March 7, 2025 • 55 mins
In this episode of Batflips and Nerds, the hosts discuss the arrival of spring training, exploring the optimism it brings, the downsides such as injuries and media clichés, and the impact of new rules on player performance. They delve into the significance of small sample sizes in evaluating player performance during spring training and share their thoughts on the media's coverage of the event. The conversation wraps up with final thoughts on the season ahead and the importance of player health.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello, I welcome to Baplips and Nerds, the Baseball Podcast
with a British twist. I am your host today, Russell Lisam,
and spring training is upon us. There is live baseball
to be watched. But is that a good or a
bad thing? That's what we will be discussing today. And
to do that I have with me my fellow Stato Darius.
How are you doing, Darius?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm doing very well, Thanks Ross.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I've enjoyed in lightning Rob about the state of Andragas's hair,
which may well put down a bonus pod sometime or something.
Just leaves that hanging out there, people wondering what the
hell is going on?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And as Darius alluded to, we have the man who
will provide the whimsy to our two with statheads, Rob Veras.
How are you doing, Rob?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm a little I'm just concerned that Andrey lost his
hair a lot earlier than I thought he did. Honestly,
I thought his whole career was was full pat sharp
style locks. But no, nineteen ninety five you went board.
Who knew nineteen ninety five I could have sworn it
was the whole The whole length of his career was
with the full length. My mother and Auntie absolutely loved him.
(01:18):
That's probably a bit enough about.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That has suited individuals as such were probably the thing
in vogue. Obviously we'll get onto spring training in a second,
but something monumental has happened in baseball since the last
time we've managed to have one of these podcasts. Potentially
the dumbest rule in baseball has been made less dumb,
and the Yankees have decided to allow their players to
(01:42):
have a well maintained beard by going by their standards,
probably have well maintained. I do not fall under that role.
Probably doesn't fall under that too much. It's too stubble
it role. But I think, yeah, it's the question is
how you get to being like well maintained. You have
to grow it quickly but enough to trim. Yeah. As
(02:04):
someone who I can't remember what reason why we had
a podcast drafting something, I had the Yankees Beard Museum
effectively to attribute to all the beards that have been
lost at all time. To me, it's ridiculous that this
thing that even still partially exists, but seemingly the Yankees
have stepped forward to what the current times is.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Darius Well, I mean, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
They've gone a long way at least the well maintained,
the well groomed part of it is sort of a
desperate clinging on. But yeah, this is long reverdue. This
is one of those things that whenever it does come
up with people who don't know baseball, they sort of
look at me like I'm playing a joke on them
or something that they can't believe in the twenty first
century that anybody could possibly.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Have this policy on a sports team.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It has been one of the more ludicrous things about
the Yankees for quite a long time.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So yeah, very good that they've done it.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I do wonder, you know, was there somebody out there,
you know, did Startinbreder try and sign someone and they
were like, no, I'm keeping the beard.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
You can't. You can't have me.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I want a beard.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I don't know. I don't know if that that has
been brought up, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Addindobtably, even even if it was once, I think they'd
probably be worth doing it. But yeah, aside from free
agents who don't want to go there, it's just a
ludicrous thing that was in place for.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Far too long. So glad to see it go.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And yeah, we'll be fun to actually see Yankees with
beards and to see what well groomed means. How far
can we push the boundaries of grooming?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I think rob Like, if you're someone like Devin Williams,
who's basically had a pretty big beard for probably the
last six years of his baseball career, I can't think
of him without the beard. I still don't think of
him without the beard. He literally turned up two pictures
and catchers reported having it shaved off, and then the
day later they're like, ah, you know what that would
(03:58):
have been fired, Like I'd be about you.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, I've got a feeling he's gonna be more
part of this surely, Like you know this is gonna
be Yeah, they've gotta They've got a superstar reliver here,
like absolute top notch geezer. If he's kicked off and
you know, demanded, I'm not gonna play. I don't want
to play. I don't want to be here. I want
to go upsetting the team. Maybe this was the straw
that broke the camel's back. May maybe it was him,
(04:24):
I don't know, but yes, he's got to be pissed off, absolutely,
like he's he's lost his his signature. Beard. I think
he even described it as signature beard at some point,
and and now he's allowed to go it back. But
you know, maybe it come in with a little bit
of grain in it and mayke a bit more distinguished.
I think I think it's gonna be a good thing.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I'll give you another question, Rob, Do you think this
would have happened if the Yankees won the World Series
last year?
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Wow? Well?
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Do you think this is? As Darius has said? It
is a potentially reaction to some free agents that may
be coming around this year or maybe next year.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Where are you pointing this? I'm not seeing next year.
Who's next to you? Oh, Laddie? Surely?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Okay, yeah, that makes perfect sense. Now my eyes have
been opened. Yeah, it's got to.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Be, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
I mean, would you keep keep him under the is
he well groomed? Would we consider him well grouped? I'm
gonna have to get a picture of his beard now,
because I have it in my head as slightly rough.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
If you want to.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Play along at home, I'm not that Vladimir. That one
is not a good Vladimir.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Uh that Rob is googling Darius. Do you do you
agree with my statement? That this is this is this
is actually a losing position from the Yankees, like the
George Emsteinbrenner would be rolling in his grave that they
were reacting in this way to try and get the
free agents. Like if those free agents wouldn't shave their
beard for the Yankees, they're not good enough for the Yankees.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, that probably is the kind of thing that old
George would have said, although he was also in the
habit of, you know, making very advised free agent decisions
on a regular basis, so who can say how he
would have reacted to this really, Yeah, well, if they'd
won the World serious side, don't Yeah, it seems like
odd timing.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I don't go.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Don't quite understand why this is the moment unless it
is related to lad and in that case, I don't
think it's that.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Like me, he has walked back.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
He would never play for the angest statement, but I
imagine that's more to use them as market leverage than
for anything like he'd actually want to sign there. I'll
let rub weigh in on whether he thinks the beard
is sufficiently well groomed at this point in time.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I want say no, I obviously that is not a
well groomed beard. I think it has been a very
very neat sculptured chin strap. But I think generally he's
certainly not the Charlie Blackman, but he's he's really sort
of letting it go a little wild around the cheeks,
got some he's got some wisp to it. You know,
it's it's got a little bit kind of I'm a
(06:56):
bit wild and dangerous look, and you know it's it's
it's that. Yeah, I don't think that's well groomed. And
you know, okay, controversial take. I'm a problem with the
well groomed element. They are. I work in customer facing.
You know, there's got to be an element of presentation
about it. They are very customer facing. They're on the television.
(07:17):
You know that there's a uniform standard. I don't think
it's unusual to have some sort of dress code about
about working if you are one display.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
For the public.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
So yeah, why not well groomed is fine? You know,
I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Are you going to go out there and tell Brandon
Marsh's not allowed to wet his hair?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Is wetting it? Groomy it? I would say it's fairly
well groomed. Grooming is in the essence of the effort
rather than necessarily the result.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Perhaps, Ah okay, well give them the fact that they
have an on site Barbara, and we heard about like
a triple A level Yankee prospect basically getting his bid
sorted literally the day afterwards, and being one of the
first people to the Yankees uniform with the beards. So
we'll see how this all rolls. We probably could talk
about this for another forty five minutes if we're perfectly honest.
(08:08):
This is the type of nerdery and absurdity that is
right up our alley. But we're here to talk about
spring training. We're here to talk about the good and
the bad of spring training because when we get this
access to baseball, there is an initial like joy. I
think for a lot of us we have been without
(08:28):
watching MLB. There has been other opportunities to watch the
other things, with some winter series, with even some World
Baseball Classic qualifiers that have been ongoing. But there's something
about MLB, obviously with a preemium element. But it's not
all good. So but I think we'll start with a
good each Darius, what is a good thing about spring training?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I think one good thing about spring training generally speaking,
and this can veer into the ridiculous, but it's just
a nice time for up timism. Nobody is yet eliminated,
not even the Rockies of the White Sox.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
People might say technically they are, but at this moment
in time, they are not. You still have that opportunity
to get excited about things, and that might not be
We're going to make the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
That might be all.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
You know, look at our young prospects that are in
spring training. Whatever it is, you just haven't had that time.
You know, that can go south very quickly in the
season if you get out to a one and nine
start and everybody's upset. But in spring training, you know,
the slate is clean, You've got time. Obviously, things can
go wrong in spring training, but for the most part,
(09:34):
it's time for optimism. And I think that's nice, especially
you know, after the long winter of waiting for baseball,
people can get excited about the season again.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
So speaking optimism, as anybody looked.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
At sorry after you, gentlemen, Well, I'm just.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Saying it, speaking of optimism and in all going well,
anybody actually looked at the standings for the grape fruit
and or Cactus leagues. No one does. Of course they don't.
I would like to say that the Chicago White Sox
are two and eight, so with two hundred winning percentage,
they it's really sad, but it's exactly what you'd expect.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So I do see the side of your optimism, Darius.
I do think it is something that we get into
this level of the season and like in some regards,
like you can't be beaten down by anything that has
happened just yet, especially as the start of like spring training.
The thing that I will sadly say so is that
to me, this is either pointless optimism or like just
(10:33):
optimism that isn't actually believed, like it is like it's
cliched optimism almost to say that, like there are people
out being there like oh yeah, well, we're gonna surprise
some teams, like the players will be saying that, managers
will be saying that. And in some regards, these guys
are athletes and they have to probably believe that they
are going to perform quite well. But how many of
them really believe the stuff that they're saying when it's
(10:54):
going to be like, you know what, if you're on
the White Sox, this year, and you're gonna when someone says, well,
we know we're gonna surprize people, well, surprising people. You
surprise people last year, just in a really bad way,
Like surprising people this year would probably be getting to
seventy wins. So that's not actually good. I had had
a whole tirade about this, But if any of you
(11:15):
listened to the Basilall Barber cast, they literally their last
episode was talking about the cliches, So I would direct
you in their direction instead of me just going on
another tirade about this.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, I think that's slightly different category of the teams,
and I do have a bit about that later. I
think I'm just thinking about it in the sense of
people enjoying the game.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Of baseball, you know, in terms of the public. But yes,
I certainly.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Agree that we get a lot of nonsense out of
teams in terms of what expectations are and where they
think they might be going this season.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
That is clearly not true.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
For the White Sox.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Well, not if they have a two hundred winn percentage.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
They didn't have the worst record ever statistically speaking. So
so there's records to break, there are the wrong records
still to break. As I've countered, Darius is good with
a bad But I'll bring us back to something good.
What do you what do you enjoy about spring training?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I really like a tiki bar. H outfields are full
of you know, bars that have got like a grassy
roof which maybe isn't the best idea. In in Florida
where with the daily daily thumbstorms, they've got grassy roofs
and there's like a great, big, fat kind of wine
shirt sat there enjoying a fruity beverage with an umbrella
(12:43):
in pretty much every game, like most most of these
stadiums have a tiki bar. And there's something very very
not corporate about a tiki bar. And if we spend
the whole season looking at major league stadiums with adverts
for you know, ensure this bomb that you know whatever.
But but to have to have a purely uh frivolous
(13:05):
thing sat out there in the outfield, that's lovely. We
lost that when when we lost the Miami Marlin sculpture,
and so I I the tiki barb makes me think
of that. It's there's something completely frivolous that sat out
there in the outfield. People aren't really watching the games,
because go how many of us really are and you've
gotta you gotta, you've gotta like a grass bar in
(13:29):
the outfield. That's great, that's just frivolous. That's nice. There's
there's no there's no intentions in it. It's just a
thing we can enjoy that is there for reasons. Why
has that become a tradition? I don't know, but it's great.
