11-12-25 Reds Hot Stove League

Tommy and Jim Day are joined by Andrew Abbott on this episode of the Hot Stove League.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, very delightful, good evening to you, and welcome into
the Budwiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by u DF.
We are live the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch
Bar here at the Banks with jim Day. I'm Tommy
throw a lot to talk about in the world of
Reds Baseball today. We'll be talking Reds Baseball with you
for the next hour. Give us a call five one, three, seven, four,

(00:21):
nine hundred, the big One. We'll take your phone calls
a little bit later on. We've got plenty to talk about.
We'll talked about the Reds Hall of Fame in museum
balloting that's out right now for the next class of
the Red's Hall of Fame. The Reds added a player
to the roster today and we've got a lot to
get to. We've also got Andre Rabbit coming up on

(00:43):
the show. So an exciting show and it's going to
be a packed one.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Jimmy always love to talk to Andrew Abbott when obviously
he's a great pitcher, but a good dude to talk to,
and upping the intelligence on this show immediately.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
No doubt, no doubt. You know, there's a little story
of about the intelligence of and Rabbit. Jim and I
were trying to figure out how to get into the
ballpark through the security systems. They changed it, I guess
last year. I think at some point and I was
walking in for an event with Andrew, and these new
boxes had been on the walls by the doors and

(01:17):
by the gate where we come into the parking garage.
And I always thought we just had to call him
on our phone because the buttons were gone. He goes, no,
you just pressed the button. I said, where's the button?
He goes, that light right there, that looks like a button.
There's a button you push that. Neither one of us
knew it was a button. It took Andrew Rabbit's intelligence
for us to realize, oh, there's a button there. So
thanks a lot for Andrew for enlightening us and making

(01:39):
us smarter and figuring out how to get into the ballpark.
Sue for yourself, Yeah, well now that was both of us.
I know you called yourself out last time, but you
weren't on the air. Welcome in, Andrew Abbott, Thank you
so much for joining us. How's your off season going, man?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
All seasons? Well, guys, you know, thanks for having having
me on first of all. But you know, raveling, taking
in on the side, seeing the family, going to some
different places. So it's been it's been worthwhile so far.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
How's mom and dad doing, By the way, I crushed
that salsa again, the homemade salsa that stockpiled a couple of.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Ye, they are doing great. They're doing great.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
They they make for those that don't know. Their salsa
that they make is truly some of the best salsa,
not some of it is the best sauce I've ever had.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Everything homemade home.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
They grow it right in their garden. It's outstanding. Speaking
of traveling around doing all kinds of stuff this offseason,
we saw that you were here in town. Are you
in town right now?

Speaker 3 (02:39):
By the way, No, I am visiting them in Virginia currently.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Okay, but you were in town. You went and took
in an FC Cincinnati game, and you had this distinct
privilege of a winner go home playoff match against Columbus
to pull the sword before the match.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Yeah, yeah, it was. It was fantastic, you know, I mean,
you know, training and playing in front of a lot
of people kind of get you ready for it. But
being in a different atmosphere in a different professional sport
is something that you know, we haven't had the ability
to do ever. And I was like, I think this
will be a cool thing to do. And you know,
I can't thank you know, FC enough in the Reds
and whoever else has helped behind the scenes and set

(03:23):
that up for me, because that was amazing.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Also went to the Urban Youth Academy, and I know
it's not your first trip there, do you You're one
of those guys that when there's children's hospital visits, you
were always at the forefront of that. What was it
like going to the Urban Youth Academy and given your time?

Speaker 3 (03:41):
I mean, you know it's great. You know, you try
to give back whatever we can. Just you know, whenever
we have free time, whenever we have the ability to,
we're always going to be available, especially for those kids.
You know, just trying to inspire the next generation of
kids or you know, trying to get somebody something to
smile about. I mean, it really just makes everybody say
better and it's something that I take pride in.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
It's it's it's one of the remarkable things about you. Uh,
just a great guy on and off the field. Let's
let's talk about the season it was. It was certainly
a great year for you. It was a career year
for you, career best e r a under three this year,
you said, a new career high in innings and strikeouts
for you. What do you think when you look back
on the season, what was it that kind of allowed

(04:25):
you to take that next step forward in your career?

