Latest / Foul Territory / Ken Rosenthal exposes MLB’s zone shrinkage secret, Sizes up Dodgers-Braves & Jake Burger’s demotion

Transcript

Ken Rosenthal exposes MLB’s zone shrinkage secret, Sizes up Dodgers-Braves & Jake Burger’s demotion · Foul Territory

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You gotta let the players know that the world is
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: changing for them. They're the ones on the field, they're
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the ones playing your game. They are your product.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Let's hit the inside scoop with FT senior insider Ken Rosenthal. Ken,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: great story, really really well put together by you and
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: the team over at the Athletics. So what can you
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: tell us about it? And also, were you as shocked
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: as I was when you first started hearing about this
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: and the lack of communication with the league and everyone
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: else involved in actually playing the sport.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, And I'll give you the genesis of this. During
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: spring training, where maybe it was recently, it was actually
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: more recently than that. Players came to Jason Stark and said, Hey,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: something's up with the zone and it's smaller, it's different.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: We don't get it.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Can you look into this? So Jason started looking into
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: it and found that, yes, there is a difference in
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: the buffer zone part of the well, it's not even
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: part of the strike zone. It's around the strike zone.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: It's been reduced from two inches all the way around
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: to three quarters of an inch all the way around.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: This was something that was agreed to by MLB and
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the umpires in the umpire's newest CBA. So okay, we'll
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: get to that in a second and why they did
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: it and the effects of it, but part of the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: story is about how, yes, as you mentioned, Scott, it
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: took so many people by surprise. Now, MLB claims that
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: it communicated it properly to pretty much all the parties involved,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and that may be true in MLB's eyes, but clearly
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: there was a breakdown in communication at some point here
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: because we talked to club officials that were not aware
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: of this, We talked to managers as you quoted that
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: we're not aware of this. We have players on the
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: record and managers on the record saying this kind of
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: took them by surprise, not kind of took them by surprise.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: So that to me is one thing here, But the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: overriding thing, really, the most important thing for the sake
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: of the game, is that this is a good thing.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: It's a good thing because the rule book strike zone
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: is going to be called more accurately when you shrink
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: the size of the buffer zone. And let me explain
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: with that is the buffer zone is the area that,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: as I said, is a couple of inches or was
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: around the strike zone. But that was an area in
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: which an umpire, if he had a missed call in
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: that area, it would not count against him in the evaluation.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: And that was the change in the umpire CBA that, yes,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: the buffer zone would shrink, and that was an area
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: in which they could be judged less harshly if they
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: missed a call there. But they felt this would get
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: closer to the rule book definition of the strike zone,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: and everyone agreed with it. So umpires agreed to be
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: evaluated differently. But that has caused a change in the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: way the game is being played now. MLB says it's
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: not a significant change. The player that we talked to
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: said maybe not, but it's certainly something. And I talked
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: to some front office people as well, who said, hey, hey,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: wait a second, because the zone is being called tighter,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: we have to change our framing models. We have to
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: look at things completely differently. Maybe we have to get
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: more patient hitters because there are fewer strikes being thrown now. Again,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: MLB insists that there are not fewer strikes being thrown
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: and that it's essentially a wash, but it's just an
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: interesting story from the perspective of one. This change has
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: taken place and the change was made in order to
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: get the strike zone called more accurately and consistently. Good thing.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: The issue is that obviously a lot of people who
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: should have known about it didn't know about it. Despite
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: MLB's claims that yes, we told them about it.
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: You make a lot of really good points. Now my
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: question to you be I know you've talked to some players.
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: Have you talked to catchers specifically about this, because it's
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: not only pitchers, but also catchers are the ones that
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: are getting away with some kind of frames and all
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: that kind of stuff, like is it changing the way
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: they're catching now?
