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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Atlanta Braves · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's going on. Hope you are doing well. I wanted
0:03
Speaker 1: to let you know. This podcast episode was recorded on Tuesday,
0:06
Speaker 1: February eleventh, twenty twenty five. By the time you hear this,
0:10
Speaker 1: some things may have changed here or there, but we
0:11
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Opposition Territory here
0:31
Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running
0:34
Speaker 1: weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world that's right
0:36
Speaker 1: over eleven and a half year strong. We've got a
0:39
Speaker 1: great Opposition Territory pod come in your way this week,
0:42
Speaker 1: as we always do. Hey, folks, I'm not sure if
0:45
Speaker 1: you know, but the Major League Baseball season is just
0:47
Speaker 1: around the corner. Spring Training is just around the corner.
0:51
Speaker 1: And on our first Opposition Territory podcast to get into
0:56
Speaker 1: the MLB season and some teams that we're going to
0:58
Speaker 1: be focusing on. We're gonna be discussing the Atlanta Braves
1:02
Speaker 1: in the NL East, what they are going to be doing,
1:06
Speaker 1: how this team looks heading into spring training, and the
1:10
Speaker 1: what the twenty twenty five season is going to look
1:12
Speaker 1: like for them. We have got a great guest, let's
1:14
Speaker 1: get right to it, coming to us from SB Nation.
1:17
Speaker 1: He is the MLB editor over there. You know, we
1:20
Speaker 1: love our SB nation sites. We love SB Nation. We
1:23
Speaker 1: have the one and only Chris Willis Chris Buddy. How
1:27
Speaker 1: you doing, my friend?
1:28
Speaker 2: I'm doing good, Jeff, how are you pretty good?
1:30
Speaker 1: Pretty good? Just to pull back the curtain a little bit,
1:32
Speaker 1: Chris had really done a lot of work at battery
1:34
Speaker 1: power dot com, another SB Nation site, and still has
1:37
Speaker 1: a contributor over there as well, and had him on
1:40
Speaker 1: a number of times. And I know you're still affiliated
1:43
Speaker 1: with battery power dot com, so because you are a
1:47
Speaker 1: Braves fan if I'm not mistaken, correct, and you still
1:50
Speaker 1: love following the team.
1:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, correct, Brazier my team. I moved into a new
1:55
Speaker 2: role and shifting my priorities a little bit. Yeah, I
1:59
Speaker 2: still and baseball in general absolutely.
2:02
Speaker 1: All right, Well, I appreciate you taking the time, Buddy,
2:04
Speaker 1: to jump on the PSD podcast show here as we
2:07
Speaker 1: really start talking about this upcoming MLB season, what spring
2:11
Speaker 1: training is going to look like, and what we may
2:13
Speaker 1: see from various teams in the NL East. And really
2:16
Speaker 1: wanted to start talking about the Braves here because I
2:19
Speaker 1: you know, I've been trying to keep track of what
2:21
Speaker 1: certain teams in the NL East have been doing during
2:24
Speaker 1: the course of the off season. And the Braves are
2:28
Speaker 1: a team certainly that myself and a lot of other
2:29
Speaker 1: Philly sports fans and Phillies fans, a team that we
2:32
Speaker 1: want to keep our eye on. You know. They have
2:34
Speaker 1: a bunch of talent, of course, and they are still
2:37
Speaker 1: going to be relevant in the National League East for
2:41
Speaker 1: suore this season. So if we can kind of like
2:43
Speaker 1: get into the off season a little bit when you
2:46
Speaker 1: take a look at what the Braves did during this offseason, Chris,
2:50
Speaker 1: you know, what grade would you give the front office
2:53
Speaker 1: in terms of acquisitions, what they've done, what they haven't done.
2:56
Speaker 1: We're certainly going to get into what they haven't necessarily
2:58
Speaker 1: done yet and just a bit, but what what grade
3:01
Speaker 1: do you give the front office in terms of this offseason?
3:04
Speaker 1: And why?
3:05
Speaker 2: Well, I mean from the outside looking in, you know,
3:09
Speaker 2: it's I was I was been some back and forth
3:11
Speaker 2: between a C and a D.
3:13
Speaker 1: Okay, wow, there hasn't.