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, I think, overall, I think it was just maturing
in the game and kind of understanding who I was
as the pitcher and what I needed to do. And
then you know, you add that, you add in the
fact that I had a bulletproof routine with the strength
staff with Rob and then with the training staff for
Sean and John and all those guys, and you know,
really didn't have any waves, you know waves. We were

(04:51):
just you know, monotonous. We did the same thing day
in and day out, and you know, the results continue
to pour in. So, you know, a credit to those
guys for helping me out, you know, sitting me down
saying we agree with you, we need to do these things.
And you know, once we were all on board, it
was just about doing it. And then you know, the
results were speaking for themselves.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
We talked a lot about getting through a full season
and the Riggers and the bear that is the regular
season in Major League Baseball. You said learning more about yourself.
What specifically did you learn?

Speaker 3 (05:22):
You know, I think the addition of the cutter that
me and DJ were working on, and then just talking
with Steve O or Trevy our batterymates, and just figuring
out sequencing and really honing in on, you know, scouting
reports and all the pre stuff that's not even done
on the field, so that when you get on the field,

(05:43):
it's so much easier just to pitch like you're on
the same thing. You're not shaking, you're not taking forever,
and the game plan is almost bulletproof.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
You were talking about the routine with your the strength staff,
you know, I it's one of the things that always
stands out to me when you hear some of the
great pitchers talk about what makes them great, They talk
about their routine. It's not just the pregame routine, it's
it's the days between the starts. I know Nolan Ryan

(06:13):
was one of those guys that worked really hard between stars,
was very regimented. Is that something that's relatively new to
you that you're just kind of starting to figure out right.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Now, I wouldn't say it's relatively new. You know, we
I had a little bit of it at UVA, But
as you get older, you kind of realize what works
for you and what doesn't work for you. And those
guys did a really good job at, you know, implementing
what worked for me, because you know, baseball is one
of those unique sports. Not everybody can do the same things.

(06:46):
You know, we're not all built the same way, so
you know, it just takes what you're good at and
then tries to apply it as much as possible. And
you know, as I said before, like credit to those
guys for really putting in the work behind the scenes
and then coming to us and meeting with us individually,
not just myself but everybody else, and you know, figuring
out what's gonna work and sticking to it.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
You've also you've learned how to get through the rigors
of one hundred and sixty two. It's the same learning
process of how to prepare in the off season. How
long did you shut it down? Are you still shut down?
When do you start ramping up? What do you what
are you doing right now besides.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Travel so ill, Yeah, I'm I'm traveling a bunch, so
we're fitting in workouts and stuff whenever I can, wherever
I can. But yeah, I I deloaded at the end
of the season for a week, and then I took
about two to three weeks off and I'm in week
three of throwing already, so I didn't take I didn't

(07:44):
take that much time off. You know, still going, still going,
working out with stuff down in Texas, and uh, you know,
just I was ready for the season to start as
quick as it ended, because here we are and it's
almost the holidays.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
You know.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
At that time getting close.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
You said that you you're throwing now? Is that off
the mound?

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Is that?

Speaker 2 (08:04):
Are you a long toss guy? What type of throwing
are you doing?

Speaker 3 (08:10):
So I'm in a build up phase, So right now
I'm concentrated on numbers, so like workload, like how how
much effort I've give in too Each time is different.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
And then as I get further into it, I will
be off the mound and I will be long coughing.
But now I'm probably at sixty to seventy percent. Probably
will be a good guest.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Andrew Rabbit is our guest, an All Star for the
first time this year, in year three of his career.
Uh left, you got time to stick around for another segment.
We got to get to a break. Yep, all good,
All right, sounds good. We've got more coming up with
Andrew Abbott. Next, this is the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove
League presented by u DF. We're live the bet MGM
Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks here on

(08:53):
the Reds Radio Network Canada. The Butudweiser Reds Hot Stove
League presented by UDF or live betmg OF Sports Book
inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks, right across the
street from Great American Ballpark, Talking Reds baseball with you.
I misspoke last week I said, you know, we were
talking Reds baseball and it hadn't even turned cold. And
then lo and behold, a few days later, it snowed

(09:14):
a couple of inches. And now it's cold, so it's
starting to feel a little more wintery. So let's huddle
around the hot stove and talk some baseball. We're talking
with Andrew Abban, an All Star for the first time
this year this past offseas Andrew, you talked about You've
done some traveling this offseason, have you been anywhere cool
so far yet? Like, where's the best place you've been?

