and
by the way, the All Star Break is next week,

(01:09:46):
and so they'll come out of the All Star Break
and they'll have basically two weeks before the trade deadline. Right,
they'll have what twelve games? Twelve games before the trade deadline.
A lot can still happen. I watched what happened two
years ago. The Reds were in first place, the Reds
were in first place despite awful starting pitching, and they
basically looked at that team and said, we're good.

Speaker 10 (01:10:07):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:10:08):
They did add Sam Mall, but they looked at that
team and said, we're good because we're gonna get healthier.
So it is completely reasonable to wonder if they're in contention,
they're not gonna be in first place at the deadline.
But if they're in contention at the deadline, do they
look at their team and go, you know what, we
have a better starting staff than two years ago. We're

(01:10:29):
healthier because Hunter Green's gonna come back between now and
then and go, you know what, we're good with what
we have. I think that that scenario is completely plausible
if we're using history as a guide. What I would
caution against is number one, what happens when you're not healthy.
Number two, all the other teams that you're chasing or

(01:10:49):
trying to fend off are probably at least gonna try
to get better. And the offensive team they have is
still incomplete. You could look at the record and draw
one conclusion, but you could look at the overall offensive
performance of the team and I think draw a different conclusion.
And for me, that's they need help. They could use
help on the corners in the infield. They can use

(01:11:09):
help on the corners in the outfield. They could use
a help a DH for what it's worth. I think, though,
the question is totally fair. Do they play so well
over the course of not just the next seven days,
but the next couple of weeks that they go, hey,
we're good, we don't need to do anything. Maybe they
do that, and maybe they end up being correct. Maybe

(01:11:31):
they do that and whatever they didn't address comes back
and haunts them as it did two years ago. Time
will tell, But I think the overall premise of your
question is a very fair one.

Speaker 10 (01:11:43):
Yeah, well, you like interesting, And I found that the
more I thought about it, I thought that was interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:11:48):
I think what all of us are looking for, Mike,
is we're looking for clarity. Crawl, I'm sure, is looking
for clarity. Right, they're forty six and forty four, and
as much as you could say, well, go make a
deal now, chances are one not going to materialize. The
market hasn't yet fully crystallized, and so you're looking for clarity.
What you're looking for is not for the Reds too.
Over the next nineteen games, go ten and nine, and

(01:12:12):
then it's the deadline and they're three over, and you
can make a case that they can't win it, and
you can make a case that they can at least
stay in the race for the long haul. You're looking
for clarity. You're looking for them to play so well
or on the flip side of that, so poorly that
we're not wondering what they are on July thirty first.
Obviously the preferences play well, we'll see. I think it's

(01:12:34):
going to be really interesting if they kind of tread
water over the next couple of weeks and they're in
a comparable place to where they are right now. I
could see them going, you know what, we're not either
buyers or sellers, so we're gonna do nothing. I could
see them saying, you know what, we're not sure if
we're really in it, but let's give our team a

(01:12:54):
better chance by making a deal and send a message
to our fan base. I don't know. Which is why
it makes the next couple of weeks with this club
so fascinating.

Speaker 10 (01:13:03):
It really does. Now, let me get down to the
nitty gritty of what will or will not probably let
allow these teams to get into the playoffs. Other than
the obvious pitching and clutch hitting home runs, that kind
of thing. Defense and stealing bases. Okay, we know Francona's
got the old Ale kind of mentality. Evidently the stealing

(01:13:25):
bases isn't really that big of a deal to him.
If it works out in his strategy for a particular situation,
he'll engage it. Otherwise it's not tops on his list.
What bothers me is the Cubs, the Brewers, and the
Pirates all have more steels per game than the Reds.
Now they're ranked second, third, and seventh. Were ranked fifteenth,

(01:13:51):
And you know, and you always go back to a
couple of years ago when that was the most exciting
Reds team we've had in a while, because they took chances,
they ran those bases, they stole bases, they stretch singles
to triples, doubles. That's one thing that I really wish
we could improve on. The Other thing is defense. In
these mental lapses, now, I noticed there's two metrics in

(01:14:12):
defense that's a hard thing to quantify. Evidently one's called
outs above average. One metrics called defensive run shade, And
evidently both are kind of difficult they're not solid sciences.
They're not they're soft sciences basically, And so I wondered
what you thought of, because I think that's what it's

(01:14:34):
going to really get down to. MO these little mental
things like McClain, Oh yeah, what out is it? And
stuff like that, Ye can't.

Speaker 1 (01:14:41):
Happen with stuff like that is really hard to attach
a metric to, right, Like when when Matt McClain in
that game in Atlanta kind of vapor locks and allows
Stuart Fairshaw to score the tying run from third base.
He's not assessed an error there and that doesn't show
up in the box score, but it ends up being
a major difference in the game. And there have been
a lot of plays like that. You know, you mentioned

(01:15:02):
the stolen bases thing, and I guess I would say
this at least got twenty two. Matt McClain has twelve.
Obviously he would have more if he can get on
base more frequently. He's getting on base at a two
ninety five clip. TJ. Friedel has nine. How many other
genuine base dealers do they have?

Speaker 10 (01:15:24):
None?

