Latest / District Territory / Nats take 2 of 3 in Atlanta, Irvin hits IL after 5 no-hit innings

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Nats take 2 of 3 in Atlanta, Irvin hits IL after 5 no-hit innings · District Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the District Territory Podcast. I'm your host
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Eric Shellhouse. Joining me today Spencer Doesbaum of the Athletic
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: The Nationals coming off a thrilling weekend series against the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Atlanta Braves where they took two of three games after
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a heartbreaking loss on Friday night, But Spencer, the boys
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: were able to rebound, and we should give a quick
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: shout out to Kevin Franz and who's not with us today,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Happy birthday to Franny. But Spencer, how are you feeling.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: I'm great, just completed to move here in DC. And
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: just from a baseball perspective, these are two teams that
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: I was quite wrong about. The Nationals again, I thought
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: we're going to maybe be sniffing one hundred losses this year.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Seems like I'm wrong on that course. And the Braves
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I was also down on, and it seems like they're
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: doing quite well. But the Nationals were able to take
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: two out of three from them, so I don't think
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: there'll be any complaints from them after this weekend.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Now, Sir, read just four earned runs allowed by the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: pitching over the course of the weekend three entering Sunday.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: If I'm doing my math correct, so that all adds up.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: But we'll go ahead and take a look at the
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: National Leaguee's standings really quickly. With the two wins over
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the weekend, the Nationals improved to twenty seven in twenty
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: seven back at the five hundred mark. They are just
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: nine games back of the division leading Atlanta Braves. The
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Marlins leapfrogging getting in front of the Mets over the
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: week over the course of the weekend. Want to remind
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: you really quickly to subscribe if you're watching on YouTube
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: or follow wherever you're listening along, because at one thousand
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: subscribers on YouTube, we're going to give away this Eli
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Willetts signed baseball card. Go ahead and jump into Sunday's
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: game recap. The Nationals one two to one, an absolute
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: nail bighter all the way through. Go ahead and start
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: with the recap early on Foster Griffin locking up hitters
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: all game long. He had six strikeouts over the course
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: of the game, his first three I believe coming VI looking,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: and then in the fourth inning, with the bases loaded
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: and one out, he was able to roll up a
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: nifty six four three double play ball in Nassim Nunez
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: following up in the top of the fifth inning with
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: a go ahead base knock, and then the rain came
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the rain, and it did not stop. It seemed to
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: come down quite heavily and quite quite quickly. Spencer, you
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: were not down there in Atlanta, neither was I. We
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: were watching on TV, but it seemed like the grounds
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: crew may have been struggling a tiny bit to get
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: it across that second half of the diamond. It gave
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: me a flashback to my days in Waldorf, Maryland, when
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: we didn't have the tarp on the field early enough.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: In the truck had to be brought out to pad
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: down the dirt. The play finally resumed in the top
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: of the seventh inning. Nassim Nunez was robbed second basement
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: on second basement robbery there by Ozzy Albi's but Luis
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Garcia coming off of the bench in the eighth inning
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: to get the Nats a huge, huge insurance run at
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: the time, made it two to nothing, and then, Spencer,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the ninth inning happened. I had to look at my
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: box score to recap at all. The Nationals sent Gus
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Barlin out, who had come on in the eighth inning.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: He allowed a lead off hit in another base knock
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: to Austin Riley that sent Ozzy Alvi's the third base.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: That point, the Nationals substituted Richard Lovelady. He was able
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: to get Michael Harris to fly out to right field,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and then he cued up what appeared to be a
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: game ending double play. Ball struck it and I seen Nunyaz,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: but you didn't know how that ball was going to
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: bounce after the rain delay, just came up and skipped
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: him in the chest. All of a sudden, the Braves
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: had runners on first and second with just one out
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and a walk to Kim loaded the paces. So but
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Tara went to the bullpen yet again in the ninth
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: inning of brought in Orlando or Balta, who got a
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: huge strikeout Chadwick Trump the second out of the inning,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure we'll talk about him later on in
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the show. And then Ronald Acunya Junior was his final victim.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Orlando or Balta able to split the bat, get over
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: and cover first base. And I don't know if you're
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: watching in live time, Spencer, but this is one of