Speaker 3 (09:39):
I haven't gone to many places that are cool. It's
just been between Texas Virginia and since the so far
I got you.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, Now, we had an event late in the season
where you had made mentioned that you might be checking
out an Ohio State game at some point this fall.
Have you have you made your way to Columbus yet
to check on the Buckeyes.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
I did, I was. I was there to watch. I
was watching them beat up on Penn State.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
How was that? What's I mean? You're a Virginia guys,
so can you can you compare the two?

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Like?

Speaker 1 (10:17):
Is that is that one of the better college football
environments you've been to? I still haven't been to a game.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
Uph Oh absolutely, I mean it was great. Uh, you know,
the san atmosphere was awesome. The team's obviously very good.
I had a great time. A group of friends spent
it and spent the night there, and you know, to
enjoy a little bit of what Columbus had to offer.
But yeah, I would. I would definitely recommend going to
a football game up there.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
Ah, very good. Uh, Jimmy, what kind of things does
Columbus have to offer.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
It's God's country. He's pointing it offer up there just
like Cincinnati. Both are God's country.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Uh, and Andrew, let's talk to baseball. You know we've
been we've been talking about your year. You are. It
seems like, you know, you're talking about the relationship with
your catcher and how important that is and going into
a game with a plan. But part of pitching is
understanding that maybe your plan won't necessarily work on that day.
It just happens. But you seem to be a guy

(11:11):
that can adjust on the fly as well as anybody.
And part of that, A lot of that credit goes
to your ability to read hitters. Is that something that
you just kind of do instinctually? Is it something you've learned?
Is is it something you even realize you do when
you're out there.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
I'd say it's about half and half. I think it's
gotten a lot better over time. It's not always good,
you know, but like you said, you have to adjust
on the fly. Some games you're warming up in the
bullpen and you're like, I don't have this pitch. I
don't feel comfortable with it. Let's just kind of change
the game plan around or some days that everything's working.

(11:53):
It's almost like a read and react situation. You just
have to see what in front of you and figure out,
how are we going to get through six seven innings
with this? And let's just try our best to go
do it.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
Guys make the playoffs. I'm sure you wish the record
was better than it was, but you did get in.
You have that nucleus that's seemingly coming back. As we
sit here right now, what does his team have to
do to make the next step to get up towards
maybe ninety wins, be hunting a Central Division title? What
do you think has to happen?

Speaker 3 (12:28):
You know? In my opinion, I think it's we just
got to handle the teams that are below us or
teams that are you know, that are beatable by you know,
standards in the in the in the leagues, you know,
in the American and National I think last year we
beat the teams that we were honestly either underdogs against
or we were about fifty to fifty with, and then

(12:51):
it felt like we didn't beat anybody that was beneath us.
And I think going in, I think you see those
really good teams, you know, you know, the dog is
the Yankees the Cubs. Those guys handle the teams that
are below them and then can still beat the teams
above them, and then that's why they turn out with
ninety plus wins. And I think that's personally, I think
that's probably the biggest thing that we need to focus on.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Well, you hit the nail on the head. You talk
about being good enough to beat good teams. When you're
good enough to be good teams, you can beat anybody.
What's the key to kind of give getting over the hump?
I'm sure, I'm sure you guys talked about it internally.
What are some of those things that you feel like
you need to do better to be able to have
success against teams that don't have as good of a

(13:33):
record next year.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
I still think we, you know, we always have to
play clean baseball no matter who we're going against. I
just think maybe in those moments you might see a
little more relapsed from everybody, including myself, and I just think,
you know, we got to put our heads down and say, Okay,
well we know this team is good. They're all major
the players like, let's go do it and handle our business.
And I mean it's easier said than done, obviously, But

(13:58):
I think when we already know our group is so good,
we're playing together, we're jailed, you know, we're a family
as a team. I think that's probably the simplest thing
is just let's focus just us had a bit more
all together.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Correct me if I'm wrong, But I thought I saw
you and Chase Burns hanging out a lot, not necessarily
off the field, but in the dugout, etc. Or when
you're throwing. And if that's the case, what kind of
makeup does this kid happen? What are some of the
things that he picks your brain about?

