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Pirates' 2026 Spring Training Preview · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Buco Territory, presented to
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: I'm Noah Hiles and joining me as always are.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: My co hosts Mark aka Platinum Key and Josh Harrison
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: aka Jay Hey Fellas. We're recording this on Wednesday, February eleventh,
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: the first official day of spring training.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: For pictures and catchers.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Media had the opportunity to report for the first day,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: you know, ask some questions to the manager, to Paul Skens,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I believe he spoke as well. And then of course,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: you know, in true spring training fashion, it would not
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: be spring training if every MLB beat writer did not
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: spam every Twitter timeline with pictures and videos of batting
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: practice and guys throwing catch and guys tying their shoes.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Everything everything.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: It's just I just I remember that, like just having
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: done it for a couple of years, just knowing it's like,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: this is free engagement. Because and my dad was texting
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: me about that this morning. He was like, why does
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: every reporter do this? I was like, because people eat
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: it up, that's what they do. Yeah, everyone wants to
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: see and hear baseball.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: That's what it is, especially after the super Bowl is over?
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: What does everybody? Super Bowl is over? What they say?
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Baseball season? Spring training?
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: And like you say, all the videos, today's my daughter's birthday.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: So I really haven't seen, but a little bit I
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: have seen. Have been various guys, you know, walking from
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: the parking lot giving a peace sign.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: So and so there today, and you know, it's always exciting.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Because a lot of the people are there before actual
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: report date. That right there, lets you know the excitement
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: in the buzz and just from the fans. It's the
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: players too, you know, guys are reporting early.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Real quick before we get into the show.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: And today's going to be the spring training episode spring
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Training preview? What is your favorite sound that reminds you
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: of spring training? When you hear it, it's like, oh,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: baseball seasons here. I'm not just saying a sound that
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: makes you think of baseball specifically, but when you hear it,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: it's like, oh, spring training starting.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Is there a certain sound, Josh?
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: I think the MLB player answered this first.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, to be honest, it's not really a sound.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: It's more of a sight, you know, because a lot
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: of times spring training you might be up before the birds.
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: So you know a lot of people say bright and early.
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: Now it's gonna be that sight of it's dark on
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: the road on the way to feel you know, it's
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: dark and early.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: So that that that's the real you know.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: All right, we're back, we were traveling before kids going
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: to school, and so I wouldn't necessarily say it's a sound.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: It's more so a visual of you leaving that house
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: or wherever your spring training is and it's you know.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: It's almost dark.
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: You know, you're beating the sun to the field.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Yea.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: The pop of the mit today when Jerry Jones was pitching,
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: that was that was awesome. And then just the crack
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: of the bad off of like Connor Griffin had some
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: he was hitting today, that one loud. That was pretty fun.
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: That got me going, That got the the goosebumps going.
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: So I'm excited.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Those are sounds that are like are those are baseball sounds,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: no doubt, But like the thing that every time I
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: hear it, and it dates back to like when I
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: was playing Little league to now covering Major League baseball.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: The sound of cleats.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Walking across concrete onto dirt or onto grass.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Just the metal cleats. You know the sound, it's just
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: like the first time, you know, you know, every every
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: year when.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: You're a kid, when you put them on and you're
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: walking across concrete, it's like, oh man, like this is
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: the first time, Like here we go. And then when
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: you're covering it, like it's just like all right, Like
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: I hear that sound, I hear them coming around the corner.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Here they come, Like the ballplayers are back. Like I
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: got my notepad, I got my pencil.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Behind my ear.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: I'm ready to videotape some bat in practice. Like it's
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: spring training time, baby. That's that's what I That's what
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: I think of when I think it's spring training sounds.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: So the way we're doing this episode, we're dividing it
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: into three main talking points for spring training, three storylines
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: to monitor.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: There's a whole bunch of storylines.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Obviously, but just from discussion, three big talking points I
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: think for this spring is the outfield defense.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Based off of the Marcelo Zuna edition. You know, how
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: do they find it?