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know that we asked that question specifically, but
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Travis Darnaut is quoted in the article as saying everyone's
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: zone has shrunk, and that is clearly what has happened here. Now,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: it's not again a change in the definition of the
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: strike zone. It's really important to know that the actual
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: strike zone, by the rule book is exactly the same.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: The difference is in that buffer zone in which umpires
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: are allowed to essentially miss. That zone has shrunk from
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: two inches around, as I said, to three quarters of
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: an inch round, and that's where the difference is from
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: before so we did not ask catchers specifically about the
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: framing aspect, but club officials told us, yes, we've changed
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: our framing models in the ways we've evaluated catchers or
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: started to evaluate a catchers because we have noticed a difference.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: One team told me in the last two weeks, they've
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: been starting at ask these questions, what's going on? How
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: do we adapt? Clearly teams were caught by surprise.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: Why does Major League Baseball feel like rules implementations or
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: stuff like this, like implementing things that actually affect the
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: game don't need to be not more negotiated, But just
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: is it a big brother complex by Major League Baseball
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: or is it a avoiding or is it avoiding confrontation and
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: we're just trying to do what's best for the game,
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: and yet they're hurting it.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Eric, I don't know the answer to that. My thinking
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: here is what should have happened is that MLB, much
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: like it did when it rolled out ABS and spring training,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: should have put this out there in the public saying, hey,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: here's what's going on. This is what they did with ABS.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: It was very clear, it was very well publicized. Here's
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: what it's going to be this spring we're testing it,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: et cetera. They should have done the same with this said. Listen,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: here's what's going on. We're shrinking the buffer zone. The
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: goal of shrinking the buffer zone is to make the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: calls by umpires at home plate on balls and strikes
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: more consistent, more accurate. That's the goal. It's a goal
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: that's being accomplished. You see the accuracies numbers right there.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: MLB says, this is the most accurate balls and strikes
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: have been called in the stackcast era.
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: This is a good thing.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: This is something that yes, pictures would have objected to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: and will object to, because obviously it's harder to throw
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: a strike or a call strike. But at the same time,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: hitters love it. Obviously they want the zone called more accurately,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: and it's something that all fans could understand and embrace
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: if it was just presented that way. And the mere
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: fact that so many people who should have known say
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: they didn't know. That's a problem, and it's a problem
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: MLB might not want to acknowledge, but it's a problem,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: and you're right, Eric, it undermines which should be a
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: good thing. More consistent and accurate bull shtrike calls.
• 7:05
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• 8:07
  Speaker 3: Is this a forward thinking by MLB by saying, hey,
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: we're transitting, most likely transitioning to the challenge system. And
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: I know this was put out in the winter meeting,
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: so this was even before the Challenge system was implemented
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: in the spring training. Is this going to make it
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: an easier transition to the challenge system or is it? Hey,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: if we shrink this, umpires are getting it right. Maybe
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: we don't need the challenge system.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: No, I expect we're going to have the Challenge system.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: And I'm not sure this was done at all with
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: ABS in mind. It seems to me that it was
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: done simply to get balls and strikes called more accurately.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Now the zone with ABS is going to be more stringent.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: I guess you would say, right, at least we'll have
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: a very defined zone as we do now, but it
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: is defined by written words as opposed to a machine,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: so I don't think the two are linked. But at
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the same time, it raises questions for ABS as well.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Is there going to be in a buffer zone with ABS?
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: How is this going to work? And we'll ask those
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: questions at the appropriate time.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: And I mean, the league's been around for a while
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: they've got plenty of pr This shouldn't have just been
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: a memo to players, teams, coaches, et cetera. It should
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: have been announced to everyone. We're fans of the game,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: just let us know. This would have been great offseason talk.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: And it's a positive story. So that part is crazy
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: to me. Ken, I'm wondering if there's any aftermath to this.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: I know you got to comment here too, but if
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: if anybody you know you think he's going to complain,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: because there's probably some people that figured this out the
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: first week of the season. Now there's some people that
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: are learning about this on May second.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the aftermath is going to be,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: if any I can't predict that.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: Scott, Now, ask.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: For what you're saying about putting this out there, because
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: obviously it's had an effect the league. This position is
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: it's not that meaningful an impact, and they were basically
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: saying it's not that big a deal. It's a change, yes,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: but it's improved the ball strike accuracy, and it's not
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: that it's not something that should be sensatialized in their mind,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: not something that is that big a thing. Okay, but
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I'm with you, Scott, why not be more transparent, Why
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: not put it out there? What do you have to
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: be ashamed about here? You're doing something good. You're trying
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: to make the game better. Tell people, I don't really
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: understand the problem.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: It is not the CIA, this is not some covert operation.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: This is just like you talked about unfair tiretury the
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: other day. This is baseball. This is entertainment, and this
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: is a good story. And for fans or anybody the
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: league that doesn't think that this is something that affects everyone,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: you should read the story. There's game planning, pitch sequencing,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: everything right. People just want to know what the rules
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: are and how umps are being evaluated. Plays into that
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: so much so that there's an ump that told a player, oh,
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: did you hear about the strike zone change? What do
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: you think about that? Even just the way he phrased it,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: I think tells the story of how the umps have
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: to think about how they're evaluating the zone. That's why
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: to me, it's such a big deal. Krat's what you got.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean you talk about game plans. I just
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: was thinking about what you said. There is a paper
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: hung up for a left handed batter and a right
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: handed batter, how umpire zones change, not that they would
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: have been able to build that model before the season,
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: and that model is always changing, but it's based on thousands,
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: tens of thousands of pitches and that's hung up before
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: every game, along with the pitcher scouting report too. So
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: if people think I don't really pay attention to it,
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: there's somebody that has that job for sure. Ken, do
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: you think do you think this improves the chances of
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: or I shouldn't say improved because that sounds like I
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: want to work stoppage. Does this increase the chances of
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: a work stoppage?