Speaker 3 (14:30):
No, Chase is great, you know, I mean I miss
him my year in college.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
But you saw the highlight reel.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
I mean, he's a walking highlight reeler guy. Stuff electric,
He's got a bright future ahead of him in the
game and beyond the game. You know, during the game, though,
I mean that's just kind of starting pitchers hanging out,
Like we'll be talking about pitching one minute, and then
we'll be talking about video games the next minute, or
trying to figure out plans with each other or so,
you know, something like that. But when he's picking your brain,

(14:57):
the guy he's very, very intelligent with pitches, with pitch calling,
with you know, all the analytical spin rates and stuff.
So honestly, it's a little bit of both back and
forth between us two. I'm picking his brain on that stuff,
and he's just picking my brain off of like maybe
he's a routine or maybe something he should include or
take out. So it goes both ways for sure.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Another guy that was around this year, he obviously didn't
pitch as much as I'm sure the Reds hoped he would.
But that was Wade Miley, who is just I assume
you've spent some time with him. He's a wealth of knowledge.
Were you able to pick his brain? I mean, he's
he's a left hander. I gotta believe there's some similarities
between you two and some things that you could learn
from him. Did you have a chance to do that

(15:40):
much with Wade while he was around?

Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah, I wasn't around the last time the red signed him.
I think it was what twenty twenty one, I believe,
so I missed him during that time. But in spring training,
you know, he took his own time away from you know,
his family and stuff to work with me on my
pickoff move with me on you know, just different pitching
mechanics stuff for like, you know, really trying to get

(16:04):
in on right handed hitters, like what I should focus on.
I mean you said it correctly.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
I mean the guy.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
He's a great guy. He's a wealth of knowledge. And
I think knowing that I'm, you know, just starting out
in the league, that leaning on guys like that are
the reason why I can play for longer is because
those guys are just passing on stuff that has kept
them around for fourteen, ten plus years.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
Like whatever it may be, well, Andrew, certainly appreciated. Enjoy
the rest of your season. Do you have any before
we let you go? You got it? Got any big
trips on the horizon, some fun trips, some exciting places
that you plan on going before you have to head
back to Arizona for spring training.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
The Abbot crew is going to the beach next week.
That's about the funnest thing I got planned.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Man, that sounds good. Well, enjoy it. That sounds plenty
fun to me. Take care, Andrew. I'm sure we'll talk
to you again before we all head down to Arizona.
Good luck in the offseason. Enjoyed, man, Thanks yeah, you guys,
Thank you Thanks Andrew. That is Red's Lefty Andrew Abbott
joining us so on the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League.
Still plenty more to talk about. We'll talk about the

(17:10):
balloting for the Reds Hall of Fame that is open now.
You can vote on who you think belongs in the
next Hall of Fame class. Plenty more to get to.
This is the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by
UDF on the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back into the

(17:33):
Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF. We're live
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(17:55):
by bet MGM on Saturday. That'll be January the seventeenth.
Play for your chance, guaranteed ten thousand dollars first place
prize and other cash prizes. Registrations are open now at
Reds dot com slash Poker course that'll be at the
end of Redsfest. Redsfest is back, Jimmy. It is returning,

(18:15):
and a month later than normal, a little bit later.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, right, and I understand it's the first event at
the newly renovated Convention Center.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
That's what I'm here. We're going to break that bad
boy in. That will be January sixteenth and seventeenth. Tickets
are on sale now. Redsfest presented by PNC. You can
get your tickets at the newly renovated Cincinnati Convention Center.
Two day celebration should be a lot of fun. You
can get all the information that you need to know

(18:42):
about Redsfest at reds dot com slash Redsfest. We mentioned
that the Reds did make a move today they claimed
Ben Rourtviitt off Waivers. Of course, you may remember Ben
Rhurtvitt was playing for the Dodgers when the Reds met
him in the postseason. Start of the season. Did rtfit
and the Rays organization then went over to the Dodgers.

(19:03):
So the Reds have claimed him. He's a catcher. Kind
Of an interesting move here, Jim, that the Reds would
claim Ben Rurtviitt off Waivers here when they've already got
a couple of catchers. Tyler Stevenson figures to be the
regular guy. Then you got Jose Travino, a very valuable
backup behind him. They almost split time during the season,

(19:26):
so now you work Ben Rurtvinn into the mix. I'm
curious to see all the reasoning behind that, how this
is going to play out this offseason. If if this
maybe signals something to come for the Reds, it could.

