Latest / Birdland Territory / Orioles bullpen exceeding early expectations? Tough Zach Eflin news

Transcript

Orioles bullpen exceeding early expectations? Tough Zach Eflin news · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Hey, O's fans. The Birds will be home Friday night.
0:11
Speaker 1: Finally the long road trip is over, and after the
0:14
Speaker 1: sweep of the White Sox, they'll take a six and
0:15
Speaker 1: six record into Oiel Park at Camden Yards. The O's
0:18
Speaker 1: breaking out new City Connect uniforms on Friday night. That
0:21
Speaker 1: should be fun. It should be an exciting weekend in
0:24
Speaker 1: downtown Baltimore and we look forward to that and glad
0:27
Speaker 1: you've joined us. Tonight, It's Steve Maluski, Tim barbe Lace
0:30
Speaker 1: and Brad Brock for the other edition of a Birdland
0:33
Speaker 1: Territory here as part of the Foul Territory Network. A
0:36
Speaker 1: lot of topics really interesting. I think we're going to
0:38
Speaker 1: get to tonight to including the bullpen, how they're doing
0:41
Speaker 1: so far. We're gonna check in on Gunner Henderson's start
0:44
Speaker 1: and what might be in the offing for him this season.
0:47
Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit about abs challenges, which you
0:50
Speaker 1: suddenly are not going as well in Birdland. We'll check
0:53
Speaker 1: it on that and some other things too. But guys,
0:56
Speaker 1: let's start with a bullpen. This was considered a question
0:59
Speaker 1: mark on opening day, and so far the oil bullpen
1:02
Speaker 1: is actually outperforming the rotation and the stats, the bullpen
1:06
Speaker 1: is fifth in the American League three six six. The
1:09
Speaker 1: are a fifth in opponent average two oh eight and
1:12
Speaker 1: fifth in k per nine ten point eight. They're showing
1:16
Speaker 1: some stuff, they're showing some gas, and they're even with
1:20
Speaker 1: guys going to the il, several of them. Let's start
1:23
Speaker 1: with you, Brad. They seem to be overperforming expectations to
1:26
Speaker 1: this point.
1:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think guys are, you know, slowly starting to
1:30
Speaker 2: find their roles here and they're finding good spots to
1:33
Speaker 2: put them in these games. You got to get a
1:34
Speaker 2: lot of credit to the coaching staff when you put
1:37
Speaker 2: these guys in spots that they want them to succeed,
1:39
Speaker 2: and that that goes a long way. So I think
1:42
Speaker 2: guys that are slowly finding their way here and they're
1:44
Speaker 2: just they're doing really well. They're throwing strikes, they're shriking
1:46
Speaker 2: guys out, and they're keeping the lead or when they're
1:50
Speaker 2: down in games, they're keeping them close to allow them
1:52
Speaker 2: to come back and get some more runs and tie
1:55
Speaker 2: the game up. So they're doing a great job so far.
1:57
Speaker 2: It'll be interesting to see how it plays out from here.
1:59
Speaker 2: They have some guys without a ton of experience, so
2:01
Speaker 2: they're all through a great start. That's all you can
2:03
Speaker 2: ask for, and then just kind of hope that they
2:05
Speaker 2: can continue for the six month season.
2:08
Speaker 3: That's the biggest thing, Brad. The question marks surrounding this
2:12
Speaker 3: bullpen were in large part because there's so much inexperience
2:17
Speaker 3: here where last trade deadline, no position group got altered
2:21
Speaker 3: more than the Orioles bullpen. They traded away everybody and
2:25
Speaker 3: it was the land of opportunity, and you saw some
2:28
Speaker 3: of these guys like a wolf Ram, like a Rico
2:30
Speaker 3: Garcia get some extended run last summer and this year
2:35
Speaker 3: you're trying to find these guys that can emerge, and
2:39
Speaker 3: so far, Rico Garcia absolutely fits that bill. He's got
2:43
Speaker 3: six scoreless appearances. He recorded his first MLB save yesterday
2:48
Speaker 3: and Anthony Nuniez, I know we touched on it yesterday, guys,
2:51
Speaker 3: But the fact that Craig albern has had the confidence
2:55
Speaker 3: in him to put him back in a high leverage
2:57
Speaker 3: situation after Saturday not going his way, he came through
3:01
Speaker 3: in a big, big way. And Rico Garcia, he's in
3:04
Speaker 3: the top percentile in the league in terms of ground
3:07
Speaker 3: ball rate and he's mister basses loaded guys opponents are
3:12
Speaker 3: one for fifteen against Garcia with bases full.
3:16
Speaker 1: In his career, he is quite a story. Went to
3:21
Speaker 1: Hawaii Pacific University. This is his seventh team. He's not
3:25
Speaker 1: a spring chicken anymore. He pitching the WBC for Puerto Rico.
3:30
Speaker 1: And one thing that jumped out me about the game yesterday,
3:32
Speaker 1: guys his oil pitchers had very little swing and miss.
3:35
Speaker 1: You go look at the statcast stats with percentage. Even
3:39
Speaker 1: Bradish he usually has some whift stuff, he didn't have
3:42
Speaker 1: it yesterday. Other guys who pitched were not getting a
3:45
Speaker 1: lot of swing and miss. In comes Garcia. He gets
3:48
Speaker 1: five whiffs in seven swings. That's a tremendous percentage three
3:52
Speaker 1: and for three off the change up, and Brad is
3:55
Speaker 1: the stuff that good. Does the league not know him
3:57
Speaker 1: yet or maybe this guy is coming into his own
4:00
Speaker 1: in front of our eyes here?
4:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's probably a little bit of combination
4:04
Speaker 2: of all that. You know, the league is gonna they're
4:07
Speaker 2: trying to figure him out, and I'm sure teams will
4:09
Speaker 2: have more of an idea of what he's trying to
4:10
Speaker 2: do out there. But his stuff is good. It plays
4:13
Speaker 2: really well. Like I said, Yet we kind of talked
4:14
Speaker 2: about yesterday. Left the change ups into lefties. He's a
4:18
Speaker 2: really dangerous pitch, but he went back in their time
4:20
Speaker 2: and time again, and it's obviously the strength of his
4:22
Speaker 2: and it's not something you see very often. So he's
4:25
Speaker 2: got a lot of confidence in what he throws. And
4:27
Speaker 2: you can tell by the way the season has started
4:29
Speaker 2: that he's going after guys. I know yesterday wasn't the
4:31
Speaker 2: best example of that, but he wants to glad for
4:33
Speaker 2: these guys, get ahead and counts and then go to
4:35
Speaker 2: that change up and get swinging. This stuff, which he
4:37
Speaker 2: obviously has and you're talking about Neonton is to me,
4:40
Speaker 2: the interesting part with him is that he did not
4:42
Speaker 2: have to start the year in this roster. He has options,
4:44
Speaker 2: so they could have sent him to the minor league.
4:45
Speaker 2: So they obviously see him playing a big role in
4:48
Speaker 2: this bullpen and to me, it shows, like we said,
4:50
Speaker 2: bringing him back out in that same spot there in
4:53
Speaker 2: the eighth inning yesterday, that just goes to show where
4:55
Speaker 2: they think that he could land somewhere in this bullpen rotation.
4:59
Speaker 3: And Newton, there's another crazy story, Brad and the fact
5:02
Speaker 3: that he was acquired in the Cedric Mullins trade that
5:05
Speaker 3: this was a two way player. He hadn't thrown a
5:08
Speaker 3: pitch in the majors until he made this roster and
5:11
Speaker 3: the Orioles, they gave him an opportunity, and he's certainly
5:14
Speaker 3: making the most of it because the first couple appearances
5:17
Speaker 3: we saw him in there were more low leverage situations.
5:20
Speaker 3: But the stuff plays. The stuff is electric that Nunez has.
5:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got a power for seemer and a sinker.
5:28
Speaker 2: You don't see that too often from relievers, and to
5:30
Speaker 2: have both those pitches is huge.
5:32
Speaker 4: His story is got to be.
5:33
Speaker 2: One of the more unbelievable ones in baseball, getting drafted
5:36
Speaker 2: as a position player, going back to college, then getting
5:39
Speaker 2: drafted as a pitcher, and now he's made his way
5:41
Speaker 2: to Baltimore and he seems to be one of these
5:43
Speaker 2: big arms that you hope emerges and he can be
5:45
Speaker 2: out there in the seven ninth inning anytime they want
5:48
Speaker 2: him out there now.
5:50
Speaker 3: And I think another development for this bullpen Steve is
5:53
Speaker 3: Tyler Wells, where his first couple of outings it didn't
5:57
Speaker 3: go his way, but now he's had a couple of
5:59
Speaker 3: scoreless I'm super high on Tyler Wells and We've seen
6:02
Speaker 3: him in a multitude of roles since making his Orioles debut.
6:06
Speaker 4: Heck, he was a closer in.
6:08
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty one, Steve, then he was a starter, had
6:11
Speaker 3: the lowest whip in the first half of the twenty
6:13
Speaker 3: twenty three season. But he's been in his best in
6:16
Speaker 3: the bullpen, and I think that he can be a
6:18
Speaker 3: weapon out of the pen.
6:20
Speaker 4: You know what I love about? Sorry, Steve, what they
6:23
Speaker 4: what about?
6:24
Speaker 1: Point in Toyler isn't even really locked in yet, But
6:27
Speaker 1: go ahead, Brad fin you were no.
6:28
Speaker 2: I was gonna just to that kind of that point,
6:30
Speaker 2: like he's coming off injury also, and they had him
6:33
Speaker 2: out there in the eighth inning on opening Day, and
6:35
Speaker 2: I love that they brought him back and just kind
6:37
Speaker 2: of use him in multiple inning outings in the sixth
6:39
Speaker 2: seventh thing and kind of get his feedback under him
6:42
Speaker 2: here so that they know he's going to play a
6:44
Speaker 2: big role in his bullpen as the season goes along.
6:46
Speaker 2: He's done a great job bridging it to the guys
6:48
Speaker 2: in the back, and I just I thought that was
6:50
Speaker 2: a really smart move to kind of get him out
6:51
Speaker 2: there in a little bit lower leverage situation because it's
6:54
Speaker 2: tough going from you know, spring train, you're not sure
6:56
Speaker 2: if you're going to start, if you're going to relieve.
6:58
Speaker 2: He's kind of done everything. I only found out he
7:00
Speaker 2: was going to be in the bullpen. You go out
7:02
Speaker 2: there opening day, you're setting up the closer, and didn't
7:05
Speaker 2: have his best outing that day, but they kind of,
7:08
Speaker 2: you know, took it a step back, got him in
7:10
Speaker 2: some lower leverage innings, and now you can see he's
7:12
Speaker 2: starting to roll again. His fastball, you know, is going
7:14
Speaker 2: to play up, and he's thrown ninety two ninety three
7:16
Speaker 2: from what I've seen. You know it's going to be
7:18
Speaker 2: higher later on the season once he gets going. So
7:20
Speaker 2: that's a really good sign that he's getting the bad
7:22
Speaker 2: contact with that pitch up on the zone at ninety
7:24
Speaker 2: two ninety three right now. Got to figure he's gonna
7:26
Speaker 2: be somewhere ninety four to ninety six once he really
7:29
Speaker 2: gets going during the season.