Love it so Rob.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
How many have you got to watching training games in
Florida or I have.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I went to I've only seen the one. I saw
the Tigers play the Blue Jays the Tigers game Tiger Stadium,
and yeah, there's a there's a tiki bar there.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
That was great. You're not going to class myself as
a season spring training person, but like I've done it
like three or four times in Arizona, and from my
experience of those places, they're frequented by people who are
drunk by the third in and not just like my people.
I've been to quite a few MOREB games probably actually
(14:19):
I've been to more spring training games just because I
love to get out to Arizona at that time of
the year. But I've never seen someone kicked out of
an MLB game, of a regular season game for being
too drunk. And I've seen that probably on about a
quarter of the spring training games that I've been to,
someone stumbling around in the green grass outfield area and
(14:40):
falling onto people who are they have absolutely no business
with whatsoever.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Exactly what makes a family picnic better than a drunken
fatman and a Hawiian shirt falling over onto it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Have you experienced sp training.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I've not not been a spring training in person now,
so I can't can't comment on taking bars or any
other aspects of this other than the bits you see.
It sort of reminds me when you see people at
spring training. It sort of reminds me a bit of
like the Wimbledon vibe, you know that just sort of
like sat out on the hill with like a picnic
blanket and a bunch of drinks and there happens to
(15:16):
be some sport going on. But yeah, it's very much
that kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
So it's nice. There's nice.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I'll sneak in here and kind of put what was
gonna be one of my nicest Yeah, Like, I honestly
like going to spring training games is it's really fun.
I will I will actually say that, like there is
a far you generally aren't caring about what the result
is going to be. Even if you're watching the teams
that you like, you're looking to see kind of who's
gonna maybe perform well kind of just be like oh.
(15:45):
For me, it was like, oh, I get to see
Mike Trout play, or I get to see each aroplay,
or I get to see Jackson Turio play when he's
two years away from being like a major leaguer. That
you get to see things that you do not get
at other games. But also the spring training games for
me were just an interaction with a whole load of
fans that you just do not like normally interact with
(16:07):
at a game. There is a far more jovial atmosphere
around kind of like what's going on. I remember being
out last year telling my friends when we were watching
a Giants game, being like, yeah, all of the prospects
that are here, none of them are going to be
on the starting line, going to be in the starting
twenty five come the start of the season, And the
woman behind me was just heckling moving by, what do
(16:29):
you know? You've probably you sound like you're from the UK,
what do you know? It's like wow, But it ended
up having a conversation afterwards, So like, I just think
that I'm not certain if that would have I've had
great interactions in regular season games as well, but like
the everybody was a few beers in and and it
(16:52):
just led to to a great atmosphere that is, that's
very good. What do we not like about spring training?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, the thing that really puts the dampener on the optimism,
usually very quickly, is when you discover who has got
themselves injured or indeed was already injured at the end
of last season and didn't tell anybody about it until
they sharper spring training. And you know, we get this
flurry every year. Everyone shows up in their training except
(17:22):
you know that one guy he's not training and the
be right goes last the manager he's like, oh, yeah,
you know, he's just got a toall ligament. It will
be out for the next four months, just like drop
that in their casualty. So that's always a bit of
a down and you're excited about your team. We've got
a great, great unit together, and then you know you
realize you're about to sign Kyle Gibson in mid March
(17:43):
because somebody's blown out the UECL which is going to
happen inevitably. We haven't really had I don't think the major.
You know, somebody's lost the season unexpectedly yet, but we
all know that it's coming.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
And was one.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I swear there was one.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I thought Lucis ehel is probably considerable.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Theis hill Is is going to be out about six,
six or eight weeks.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I think it's a big strain, but we have a
big Tommy John I don't think, not, not that I'm
aware of. That was an unexpected name.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
And rend he's lost his lost the season probably I said,
I said, unexpected, Okay, sorry, yeah, that was fairly expected.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
It is. It is a slightly weird one because like,
on one hand, I'm like our teams, surely the teams know,
or like the gen Carlo Stanton or whatever was not
feeling well during the off season, surely like again, the
fact that he has neither elbows working properly.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
What has been doing tennis? Elbow?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Was he playing with one arm and then he was like,
oh that hurts, I'm going to use the other one. Well,
I know, you get tennis Elbo from other things, but
I just wonder what has he been doing?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, and and and it's kind of like hilarious in itself,
like how that's happened. But it's like, surely at some
point during the off season, Stanton's gone, hey, like this
is happening or whatever, But we don't hit anything from
the teams until like spring training starts, and then they
even sometimes try and just like mask it for a
few days for as long as they can before it's like, yeah,
(19:14):
you know what, this person isn't starting now, we kind
of really have to say that, like they're injured, and yeah,
we're gonna have to do something about it. And so
part of my head, I'm like teams are obviously trying
to push this information back as lately as possible, so
other teams don't know that someone is injured. But it's
still basically teams know. By now we now know that
people who are the people who've carried injuries into the
(19:35):
off season. How you really impacted I guess most of
the free agents have been signed to Is that enough
of a reason to delay this information because it plays
into how other teams are going to spend their money.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
Maybe they just don't care. Maybe we the consumer just
aren't important enough, like, oh yeah he's broke. Yeah, sorry,
we should have said some.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Maybe.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Actually I looked up the stats on injuries. I compared
this year to last year up to yesterday. Which do
you have you have you had a feeling that the
injuries have been better or worse? How have you felt
it's gone?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I've not heard too many major sprawings, but I also
don't think we get the major sprawings for until like
the next couple of weeks, and people have truly ramped up,
and a trent getting close to one hundred percent. So
I'm gonna say, I'm gonna have given a push, Rob,
it's the same.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
How are you respond? I was gonna say, how have
you assessed this?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Rob?
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I've used fangrass tracker, I've gone down, I've literally counted. Yeah,
the number of injuries, Yeah absolutely, I would say though statistically,
if we take last year as an example, this next
week we are likely to have about four Tommy John's like,
this is the week it happens, this is the week
it's all going to go to hell. I think I
(21:01):
even saw somebody tread on a It was an our chat,
wasn't it. Who's who's hurting themselves?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Say?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah, Jordan Walker desperate to finally get his big break
and so everybody he was going to be the great
player everyone thought he was going to be.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
As a prospect. The big break of his foot instead
has trodden on the spring player.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Well, given we're talking about things that kind of are
news related all throughout, something that I don't like about
spring training is that it's the first access that bead
writers have had two players in a long time, and
we get absolutely stupid questions being asked. Like I just
think that like people are just being like, oh, like
(21:45):
are you ready for the next season or whatever? And
I'm like, what generic thing are they going to respond
to that? Like I do get in some regards that
like true journalists have to ask the obvious questions so
they can have the by all the thing that they
can say that this person said quote and they can
(22:05):
put it in in their peace, But like it doesn't
do anything like I read something to say that, it's
kind of just like, oh, this has happened, and then
I would just gonna double down here. And also like
what happens with like well with Rafael Devers where I'm
just like that to me and people probably might disagree,
just felt like ambush journalism where it's like, you know what,
(22:26):
like I'm just going to basically push at something that
even though the Red Sox have constantly said break I mean,
Breakman's gonna play SECD, Breakman's gonna play second. Breakman's gonna
play second. That's what we've bought him. The first thing
we're gonna do is Deva's where do you play? And
He's like, I play third? Like and then it's basically
just like Devas is not a team player. It's like like, okay,
(22:49):
could thank you for your sensationalist journalism. Like, uh, to me,
you just sound like a tool of a journalist, not
actually Devas sounding like a tool, but that might just
be my opinion thought.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah, yeah, I see where where you're driving with it. Yeah.
I mean it is tough though, isn't it, Because they
these journalists have really got to balance the the the
print with the obvious questions because they need to keep
the access. But yeah, they've got to make a story too,
They've got to make a living everything, So it is
(23:22):
a tough one. It is a tough position and often
here they're trying to make stories out of nothing, because,
let's face it, it's spring training, people getting injured. It
is nothing.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, am I being an overreacting here, Darius, Well, let's
start with the first point where it's just like, do
we just get too much? Like I'm in the best
shape of my life? Like, let's start there with that
cliche like.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
Say that anymore?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
I think we probably do.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yes, you know, I suppose there is some merit to
just going around and like is everybody healthy, especially when
it's some of the guys who were not healthy at
the end of life season. There's you know, some journalistic
merriage to just asking those questions, because, as we've talked about,
sometimes nobody has asked the question, and then at some
point you.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Go, why hasn't that guy been on the field for
the last week, and then you get the answer.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
So I appreciate that that is the thing that needs
to be done, but yeah, what what else are most
of these players are going to say, you run into
the other interesting one, But most of them are going
to tell you what a great offseason they've had and
how they're in better shaft than last year, which mostly
will not be true. So yeah, I think we do
get too much of that. The Devil's thing is specifically
is is a weird one. I'm sure it doesn't help
(24:36):
that it's Boston and they probably are trying to make
a story out of it. It also felt a bit like,
you know, they should have the team should have funneled
that better. They should have known that question was coming,
and they should have made sure he had had their
answer ready Like Devons. We should would have known he'd
get asked that, and somebody should have had a conversation
(24:56):
with him and said this is this is what we're
going to say, you know, and then they wouldn't have
really had to make a story out of it.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
But clearly that didn't happen.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
So yeah, I think probably a bit on both sides
and somebody to be fair, it's, yeah, the big biggest
story of spring training so far, right probably even if
it's not a story, it's probably the most interesting news
item that's happened so far.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Given the fact that we now think that because he
does have a slight injury, he might start the season
as DH, it seems a complete non story in.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
That regard where he should have been anyway.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
We'll get we'll get like five five games of bragman
at said base and everybody won't want anything to change.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So yeah, we'll see, all right, Rob, give us a
trifector of bad then, as we've just done, Darius and
I have given one.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
Okay, I'm gonna stick with the media. I'm gonna stick
with the media. And it's about commentary teams, and specifically
it's about commentary teams saying, ah, it's spring training for
X two. So every time somebody ballses something up. So
maybe maybe an umpire makes a bad call, or bull
boy drops a drops a ball, or you know there's
(26:04):
somebody misses a catch in the outfield, or perhaps the
cameraman's looking the wrong way. Ah, it's spring training for
them too. We've heard that, get another trope. It's boring,
it's done, it's it's old school now everyone, Yes, it's
spring training for them too. We've heard all thirty teams
commentators say about every single thing that goes wrong in
spring training. How we've heard it for the last twenty
(26:25):
plus years, probably certainly as long as I've been watching baseball.