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Bats for Ryan O'Hearn, Spencer Horowitz, Brian Reynolds, Jake Mangum, everybody.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: The second one is the new kid Connor Griffin being
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: the new kid and what his spring training will look like.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: And the third is the rotation. It's the strength of
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: the team, but how will it look. We're each going
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: to introduce a different point and then we're all gonna
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: discuss because that's what we do on that show. So
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I'll start it off here by talking outfield defense. This
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: kind of piggybacks off of what we discussed on Tuesday
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Show or Monday Show that we posted on Monday. With
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Azuna being here, obviously you got to find a spot
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: for Ryan O'Hearn now because he was going to be
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: the primary designated hitter. Him and Lao and Reynolds, they're
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: all gonna rotate in that spot. But now the bulk
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: of those bats are gonna go to Marcelo Zuna, and
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: as they should. He's the best designated hitter probably of
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: the group. But I think outfield defense is going to
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: be a very very important part of this team season.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: I don't think anyone should expect it to be amazing.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: I don't think the Pirates are the Pirates outfield, even
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: if Jake Mangham plays more than what he will likely
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: play now with these moves, I don't think the Pirates
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: are gonna lead Major League Baseball and outfield defensive unsaved.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: But can it be sustainable?
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Can you figure out a way to come up with
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: a combination of playing time and in matchups that keep
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: guys fresh and keep guys at least defensively competent enough
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: that it absolutely doesn't ruin your pitching staff. So, Josh,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: I'll start by asking you how much better can a
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: player get in spring training when working to improve at
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: a position that might not be his primary spot.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: Honestly, the player can get a lot better, especially when
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: you're talking trying to you know, hone in on a
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: specific position or whether it's situations. That's what spring training
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: is for. Especially you know, you got the backfields, but
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: then you mentioned anytime you got you know, you know,
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: the mnor league games start. You know, say it's a
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: guy that doesn't necessarily, you know, have a game where
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: he's playing.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Sometimes they might send him.
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: To the backfield and say, you know what, you're not
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: necessarily hitting the day, but you're gonna go back there.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: You're gonna play five in the defense. I've seen it
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: happen before, because spring training is a situation where these
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: stats don't really matter. So somebody that's learning a new position,
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: you know, you might see you've seen cases, you know
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: where man, this dude didn't play games the first week
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: and a half. That's because, you know, that first week
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: and a half they felt it was more important for
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: him to be on the back field and getting the
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: repetitions of learning a new position. So I do think
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: there is value if done correctly, but it's got to
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: be the right hands on because you got to have
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: somebody that understands one the position, but two understand that
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: you're dealing with somebody that doesn't know the position. So
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: a lot of times that can cause a little bit
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: of a you know snag in the you know, progression
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: of somebody learning in a position if somebody doesn't necessarily
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: you know, understand the verbiage. But at the same time,
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: that's where spring training is because it's a lot of
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: situations where there's no pressure. So if you're gonna, you know,
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: make this throw the second and you got to throw
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: a million away before you get the feel, that's where
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: it happens. So I think you can learn a position,
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: or not necessarily learning position, get that much better if
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: you continue to drill it.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Mark what are you looking to see from the outfield defensively?
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: I mean what are for you as a fan? Like,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: what are some encouraging signs that you see. Is it
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: just a highlight of a guy making a nice diving catcher.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Is it just more lineup consistency and seeing Ryan O'Hearn,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: who already knows how to play first base, seeing a
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: lot of outfield reps for him.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the biggest focus for me is on
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: Onneo Cruz in center He worked with Kevin Kiermeyer this year.
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: He last year was just his first year in center field,
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: So with the full offseason focusing on that, I'm excited
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: to see how much of an impact he can have
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: if he can overcome some of the deficits in the
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: corners with their defense and make up for that with
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: his speed with his arm. So That's where I'm kind
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: of focused on right now. But we'll see. I don't
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: know I saw. I think it was Ben Charrington today
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: mentioned that they still want to rotate guys throughout the
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: d H spot. That was interesting. That kind of made
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: me a little scared because I don't think of zing
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: As can play the field anymore.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: So, I mean, anybody can play the field. Not to
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: make a joke, but how well are they going to
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: play it?