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: my favorite postgame celebrations from a closer ever. Just seeing
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: him fist pumping running over there. I didn't let it
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: run long enough to get the guys up the middle
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: doing their celebration. But what an awesome team victory like.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: I don't even know who i'd want to shout out first.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: It's everyone, everyone.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, a lot of people just stir their flowers.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I think with bat Boys, you guys should ask these
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: guys what they're the best celebrations they've ever seen after
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: a game are, because that was definitely up there. With
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: regards to Ribalta in particular, this is kind of the
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: downstream effects of what the Nationals were hoping would happen
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: this season, where they throw a lot of guys in
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: April in early May into uncomfortable spots, spots they've never
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: been in before, show them what those moments are like,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: play them against good matchups, and figure it out from there.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: Robalta has obviously stepped up recently. He is someone who
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: really was never relied upon in leverage before and was
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: asked to do a lot and came through today. Been
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: really fun to track his journey and I'm sure I'll
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: be writing about him at some point soon just with
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: how good he's been. Really impressive stuff from them, and
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: you just have to kind of shout out the management
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: as well, from putting Louis in there to managing that
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: bullpen which has been asked to throw a lot of
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: innings this year. Yeah, it's really impressive stuff.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: And that was Richard Lovelady's third day of work. He
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: pitched in every game in this series. But I just
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: want to give a huge shout out to the pitching
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: on Sunday. Alvarez, Barlin, love Lady. They all get holds
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: in the process, but baseball's a team sport. They all
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: deserve the save. Everybody deserves the save. On Sunday, just
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: all around a great pitching performance. And then Saturday's recap
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: the Nationals one two to nothing. Jake Irvin took a
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: no hitter into the fifth inning and Brad Lord carried
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: it on in the sixth inning. The Nats just seemed
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: to be in control of this entire game as you
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: take a look at a Jake Irvan first inning strikeout
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: of Ronald Cunya. Junior Dalen Lyle also got his first
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: triple of the season. I know that we've been waiting
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: on that for a while, but he was digging it
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: as Franny said on the broadcast, he knew right off
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: the bat that one had a chance, and it really
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: did deflect right to Acunyan right field, set him up
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: perfectly to make a throw into third base. There Daleen
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: finally off the snide in the triples department excited for him,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: and then Dylan Cruz welcome back to the big leagues
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: in a big way with a go ahead home run
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: there one nothing I believe this was in the fourth inning.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: And then in the fifth inning, short Vivas would add
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: a home run into the right field bleachers, this one
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: only going three hundred and sixty four feet just getting
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: into the baskets in right field.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Do they have baskets of flowers out there? And truest
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: I think they do. But Jake was just terrific on Saturday,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: five innings, no hits, seven strikeouts. But unfortunately our man
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: is headed to the injured list, the Nationals recalling PJ
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Poland from Triple A. Spencer, can you give me some
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: insight on this and wishing Jake a quick recovery?
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess I'll first talk about the injury itself
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: and what it does for the team. So the Nationals
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: have an off day coming up after the Cleveland series,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: which means they don't necessarily need to have all five
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: starters in the rotation right now. What they can do
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: is use that off day and just run with the
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: four that are up. Now that being said, it's a
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: testy situation when you do that. Ultimately, if I were
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: to guess, that's probably how they'll run with it, even
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: with how tax the bullpen's been, just to get nine
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: arms back there. As for Jake himself, and I think
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: this is kind of the larger point here, supposed to
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: be a shorter eyel stint, and I really want to
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: shout out just kind of the velocity uptick on Saturday.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you've ever seen that like meme
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: where it's like the Bell curve and it's like the
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: dumb guy at one end and the smart guy at
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: the other end, and they're saying the same thing. That's
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: kind of how I feel about Jake Irvan's velocities, Like
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: it's it's dumb to just say, oh, he throws harder,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: so he'll pitch better. But that's kind of been the
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: case for Jake over the last two years. On the