Speaker 2 (19:39):
I think it's just part of off season insurance. I understand.
I don't think he has any options, right, so that
complicates things. And I haven't talked to Nick kraw or
Brad Metter about this, so I'm just just cheerly, just
be speculating, But I would be surprised if someone like
that would be on the Reds roster come season time,

(20:01):
unless something happens, if you move one of those catchers
and you don't want to shop a catcher when you
don't have two quote unquote big league catchers more than
two on your roster right within your system. So I
think it's a little bit of insurance there. So they
have space on the forty man, so he might be

(20:25):
a candidate. He's on the Reds roster, now will he
come come season time remains to be sick.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
He was three for six against the Reds in those
two wild card games. He's not exactly a five hundred
hitter for his career. There hadn't been one of those yet,
by the way, for his career two seventy nine hitter.
Parts of about four seasons in the big leagues for
Ben roadtfit actually yeah, parts of four seasons. Broke in
first in twenty twenty one, to play at all in

(20:52):
twenty twenty two, and then he's been briefly with the Yankees,
stops in Tampa Bay, and then most recently the Dodgers.
Originally his second round pick the Twins back in twenty sixteen,
a high school selection, Ben Roordvitt claimed off waivers from
the Dodgers today by the Reds other news this week.
By the way, manager of the Year voting took place

(21:14):
right before the end of the season. The voting had
already been done by the time the postseason came around
and started. Terry Francona was one of the finalists in
the National League. He finished second in the Nation League
Manager of the Year voting, So I think that deserves
little congratulations. In his first year at the helm of
the Reds, taking the Reds to the playoffs the first
time in the full season since twenty thirteen, first time

(21:36):
overall since twenty twenty. No surprise really that Pat Murphy
got the win there in the National League.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah, no surprise. And I think the most interesting thing
for me about Frankcona is he came in just learning
the Reds organization, the roster, the players, etc. And at
times you're almost flying blind when you're doing that, and
it's a learning process on the go. I think he's
gonna have a lot more influence. Yeah, just my opinion

(22:05):
on the roster going forward, some of the decision.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
Well that's the thing. It really sounds like, and I
don't know what it's like for other organizations, but he
and Nick and Brad seem to all work really really
well together, and it's almost like those three are kind
of like one unit when it comes to putting this
roster together. I think that's a good thing. I mean,

(22:30):
I don't know about you, but I remember early days
of spring training last year talking to Tito about certain
players and instantly he maybe only seen him in a
workout or seen him in one game and already had
a really good idea of what that player was. That's
a gift, and I think that is a valuable asset

(22:52):
for a guy in that situation and that role to
have working with your top baseball ops guys.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
I think that that was part of what intrigued him
about the Reds is that they told him you are
going to manage the team. We want you to manage
the team. And you're like, well, obviously, duh. What I
hear rumblings in Cleveland the front office is always put
out this lineup, play this player on this day. Why

(23:22):
are you making that move? Where they the Reds basically
told we want you're one of the best managers on
the planet. You manage the team. We will deal with
the player side of it. I think that was very intriguing.
They are not meddling in his Sure, they give him
suggestions that he gets all the analytics. The baseball ops
department works very closely in that regard, but they are

(23:45):
not telling him what his lineup should.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Nobody likes to get the input here. There's a difference
between giving input and then telling somebody what to do.
He loves to get the information. Nobody's telling him what
to do. That's that's a valuable asset, and that's, like
you said, a very appealing thing about this job to
him when he came here. The Reds are looking for
a new coach. We'll talk more about that, and we

(24:09):
also will talk Red's Hall of Fame balloting when the
Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF continues next
on the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back, It's the Budweiser
Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF Live the BETMGM Sportsbook,
Inside Tom's Watch Bart Banks. Nice turnout here for the

(24:31):
second Hot Stove Show of the year. Only nineteen more
to go After tonight. Reds Fans House the time to
get your twenty twenty six season tickets. Members sit in
the same seat for every game with the friends and family,
and enjoy our flexible ticket exchange program. Visit Reds dot
com slash membership for details. Mentioned that, the Reds have

(24:54):
an opening now on their coaching staff. Simon Matthews, who
is the Red Sunshine Yes, who was the Reds assistant
pitching coach last year, has moved on to greener pastors.
The Washington Nationals have hired Simon to be their pitching coach.
So after one year under the tutelage of Derek Johnson,
he has moved on to the Washington Nationals to take

(25:15):
over kind of like Caleb Cotham did. Who's still in
that same role now it's the pitching coach of the Phillies.
After spending a little time with Derek Johnson here at
the Red.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
Assistant pitching coach in Miami. So is Derek Johnson the
pitching coach?