7:32
Speaker 1: So it's a bullpen showing potential right now those fans,
7:34
Speaker 1: and we're going to see how that plays out. It's
7:36
Speaker 1: the names are not what you would predict it a
7:38
Speaker 1: week ago. From the left side. Right now, they got
7:40
Speaker 1: Grant Woolf for him and Nick Ricka, a new pitcher
7:43
Speaker 1: they acquired a couple of days ago trade with Saint
7:46
Speaker 1: Louis for a minor league outfielder. We haven't seen him
7:48
Speaker 1: pitch yet. He's only pitched to a major league innings
7:50
Speaker 1: scoreless last year for the Cardinals Hellsley of course, closing,
7:54
Speaker 1: and then from the right side in some order you
7:57
Speaker 1: got Wells, Garcia, Cano, Nunyezarez. So that's not the makeup.
8:02
Speaker 1: We were thinking. You've got eight and ends and Kittrich
8:04
Speaker 1: on the il. So it's really it takes a village,
8:08
Speaker 1: so to speak, in a bullpen, Brad, you know that.
8:10
Speaker 1: And I think one thing that's been interesting is Albert
8:12
Speaker 1: Nasa has lived up to his preseason word that he
8:15
Speaker 1: will use guys in various roles in the pen early,
8:18
Speaker 1: see how it sorts out, and it'll shake out. They'll
8:21
Speaker 1: earn their roles, so to speak, going forward.
8:25
Speaker 4: I think it's a great way to go about it.
8:27
Speaker 2: You know, get these guys opportunities and you kind of
8:29
Speaker 2: find out where they're going to fall from there. I
8:31
Speaker 2: just I love kind of like an inner bullpen competition,
8:34
Speaker 2: having guys not necessarily you're not rooting against each other,
8:37
Speaker 2: You're all rooting for each other, but you want to
8:39
Speaker 2: out do the next guy. When I was pishing in
8:41
Speaker 2: Baltimore with those good bullpens we had, it was you
8:43
Speaker 2: wanted to live up to the darrenal Days and the
8:45
Speaker 2: Zach Britons. You didn't want them to upstage you when
8:47
Speaker 2: you're out there, and it kind of creates this healthy
8:49
Speaker 2: competition where everybody's trying to He'll do the guy that
8:53
Speaker 2: pitches before them or after them, because you want a
8:55
Speaker 2: big role, because if you think this team's going to win,
8:57
Speaker 2: you want to be the guy out there when games
8:59
Speaker 2: are big and they're on the line at the end
9:00
Speaker 2: of the season. And I love it and I think
9:02
Speaker 2: you know's out And yesterday was really good too. He
9:04
Speaker 2: showed some really good stuff. And that's a guy that
9:06
Speaker 2: kind of gets lost in the shuffle with this bullpen
9:08
Speaker 2: with him kind of having a down year last year,
9:10
Speaker 2: but he was so good for the Orioles for a
9:13
Speaker 2: couple of seasons that you hope that he can get
9:15
Speaker 2: back to his form and then where does he slotted
9:17
Speaker 2: in with this bullpen. It just it's gonna hopefully be
9:19
Speaker 2: a wealth of arms for Alvin has to be able
9:21
Speaker 2: to use and that's a great problem to have as
9:23
Speaker 2: the manager, Brad.
9:25
Speaker 3: Is that difficult though as a reliever not having those
9:28
Speaker 3: set roles? Hey, I'm the seventh inning guy, I'm the
9:30
Speaker 3: setup guy. Can that be difficult or do you just
9:33
Speaker 3: roll with the punches?
9:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I think it's It's always great to have
9:36
Speaker 2: a set spot. But I think if you have at
9:38
Speaker 2: least an idea, like I'm a fifth to seventh inning guy,
9:40
Speaker 2: that at least eliminates you having to be.
9:42
Speaker 4: Ready in the second inning.
9:43
Speaker 2: That was always my biggest thing was, you know, some
9:45
Speaker 2: managers kind of didn't have roles and it was anywhere
9:48
Speaker 2: from the first of the ninth. You know, it's really
9:50
Speaker 2: hard to be locked in for nine innings every single
9:52
Speaker 2: game on your toes and that phone rings, you don't
9:54
Speaker 2: know what it's going to be. I always felt like,
9:56
Speaker 2: if you were able to at least give me a
9:58
Speaker 2: three inning window, and if it ends up not working
10:00
Speaker 2: out that way, it happens. It happens any game, can
10:03
Speaker 2: it can happen that way. But if you can give
10:04
Speaker 2: me like a three inning window, I at least know
10:06
Speaker 2: to be locked in then and when the phone rings,
10:08
Speaker 2: just be ready to go. And as the season shakes out.
10:11
Speaker 2: I mean, as much as you want to shuffle guys
10:13
Speaker 2: between rolls. If guys prove themselves, you're going to have
10:16
Speaker 2: a solidified ninth, they're going to have a solidified eighth,
10:18
Speaker 2: and then it kind of shuffles in from there the
10:20
Speaker 2: fifth to sixth, seventh inning, guys. But right now, you
10:23
Speaker 2: just got to be ready to go whenever your name's called,
10:25
Speaker 2: just go out there and get the outs.
10:28
Speaker 1: Well, guys, good news. Viewers are finding us already. It's
10:31
Speaker 1: only our third show and the first two are getting
10:33
Speaker 1: a lot of views, and fans are already asking Tim
10:36
Speaker 1: and I on social media where where can they find us?
10:38
Speaker 1: Beyond YouTube? And I've been told a Spotify and Apple,
10:43
Speaker 1: and some people have said they didn't find us on Apple,
10:45
Speaker 1: but maybe we just got a search harder. But I
10:47
Speaker 1: think it's all there. So places you would hear a
10:50
Speaker 1: podcast traditionally, we're there. We're going to be there. You'll
10:54
Speaker 1: find it. So you keep searching for Birdland Territory, keep
10:57
Speaker 1: subscribing and following, and we really appreciate it. As we're
11:00
Speaker 1: up to a great start with this three man show.
11:03
Speaker 1: We got a pretty good free man weave going here.