Speaker 1 (01:15:25):
Like?

Speaker 8 (01:15:25):
Right?

Speaker 1 (01:15:25):
So, is that is that a manager philosophy thing or
is it a is it a makeup of the team thing.

Speaker 10 (01:15:34):
Well, I wonder if Will Benson, if he could get
on base more. The guy's definitely got speed. I want,
you know, you just wonder Hayes, we know, not him
the other the other thing real and I hate to
go back there.

Speaker 1 (01:15:44):
Hey, TJ. Friedel, I would like to see run a
little bit more. But I.

Speaker 10 (01:15:51):
He's got nine yesterday when he laid down that bunch.

Speaker 1 (01:15:54):
Yeah yeah, yeah, so TJ. Friedel two years ago at
twenty seven, TJ. Friedel, I'd like to say, run a
little bit more because he's been pretty good at getting
on base. Beyond that, you know, if you think of
the team two years ago, India was on that he
had fourteen bags. Benson stole nineteen that year. He's just
not getting on base. And yeah, I mean as a general,

(01:16:14):
Frayley stole twenty one. He's not run much this year
when he's been healthy, you'd like to see. I would
like to see them run just a little bit more.
A stolen base attempts are exciting, be they're not a
team that you could just sit back and wait for
the three run homer. I think more than just stolen
bases though, I just want to see more guys get
on base, and if you want to go compare contrast.

(01:16:36):
So two years ago, the team's on base percentage was
three twenty seven. Right this year at the on base
percentages three seventeen. So it's not a market drop, but
it's it's still a pretty significant one. McLain is not
getting on base very frequently. Hayes, who has hit well,
is not a huge on base guy. Freiley hasn't gotten

(01:16:58):
on base a ton. Reedal has gotten on base at
a pretty good clip. He's the one guy you would
like to see run a little bit more. McLean's getting
on base less than thirty percent of the time. Steers
spent most of the season so far not getting on
base until his recent hot stretch. And so for me,
you know, Stevenson went through a law when he came
off the injured list, but he was never getting on base,

(01:17:19):
not that you would expect him to really steal. To me,
the bigger issue is that they just don't have enough
guys who are consistently getting on base. And I think
if guys did get on base a little bit more consistently,
you would see a slightly greener light, if you will. Mike,
I always enjoyed but I gotta run man, Okay, well
really quick.

Speaker 10 (01:17:37):
Clayton Kershaw got the Legends Award deservedly, so he went
over three thousand. Austin thought that was outrageous that the
Abbage should have gone it. No, that's the Apples and
Oranges Hunter. He got in for a reason because it
was a legendary. It was like the Academy Awards when
they have a lifetime achievement thing. That's why he got in.

Speaker 1 (01:17:57):
I don't think that Clayton Kershall got in at anybody's expense.
My understanding is the spot for Clayton Kershaw was an
added spot. It was not. It didn't. It was either
going to be Clayton Kershaw or nobody else. Clayton Kershaw
being added to the National League All Star Team, which
they've done in the past, did it with our pools
a couple of years ago, did not come at Andrew
Abbott or anybody else's expense. Mike, I got a run man.

(01:18:19):
Good to hear from you. Thanks Breneman and Jones on
Baseball is.

Speaker 4 (01:18:22):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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Seventy five south found your paddock accident on the right.
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Speaker 7 (01:18:58):
This report is center this nationwide Keward on our website.

Speaker 1 (01:19:02):
Green, that's green. Answer it now green? He said, what's up?
Six after five? We are a minute late because I
don't know how to read o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen
thirty Moeger, thank you for listening. Hopefully you've had an
awesome Monday, recovering perhaps from a three day holiday weekend.
We had darks excuse me, Dirks Bentley tickets to give
away coming up in just about thirty minutes. More Reds

(01:19:25):
All Star trivia questions. I bet you can't wait. It's
the mikeel lotb Ultra five o'clock. Have you hour thanks
to michelob Ultra. I'll tell you what I like day
games on the weekends. Obviously you get one on Sunday,
but I like listening to and watching games during the day. Friday,
that fourth of July, one thirty five, First pitch Saturday

(01:19:46):
afternoon at four or five all enjoyed with an ice
cold Micheli Ultra. If you're headed to the ballpark tonight,
enjoy an ice cold mic Ultra Superior Taste, Superior light beer.
You know, I was thinking about this during the break.
We just chatted with like one of our most ardent
and loyal listeners about the trade deadline and the Reds,
and you know this, this entire next three weeks is

(01:20:11):
going to be really interesting. We were talking before about,
you know, the Reds need to achieve some clarity. So
they have nineteen games. They have a series this week
against the Marlins, who are eight under five hundred, and
they're eight under five hundred, and they recently had an
eight game winning streak, And they'll play the Colorado Rockies
this weekend, who are dreadful on pace to maybe have

(01:20:32):
the worst record in the history of the sport. By
the way, yes, Sandy Alcantra is going to pitch on Wednesday.
His away era this year is nine to nine five
you gotta win. I'll go say, worst case five of
the seven. Let's more realistically say you got a sweep
Colorado and then win three out of four from Miami
that's six and one, and then come out of that
and win even more. And so the hope is that