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: True?
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: So if he's gonna play anywhere, he's playing first base
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: and they already have a million exactly, there's.
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: Already warwits and over and that I'd rather be playing there.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: So yeah, So well we're going to take a quick break.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Do you hear from our sponsors?
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: When we get back, Josh is going to lead us
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: off in some Connor Griffin talk.
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• 10:22
  Speaker 3: All Right, the new kid, Connor Griffin.
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: We had the pleasure having this young man on our
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: show and got to pick his brain quite a bit,
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: and it kind of leads into kind of our segment
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: here because I did pick his brain about how this
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: spring training I guess preparation would be a little bit
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: different form this year, and especially as we look how
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: this roster has, you know, unfolded and shaped up as
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: we get ready h in the spring training. Big question
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: is gonna be does he break with the team. And
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: I think that's a question that's still to be answered.
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: But looking at the structure this team and given his background, yes,
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: he's only played just last year shortstop, but they haven't
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: made any acquisition or signings to obviously necessarily say that
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: they're going to block him or you know, give him
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: a chance to you know, necessarily start in Triple A. Obviously,
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: we know things are going to shape up as spring
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: training happens, But I say give the young man every
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: chance an opportunity to win that job, especially given you
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: know offense is something that is pretty much improved for
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: this year's team, and we know the defense is on paper,
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: you know, somewhat taking a backslide. But if he's proven
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: that he's going to man that job, and he does
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: well this spring, I don't think you worry so much
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: about the offense. If you've already made these offensive acquisitions
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: to make your offense better, I think it allows him
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: to focus that.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Much more on defense.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: And to go along with that question of what you
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: ask with the outfield segment, you really hone in on
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: him right now at shortstop while he's down there, Hey,
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: let's get you ready. Even though he's already been deemed ready,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: there's still repetition of playing in the big leagues, playing
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: a consistent spring training schedule to get you ready for
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: the speed consistently, And I think you got to give
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: this kid every opportunity to make this team, especially if
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: he's that good. What good is it going to do
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: him to go down and play in the minor leagues
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: for one month and come up and as I said,
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: you've improved your offense, and that's one thing that you
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: are always gonna worry about. But for him, the biggest
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: thing for him is gonna it's gonna be manning shortstop,
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: and you can take a lot of pressure off of
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: him offensively, as I said, with the signings that they
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: have made offensively.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: So I don't know what you guys thoughts are.
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: I know it's a long shot, not necessarily a long
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: shot nineteen years old, so it's a big question. But
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: that's just me being a guy that has played. If
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: you're going up north, you need to take your best
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: twenty six and if this kid has proven that he's
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: one of your best twenty six, why not.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Marco'll asked for you. Yeah, yeah, go ahead.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: So, I mean, I think this is a different Pirates
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: team than the past few seasons, the Pirates teams that
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: kept Paul Skins in the miners, that kept Bubba Chandler
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: in the miners. This is a team that's trying to win,
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: that's committed to win. They've spent on winning this whole offseason.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: So everything to me is pointing at they're expecting Connor
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: Griffin to be their opening day shortstop. Whether he can
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: accomplish that in spring training is yet to be seen.
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: I don't think it's written in stone. If he has
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: a poor spring or struggles out of the gate, I
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: think they'll send him a triple A and wait for
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: the forty man roster spot. But he's gonna get the shot,
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: and it seems like this with everything we've seen this week,
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: he's already in the mix of things, you know, taking
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: bats against Paul Skiens, He's already just yeah, I'm excited.
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: It seems like the language around him is that they're
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: believing he's going to be their opening day shortstop. And
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: like you said, Josh, he's he's the best shortstop on
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: this team right now. So we'll see. What do you think?