11:05
Speaker 1: So before we were taping on the other show, our
11:08
Speaker 1: second show, and after that show we found out the
11:11
Speaker 1: bad news about zach Eflnl surgery that came out Wednesday
11:15
Speaker 1: night after his August back surgery, which he was coming
11:19
Speaker 1: back from. He threw so great in that first game.
11:21
Speaker 1: He Fann seven and three and two thirds. He was rolling.
11:24
Speaker 1: He told me how excited he was to pitch this
11:26
Speaker 1: season with a healthy back for the first time in years.
11:29
Speaker 1: And then the elbow goes out. Man, Tim, you talked
11:33
Speaker 1: to him many times over the years, I think in interviews,
11:36
Speaker 1: and so our heart goes out to this guy.
11:39
Speaker 3: He's a great guy. He was a regular on our show,
11:42
Speaker 3: I believe in twenty twenty four. Down the stretch we
11:44
Speaker 3: would have him on every other week, and everyone raves
11:47
Speaker 3: about him as a person and what type of leader
11:50
Speaker 3: he is in the clubhouse. But I kept saying all
11:54
Speaker 3: off season, leading up to opening day, how he was
11:58
Speaker 3: the ultimate X factor in this rotation to me, Brad,
12:02
Speaker 3: because people forget how good and consistent he was. When
12:07
Speaker 3: the Orioles acquired him at the twenty twenty four trade deadline,
12:11
Speaker 3: ten of his first twelve starts were quality starts, and
12:15
Speaker 3: he was slotted in to be the number five guy,
12:18
Speaker 3: and I think Mike Elias. My assumption is that heading
12:22
Speaker 3: into spring training, everyone just assumed that he was going
12:24
Speaker 3: to start the year on the il, but he pitched
12:27
Speaker 3: his way onto the twenty six man roster. That final
12:31
Speaker 3: grape Fruit League start he made against the Yankees, he
12:34
Speaker 3: was lights out. You end up optioning Dean Kramer down
12:37
Speaker 3: and like Steve said, he had seven strikeouts in that
12:41
Speaker 3: first start that he had prior to getting pulled with
12:43
Speaker 3: the elbow injury that tied a season high last year.
12:47
Speaker 3: You just you really feel for the person Zach Effer.
12:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's the first thing I want to say,
12:53
Speaker 2: just it's a horrible injury to have to go through,
12:55
Speaker 2: but having to fight his way back from the previous
12:58
Speaker 2: one so excited for the season, doesn't see this on
13:00
Speaker 2: the horizon, then it just happens. You hate to see
13:03
Speaker 2: it for really anybody. But obviously I've never heard a
13:07
Speaker 2: bad thing about Zach Eflin, and it's just heart definitely
13:11
Speaker 2: goes out for him, And like you said, it's just
13:13
Speaker 2: now who's going to step up and who's gonna be
13:14
Speaker 2: able to feel that slot that he was going to
13:17
Speaker 2: have and like you said, with him slaved to start
13:21
Speaker 2: on the IL but then starts the season. Now it's
13:23
Speaker 2: kind of like they have to figure it out on
13:24
Speaker 2: the fly here and hopefully some guys.
13:26
Speaker 4: Can step up.
13:27
Speaker 2: But yeah, definitely a tough injury for the Oriols and
13:29
Speaker 2: they have him sloted in his number five for this rotation.
13:32
Speaker 2: I mean, what a luxury to have in the fifth
13:34
Speaker 2: slot there. So it's going to be interesting to see
13:36
Speaker 2: how it plays out the rest of the year. And
13:38
Speaker 2: you know, hopefully he can recover from this and still
13:40
Speaker 2: get a chance another chance to pitch, if it's not
13:42
Speaker 2: for the Oriels somebody else.
13:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, we hope. So he's a great teammate. You talk
13:47
Speaker 1: to his teammates, you see the affection and how they feel,
13:50
Speaker 1: the respect they had for Zach. Eflin chain Bos just
13:52
Speaker 1: talked glowingly, so excited to be reunited with him in Baltimore.
13:56
Speaker 1: And then now Zach is gone after one start me
14:00
Speaker 1: in an interview right before opening day. His arm slot
14:04
Speaker 1: was higher now a couple of years ago when he
14:07
Speaker 1: was sixth for the Cy Young Award, I think it
14:09
Speaker 1: was twenty three with the rays is the highest arm slot,
14:13
Speaker 1: you know, and the measurements they'd given stackcast. It had
14:15
Speaker 1: been lowered each of the last two years as he
14:17
Speaker 1: was compensating for the back. But now his mechanics were
14:21
Speaker 1: just like he wanted them, the manipulation of the breaking
14:24
Speaker 1: balls with the higher armslot. He said, I said, are
14:27
Speaker 1: you ready for another time? Then Cy Young finished, he said,
14:31
Speaker 1: I don't want to say it that way, but it's
14:32
Speaker 1: just the best spot I've been in in years to
14:35
Speaker 1: pitch and have success, and so such a blow. We
14:39
Speaker 1: wish him the best, great guy. Oil fans have gotten
14:41
Speaker 1: to know him in a short time and really like
14:43
Speaker 1: Zach Efflin, so we're sending good thoughts his way for sure.
14:47
Speaker 1: Berdland's territory rolls on here tonight as we get ready
14:50
Speaker 1: for the Oriols to open a homestand against the Giants
14:53
Speaker 1: on Friday night. Let's talk about Gunnor Henderson for a minute,
14:57
Speaker 1: and this guy has often a pretty good star. He's
15:00
Speaker 1: hitting home runs against lefties. I think he has two
15:03
Speaker 1: already had three all last year. So guys, last year
15:06
Speaker 1: Gunner filled up the statue, but it was still a
15:09
Speaker 1: down year from the previous year. His ops was seven
15:11
Speaker 1: eighty seven and his war via Baseball Reference was eleventh
15:17
Speaker 1: in the American League. These are all really good numbers,
15:19
Speaker 1: but the year previously he was a fourth for the
15:22
Speaker 1: MVP Award, trailing only Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt, and Juan Soto.
