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Can the Nationals pitching depth sustain a playoff push? · District Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the District Territory Podcast. I'm Eric Shellhouse
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: from bat Boys Baseball and joining me today Spencer Nusbaum
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of the Athletic. The Nationals with a very successful road
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: trip four and two overall, enjoying it off day today.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Yesterday ate nothing a shutout at Coors Field. That's pretty
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: difficult to do, and in part it was because of
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: a brilliant, yet another brilliant start from Caid Cavali, Spencer,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: the Nationals continue to roll and Caid Cavali has been
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: a big part of that. When he's not pitching in
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: warm weather.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's kind of been the funny element of it, right,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: was it was still warm in Colorado, which maybe you
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: don't associate with it, but it wasn't hot, or maybe
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I should say it didn't feel like one hundred degrees out,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: And so I think that that kind of helped where
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: I think Caid is someone who is learning to kind
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: of battle the things that come his way, whether it
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: is kind of the weather elements, whether it's not having
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: his best stuff on a given day. He's talked specifically,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: and Blake has talked as well about Kade's ability to
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: kind of lock in when runners get on base, and
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: I think that's kind of to me, the most compelling
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: part of his start in his journey right now, right
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: is he's he's still only has you know, a couple
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: or a few dozen, you know, under his belt, and
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: he's already learned how to do this. I think that's
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: really encouraging when you think about what the Nationals need
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: out of him this season, but also kind of in
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: seasons to come.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and as we start to look at these games
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: meeting a lot more with where the Nationals are at
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: and the standings, it's going to take starting pitching to
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: carry them further into the playoffs. One guy that is
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: making his way back, Jake irv him is just sent
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: out on a rehab assignment. But again, Caid Cavali been
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: terrific all year. Foster Griffin, we know what he has
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: been this season. His name has been circulating around the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: trade market. Spencer, I'm curious how many starting pitchers do
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you think it might take for the Nationals to contend
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: in the playoffs, given how many teams like to work
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: their bullpits throughout the playoffs. But that has not been
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: a strong point for the Nationals this season.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Right that's a question and I've kind of been grappling
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: with a lot over the last few weeks in particular, right,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: And the question is both what does it take to
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: actually win a playoff series and what does it take
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: to win a World Series? I think the Nationals need
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: to first focus on answering that first question, right, because
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: you have Foster and you have Caid, and that's two guys.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: And that's two guys. Frankly, I would be comfortable starting
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: in a playoff game, but you don't really have anyone
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: beyond that that you say, Okay, we're ready to do this.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: And maybe in a short series, maybe in a wildcread series,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: you find yourself being okay. But I just think the
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: National's long term goal is to win World Series, and
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: it is to do it over an extended stretch. And
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: to me, Kad is the only guy under control right
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: now who's in the big leagues who stretched me as
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: a game one, two or three starter, and so I
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: think that's that's kind of going to be a big
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: focal pointer at least for me. What I would think
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: the Nationals will have to consider it the deadline is
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: do we have an extension place for froster. Do we
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: have some sort of package lined up where we are
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: either getting a starter who's in Triple A or Double
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: A right now that we think is in our future,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: or are we getting another prospect that we can eventually
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: trade for a controllable set already in the big league.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: So I think, no matter what their value in return
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: looks like, I think their primary focus as they look
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: down the road is getting a game to a game one,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: a game three starter. Maybe not for this season, but
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: for their kind of extended stretch down the line.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, if I'm Paul Taboni in the Nationals, Foster
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Griffin is a guy that seems to have proven it
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: this season and a guy that I'd like to try
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: and extend and keep around for a while. I know
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: it's a little complicated given his rookie status and everything
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: and whatnot impending lockout that could be coming to baseball,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: But when you see starting pitching, I think you want
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: to try and lock that up. It's one of the
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: most expensive things when you're looking at the free agent
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: market and one of the hardest things to come by.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I'm not familiar with who's going to be coming off
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: the books other than Schooble. Everyone's talking about that, but
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: that's not gonna happen. There are going to be other suitors.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Is there anyone spencer that you see at this deadline
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: that would be a cheap addition for the Nationals that
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: maybe would help out from a starting pitching standpoint.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Not really, And that's not to say it can't happen.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: I just think when you think about all of the
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: contenders in Major League Baseball, there's probably I don't know,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: twenty teams right now that see themselves as a suitor,
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: and probably eighteen of them want starting pitching, right And
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: so when you think about a crop that big, you go,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: can the Nationals outbid these teams for a controllable or
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: a young starting pitcher? It's really hard to see, right,
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Like those teams are incentivized, Like I'll just you know,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: in the Athletic we reported today or Matt gill reported
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: that the Phillies are looking to upgrade starting pitching. Do
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: you see the Nationals like outbidding the Phillies for a starter?