Speaker 1 (25:31):
Well, I'll tell you what, some guys have gone on
to have quite a bit of success after leaving his instructions.
So we wish Simon Matthews the best. Now the question
is who fills that role. I don't know if Wade
Miley is done playing baseball yet, but.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
If he's not, gonna be time.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
If he is in fact done, you got to figure
out a way to get that guy in this organization.
He's gonna make a great coach somewhere at some point.
The question is is he ready for that commitment. And
at this point, if in fact he is done trying
to play baseball, he would be perfect for that role
if it's something that he was willing to do.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
If he sits in the offseason and thinks he can
still get people out. I would not be guys. I
just I don't know. Although his you know, he's obviously
up there in the age and his body was breaking
down and father time undefeated. To have him in the
organization absolutely a huge win if the Reds could get

(26:28):
that done. As far as being an assistant pitching coach,
the daily grind of that, I don't see that times
have changed. These guys make so much money now they
don't have to work. No, he's in that category and
I just don't see him doing the everyday grind of
an assistant pitching coach.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
The only reason I would say that it could happen
for a guy like that is he is the baseball
equivalent of a gym rat. I mean, he absolutely loves
the game. He loves pitching, he loves sharing his knowledge,
and he has a wealth of it. He's one of
those guys that I don't feel like ever gets tired
of talking about the game of baseball and pitching. I

(27:07):
don't know if that's the direction the Reds are going
to go, but you can't help but wonder if that
is an option.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
He's a master of reading hitters. You got that talked
de Andre Rabbit about reading hitters. I mean, he is
one of the masters. I wish you could just send
every pitcher through the Wade Miley how to read hitters club.
So we'll see, he would be invaluable just to have
in the organization at any level.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
One of the things that we're hearing quite a bit,
of course, Brad Meta, the Reds general manager and president
of Baseball Operations Nick Crawler out in Arizona or out
in Vegas right now for the GM meetings. One of
the things that we keep reading from the meetings is
looks like Spencer Steer is probably going to be used
a little bit differently than he was last year. He
was the Reds everyday first baseman, finished runner up for

(27:55):
the Gold Glove at first base. I mean, this guy
played a true Gold Glove caliber base I think you
really you lose something if you go back to moving
him around, because he came. He became as good of
a first basement as you could ask for. Look at
the World Series. The first baseman's in the World Series
between Freddie Freeman and Vladimir Guerrero Junior played a huge

(28:18):
role for their teams at first base. I've never really
understood why a position that impacts the ball on almost
every play is so undervalued from a defensive standpoint, as
first base is Spencer Steer. I thought showed all year
long how valuable the defense is over there. I'm really

(28:38):
curious to see how that plays out, because you got
something there. You've got a really good infield, especially if
you can clean up Ellie's defense short when you have
McClain at second base. Key Brian Hayes just came off
his second Gold Glove year over at third base, Spencer Steer.
If you keep him at first he'll win one at
some point.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
Well, you got to get some offense somewhere. I get
everything you're saying us to Baseball for recognizing steers excellence
defensively at first base, because every time national broadcasters will
come through, they would kind of pick our brain on
the team, and I said to all of them, if
he's not a finalist for the Gold Glove at first base,
there's crime going on. And they would look like, well,

(29:16):
what you're talking about. It's you know, people that didn't
watch him on a daily basis. But if you watched
him every day, he was excellent over there. Now, they're
talking about the story or what they're talking about in
Vegas moving him around. If you ask him, his most
natural position is second base, but that's probably is not
his best prices. He can be a serviceable outfielder, I'm

(29:38):
not sure he's going to be a great outfielder, so
moving him around like that has a tremendous amount of value.
Obviously you are going to lose if he doesn't play
there every day. But with this, you got to look
at the current roster. That old saying, you know, if
you're gonna hit, they're gonna find you a place. I