15:27
Speaker 1: That's the company he was keeping when his OPS was
15:30
Speaker 1: eight ninety three. By the way, that's one fifty five
15:34
Speaker 1: OPS plus, so much better than league average. And he
15:38
Speaker 1: showed us all his skills. It looks like tim were
15:42
Speaker 1: knocking on wood for him and the Orioles. He's going
15:45
Speaker 1: to do that same thing this year.
15:47
Speaker 3: The power is back. Steve the four home runs, and
15:49
Speaker 3: he said especially the fact that he did it off
15:52
Speaker 3: left handed pitching, where he was so good against left
15:56
Speaker 3: handed pitching in twenty twenty four when he hit thirty
16:00
Speaker 3: seven home runs. And unfortunately for Gunner Henderson, he suffered
16:04
Speaker 3: the intercostal strain during spring training that got his season
16:07
Speaker 3: off to a late start. He still ended up playing
16:10
Speaker 3: in the most games that an Oreo played all of
16:13
Speaker 3: last season, and he dealt with the shoulder impingement where
16:16
Speaker 3: he said that that really zapped him of his power.
16:18
Speaker 3: He went from thirty seven home runs to seventeen home runs.
16:22
Speaker 3: But Steve, you gave out the numbers. That's just the
16:24
Speaker 3: bar that Gunner Henderson has set. He said it so
16:27
Speaker 3: high that last year is this quote unquote down year
16:31
Speaker 3: for him, But he still made strides in different areas defensively,
16:35
Speaker 3: even in twenty twenty four, we remember those errors really
16:38
Speaker 3: came in bunches in the middle of summer. He had
16:41
Speaker 3: one error in the final ninety three games of last season.
16:45
Speaker 3: We also saw him steal a ton of bags at
16:49
Speaker 3: career high thirty stolen bases last year. So there still
16:52
Speaker 3: was plenty of good last season. But I just have
16:56
Speaker 3: been expecting Brad that this is going to be a
16:59
Speaker 3: Gunner Henderson tour. I'm sure he's still really upset at
17:03
Speaker 3: his lack of playtime in the World Baseball Classic, Mark
17:06
Speaker 3: de Rosa not putting him in the starting lineup as
17:09
Speaker 3: much as Orioles fans and Gunner Henderson would like. But
17:13
Speaker 3: Gunner's off to a great start. Brat, Yeah, he is.
17:16
Speaker 3: He looks he's a true five tool player.
17:19
Speaker 2: And like he said, it's almost like he set the
17:20
Speaker 2: bar too high for himself in twenty twenty three, where
17:24
Speaker 2: he had in twenty twenty four, where he had such
17:26
Speaker 2: amazing season, So I think it's just one of those
17:29
Speaker 2: things where he's one of the best players in the league.
17:31
Speaker 2: You can probably talk to any player and they're gonna
17:33
Speaker 2: name him in the top ten if you had to
17:35
Speaker 2: name ten players in the league.
17:37
Speaker 4: So he just he brings so much to the game.
17:39
Speaker 2: Like you're talking about on defense, some of the plays
17:41
Speaker 2: he made last series from the outfield grass, the throws
17:44
Speaker 2: that he was making, just plays it. He's a player
17:47
Speaker 2: that brings more to the table that even if he's
17:49
Speaker 2: not hitting, you still want him out there every single
17:51
Speaker 2: day playing shortstop. And that doesn't go to too many
17:54
Speaker 2: guys across the league. But I really like this swing
17:57
Speaker 2: he talked about the other night in the broadcast, and
17:59
Speaker 2: after that in his head still and his last two
18:01
Speaker 2: games of that White Sox series, you could say you
18:04
Speaker 2: could tell that he knows this swing so well. And
18:06
Speaker 2: that's what I love about Gunner Henderson is that he
18:09
Speaker 2: knows his swing so well. He knows what's off kilter,
18:11
Speaker 2: and he's able to make adjustments on the fly, and
18:13
Speaker 2: he just stayed in on those lefties and got the
18:15
Speaker 2: pitches up on the zone and was able to drive
18:17
Speaker 2: them out for two big home runs during that series,
18:19
Speaker 2: and that's just the kind of.
18:20
Speaker 4: Player that you almost come to expect.
18:22
Speaker 2: You he goes three games not a home run, and
18:24
Speaker 2: it's almost like what happened to Gunner. It's it's just
18:27
Speaker 2: the expectation that people have, and he probably the first
18:30
Speaker 2: one to tell you that he wants to live up
18:32
Speaker 2: to those expectations. So you want to have a player
18:34
Speaker 2: like out there, like him out there, and he's gonna
18:37
Speaker 2: have a comeback year this year. You can just kind
18:39
Speaker 2: of tell what the swings he was getting towards the
18:41
Speaker 2: end of the series, and as the weather warms up
18:43
Speaker 2: at Cammy Yards, we don't how the ball fly, so
18:45
Speaker 2: good start for him to get going in the right direction.
18:48
Speaker 2: I feel like in this last series.
18:51
Speaker 1: Seems like seventeen homers, he's going to hit a few
18:53
Speaker 1: more than that this year. He hit thirty seven two
18:55
Speaker 1: years ago. And you know, it's interesting we're talking about
18:57
Speaker 1: e Flyn's mechanics with the back. Gunner's shoulder impacted his
19:02
Speaker 1: swing mechanics last year. Now we can know that at
19:05
Speaker 1: the time the oor Els weren't going to volunteer that,
19:07
Speaker 1: nor was Gunner obviously in season, but he was pounding
19:10
Speaker 1: the ball into the ground, and if you hit it
19:13
Speaker 1: in the ground, a nick go over the fence. That
19:15
Speaker 1: part I do know. So lifting in it more in
19:17
Speaker 1: the air, like he's now able to do with a
19:19
Speaker 1: healthy shoulder is gonna make a difference for this guy. Now,
19:22
Speaker 1: I want to hear both your take on what difference
19:25
Speaker 1: Alonzo batting behind him could make, because that's what we've
19:28
Speaker 1: seen so far, whether gunners hit first or second. He said,
19:31
Speaker 1: water Alonzo some protection there, Alonzo mostly when he's second,
19:35
Speaker 1: you know, second and third. How can that help Brad?