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: velocity is fastball velost in particular have been up. He's
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: been really really effective, and on the days where he's
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: sitting closer to like ninety two or so, it's where
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: you really start to see him struggle. The other day
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: his velocity was up, and while we can't attribute everything
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: to that, I think it it says a lot about
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: both the state of the game and the state of
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Jake to say, like, he can be an effective pitcher
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: if he throws harder. You know, there's a lot more
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: that goes into it than just like telling him to
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: throw harder, although that's kind of how Blake has dumped
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: it down for us, is like, yeah, we just some
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: times between I think them throw fast, faster and it
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: it works. It's been a hard season for him. Here
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: is still above five. But yeah, if that's a trend
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: that he can keep up post injury, I think that's
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: a really compelling trait for both him and the TMG.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely important to note, as you just said, the
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: National is getting a much needed off day after they
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: wrap up in Cleveland. Here go ahead and resume in
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: the seventh inning. I had to head over to Chase
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Field to cover the Diamondbacks game and when you got
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the notification, oh, base hit for Michael Harris's center field.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Didn't really do it justice when I go back and
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: watch it, CJ just inches away. That was the only
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: hit of the day for the Braves. The tenth one
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: hitch out in Nationals history, their first against the Braves.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Richard Lovelady locking down the save on Saturday. So I
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: have to give a huge shout out to the pitching
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: on Saturday as well. Jake Urban five innings, no hits,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: rab Lord three innings, and Richard Lovelady wrapping it up there.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Two wins against, as we just mentioned, the best team
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: in the National League. What does this say about the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: identity of the team right now at the fifty fourth
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: game mark. I believe fifty five coming up later today
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: in Cleveland.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny. So in years past, when you talk
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: about the Nationals all that time, it was like, and
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: this is the case with any team that's struggling or rebuilding,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: or whatever word you want to use. It's like, Oh,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: the hitting's up and the pitchings down, or the pitchings
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: up and the heating's down, or both those are up,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: with the fielding is way down. I think with the
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Nationals this year, we've seen the hitting is just always
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: up and in those rare, rare, rare blips where it's down,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: the pitching really and again that's not to say that
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: this is a finished product or that you know, they
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: needed to spend more money this offseason or anything of
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: that nature. Necessarily, what I think it says is that,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: and this is so cliche sports, you know, smooth brain
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: take or whatever, these guys just kind of have a
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: feel for the moment. I think you see that when
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: they're tested in these one two run games late. They've
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: played so many of them. And you know, Blake, Blake
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: made a comment the other day as it protain to
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: his managing in particular, where he said, you know, I
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: know a first year manager, but I've gotten all this
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: experience because we've basically played every single type of game
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: there is to be played. That's a great experience for him,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: it's a great experience for a young team. And yeah,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: they just it's dumb to say, and it may maybe
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: especially dumb to say after Nas made that air in
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: the ninth, but generally speaking, they just don't look like
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: a team that's rattled in these late innings at least
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: not anymore. And so yeah, I think it's hard to
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: put any identity on this team other than great offense
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: and figure it out from there. But I think I've
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: been When you get pitching like this over a week,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: it's really really a big left for the team.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I really liked what Simon Matthews had to say.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I think it was pregame on Friday in an interview
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: with Alexa Dad, he said it's kind of just like
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: a pirate ship Vibe where everyone just jumps on board
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: and then we figure it out from there. And I
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: love that. I love that way of how he is
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: describing the Vibes team. I think that's like really accurate.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: You know, we get on we figure it out one
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: day at a time, try and find a way to go.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Want to know, we do have to talk about Friday's loss,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: and later on we're gonna be talking about Stever King,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: but real quickly, first take a break for a word
• 11:39