(29:59):
think al Stewart is in that equation. I don't think
third base was ever going to be his future. I
know people were upset of they brought in Key Brian Hayes,
and where's south Stuart going to play. I don't think
south Stewart's future was ever going to be at third base.
I think he was going to be a first baseman.
Now he took this up in the middle of the year.
Sal So same thing with Spencer. You've got to give

(30:23):
him time to learn the position. I'm not he will
never be on the level defensively of Spencer stear At
first base. But the kid seemingly can hit, you can
d h South Stewart. But this I go back to
the roster. You've got a guy like Gavin Lucks on
the roster. He's without a position where you're going to
play him. So this is the daily thought process that

(30:45):
goes in. Sure, you can hit, but what where's where
are you going to play and where you're going to
get the offense from. This team lacked the offense last year,
certainly lacked the power of hitting home not hitting home runs.
Your corner positions are normally your power guys. I know
that's changed a little bit in today's game, but you
need offense somewhere. So it is a dilemma and is

(31:09):
one they're going to have to figure out.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Well, we'll see what the Reds do for that. We
wrap up the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by
UDF when we come back on the Reds Radio Network.
Welcome back. It's the Budwiser reds Hot Stove League presented
by UDF. We've been talking about it. We'll finally talk
about it. We've been teasing it, we haven't really talked
about it. But voting is open now. To help decide

(31:34):
who is going to be enshrined this year in the
induction class the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. Voting
is open now. All you have to do is go
to Redsmuseum dot org to vote. Your options are Homer Bailey,
Francisco Cordero, Zach Cozart, Aaron Harang, Mike Leak, Brandon Phillips,
Scott Roland, and Edinson Volkez. You have until eleven fifty

(32:00):
nine technically on November twenty seven, basically midnight November twenty seventh,
to go to Redsmuseum dot org and vote on who
you think should be in the Reds Hall of Fame
in museum, Jimmy, who you got on that list? Who?
Who makes it?

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Well?

Speaker 2 (32:16):
These are just the modern player candidates. There's gonna be
ones that played a little farther back that will be
inducted as well. Brandon Phillips's lock, the other ones, you know,
a little a little dicey. He didn't spend a whole
lot of time here. And the criteria is what three years.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Be a.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Looking through here?

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Three years?

Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah, three years appeared in at least three seasons with
the Reds. Five years of pass it's their major league season.
Blah blah blah, Scott Rolling. It's a tough one because
he wasn't here very long. But you know, you want
a gold Glove here, he wants some had some achol.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
And you talk to guys that played with him, they
will tell you how valuable he was getting this team
over the hump his leadership. Can you put a guy
in the Hall of Fame in a team hall of Fame.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
For his leadership? He was the final piece. I mean,
you know, Homer Bailey had two no hitters. That's going
to headline his bio.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
I gotta know if he's a strong candidate too, right
at some point this year, I don't know I would
pick those two.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
I guess certainly Phillips and the other one I could
be sold on a few guys. Aaron Harang started a
number of opening days. I had a bunch of strikeouts.
I know, he's top ten in strikeouts in Red's history,
seventh in Red's history, thirtieth and wins. You know, he

(33:51):
was at a time when the Reds didn't have a
deep pitching. He was the guy.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
So just the.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
Longevity of his career with the Reds would certainly stack up.
Zach Klozar was a tremendous short stop.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
I mean set the rookie home run record for red shortstop.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
So League All Star Gold Glove finalists a couple of times.
So yeah, it'll be in Rcy Phillips and you talk
me into someone else.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Okay, that's fair. Yeah, that's good list. It's certainly I
would say Phillips and Bailey almost a lock, I would
think to get in for that class. You can vote.
You have until the twenty seventh to get your voting in.
That's all the time we have for you today. Big
thanks to Andrew Abbott for joining us. By the way,

(34:39):
and Rabbit is up for all MLB Starting Pitcher. The
award show is tomorrow night nine Eastern here on MLB Network.
That's all the time we have for you for today.
Thanks for listening. Big thanks to our producer engineer Debut
the Armburster for Jim Day. Thanks to Andrew Rabbit. I'm
Tommy Thrall. We'll talk to you again next Wednesday on
the REDS Radio Network. A night