19:39
Speaker 1: How can that help Gunner?
19:40
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think having the righty behind him is huge.
19:42
Speaker 4: When you have it doesn't matter who's on the mound.
19:44
Speaker 2: I mean, having the righty behind him is gonna make
19:47
Speaker 2: pitchers have to throw more pitches in his own hand
19:49
Speaker 2: because you put Gunner on there's a chance of a
19:51
Speaker 2: stolen base and Pete's up, and we know Pete is
19:54
Speaker 2: an arby on machine.
19:55
Speaker 4: So whether gunners on base or.
19:58
Speaker 2: Pete's coming up behind it just you don't want to
20:00
Speaker 2: put Gunner on base. And I think teams are gonna
20:03
Speaker 2: be forced to make him have to take the ball.
20:05
Speaker 2: And that's a great problem to have if you're Gunner
20:07
Speaker 2: Henderson and a great problem for the Oils to have
20:10
Speaker 2: because you know Pete's gonna come around and he's gonna
20:12
Speaker 2: start knocking guys in and Gunner on the bases is
20:14
Speaker 2: a headache for pitchers. So they're gonna start throwing the ball.
20:17
Speaker 2: They're gonna start pounding the zone with him having Pete
20:20
Speaker 2: behind him as protection, and I just have to imagine
20:22
Speaker 2: that he's gonna see a lot more pitches in the
20:24
Speaker 2: zone that he can pound.
20:25
Speaker 3: That's the biggest thing. Where you add Taylor Ward, you
20:29
Speaker 3: add Pete Alonso, you take so much pressure off Gunner Henderson.
20:33
Speaker 3: And I know Michael Oas has mentioned the fact that
20:36
Speaker 3: this team has lacked the veteran leadership the guys that
20:39
Speaker 3: have been there done that in recent years where it
20:42
Speaker 3: takes so much pressure off the young guys, but especially
20:45
Speaker 3: Gunner Henderson. You got the righty and Taylor Ward lefty,
20:48
Speaker 3: and Gunner Henderson righty and Pete Alonso. And when Adley's
20:51
Speaker 3: in the lineup, a switch hitter, bat and clean up.
20:54
Speaker 3: So it gives Gunner that protection from a left he
20:56
Speaker 3: coming in.
20:57
Speaker 4: And Pete he's gonna hit. He's coming off.
21:00
Speaker 3: A rough road trip. He was two for twenty five
21:03
Speaker 3: in that road trip, and when Pete starts hitting, then
21:06
Speaker 3: really watch out.
21:08
Speaker 1: Gunner's an emotional guy. We saw how he rounded the
21:10
Speaker 1: bases when he hit essentially a game winning homer. We
21:13
Speaker 1: saw in the WBC. He said to media earlier that
21:17
Speaker 1: he picks his spots because you can't play with that
21:21
Speaker 1: emotion for one sixty two. It's not the NFL too
21:24
Speaker 1: many games, but there are times when we're going to
21:27
Speaker 1: see that fire and passion. I think fans love that absolutely.
21:32
Speaker 3: That was one of the biggest moments in the World
21:34
Speaker 3: Baseball Classic where he turned that single into a double.
21:36
Speaker 3: I think it was an error by the center fielder,
21:39
Speaker 3: but he gets up and he's screaming and yelling towards
21:41
Speaker 3: the dugout. And we've seen it both ways. I remember
21:44
Speaker 3: the second game of the season, Brad where Gunner was
21:47
Speaker 3: up in a bases loaded situation, two.
21:49
Speaker 4: Outs, big.
21:53
Speaker 3: Time spot late in the game. He ended up striking
21:56
Speaker 3: us throat or I think popping out, ended up throwing
21:58
Speaker 3: his bat and Craig Albert he was asked about it
22:01
Speaker 3: after the game and he said, look, man like, we
22:03
Speaker 3: love Gunner, We love him having that type of fire
22:06
Speaker 3: and that's just who he is man as Steve, you
22:08
Speaker 3: know from covering him being in the clubhouse, it seems
22:11
Speaker 3: like interviews he's more of a calm, cool, collected guy.
22:15
Speaker 3: But in between the foul lines, man he plays with
22:18
Speaker 3: his hair on fire.
22:19
Speaker 2: Brad Yeah, And to me that that passion that he
22:22
Speaker 2: shows means that he cares, and that's all fans can
22:24
Speaker 2: ask for, and that's all they want to see, is
22:26
Speaker 2: that a guy cares when he's out there, and like
22:28
Speaker 2: you want to keep your emotions in intact for like
22:31
Speaker 2: you said, it's too long of a season for one
22:32
Speaker 2: hundred and six to two games, but when a guy
22:34
Speaker 2: gets mad, I want to see it. Fans want to
22:37
Speaker 2: see that, you know, like it means that it means
22:39
Speaker 2: this game means something to them, that that meant something
22:42
Speaker 2: to them. And when they do something good too, I
22:44
Speaker 2: want to see him get excited because at the end
22:46
Speaker 2: of the day, it's a kid's game and everybody wants
22:47
Speaker 2: to see the players have fun. So I love seeing it.