(01:20:56):
there's no question about it, Like we wake up on
the morning of July thirty first, and we can look
at the standings and we're not having to do mental
gymnastics to convince ourselves that the Reds are in contention,
that it's not even a debate. Ideally, by July thirty first,
the Reds lead the wildcard chase for at least the

(01:21:18):
last spot. Maybe they're closer to first place than the
NL Central. We're looking for clarity here, but I think
until they give us reason not to that skepticism is deserved.
When it comes to the trade deadline, Look, the Reds
have acted with urgency. They didn't give Jamer Candelario more

(01:21:42):
chances to show that he's deserving of the contract that
he was playing under. He wasn't one of the best
twenty six guys they moved on. Good for them. That's
the sort of thing that a team that is in
contention and is serious about winning does. And they called
up Chase Burns, and Chase Burns mostly pitched well yesterday.
You would have liked to have seen him be a

(01:22:02):
little bit more efficient. I think Terry Francona got it
right bringing in Sam Mall to face Kyle Schwarber. But
Chase Burns, you know, maybe the jury is still out,
maybe he's not quite yet a finished product. But when
they called up Chase Burns, that was the sort of
thing that a contending team does. We're not calling up
some four A guy. We're not gonna go sign some

(01:22:22):
dude off the street who got cut by another team.
This is our best bullet. We're using it right now.
Service time be damned. So perhaps those two things tell
you that the strategy around the deadline, as long as
they don't crater, as long as they don't just totally
fall on their face, is gonna be one of aggression.

(01:22:44):
They're gonna really go for it. Maybe, and I hope
that that's the case. But the skepticism about the trade
deadline itself is deserved because of two years ago. And
maybe you get tired of me bringing up two years ago,
but it's repeating. At the trade deadline two years ago,
the Reds were in first place. Maybe their hold on

(01:23:08):
first place was tenuous. Maybe you feared that the bottom
was gonna fall out, or the other shoe was gonna drop,
or whatever other verbiage you want to use. Maybe you
didn't think that their success that summer was sustainable. But
the Reds on deadline day two years ago were in
first place. You didn't have to squint, you didn't have

(01:23:32):
to convince yourself that they're in contention, because they were.
They were in contention, and yet with this massive, major, gaping,
wide open hole on their team, they didn't address it.
It's worth mentioning. They did make a trade deadline deal,

(01:23:52):
and a good one. They acquired Sam Mall, who pitched
effectively for the Reds the remainder of the twenty twenty
three season. But we do have recent history of the
Reds in contention ten over five hundred at the deadline
looking at their team, going, eh, were good. Couple of

(01:24:13):
things about that. Number One, they're bad starting pitching did
catch up to them. Number Two, remember the narrative. The
Reds were at Wrigley Field, remember the narrative that emerged
about how the clubhouse was energized, and they were fired
up and really encouraged by the fact that the front
office didn't do that much. And if you remember, they

(01:24:37):
then lost six consecutive games starting on August the first.
The first one of those losses was twenty to nine,
the second was sixteen to six. Their contention was not extinguished,
but let's be honest, at that point, you sort of

(01:24:58):
knew how the season was gonna end up unfolding. Their
starting pitching continued to be awful, their hopes for getting
hurt players back ended up being dashed. The hurt players
that did come back were either not effective or they
got hurt again, and the Reds missed the postseason by
two games. So maybe things are entirely different in twenty

(01:25:20):
twenty five. Maybe based on that the front office says,
we're not repeating the mistakes of two years ago. Maybe,
but until they prove otherwise, maybe it's just me. I
feel like twenty twenty three looms over twenty twenty five,
where you hear Nick Krawl and Nick Nick Krawl, you
know it is GM speak. We're playing the waiting game.

(01:25:42):
We're seeing what's out there. There's still some time. Let's
see how we play on paraphrasing him here, because it's
not really worth going and giving the exact quote, because
the exact quote is just word salid I understand that.
But you are your track record. And Nick Krawl in
his current capacity, despite a number of successes, despite a
number of successes on this year's team, the one time

(01:26:05):
he's sat there at the deadline with the team clearly
in contention, he did next to nothing, and he certainly
didn't do anything as it related to the team's biggest weakness.
And so maybe not for you, but for a lot
of us, there's gonna be some doubt. There's gonna be
some apprehension. And by the way, when you don't make

(01:26:27):
a trade, that's perhaps not entirely your fault. Maybe one
really wasn't out there, Maybe you can't find a team
that's a willing trade partner. But at the end of
the day, you're judged on your results. And in part
because the Reds did nothing at the deadline two years ago,
not solely because of the inactivity around the deadline, but
when the season ended they were two games out of
the postseason. Would you have loved to have seen what

(01:26:50):
could have happened had they just added one starting pitcher.
I would love to know. We're never gonna find out.
But that lack of activity for a lot of us
hovers over the next couple of weeks because, let's say
the scenario that was presented to us before the top
of the hour, it turns out to be reality, and

(01:27:10):
the Reds played great. They go six and one in
this homestand against bad teams, and then they come out
of the break and Hunter Green is back, and they
play well enough against the Mets and the Nationals, who
just fired their manager and their GM, and the Rays
and the Dodgers, that instead of being two games over
five hundred, let's say they're seven or eight games over