So yeah, let's find something different to say. And if
you haven't got anything to say, just shut up, let it,
let it play. It's fine talk about prospects, don't talk
about oh, spring training for him too? Yeah, boring heard
it now.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I would say that I am not too aware of
this because I think the total amount of innings that
I've watched live is one so far this season, and
probably gets was the good one. Yeah, not really, just
turned out. I just wanted to. I just wanted to
(27:04):
have a look at rookies as Archi pitch. But like,
that's that, honestly, that's yeah, exactly, Like I've only watched
one inning of baseball. I've watched loads of clips, I've
looked the loads of data, but I do not watch
the games live because in most regards, I couldn't care
less Dari's nice background. Do you think do you think
(27:28):
this rob is is right with the telling people that
they can't use the same joke, the same almost dad
joke that has been used for for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I think it's probably a function of it being concentrated
in a short period. I think if you are a
person who listens to all one hundred and sixty two
regular season games, for example, you might notice certain things
to reemerge. You know, you get, you get the odd Gem,
you get the Jason Brennett's, you get the Jay Davis's,
who are you know, engaging and interesting and they bring
(28:02):
lots of new content. But I bet a lot of
those guys sort of roll out the same things quite
a few times over the course of the season. But
spring training is a very focal point, and yeah, there's
probably not a lot to say, especially when he gets
the sixth inning and everybody on the field is guys
who's going to go down to the day or two,
(28:22):
and yeah, so they're just I think that is probably
a moment where I would expect them to just not
talk about baseball, which is.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Another common feature of baseball commentary.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Frequently, you know, if a game has gone dull, you
will find them veering into completely different territory altogether, like
Andre Axis here. So yeah, I don't really mind that much.
I'm not paying a huge amount of attention to.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Spring training commentary, so it's fine.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
So Darius, give us something that you do enjoy about
portraying them.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
I like new pictures.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I like you know, the stuff about players redesigning their arsenal.
This is of reporting. I am interested. Sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn't, but I just like that, you know,
people are trying things out. The kick change is the
new sweeper. That's the new pitch this year, which I
understand it sort of a change up, but you give
it a little extra flick off one of your fingers
(29:19):
as you release it to sort of change the spin axis.
Clay Homes is throwing this amongst other people as part
of his transition to starting, So yeah, I just kind
of like that that innovation. I like hearing about the
sort of pitch design part of it, and you know,
quite often it does give us a bit of an
insight into the season. You know, this is sort of
the foundation for a few of these pictures having a
(29:41):
bit of a breakout year.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
So yeah, just.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Kind of enjoyed that that thing. And there's sort of
time for that as well. You know, one of those
things that in the grind of the one sixty two
I think can get a bit lost and you'll read
a story maybe after the.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Season, how was this guy so good? Oh, it's because
he did this.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
But we've got a bit more time to fa because
some of that stuff in the spring, So I think
it's a good time for it.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, I think it's a great chance. I think you
get some people who are either free agents or minor
league players trying to make a difference, and you'll hear
in the off season that they've gone to drive line
or they've done something else to try and add a
new pitch. But when you see veteran major leaguers or
even kind of people, you were just like, oh, you're
(30:26):
you're inventing a new pitch. Like they have to stay
on top of like what's going what's going on? And
it's really interesting to see how many people are trying
to get to that, like you Darvish Seth Lugo's sort
of territory where it's like, here's like eight pitches which
I know I can maybe throw on a day, and
there's three of them are working, then I'm solid, Like
(30:47):
I see more people like shifting towards this mentality of
try and throw everything and see what sticks.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I think kick change sounds like a dance move.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
It does bit, Yeah, what would that be do you think, Well.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
It's gonna be It's gonna be a kind of a
high kick with one or like a medium kick with
one leg and then sort of a little shuffle onto
the other leg, not really my wheelhouse is honest.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I was thinking it was more gonna be something like
it's like a change of temper or whatever. So it's
like you're going at like a certain speed and then
there's like a bad bam and then it's like and
now we're change.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
So oh I like it. I see that. It's like
a key change but with tempo. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
I get that. I get that you alviously the stool
stand up off of but yeah change yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
I'm going to bring the kick change to the dance
floors of South Coast over the over the coming weeks, you'll.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
See makes a TikTok with it, Rob and it will
go viral.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Nothing sadder than a forty year old fatman dancing in
his kitchen.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah, well.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
Do it not in your kitchen and they might go
like that we're all agreement for something.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I think I'll jump onto to what Darius has said
that like it's one of the things I look at
as well. I also love to just see, like I
look at exit velocity stats. This is the real nerdum
of me to be like, oh, you hit something very hard,
like you didn't hit anything hard like that last year
it has something changed, and then I have a good
(32:22):
ten to fifteen minutes of going to be like, okay, now,
and I need to see who you hit that off,
because it's like, did you actually like take someone deep
at one hundred and five miles an hour? But it
was like an eighty four mile an hour fastball down
the middle by someone from double A, which you know what,
quite a lot of the Major leaguers can actually punish
a really average pitch. Did you get it off someone good?
Did you get off that? And so I like to
(32:43):
go through these little tangents of kind of what actually
was the reason behind something good happening? And so I
find spring training can be great for that, Like I'm
not going to step on something that I know Daris
is going to talk about later about trusting outcomes too much,
but like I really start to kind of I see
one outcome I like, and then I have my my
(33:05):
investigatorial cap comes on and I'm like, should I care
about this? The answer is ninety five percent of the
time no, But I do love the fun that kind
of comes with like new statistics. Let me have a
play with Baseball sav Rob take us away from this
(33:26):
stats nerdum and hitching design.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
I was gonna stay with stats, nerd them. I was
gonna stay there.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Hummed, hummed, World.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
Join us, I don't trap WRC plus yeah did yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Did?
Speaker 4 (33:44):
I love that bit in spring training where you have
that ridiculously unnecessary optimism in a grizzled veteran or a
prospect who realistically has absolutely no chance of carrying on
the kind of stats that they're showing in spring. But
I been like, so I did a little little bit
of a leader board and look at the leaderboards again.
(34:04):
This was yesterday for four spring training so far, and
right at the top, w's got Elie Dela Cruz. Fine,
absolutely fantastic. Expect that. Next up you're Curtis Mead. Wait,
there's a Ray fantastic looking forward to him. I mean,
he's been great in spring training in the mind leagues
for a long time, so you know they can't hang
on too much after that. Victor Scott the second that
is our the best hitter right now in the in
(34:25):
the spring training. Victors got the setting at second, a
man who had I believe a negative w BLUs for
the season last year. He's right up there. Then Jacob Huckabees.
Who the is Jacob Huckabees, I don't know, but he's great.
So yeah, and and then you just go to they'vet
Lawrence Butler, fine, Vinnie Capra also horrific hitter, horrific hitter
last year, and Joge Slaire right up there. So like
(34:48):
you've got everything there, You've got you got like new guys,
You've got guys who should love to go quit. You've
got everything. And and there's a little bit of hope
that we've picked up Elloy him Andez, you know what,
maybe he's gonna it around, He's gonna be an All star,
Like it could happen. So there's that optimism in spring
training of these guys who who they don't really stand
a chance, but right now they are top of their game,
(35:10):
and you think, you know what, it could maybe just
like that that scratch card is gonna give me that
million is the chance it's gonna happen. And it's right
now that you're like, it's it's happening, it's happening, it's
gonna happen. We're gonna have this and it won't happen,
but that that moment of utiful optimism I love it
and it's fantastic. I could not be more on the
eloy him Andez train.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
So I think as an individual being potentially optimistic about
someone is fine. I think I'm gonna lead Darius into
his objectionable. Thing is that people who then turn it.
Speaker 5 (35:44):
Into like this person's going to be amazing, look at
the spring training stats like they're going to be amazing,
because guess what, at the start of spring training, the
bad pictures pitch, and towards the end of spring training
the better pictures pitch like half the best pictures didn't
even start pitching until.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Games like the other this week. So, like Darius tell
us about small sample sizes and why people really should
just ignore absolutely everything and spring training, sure, I don't.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
I don't mind when when it's like Rob is obviously
aware that most of these things are not going to happen.
But I think far too often, and not just in
spring training, it happens in the regular season too. But
spring training is the first action we get, and so
it gets magnified that we do get this insane amount
of weight put into something that many many studies have
(36:35):
shown basically do not matter.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Like the most important thing about.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Spring trainings that you make it through healthy and get
to the regular season. The rest of it is almost
all noise. So yeah, it does get a little bit
wearing when people are putting a lot of weight into
a lot of performances, most of which came against quite
low caliber competition, and most of these players, you know,
major League westvals really hard. The list of people like
(37:00):
Curt Speed, who you know, remains to be seeing how
Curst Smeed's career goes, but there's a long list of
people that have come before him who absolutely mashed in
the minor leagues and just could never do it in
the majors. Couldn't even get close because it's a lot harder.
And so once those players start facing the good pitching,
then they will be in trouble. Once the pitchers start
facing the good ears, then they will be in trouble.
(37:21):
And also baseball is just super random. You know, we
could do spring training three times as long and it
still wouldn't tell us that much about these players. Definitely
don't do that. By the way, we don't want more
spring training. So yeah, this is not something that I
get annoyed about, like exclusively in baseball at work, all
the time, I'm annoyed about people who don't understand what
(37:42):
the small sumper sizes are.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
But this is a sort of extreme version of the problem.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Vinie Capra probably not on twenty eight year old Vine Cabra, No,
I think that ship might have sailed.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yeah, don't get me started on small sample sizes. That's
that's basically like my work life for probably the last
fifteen years. People are trying to make conclusions on some
wall sample sizes. I think the I think that will
we give me is that there's quite a lot of
the time people do read more into it that I
think should like they should be more knowledgeable to be
(38:20):
like this doesn't matter. It's like when a like like
a player or a veteran, it's like, oh, yeah, I
had a great spring training and you're like, yeah, mean
you know that makes no difference. Like you probably know
from times before in any point in your career that
like you can have a good fifty games and then
have a terrible fifty games and then have a good
(38:41):
fifty games and there probably wasn't any connection between what's happened,
Like you just have to kind of take that rough
with the smooth and then again where you have like
some people some some some media some kind of like odcast,
see what you're just like, come on, guys, you know
that this isn't any I don't want to kind of
like yung someone's yum or whatever. We don't want to
(39:05):
say that like this is like you shouldn't you shouldn't
be happy, but like you go there, please please just
understand that, like there isn't actually like anything behind this,
like anything behind this. Like also this gets us into
them the regular season, where like I'm going to predict
right now that like the first time that the Dodgers lose,
(39:28):
if they lose the first game or if they lose
like the first couple of games, everybody is going to
be like, ha, the Dodger's got it wrong. And it's
like half of that is going to be a joke,
and half of it isn't going to be a joke
because there are going to be the people that believe
that like two games in baseball makes the difference.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
But last year's do anybody want to guess I've got
the top three hitters from spring training last year? Does
anyone want to guess guess a hitter before I read
them out?
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Or will takes a good room, not Niko good room.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Number three. Mitch haniger obviously, Mariners. Did Mitch Chanigher have
a good season? It did not.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Pretty pretty mare for pretty bad for Mitch Hanigher. He
was WSC plus of eighty five in the regular season
last year, so actually quite bad. Second place. Mauricio Dubon
Bond was a little bit better. He had a WSC
plus of eighty seven in the regular season.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
In first place.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
It's gonna be a good one, gonna be a good one.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
It's gonna be a great one. Kansas City Royals Nick Pratto,
first baseman, Nick Pratto. Do you want to guess how
many plate appearances Nick Pratto got for the Royals last season?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Twelve?
Speaker 2 (40:54):
It was it was one?
Speaker 3 (40:57):
No, no, it wasn't it was it was zero. He
got into a game, didn't actually give him a plate appearance.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
Idout saying so and he got called up.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
So yeah, So he has never gave him a chance
to shine on the big stage.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Didn't give him a chance.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
He did have a ninety one w r C plus
a triple A, so yeah, maybe for wr plus in
the majors he had.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
A negative one hundred.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
Actually, how did he manage that when he didn't have
a plate appearance.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Maybe it was just he had a sack fly. Do
you think he had a sack flying and that one
appearance and.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
That always asked, We're gonna have to find out, now,
how else can you achieve that as there?