22:50
Speaker 2: I love having guy I love having guys like that
22:52
Speaker 2: behind me. I want to see the emotion when you
22:54
Speaker 2: have it. It doesn't need to be every single bad and
22:56
Speaker 2: it doesn't need to be ridiculous, but when it comes out,
22:59
Speaker 2: you know that the guy really cares about it and
23:01
Speaker 2: that the game means a lot to them. And that's
23:02
Speaker 2: to me, that's the number one thing you just want
23:04
Speaker 2: to see from the players that they care. Obviously, all
23:06
Speaker 2: players care, trust me, every single player out there wants
23:09
Speaker 2: to do well. Nobody wants to be humiliated, nobody wants
23:11
Speaker 2: to do bad for teams. But when players show the emotion,
23:14
Speaker 2: that really shows the fans like, Wow, this guy really
23:16
Speaker 2: wants to be out there and he wants to do
23:18
Speaker 2: well for this team, not only for himself, but for
23:20
Speaker 2: the team. And that's that's one of those things I
23:22
Speaker 2: love seeing from players.
23:24
Speaker 1: It is a pleasure to watch guys on the farm
23:26
Speaker 1: as I get to do, and then see them thrive
23:28
Speaker 1: in volhomore and we got a superstar in the making
23:30
Speaker 1: here and Gunner Henderson, and so it's going to be
23:33
Speaker 1: fun to watch where he goes from here in twenty
23:35
Speaker 1: twenty six. Where we go from here is some talk
23:38
Speaker 1: about ABS challenges. That's next on the Birdland Territory.
23:45
Speaker 3: Big Bad Morning Show Finny and Haney Inside Access Live
23:50
Speaker 3: on YouTube weekdays six till six. Search Baltimore one O
23:54
Speaker 3: five seven the Fan. Subscribe for daily Short's right to
23:57
Speaker 3: your phone and never miss what you missed one five
24:00
Speaker 3: seven the Fan.
24:03
Speaker 1: So guys abs challenges. It was going great for the
24:05
Speaker 1: Oriels until it wasn't. They were twelve and two, but
24:09
Speaker 1: now they're twelve and ten. So their last eight challenges
24:12
Speaker 1: they have lost. That's a losing streak you don't want.
24:15
Speaker 1: They're down to fifty five percent correct, which is a
24:18
Speaker 1: little above league gaverage. They were much better obviously at
24:21
Speaker 1: twelve and two. The batters are six and seven, little
24:24
Speaker 1: under five hundred. The fielders mostly catchers of course, are
24:28
Speaker 1: six and three. Pete Alonzo's two and oh, gunners one
24:30
Speaker 1: and two. That's the challenge. You're a leader board right now,
24:33
Speaker 1: some stats on that. So the Oils are in a
24:36
Speaker 1: challenge losing streak. Does that mean they should consider changing
24:40
Speaker 1: how they do business?
24:41
Speaker 3: Tim you start, well, I think this is always going
24:45
Speaker 3: to be a feeling out process here in Craig Albernaz
24:48
Speaker 3: I remember him talking during spring training.
24:50
Speaker 4: We're early on.
24:51
Speaker 3: He was saying, yeah, guys, just challenge get the get
24:53
Speaker 3: your feel for all of this. But you mentioned the
24:56
Speaker 3: strong start that they had in the third game of
24:59
Speaker 3: the season and really sticks out to me that game
25:01
Speaker 3: against the Twins, the rubber match. They won five of
25:05
Speaker 3: six challenges that day and that went such a long
25:08
Speaker 3: way in them winning that ball game. There were multiple
25:12
Speaker 3: full counts that were walks ended up being strikeouts. But
25:16
Speaker 3: I think you do have to be more measured in this,
25:19
Speaker 3: and you're still trying to kind of figure out who
25:22
Speaker 3: were guys that you can trust with the challenge, who
25:24
Speaker 3: were guys that you should probably say hold off unless
25:27
Speaker 3: you're really really sure. But Brad, I'd love to hear
25:31
Speaker 3: your perspective, being, you know, a former reliever, just abs
25:35
Speaker 3: in general, how would you would have handled it as
25:38
Speaker 3: a pitcher.
25:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's I think it's one of the more
25:42
Speaker 2: interesting storylines of the entire baseball season, just to see
25:45
Speaker 2: how teams are going to do it and how it's
25:48
Speaker 2: going to continue to play out of the season goes along.
25:50
Speaker 2: I think the point number one is this is showing
25:53
Speaker 2: how good the umpires actually are. As much as fans
25:55
Speaker 2: want to complain, as much as players love to complain
25:57
Speaker 2: about umpires, they are really good at their job, saying
26:00
Speaker 2: I mean if they miss a pitch by less than
26:02
Speaker 2: point one inches. It goes to show how good and
26:05
Speaker 2: measured they are in what the zone is. But getting
26:08
Speaker 2: back to your point about the I would have loved
26:10
Speaker 2: to have had one late in the game, just in case,
26:12
Speaker 2: because you know, the pitches met a little bit more
26:14
Speaker 2: in the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning. So I think
26:17
Speaker 2: some of these early on. I remember when we Brian
26:20
Speaker 2: Reynolds on the Pirates missed two early on and it
26:22
Speaker 2: was the first or second inning in those games, and
26:24
Speaker 2: that's to me, it's like those pitches don't seem to
26:27
Speaker 2: matter as much as they do later in the game.
26:30
Speaker 2: Ryan Flaherty, bench coach for the Cubs, says, they kind
26:32
Speaker 2: of have like a sheet talk to him about they
26:34
Speaker 2: kind of have like a almost like a formula that
26:37
Speaker 2: if you know runners in scoring position and a team,
26:39
Speaker 2: it tips the count one way or the other. Maybe
26:41
Speaker 2: that's a good shot, but otherwise let's hold off. It's
26:44
Speaker 2: just gonna be interesting to see how teams played. I
26:46
Speaker 2: think you got to hold off for big spots. I
26:48
Speaker 2: think bases empty, don't even bother. Just play the game
26:51
Speaker 2: as is, especially for the first three innings. If there's
26:54
Speaker 2: nobody on base, there's not a reason to even think
26:56
Speaker 2: about touching your cat. But that's just how I'm kind
26:59
Speaker 2: of viewing it right now.