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  Speaker 1: And we are back.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: It has been a long weekend, Spencer, especially after you
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: thought maybe the Nats are going to have multiplexpextraining contests
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend. The way that the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Ninth Inning was shaping up earlier today, this is being
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: recorded on Sunday Friday, was just not the Nats day,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: the Braves were victorious five to four. You take a
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: look at the wind probability chart from the course of
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: this game, a roller coaster, a heartbreak all around. Go
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: ahead and pick up the game recap in the eighth inning,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: because that was basically its whole own game. From there on,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: cj abrams three to zero, swinging to tie the game
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: at two, and then in the top of the tenth
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: inning he delivered again. I'm not sure who was batting
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: in front of him, but picking up the team at
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: the time and driving in two runs. Franny has talked
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: about on this show so many times how important it
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: is to get those two runs in the extra innings,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: because the Braves would add two and load the bases.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Orlando or Balta found a way to Houdini himself out
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: of it. The Nationals were able to get onto the
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: eleventh inning, but we're not able to score there. And
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: then after getting the first two outs in the bottom
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: of the eleventh, Chadwick trump off of the bench with
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: his second hit of the game, was able to play
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: walk off winner. And I just wanted to let this
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: play through because I think this is the best three
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: D game day replay we've had all season. I just
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: you know, they're not really getting the walkoff animation down
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: just yet. But I want to shout out Miles Michaeliss
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: because he was fantastic in this game, and he's been
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: fantastic as of late. Mark Zuckerman sweeting out in his
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: first four outings, michael has had an eleven forty nine
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: ERA that is down to three four eight over the
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: course of his last seven outings. I'm not sure what
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: that evens out to, don't have the numbers right in
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: front of me, but Spencer, he is really starting to
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: settle into a nice little groove here, whether that be
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: opening from the get go or having an opener for
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: him and then coming in relief.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a big credit to him. It's a
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: big credit again to the coaching staff, which has helped
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: him hater repete velocity, but it's helped him find his velocity.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It's helped him find his fastball command. Again, I think
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: at times with MICHAELSS and maybe I'm just marred from
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: the first four games, but you'd like to see a
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: little more length at times. But again that's part of
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: the coaching staff's decision and that's why he's been effective. Yeah,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: he deserves a shout out. And I think that when
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: you talk about the Nats being five hundred, he's not
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I on the list in terms of who people credit,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: but when you talk about them over this recent stretch,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: he deserves a ton of it. So yeah, again, I
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: think a lot of it comes back to that philosophy
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: and fastball command, and he's a veteran pitcher that knows
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: how to work out of jams. Generally speaking, he's limited
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: the long ball, which has paid huge dividends. And Yeah, again,
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I think that he's been exactly what they needed him
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: to be. So I think you'll take that for what
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: they're paying him and what they're asking him to do.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Definitely, it was a brutal game. Not a brutal game,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: but a heartbreaking game, and Blake saying in the post
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: game they just couldn't get the big hit. You know,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: they got the big hit twice there from CJ, but
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: just no one else is able to come through over
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: the course of the game in the big moments with
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: runners on base, and you're not going to win all
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: of them in one hundred and sixty two games, and
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to see them respond with a two nothing shut out
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: the next day, and then a two to one victory
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: on Sunday, certainly encouraging to get them back to the
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: five hundred mark. We're going to take a minute to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: do a quick down on the farm. I don't know
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: what we're going to call this segment down on the
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Farm report. We're a little outdated on this sever King
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: has been promote to Triple A Rochester Spencer. He's just
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: crushing the ball this season. But what can you tell
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Nats fans about this guy? He's the first round pick
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: tenth overall from the twenty twenty four draft, played college
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: at wake Forest. But what kind of player is he?
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: And why should Nats fans really start to get excited
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: about him here soon?
