Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / Story behind iconic Jo Adell photo is as intriguing as the shot; Tyler Kepner of The Athletic joins
Transcript
- 0:08Speaker 1: Well, hey Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo territory.
- 0:10Speaker 1: I'm Mike dgi Havanna, former Elli Times Baseball writer, joined
- 0:14Speaker 1: by my regular co host Mark Trumbo, the former Angel slugger,
- 0:18Speaker 1: and we're honored to have a special guest today, Tyler
- 0:20Speaker 1: Kettner of The Athletic whom I covered the Angels with many, many, many,
- 0:24Speaker 1: many many moons ago. Tyler, how you doing, Oh?
- 0:27Speaker 2: Really good? Good to see you. Mark was back in
- 0:30Speaker 2: ninety seven, ninety eight. We were on that.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Post together, very fun times, the days of Terry Collins
- 0:38Speaker 1: and all sorts of other craziness. So we're gonna discuss
- 0:42Speaker 1: a bunch of things today. We got Jose Soriano's dominant
- 0:46Speaker 1: start against the Braves Monday night, we have a nice
- 0:48Speaker 1: little interview with Chase Silseth. But first we're going to
- 0:52Speaker 1: revisit Joe Adell's remarkable game on Saturday night, when he
- 0:56Speaker 1: robbed three home runs and a one nothing win over Seattle.
- 1:00Speaker 1: Tyler Kepner wrote a great story for The Athletic Ran
- 1:02Speaker 1: on their website today being Tuesday, about the iconic photo
- 1:07Speaker 1: taken by a fan after Adele's third home run robbery.
- 1:12Speaker 1: A spectacular diving catch into the seats near the right
- 1:15Speaker 1: field foul pole. And just in case you haven't seen
- 1:18Speaker 1: this picture here it is a really beautiful picture and
- 1:23Speaker 1: it went viral on social media pretty quickly. And in
- 1:27Speaker 1: Tyler's story, this is sort of the description he wrote
- 1:30Speaker 1: of the picture. Adele, the right fielder for the La
- 1:33Speaker 1: Angels fans among the crowd and section one thirty four
- 1:36Speaker 1: at Angel Stadium, is left arm thrusting his glove to
- 1:39Speaker 1: the sky in triumph. Adele had just stolen a home run,
- 1:42Speaker 1: tumbling over the waist high wall near the right field
- 1:45Speaker 1: foul pole, which frames the left side of the photo.
- 1:47Speaker 1: The lights of the pack ballpark glimmer over him like
- 1:50Speaker 1: a halo. There is no visual clutter, no ads, no scoreboard.
- 1:55Speaker 1: It's mostly just solid colors, adoring fans and an athlete
- 1:59Speaker 1: who had just say the game and wanted everyone to
- 2:02Speaker 1: know about it. It is so wholesome it could be
- 2:05Speaker 1: a rock.
- 2:06Speaker 3: Well.
- 2:07Speaker 1: Well, first of all, it's some great Tyler, great writing Tyler,
- 2:10Speaker 1: But the story doesn't end there. Tyler's actually spoke to
- 2:14Speaker 1: the fan who took this picture, a woman named Kaylee Krausse,
- 2:18Speaker 1: a mother of five from Victorville. First, Tyler, what prompt
- 2:22Speaker 1: did you even pursue a story like this? And how
- 2:24Speaker 1: does one go about tracking down a fan for this?
- 2:28Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know, the modern world of social media, right,
- 2:32Speaker 2: Like I just reached out to her on Instagram and
- 2:34Speaker 2: luckily she said you could call me, you know, when
- 2:36Speaker 2: she gets off of work, and we had a great,
- 2:39Speaker 2: great conversation before she had to take her a little
- 2:41Speaker 2: boy to a baseball game. So she's just a huge
- 2:45Speaker 2: Angels fan and that's really it was really kind of
- 2:47Speaker 2: cool to talk to her and talk to someone like
- 2:50Speaker 2: that because, you know, sort of nationally we see how
- 2:53Speaker 2: the Angels have had the string of tough seasons, and
- 2:57Speaker 2: there's always a lot of that stuff, I guess in
- 3:00Speaker 2: the news. But she is a pure Angels fan, like
- 3:03Speaker 2: a diehard Angels fan, believes in the team, believes in
- 3:06Speaker 2: the direction, loves going to Angel Stadium, and just their
- 3:10Speaker 2: favorite thing to do as a family is to go
- 3:12Speaker 2: to the ballpark. And that was a night where they
- 3:15Speaker 2: sat down in that section just for a chance to
- 3:17Speaker 2: get a ball, and when Adele made that catch, everything
- 3:22Speaker 2: aligned even to the point where, like, you know, there's,
- 3:25Speaker 2: like I said, in that image, there's nothing really beside
- 3:28Speaker 2: the player and the field and his in what he's doing.
- 3:32Speaker 2: And you don't get I mean, you never see a
- 3:35Speaker 2: player in the stands like that. And it's not even
- 3:38Speaker 2: like the fans are on the side of them, but
- 3:39Speaker 2: they're not like in front of the camera or anything.
- 3:42Speaker 2: It's sort of like just him with a couple of
- 3:44Speaker 2: fans on either side. It's not no netting. You know,
- 3:47Speaker 2: the netting's on the other side of the foulpol So
- 3:49Speaker 2: it's like all these things that could come into play
- 3:51Speaker 2: to obscure, to get in the way of a great photo,
- 3:54Speaker 2: they're not there, and it's just this pure moment and
- 3:58Speaker 2: a fan just you know. She she she's like, I'm
- 4:01Speaker 2: used to taking my phone out in critical situations because
- 4:04Speaker 2: I got you know, kids who play sports and you
- 4:05Speaker 2: always want to get there, get their goal or they shot.
- 4:08Speaker 2: She was on it. It was everything lined up, perplet
- 4:11Speaker 2: And you could be a professional photographer and your whole life,
- 4:15Speaker 2: you know, your whole career, you could never get everything
- 4:17Speaker 2: to line up just right like that, right time, right place,
- 4:21Speaker 2: right framing everything.
- 4:24Speaker 4: Well, she absolutely did the moment justice that you know,
- 4:29Speaker 4: we've talked about all three of those plays. But the
- 4:31Speaker 4: last one, in particular was just exceptional and single handedly,
- 4:38Speaker 4: uh played a huge role in the Angels winning that
- 4:41Speaker 4: ball game. Three pitchers were saved runs and that last
- 4:44Speaker 4: one just iconic.
- 4:47Speaker 2: UH.
- 4:47Speaker 4: And she seems to be, you know, right place, right time.
- 4:51Speaker 4: You already described kind of the question I was going
- 4:53Speaker 4: to ask how she was able to you know, I've
- 4:56Speaker 4: stand the real time playback, and she it's seem like
- 5:00Speaker 4: the first thing that came to her mind was to
- 5:03Speaker 4: grab her phone and kind of on the spot, and
- 5:06Speaker 4: you know, fortunately she did. I had had it been
- 5:08Speaker 4: a second or two later, who knows, you know, probably
- 5:11Speaker 4: obscured right.