3:15
Speaker 2: There hasn't been much. But just to be fair, I'm
3:20
Speaker 2: not one hundred percent sure we should have been expecting
3:22
Speaker 2: a whole bunch either.
3:23
Speaker 1: Okay, I think that's fair.
3:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I know, we're I know we're going
3:27
Speaker 2: to get into, you know, what the what they've lost
3:29
Speaker 2: here here shortly. But you know, the Braise Braise kind
3:33
Speaker 2: of in the Phillies are kind of the same boat
3:35
Speaker 2: with us too. As you know, they've locked up their core.
3:37
Speaker 2: Uh a couple of seks ago. Uh. You know, obviously,
3:42
Speaker 2: you know a guy it's hard to watch a guy
3:43
Speaker 2: like Max Freed walk out and sign somewhere else. Uh.
3:47
Speaker 2: But you know, it was kind of they've kind of
3:50
Speaker 2: identified the people that they were going to lock up
3:52
Speaker 2: long term. And you know, we had went through the
3:54
Speaker 2: same thing with danceby Swanson a couple of years back
3:57
Speaker 2: to so you know, on one hand, it's not that surprising,
4:02
Speaker 2: you know. I mean I think I think we would
4:04
Speaker 2: have I think most Braves fans would have liked to
4:06
Speaker 2: have seen a little bit more. I have no doubt
4:11
Speaker 2: that they've probably went into the off season with a
4:14
Speaker 2: list of guys that they were targeting and you know,
4:18
Speaker 2: for whatever reason didn't happen. You know, prices were high
4:21
Speaker 2: again on starting pitching. I think they're really confident in
4:25
Speaker 2: the core they have and we're just gonna have to see.
4:28
Speaker 2: I mean, they've in the past, they've done a pretty
4:30
Speaker 2: good job of of you know, grabbing guys during spring
4:33
Speaker 2: training that have come in. Those are lesser guys, but
4:37
Speaker 2: a lot of times they've come in and made an impact.
4:39
Speaker 2: So we're just gonna have to kind of see see
4:41
Speaker 2: how it plays out. But I mean, you know, if
4:43
Speaker 2: you it's bad when you see it's not, I won't
4:46
Speaker 2: say bad. But a lot of teams have gone through this.
4:49
Speaker 2: It seems like they just set around and watched the
4:51
Speaker 2: Dodgers sign everybody, or watched the Mats gifts, you know,
4:55
Speaker 2: almost a billion dollars to one Soto and you know
4:58
Speaker 2: it's easy to get jealous of that, and you know,
5:00
Speaker 2: from that standpoint, So yeah, it's been an interest in offseason.
5:05
Speaker 2: I mean, I can't give them a great, a good
5:07
Speaker 2: grade with a straight face right now just because they
5:10
Speaker 2: just haven't done They just haven't done much.
5:12
Speaker 1: I think it's fair. I do think it's fair, you know,
5:14
Speaker 1: even though I was initially shocked by the you know,
5:16
Speaker 1: c D grade that you gave them, But like you said,
5:20
Speaker 1: this team has lost some significant pieces that we have
5:26
Speaker 1: seen in the past. And yes, as a Phillies fan,
5:29
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, okay, Max Freed, Charlie Morton, Okay, I'll
5:33
Speaker 1: see you guys later. I wouldn't say necessarily excited, but
5:38
Speaker 1: knowing what the Phillies have done during this offseason in
5:42
Speaker 1: terms of really honing in on pitching, whether it's the bullpen,
5:46
Speaker 1: whether it's a you know, bringing in another solid starter
5:50
Speaker 1: as well, knowing that the Phillies are really going to
5:52
Speaker 1: be focusing on the pitching aspect of this twenty twenty
5:56
Speaker 1: five season. I look at the Braves and I'm I
5:59
Speaker 1: don't want to say perplexed, because we knew that the
6:01
Speaker 1: market was only so large. You know, I wouldn't even
6:05
Speaker 1: say large for starting pitchers necessarily, but with regard to
6:10
Speaker 1: the Braves pitching and some of the issues that we
6:13
Speaker 1: may see from them. You know, I've been asking myself
6:16
Speaker 1: the question, Chris, which Major League Baseball team has the
6:20
Speaker 1: greatest eleventh hour need for starting pitching? And I keep
6:23
Speaker 1: coming back to the Atlanta Braves as my answer. Again
6:26
Speaker 1: losing Charlie Morton, Max Fried, who knows when Spencer Strider
6:30
Speaker 1: will be back. He's slated to me back this year.