(01:27:30):
five hundred. Let's say they're fifty eight and fifty one,
which is what they would be if they won twelve
of their next nineteen games. Are we completely convinced? Are
we completely convinced that they would buy? Two years ago,
they were ten over at the deadline, they were in
first place, and they didn't buy. So it's a fair question,

(01:27:55):
man Like, is Nick Krawl Brad Meterer. Are they gonna
look at their team and go, you know what, we're good,
especially if Hunter Green is back, especially if they have
suffered no debilitating injuries. Do they look at their team
and go, we're okay? I think it's a fair question.
It's a completely fair question. Now, they may do that,

(01:28:17):
and they may be right, we're okay, and the team
has constructed. On July thirty first, the morning of ends
up getting to the postseason, advances and ends the thirty
year drought of the Reds not advancing in the playoffs. Maybe,
but is that the approach you want them to take.
It's not the approach. I want them to go for

(01:28:39):
it this year. I want them to go for it
this year if we assume they're going to be in
clear contention around the deadline. Now, the flip side of
that is this week against the Marlins and Rockies, they
lose four of the seven games. They come out of
the All Star Break. They go to New York and
get beat, go to Washington, get beat, the Rays beat
them up, the Dodgers sweep them, and then on July

(01:28:59):
thirty first, they're not in buy mode anymore. They're not
in contention anymore, and then it's a slightly different conversation.
Then there's the middle ground. They play roughly five hundred baseball,
they win ten of their next nineteen, they're three over.
They're not in the wildcard spot, but they're not that
far away. Well, you could still make the case that
they should be buyers, that they should go at a

(01:29:21):
piece at a bat, get an outfield, or get a
corner infield, or get a bullpen arm. But if there
is skepticism that they'll go for it, if there's seven
games over five hundred, if they play really well between
now in July thirty first, why shouldn't there be skepticism
that they go for it if they are kind of
where they are now in twenty four days, because what

(01:29:47):
they didn't do two years ago fair or not. I
think for a lot of us hovers over this. This
is not a franchise that you associate with doing everything
it can to pursue a championship. At least that's the brand.

(01:30:08):
I think it's hard to refute that. I believe that
what happened at the deadline two years ago has only
fueled that perception that this is not a team that
is going to go to the end of the earth
to do everything it can in pursuit of a championship.
Nobody is saying the red should just completely mortgage their future.
I don't believe the Reds have to mortgage their future

(01:30:29):
in order to make this year's team better. But when
you are a team, when you are a Major League
Baseball franchise, and that's your brand, and we saw what
you didn't do two years ago, why shouldn't I be
at least a little bit skeptical that you're gonna do
the right thing if you're in contention at this year's deadline,

(01:30:51):
because they really didn't two years ago. And by the way,
spare me this, okay, because I heard it two years ago,
Eh you know, I mean they were ahead of scut
and it didn't want to Morgan. There wasn't a deal
that was made, and there were starting pitchers who were
traded that cost all that much. We shot this down
often in the summer of twenty twenty three. You could

(01:31:12):
have made a trade two years ago and give it
up something of value without totally derailing your future. The
same should be the case this year. But I could
be dead wrong about this. Maybe you disagree. Five point three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty is open. They didn't do it at the
deadline two years ago, and there was no question the

(01:31:34):
team was at least in contention. In contention doesn't mean
you're gonna win it. In contention doesn't mean you're favored
to win it. But they were first place at the
deadline two years ago and sat around and did nothing
to a gaping hole. This year's team, to its credit,
doesn't have the same sort of gaping hole. They've got issues,
they've got deficiencies, they've got players who you could either

(01:31:55):
find ways to replace or just count on to play better,
But they don't have anything like the start pitching from
two years ago, which was maybe the worst in the
National League at the time. So if with a gaping
hole two years ago in first place, Nick Krawl did nothing,
why are we to believe he's going to do the
right thing without such a gaping hole. If they're in

(01:32:18):
a similar place to contend this year, that skepticism is
based on this general manager, this president of baseball operations,
track record with the team in a position to contend
at the deadline. I don't think that's going away. And
so what I hear and I read people who are,

(01:32:40):
you know, sort of not so bullish on Nick Krawl
and what he may do, and they're fearful of him
doing the wrong thing, fearful of them not addressing their deficiencies,
playing it safe, standing pat not being aggressive, not being
willing to part with the prospect that's based on something
that's already happened, the trade deadline of twenty twenty five three,

(01:33:00):
when the inactivity possibly cost him a spot in the postseason.
If it's happened once, the fear that it may happen
again is very legitimate. Twenty minutes after five o'clock five
point three, seven four nine, fifteen thirty is our phone
number eight sixty six seven oh two three seven seven
six works as well. Dirk Bentley is going to be
playing Riverbedd next Friday. We're giving away tickets coming up

(01:33:22):
at five thirty five. A few minutes on All Stars
in a Minute next, ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:33:28):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the u SEE
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Speaker 5 (01:33:36):
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see health dot com. Three seventy five east bound before
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five westbound after seventy five, so it bouns back to

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eleven and Road and seventy five near Paddock to bec's
still little heavy with the accident. There has cleared Rick
Shrump with traffic.