- 5:13Speaker 2: Yeah, it's anything could have gotten in the way, but
- 5:16Speaker 2: just nobody was sitting right there in front of her.
- 5:18Speaker 2: There's a little landing spot, I guess, which I was
- 5:20Speaker 2: not aware of out there. Mark, I'm sure you've played
- 5:22Speaker 2: the corners out there. What is There's not many ballparks
- 5:25Speaker 2: where you have a wall that low. I mean Fenway,
- 5:28Speaker 2: I guess Yankee Stadium, not Yanke saying Fenway Dodger Stadium.
- 5:33Speaker 2: I don't know if any others, But what is it
- 5:36Speaker 2: like when you approach that wall, like knowing that you
- 5:38Speaker 2: you might dive in there. Did you ever dive into
- 5:41Speaker 2: the stands like that? In an huh, No, you wouldn't.
- 5:46Speaker 2: I did.
- 5:47Speaker 3: I did.
- 5:47Speaker 4: I did try and talk about it. I don't know
- 5:49Speaker 4: what I would have done. I don't have you know,
- 5:51Speaker 4: it wouldn't have been pretty. I would have I would
- 5:53Speaker 4: have had to make You have to make an effort
- 5:54Speaker 4: there now is if you just you know, if you
- 5:57Speaker 4: run pull up and the thing was every I mean
- 6:01Speaker 4: I have gone over the railing playing infield though Okay,
- 6:05Speaker 4: I don't know if it was definitely the minor leagues,
- 6:07Speaker 4: and it's one of those things that's not that's not
- 6:09Speaker 4: on the forefront of your mind, like you're not really
- 6:11Speaker 4: thinking about anything, to be honest, it's happening so quick
- 6:14Speaker 4: that you were tracking the ball and your goal is
- 6:16Speaker 4: to catch it. And sometimes like the first two plays,
- 6:20Speaker 4: he was able to get back in time to kind
- 6:22Speaker 4: of time those jumps. This one, it was all out.
- 6:24Speaker 4: Whatever happens happens, but you know that port in the game,
- 6:27Speaker 4: you got to go, and he did and fortunately not
- 6:31Speaker 4: only did he catch it, she got the picture. He
- 6:33Speaker 4: was also physically totally fine. It's going to be a
- 6:39Speaker 4: photo that we'll see for decades to come, I assume.
- 6:44Speaker 4: I mean it's just, honestly in its own an excellent,
- 6:47Speaker 4: excellent sports photography piece.
- 6:49Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 6:50Speaker 2: Really the kind of thing we should be seeing in
- 6:52Speaker 2: Anaheims Stadium and and Angel Stadium for years. I mean
- 6:54Speaker 2: you could roll that up in a big, big poster.
- 6:57Speaker 2: I mean you should be able to sign that. I
- 6:59Speaker 2: think Tops talk to her about maybe putting it on
- 7:01Speaker 2: a card or something. It's a it's just really cool.
- 7:04Speaker 2: It's one of the you know, it's for an early
- 7:05Speaker 2: April moment, you know, it just that's what baseball can do.
- 7:10Speaker 2: Man Like, at any moment, baseball can come up and
- 7:12Speaker 2: give you this, this moment you'll remember forever.
- 7:17Speaker 1: Yeah, you compared in your story to the great was
- 7:20Speaker 1: it Muhammad Ali or a Sunny Listed picture, which, yeah,
- 7:23Speaker 1: one of the most iconic photos ever. You mentioned Tops
- 7:26Speaker 1: had contacted Kaylee about Kaylee about using this picture. It's
- 7:30Speaker 1: such a great picture. Is there can she profit off
- 7:33Speaker 1: this in anyway? Can she?
- 7:35Speaker 5: You know?
- 7:35Speaker 2: Is there something I can imagine an iPhone commercial, you know,
- 7:39Speaker 2: like where they use the play and they talk about
- 7:43Speaker 2: you know, with your iPhone, anybody can take a picture
- 7:45Speaker 2: like this, you know, it's one of the greatest sports
- 7:48Speaker 2: pictures you'll ever see. And she didn't even filter or anything.
- 7:51Speaker 2: She just you know, on your iPhone. I mean I
- 7:54Speaker 2: told her that I was texted like she did an iPhone,
- 7:57Speaker 2: you know, track with this, and I'd love that.
- 7:59Speaker 1: But then when my grandkids are doing something funny, it
- 8:02Speaker 1: takes me at least a minute to figure out what
- 8:03Speaker 1: I'm even doing. So yeah, amazing.
- 8:08Speaker 2: Yeah, and the Angels, you know, it was kind of
- 8:10Speaker 2: a symbios because the Angels like put out, hey, fans,
- 8:14Speaker 2: you know, send us your best pictures. So that's why
- 8:16Speaker 2: she put it on social media, and she says she
- 8:18Speaker 2: really wanted Joe Adell and his wife to see it.
- 8:20Speaker 2: I'm sure they've seen it by now. But Mike Trout
- 8:23Speaker 2: responded to one of the Angels tweets of a picture
- 8:25Speaker 2: that she was in and that was exciting, you know,
- 8:28Speaker 2: Big Trout fans that they are so just a neat,
- 8:31Speaker 2: neat little story all the way around, you know, and
- 8:33Speaker 2: fans can relate to that because you know, we've all
- 8:35Speaker 2: been in the stands and and you know, had maybe
- 8:39Speaker 2: had an encounter, but never one like that.
- 8:42Speaker 1: When did when and how did she realize the picture
- 8:44Speaker 1: had gone viral.
- 8:46Speaker 2: She you know, posted around midnight. I guess I went
- 8:50Speaker 2: to bed after you get home and all the hoopla,
- 8:52Speaker 2: and then her husband woke up like six in the
- 8:54Speaker 2: morning and he's like, oh my god, your pictures everywhere.
- 8:57Speaker 2: She's like wait, what what you just wake up you know,
- 9:00Speaker 2: in the cobwebs and like, you know, like you didn't
- 9:02Speaker 2: really realize the life that it would take gone. She snapped,
- 9:07Speaker 2: maybe like thirty pick you know your staff in just
- 9:09Speaker 2: like great rapid fire there, but she picked out the
- 9:12Speaker 2: best one, and everybody seemed to seem to think. So
- 9:16Speaker 2: it's just I guess it's just cool because of all
- 9:19Speaker 2: the factors that. First of all, just like I said,
- 9:21Speaker 2: how beautiful it's framed, but just the oddity of having
- 9:24Speaker 2: a player standing in the stands untouched like that can't
- 9:29Speaker 2: script it. It just has to happen. And for it
- 9:33Speaker 2: to be not the first home run robbery, not the second,
- 9:36Speaker 2: but the third one in the ninth inning and one
- 9:39Speaker 2: nothing game, first home win of the year, I think
- 9:41Speaker 2: it's pretty neat all.