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: No, yeah, I mean, I guess my big question is
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: because when I was on Falatia on Monday, I was
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: talking with aj Prazinski about this and he made a
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: very interesting point that I would want to hear Josh's
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: opinion on.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: He said, spring training numbers shouldn't mean.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: Anything and in regard to this decision, and in a
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: way I get that for sure, Like I do not
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: care in most circumstances, if a guy batted one hundred
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: in spring training. I mean, Cutch at his best stunk
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: in spring training.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Every year he put up horrible numbers, and he.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: Would roll out seven eight war seasons like that same
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: year he was just good to go. I mean, he
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: wasn't good when it was April, it was cold, but
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: once the weather warmed up, he got going right, and
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: he wasn't the only one there was. I mean, you
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: could go back and look like a lot of all
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: star seasons don't necessarily begin with a great production in
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: spring and that's because guys aren't necessarily looking to put
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: up amazing numbers. You might just be looking to improve
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: your ability to hit the brake, which means if someone
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: throws you a fastball, you're not swinging you know, like that.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: There aren't bats like that. It's the same thing for
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the pitchers, like it's it's just practice. So that's kind
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: of where I stand on the stats element of it.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, Josh, when you're evaluating a
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: nineteen year old, are you simplifying enough to say, look,
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: we want you to play your game like this is
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: major League Baseball and If your numbers are good, you're
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: making this team. If your numbers are bad, do numbers
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: matter at all in this Connor Griffin decision or is
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: this something they basically made up their minds on And
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: as long as he's healthy and doesn't look.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Overwhelmed going he's going to New York and the end
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: of March.
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: Uh, numbers don't matter. But yeah, numbers can also be
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: a reason as to you know, if he does struggle
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: to spring, it could turn to, you know what, we
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: want to send him down, you know, for him to
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: start down there. But realistically, you're looking at spring and
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: numbers don't matter because what you're doing spring doesn't matter
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: throughout those one hundred and sixty two.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, you know, I've seen guys.
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: Hit really well in spring and you go back and
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: look at their hits and it's, you know, it's spring
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: training hits.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: You know, it's the back half.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: Not saying anything, but you know, you got a minor
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: league call up that's playing left field that's nervous, you know,
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: just some hits that might not necessarily be a real
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: tal You got to look at the at bats and
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: what he's doing. So that's why I say numbers don't
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: really matter because every spring is going to be different.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: As I hit on how his spring last year may
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: be a little different than this year.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: But as you said, if you're.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: Working on the breaking ball, you might not be looking
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: to hit a fastball early on. I don't think Connor's
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: gonna be worrying about that. You know, Connor is going
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: to be planned like he's trying to make the team.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: But at the same time, numbers really don't matter because
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: you want to look at the process and how he's
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: going about his day to day business and watch how
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: he's interacting with the guys, Watch how he's you know,
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: adjusting pitch to pitch in the field and at the play,
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: and you know the things that are going to show up.
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: You know, once the season starts. Okay, does he understand
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: our first and third defense? Does he understand you know,
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: where to be in this cut? These are the things
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: that you have to worry about because at the end
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: of the day, you can hit seven hundred in spring
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: and the season come and you hit one seventy. So
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: you know, those numbers, you got to take it with
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: a grain of salt because it's only you know, six
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: weeks or less, and you got to look at the
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: process to say, Okay, what was he having good debats?
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: Is he where he needs to be? Does the game
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: look too fast for if not, give the kid a chance.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: That's that's all about learning the game to speed.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: My favorite spring training conversations when I was on the
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: beat were always with the veteran guys, guys who knew
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: they were making the team, And I would just go
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: up there and be like, what are you working on today?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Just because it's never as simple as I'm.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Just going out there and trying to you know, go
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: three for three or whatever, because it is I mean,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: I think it turns into that probably like in the
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: last week or so, like.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, when you bat the ramp.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Up, but like and maybe a little bit in the
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: beginning too, when you're seeing live pitching and like the
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: first week, but like it it is so cool, like
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: talking to pictures and be like, yeah, like I really
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: wanted to work on pitching. If I fall behind in
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: the count, so I was gonna you know, you're not
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: out there trying to start every count two oh, but
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: you're trying to take advantage. Like that's really the focus
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: of that outing or you know guys just working on
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: a pitch like Paul this last spring when he was
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: debuting those new pitches, it was so much fun to
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: kind of pick his brain and be like, okay, like
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: what are the situations that you're looking to work those in.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Is it just as simple as here's a new pitch,
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: first pitch of it at that or are you trying
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: to test yourself where it's like, all right, it's three
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: to one, Let's see how much I trust this new pitch.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Let's throw it three to one to Ryan Mountcastle or
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: something like that. Like that was just a specific exam there,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: but I've always found that so fascinating.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: And the hitters too. It's just like certain.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Guys are like, yeah, I'm I only want to face
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: lefties this week, or they just there's just always like
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: these real unique, specific things that I think a lot
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: of casual fans or even die hard baseball fans don't
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: really pick up on. And they'll see like, and it
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: sparked by mind Josh when you said, like, uh, you
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: know spring training hits, and it's just like, because there's
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: so much context behind that. You'll see a picture getting
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: lit up in spring training and he's.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Not bothered by it at all. It's because it's like, yeah,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: I was trying to basically just.