Speaker 1 (01:34:04):
This report after five o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Reds and Marlins, uh Elie Dela Cruz made the All
Star team. Andrew Abbott did not. I call it an exclusion.
I don't know. If I go a snub, I would
have picked him ahead of Matthew Boyd. I think the
role that every team has to have at least one
guy is silly. Mackenzie Gore was not as deserving as

(01:34:27):
Andrew Abbott, but I do understand why part of the
criteria might have been larger workload. And Andrew just has
pitched fewer innings I think than pretty much all the
starting pitchers that were taken missed an opportunity on Friday
to kind of make one more case to be an
NL All Star, and I was rooting for him because
he's been so good for this team this year. He
talked a short while ago. Here is audio we are

(01:34:48):
stealing from a Joe Daniman a Fox nineteen Andrew Abbott
talking about not making this year's NL All Star team.

Speaker 7 (01:34:55):
What was the emotion you felt yesterday? I mean, a
lot of us expected you to be in the All
Star Game and it didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:35:00):
It's not frustration. I mean those guys who got picked
deserved it by by far. I mean I think I
did enough to deserve it. But at the end of
the day, I don't control that, so I don't really
put a lot on it. I mean, you think about
it in the moment when it's announced. But like I said,
nothing nothing to take away from from those guys. You know,
I pitch really well. I want to continue pitching well,
and you know, we'll just see what happens.

Speaker 7 (01:35:19):
Yeah, you see what happens. There's a lot of people
waiting this week to see who might drop out. As
there's still a thought in your head that I still
have a shot here.

Speaker 2 (01:35:26):
Yeah, I mean I'm always prepared for that to happen.
You know, I'm in a good spot. You know, talk
to Tito. I'm pitching in the middle of the week.
I don't have another appearance, so that kind of adds
to availability for it. But yeah, I mean, just just
be ready if in case the call does come.

Speaker 5 (01:35:40):
What would it mean to make an whole Star team.

Speaker 2 (01:35:43):
I mean, you know, it'd be great to represent my family,
all the hard work that I've done personally, you know,
represents Cincinnati and the team and all the guys you
know on the team that should have you know, gotten
votes and gotten consideration themselves. But I mean, we do
have an All Star it is atly, so you know
we're gonna rally behind him. We're going to push him
through to the second one. And you know, we're more
than proud to be calling the teammate, more than proud

(01:36:04):
to be around him.

Speaker 1 (01:36:05):
For a while.

Speaker 2 (01:36:05):
So it's exciting still. And like I said, like nothing,
nothing bad comes.

Speaker 3 (01:36:10):
Out of it.

Speaker 2 (01:36:11):
I mean, it just didn't work out for the first time,
but there's still a chance.

Speaker 1 (01:36:14):
Well, you could not have asked for a guy who
didn't make the All Star team, and I'm sure he
was disappointed to have answered those questions any better than
Andrew Abbott, who may still make it. And by the way,
he next pitches on Wednesday, and so that would be
his last start of the proverbial first half of the season,

(01:36:36):
which would put him in a position where he could
pitch in the All Star Game. And obviously pitcher availability
often has a lot to do with, you know, whether
or not he gets replaced on the roster, and so
there's a pretty decent chance he still makes it. But
I can understand his initial disappointment since we stole his audio.
That was Andrew Abbot talking with Joe Danaman of Fox nineteen. Joe,

(01:37:00):
I think this was last week, and I say this
because he put it on his Facebook page. He was
named Ohio Sportscaster of the Year, and that's something we
mentioned on this show months ago. He was at the
National Sports Media Association Awards. I guess this took place
last week, and he posted a photo of himself with
Mike to Rico, where Joe was given the hardware for

(01:37:21):
the Sportscaster of the Year twenty twenty four. The TV
sportscaster business, there's been a lot of turnover here with
some longtime mainstays moving on retiring that sort of thing.
Joe is now the dean of television sports anchors in
this town, and there was no better storyteller. And we

(01:37:42):
have a great amount of affection for Joe here at
the radio station. He joins Tony and Austin all the time.
That hardware was extraordinarily deserved. And since we stole the
guy's audio, we can at least mention that he got
his plaque and a fun picture with Mike to Rico
as well. Gotta give away the tickets. Well, let's take
a phone call first while we're while we're doing whatever

(01:38:04):
we're doing here, Phil, You're on ESPN fifteen thirty five.
Good afternoon. How are you.

Speaker 11 (01:38:09):
Oh, I'm great. It's raining and I'm on two seventy
five in northern Kentucky. Couldn't be better.

Speaker 1 (01:38:13):
What a great day, What a great summer afternoon.

Speaker 11 (01:38:16):
Yes, indeed, so I understand that you're asking, you know,
do we have fait in the reds to be bold
and audacious And it's kind of like having baits and
mister McGoo and finding anything.

Speaker 8 (01:38:30):
I get that.

Speaker 11 (01:38:34):
But at the same time, as like two years ago,
they were looking for starting pitching, which is like the
most prized asset in the game. Now that they have
starting pitching, and depth is starting pitching. Does that change
the equation you think?

Speaker 1 (01:38:49):
Maybe?