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Oh? Maybe maybe he hit but he got caught out
trying to stretch it to a double.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
A play appearance.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
That's right, Yeah, we plate parents, wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
It He doesn't have a back.
Speaker 4 (41:54):
Did he hit the picture with the pitch? Did he
caption and throw it back?
Speaker 1 (41:58):
I wondered Darius walking a picture. Maybe it basically just
categorizes it as like if it doesn't, let you have
it as blank and just negative one hundred is effectively
just like what ith and he doesn't have a gaglog. Yeah,
it'll just be a no value replacement to go the
data terms.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
But yeah, you are such stats fun you boys, Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
That's fun. This is the best thing about.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
So I'll tell you something that I love about spring training.
We get to see major league players have to deal
with new rules that they've never used their entire life.
And I think this is generally one of the funniest
things that exists in baseball because you've got major league
players who've been like, I've played this game for twenty
years and now I have to deal with Rob Manfred's
new bullshit he's going to put into the league. And
(42:46):
you get people like Mike shows that being like, I
don't know why we have this balls and strike check,
like that just all be done by umpires. I think
humans should do it all. When he basically tried to
check two things and got them both wrong, it's like
it's just like or you have things where like Trey
Turner took one down the middle and then just use
the check to basically waste twenty seconds and try and
(43:08):
play around with the picture, Like I'm gonna love to
see if somebody does that. At some point we challenges
a pitch to basically get like if they've used their
like batter time out and decides to challenge a pitch
that's like straight down the middle so they get another
twenty seconds. Like there are so many things to play
with this, and there's so many things that kind of
(43:29):
hopefully that will come out of this, will see how
things can be used one way or the other. But
I also then just see love seeing Terry Francona saying,
all of my major league players are not going to
are not allowed to challenge because it's not in the
season this year, So I don't want you learning anything
about it or using it or not using it. So
it's like, okay, like it might be happening like the
year afterwards, Terry. You know, you can plan a little
(43:51):
like an advance to get someone's ideas. But yeah, I
love major league players having to basically deal with new
rules and throwing the toys out of the around the
same way that like most people do it work when
they get changed.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
Very good. Yeah, I mean, are we going to see
are we gonna We're gonna see some weird ones, aren't we?
You know, somebody who doesn't want to be walked, like
I didn't hit me, didn't hit me? Review it review
that's not reviewable, is it.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Yeah, it's almost gonna be some weird I think when there's.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
Eventually they don't want to walk because they reckon they
can hit home run and then they're gonna get in
trouble for you know, for not taking the walk. You know,
there's there's gonna be someone with the ego.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Well, it's it's the point of like you're waiting for,
like a the whole thing that I'm waiting for is
the game that gets decided on an overturned decision where
you get like a full count walk and it's challenged
and it actually was it was strike and it's a
strikeout and it ends the game. Like, I genuinely think
that this system adds drama to the game because I
(44:58):
I like tennis. I watched a lot tennis, and I
think the way that the deciding of the decisions and
seeing it shown and the crowd going oo or one
way or the other or ooh, I think this genuinely
does add at drama to the game in a way
that the other of you sucks the life out of
games because it takes like two minutes for them to
(45:20):
go have a discussion with New York about what actually happened.
But no, I think there's plenty of fun and shenanigans
that are gonna gonna happen because of this. We've talked
a fair bit about spring training, Rob Darius. Do you
have anything left that you want to go quick fire
on things that we have left anything left for you, Rob?
Speaker 4 (45:43):
Okay, Yeah, things I like just quick by then people
stop talking about football, which I am very very glad about,
because just just because I like an American sport does
not I mean I like all the American sports. So
if I'm following you on social media because I like
what you say about baseball does not necessarily media I
want to hear what you have to say about American
football because I don't care. So I'm happy about that
(46:05):
one going. I like the fact that I'm not quite
so bored of the adverts yet, although already the rotation
of Judge of Tani, Bets, Alonso and Schurio in there,
aren't they amazing things that you guys haven't watched enough
to know. They're all constant repeat. They have thirty teams
where they could do a little profile of a player
of oh he's wonderful, he's amazing, but they picked like
(46:26):
six and two of them for them the Dodgers, So
that's starting to get But this was a positive. I've
my positives, and the other two negatives I had is
you don't actually hear much about training. It's called spring training,
but like, what training do they do? And why am
I not hearing about this? I want to hear a
bit more, like you'll hear like a sound bite from
(46:46):
each team like, oh, we put large trenches in the
infield so that we'd encourage our players to hit a
bit higher. Okay, right, that's one thing. Great, Like what
else is training actually happens? No? No, like I want
to see the training bit. Give me a bit more
about that, Like there's nothing the game of the boring.
Let's see more about the training. And lastly, I don't
enjoy the constantly vibrating shit camera angles from the center
(47:07):
field camera because they make me feel sick and I've
gone a horrible dealing. Steinbrenner Field is going to give
me fits the entire damn season.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Is that because they have like a less permanent facility,
or they have like the wind is basically.
Speaker 4 (47:21):
There's no stand so the wind is blowing through the
cameras and they're usually on scaffolding because there's not always
a camera there during the regular season, and so every
time we walk past it, the whole things like that,
And yeah, so it constant vibrating camera like from over
here the Blue Jays one's an awful angle in particular,
but yeah, I just yeah, the camera was really annoying me.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
All right, Darius, your quick fires that we've got left.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
Well, one other thing I liked follows them from yours, really, Russ,
was the just pit players taking things a bit less seriously.
Especially with the abs, we have seen some quite funny
challenge moments. People just sort of like, yeah, why not,
you know it's out there, I'm going to give it
a try. I know that sometimes they obviously know that
it wasn't even wrong, but they're like, well, why not
(48:11):
just going to go out here and test the system,
make sure it works. So I quite like that people
just a bit looser, having a bit more fun.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
My other negative was when teams claim that no one
believes in them, and it's never like the White Socks
say that nobody believes in them. It'll be like a
team that's projected for eighty three wins or something, and
it's like, no, you're fine, Like nobody's saying you're going
to finish in last place. We have twelve teams in
the playoffs. Now, it's quite likely that you could get
into the playoffs. Nobody's out here saying no, you're there's
(48:42):
zero percent yards it's not going to happen. But it's
always those teams that are like in that middle maybe
slightly above middle ground. No one believes in us, we're
going to the World Series, Like nobody has said that.
Stop giving us this straw man. I know, maybe you're
trying to syke up your clubhouse or whatever, but it's
like you're just you're a fine baseball team. So you
do you, but you don't need to tell me about it.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Russ, What did you have?
Speaker 4 (49:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:09):
I had like the somehow like the mantras or that
seem to come out it's still back on like the
cliches or whatever, the the one that was on the
Washington Nationals like training facility a couple of years back,
of like no one cares how fast you throw ball
four and it's like, well, actually kind of statistically they do,
and you should like that's just completely enoughly like wrong
(49:31):
from like the current understandings.
Speaker 4 (49:32):
You have a fantastic sign of you saying that underneath
that saying like, well, actually, chat.
Speaker 3 (49:36):
The Nationals have lost the most games in the Major
since they won the World Series, So is there a
relationship between those two things?
Speaker 2 (49:44):
You decide?
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yeah, I think I think I will jump on what
Darius said about the team's kind of are like taking
like being defensive, when almost like they don't need to
be like they're taking a position of like they're they're
kind of like we need to we need to prove
everybody wrong whatever. And I'm like, well you kind of don't.
You just also need to just sort of just spend money,
(50:07):
and then we wouldn't have been in this position to
think that you're not going to maybe do that good.
It still just comes down to cliches for me, like
hearing about sleeping giants or hearing about the team that's
like we just got to run it back. I understand that,
like there is certain things that players and managers and
(50:29):
coaches will say because they don't want to actually say
what they think because that would get them in trouble
or that word that would maybe not be Actually it's
but the sound bite that you just get again and
again and again. I just get so so bored. And
because we get it, we get these interviews for these
(50:50):
types of interews, we get them for a whole month
or a month and a half that you will hear
the same thing from five players on the same team
and it will be news every time. And I'm like
I'm really like not bothered whether the things I don't like,
people should be caring about the Old Baseball Classic right now,
(51:12):
not spring training like yes, and absolutely like ridiculous tournament
qualifier in Taiwan and that's another semi ridiculous game hopefully
tomorrow in or not tomorrow, the day afterwards in in Tusla,
Arizona between Brazil and Germany to sermon who will be
the last team to qualify? And with Son, Yeah, with
(51:34):
Andrea Agacy Son to bring it back full circle, to
do the the stuff. And I'm just like, it's like
these this is where like people's attention should be like this,
this actually matters, Like none of the spring training stuff matters.
And I I think that's kind of to where I'll
be at. And I think the final one is that
(51:57):
we will look at players that we haven't seen before,
and people make snap judgments and it comes down to
the small sample size. But like every Japanese player that
comes over is either a phenomenon or they're not as
good as a high schooler.
Speaker 2 (52:13):
It's one of their Toney's never gonna work, can't do
fire thing.
Speaker 1 (52:18):
Like his batting is good as a high schooler. Well, yeah,
I'm sorry. Whichever MLB executive that said that, you have
potentially said probably one of the most wrong statements like
ever in this sport, if not ever, like you couldn't
have been proved more wrong in such a short time period.
But now you're basically being proved more and more and
(52:39):
more wrong. And I think that we we end up
with just like because we because either people know and
understand that this information isn't good, so you just get
superlatives on one side or the other. And that wasn't
really quick, but there we go. This is me I'm talking.
I always do so.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Fire.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
It doesn't have with Russell were.
Speaker 2 (53:01):
More very specific thing. If I hear one more.
Speaker 3 (53:03):
Person say that the athletics or a sleeper team for playoffs,
get a different sleeper team, everybody like, there's a lot
of other ones to pick from. Oh, I know they've
not been very good and they might be a bit better,
but I've had enough of that.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
Now we can we can move on.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
Thank you for that, Darius. I do need to realize
that I do need to jump on the ben Limberg
wan Bagan wan Bagan band wagon bandwagon and say that
anybody who's just like, oh, this is like the underrated
player for next season or the player who's going to
have the breakout, who's already had an effing breakout, Like, jeez,
the weeds they I don't. I've shot on journalists a
(53:37):
couple of times already this podcast. But like it's a
little bit of like, actually do this, Like choose somebody
who's not had eighty games, have been phenomenal already, Like
what are we.
Speaker 4 (53:48):
Doing Cara Man this year?
Speaker 1 (53:51):
Yeah, it's like it is if you're going to say
James Wood is a breakout, if you're going to say
that Adley Rutchman is a breakout because he didn't have
a great season or whatever, or Julio Rodriguez is a breakout, piss.
Speaker 3 (54:04):
Off Jordan Walker. Though Jordan Walker could be a breakout
as long as he doesn't step on any more sprinklers.
Speaker 1 (54:11):
Well he's already broken something, Darius. But it's not any
records is bad? All right? All right, Darius Rob thank
you very much for your time today. This is a
thoroughly enjoyable podcast and hopefully well you listeners can send
us your opinions on spring training, be them good or bad.
(54:32):
As always, you can find more of us on batlists,
underscore nerds on Twitter, slash X backflips and nerds on
most other socials, and our YouTube account. Please do look
out for on the website the season preview series which
has started now I think ash is One for the
Giants has gone out, so please do start reading those
(54:53):
and if you want to contribute, please look at the
links that are provided on our site to get involved.