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: Work, or or you see three double flaps in a row,
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: they're not taking pictures. They like you know what I mean.
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: It's the situation is different. And not to cut you
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: off before we go to the rotation, but every player
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: is gonna have something different. But you know, my first
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: three spring trainings, I had to make the team. I
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: was a twenty fifth man. I'm playing from get go.
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: But two thousand f fourteen I have my All Star year.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: Come back to twenty fifteen. My whole process changed because
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: I knew I was going to be starting. I knew
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: I was so from twenty fifteen on through the rest
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: of my career, every spring training I never swung first pitch,
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: maybe till the last week. I mean, I'm an aggressive hitter.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: Everybody knows that, but in spring training, I mean, I
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: don't need to work on my aggression. I'm an aggressive hitter.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: I'm comfortable with two strikes, so let me get two
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: strikes right away.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: Like, I don't need to swing first pitch.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: A lot of people swinging in spring training first pitch
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: because they want to get their timing.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: No, I was swinging when we was going live VP against.
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: Pictures, but I told the catcher not to tell me
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: what was coming, just because I wanted to challenge myself.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: That's when I'm gonna take But when we're playing, you
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: know what, Picture's working on something, But me too, I
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: also want you to I want to see how long
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: I can have.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: My batch, because I would have long at bats.
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: You know.
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: That's that's kind of where it happened. But spring training
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: was to put myself in a hole. Anybody can swing
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: first pitch, because I like to do that, but spring training,
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: let's switch it up. So what you said is definitely
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: on par because you know, I was a veteran player
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: by then, so I was able to say, Okay, I
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: don't need to work on swinging first pitch, that I'm
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: good at that.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's just like it's it's like a high
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: level college class for baseball, just talking with guys and
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: like you said, Josh, and then you go over to
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: like the rookies trying to make the team, and they're like,
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I am sliding head in the first place.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: If I was like yes, and I mean, but that
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: also is a part of baseball where you see everybody
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: at different, you know, stages of their career and it's
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: refreshing because you know, you shouldn't take anything for granted.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Everybody's been there too.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Everyone in that clubhouse is either at that point in
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: their career or they can relate to it like you know, yeah,
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: like you said that fifteen spring training compared to all
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: the other ones, You're like, oh, yeah, I don't have
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: double flat guy anymore, you know. Yeah, So Mark, you
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: wanted to talk about the rotation.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: What do you got for us?
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: So it's pretty clear what the top of the Pirate's
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: rotation looks like. You got Paul Skin's, Mitch Keller, and
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: then three through five is going to look who knows.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: I think three and four we can slot in Braxton Ashcraft,
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: Bubba Chandler in some order. I think those two guys
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: will really push each other throughout the year, just challenging,
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: competing and trying to get as good as possible. Braction
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: Ashcraft just had such a good year last year two
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: point seventy one and sixty nine point two innings and
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: he only made eight starts while pitching in twenty six games.