Speaker 11 (01:38:49):
My answer off the air.

Speaker 1 (01:38:50):
No, maybe, But it's not like what they're looking for
that they're the only team in search for it. Like
they're they're looking for a power bat. Well, which team
couldn't use a power bat. They're looking for a bullpen arm.
Every team, even remotely in contention, could use bullpen help.
And so it's a fair question the Reds needed starting
pitching two years ago. It's the most precious commodity in

(01:39:11):
the sport. By the way, I'm not entirely convinced they
shouldn't be looking for a starting pitcher, because while it
is the strength of their team, its depth has been tested.
I don't know how many more innings Chase Burns is
gonna pitch, and you're counting on health from you know,
as good as Andrew Abbott has been, as mostly reliable
as Nicolodola has been, and as awesome as Hunter Green

(01:39:31):
can be, we're still talking about three pitchers who have
never gotten through a full Big league season without going
on the injured list. It's a fair question. I still
think that what they're in the market for is what
a lot of other teams are in the market for
So yeah, a lot of teams are in the market
for a starting pitcher two years ago, but aren't a

(01:39:51):
lot of teams in the market for a bat this year. Now,
some teams might make the search for a bat more streamline,
where they go, we need a or we need a
corner aulefielder. And for the Reds, I think it's just
get a bat who cares where he plays. Figure that out,
you know, after you get the dude. So I don't
know what they did two years ago. We debated it,

(01:40:15):
we discussed it. You could certainly find folks who in
real time and who after the fact thought that the
Reds took the right approach. But the reality is, and
by the way, I don't know that we're asking for
the Reds to be bold as much as we're asking
for the Reds to just address their team and make
it better in a way that a lot of other
teams will make their clubs better. Like being bold is

(01:40:35):
one thing. I don't think making a trade deadline deal
for an established Major leaguer is bold. I think it's
just it's a response to what you're allowed to do
during the season. The deadline coming, non waiver deals being
cut off on July thirty first, and you having a
team that could use some fixing they didn't two years ago.

(01:40:57):
Will history repeat itself? I hope the answer is no.
I think there's a lot of fear that the answer
might be yes. That's their fault and it's a reflection
of what they did and didn't do and how it
came back to bite them after one hundred and sixty
one games, which is when they were officially eliminated from
playoff contention. All right, we're gonna give away tickets to

(01:41:18):
go see Dirk Spentley five point three seven four nine,
fifteen thirty. We have five more questions related to the
Reds and the All Star Game, Reds All Star Game history. Uh,
Dirk s Bentley will be at Riverbed next Friday. You
can win tickets if you're our contestant. We're looking for
a contestant. We're looking for two five point three seven

(01:41:39):
four nine, fifteen thirty. We'll get you in good luck
and we'll do that after sports Headlines on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 4 (01:41:45):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 5 (01:41:51):
Well the u See Health Traffic Center You see health
has expert traumacare focusing on prevention, treating injuries, and supporting
long term recovery and recaput with you should learn more.
You see help dot com. Seventy five southbound at the
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blocked about a five minute delay. Glen Way and Anderson

(01:42:13):
Ferry crash as well. The accident on the shoulder took
seventy five. He's bound before seventy five. Rick Shrimp with traffic.

Speaker 6 (01:42:21):
This report is sponsored by Matrick.

Speaker 8 (01:42:25):
We Are.

Speaker 11 (01:42:26):
This is Dave Lapplin and you're listening to the Home
of the Bengals ESPN fifteen third.

Speaker 1 (01:42:30):
When are they announcing that Dave Lapham is in the
Bengals Ring of Honor? Sports headlines or a service Kelsey
Chevrolet home of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval
took two weeks vacation from their family to yours for life,
kelseyshef dot com. I sort of hit the post there.
I didn't finish the thought. Derek's Bentley tickets. We're giving

(01:42:50):
them away here in just a second. First Reds and
Marlins tonight first of four three seven ten starts in
a five to ten first pitch on Thursday. Brady Singer
and j Anson junk are your pitchers. Connor Joe is
back off the injured list. He had hand, foot and
mouth disease. Reese Hines sent to Louisville. He looks totally
ill equipped to be a big league hitter. Maybe he

(01:43:12):
will be one day. He ain't now, which is why
they sent him to Louisville. Starting line up tonight, Friedles
and center, McLean's and second Ellie's at short. Hazen left
Lux's Dhing Steers at first base, batting sixth. Tyler Stevenson
is catching Will Benson and Wright. Noel de Marte plays
third and bat's ninth. Congratulations to Evander's gonna be two thousand.
I think you can find this action twenty twenty five MLS.