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Like their their farm system is better, but it's the
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Phillies are so incentivized to capitalize on their window right now.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: And so yeah, it's possible that the Nationals could find someone.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I'd say it's more likely that they have someone in
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: or find something like and be like like, hey, I
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: think this guy help us pretty soon.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Do you talk about the Phillies window there? They currently
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: are not that far back of the Braves. There are
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: only four games back, and obviously they control a two
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and a half game lead over the Wildcart at the moment.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: But so much of this will probably be coming down
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: to how other teams play. The Marlins out of nowhere
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: one and nine into their last ten have fallen off
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: the face of the earth after having an incredible stretch
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: of baseball, and so much of it is going to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: come down to where they sit at in the standings.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: And I wish we had Franny on today, but as
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: he had spoken to in a couple episodes ago, I
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: believe he wants to see the guys force the issue,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: and they're certainly doing that at the moment. But other teams,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: as you said, not just smaller windows, but they are
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: incentivized to do it because of maybe where they're at
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: in the standings, and the Nationals are in such a
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: tight division right now, right.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, let's run through it quickly. Right, Philly
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: is more incentivized, Braves is more incentivized. Let's go to
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: the Central. The Brewers have great starting pitching, but they're
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: more incentivized. You could even like I wouldn't argue that
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: the Mets are more incentivized, like they will be probably
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: sellers at this deadline, but they I think see their
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: window as hey twenty twenty seven and beyond, just like
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: the Nationals do. Right, you go out west, like the
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Dodgers have plenty of starting pajing, but who knows they're
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: right like they're They've been linked to Trek's Google as well,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: and so it's just it's hard to see thes outbidding
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: those teams premiere or even kind of second rate starters.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: But that again, that isn't to say it's impossible, especially
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: if the Nationals go on some sort of run.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Here.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Now, well, as we look towards the end of July,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: it is your last chance perhaps to go and get
• 7:48
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• 7:51
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• 7:54
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• 8:09
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• 8:11
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• 8:13
  Speaker 1: going to take a quick break when we come back,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: keep chatting.
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• 9:19
  Speaker 1: As I mentioned, the Nationals have an off day today
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: before opening up a homestand tomorrow against the d Backs
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: and Blue Jays after taking care of business on the
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: road now. Yesterday, late in the game, Luis Garcia Junior
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: provided some insurance in the top of the seventh inning,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: making it five to nothing on en route to their shutout. Spencer.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: These games mean so much in it's difficult for me
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: to grapple around trade rumors around Luis Garcia Junior because
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: he is becoming such a stafle of this lineup in
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the last couple of months. I wonder how his departure
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: may impact the Nationals offensive game plan. We've certainly seen
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the depth here on the road trip, but man, just
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: it's an incredible game for him.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Yesterday, Yeah, so, I wrote about this a little bit
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: at the athletic I honestly just landed off a red eye,
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: so I can't remember I for this this week or
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: last week, but it's worth checking that out. What I
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: would kind of boil this down to is that Louis
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: is having a career, and I also I wouldn't say
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: it's any sort of certainty that he will get dealt.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: But I think the Nationals really like their internal options
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: at first base, right, And so when you think of
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: all the factors at play, where they really like Abbyorte's
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Yo Yo Morales though he just hit the il is
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: someone who's performed really well in triple A. Those are
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: two guys who could fill that spot at first base,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: and I don't think the Nationals see that as a
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: massive downgrade. Now again, they're right on that is remains
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: to be seen. And I think that is also not
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: to say that they aren't bullish on Louis, because they are.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: But that's a factor, right, And you have to think
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: about what Louie might be owed next year in that
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: final year of arbitration, You have to think about the
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: control at play. You have to think about again how
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: incentivized some of these other teams might be to add
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: an infield bad who hits for pal is something that's
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: pretty scarce on the market right now, and so I
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: think when you put all those factors together, this may
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: be a case where it would be really bad for
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: I shouldn't say really bad, It would be really hard
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: for the room that both because they've put themselves in
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: pretty good spot and Louis has been around forever and
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: has kind of seen this thing through. But I think
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: when the national is kind of weigh their options, that
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: will the internal replacements in particular will be a factor.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, I mean, you look at what he's
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: done in the first half in the final game in Colorado.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: You go, man, like, how much would they be losing
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: if they if they got.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Rid of his bad Exactly. A lot of Nationals fans
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: are calling for the names that they have down in
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: the farm system at first base, but you don't know,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: you don't want to catch. You count your chickens until