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: So it'll be nice to see him actually be a
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: part of the rotation. And then as far as that
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: fifth spot, I think that's where the question arises is
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: you have Jared Jones coming back anywhere between March to
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: May was the last estimates, also a pretty wide range there.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: You got jose Yourkidi that they just brought in. Maybe
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: he can eat some innings for you, but he hasn't
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: really started since twenty twenty three. You got Carmien mcginski,
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: who did a couple of starts last year, probably best
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: served out of the bullpen because by the time he
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: gets the third time of the way through the order,
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: things start to fall off.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: At least a starter.
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah, he does like to be a starter, so I
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: mean he would seize that opportunity. And then you got
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: like a guy like Hunter Barco, who we've heard encouraging
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: things out about him out of camp. Don Kelly had
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: a lot of good things to say on him, so
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: young Lefty, I would love to see Barco be that
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: fifth starter until Jones gets back and go from there,
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: and then like a couple dark horses, maybe like Thomas Harrington.
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: He got a cup of coffee last year, wasn't the
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: best tasting cup of coffee for him, but you'll have that,
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: and then Angoine Kelly, another guy that just Gouid added
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: to the forty man kind of flown under the radar
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: but has some really nasty stuff that he can make
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: an argument if he's not in the bullpen that he
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: could jump up to the rotation. So I'll ask you, guys,
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: out of those names there, who would you have as
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: your fifth starter, assuming that Jary Jones is out.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: I have so many thoughts on this, just because I mean,
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: this was the whole focus last spring, right pitching was
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: the story. So I covered all of these guys so thoroughly,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: and just like I kind of know, like what they're all,
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: I haven't. I don't know for sure, but I have
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: a pretty good idea of like what every guy is
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: looking to achieve this spring. So I'll start with the
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: younger guys. Every year, the Pirates have a couple guys
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: I like to call it slow cooking, where they wait
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: to build their volume to where they're basically stretched out
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: in May or June. That way, the bulk of their innings,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: if they're gonna be on an innings limit, the bulk
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: of their innings can be in the major leagues, and so,
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: like they did it with Bubba Chandler, they slow cooked him.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: He obviously wasn't a fan of that process. Paul skeins
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: they did too. I think there was probably more of
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: a reason behind why they did it with Paul because
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: of the college baseball schedule being what it was. They
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: wanted to build him up to know that, like, hey,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: he's probably gonna throw one hundred and sixty innings. We
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: want one hundred and thirty of that to be in
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: the major leagues. Plan worked out perfectly.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, right.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: I think Hunter Barco is the most obvious slow cooker
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: candidate this year. This is a guy who's had arm
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: trouble in the past. He's a top one hundred prospect.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: He's the only true lefty starter that's major league ready
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: in your organization. I don't think it makes any sense
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: to have this kid break camp because I think you're
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: probably gonna want him to finish at around one hundred
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: and forty innings. And so if I'm Hunter Barco, I'm
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: entering this camp knowing that, like, hey, come first week
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: of March, I'm probably head and back down to the
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: minor league camp. And that's not gonna have anything to
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: do with my production. That's just the plan for me
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: this year, and it's the same plan they've had for everyone.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: There's not really a guy where it makes sense that
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: they could have that Jared Jones spring where he's so
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: good they can't send him down because they have so
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: much depth now. But yeah, Hunter Barco is going to
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: be a part of this rotation this year, and I
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: think it makes a ton of sense to slowly stretch
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: him out so he's ready. I know pitchers hate when
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: that happens, but I think it makes a lot of
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: sense for multiple reasons.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Another guy that.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: I'm very interested in as far as workload in this
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: spring is Braxton Ashcraft because he absolutely throttled his career
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: high at innings pitched this past season. I don't have
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: the exact numbers in front of me, but I don't
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: think he ever threw more than seventy innings in a
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: professional season last year before last year, and I mean
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: he I think he exceeded that by at least thirty
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: or and just conversations with people in the ORG.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Even noted they're like, yeah, we went way too far.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: With this, And I don't know if it's like a
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: super concern because like, if you do it so many
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: years in a row, it's gonna like I always use
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: the example the guy where I learned about this was
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Jamison tai On. They had that, Yeah, JMO had that