There will be a piece for me about Cleveland. At
some point Gav gave the suggestion of five reasons to
be optimistic. He will get five reasons to be pessimistic.
But yes, thanks as always gents, and look forward to
(55:15):
chatting you soon and thank you for listening.
Hello, I welcome to Baplips and Nerds, the Baseball Podcast
with a British twist. I am your host today, Russell Lisam,
and spring training is upon us. There is live baseball
to be watched. But is that a good or a
bad thing? That's what we will be discussing today. And
to do that I have with me my fellow Stato Darius.
How are you doing, Darius?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm doing very well, Thanks Ross.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I've enjoyed in lightning Rob about the state of Andragas's hair,
which may well put down a bonus pod sometime or something.
Just leaves that hanging out there, people wondering what the
hell is going on?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And as Darius alluded to, we have the man who
will provide the whimsy to our two with statheads, Rob Veras.
How are you doing, Rob?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm a little I'm just concerned that Andrey lost his
hair a lot earlier than I thought he did. Honestly,
I thought his whole career was was full pat sharp
style locks. But no, nineteen ninety five you went board.
Who knew nineteen ninety five I could have sworn it
was the whole The whole length of his career was
with the full length. My mother and Auntie absolutely loved him.
(01:18):
That's probably a bit enough about.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That has suited individuals as such were probably the thing
in vogue. Obviously we'll get onto spring training in a second,
but something monumental has happened in baseball since the last
time we've managed to have one of these podcasts. Potentially
the dumbest rule in baseball has been made less dumb,
and the Yankees have decided to allow their players to
(01:42):
have a well maintained beard by going by their standards,
probably have well maintained. I do not fall under that role.
Probably doesn't fall under that too much. It's too stubble
it role. But I think, yeah, it's the question is
how you get to being like well maintained. You have
to grow it quickly but enough to trim. Yeah. As
(02:04):
someone who I can't remember what reason why we had
a podcast drafting something, I had the Yankees Beard Museum
effectively to attribute to all the beards that have been
lost at all time. To me, it's ridiculous that this
thing that even still partially exists, but seemingly the Yankees
have stepped forward to what the current times is.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Darius Well, I mean, you know.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
They've gone a long way at least the well maintained,
the well groomed part of it is sort of a
desperate clinging on. But yeah, this is long reverdue. This
is one of those things that whenever it does come
up with people who don't know baseball, they sort of
look at me like I'm playing a joke on them
or something that they can't believe in the twenty first
century that anybody could possibly.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Have this policy on a sports team.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It has been one of the more ludicrous things about
the Yankees for quite a long time.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So yeah, very good that they've done it.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I do wonder, you know, was there somebody out there,
you know, did Startinbreder try and sign someone and they
were like, no, I'm keeping the beard.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
You can't. You can't have me.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I want a beard.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I don't know. I don't know if that that has
been brought up, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Addindobtably, even even if it was once, I think they'd
probably be worth doing it. But yeah, aside from free
agents who don't want to go there, it's just a
ludicrous thing that was in place for.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Far too long. So glad to see it go.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And yeah, we'll be fun to actually see Yankees with
beards and to see what well groomed means. How far
can we push the boundaries of grooming?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I think rob Like, if you're someone like Devin Williams,
who's basically had a pretty big beard for probably the
last six years of his baseball career, I can't think
of him without the beard. I still don't think of
him without the beard. He literally turned up two pictures
and catchers reported having it shaved off, and then the
day later they're like, ah, you know what that would
(03:58):
have been fired, Like I'd be about you.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, I've got a feeling he's gonna be more
part of this surely, Like you know this is gonna
be Yeah, they've gotta They've got a superstar reliver here,
like absolute top notch geezer. If he's kicked off and
you know, demanded, I'm not gonna play. I don't want
to play. I don't want to be here. I want
to go upsetting the team. Maybe this was the straw
that broke the camel's back. May maybe it was him,
(04:24):
I don't know, but yes, he's got to be pissed off, absolutely,
like he's he's lost his his signature. Beard. I think
he even described it as signature beard at some point,
and and now he's allowed to go it back. But
you know, maybe it come in with a little bit
of grain in it and mayke a bit more distinguished.
I think I think it's gonna be a good thing.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I'll give you another question, Rob, Do you think this
would have happened if the Yankees won the World Series
last year?
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Wow? Well?
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Do you think this is? As Darius has said? It
is a potentially reaction to some free agents that may
be coming around this year or maybe next year.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Where are you pointing this? I'm not seeing next year.
Who's next to you? Oh, Laddie? Surely?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Okay, yeah, that makes perfect sense. Now my eyes have
been opened. Yeah, it's got to.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Be, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
I mean, would you keep keep him under the is
he well groomed? Would we consider him well grouped? I'm
gonna have to get a picture of his beard now,
because I have it in my head as slightly rough.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
If you want to.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Play along at home, I'm not that Vladimir. That one
is not a good Vladimir.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Uh that Rob is googling Darius. Do you do you
agree with my statement? That this is this is this
is actually a losing position from the Yankees, like the
George Emsteinbrenner would be rolling in his grave that they
were reacting in this way to try and get the
free agents. Like if those free agents wouldn't shave their
beard for the Yankees, they're not good enough for the Yankees.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, that probably is the kind of thing that old
George would have said, although he was also in the
habit of, you know, making very advised free agent decisions
on a regular basis, so who can say how he
would have reacted to this really, Yeah, well, if they'd
won the World serious side, don't Yeah, it seems like
odd timing.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I don't go.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Don't quite understand why this is the moment unless it
is related to lad and in that case, I don't
think it's that.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Like me, he has walked back.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
He would never play for the angest statement, but I
imagine that's more to use them as market leverage than
for anything like he'd actually want to sign there. I'll
let rub weigh in on whether he thinks the beard
is sufficiently well groomed at this point in time.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I want say no, I obviously that is not a
well groomed beard. I think it has been a very
very neat sculptured chin strap. But I think generally he's
certainly not the Charlie Blackman, but he's he's really sort
of letting it go a little wild around the cheeks,
got some he's got some wisp to it. You know,
it's it's got a little bit kind of I'm a
(06:56):
bit wild and dangerous look, and you know it's it's
it's that. Yeah, I don't think that's well groomed. And
you know, okay, controversial take. I'm a problem with the
well groomed element. They are. I work in customer facing.
You know, there's got to be an element of presentation
about it. They are very customer facing. They're on the television.
(07:17):
You know that there's a uniform standard. I don't think
it's unusual to have some sort of dress code about
about working if you are one display.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
For the public.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
So yeah, why not well groomed is fine? You know,
I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Are you going to go out there and tell Brandon
Marsh's not allowed to wet his hair?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Is wetting it? Groomy it? I would say it's fairly
well groomed. Grooming is in the essence of the effort
rather than necessarily the result.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Perhaps, Ah okay, well give them the fact that they
have an on site Barbara, and we heard about like
a triple A level Yankee prospect basically getting his bid
sorted literally the day afterwards, and being one of the
first people to the Yankees uniform with the beards. So
we'll see how this all rolls. We probably could talk
about this for another forty five minutes if we're perfectly honest.
(08:08):
This is the type of nerdery and absurdity that is
right up our alley. But we're here to talk about
spring training. We're here to talk about the good and
the bad of spring training because when we get this
access to baseball, there is an initial like joy. I
think for a lot of us we have been without
(08:28):
watching MLB. There has been other opportunities to watch the
other things, with some winter series, with even some World
Baseball Classic qualifiers that have been ongoing. But there's something
about MLB, obviously with a preemium element. But it's not
all good. So but I think we'll start with a
good each Darius, what is a good thing about spring training?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I think one good thing about spring training generally speaking,
and this can veer into the ridiculous, but it's just
a nice time for up timism. Nobody is yet eliminated,
not even the Rockies of the White Sox.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
People might say technically they are, but at this moment
in time, they are not. You still have that opportunity
to get excited about things, and that might not be
We're going to make the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
That might be all.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
You know, look at our young prospects that are in
spring training. Whatever it is, you just haven't had that time.
You know, that can go south very quickly in the
season if you get out to a one and nine
start and everybody's upset. But in spring training, you know,
the slate is clean, You've got time. Obviously, things can
go wrong in spring training, but for the most part,
(09:34):
it's time for optimism. And I think that's nice, especially
you know, after the long winter of waiting for baseball,
people can get excited about the season again.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
So speaking optimism, as anybody looked.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
At sorry after you, gentlemen, Well, I'm just.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Saying it, speaking of optimism and in all going well,
anybody actually looked at the standings for the grape fruit
and or Cactus leagues. No one does. Of course they don't.
I would like to say that the Chicago White Sox
are two and eight, so with two hundred winning percentage,
they it's really sad, but it's exactly what you'd expect.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So I do see the side of your optimism, Darius.
I do think it is something that we get into
this level of the season and like in some regards,
like you can't be beaten down by anything that has
happened just yet, especially as the start of like spring training.
The thing that I will sadly say so is that
to me, this is either pointless optimism or like just
(10:33):
optimism that isn't actually believed, like it is like it's
cliched optimism almost to say that, like there are people
out being there like oh yeah, well, we're gonna surprise
some teams, like the players will be saying that, managers
will be saying that. And in some regards, these guys
are athletes and they have to probably believe that they
are going to perform quite well. But how many of
them really believe the stuff that they're saying when it's
(10:54):
going to be like, you know what, if you're on
the White Sox, this year, and you're gonna when someone says, well,
we know we're gonna surprize people, well, surprising people. You
surprise people last year, just in a really bad way,
Like surprising people this year would probably be getting to
seventy wins. So that's not actually good. I had had
a whole tirade about this, But if any of you
(11:15):
listened to the Basilall Barber cast, they literally their last
episode was talking about the cliches, So I would direct
you in their direction instead of me just going on
another tirade about this.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, I think that's slightly different category of the teams,
and I do have a bit about that later. I
think I'm just thinking about it in the sense of
people enjoying the game.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Of baseball, you know, in terms of the public. But yes,
I certainly.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Agree that we get a lot of nonsense out of
teams in terms of what expectations are and where they
think they might be going this season.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
That is clearly not true.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
For the White Sox.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Well, not if they have a two hundred winn percentage.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
They didn't have the worst record ever statistically speaking. So
so there's records to break, there are the wrong records
still to break. As I've countered, Darius is good with
a bad But I'll bring us back to something good.
What do you what do you enjoy about spring training?
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I really like a tiki bar. H outfields are full
of you know, bars that have got like a grassy
roof which maybe isn't the best idea. In in Florida
where with the daily daily thumbstorms, they've got grassy roofs
and there's like a great, big, fat kind of wine
shirt sat there enjoying a fruity beverage with an umbrella
(12:43):
in pretty much every game, like most most of these
stadiums have a tiki bar. And there's something very very
not corporate about a tiki bar. And if we spend
the whole season looking at major league stadiums with adverts
for you know, ensure this bomb that you know whatever.
But but to have to have a purely uh frivolous
(13:05):
thing sat out there in the outfield, that's lovely. We
lost that when when we lost the Miami Marlin sculpture,
and so I I the tiki barb makes me think
of that. It's there's something completely frivolous that sat out
there in the outfield. People aren't really watching the games,
because go how many of us really are and you've
gotta you gotta, you've gotta like a grass bar in
(13:29):
the outfield. That's great, that's just frivolous. That's nice. There's
there's no there's no intentions in it. It's just a
thing we can enjoy that is there for reasons. Why
has that become a tradition? I don't know, but it's great.