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: they've hatched, if you will, until you've seen what they
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: can do at quadruple A in the big leagues, and
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: seeing Louis enjoy this career year, as you mentioned, a
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: guy that has stuck it out and has really become
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: a fan favorite here in DC. I think you know,
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the smile that he plays with on the field. He's
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: such such an exciting player to watch and a fun
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: guy to root for. I think it would really hurt
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: the fan base to see his departure, but again, he's
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: such an interesting suitor, or he'd be a nice edition
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: to other teams, given that he has the additional season
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: of control rather than just being a rental for two months.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: It's a very interesting situation and the most intriguing name
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: of the deadline for me around the Nationals.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's definitely one of them. The other compelling point
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: I kind of forgot to bring up earlier, but you
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: kind of just jogged my mind. And I was talking
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: to Louis in Colorado a little bit about kind of
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: the stations right, mentioning again that he has been the
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: longest tenured player on the team. He has seen this
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: team lose year after year after year. Finally, as they're winning,
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: he is in trade conversations. I know that's not an
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: easy thing to swallow. When I asked him about it,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: he was pretty adamant that he is just trying to
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: take this day by day control what he can control.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: All the cliches, but I think there's also an element
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: of truth in there. But I do think that again,
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: that's something consider from just the like beyond the human
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: side of things, like what that does for him, what
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: that does for the clubhouse, what that is for the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: fan base. Trading him might be the smart decision on
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the computer or on paper, but I mean, it's just
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: it's so evident what he is in that clubhouse and frankly,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: what it would mean to him to be playing meaningful
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: baseball in a National uniform that I think that's going
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: to be at least something that the front office will
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: considered before it makes sense.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Well, it's gonna have to be a hefty package. You're
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: going to have to keep the fans happy. That's all
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I'm saying, Spencer. You also wrote this story the other
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: day about the Nationals calling some of their pitches from
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: the dugout. We've seen Foster Griffin and plenty of other
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: pitchers calling their game from the mound. The PitchCom is
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: a very new addition to baseball. But walk me through
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: that story and how that's impacted the Nationals attack from
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: the mound this season.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I actually want to lead with something, one
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: of the commenters on the story said, because I thought
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: it was a really good way to put it, which
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: is the Marlin and the Rockies were the first two
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: teams to do this, which drew some ir right because
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: those aren't teams you think of as real winners, so
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: to speak. But from desperation, the commenter said, kind of
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: leads innovation. And I think that's where the Nationals are
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: at right now, right where they haven't had the success
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: on the mound nearly enough for Lady Terror's liking for
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: the front offices, liking for their own liking, and from
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: that they need to experiment, they need to try things.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: I frankly am bullish on the idea. I think it's
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: a fantastic idea when implemented correctly, and i'd say tactfully.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: They're kind of doing so with a if it ain't broke,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: don't fix it strategy, where at least they're telling me
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: that kaber Ruiz is not doing it because he's in
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: the midst of a career year Kid Cavalline, Foster Griffin
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: are not doing it because they are pitching well and
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: like to call their own pitches. Yeah, at the start
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: of July Nationals, it was a blake Tera kind of
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: led idea said hey, we're going to start calling pictures
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: on the dugout because they believe a the analytical advantage
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: that you get from it, knowing, hey, we have this
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: specific number that says here's a hitter's weakness, here's a
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: pictures strength, here's how they line up, and here's what
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: you should throw. They're suggesting it from the dugout, which
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: is to say they are not mandating it, but you
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: will rarely, at least I've rarely seen a picture shake
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: it off. And yeah, again, they think it gives them
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: that advantage, and then they believe it gives the catcher
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: more time to work on their framing and working on
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: their offense before the game where they don't have to, Like,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: it's a lot to memorize for a catcher, and so
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: when you put all those things together, it feels obvious
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: but also necessarily that it's something where every player on
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: the roster is going to love it, right because it's new.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Because frankly, I'm sure a lot of them believe in
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: are good at calling their own games, and so it's
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: it's a case where I think I heard a lot
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: of positive feedback so far, but at the end of
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: the year, if that's still the case, or how much
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: there is pushback on that front.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought it was a very interesting read and
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: encourage all of our listeners to go check it out
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: on the Athletic and and just this new age of baseball.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Something is changing every day in this game. And I
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: know that's the world we live in today, but to
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: see it impacting the game that I love, Oh, it's
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: shaking me. We're gonna take another quick break, a few
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: more exciting stats when we come back about the National's
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: offensive outbursts this season.