- 9:43Speaker 1: Right, We're going to take a little break for a
- 9:45Speaker 1: word from our sponsors. When we come back, we're going
- 9:47Speaker 1: to talk about the Heated, Mariners, Angels, Rivalry, great story,
- 9:53Speaker 1: Jose Sorriano, Start against the Braves Monday Night and more
- 9:56Speaker 1: about Chase sil says, We'll be right back with more Halo.
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- 11:01Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back to Halo territory. Mike d Giovanno with
- 11:04Speaker 1: Mark Trumbo and Tyler Kettner of The Athletic, and I
- 11:07Speaker 1: believe Mark has a question for Tyler.
- 11:11Speaker 4: I do I'm wondering as someone you covered the Seattle
- 11:15Speaker 4: Mariners for eight years plural, I assume.
- 11:19Speaker 2: Yeah, end of ninety eight and then all of ninety nine,
- 11:21Speaker 2: and I was with them in their playoff run last year.
- 11:24Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 11:25Speaker 4: I mean that's not quite as important, but you are
- 11:27Speaker 4: familiar with the ball club. You're a national writer for
- 11:29Speaker 4: the Athletic, sure, and current news. You know, Mike Trout
- 11:33Speaker 4: got hit in the hand the other day. Appears that
- 11:36Speaker 4: the extras were negative, so he is issuing to get
- 11:39Speaker 4: back in the lineup. But it did kind of create
- 11:42Speaker 4: some waves around the game and very mixed opinions. If
- 11:45Speaker 4: you're a Seattle fan, you know the boohoo. They are
- 11:50Speaker 4: very vocal in saying that they, you know, really couldn't
- 11:53Speaker 4: give a rats about the opinions they think are soft
- 11:57Speaker 4: or whatever of the Angels, and well, I share some
- 12:00Speaker 4: quick ones. Of course, you know some people chopped them
- 12:02Speaker 4: up and did what they want with them. But can
- 12:05Speaker 4: we get your take or would you be willing to
- 12:07Speaker 4: offer a few thoughts on what you thought of you
- 12:11Speaker 4: know what, it appears to be an intentional strategy of
- 12:14Speaker 4: kind of he doesn't you know the numbers do play out,
- 12:15Speaker 4: he he doesn't know. No hitter probably does crush those pitches,
- 12:18Speaker 4: but just continuing to pound a guy up and in
- 12:21Speaker 4: and then you know, you hit him a couple of
- 12:23Speaker 4: times in one series. It's going around, and I was
- 12:26Speaker 4: wondering if you maybe you had some thoughts.
- 12:28Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the Mariners are a team that relentlessly
- 12:32Speaker 2: pounds the strike zone. I mean they they as as
- 12:36Speaker 2: much or better than anybody. You know, they throw strike there.
- 12:39Speaker 2: That's their whole mo throughout the organization is dominate the zone, right,
- 12:42Speaker 2: and that your stuff is good enough that in the
- 12:44Speaker 2: zone you should be able to get out, so you
- 12:47Speaker 2: know when they're going outside the zone to push you
- 12:51Speaker 2: off the plate or whatever. You know, that's also clearly
- 12:54Speaker 2: a strategy. And because it's not just like the ball
- 12:58Speaker 2: slipping or losing control, that's where they want to pitch it.
- 13:01Speaker 2: They have excellent control. So I guess then the question
- 13:04Speaker 2: is is it is it safe? And is it effective
- 13:10Speaker 2: in getting Mike tropped out? You know, the guy you
- 13:13Speaker 2: don't want the angels on the angels line that you
- 13:15Speaker 2: don't want to beat you certainly, I mean Mark, you know,
- 13:18Speaker 2: every hitter knows that if you have a weakness, it's
- 13:21Speaker 2: it's up to you to fix it, and it's teams
- 13:23Speaker 2: are going to exploit it. So I think that part
- 13:26Speaker 2: of it's fair. But if if you are willing to
- 13:32Speaker 2: pitch up and in, you know, then the risks involved
- 13:37Speaker 2: in that are are are can be severe. So I
- 13:41Speaker 2: don't blame Mike for being upset about it. Mike's a
- 13:46Speaker 2: guy who doesn't doesn't say a whole lot that's going
- 13:48Speaker 2: to make headlines. So when he does, you know, you
- 13:51Speaker 2: know he feels strongly about something, and I don't blame him.
- 13:54Speaker 2: I mean, this guy who's missed a lot of time
- 13:56Speaker 2: with injuries and just wants to be out there and playing.
- 14:00Speaker 2: We all want Mike Trott to be out there playing.
- 14:02Speaker 2: I mean we've missed too much of him in the twenties,
- 14:06Speaker 2: So I don't it's not up to you know, I
- 14:08Speaker 2: wouldn't want to be the one to tell the Mariners
- 14:10Speaker 2: how to go about getting out. But they do have
- 14:15Speaker 2: such sharp control as a staff that you would hope
- 14:19Speaker 2: that they could find a way to go up and
- 14:21Speaker 2: in without getting too close to him, you know.
- 14:25Speaker 1: The Mariners. It's been years since the Maritors and Angels
- 14:28Speaker 1: battled it out for a division title, but they've had
- 14:30Speaker 1: a few kerkfuffles on the field. Who can forget that?
- 14:34Speaker 1: Who can never forget the twenty twenty two fight. There's
- 14:37Speaker 1: a couple of beanballs and I think Anthony Rendon runs
- 14:40Speaker 1: out in the field with his right hand and on
- 14:41Speaker 1: a cast and he's trying to punch Jesse Winkle with
- 14:43Speaker 1: his left hand. There was you know, we didn't mention
- 14:48Speaker 1: the first pitch to Trout in that series from Brian
- 14:51Speaker 1: wu was a ninety five fastball up and in the
- 14:53Speaker 1: second pitch, same fastball hits him in the left shoulder.
- 14:56Speaker 1: So there's definitely little friction between these teams. Is this
- 15:00Speaker 1: maybe one of the more underrated rivalries in baseball?
- 15:03Speaker 5: Tyler?
- 15:05Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think they need to both be
- 15:09Speaker 2: contending at the same time, you know, for it to
- 15:13Speaker 2: really be a heated rivalry, but certainly when you're out there,
- 15:16Speaker 2: I mean, I having covered both those teams, you know
- 15:18Speaker 2: there is there is a little edge to those teams
- 15:24Speaker 2: when they get together. I mean, they've played each other
- 15:25Speaker 2: more than anybody else. You know, you've been the same
- 15:29Speaker 2: division for so long, the same cities for so long.
- 15:32Speaker 2: I remember things like, you know, deetmember, was it Brent
- 15:36Speaker 2: Hinchliff and Todd Green mixing it up there on Sunday
- 15:38Speaker 2: Night baseball back in the day. That's a good one.