Love it so Rob.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
How many have you got to watching training games in
Florida or I have.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I went to I've only seen the one. I saw
the Tigers play the Blue Jays the Tigers game Tiger Stadium,
and yeah, there's a there's a tiki bar there.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
That was great. You're not going to class myself as
a season spring training person, but like I've done it
like three or four times in Arizona, and from my
experience of those places, they're frequented by people who are
drunk by the third in and not just like my people.
I've been to quite a few MOREB games probably actually
(14:19):
I've been to more spring training games just because I
love to get out to Arizona at that time of
the year. But I've never seen someone kicked out of
an MLB game, of a regular season game for being
too drunk. And I've seen that probably on about a
quarter of the spring training games that I've been to,
someone stumbling around in the green grass outfield area and
(14:40):
falling onto people who are they have absolutely no business
with whatsoever.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Exactly what makes a family picnic better than a drunken
fatman and a Hawiian shirt falling over onto it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Have you experienced sp training.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I've not not been a spring training in person now,
so I can't can't comment on taking bars or any
other aspects of this other than the bits you see.
It sort of reminds me when you see people at
spring training. It sort of reminds me a bit of
like the Wimbledon vibe, you know that just sort of
like sat out on the hill with like a picnic
blanket and a bunch of drinks and there happens to
(15:16):
be some sport going on. But yeah, it's very much
that kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
So it's nice. There's nice.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I'll sneak in here and kind of put what was
gonna be one of my nicest Yeah, Like, I honestly
like going to spring training games is it's really fun.
I will I will actually say that, like there is
a far you generally aren't caring about what the result
is going to be. Even if you're watching the teams
that you like, you're looking to see kind of who's
gonna maybe perform well kind of just be like oh.
(15:45):
For me, it was like, oh, I get to see
Mike Trout play, or I get to see each aroplay,
or I get to see Jackson Turio play when he's
two years away from being like a major leaguer. That
you get to see things that you do not get
at other games. But also the spring training games for
me were just an interaction with a whole load of
fans that you just do not like normally interact with
(16:07):
at a game. There is a far more jovial atmosphere
around kind of like what's going on. I remember being
out last year telling my friends when we were watching
a Giants game, being like, yeah, all of the prospects
that are here, none of them are going to be
on the starting line, going to be in the starting
twenty five come the start of the season, And the
woman behind me was just heckling moving by, what do
(16:29):
you know? You've probably you sound like you're from the UK,
what do you know? It's like wow, But it ended
up having a conversation afterwards, So like, I just think
that I'm not certain if that would have I've had
great interactions in regular season games as well, but like
the everybody was a few beers in and and it
(16:52):
just led to to a great atmosphere that is, that's
very good. What do we not like about spring training?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, the thing that really puts the dampener on the optimism,
usually very quickly, is when you discover who has got
themselves injured or indeed was already injured at the end
of last season and didn't tell anybody about it until
they sharper spring training. And you know, we get this
flurry every year. Everyone shows up in their training except
(17:22):
you know that one guy he's not training and the
be right goes last the manager he's like, oh, yeah,
you know, he's just got a toall ligament. It will
be out for the next four months, just like drop
that in their casualty. So that's always a bit of
a down and you're excited about your team. We've got
a great, great unit together, and then you know you
realize you're about to sign Kyle Gibson in mid March
(17:43):
because somebody's blown out the UECL which is going to
happen inevitably. We haven't really had I don't think the major.
You know, somebody's lost the season unexpectedly yet, but we
all know that it's coming.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
And was one.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I swear there was one.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
I thought Lucis ehel is probably considerable.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Theis hill Is is going to be out about six,
six or eight weeks.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I think it's a big strain, but we have a
big Tommy John I don't think, not, not that I'm
aware of. That was an unexpected name.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
And rend he's lost his lost the season probably I said,
I said, unexpected, Okay, sorry, yeah, that was fairly expected.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
It is. It is a slightly weird one because like,
on one hand, I'm like our teams, surely the teams know,
or like the gen Carlo Stanton or whatever was not
feeling well during the off season, surely like again, the
fact that he has neither elbows working properly.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
What has been doing tennis? Elbow?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Was he playing with one arm and then he was like,
oh that hurts, I'm going to use the other one. Well,
I know, you get tennis Elbo from other things, but
I just wonder what has he been doing?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, and and and it's kind of like hilarious in itself,
like how that's happened. But it's like, surely at some
point during the off season, Stanton's gone, hey, like this
is happening or whatever, But we don't hit anything from
the teams until like spring training starts, and then they
even sometimes try and just like mask it for a
few days for as long as they can before it's like, yeah,
(19:14):
you know what, this person isn't starting now, we kind
of really have to say that, like they're injured, and yeah,
we're gonna have to do something about it. And so
part of my head, I'm like teams are obviously trying
to push this information back as lately as possible, so
other teams don't know that someone is injured. But it's
still basically teams know. By now we now know that
people who are the people who've carried injuries into the
(19:35):
off season. How you really impacted I guess most of
the free agents have been signed to Is that enough
of a reason to delay this information because it plays
into how other teams are going to spend their money.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
Maybe they just don't care. Maybe we the consumer just
aren't important enough, like, oh yeah he's broke. Yeah, sorry,
we should have said some.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Maybe.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Actually I looked up the stats on injuries. I compared
this year to last year up to yesterday. Which do
you have you have you had a feeling that the
injuries have been better or worse? How have you felt
it's gone?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I've not heard too many major sprawings, but I also
don't think we get the major sprawings for until like
the next couple of weeks, and people have truly ramped up,
and a trent getting close to one hundred percent. So
I'm gonna say, I'm gonna have given a push, Rob,
it's the same.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
How are you respond? I was gonna say, how have
you assessed this?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Rob?
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I've used fangrass tracker, I've gone down, I've literally counted. Yeah,
the number of injuries, Yeah absolutely, I would say though statistically,
if we take last year as an example, this next
week we are likely to have about four Tommy John's like,
this is the week it happens, this is the week
it's all going to go to hell. I think I
(21:01):
even saw somebody tread on a It was an our chat,
wasn't it. Who's who's hurting themselves?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Say?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah, Jordan Walker desperate to finally get his big break
and so everybody he was going to be the great
player everyone thought he was going to be.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
As a prospect. The big break of his foot instead
has trodden on the spring player.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Well, given we're talking about things that kind of are
news related all throughout, something that I don't like about
spring training is that it's the first access that bead
writers have had two players in a long time, and
we get absolutely stupid questions being asked. Like I just
think that like people are just being like, oh, like
(21:45):
are you ready for the next season or whatever? And
I'm like, what generic thing are they going to respond
to that? Like I do get in some regards that
like true journalists have to ask the obvious questions so
they can have the by all the thing that they
can say that this person said quote and they can
(22:05):
put it in in their peace, But like it doesn't
do anything like I read something to say that, it's
kind of just like, oh, this has happened, and then
I would just gonna double down here. And also like
what happens with like well with Rafael Devers where I'm
just like that to me and people probably might disagree,
just felt like ambush journalism where it's like, you know what,
(22:26):
like I'm just going to basically push at something that
even though the Red Sox have constantly said break I mean,
Breakman's gonna play SECD, Breakman's gonna play second. Breakman's gonna
play second. That's what we've bought him. The first thing
we're gonna do is Deva's where do you play? And
He's like, I play third? Like and then it's basically
just like Devas is not a team player. It's like like, okay,
(22:49):
could thank you for your sensationalist journalism. Like, uh, to me,
you just sound like a tool of a journalist, not
actually Devas sounding like a tool, but that might just
be my opinion thought.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah, yeah, I see where where you're driving with it. Yeah.
I mean it is tough though, isn't it, Because they
these journalists have really got to balance the the the
print with the obvious questions because they need to keep
the access. But yeah, they've got to make a story too,
They've got to make a living everything, So it is
(23:22):
a tough one. It is a tough position and often
here they're trying to make stories out of nothing, because,
let's face it, it's spring training, people getting injured. It
is nothing.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, am I being an overreacting here, Darius, Well, let's
start with the first point where it's just like, do
we just get too much? Like I'm in the best
shape of my life? Like, let's start there with that
cliche like.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
Say that anymore?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
I think we probably do.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yes, you know, I suppose there is some merit to
just going around and like is everybody healthy, especially when
it's some of the guys who were not healthy at
the end of life season. There's you know, some journalistic
merriage to just asking those questions, because, as we've talked about,
sometimes nobody has asked the question, and then at some
point you.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Go, why hasn't that guy been on the field for
the last week, and then you get the answer.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
So I appreciate that that is the thing that needs
to be done, but yeah, what what else are most
of these players are going to say, you run into
the other interesting one, But most of them are going
to tell you what a great offseason they've had and
how they're in better shaft than last year, which mostly
will not be true. So yeah, I think we do
get too much of that. The Devil's thing is specifically
is is a weird one. I'm sure it doesn't help
(24:36):
that it's Boston and they probably are trying to make
a story out of it. It also felt a bit like,
you know, they should have the team should have funneled
that better. They should have known that question was coming,
and they should have made sure he had had their
answer ready Like Devons. We should would have known he'd
get asked that, and somebody should have had a conversation
(24:56):
with him and said this is this is what we're
going to say, you know, and then they wouldn't have
really had to make a story out of it.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
But clearly that didn't happen.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
So yeah, I think probably a bit on both sides
and somebody to be fair, it's, yeah, the big biggest
story of spring training so far, right probably even if
it's not a story, it's probably the most interesting news
item that's happened so far.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Given the fact that we now think that because he
does have a slight injury, he might start the season
as DH, it seems a complete non story in.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
That regard where he should have been anyway.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
We'll get we'll get like five five games of bragman
at said base and everybody won't want anything to change.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So yeah, we'll see, all right, Rob, give us a
trifector of bad then, as we've just done, Darius and
I have given one.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
Okay, I'm gonna stick with the media. I'm gonna stick
with the media. And it's about commentary teams, and specifically
it's about commentary teams saying, ah, it's spring training for
X two. So every time somebody ballses something up. So
maybe maybe an umpire makes a bad call, or bull
boy drops a drops a ball, or you know there's
(26:04):
somebody misses a catch in the outfield, or perhaps the
cameraman's looking the wrong way. Ah, it's spring training for
them too. We've heard that, get another trope. It's boring,
it's done, it's it's old school now everyone, Yes, it's
spring training for them too. We've heard all thirty teams
commentators say about every single thing that goes wrong in
spring training. How we've heard it for the last twenty
(26:25):
plus years, probably certainly as long as I've been watching baseball.
So yeah, let's find something different to say. And if
you haven't got anything to say, just shut up, let it,
let it play. It's fine talk about prospects, don't talk
about oh, spring training for him too? Yeah, boring heard
it now.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I would say that I am not too aware of
this because I think the total amount of innings that
I've watched live is one so far this season, and
probably gets was the good one. Yeah, not really, just
turned out. I just wanted to. I just wanted to
(27:04):
have a look at rookies as Archi pitch. But like,
that's that, honestly, that's yeah, exactly, Like I've only watched
one inning of baseball. I've watched loads of clips, I've
looked the loads of data, but I do not watch
the games live because in most regards, I couldn't care
less Dari's nice background. Do you think do you think
(27:28):
this rob is is right with the telling people that
they can't use the same joke, the same almost dad
joke that has been used for for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I think it's probably a function of it being concentrated
in a short period. I think if you are a
person who listens to all one hundred and sixty two
regular season games, for example, you might notice certain things
to reemerge. You know, you get, you get the odd Gem,
you get the Jason Brennett's, you get the Jay Davis's,
who are you know, engaging and interesting and they bring
(28:02):
lots of new content. But I bet a lot of
those guys sort of roll out the same things quite
a few times over the course of the season. But
spring training is a very focal point, and yeah, there's
probably not a lot to say, especially when he gets
the sixth inning and everybody on the field is guys
who's going to go down to the day or two,
(28:22):
and yeah, so they're just I think that is probably
a moment where I would expect them to just not
talk about baseball, which is.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Another common feature of baseball commentary.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Frequently, you know, if a game has gone dull, you
will find them veering into completely different territory altogether, like
Andre Axis here. So yeah, I don't really mind that much.