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll give a little backstory first. So when the
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Nationals take King in the twenty twenty four draft, he
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: is surrounded by a bunch of players who have already
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: gone on to produce in the big leagues. He also
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: is a product, as you said of wake Forest, but
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: even before that, he was a wing gate guy. He
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: was a forget a Fest Division Tour Division three. But
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: it's a lower division baseball club and so baked into
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: that evaluation and the understanding of maybe how to track
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: his development is, Hey, this is a guy where it
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: could take some time, and that's not something you maybe
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: usually say for a college product. But I think there
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: was some maybe patients needed with him that you weren't
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: necessarily going to get because of the guys who produce
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: around him. Now you fast forward to twenty twenty five,
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: has a very very difficult season. You know, he makes
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: some highlight plays in the field, he has some good
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: stretches at the plate, but more often than not, he's
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: hitting a lot of ground balls. The swing looks very
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: little like it did in college. He gets promoted after
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: and I mean again, I think I'll be frank here,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: in part because he's been so productive this year. He
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: gets promoted, probably without deserving it or without the numbers
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: saying that a player like that usually should get promoted.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: And again, that's no knock on him, that's not his fault.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: That's really what happened. And he really struggled in Harrisburg
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: last year. Again, the approach, the swing didn't look like
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: what he had in college. From what I've heard in
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: the scenes, some pretty inconsistent message. And then all of
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: a sudden, he goes to the Arizona Fall League. I'm
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: not sure how many of you guys have heard of
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Kevin McGonagall, but he's the tigers top prospects who's now
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: raking them, or at least starting the season was raking
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: for them. He talked to sever in the Fall league
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: and said, hey, like, you know, let's try to simplify
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: your approach here. Let you know, we know you're a
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: great hitter. You don't really have to tweak the swing
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: that you had in college, at least not too much.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: And something clicked for him where hearing it from a
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: player hearing it simplified, has a great fall league, and
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: now with the Nationals, has reached base and now forty
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: consecutive games all forty's he's played this year, which is unbelievable.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: I think it speaks again to the more consistent messaging
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: they've had this year. And that isn't to say like
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: they're telling him not to pull the ball in the air.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Like I think that's still a focus in something he
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: will work on, but maybe not the degree of, hey,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: you're going to be a guy who pulls the ball
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: in the air or with his approach too. He was
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: walking a town at the start of the year, all
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: of a sudden got more pitches in the zone and
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: he's crushing those. There's always going to be some ground
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: ball and this was always going to be this that,
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: But when you hit, you're going to see really, really
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: positive results. And so I think I was wrong about
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: King after last year. I think a lot of people
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: were wrong about King after last year. And I mean,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: he's turned himself into I hate to say he's going
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: to get called up this year because I still don't
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: think that's a certainty, but he has worked himself into
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: that conversation in a way that I don't think I
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: saw coming or many people saw.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Coming in this year. I certainly think that really impressive. Yeah,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: five home runs, thirty four over.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: My question for you, would you want to see him
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: in Washington this year? Would you rather the organization practices
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: some patients.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: I think as a fan, like you said, I don't
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: know if the numbers are really quite there just yet,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: but I want to see him come up and thrive
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: when he first gets to the big leagues. That's something
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: that we're talking about a couple of weeks or last
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: week with Kevin and Dylan not necessarily being rushed up.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: But you know, in Terra's words, fighting to survive, I
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: think is what but Terra said. When Siever gets called up,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: I think we all want to see him just fit
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: right in and be in smooth and every day and
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: transition just the way he did a double A to
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: triple A, triple A to quadruple as they like to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: call it in baseball. I would want to see him
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: at triple A for pretty much the entire season. I
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: know a lot of people in social media are calling
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: for him to get the call with the numbers that
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: he's putting up, but I'd let him chill at triple
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: A for a little bit see how the numbers continue
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: to just But he is really making it an interesting conversation.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: On May twenty fourth, also, I should say happy May
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: twenty fourth to those of you that are still celebrating
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six. Is on this day of the
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Nationals over nineteen and thirty one in twenty nineteen, we're
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: able to turn their season around. Give you a look
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: at Monday Night's pitching preview as the Nationals head to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: Cleveland to take on the Guardians. Tanner Bibby a three
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: seven five r eight innings of one run ball last
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: time against the Detroit Tigers. Couldn't get himself a win, man,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: They got to get him some run support. Zach Lttel
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: is the probable pitcher on the mound for the Nationals.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: He went five innings of two runs ball against the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Mets last time and got himself a victory. Spencer, I'm curious,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: do you think we could see opener for Littil tomorrow?