- 15:41Speaker 3: I still see Greedy a lot, you know, he'll roll
- 15:43Speaker 3: out that clip every now and then, charging the mound. Yeah,
- 15:49Speaker 3: the Angels shut out the Mariners in their very first
- 15:51Speaker 3: game back in seventy seven up at the Kingdom. So
- 15:54Speaker 3: not that that stuff comes into play now, but there
- 15:56Speaker 3: is quite a history with these teams, and yeah, it's
- 15:59Speaker 3: probably one of the rivalries that doesn't get a whole
- 16:02Speaker 3: lot of attention.
- 16:03Speaker 2: Yeah, but and that, you know, ninety five the biggest
- 16:05Speaker 2: part of it. All right, Oh yeah, of course I'm
- 16:08Speaker 2: and saving that franchise really totally.
- 16:11Speaker 1: All right, We're going to turn our attention to Jose Soriano,
- 16:14Speaker 1: And I'm going to start with a quote that I
- 16:16Speaker 1: actually got from the Braves manager Walt Weiss before Monday
- 16:20Speaker 1: night's game, when asked about the Angels right hander, he said, Yeah,
- 16:25Speaker 1: Soriano is one of the best kept secrets in the game.
- 16:28Speaker 1: He has a really hard sinker. He's got the highest
- 16:31Speaker 1: ground ball rate in the game, so it's tough to
- 16:33Speaker 1: get him in the air. He's got a good breaking ball,
- 16:35Speaker 1: so this is going to be a challenge for us tonight.
- 16:38Speaker 1: I'd pay for it. I'd pay for it. It's a
- 16:41Speaker 1: great pitching matchup, and it was a great pitching matchup
- 16:45Speaker 1: going in Chris Sailee and Jose Soriano. But Jose was
- 16:47Speaker 1: the one who dominated through eight innings, ten strikeouts, gave
- 16:52Speaker 1: up one run, and retired nineteen straight batters. At one point,
- 16:59Speaker 1: we talked about Soriano on a show last week and
- 17:03Speaker 1: he had made two starts to that point, two six inning,
- 17:07Speaker 1: shutout starts, and we were throwing around the question of
- 17:11Speaker 1: whether this guy's a budding ace. This is the third start,
- 17:15Speaker 1: Mark Trumbo, is he starting to follow that trajectory in
- 17:19Speaker 1: your eyes? Or is it still way too soon? We yes,
- 17:24Speaker 1: is the answer but we have Tyler here. Tyler, what
- 17:26Speaker 1: do you think?
- 17:28Speaker 2: I have been on the Soriano train since last June.
- 17:32Speaker 2: I talked to him at Yankee Stadium and were going
- 17:35Speaker 2: over the grip that he has on his sinker, because
- 17:38Speaker 2: I mean, outliers are always interesting, right, and he's a
- 17:41Speaker 2: guy who gets the most ground balls and has such
- 17:43Speaker 2: great run on that pitch. And I'm recovering Chen ming
- 17:48Speaker 2: Wan about twenty years ago with the Yankees, and he
- 17:50Speaker 2: had this great sinker for a couple of years where
- 17:53Speaker 2: he was really hard for teams to figure out. When
- 17:55Speaker 2: nineteen games back to back years. I know, I'm not
- 17:58Speaker 2: sure Mark if you plaid with or against Brandon Webb,
- 18:02Speaker 2: but he had a great, obviously sinker back in his day.
- 18:05Speaker 2: Kevin Brown, I just love that pitch because it's the
- 18:08Speaker 2: kind of pitch that you just really can't do anything
- 18:10Speaker 2: with the best power hitters. It's so hard to elevate
- 18:14Speaker 2: that pitch, and if he can command it, he can
- 18:18Speaker 2: be Soriano can really be one of the best. I mean,
- 18:21Speaker 2: I thought last year he had an asside shot to
- 18:24Speaker 2: be an All Star and then kind of fell off
- 18:26Speaker 2: a little bit before spring, before the before the break
- 18:30Speaker 2: but you guys have seen it more than I have. Like,
- 18:32Speaker 2: can he be consistent? Right? Because he had some games
- 18:36Speaker 2: like this last year and now he's starting together three
- 18:38Speaker 2: of them. Is there a difference in him this year
- 18:40Speaker 2: that may make him more consistent? I don't know yet.
- 18:42Speaker 2: All I know is what I've seen, and what I've
- 18:44Speaker 2: seen has been great, and I have on my fancy team,
- 18:46Speaker 2: So I'm happy. Mark.
- 18:48Speaker 1: Are you seeing a maturation with a sorry that in
- 18:53Speaker 1: other areas that might, you know, help steel his rise
- 18:57Speaker 1: as a potential ace?
- 19:00Speaker 4: We're talking about potential I mean what he clearcut ace
- 19:04Speaker 4: right now? I mean he is somewhat of a fluid term.
- 19:07Speaker 4: But if I'm an opposing team, I don't know if
- 19:10Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to facing him, especially right now. It's
- 19:14Speaker 4: sometimes it's when you're you're seeing a guy. Yeah, this
- 19:17Speaker 4: game is sometimes you know, you you have hot streaks
- 19:23Speaker 4: and not. But I think that this is for real.
- 19:25Speaker 5: He has.
- 19:27Speaker 4: Really the repertoire to get any any team out, even
- 19:31Speaker 4: even the best hitting teams. He's changed his pitch usage
- 19:34Speaker 4: this year. He's tweaked that.
- 19:36Speaker 2: I had the.
- 19:37Speaker 4: Notes, but they're not quite in front of me what
- 19:40Speaker 4: he actually has done Tyler. Sorry, but he's throwing a
- 19:43Speaker 4: four seamer more often. I didn't see last night's report,
- 19:46Speaker 4: but his pitch usage from previous years seems to the
- 19:51Speaker 4: sinker is is a little bit less, and he's throwing
- 19:54Speaker 4: his knuckle curveball a whole lot more and it is
- 19:56Speaker 4: a wipeout pitch. I'm not surprised that he was has
- 20:00Speaker 4: to do that, and everything's really presenting from a similar
- 20:03Speaker 4: spot and tunneling is what he is doing so well
- 20:07Speaker 4: where you you know, his fastball sitting in the upper nineties,
- 20:10Speaker 4: and that's the thing about a four steamer versus a
- 20:12Speaker 4: two seamer. A two seamer, even when it is ninety
- 20:17Speaker 4: seven ninety eight, it is easier to make contact on
- 20:20Speaker 4: balls that are down in the zone. That's not really
- 20:23Speaker 4: an opinion. I think that's proven out. So if he
- 20:26Speaker 4: can dot a four steamer that has some life and
- 20:28Speaker 4: it's not a no, balls technically go up. But sometimes,
- 20:32Speaker 4: like you know, Holmes is going to be the start
- 20:34Speaker 4: of for Atlanta, he has got an upshoot fastball, So
- 20:37Speaker 4: you really have to be on guard because those are
- 20:38Speaker 4: the ones that get blown by you. And when you
- 20:41Speaker 4: plant that seed as a pitcher that you have the
- 20:44Speaker 4: ability to sneak one past the guy than they are
- 20:47Speaker 4: very liable. The adjustment is going to be almost always
- 20:50Speaker 4: initially too cheat and then you are dead in the
- 20:52Speaker 4: water on his devastating off speed. So you're seeing, you know,
- 20:56Speaker 4: a lot of awkward swings and misses, a lot of guys.