6:33
Speaker 1: From my understanding, what are your thoughts on what the
6:36
Speaker 1: Braves may do before opening Day with their starting rotation?
6:40
Speaker 1: Or are things gonna kind of just you know, stay
6:42
Speaker 1: where we all kind of think they're gonna be at
6:43
Speaker 1: this point. What are your thoughts here?
6:46
Speaker 2: I think it's interesting they're expecting strouder back. I think
6:50
Speaker 2: they're they're talking may The word is he's already thrown bullpens.
6:56
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna have to fight him if he's healthy,
6:59
Speaker 2: to keep him out that long, just because he's that
7:02
Speaker 2: type of competitor. So I think they're pretty confident they're
7:05
Speaker 2: going to get him back. I'm not one hundred percent sure.
7:09
Speaker 2: I think we're going to see what happens in the spring.
7:12
Speaker 2: Right now, if the season started today, I think you
7:15
Speaker 2: have Grant Homes and Ian Anderson both penciled into that rotation,
7:19
Speaker 2: which Grant Homes looked pretty good last year. It makes
7:23
Speaker 2: me nervous as him as the number four. Ian Anderson
7:26
Speaker 2: was really good twenty twenty twenty twenty one has been
7:30
Speaker 2: hurt ever since, so you know, who know who do you?
7:33
Speaker 2: How do you know what you're going to get there?
7:35
Speaker 2: Chris Sale was phenomenal last year, got hurt when they
7:40
Speaker 2: needed him the most, you know, So, I mean, can
7:43
Speaker 2: you reasonably expect you know, saying the same thing there,
7:47
Speaker 2: So I would have liked to have seen a legitimate starter.
7:52
Speaker 2: I'm not talking to it, not you don't have to
7:54
Speaker 2: be frontline two hundred million dollar guy, but just a
7:57
Speaker 2: solid number three that you could have penciled in here.
8:00
Speaker 2: I'm a little surprised Charlie Morton wasn't brought back, but
8:05
Speaker 2: I'm also a little surprised that Charlie Morton got fifteen million.
8:09
Speaker 2: You know, I think a lot of brades fans had
8:10
Speaker 2: a little bit of Charlie Morton fatigue because he's not
8:13
Speaker 2: the same guy he was in twenty twenty one, obviously,
8:16
Speaker 2: but he's a guy that soaked up a lot of
8:18
Speaker 2: in its over the years. Now, one thing I think
8:22
Speaker 2: Alex said Thapolis said this a couple of weeks ago, Like,
8:24
Speaker 2: you know, they're they're going to be monitoring the market,
8:28
Speaker 2: but if they sign a guy, they wanted to be
8:30
Speaker 2: a clear upgrade over what they have right And now,
8:33
Speaker 2: you know, they've got a lot of guys at Triple A.
8:36
Speaker 2: They've got a J. Smith Shaver who's one of their
8:38
Speaker 2: better prospects, and you know, I think I think all
8:42
Speaker 2: of those guys are going to get a chance, and
8:45
Speaker 2: Smith Chavor may actually earn one of those spots over
8:49
Speaker 2: with Holmes or Anderson, you know, to start season with.
8:52
Speaker 2: I'm not really sure how that will play out yet.
8:54
Speaker 2: I think it'll depend on the spring. But you know,
8:57
Speaker 2: it's just hard when you had Max Freed out there.
9:00
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, if they can get to the
9:01
Speaker 2: postseason with Spencer Strider, Chris Saile, Reinado, Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbock healthy,
9:08
Speaker 2: then you feel pretty good. But at the same time,
9:10
Speaker 2: the odds of them getting there with all four of
9:12
Speaker 2: those guys healthy are probably not great. So you know
9:16
Speaker 2: it's gonna it's gonna be interesting to see what they do.
9:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be interesting for sure to see how
9:20
Speaker 1: this Brave starting pitching rotation not only looks opening day,
9:24
Speaker 1: but like you said, you know, towards the latter part
9:26
Speaker 1: of the season, as they're looking at the postseason, are
9:29
Speaker 1: there gonna be the changes, What's gonna happen at the
9:31
Speaker 1: trade deadline? You know, all interesting aspects of this coming
9:35
Speaker 1: season to look at with regard to the Braves. But
9:38
Speaker 1: I want to dive into the bullpen next with you, Chris,
9:41
Speaker 1: because things, I mean, things may be a little different
9:44
Speaker 1: there this year too. You know, they've always had a
9:46
Speaker 1: strong and reliable pen with some good arms over the years.
9:50
Speaker 1: I mean, as a Phillies fan, you see the Braves
9:53
Speaker 1: pen and you're over these past few years and you're like,
9:55
Speaker 1: oh man, you know how, you know how we gonna
9:57
Speaker 1: get through these guys. But now they seem to have
10:00
Speaker 1: you know, two standout relief pitching projections with Iglesias and Aaron.
10:05
Speaker 1: Aaron just bummer, right, it's boomer or bum bumber bummer, yes, bummer.
10:11
Speaker 1: Pierce Johnson certainly can be considered an above average arm.
10:14
Speaker 1: But I'm wondering if you're seeing more of like a
10:18
Speaker 1: generic bullpen bundle for the Braves as we are heading
10:22
Speaker 1: into this twenty twenty five season. Any concerns you may
10:26
Speaker 1: have or anything you're excited about, you know, if so,
10:30
Speaker 1: you know, what what does it mean for the team
10:32
Speaker 1: overall in late innings? About where this bullpen is at
10:36
Speaker 1: is where you know, looking towards this upcoming season.
10:39
Speaker 2: Right, And I mean this is another example. I mean
10:41
Speaker 2: you saw Aj Minner has been a huge part of
10:43
Speaker 2: that bullpen. You know he's now with the Mets. Of course,
10:47
Speaker 2: had a head hip surgery last year. Missed a good
10:49
Speaker 2: chunk of the second half, you know. But that's a
10:52
Speaker 2: guy that's just been out there, sings out forever now,
10:55
Speaker 2: so it's gonna be weird not having him out there.
10:57
Speaker 2: They they got to blow after the season found out
11:01
Speaker 2: Jojamenez had to have knee surgery. He's gonna miss They're
11:05
Speaker 2: expecting him to miss almost all of the season, if
11:08
Speaker 2: not all of it, So you know, you can't really
11:10
Speaker 2: count on him at this point either. And he was
11:12
Speaker 2: a huge you know, another huge part of that bullpen.
11:15
Speaker 2: I think one of the biggest surprises I had is
11:18
Speaker 2: that they haven't signed any relievers. Kind of thought if
11:22
Speaker 2: they didn't stand typically the what they they have done
11:26
Speaker 2: in the past is if they couldn't find a starter,
11:29
Speaker 2: they just would sign two relievers or add a couple
11:32
Speaker 2: of guys in in relief. So I think, you know,
11:35
Speaker 2: this bullpen's gonna be interesting. I feel pretty good about
11:37
Speaker 2: the back end of it, you know, but you gotta
11:40
Speaker 2: you gotta get through the middle ends. And I mean again,
11:42
Speaker 2: if you have an injury or two, then you know
11:44
Speaker 2: you could be you can be in find yourself in
11:47
Speaker 2: a tough spot. But you know, this is another thing
11:49
Speaker 2: too that out. Synthopolis has been really good about building
11:52
Speaker 2: the bullpen. We've seen him go out and get relievers
11:55
Speaker 2: at the trade deadline if he needs to. So you know,
11:58
Speaker 2: this may this name not be any any different. And
12:02
Speaker 2: you know, we may see a lot of some of
12:03
Speaker 2: those Triple A guys that if they don't make you
12:05
Speaker 2: as starters, they may be get transitioned to a relief role.
12:10
Speaker 2: And see it there. So you know, I mean, again,
12:14
Speaker 2: I don't want to paint two rosies of the picture.
12:16
Speaker 2: You see Jmenez out. AJ men are out and you
12:21
Speaker 2: didn't really replace them, So you know, I've got a
12:24
Speaker 2: little bit of concern there, But you know, I think
12:27
Speaker 2: they can probably piece things together. They usually do a
12:30
Speaker 2: pretty good job of that.