(01:43:35):
Excuse me, MVP? Why do I keep needing to pause?
Evander had a goal and an assist on Saturday. FC
Cincinnati's went over Chicago. They've now won four straight, lead
the Supporter Shield Race, and Evander becomes the first player
in FC Cincinnati history to be named to team in
the match day three consecutive weeks. Congratulations to also Obina

(01:44:01):
Nuelbodo has undergone successful surgery, had a torn quad tender
repair a torn quad tendon repaired. Easy for me to
say today in Philadelphia he is gonna miss multiple months
as they say, all right, we're doing the giveaway now, Yes, Taren,

(01:44:21):
how are we doing right? I feel like I have
done this entire show today, like I'm in the middle
of a mud slide. I don't even know what that means.
They've been a kind of foggy day for me too.
It's it's been it's been one of those days where
I just I'm sitting here and you know, we're not
exactly digging ditches, we're not exactly doing important work, but

(01:44:43):
I have I have done this show today, and it's
it's just it's felt like it's it's almost on the
verge of getting out of control. Uh, we have a contestant.
Who do we have? We have phil phil We are
gonna give you a chance to go see Derk Spentley
on a week from Friday. Are you excited? Let's do it?
All right? Very good? I'm gonna ask you five questions

(01:45:05):
related to the Reds and All Star Games. Reds players
in the All Star Game, that sort of thing. If
you get three correct, you're gonna go their multiple choice.
If not, we're gonna give them to somebody else. Are
you ready?

Speaker 10 (01:45:18):
Do it?

Speaker 1 (01:45:18):
All right? We did this two hours ago with a
different set of questions, and I screwed one of them up.
So godspeed to us all this This phill, this player
is the most recent Red to win All Star Game MVP.
Davy Conceptscion A Davy Conceptcion, B Ken Griffy or C
Ken Griffy Junior. Let's go see Can I get see

(01:45:42):
Ken Griffy Jr. No, sorry, it's okay. David Conceptcion was
MVP of the nineteen eighty two All Star He ic,
that's fine, we can still get you to Dirk penalty here. Hi.
Prior to Todd Frazier win the Home Run Derby in
twenty fifteen, who was the most recent Red to win

(01:46:05):
the event? Was it A Dave Parker, B Eric Davis
or C chrissebo.

Speaker 2 (01:46:14):
Man?

Speaker 1 (01:46:14):
Oh Man, Let's say Eric Davis. Can I get an
Eric Davis? B?

Speaker 10 (01:46:19):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:46:20):
Eric Davis? That year he tied with Reuben Sierra. So
there you go. He hit three hit three home runs
to win the thing. I think it was in Anaheim
that year. Dave Parker did win the home run derby
in nineteen eighty five, but the correct answer was yes,
B Eric Davis, you are one for two. Phil. Here
we go. Question number three. This player is the only
red to hit a triple in an All Star Game?

(01:46:45):
Was it a Joe Morgan, B. Pete Rose or C.
Barry Larkin? Let's say Pete Rose. Was it Pete Rose? Yes,
Pete Rose hit a triple? There you go. Pete Rose
hit a triple in the nineteen seventy six All Star Game.
The only Reds player to hit a three bagger in
the Midsummer Classic. All right, here we got, I gotta

(01:47:06):
get one more one of the next two. Hunter Green
took the loss. Now I get an exception here, Tarren.
We typically do not mention pitcher wins and losses on
this show, but we're doing an exception here for the
sake of coming up with trivia questions. Hunter Green took
the loss in last year's All Star Game. Who is
the only other Reds pitcher to record a loss in

(01:47:27):
the All Star Game? Took the loss? Was it A
Tom Browning, B Johnny Cuato or C. Mario Sono.

Speaker 10 (01:47:35):
Oh Man, Let's go Quato.

Speaker 1 (01:47:37):
Johnny Quato? Can I get Johnny Cuato?

Speaker 8 (01:47:40):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:47:40):
Fortunately for Johnny Cquato, he never took the loss in
the All Star Game. Hunter Green took the loss for
the National League in nineteen eighty three. That is okay, now, Phil,
I think this one is relatively easy. So this is it.
All hangs on this one. Are you ready? I'm ready
this picture? Phil appeared in the nineteen seventy seven All

(01:48:03):
Star Game representing the Reds after appearing in just six
games for them that season. So A Jack Billingham, B.
Fred Norman or C. Tom Sever.

Speaker 12 (01:48:17):
Oh Man appeared in just sixty appeared in just six
games for the Reds that year, but represented them in
the Ulstar Can I get.

Speaker 1 (01:48:28):
See Tom sever all right?

Speaker 3 (01:48:31):
Phil?

Speaker 1 (01:48:31):
I don't know that we have ever handed a prize
to on a platter to anyone more than we just did.
But yes, Tom sever obviously traded to the Reds by
the Mets in June of nineteen seventy seven, and he
would pitch six games for the Reds before appearing in
the All Star Game, and then went on to pitch
for Cincinnati through the nineteen eighty two season. Obviously named

(01:48:53):
an All Star in part because of his work as
a Red but while was also having a very good
year before he got traded with the Mats. Tom Receiver
represented the Reds in the seventy seven All Star Game,
and that that came after making just six appearances in
a Red's uniform. Congratulations to Phil and and really all
of us.

Speaker 8 (01:49:12):
Derk s.

Speaker 1 (01:49:12):
Bentley is going to be at Riverbend. That show is
next Friday, the eighteenth of July. You can get tickets
at Riverbend Music dot Work.

Speaker 3 (01:49:20):
By the way, could you could you just clarify for
what was the correct antweracy again for the question for
because you said hunter Green won in nineteen eighty.