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean, they just called Pool in back up,
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: so it feels like that's a likely spot for him
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: to pitch in. Admittedly, I haven't looked ahead at the
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Guardians lineup, and as I'm picturing it in my head,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I can't remember how switch hitter heavy it is versus
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: lefty heavy. But yeah, and it just feels like a
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: spot where of the Nationals will do what they've done
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: all year. So yeah, I would probably expect Pool in
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: a pitch.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like that is a likely scenario. Again,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: this is being recorded on Sunday evening. It'll go live
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Monday morning for those of you listening and watching, So
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: we don't we really don't know who the problem pitcher
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: is tomorrow. Right now, it says Zach Lttel, but that
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: could definitely change come tomorrow morning. At the time that
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: you all are listening to this really quickly, I want
• 21:47
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• 21:49
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• 21:59
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• 22:08
  Speaker 1: It's just another reason why FanDuel is the home of
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: home runs. So the Nationals out slugging the Braves over
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: the last weekend, Dylan Cruz, Jorbet Phoebas c J Abrams
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: all launching balls into the seats over the course of
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the weekend. But me later today, I'm gonna go out
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: and take Dylan Cruz. I'm gonna take Dylan again. Double
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: down on that, not double down on that, per se,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: but I got him hitting a home run later today. Spencer,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: anyone taking Tanner Bibby deep in your eyes.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really liked a swing. I saw it at
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Dalen Lyle earlier. And again that's not to say that
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: it's definitely gonna happen, but I think he's one of
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: the in one of those stretches where his approach and
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: his swing are really in a good place. And so yeah,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: for my for my guess, I'm going with Dalen. But
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: they have the highest second percentage of baseball this month,
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I think, even after that two to one game, So
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: there really isn't someone you can look at. Maybe outside
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: of all due respect to him, nos, So I don't
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: think has a homer yet. I think almost everyone in
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: that lineup can can rake right now. So yeah, I'd
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: go with Daylight. I had to pick anyone.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: If you're ready to play your game, head over to
• 23:17
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• 23:49
  Speaker 1: And we are back, Spencer. Of three games set in
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Cleveland starting later today and then finally much needed off
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: day before the Nationals returned home to take on the
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: San Diego Padres. Upcoming schedule, the Nationals head to Cleveland
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: to take on the Guardians for a three game set
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: before getting a much needed off day on the twenty eighth,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: and then hosting the San Diego Padres for a three
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: game set and then I guess they just get you
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: and off. Now there'll be game in June. Games in
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: June there. I just didn't get it in on the screenshot,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: But Spencer, if the Nationals can take two out of
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: three here, which would make it an incredible road trip.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: At four and two, they're coming home above five hundred.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: What do they need to do right over the next
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: three days besides take care of the baseball to walk
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: away with some wins.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, as much as I want to just repeat Franny's
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: forever talking point, which is a valid talking point, by
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: the way, they're valid talk playing clean baseball. Yeah, yeah, No,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: I think it'd be good to see the offense get
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: back on track. Specifically, this is a Cleveland pitching staff
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: that really does not walk a ton of guys, It
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: does not make mistakes per se, it throws really hard,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: and so I think the pregame work is going to
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: be really difficult. But I think as much. I think
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: a lot of what you're going to have to do
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: to win this series is kind of out Cleveland Cleveland,
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: which is to say, have really good situational hitting and
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: have an offense that you know, shows up in the
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: late innings and does all those cliche things that make
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: it really fun to write about. But in terms of
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: our process, isn't super sustainable. That being said, I think
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: that they've shown a knack for those sorts of moments,
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: and so I'll be looking, you know, run around third,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: can you get them home? Run on second, can you
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: get them to third? All those all those little things
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: are probably going to dictate this series. But maybe we'll
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: watch this on Wednesday or Thursday or wherever it is,
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: and I'll be totally wrong. So that's my take. I
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: don't know if yours. Yours is any different.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: No, I concur with pretty much all all the takes
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: that you're throwing out there. Pitching, just keep on rolling.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: The pitching has been so sharp lately, and I think
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: that was critical in Atlanta. But as you mentioned, just
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: doing the little things right in the big moments. I
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: really think that's what set them, aside from taking two
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: of three there, and frankly had more than a worthy
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: opportunity to sweep them. If you look back at seventy
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: two hours ago to Friday's game, it was a dagger.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: It was a dagger, and we were saying in our
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: group chat with Franny, you know this could be one.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: I remember a few weeks ago when I did a
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: show with Franny I circled the Brave series. I said,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: that's at the end of a sixteen game stretch, and
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: how do they respond to nothing shut out with a
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: no hitter through six innings and then just a dramatic,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: thrilling team victory on Sunday. It'll be exciting to watch,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: but we will be back with another episode on Wednesday.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Until then, everyone take care of yourselves and we will
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: see you later. Face