12:31
Speaker 1: What's interesting about our discussion here, Chris, is that I
12:34
Speaker 1: view the Braves in the Phillies really in the same
12:38
Speaker 1: vein in a lot of ways. Heading into this twenty
12:40
Speaker 1: twenty five season, there are so many question marks, so
12:43
Speaker 1: many question marks. You look at the Dodgers, you look
12:45
Speaker 1: at the Mets, not as many question marks, necessarily because
12:48
Speaker 1: of what they were able to do during the offseason,
12:50
Speaker 1: but a lot of question marks for these two NL
12:54
Speaker 1: teams that really are considered, you know, some of the
12:57
Speaker 1: better NL teams that may be heading into this two
12:59
Speaker 1: thousand in twenty five seasons, still a lot of question marks.
13:03
Speaker 1: So moving along with the conversation, I mean, when we're
13:05
Speaker 1: looking at the batting too, and the offense that the
13:08
Speaker 1: Braves can put up here in twenty twenty five, given
13:12
Speaker 1: the questions about the pitching, as we're here in February
13:15
Speaker 1: talking about it, I mean, it's gonna need to be
13:18
Speaker 1: the bats and the Braves offense that are gonna have
13:20
Speaker 1: the most pressure on their shoulders. Am I correct in
13:24
Speaker 1: assuming that.
13:26
Speaker 2: I think the Braves are baking on their offense bouncing back? Yeah,
13:30
Speaker 2: you know, twenty twenty three, every single thing went right.
13:33
Speaker 2: Everybody had a career year. You know, Ronald Counyon put
13:37
Speaker 2: up one of the best in Major League history, Matt
13:40
Speaker 2: Olson hit fifty four home runs. And last year was
13:43
Speaker 2: a struggle largely from opening day. Sean Murphy got hurt
13:47
Speaker 2: on opening Day. Einet was the snowball. After that, even
13:51
Speaker 2: when guys were healthy, though, they did not produce at
13:55
Speaker 2: the same level that we did in twenty twenty three. Now,
13:58
Speaker 2: I don't think you could go into a season and
14:00
Speaker 2: really expecting them to put up those type of numbers again.
14:04
Speaker 2: But I think you were looking for a little more
14:06
Speaker 2: consistency than what, you know, what we got in twenty
14:09
Speaker 2: twenty four, and injuries played a huge part in that
14:11
Speaker 2: they were moving guys. I mean, when I look back
14:13
Speaker 2: at that injury list, it's it's probably a miracle that
14:17
Speaker 2: they made the postseason, honestly, you know, and then you
14:20
Speaker 2: find out you don't have Chris Sale for the for
14:23
Speaker 2: the first round of the playoffs, you know, just as
14:25
Speaker 2: kind of the cherry on top. So you know, they
14:28
Speaker 2: just kind of limped in. But it was good that
14:30
Speaker 2: they got there, you know. I think, you know, you
14:32
Speaker 2: missed Austin Riley for the last five or six weeks.
14:35
Speaker 2: But yeah, you're right. I mean, we just put out
14:37
Speaker 2: a bunch of question marks about the pitching staff. But
14:40
Speaker 2: I think they're banking on this offense bouncing back. I
14:44
Speaker 2: think they're going to be really careful with the COONa
14:46
Speaker 2: this time. You know, Quacs, I don't know that they're
14:50
Speaker 2: I don't know that we're going to see him stealing
14:52
Speaker 2: seventy eighty bags again in his career, because his match
14:56
Speaker 2: just too valuable. His own base skills are just too
14:59
Speaker 2: vac So you know, I think they may. I think
15:03
Speaker 2: they may keep him out till some time in May
15:06
Speaker 2: and then you know, once they slide him in. But
15:09
Speaker 2: the big thing is going to be they need guys
15:11
Speaker 2: to be healthy. They need guys to produce at the
15:14
Speaker 2: at the level he did, and they need you know,
15:16
Speaker 2: the one move that they did make that I didn't
15:18
Speaker 2: mention earlier was you know, they'd signed Jerks and Profis
15:21
Speaker 2: coming off at a big season last year. I think
15:25
Speaker 2: he fits perfectly what they want. I don't think he
15:28
Speaker 2: will put up the numbers that he put up last
15:30
Speaker 2: year necessarily, but he's always been a high on base
15:33
Speaker 2: guy and that fits perfectly in this lineup. So adds
15:36
Speaker 2: a little more versatility to it. But they just got
15:39
Speaker 2: to be healthy and they've got to produce. And I mean,
15:41
Speaker 2: that's that's just kind of that's just kind of where
15:43
Speaker 2: they're at.