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: huge spike of workload in eighteen and by twenty nineteen
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: it all fell apart and he had to get TJ again.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: And thankfully for him, he's been solid since.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: But Ashtraft is a guy he's already had Tommy John surgery,
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: He's had some other concerns with I believe a knee injury.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: He's had some other arm injury stuff as well. Are
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: so like he's he's had a really really tough injury
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: past before he even got to the major leagues. He
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: was absolutely lethal this past year. I think he was
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: I think you could argue he was there second best
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: pitcher behind Paul Skins last season.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: He was that good.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: But again, he's a guy that if they still had
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: Oviedo here, if they still had Mike Burrows here, I
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: would consider slow cooking Braxton Ashcraft as well. Not in
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: the minor leagues, but I think there's going to be
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: a part of this season where he pitches out of
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: the bullpen.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know if he's.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: Gonna be able to go wire to wire in the
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: starting rotation, because you have to monitor his innings because
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: if this car breaks.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Down, it might not start back up again.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: He's just had that much work done on him already,
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: and he's too valuable of an asset to lose. So
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: I look at him as an interesting workload scenario thing too.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: Will he start this year in the bullpen? Is he
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: a guy that you piggyback with? Maybe maybe you go
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: into this season with just four true starters and then
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: you have Braxton and Carmen together as that fifth starter
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: where they're both gonna go through the order one time
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: through and that gets you to the sixth or seventh inning. Anyway,
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: those are two guys I'm very interested in. I'm gonna
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: wrap it up here and let Josh do some talking
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: real quick. Some other thoughts real quick though before I
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: do is Mike Clevenger is super interesting here, just because
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: I feel like the Pirates have done a really solid
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: job of finding those diamonds in the rough, picking up
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: arms off the scrap heap. In reality, what do you
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: need out of your fifth starter on this team? You
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: need a guy who can get you to early June. Yep,
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: by early June. You need sixty innings from this dude.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: That's what you need.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: And if you want to go out and sign someone
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: in free agency to get you that, if if that
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: makes you feel a little bit more secure by getting
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: maybe like an and Anderson who's still out there, he
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: can give you more than sixty innings. But I mean,
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: if you need Mike Clevenger to get you to June
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: to where you feel comfortable having Jones and Barco definitively back, both.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: In full health, then you do that.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: So I look at him and the other guy that
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: I want to just say real quick, someone is going
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: to get hurt on the pitching staff.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: That's just That's not me being pessimistic. That's just baseball.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: No rotation or bullpen goes through spring training unscathed. That's
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: just the reality. I'm not saying someone's gonna blow out
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: their arm and get TJ. I hope that doesn't happen,
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: but at the very least someone's gonna have a strain.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Someone's gonna, you know, maybe even like pull an obleak
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: or get turf toe or injuries happen, especially in spring training,
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: when guys are getting their bodies ready for this grind
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: of a season, and when that pitching injury happens, if
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: it's in the starting rotation, do not sleep on Thomas
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Harrington being able to come in here and make the
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: opening day roster. He's already on the forty man roster.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: He was excellent last year in spring training. He's a
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: guy who probably should have made the team out of camp.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: They held him back because they knew they were one
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: roster move away from him making the team, and sure enough,
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: five games end of the season, he made his big
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: league debut. Now, the process in which they went about
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: that I think kind of screwed him up for the
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: entirety of his major league season. He never really got
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: to find a rhythm with how they let him build
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: up for that season. He kind of fell out of
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: rhythm in the minor leagues, lost his confidence by a
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: couple of bad outings in the majors. But this is
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: still a guy who's not far removed from being a
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: top one hundred prospect in baseball. This is still a
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: guy who's only twenty four years old. He does not
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: have the stuff that the other people his age and
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: this rotation have but he's a pitcher, and if you're
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: looking for someone who can be your number five, there
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: are worse fallback options than him. So sorry to get
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: long winded here, but again, I covered all of this
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: pretty thoroughly in my day. I know all these guys
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: pretty well, so it's really fun to dive into, especially
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: the spring trainings of Barco, Ashcraft and Harrington, because I
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: think all three of them are going to be contributors
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: to this team in some unique form.