I'm not paying a huge amount of attention to.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Spring training commentary, so it's fine.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
So Darius, give us something that you do enjoy about
portraying them.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
I like new pictures.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
I like you know, the stuff about players redesigning their arsenal.
This is of reporting. I am interested. Sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn't, but I just like that, you know,
people are trying things out. The kick change is the
new sweeper. That's the new pitch this year, which I
understand it sort of a change up, but you give
it a little extra flick off one of your fingers
(29:19):
as you release it to sort of change the spin axis.
Clay Homes is throwing this amongst other people as part
of his transition to starting, So yeah, I just kind
of like that that innovation. I like hearing about the
sort of pitch design part of it, and you know,
quite often it does give us a bit of an
insight into the season. You know, this is sort of
the foundation for a few of these pictures having a
(29:41):
bit of a breakout year.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
So yeah, just.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Kind of enjoyed that that thing. And there's sort of
time for that as well. You know, one of those
things that in the grind of the one sixty two
I think can get a bit lost and you'll read
a story maybe after the.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Season, how was this guy so good? Oh, it's because
he did this.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
But we've got a bit more time to fa because
some of that stuff in the spring, So I think
it's a good time for it.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, I think it's a great chance. I think you
get some people who are either free agents or minor
league players trying to make a difference, and you'll hear
in the off season that they've gone to drive line
or they've done something else to try and add a
new pitch. But when you see veteran major leaguers or
even kind of people, you were just like, oh, you're
(30:26):
you're inventing a new pitch. Like they have to stay
on top of like what's going what's going on? And
it's really interesting to see how many people are trying
to get to that, like you Darvish Seth Lugo's sort
of territory where it's like, here's like eight pitches which
I know I can maybe throw on a day, and
there's three of them are working, then I'm solid, Like
(30:47):
I see more people like shifting towards this mentality of
try and throw everything and see what sticks.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
I think kick change sounds like a dance move.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
It does bit, Yeah, what would that be do you think, Well.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
It's gonna be It's gonna be a kind of a
high kick with one or like a medium kick with
one leg and then sort of a little shuffle onto
the other leg, not really my wheelhouse is honest.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I was thinking it was more gonna be something like
it's like a change of temper or whatever. So it's
like you're going at like a certain speed and then
there's like a bad bam and then it's like and
now we're change.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
So oh I like it. I see that. It's like
a key change but with tempo. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
I get that. I get that you alviously the stool
stand up off of but yeah change yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
I'm going to bring the kick change to the dance
floors of South Coast over the over the coming weeks, you'll.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
See makes a TikTok with it, Rob and it will
go viral.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Nothing sadder than a forty year old fatman dancing in
his kitchen.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah, well.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
Do it not in your kitchen and they might go
like that we're all agreement for something.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I think I'll jump onto to what Darius has said
that like it's one of the things I look at
as well. I also love to just see, like I
look at exit velocity stats. This is the real nerdum
of me to be like, oh, you hit something very hard,
like you didn't hit anything hard like that last year
it has something changed, and then I have a good
(32:22):
ten to fifteen minutes of going to be like, okay, now,
and I need to see who you hit that off,
because it's like, did you actually like take someone deep
at one hundred and five miles an hour? But it
was like an eighty four mile an hour fastball down
the middle by someone from double A, which you know what,
quite a lot of the Major leaguers can actually punish
a really average pitch. Did you get it off someone good?
Did you get off that? And so I like to
(32:43):
go through these little tangents of kind of what actually
was the reason behind something good happening? And so I
find spring training can be great for that, Like I'm
not going to step on something that I know Daris
is going to talk about later about trusting outcomes too much,
but like I really start to kind of I see
one outcome I like, and then I have my my
(33:05):
investigatorial cap comes on and I'm like, should I care
about this? The answer is ninety five percent of the
time no, But I do love the fun that kind
of comes with like new statistics. Let me have a
play with Baseball sav Rob take us away from this
(33:26):
stats nerdum and hitching design.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
I was gonna stay with stats, nerd them. I was
gonna stay there.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Hummed, hummed, World.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
Join us, I don't trap WRC plus yeah did yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Did?
Speaker 4 (33:44):
I love that bit in spring training where you have
that ridiculously unnecessary optimism in a grizzled veteran or a
prospect who realistically has absolutely no chance of carrying on
the kind of stats that they're showing in spring. But
I been like, so I did a little little bit
of a leader board and look at the leaderboards again.
(34:04):
This was yesterday for four spring training so far, and
right at the top, w's got Elie Dela Cruz. Fine,
absolutely fantastic. Expect that. Next up you're Curtis Mead. Wait,
there's a Ray fantastic looking forward to him. I mean,
he's been great in spring training in the mind leagues
for a long time, so you know they can't hang
on too much after that. Victor Scott the second that
is our the best hitter right now in the in
(34:25):
the spring training. Victors got the setting at second, a
man who had I believe a negative w BLUs for
the season last year. He's right up there. Then Jacob Huckabees.
Who the is Jacob Huckabees, I don't know, but he's great.
So yeah, and and then you just go to they'vet
Lawrence Butler, fine, Vinnie Capra also horrific hitter, horrific hitter
last year, and Joge Slaire right up there. So like
(34:48):
you've got everything there, You've got you got like new guys,
You've got guys who should love to go quit. You've
got everything. And and there's a little bit of hope
that we've picked up Elloy him Andez, you know what,
maybe he's gonna it around, He's gonna be an All star,
Like it could happen. So there's that optimism in spring
training of these guys who who they don't really stand
a chance, but right now they are top of their game,
(35:10):
and you think, you know what, it could maybe just
like that that scratch card is gonna give me that
million is the chance it's gonna happen. And it's right
now that you're like, it's it's happening, it's happening, it's
gonna happen. We're gonna have this and it won't happen,
but that that moment of utiful optimism I love it
and it's fantastic. I could not be more on the
eloy him Andez train.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
So I think as an individual being potentially optimistic about
someone is fine. I think I'm gonna lead Darius into
his objectionable. Thing is that people who then turn it.
Speaker 5 (35:44):
Into like this person's going to be amazing, look at
the spring training stats like they're going to be amazing,
because guess what, at the start of spring training, the
bad pictures pitch, and towards the end of spring training
the better pictures pitch like half the best pictures didn't
even start pitching until.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Games like the other this week. So, like Darius tell
us about small sample sizes and why people really should
just ignore absolutely everything and spring training, sure, I don't.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
I don't mind when when it's like Rob is obviously
aware that most of these things are not going to happen.
But I think far too often, and not just in
spring training, it happens in the regular season too. But
spring training is the first action we get, and so
it gets magnified that we do get this insane amount
of weight put into something that many many studies have
(36:35):
shown basically do not matter.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Like the most important thing about.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Spring trainings that you make it through healthy and get
to the regular season. The rest of it is almost
all noise. So yeah, it does get a little bit
wearing when people are putting a lot of weight into
a lot of performances, most of which came against quite
low caliber competition, and most of these players, you know,
major League westvals really hard. The list of people like
(37:00):
Curt Speed, who you know, remains to be seeing how
Curst Smeed's career goes, but there's a long list of
people that have come before him who absolutely mashed in
the minor leagues and just could never do it in
the majors. Couldn't even get close because it's a lot harder.
And so once those players start facing the good pitching,
then they will be in trouble. Once the pitchers start
facing the good ears, then they will be in trouble.
(37:21):
And also baseball is just super random. You know, we
could do spring training three times as long and it
still wouldn't tell us that much about these players. Definitely
don't do that. By the way, we don't want more
spring training. So yeah, this is not something that I
get annoyed about, like exclusively in baseball at work, all
the time, I'm annoyed about people who don't understand what
(37:42):
the small sumper sizes are.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
But this is a sort of extreme version of the problem.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Vinie Capra probably not on twenty eight year old Vine Cabra, No,
I think that ship might have sailed.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yeah, don't get me started on small sample sizes. That's
that's basically like my work life for probably the last
fifteen years. People are trying to make conclusions on some
wall sample sizes. I think the I think that will
we give me is that there's quite a lot of
the time people do read more into it that I
think should like they should be more knowledgeable to be
(38:20):
like this doesn't matter. It's like when a like like
a player or a veteran, it's like, oh, yeah, I
had a great spring training and you're like, yeah, mean
you know that makes no difference. Like you probably know
from times before in any point in your career that
like you can have a good fifty games and then
have a terrible fifty games and then have a good
(38:41):
fifty games and there probably wasn't any connection between what's happened,
Like you just have to kind of take that rough
with the smooth and then again where you have like
some people some some some media some kind of like odcast,
see what you're just like, come on, guys, you know
that this isn't any I don't want to kind of
like yung someone's yum or whatever. We don't want to
(39:05):
say that like this is like you shouldn't you shouldn't
be happy, but like you go there, please please just
understand that, like there isn't actually like anything behind this,
like anything behind this. Like also this gets us into
them the regular season, where like I'm going to predict
right now that like the first time that the Dodgers lose,
(39:28):
if they lose the first game or if they lose
like the first couple of games, everybody is going to
be like, ha, the Dodger's got it wrong. And it's
like half of that is going to be a joke,
and half of it isn't going to be a joke
because there are going to be the people that believe
that like two games in baseball makes the difference.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
But last year's do anybody want to guess I've got
the top three hitters from spring training last year? Does
anyone want to guess guess a hitter before I read
them out?
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Or will takes a good room, not Niko good room.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Number three. Mitch haniger obviously, Mariners. Did Mitch Chanigher have
a good season? It did not.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Pretty pretty mare for pretty bad for Mitch Hanigher. He
was WSC plus of eighty five in the regular season
last year, so actually quite bad. Second place. Mauricio Dubon
Bond was a little bit better. He had a WSC
plus of eighty seven in the regular season.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
In first place.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
It's gonna be a good one, gonna be a good one.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
It's gonna be a great one. Kansas City Royals Nick Pratto,
first baseman, Nick Pratto. Do you want to guess how
many plate appearances Nick Pratto got for the Royals last season?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Twelve?
Speaker 2 (40:54):
It was it was one?
Speaker 3 (40:57):
No, no, it wasn't it was it was zero. He
got into a game, didn't actually give him a plate appearance.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
Idout saying so and he got called up.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
So yeah, So he has never gave him a chance
to shine on the big stage.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Didn't give him a chance.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
He did have a ninety one w r C plus
a triple A, so yeah, maybe for wr plus in
the majors he had.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
A negative one hundred.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
Actually, how did he manage that when he didn't have
a plate appearance.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Maybe it was just he had a sack fly. Do
you think he had a sack flying and that one
appearance and.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
That always asked, We're gonna have to find out, now,
how else can you achieve that as there?
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Oh? Maybe maybe he hit but he got caught out
trying to stretch it to a double.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
A play appearance.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
That's right, Yeah, we plate parents, wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
It He doesn't have a back.