- 20:59Speaker 4: You'll see a lot of guys trying to get them
- 21:00Speaker 4: early in the count to avoid getting to two strikes.
- 21:03Speaker 4: And these are all the things I've seen so far.
- 21:06Speaker 4: I mean, he's a big guy, he's built like a horse.
- 21:08Speaker 4: He's eating Indians. I think it's probably a little late
- 21:13Speaker 4: in the game, Mike, what do you think about you know,
- 21:16Speaker 4: if they were going to extend anyone outside of Zach
- 21:19Speaker 4: Neetto I mean no, seriously, I mean he's a two
- 21:22Speaker 4: time Tommy John guy, and you know they have a
- 21:26Speaker 4: I'm not gonna say they have any leverage, but to
- 21:28Speaker 4: Tommy John's is you can't ignore that. But he's looking
- 21:32Speaker 4: like a surefire picked at least at this point to
- 21:35Speaker 4: play in Philadelphia this year.
- 21:36Speaker 1: Comes July, also a two time rule five pick. As
- 21:40Speaker 1: I recall, Yeah, we were kicking around that idea on
- 21:44Speaker 1: the bench after all these crazy contracts for guys with
- 21:48Speaker 1: no service time. Is there anyone in the Angels minor
- 21:52Speaker 1: league system who you would even like think about giving
- 21:54Speaker 1: that contract a contract of multiple years too, before they
- 21:59Speaker 1: reach the big leagues. We couldn't think anyone. And yeah,
- 22:01Speaker 1: when you think about the young guys, zach Net it
- 22:03Speaker 1: was the first, but Jose Sriano, that's an interesting case, Mark,
- 22:07Speaker 1: because of that injury history, a guy like him, I think,
- 22:11Speaker 1: you know, for a young guy to do that, I know,
- 22:15Speaker 1: talking to Scott Boris all these years, even though the
- 22:18Speaker 1: Seattle guy was one of his the shortstop is his client.
- 22:21Speaker 1: He usually doesn't like to do those contracts. He likes
- 22:24Speaker 1: his guys to get the free agency. But with a
- 22:26Speaker 1: guy with Jose's injury history, to get that long term
- 22:30Speaker 1: security of a contract like that, yeah, I would think
- 22:33Speaker 1: the Angels would probably do well to at least approach
- 22:37Speaker 1: his agent about something like that as soon as possible.
- 22:40Speaker 1: And what Weiss called him one of the best kept
- 22:42Speaker 1: secrets in the game. How long is he going to
- 22:44Speaker 1: remain a secret tyler?
- 22:47Speaker 2: Not too much longer if he keeps doing this, you know,
- 22:51Speaker 2: I think Mark's right. It looks like he's on a
- 22:55Speaker 2: very early track. But you know for the All Star
- 22:58Speaker 2: Game there in field in July, and that's when you
- 23:01Speaker 2: can start to really raise his his his profile a
- 23:04Speaker 2: little bit. But he was obviously the Angels Pitcher of
- 23:06Speaker 2: the Year last year, and you know, the two time
- 23:09Speaker 2: Tommy John thing is interesting and it makes me wonder
- 23:13Speaker 2: if he has more incentive to you know, sign a
- 23:16Speaker 2: long term deal than the team does. I mean, team
- 23:18Speaker 2: can go to year to year. They've got him under
- 23:19Speaker 2: control for a while. If he blows out again, you know,
- 23:21Speaker 2: they don't lose anything, but he may want that security.
- 23:24Speaker 2: And then if you're the Angels, you can make a
- 23:26Speaker 2: long term bet and and buy out some of his
- 23:29Speaker 2: free agent years because you know, with that pitch mix,
- 23:31Speaker 2: not just the sinker, but all the pitches that Mark
- 23:33Speaker 2: was describing, and the way he's you know, mixed him
- 23:36Speaker 2: up now seems like he's got a really good idea
- 23:40Speaker 2: of how to be successful for a while.
- 23:42Speaker 1: Definitely, all right, We're going to close the show with
- 23:44Speaker 1: a segment on Chase Silseth, the starter turned reliever who
- 23:48Speaker 1: has emerged as something of a stopper in the bullpen.
- 23:51Speaker 1: I actually caught up with Chase before Monday night's game
- 23:55Speaker 1: let's give a listen.
- 23:59Speaker 2: So we both know us.
- 24:00Speaker 1: You seem to have a different demeanor on the mound
- 24:03Speaker 1: this year, a little more edge, a little more aggressiveness.
- 24:06Speaker 1: And I'm wondering, did you sort of take that into
- 24:09Speaker 1: the season with you or is your earliest success sort
- 24:12Speaker 1: of breeding more confidence on the mound?
- 24:15Speaker 8: You know, I kind of just taking that taking that
- 24:17Speaker 8: with me.
- 24:18Speaker 5: You know, I've always had like an aggressiveness like you
- 24:22Speaker 5: know to me, but as a starter, you know, it
- 24:25Speaker 5: was like trying to control that for six seven innings
- 24:29Speaker 5: and they you know, trying to conserve that energy and
- 24:34Speaker 5: then also just figuring out mentally and how to use
- 24:37Speaker 5: that energy in a in a.
- 24:39Speaker 8: Way to help me and benefit me.
- 24:42Speaker 5: So like the mental the mental coach I've been working with,
- 24:45Speaker 5: has kind of helped me do that aggress helped me
- 24:47Speaker 5: with that aggressiveness to control that aggressiveness in a good way.
- 24:50Speaker 8: And then uh, when I when.
- 24:52Speaker 5: You control it a little bit and you get out
- 24:53Speaker 5: of those good jams, and it tends to come out
- 24:55Speaker 5: a little bit more. And yeah, I'm just out there
- 24:58Speaker 5: just trying to pitch angry, execute at each pitch that.
- 25:00Speaker 8: I can, and you just give the team a chance
- 25:03Speaker 8: to win influence.
- 25:04Speaker 1: As Mike Maddocks had on your development this year as
- 25:07Speaker 1: a reliever especially.
- 25:09Speaker 8: Yeah, he's been he's been fantastic.