Speaker 1 (01:49:28):
Three, Mario, So hunter Green took the loss in last
year's All Star Game. Who is the only other Reds
pitcher to record a loss in the Midsummer Classic? And
the correct answer was Mario Soto in nineteen eighty three? Okay,
you hunter Green?

Speaker 10 (01:49:42):
Was it?

Speaker 2 (01:49:42):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:49:42):
Did I?

Speaker 6 (01:49:43):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:49:44):
Well, because I'm a moron, so yeah, hunter Green lost.
The two pitchers in All Star Game history took the
loss while pitching in a Red's uniform Hunter Green. Obviously,
last year Mario Soto. The most famous hit in that
game came off Atlee Hammicker. Fred Lynn became the first
player and I think still the only player if I'm

(01:50:04):
not mistaken, to hit a Grand Slam in the All
Star Game, and that came against Atlee Hammicker. But Mario
Soto did take the loss for the National League. In
nineteen eighty three, Johnny Cueto was one of our answers.
So was Tom Browning. But apologies for any confusion. Sometimes
asking trivia questions is is really really hard. We'll have
more Dirk Spentley tickets to give away tomorrow and more

(01:50:27):
upper deck golf tickets as well. Plus we'll go to
Dallas for Big twelve media days and talk Red's Marlins.
It's quarter to six. This is and by the way,
it's riverbend dot org for your tickets for Dirk Spentley
riverbend dot org. I get paid to do this, which
is remarkable. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 9 (01:50:49):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

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You see health dot Com watching so Dollan's on seventy
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Speaker 1 (01:51:23):
Rick shremp with oh, it's nine away from six. This
is ESPN fifteen thirty. By the way, UH, Big twelve
media days are the next couple of days. These happened
earlier and earlier.

Speaker 10 (01:51:35):
So uh.

Speaker 1 (01:51:37):
Scott Saderfield, John Cunningham. Some UC players are going to
be in Dallas representing the school. The Big twelve is
not doing a formal pre season poll. How stupid is that?
Look preseason polls, Yes, we take them for what they're worth,
which is not a ton, And I will admit it's

(01:51:58):
harder and harder I think to predict the way college
football season is going to unfold because of the amount
of roster turnover and players coming and going and all
that stuff, and poles can can prove to be wildly inaccurate.
Last year, Arizona State was picked to finish in last place,
and they won the league and played in the College
Football Playoff. Preseason polls are also fun and they make

(01:52:20):
for interesting discussions about your league and your sport. How
could any of that be bad? Like, again, for most
normal people, we take them with a grain of salt.
Coaches are going to dismiss them whether their team is
picked to win the league or finish in last place.
And I get it. I get it. It's harder and
harder in this day and age of college sports to

(01:52:42):
make an informed vote on which team is going to
finish in first all the way down to which team
is going to finish and last. And so maybe that's
the main reason why, But let's face it. When it
comes to a conference's media days, and it's not just
a media day now, it's media days, what's the only
thing that people talk about? The pole? It's the only

(01:53:03):
thing that people talk unless there's some sort of news
made about adding a school or another realignment development. Here,
it's the only thing, like the big twelve. I don't
know if the Big Twelve has ever done a formal
preseason poll. There have been some informal ones done. Are
the coaches getting their feelings hurt when they see their
team ranked at bottom of the league? What's the harm

(01:53:25):
in having a poll? What's the harm in the poll
being not necessarily reflective of how the season actually ends
up playing out? Was anybody all the worse for wear
because Arizona was picked in the preseason poll last year?
Arizona State, I'm sorry, picked to finish in last place.
They won the league, which that to me made Arizona

(01:53:47):
State season an even cooler story. They went from being
picked to finish in last place to playing in a
great playoff game but making the playoff winning the Big Twelve.
So count me among the people who think it's dumb
that they're not having a preseason poll and bring it back.

(01:54:09):
I wonder if someone's gonna do kind of an informal one.
We will see. Anyway, We'll go to Dallas tomorrow to
talk a little UC football, which I'm excited about, excited about.
College football season will be here before you know it,
and we are looking forward to that. Reds need to
get six out of seven on this homestand and I

(01:54:29):
you know, I know, if they win five of seven,
we'll say it was okay. But like we've been looking
at this week on the calendar since before the season started,
since back in March, I think we have been looking
at that stretch of games mid July Miami Colorado both
likely to be bad. In Colorado's case so far this

(01:54:52):
year historically bad. Chances are the Reds are at least
gonna be hovering around contention, which take care of business
that week, provide some clarity for the front office, come
out of it and be buyers at the deadline, and
then see what you can do over the final two
months of the season. Fall flat on your face, which,

(01:55:12):
by the way, falling flat into your face could mean
you still win some games on this homestand and perhaps
it's a different story. It starts tonight, and I don't
know what the weather is going to do downtown, but
we'll see. We'll talk about it tomorrow. And so much
more anything you might have missed to go find on
the iHeartRadio app. By the way, make sure you set
ESPN fifteen thirty is a preset since E three sixty

(01:55:33):
is tomorrow at noon. We are back tomorrow at three
oh five. Thank you for listening. It's been the michelob
Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour. Have a great night and
we'll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks to Taran for producing
this show. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (01:56:08):
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