Speaker 4 (41:54):
Did he hit the picture with the pitch? Did he
caption and throw it back?
Speaker 1 (41:58):
I wondered Darius walking a picture. Maybe it basically just
categorizes it as like if it doesn't, let you have
it as blank and just negative one hundred is effectively
just like what ith and he doesn't have a gaglog. Yeah,
it'll just be a no value replacement to go the
data terms.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
But yeah, you are such stats fun you boys, Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
That's fun. This is the best thing about.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
So I'll tell you something that I love about spring training.
We get to see major league players have to deal
with new rules that they've never used their entire life.
And I think this is generally one of the funniest
things that exists in baseball because you've got major league
players who've been like, I've played this game for twenty
years and now I have to deal with Rob Manfred's
new bullshit he's going to put into the league. And
(42:46):
you get people like Mike shows that being like, I
don't know why we have this balls and strike check,
like that just all be done by umpires. I think
humans should do it all. When he basically tried to
check two things and got them both wrong, it's like
it's just like or you have things where like Trey
Turner took one down the middle and then just use
the check to basically waste twenty seconds and try and
(43:08):
play around with the picture, Like I'm gonna love to
see if somebody does that. At some point we challenges
a pitch to basically get like if they've used their
like batter time out and decides to challenge a pitch
that's like straight down the middle so they get another
twenty seconds. Like there are so many things to play
with this, and there's so many things that kind of
(43:29):
hopefully that will come out of this, will see how
things can be used one way or the other. But
I also then just see love seeing Terry Francona saying,
all of my major league players are not going to
are not allowed to challenge because it's not in the
season this year, So I don't want you learning anything
about it or using it or not using it. So
it's like, okay, like it might be happening like the
year afterwards, Terry. You know, you can plan a little
(43:51):
like an advance to get someone's ideas. But yeah, I
love major league players having to basically deal with new
rules and throwing the toys out of the around the
same way that like most people do it work when
they get changed.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
Very good. Yeah, I mean, are we going to see
are we gonna We're gonna see some weird ones, aren't we?
You know, somebody who doesn't want to be walked, like
I didn't hit me, didn't hit me? Review it review
that's not reviewable, is it.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Yeah, it's almost gonna be some weird I think when there's.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
Eventually they don't want to walk because they reckon they
can hit home run and then they're gonna get in
trouble for you know, for not taking the walk. You know,
there's there's gonna be someone with the ego.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Well, it's it's the point of like you're waiting for,
like a the whole thing that I'm waiting for is
the game that gets decided on an overturned decision where
you get like a full count walk and it's challenged
and it actually was it was strike and it's a
strikeout and it ends the game. Like, I genuinely think
that this system adds drama to the game because I
(44:58):
I like tennis. I watched a lot tennis, and I
think the way that the deciding of the decisions and
seeing it shown and the crowd going oo or one
way or the other or ooh, I think this genuinely
does add at drama to the game in a way
that the other of you sucks the life out of
games because it takes like two minutes for them to
(45:20):
go have a discussion with New York about what actually happened.
But no, I think there's plenty of fun and shenanigans
that are gonna gonna happen because of this. We've talked
a fair bit about spring training, Rob Darius. Do you
have anything left that you want to go quick fire
on things that we have left anything left for you, Rob?
Speaker 4 (45:43):
Okay, Yeah, things I like just quick by then people
stop talking about football, which I am very very glad about,
because just just because I like an American sport does
not I mean I like all the American sports. So
if I'm following you on social media because I like
what you say about baseball does not necessarily media I
want to hear what you have to say about American
football because I don't care. So I'm happy about that
(46:05):
one going. I like the fact that I'm not quite
so bored of the adverts yet, although already the rotation
of Judge of Tani, Bets, Alonso and Schurio in there,
aren't they amazing things that you guys haven't watched enough
to know. They're all constant repeat. They have thirty teams
where they could do a little profile of a player
of oh he's wonderful, he's amazing, but they picked like
(46:26):
six and two of them for them the Dodgers, So
that's starting to get But this was a positive. I've
my positives, and the other two negatives I had is
you don't actually hear much about training. It's called spring training,
but like, what training do they do? And why am
I not hearing about this? I want to hear a
bit more, like you'll hear like a sound bite from
(46:46):
each team like, oh, we put large trenches in the
infield so that we'd encourage our players to hit a
bit higher. Okay, right, that's one thing. Great, Like what
else is training actually happens? No? No, like I want
to see the training bit. Give me a bit more
about that, Like there's nothing the game of the boring.
Let's see more about the training. And lastly, I don't
enjoy the constantly vibrating shit camera angles from the center
(47:07):
field camera because they make me feel sick and I've
gone a horrible dealing. Steinbrenner Field is going to give
me fits the entire damn season.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Is that because they have like a less permanent facility,
or they have like the wind is basically.
Speaker 4 (47:21):
There's no stand so the wind is blowing through the
cameras and they're usually on scaffolding because there's not always
a camera there during the regular season, and so every
time we walk past it, the whole things like that,
And yeah, so it constant vibrating camera like from over
here the Blue Jays one's an awful angle in particular,
but yeah, I just yeah, the camera was really annoying me.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
All right, Darius, your quick fires that we've got left.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
Well, one other thing I liked follows them from yours, really, Russ,
was the just pit players taking things a bit less seriously.
Especially with the abs, we have seen some quite funny
challenge moments. People just sort of like, yeah, why not,
you know it's out there, I'm going to give it
a try. I know that sometimes they obviously know that
it wasn't even wrong, but they're like, well, why not
(48:11):
just going to go out here and test the system,
make sure it works. So I quite like that people
just a bit looser, having a bit more fun.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
My other negative was when teams claim that no one
believes in them, and it's never like the White Socks
say that nobody believes in them. It'll be like a
team that's projected for eighty three wins or something, and
it's like, no, you're fine, Like nobody's saying you're going
to finish in last place. We have twelve teams in
the playoffs. Now, it's quite likely that you could get
into the playoffs. Nobody's out here saying no, you're there's
(48:42):
zero percent yards it's not going to happen. But it's
always those teams that are like in that middle maybe
slightly above middle ground. No one believes in us, we're
going to the World Series, Like nobody has said that.
Stop giving us this straw man. I know, maybe you're
trying to syke up your clubhouse or whatever, but it's
like you're just you're a fine baseball team. So you
do you, but you don't need to tell me about it.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Russ, What did you have?
Speaker 4 (49:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (49:09):
I had like the somehow like the mantras or that
seem to come out it's still back on like the
cliches or whatever, the the one that was on the
Washington Nationals like training facility a couple of years back,
of like no one cares how fast you throw ball
four and it's like, well, actually kind of statistically they do,
and you should like that's just completely enoughly like wrong
(49:31):
from like the current understandings.
Speaker 4 (49:32):
You have a fantastic sign of you saying that underneath
that saying like, well, actually, chat.
Speaker 3 (49:36):
The Nationals have lost the most games in the Major
since they won the World Series, So is there a
relationship between those two things?
Speaker 2 (49:44):
You decide?
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yeah, I think I think I will jump on what
Darius said about the team's kind of are like taking
like being defensive, when almost like they don't need to
be like they're taking a position of like they're they're
kind of like we need to we need to prove
everybody wrong whatever. And I'm like, well you kind of don't.
You just also need to just sort of just spend money,
(50:07):
and then we wouldn't have been in this position to
think that you're not going to maybe do that good.
It still just comes down to cliches for me, like
hearing about sleeping giants or hearing about the team that's
like we just got to run it back. I understand that,
like there is certain things that players and managers and
(50:29):
coaches will say because they don't want to actually say
what they think because that would get them in trouble
or that word that would maybe not be Actually it's
but the sound bite that you just get again and
again and again. I just get so so bored. And
because we get it, we get these interviews for these
(50:50):
types of interews, we get them for a whole month
or a month and a half that you will hear
the same thing from five players on the same team
and it will be news every time. And I'm like
I'm really like not bothered whether the things I don't like,
people should be caring about the Old Baseball Classic right now,
(51:12):
not spring training like yes, and absolutely like ridiculous tournament
qualifier in Taiwan and that's another semi ridiculous game hopefully
tomorrow in or not tomorrow, the day afterwards in in Tusla,
Arizona between Brazil and Germany to sermon who will be
the last team to qualify? And with Son, Yeah, with
(51:34):
Andrea Agacy Son to bring it back full circle, to
do the the stuff. And I'm just like, it's like
these this is where like people's attention should be like this,
this actually matters, Like none of the spring training stuff matters.
And I I think that's kind of to where I'll
be at. And I think the final one is that
(51:57):
we will look at players that we haven't seen before,
and people make snap judgments and it comes down to
the small sample size. But like every Japanese player that
comes over is either a phenomenon or they're not as
good as a high schooler.
Speaker 2 (52:13):
It's one of their Toney's never gonna work, can't do
fire thing.
Speaker 1 (52:18):
Like his batting is good as a high schooler. Well, yeah,
I'm sorry. Whichever MLB executive that said that, you have
potentially said probably one of the most wrong statements like
ever in this sport, if not ever, like you couldn't
have been proved more wrong in such a short time period.
But now you're basically being proved more and more and
(52:39):
more wrong. And I think that we we end up
with just like because we because either people know and
understand that this information isn't good, so you just get
superlatives on one side or the other. And that wasn't
really quick, but there we go. This is me I'm talking.
I always do so.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Fire.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
It doesn't have with Russell were.
Speaker 2 (53:01):
More very specific thing. If I hear one more.
Speaker 3 (53:03):
Person say that the athletics or a sleeper team for playoffs,
get a different sleeper team, everybody like, there's a lot
of other ones to pick from. Oh, I know they've
not been very good and they might be a bit better,
but I've had enough of that.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
Now we can we can move on.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
Thank you for that, Darius. I do need to realize
that I do need to jump on the ben Limberg
wan Bagan wan Bagan band wagon bandwagon and say that
anybody who's just like, oh, this is like the underrated
player for next season or the player who's going to
have the breakout, who's already had an effing breakout, Like, jeez,
the weeds they I don't. I've shot on journalists a
(53:37):
couple of times already this podcast. But like it's a
little bit of like, actually do this, Like choose somebody
who's not had eighty games, have been phenomenal already, Like
what are we.
Speaker 4 (53:48):
Doing Cara Man this year?
Speaker 1 (53:51):
Yeah, it's like it is if you're going to say
James Wood is a breakout, if you're going to say
that Adley Rutchman is a breakout because he didn't have
a great season or whatever, or Julio Rodriguez is a breakout, piss.
Speaker 3 (54:04):
Off Jordan Walker. Though Jordan Walker could be a breakout
as long as he doesn't step on any more sprinklers.
Speaker 1 (54:11):
Well he's already broken something, Darius. But it's not any
records is bad? All right? All right, Darius Rob thank
you very much for your time today. This is a
thoroughly enjoyable podcast and hopefully well you listeners can send
us your opinions on spring training, be them good or bad.
(54:32):
As always, you can find more of us on batlists,
underscore nerds on Twitter, slash X backflips and nerds on
most other socials, and our YouTube account. Please do look
out for on the website the season preview series which
has started now I think ash is One for the
Giants has gone out, so please do start reading those
(54:53):
and if you want to contribute, please look at the
links that are provided on our site to get involved.
There will be a piece for me about Cleveland. At
some point Gav gave the suggestion of five reasons to
be optimistic. He will get five reasons to be pessimistic.
But yes, thanks as always gents, and look forward to
(55:15):
chatting you soon and thank you for listening.
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