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: It's getting hot out there, people. Let's talk Mac Weldon
• 17:45
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  Speaker 5: I got a couple of linen shirts and linen pants
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  Speaker 5: that are gonna look nice when I go to Europe
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  Speaker 5: here in a couple of weeks.
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: Oh, very nice. Yeah, it's very smooth, very thin. I'm
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: wearing the eighteen hour jersey short and Heather Gray. I'll
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: leave that down here for you and the PEMA short
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: sleeve Henley. The color on mine is Desert Spring, but
• 18:19
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  Speaker 4: with everything in the wardrobe too. It's the classic look.
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  Speaker 4: Code foul.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Ran into my bedroom during the break there brought out
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the Eli Willetts signed card. Do not forget to subscribe people.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: You do not want to miss it when we hit
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: a thousand subscribers later on this season or into the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: off season. Spencer. To wrap up today's show, I just
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: want to throw this tweet some love. Took one hundred
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: and three games for the Nationals to reach one hundred
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: and fifty homers this season. They are not the Baby Nats.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: This offense is not the Baby Nats. A season pass
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: where you're hoping for a couple of leaders to fall
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: or get into the outfield. They can bash the ball
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: over the fence and they're hitting for power, and I
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: think that's just so encouraging when you look at things
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: that playoff teams do well. They can bring the dogs home.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And you look at the guys who
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: are doing it too, right, like we don't know who
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: exactly they're going to trade, or who is going to
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: be on this roster next season, anything like that, but
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: it's a lot of guys where it's like, man, feels
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: like they might stick around, or even if they don't,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: it feels like the coach can teach it to new
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: guys who come along. Where James Wood is doing it
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: and he did it before, but he's about to match
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: his career high like one hundred games in, and you
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: look at CJ, you look at Louis, you look at
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: basically every player on the roster has has already matched
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: their career best in home runs. Curtis Mead has tripled it.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: It is a case where the teams that do really
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: well in October, as you said, Dodgers, Yankees, despite their
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: fans insistence that they don't actually play all that well
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: in October. These are teams that hit home runs and
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: you need that when the margins get really thin in October.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: On top of all the other things that Nationals do,
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: like they lead baseball and stone bases as well. Right,
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: you need to a certain extent a well rounded approach.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: But man, it just feels like you never know exactly
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: what happens in future seasons. It really does feel sustainable
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: at least at the moment.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, one final thing we can wrap up with too.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I don't have any elements to bring this in, but
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: we didn't see incredible base running Tuesday night, But then Wednesday,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I think we saw such a turnaround, which has been
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: such a characteristic of this team. When they do something poorly,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: it seems like Dave resp and address it so well
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: in so quickly, and the base running was just spectacular
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: in the win yesterday.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that's a credit to everyone on
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: the staff and everyone on the rostra. I should say
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: first and foremost, But like if you if you spend
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: a couple of days just watching Corey Ray kind of
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: get these guys together, like very charismatic first base coach.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: But also it just seems to have a real keen
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: eye for pickoff stuff, where like we saw Tenant get
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: picked off, but it had been a while since we
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: saw that happen, or at least consistently with the National
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: As you look at just all the like first to
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: third stuff they do, that comes from pregame work, It
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: comes from preparation, and it comes from having a really
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: talented roster and a roster that fixes things quickly. So
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: it's a combination of lifting these guys up and also
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: making sure that you're holding them accountable. And I think
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: they've had that kind of high support, high challenge environment
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: and really nailed it.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be some exciting baseball as we
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: come up on the trade deadline here. Just phenomenal stuff.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I'm excited to be watching here now on the West Coast.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: So honestly, I enjoyed that because then I can get
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: the games out of the way a little easier and
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: then start to do the post games afterwards. Spencer, anything
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: you want to toss in before we're back tomorrow or Saturday.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: I believe I'm contractually obluculated to say subscribe to both
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: the Athletic as well as the District Territory and yeah,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I think that that's all I got thing coming up.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Thank you all so much for listening, keep on rocking
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: with us, and we will see you in the next one.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: See you later.