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I feel like y'all both hit it pretty well.
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: I would just hit on a few things and you're
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: gonna have to We're gonna have to research this, and
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: we would all hope that the pitching staff, I want
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: to say it was two thousand Reds. They were twenty
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: thirteen Reds. I think all five of the starters made
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: all thirty two starts. They were all right handers. It
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: was one of those years that.
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: The Reds, all five starters made all thirty two starts.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: Unheard of.
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: But with those question marks and us and you know,
• 32:35
  Speaker 4: the Pirates having a depth from the starting pitching, it
• 32:39
  Speaker 4: does make sense to possibly slow cook some of these guys,
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: as you call it just.
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: One for health reasons. Yeah, I do. I do.
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: You know it makes sense, especially when you mentioned guys
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: have had arm injuries. It gives you a chance to
• 32:52
  Speaker 4: allow them to build up and not overextend them. But
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: especially being young guys and the other person. And I
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: know you said erkity, but I know he could be
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: a possible kind of you know, filling a rotation here
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: and there. But he's also another guy that they probably
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: don't want to put too much on because if I'm correct,
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: I think he's coming back from like a year of
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: like surgery or whatever. But knowing the guy facing the guy,
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: I mean, I remember when he was with Houston, he
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: was gonna take the ball every fifth day. But like,
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: if that guy is showing up healthy, he's a guy
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: in my eyes that he was a strike thrower, pounded
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: the zone. And if you're looking for somebody that can
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: get you to June and possibly be like a swing man,
• 33:33
  Speaker 4: that he's a guy that in my eyes that if
• 33:36
  Speaker 4: he's healthy and showing you that he can do it.
• 33:39
  Speaker 4: As I said, pitching is a strong suit for them.
• 33:41
  Speaker 4: And when I faced him, he was a guy that
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: pounded his zone. He was very efficient and if he's healthy.
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: I think he's a guy that could help until you know,
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: those names that you mentioned are ready to take that
• 33:50
  Speaker 4: strive to be the fourth and fifth starter and really
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: you know, not put too much pressure on him or
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: allowed him to be slow cooked and you know, be
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: tender rise and not be you know, rushed and heat
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: it up too soon.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: Awesome, all right, I think before we conclude the show,
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: we should all make one bold prediction for the spring.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Mark you want to start us off.
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah, oh, for the spring.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: And this could be not like, this means nothing.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: You could say, like, yeah, you know, I think the
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: like Matt Gorsky led the team in home runs last spring,
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: so you could say, just like another random Pirates.
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: Will lead spring training in most home runs.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: Again, okay, but they do that in twenty four three
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: or twenty four Yeah.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Henry Davis and O'Neill.
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna say the Pirvates win the.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: Grapefruit lea, whoa.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Do you think they fly a banner for that?
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: Hey, you better celebrate all your wins and come into
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: the North Shore.
• 34:56
  Speaker 3: I would at least at least down at least for
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: the people down in Florida.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: I'll say, you know what, I'll go back on what
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: I was talking about earlier. I think Thomas Harrington breaks
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: camp with the major league team. I mean we've talked
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: about a ton of arms here, but I think Thomas Harrington.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: I mean he looked really good last spring. Oh yeah,
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: and I think that. I mean he's got options. He's
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: on the forty man roster. I think it makes a
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: lot of sense to put him at the number five
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: for now and he can cover innings until our boy
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: Jared Jones is ready to go.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: So that's all we got.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: Want to remind everyone to hit that subscribe button if
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: you haven't already. Run a mission of three thousand subscribers,
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: we can't get there without your help. I want to
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: also remind everyone to check out our Bucco Territory store. Yeah,
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: all the Bucko Territory gear. You can check out the store,
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: which we should have a link of that ye description
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: in the description below.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: And that's all we got.
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: So for Josh for Mark, I'm Noah Jiles signing off
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: saying thanks for listening to another episode of Bucko Tart Story, presented.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: To you by the Fouled Territory Network
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: M