- 25:10Speaker 5: He has simplified a lot of things for me, and
- 25:13Speaker 5: he's kind of helped me with a little bit of
- 25:15Speaker 5: pitch pitch sequencing in ways where before I really never
- 25:19Speaker 5: threw the first pitch split you know, just like you know,
- 25:21Speaker 5: it's not a strike pitch to me, you know, and
- 25:23Speaker 5: it's more of like, you know, just a swing kind
- 25:26Speaker 5: of thing. But being able to kind of throw a
- 25:29Speaker 5: first pitch and maybe get a ground ball to those
- 25:32Speaker 5: aggressive guys or you know, kind of throw one in
- 25:36Speaker 5: there and do still a strike when they're like, you know,
- 25:38Speaker 5: if they see it, take it. Just like using that
- 25:41Speaker 5: and then using the fastball off of it, like pitching
- 25:43Speaker 5: inside the never really pitched inside the lefties or rather
- 25:47Speaker 5: than having my cutter, But then I had to get
- 25:50Speaker 5: rid of that because it was like starting to influence
- 25:53Speaker 5: other pitches. So just that pitch sequencing and getting inside
- 25:56Speaker 5: the lefties to open up the splitter away as well.
- 25:59Speaker 5: So the sequencing has been in that way, and just
- 26:03Speaker 5: the simple simplification and like how to get figure out.
- 26:09Speaker 1: How much of your stuff playing up in these shorter bursts,
- 26:12Speaker 1: And I'm gonna take a while to sort of like
- 26:15Speaker 1: figure out how much to expenda.
- 26:18Speaker 5: Yeah, well, this is like the first year I'm feeling
- 26:22Speaker 5: healthy in a while. You know, just have had some
- 26:25Speaker 5: injuries in the past and u things like that, so
- 26:28Speaker 5: coming back from them has been, you know, difficult. But
- 26:33Speaker 5: you know, finally came in last year and was in
- 26:37Speaker 5: that role and found a good routine that works for
- 26:39Speaker 5: me and then able.
- 26:40Speaker 8: To build off that helped a lot. And to go
- 26:43Speaker 8: into a full off season to be healthy.
- 26:45Speaker 5: I was able to get a full off season, so
- 26:48Speaker 5: to put my body in a position to be uh, you.
- 26:52Speaker 8: Know good in that position.
- 26:55Speaker 5: So I think that's the that's the biggest thing that's
- 26:58Speaker 5: been playing and hopefully it keeps climbing. We're still early,
- 27:02Speaker 5: and you know, it's definitely burst a lot, you know,
- 27:04Speaker 5: a lot more ninety sevens than I have in the
- 27:06Speaker 5: last two years in that role.
- 27:08Speaker 8: So hopefully it continues to climb.
- 27:10Speaker 2: And yeah, how much.
- 27:13Speaker 1: Is that improving your How much better is you're split
- 27:15Speaker 1: playing off the fastball with that in prease velo fantastic?
- 27:19Speaker 5: I mean huge, you know, the the gap between it
- 27:22Speaker 5: is perfect where I want it. You know, when it's
- 27:26Speaker 5: fastball's ninety six ninety seven, then the splits eighty four
- 27:30Speaker 5: to eighty seven, and then you know the occasional two
- 27:32Speaker 5: strike one that's eighty eighty nine to ninety you know,
- 27:35Speaker 5: to kind of get.
- 27:36Speaker 8: It and rip it a little bit more. It helps,
- 27:38Speaker 8: you know, because.
- 27:40Speaker 5: The heart of the fastball is then the more speed
- 27:43Speaker 5: differentially you're gonna have between the two, which helps a lot.
- 27:47Speaker 1: How do you like this roll you're in right now?
- 27:48Speaker 1: It's you know, you're not quite the same guy, not
- 27:51Speaker 1: the closer, but you're coming into some big situations and
- 27:53Speaker 1: expected to do some good things.
- 27:55Speaker 8: I'm enjoying it, you know, I'm just having fun.
- 27:58Speaker 5: You know, anytime my name is called, it's like it's
- 28:00Speaker 5: going out and execute each pitch.
- 28:02Speaker 8: That's my mindset. It's the control I have. That's that's
- 28:06Speaker 8: what's coming down too.
- 28:06Speaker 5: Because our jobs as pitchers is to you know, obviously
- 28:10Speaker 5: get out, but the most important thing is execute each
- 28:13Speaker 5: pitcher supposed to throw. So when I just think that
- 28:17Speaker 5: pitch to pitch mentality and he's coming in, it makes
- 28:20Speaker 5: it a whole lot easier in that way. So like
- 28:22Speaker 5: my routines that I have, the pre pitch routines that
- 28:25Speaker 5: I have on the mound to be able to cite
- 28:27Speaker 5: me in for that next pitch and give everything my all.
- 28:30Speaker 8: Everything in that pitch has helped.
- 28:31Speaker 5: So I mean, I'm having a blast and it's been fun,
- 28:35Speaker 5: and I just want to have my guys back, you know,
- 28:37Speaker 5: if there's runners out there.
- 28:39Speaker 8: You know, I had a big learning learning moment in.
- 28:41Speaker 5: Houston when I got the first first and second, got
- 28:44Speaker 5: the first two guys out, Christian Walker steps up, I
- 28:47Speaker 5: throw them a fastball. In that situation, when you get
- 28:50Speaker 5: two big outs like that, the guy on deck is
- 28:51Speaker 5: coming ready to swing because he needs he wants to
- 28:53Speaker 5: do some damage with two outs, and learn that fast
- 28:57Speaker 5: like if you're gonna go a heater there, it has
- 28:59Speaker 5: to be a heater that's going to be you know,
- 29:01Speaker 5: brushing them off, or you know, in a better spot
- 29:04Speaker 5: than where it was located, or you just got to
- 29:08Speaker 5: continue with draw speed stuff and still be aggressive because.
- 29:11Speaker 8: That guy in the hole was coming and he's trying
- 29:13Speaker 8: to do some damage. So that was a good learner moment.
- 29:15Speaker 8: I'm glad that happened.
- 29:16Speaker 5: You know, in the first series of the year, so
- 29:19Speaker 5: I kind of learned from that moment to bring into
- 29:20Speaker 5: the Seattle series and it worked out good.
- 29:23Speaker 1: Did it take a little time to get used to
- 29:25Speaker 1: the adrenaline of coming into a game with two on
- 29:29Speaker 1: and none out as opposed just starting an inning. I
- 29:31Speaker 1: was starting in the channel.
- 29:33Speaker 8: That yeah, like last year.
- 29:34Speaker 5: It was my first time doing it, so it was
- 29:37Speaker 5: pretty fun, you know. I did it against Seattle and
- 29:39Speaker 5: came in basically though, no outs, and I had an
- 29:41Speaker 5: eleven pitch at Bett with Naylor, which was the thing.
- 29:43Speaker 8: But that's the thing. I didn't go into lefty.