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I won't go that far. To me, Eric, the chances
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of a stoppage are high regardless of this. What I
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: will say is this that throughout the game's history, since
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the inception of the Union, there has been obviously labor tension,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: and one of the manifestations of that tension has been
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: a disconnect at times between the league office and players
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: as represented by the Union. This to me kind of
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: shows that there's still a disconnect, or at least in
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: this example, there was a disconnect, and it doesn't seem
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: to me, and this is my opinion now it doesn't
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: seem to me that players were taken into account enough here.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: And the league can say, yes, we communicated to the clubs,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: we tried to communicate to the players. We did this,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: We did it properly. They can say that, but it
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: didn't happen, or at least didn't happen successfully enough. And
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: one of the criticisms the league has faced from players
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: is they don't have a feel for us, They don't
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: get it, and at times that has been a fair criticism.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: In this particular case, it seems to me that it
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: is a fair criticism as well. They just did not
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: see that. If you're going to do something, even if
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: you think it's small, even if you think it's good,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: and it is, you gotta let the players know that
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the world is changing for them. They're the ones on
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the field, they're the ones playing your game. They are
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: your product, and they have to be taken into full
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: account and full consideration.
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: Now, let's talk a little bit about some baseball teams here.
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: The Texas Rangers ranked twenty eighth right now and run
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: scored per game. We didn't really see that one coming,
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: if you want the truth, and they just demoted Jake
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: Berger and brought up Blaine Krim right now, so talk
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: a little bit about, you know, what they're gonna do
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: with Jake and how Blaine is gonna, you know, help
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: this team out at first base.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Their general manager Chris Young earlier this week told the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Dallas Morning News that he was edgy about their offense
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: and rifle. So now we talked about this unfair territory yesterday.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: You don't often hear GM talk like that, and yet
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: his frustration was clear. He made other comments as well
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: about the offense and indicated that, yes, we have some
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: players at Triple A we might look at Blaine Krim
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: is one of those players. He's hit every level of
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the minor leagues. He's twenty seven. I believe he's not
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: really a prospect in that sense, but he's a guy
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: they want to give a chance to. And the way
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: this was portrayed to me is that with Jake Berger,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: this is simply a reset. He'll be down for a
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: little bit then come back. Clearly, Jake Berger was one
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: of the Rangers' biggest off season acquisitions, along with Jock Peterson,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: who also has struggled, and they're trying to find ways
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: to kickstart this offense. And it's really interesting because, yes,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: last year they took a step back offensively, and the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: reasons that they acquired guys like Berger and Peterson was
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: to hopefully get the offense going again. Hasn't happened. Things.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: They've dropped Marcus Simeon in the order, he's starting to hit. Finally,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: they basically bench Leoti Tavaris the center fielder. So far
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: it's not working. They just had a tough series against
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: the A's at home, lost two of three. So this
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: is a team to watch, and their general manager Chris
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Young has clearly demonstrated he's not going to wait around
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: and simply say hey, back of the baseball cards. Guys
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: will come around. No, he's doing things.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: Ken, I'm over three on my questions with getting you
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: to know what the answers are, So maybe you know
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: what this answer is when you talk to Chris Young,
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: did he allude to anything with fastballs because they brought
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: over John Peterson and Jake Berger because they were elite
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: at hitting fastballs. Their numbers on fastballs this year are atrocious.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Job Peterson's hitting forty one on fastballs. Jake Berger had
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: a nine to twenty one ops last year. On fastballs
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: this year, he has a four to sixty ops. Does
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: he feel like these players are getting moved or maybe
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: did he mention anything about about, hey, what are we
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: doing as far as like a team a coaching staff
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: of learning to hit the fastball.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: His interview was with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: so that was where his comments were. And yes, definitely
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: fastballs have been an issue for them and it's been
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: something that they've tried to correct with those acquisitions that
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: you just mentioned now. In the article that Evan wrote,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: basically he said, once you get through making player moves,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: once you drop guys in the lineup, demote players to
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: triple A, bring up other players, and that doesn't work,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: then the only thing left are staffing changes. And Evan
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: pointed out in the article that Bruce bochi in twenty
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: eight years as a manager has never fired a coach
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: at midseason. Now, the front office would be the one
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: doing it most likely, but the point was this doesn't
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: happen under Boacie, So if it did happen this year,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: that would be an even more dramatic example of how
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: this team is trying to get itself going. And we'll