15:44
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly. I mean, you know, we always talk in
15:47
Speaker 1: professional sports about you know, team's got to stay healthy.
15:49
Speaker 1: This guy needs to stay healthy. But when a player
15:53
Speaker 1: goes down, and specific players, if they do go down
15:55
Speaker 1: for extended period of time, it really does change I
15:59
Speaker 1: think how the team views a season what it does
16:02
Speaker 1: to their focus. When Spencer Strider went down last year,
16:05
Speaker 1: I felt like that was like the last part of
16:07
Speaker 1: the balloon before it just completely hit the floor, Like
16:10
Speaker 1: the air was just completely out of the balloon, and
16:14
Speaker 1: they weren't really like you said with Chris Sale, you know,
16:17
Speaker 1: just not being able to perform during that first round
16:19
Speaker 1: of the postseason. It's just the deflated aspects of what
16:24
Speaker 1: health can do if somebody is injured. It really is
16:28
Speaker 1: quite astonishing, and I guess it leads to you know,
16:31
Speaker 1: as we're you know, kind of finishing up our discussion here, Chris,
16:34
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about the biggest strengths and weaknesses
16:36
Speaker 1: of this Braves team heading into the twenty twenty five season. Again,
16:40
Speaker 1: as we're hearing in almost mid February, what do you
16:43
Speaker 1: think the biggest weakness of the Braves will be this
16:46
Speaker 1: coming season? We're talking about how important the bats are.
16:49
Speaker 1: You know, there's question marks with regard to the pitching.
16:52
Speaker 1: What's the biggest weakness that you see heading into this season?
16:55
Speaker 2: You know what's funny is is I can sit here
16:57
Speaker 2: and kind of be negative all the way around. These
17:00
Speaker 2: projected systems have still got the Braves at ninety something
17:03
Speaker 2: when exactly in the division, which seems weird, but because
17:09
Speaker 2: of how good Philadelphia was last year, you know, and
17:12
Speaker 2: the Mets and everything else, so you know, you got
17:15
Speaker 2: to put it in perspective. I mean, I have to
17:17
Speaker 2: say the rotation is the weakest part right now. Chrysale
17:20
Speaker 2: was amazing last year with cy Young winner. I mean,
17:24
Speaker 2: if he can do that again, you know, that guy
17:26
Speaker 2: deserves all the credit in the world to miss his
17:30
Speaker 2: through as few innings as he did for those few years.
17:33
Speaker 2: They're coming off Tommy John and all the injuries, had
17:36
Speaker 2: to really put it back together. But you know, I'm
17:39
Speaker 2: worried about the back half of that rotation right now.
17:42
Speaker 2: You know, Raynald Lopez, another guy didn't mention career high
17:45
Speaker 2: and endings last year, kind of wore down at the end,
17:47
Speaker 2: as to be expected. You know, we need him, The
17:51
Speaker 2: Braves need him to do similar things this year. And
17:54
Speaker 2: Spencer Schwellenbach nobody expected what they got from him last year,
17:59
Speaker 2: so you know, I think they I think the I
18:02
Speaker 2: think the rotation is probably the biggest question mark. I
18:05
Speaker 2: think that's the area they might have to address unless
18:08
Speaker 2: they can get a guy to step Ian Anderson, you know,
18:11
Speaker 2: recaptures his form, aj Smith Shaver takes the huge step forward,
18:15
Speaker 2: and then you know, if that happens and everybody stays healthy,
18:18
Speaker 2: then you know, Alex Santovs gonna look like a genius
18:21
Speaker 2: again and wonder why everybody was mad that they didn't
18:24
Speaker 2: go out and get a picture. But you know, it's
18:26
Speaker 2: a lot of ifs, So you know, we're just gonna
18:28
Speaker 2: have to see what happens.