- 29:45Speaker 5: Maybe if I had my you know, I was working
- 29:48Speaker 5: on throwing the fastballs into lefties, maybe I get him
- 29:50Speaker 5: out in that in that scenario last year. So learning that,
- 29:54Speaker 5: but you know, I come into these games and with
- 29:57Speaker 5: that adrenaline, it's just like I think to myself, where else?
- 29:59Speaker 8: But I rather want to be right now than in
- 30:01Speaker 8: this spot right here. You know.
- 30:03Speaker 5: It's just that that thing that I take with me.
- 30:06Speaker 5: You know, not a lot of people have a chance
- 30:09Speaker 5: to even play the game because they're just somewhere, you know,
- 30:13Speaker 5: find for their life or just they just weren't able
- 30:17Speaker 5: to have that chance to play. So you know, I
- 30:21Speaker 5: use that use that as some motivation for me as
- 30:23Speaker 5: well with those guys, because like, where else would you
- 30:26Speaker 5: rather be the right here in the situation?
- 30:30Speaker 1: Where else would you rather be right now? I love
- 30:33Speaker 1: that quote from the kid Mark. How does a young
- 30:37Speaker 1: guy who maybe has struggled to uh, you know, establish
- 30:42Speaker 1: himself as a big leaguer go from a guy who
- 30:44Speaker 1: is maybe questioning whether he belongs to a guy who
- 30:47Speaker 1: is embracing these kind of moments and big situations.
- 30:52Speaker 4: I think it starts with having a little bit of success.
- 30:56Speaker 4: And where does success come from or where does confidence
- 30:59Speaker 4: come from?
- 31:00Speaker 2: Tyler?
- 31:00Speaker 4: Where does confidence come from.
- 31:02Speaker 2: From doing it before? I guess, you know, from from
- 31:05Speaker 2: experience and then from her inner belief.
- 31:11Speaker 4: I would agree, and I think that you know, it
- 31:14Speaker 4: sounds like you needed some work over the off season
- 31:17Speaker 4: on the mental side of it. But one thing I
- 31:20Speaker 4: really appreciated with those thoughtful answers. I think anytime a
- 31:24Speaker 4: player gives an interview, and I tried at least to
- 31:26Speaker 4: always provide you know, something of substance, you can say,
- 31:30Speaker 4: you know it's it's for the team and just doing
- 31:32Speaker 4: it for the team. But Chase did a very nice
- 31:36Speaker 4: job handling these questions and you know right on cue
- 31:40Speaker 4: we had done or you did this before. He you know,
- 31:43Speaker 4: he did give up a home run, but that you
- 31:44Speaker 4: know that is going to happen hanging off speed pitch.
- 31:48Speaker 4: He's pitched a lot recently, so, uh, you know, Bachman
- 31:52Speaker 4: gave up a run the other night. Get it out
- 31:54Speaker 4: of the way. I mean, these are not disaster in ins.
- 31:56Speaker 4: It's just a minor thing. He's doing great, and you know,
- 32:00Speaker 4: really hoping he keeps it up because he's a weapon,
- 32:03Speaker 4: as we talked about.
- 32:04Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a very small sample size, but according to
- 32:08Speaker 1: Baseball Savant, he has a forty three point one percent
- 32:11Speaker 1: chase rate no pun intended, That ranks in the ninety
- 32:15Speaker 1: eighth percentile, which is pretty darn good. And he's got
- 32:17Speaker 1: a thirty six point two percent with rate, which ranks
- 32:20Speaker 1: in the eighty seven percent tel mark. How does a
- 32:24Speaker 1: how does a young guy maintain that kind of production?
- 32:28Speaker 1: How easy sustain this.
- 32:31Speaker 4: Kind of question is.
- 32:33Speaker 1: What you alluded to it before. You know that the
- 32:36Speaker 1: he did pitch for the third time in four nights,
- 32:38Speaker 1: and I.
- 32:38Speaker 4: Think, yeah, you have to watch out for that.
- 32:41Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know if Kurt was like maybe trying
- 32:43Speaker 1: to just sort of see how far he could push
- 32:46Speaker 1: a young guy. I think he got his answer. If
- 32:48Speaker 1: that's the case, Uh, you know, how careful do you
- 32:54Speaker 1: do you have to be with a young guy who's
- 32:57Speaker 1: you know, piercing.
- 32:58Speaker 4: That's kind of kind of what he talked about going
- 33:01Speaker 4: into this season. You have a couple guys in the
- 33:02Speaker 4: bullpen that are on the older side, and as far
- 33:08Speaker 4: as it goes, especially with that short start, not from
- 33:11Speaker 4: Soriano but from young George class on the other day,
- 33:16Speaker 4: they had to eat an extra five or six innings
- 33:18Speaker 4: out of the pen or more.
- 33:20Speaker 2: He only went two and a third.
- 33:21Speaker 4: I think. So every short start compromises the bullpen to
- 33:25Speaker 4: some extent and then some shuffling. I don't know what
- 33:28Speaker 4: to make Ryan Johnson is, we don't need specific cities.
- 33:32Speaker 4: He hits on the il. Yeah, with a viral thing,
- 33:35Speaker 4: so best wishes there. But three times in four days
- 33:40Speaker 4: is you know? I didn't pitch and relief. I did
- 33:43Speaker 4: have lunch with for our angel Darren O'Day I should
- 33:46Speaker 4: have had it, but he was a rubber arm, you know,
- 33:48Speaker 4: he kind of the lower arm slot, and those guys
- 33:51Speaker 4: do they are kind of called rubber arms because they're
- 33:53Speaker 4: very durable and dependable guys that are throwing more max effort.
- 33:57Speaker 4: I think it's it can be a little bit more delicate,
- 34:00Speaker 4: but you know it's also very effective and the production
- 34:03Speaker 4: goes up, so you know, I I hope that Kurt
- 34:07Speaker 4: is able to manage that. I do not think he
- 34:08Speaker 4: was trying to see how far can we, you know,
- 34:11Speaker 4: stretch the limits with with somebody, because that's not a
- 34:14Speaker 4: good stretch.
- 34:15Speaker 5: You know.
- 34:15Speaker 4: I'm not trying to make any strong statement there. I'm
- 34:17Speaker 4: just saying that, you know, for for everyone's health. I
- 34:20Speaker 4: have one question for you, Die or Tyler, if you
- 34:23Speaker 4: guys wanted Joey Dell is a free agent at season's end.
- 34:26Speaker 4: This iconic photo that most likely will make the rounds
- 34:30Speaker 4: for a long time to come. Does that could that
- 34:32Speaker 4: alter his free agency? I mean, you can't have that
- 34:35Speaker 4: photo going around and know joe adele right.
- 34:40Speaker 2: Point, you can't display it in the ballpark or too
- 34:43Speaker 2: long if he leaves.
- 34:45Speaker 4: You guys got you to asking these questions there it is, Yeah,
- 34:49Speaker 4: there you.
- 34:49Speaker 1: Go, Tyler on the spot.