27:00
Speaker 3: No, and to your point, Brad, it kind of burned
27:03
Speaker 3: the Orioles. I remember what was it last Saturday where
27:06
Speaker 3: Ryan Helsley they didn't have the challenge he wanted the challenge.
27:10
Speaker 3: It would have ended up being a strikeout, and then
27:12
Speaker 3: the very next pitch ended up being the walk off.
27:15
Speaker 3: But I'll say this, guys, I've been kind of blown
27:19
Speaker 3: away by the abs like I was for it coming in.
27:23
Speaker 3: But it's added so much drama to the game, and
27:27
Speaker 3: it gets the fans involved. Obviously they're putting it up
27:29
Speaker 3: on the jumbo tron at whatever stadium that they're in.
27:32
Speaker 3: But it's added so much drama in late game trauma
27:35
Speaker 3: at that.
27:38
Speaker 1: It really has. And of course the MLB did a
27:40
Speaker 1: good job with this because they sort of perfected it
27:42
Speaker 1: on the farm and they brought it here now. So
27:45
Speaker 1: a friend of mine said to me today the Orioles
27:47
Speaker 1: maybe shouldn't let their young guys get involved with this,
27:50
Speaker 1: the young hitters right now. But my retort to my friend,
27:53
Speaker 1: who's very good about baseball, a very astute fan, was
27:56
Speaker 1: wait a second, some of these young guys know the
27:58
Speaker 1: strike stone as well as anybody in the clubhouse. And
28:01
Speaker 1: if it's a fifth inning and the bases are loaded
28:03
Speaker 1: and a young guy's up there and it's a three
28:05
Speaker 1: to two pitch that they know got messed up, you
28:08
Speaker 1: got to allow him to challenge. I don't think you
28:10
Speaker 1: could just have one size fits all here, but that's
28:13
Speaker 1: for the Orioles and Greg Albern has to decide. That's
28:15
Speaker 1: just my take. But like you guys have been saying,
28:18
Speaker 1: I think you want to have one left for the
28:20
Speaker 1: late innings, so if you're down to one in the
28:22
Speaker 1: third inning, you might have to sit on it for
28:24
Speaker 1: a couple of innings.
28:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think, like when I first thought about it,
28:28
Speaker 2: I would thought I thought it was going to be
28:30
Speaker 2: like a lot more pitches challenge, but you only have
28:32
Speaker 2: the two misses. So it's it's one of those things
28:35
Speaker 2: that like, you use that first one and now you're
28:37
Speaker 2: down to one, and you don't want to use that
28:39
Speaker 2: anywhere near unless it's towards the end of the game.
28:42
Speaker 2: So I thought it was going to be a lot
28:43
Speaker 2: more challenges and kind of crazy situations with it, but
28:47
Speaker 2: it kind of Yeah, it has kind of iron itself
28:49
Speaker 2: out as the season's moved along here, I feel like,
28:51
Speaker 2: and it's only ten games in or nine games in,
28:53
Speaker 2: so I just it's going to be very interesting to
28:57
Speaker 2: see how it's played out. It was almost like in
28:58
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen and fifteen added the instant replay. It's like,
29:02
Speaker 2: you know a call is wrong, but is it worth
29:04
Speaker 2: the fifty to fifty chance that you're not right? And
29:07
Speaker 2: it's you just kind of learn as the season went
29:09
Speaker 2: along to kind of save it for the bigger chances
29:11
Speaker 2: of bigger moments.
29:12
Speaker 4: But see I grew.
29:13
Speaker 2: I think if it's if it's a young hitter bases loaded,
29:15
Speaker 2: second inning and he knows it's either a ball strike
29:19
Speaker 2: one way or the other, you got to give him
29:21
Speaker 2: the opportunity to do If they miss it, they miss it.
29:23
Speaker 2: But I feel like if you use it in a
29:25
Speaker 2: big spot, you can never feel bad about it because
29:28
Speaker 2: that pitch could end up.
29:29
Speaker 4: Turning an inning into one, two, three, four, five runs.
29:32
Speaker 4: You just never know after that.
29:33
Speaker 2: So I feel like taking individual players and saying you
29:36
Speaker 2: can't do it, you can, you can't. I feel like
29:38
Speaker 2: that gets a little dicey too, when you start looking
29:40
Speaker 2: for each team and how they use it.
29:43
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting to watch. And as you guys
29:46
Speaker 1: were saying, it's showing that the umpires a large majority,
29:49
Speaker 1: and we're pretty good when you consider the averages fifty
29:52
Speaker 1: four percent over turn. This is players who feel sure
29:55
Speaker 1: they were wronged and forty six percent of the time
29:58
Speaker 1: they were not wrong. The umpire gets it right. So
30:01
Speaker 1: there are nights where it looks bad for the umpired
30:03
Speaker 1: teams are just left and right, but we haven't seen
30:06
Speaker 1: a lot of that so far, so we'll see how
30:08
Speaker 1: this is all going to play out with abs challenges, guys,
30:12
Speaker 1: so I think we got another one in the books. Man,
30:13
Speaker 1: Thanks Tim, Thanks Brad for a great show. We're going
30:16
Speaker 1: to be here all season long. It looks like we'll
30:18
Speaker 1: join you next most likely on Sunday night. We'll see
30:21
Speaker 1: how the weekend goes. So guys, have a great weekend
30:24
Speaker 1: and we'll see you next time.
30:26
Speaker 4: All right, sounds good, Have a good one.
30:29
Speaker 1: Thanks to Brad, thanks to Tim, and thanks to you
30:31
Speaker 1: for watching Birdland Territory