18:29
Speaker 1: All right, well, to close us out on the flip
18:31
Speaker 1: side of that coin, what do you think is going
18:33
Speaker 1: to be the bravest, biggest strength during this upcoming season, Because,
18:36
Speaker 1: like you said, you know, projecting to win over perhaps
18:39
Speaker 1: ninety games this season, this team definitely has some strengths.
18:42
Speaker 1: What's their biggest strength heading into this twenty twenty five season.
18:46
Speaker 2: I mean, I still think it's the power bats, the
18:48
Speaker 2: home runs. You know, twenty twenty three record setting tied
18:52
Speaker 2: to the major league record for homers. Last year's middle
18:55
Speaker 2: of the pack for most of the year, lower than
18:57
Speaker 2: that for most of the year, and then kind of
18:58
Speaker 2: kind of righted ship down the stretch. Uh, changed hitting coaches.
19:03
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna be interested to see what kind of
19:05
Speaker 2: effect that has. But I mean, this seems the offense,
19:08
Speaker 2: I mean, they locked most of the Stritter is the
19:10
Speaker 2: only pitcher that they've really locked up long term. Everything
19:14
Speaker 2: else has been spent on the you know, on the
19:16
Speaker 2: line up. Yeah, they just they need guys to be
19:20
Speaker 2: healthy and they need guys to perform. One guy I'm
19:23
Speaker 2: really excited about to Michael Harris, if you know, he
19:26
Speaker 2: seemed he seemed to have really corrected some things towards
19:30
Speaker 2: the end of last year, another long injury stint he
19:34
Speaker 2: had as well. So you know, if you can just
19:36
Speaker 2: keep these guys out there, I trust that Austin Riley
19:39
Speaker 2: to produce. I think Matt Olsen bounces back a little bit,
19:43
Speaker 2: you know, and and I think this is a good offense.
19:45
Speaker 2: You know, they're going they're gonna have to go out
19:48
Speaker 2: and perform and then you know, hopefully Acuna comes back
19:51
Speaker 2: and can can really kind of stabilize that lineup and
19:55
Speaker 2: what But I mean, I think that's where they're gonna
19:57
Speaker 2: have to hang their hat this season, because I mean
20:00
Speaker 2: it's a tough division. I expect, yes, the Braves, Phillies,
20:05
Speaker 2: and Mets all to be in contention for the postseason,
20:07
Speaker 2: and probably all three have a chance to get in there,
20:10
Speaker 2: and uh, I think Washington's gonna be better too, So
20:15
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's gonna be it's gonna be fun.
20:17
Speaker 2: It's gonna be fun to see how it all, how
20:19
Speaker 2: it all shakes out.
20:20
Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, Yeah, And a fun discussion here on our
20:25
Speaker 1: Opposition Territory pod getting into this Braves team and what
20:29
Speaker 1: we can expect Chris. It was great talking to you
20:32
Speaker 1: buddy again. Folks, head on over to SB Nation check
20:34
Speaker 1: out all their baseball content. Head over to Battery power
20:38
Speaker 1: dot com if you want to find out what's going
20:40
Speaker 1: on with this Braves team and Chris. Where can folks
20:43
Speaker 1: find you on the interwebs out there, whether it's on Twitter,
20:46
Speaker 1: slash x, I don't know if you're on any other
20:48
Speaker 1: platforms out there. There's so many now, I'm on too many.
20:51
Speaker 1: I'm on too many, my.
20:52
Speaker 2: Friend, Yeah, I'm I'm on Blue Sky. Now you can
20:55
Speaker 2: find me search Chris with K, Chris with K Underscore Willis.
20:59
Speaker 2: That's that's the best place to find me now and
21:02
Speaker 2: just in and around all the SB Nation stuff that
21:05
Speaker 2: we've got going on for baseball. You know, I really
21:08
Speaker 2: appreciate you having me on this is a highlight every season.
21:11
Speaker 1: Oh that's awesome, dude, it's great talking to Yeah, come
21:14
Speaker 1: jump on down the road. I'd love to have you
21:15
Speaker 1: back on. We'll talk some more Major League Baseball talk,
21:17
Speaker 1: some more braves and n L least, I'd love to
21:19
Speaker 1: have you back on. My friend.
21:21
Speaker 2: Sounds good.
21:22
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
21:26
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
21:28
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21:32
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21:35
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21:39
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21:56
Speaker 1: we will catch you next, Tad