- 34:51Speaker 2: Who knows? I mean, it can't it can't hurt, right,
- 34:53Speaker 2: I mean, they have a guy associated with the team
- 34:56Speaker 2: like that, maybe tug at you a little bit more
- 34:58Speaker 2: to keep him around. He's a guy they've developed and
- 35:01Speaker 2: they've worked with for a lot of years to get
- 35:03Speaker 2: to the point where he can, you know, have a
- 35:05Speaker 2: big season like last year and feel good about himself
- 35:09Speaker 2: the way he seems to be. So it'd be nice
- 35:12Speaker 2: for him if you could continue it. It just sort
- 35:14Speaker 2: of puts uh puts a halo, you might say, around.
- 35:17Speaker 1: His hut there. Yeah, that picture better be up on
- 35:23Speaker 1: the stadium on one of those banner spots in the
- 35:25Speaker 1: front soon, very soon, That's what I would do. I mean,
- 35:29Speaker 1: I don't know if you're maybe alluding Mark to the
- 35:32Speaker 1: emotional whims of the Angel owner. Maybe yeah, maybe this
- 35:35Speaker 1: is something that I.
- 35:39Speaker 4: Really you know that that photo it's more about the
- 35:41Speaker 4: you know, it really was and for a franchise, you know,
- 35:44Speaker 4: could use some good pr good good stories. I mean,
- 35:48Speaker 4: that's you know, excellent. Yeah, but you know, everybody celebrated,
- 35:52Speaker 4: you know, even the best of the best defenders are
- 35:56Speaker 4: all hats off and saying you know that Kermeyer I
- 35:59Speaker 4: had comments and you know this is this is awesome
- 36:02Speaker 4: for Joe. I think it definitely helped us stock a
- 36:04Speaker 4: big home run last night against Chris Sale, So hopefully
- 36:07Speaker 4: the bat keeps trending in the right direction. Uh And
- 36:10Speaker 4: just one last thing to talk quick thoughts on the abs.
- 36:13Speaker 4: So far we're just I'm just gonna hammer you with questions,
- 36:15Speaker 4: but here an excellent yes.
- 36:16Speaker 2: So I think it's I think it's great. I think
- 36:19Speaker 2: it really adds to the experienced the ballpark, to the broadcasts.
- 36:25Speaker 2: It's somewhat more interactive for for fans. I mean, not
- 36:28Speaker 2: that they can do anything, but they can at least say, oh,
- 36:30Speaker 2: I would have challenged that, and then you see the
- 36:31Speaker 2: pitch come in and the you know, the strike zone
- 36:34Speaker 2: light up in pink or not. I think it's cool.
- 36:38Speaker 2: Any little strategic wrinkle like this is is neat. And
- 36:42Speaker 2: you know the fact that when do you use the challenges?
- 36:44Speaker 2: Are they out of challenges? Do they have more? It
- 36:46Speaker 2: makes the umpires a little more accountable. And I always
- 36:49Speaker 2: thought for years, guys that having that strike zone on
- 36:52Speaker 2: the TV was was a bad thing because every fan
- 36:58Speaker 2: would focus and fixate on that and all this umpire
- 37:01Speaker 2: stinks or he missed this color, he missed that call.
- 37:03Speaker 2: And now the players have some agency, they can do
- 37:05Speaker 2: something about it. And that the fan doesn't have to
- 37:08Speaker 2: be frustrated all the time. When the players don't be
- 37:10Speaker 2: frustrated all the time at an umpire, you know, they
- 37:13Speaker 2: can they can have some say over it. So I
- 37:16Speaker 2: think it's I think it's really cool. I think it's
- 37:18Speaker 2: a great innovation. Not you know, like not to the
- 37:20Speaker 2: level of pitchclock, which was the best innovation lately, but
- 37:24Speaker 2: it's up there. It's another good one.
- 37:26Speaker 1: I don't have the numbers right any I mean, I
- 37:29Speaker 1: think the catchers are having a lot more success with
- 37:32Speaker 1: these challenges and the hitters. What's that telling you, Mark,
- 37:36Speaker 1: is are these hitters' eyes not quite as good as
- 37:38Speaker 1: they think they are? Is the catcher's perspective a little
- 37:40Speaker 1: better than we thought?
- 37:41Speaker 4: If you want to get really geeky, I think it's
- 37:43Speaker 4: the bineural vision. But you're standing to the side as
- 37:46Speaker 4: a hitter. So in order you know, as far as
- 37:50Speaker 4: who should be challenging the catcher by far and away,
- 37:53Speaker 4: then the hitter, and then pitchers who are doing it,
- 37:55Speaker 4: good luck to them sometimes, you know, especially if you're
- 37:59Speaker 4: out there scuffling it. I honestly am wondering, you know,
- 38:01Speaker 4: should should pitchers even be able to do it because
- 38:04Speaker 4: they have the worst view of anybody, in my opinion.
- 38:07Speaker 4: And then the emotions. You know, sometimes it's not going
- 38:11Speaker 4: well and you're kind of you call it, you know,
- 38:12Speaker 4: whining or whatever you want to say, you know, begging,
- 38:17Speaker 4: you know, challenge that, and then it's just you know,
- 38:19Speaker 4: outside by five or six. You know, cashers are always
- 38:21Speaker 4: trying to steal strikes as well, so that that distorts
- 38:24Speaker 4: things too. I think, you know, not having the box,
- 38:27Speaker 4: I will say sometimes in spring it is a little
- 38:31Speaker 4: bit strange to get used to not having. So if
- 38:34Speaker 4: they do away with that, that box that Tyler talks about,
- 38:36Speaker 4: you got to adjust to that. Everything looked pretty close
- 38:39Speaker 4: when that box was removed. In my opinion, it kind
- 38:42Speaker 4: of looked like a strike ball. You know, it's like, okay, well,
- 38:46Speaker 4: but I think they buy and large. You know, some
- 38:48Speaker 4: umpires haven't loved it, but most are really good, really good.
- 38:52Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 38:52Speaker 4: I don't know about the ones that clip, you know,
- 38:54Speaker 4: that are half in, half out. It seemed to be
- 38:57Speaker 4: going obviously they're strikes. Some hitters are challenging very early
- 39:00Speaker 4: in the game, and then you lose one first inning
- 39:03Speaker 4: or something on a middle count pitch. So when you
- 39:06Speaker 4: do it seems important? Uh, you know, so it's evolving,
- 39:09Speaker 4: but you want to get the calls, right. I think
- 39:11Speaker 4: everyone is aiming for that, So.
- 39:13Speaker 1: Yes, and we're going to close on that note. Tyler Kepner,
- 39:16Speaker 1: the Athletic, my whole, longtime friend and colleague, thank you
- 39:19Speaker 1: for joining us. Mark Trump goes well, please like and
- 39:22Speaker 1: subscribe and we'll see you next time on Halo Territory