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: just have to see what happens. They need to start hitting, period.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: That's what Saw solves all the problems. Is always the
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: case in baseball, right guys. If you're not winning, if
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: you're not hitting, if you're not pitching, well, do better
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: and things will change. The noise will stop. That's the
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: case here as well.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Hey, Ken, let's finish with the series you've got coming
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: up this weekend on Fox. You'll be part of Dodgers Braves,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: which is a great heavy weaight tilt. Okay, so I'll
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: do one on each. So let's start with the Dodgers
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: twenty one to ten, best record in a very competitive
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: National League West, but not by much. And I know
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: we're only a month into the season, but we've talked
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: about how there are multiple other teams in this division
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: playing well. What do you think about the way that
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: the Dodgers are trying to get through the marathon to
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: load up as best as possible for October and the
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: potential chance that it could cause some problems at some
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: point if one of these teams gets hot.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: It's a really interesting question, Scott, and they obviously are
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: running their team and pointing toward October. Everything they do
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: points toward October, and yet there's a regular season to play,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: and while it's more likely than not they're going to
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: make the playoffs, even in this kind of half state
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: that they're in, this weird state that they're in. They're
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: twenty one and ten, as you mentioned, they're leading the division.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: They're the best team. But at some point they're going
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: to want to turn it up a little bit too.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: And it's understandable for a team coming off a World
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Series to have injuries. It's understandable when that team doesn't
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: really necessarily fire on all cylinders right away. There's something
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: of a hangover and effect that takes place with teams.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: But it's going to be really interesting to see when
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: Dave Roberts in the front office kind of puts the
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: pedal to the medal a little bit and says, hey,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: we got to go here. They have succeeded and done
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: very well, not really doing that, but at some point
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: that focus, that intensity is going to need to come back.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying they're not trying. Of course they're trying,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: but there's a different level and you can't expect it
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: to be the same. Sitting here on May sewid you
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: couldn't have expected it in April. I don't know that
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: you can expect it in June. But as we go
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: forward and as we get to the postseason or closer
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: to it, certainly at that point the Dodgers are going
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: to have to turn it up, and we'll want to
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: turn it up, and are quite capable of turning it up.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, no doubt about it. My only thought process is
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: that there could be a disaster scenario where a few
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: things go wrong for your team, another team starts to
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: make a run, and then you're like, wait, all of
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: a sudden, we might not take this division, and we
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: always take this division. So I think that part strategically
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: could be interesting. And then the other side here real quick,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: the Braves, they're fourteen and sixteen. I keep looking at
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: them with zero panic. I know Strider only gave then
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: one start. He's going to come back, Akuna is going
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: to come back. I gotta give this team some credit.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: They're hovering around the five hundred range. So what do
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: you think about the Braves heading into this series.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: They're interesting, and they're interesting because some things have happened,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: even beyond the injury Scott, that they didn't expect Nick Allen.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: It's shortstop Alex Verdugo playing in the outfield, Eli White
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: assuming a prominent role here. So they've kind of adjusted
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: on the fly already, and clearly in the end they're
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: going to need their stars to be stars, and Riley
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: and Olsen and Murphy, those guys have done better of
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Lake Chrysales come on a little bit lately as well,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: so I'm not worried about them. But it's a different
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: team and I would expect that even after Kunya and
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Stryder come back, they're going to need to make some
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: adjustments along the way, probably the deadline. Their bullpen is
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: a huge question right now, especially with Iglesias struggling, and
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: that was something they didn't anticipate. So, as always, every
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: year is different, every season is different. That's true for
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers, and it's true for the Braves. It's true
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: for every team, and we'll just have to see how
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: they evolve. They kind of came back nicely from that
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: five and thirteen start they did. They were covered well.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Now they go forward and see what they can be.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this could be a statement series. I know it's early,
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: and we've seen some good Dodgers Braves matchups in the
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: past few years too. So we'll see Ken enjoy the
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: weekend and we'll be watching Yon Fox on Saturday. And
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: thanks for the time, and I encourage everyone to check
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: out the article in The Athletic on the shrinking zone evaluation.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: We just barely scratched the surface. Thanks Ken, Thanks guys.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Also Fair Territory from yesterday hitting a bunch of other
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: topics with Ken and special guest host Tricia Whitaker, who
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: did a great job. So check that out wherever you
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: get your pods, plus on the ft YouTube channel which
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: is close to one hundred and ten thousand subs, so
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: doing well there.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah,