Latest / District Territory / Hot takes, bold predictions, and previewing the Nationals 2nd half

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Hot takes, bold predictions, and previewing the Nationals 2nd half · District Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the District Territory Podcast. I'm Eric Shellhouse
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: from bat Boys Baseball and joining me today Kevin Franz
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: into the Washington Nationals and Spencer does Bound the Athletic.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: As we've prepare to kick off the second half of
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: baseball here. Spencer put out a story the other day
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: with three bowld predictions for the national second half and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: ten bonus predictions, but I want to start with this one.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: James Wood setting the Integration Era record for runs, Spencer,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I really don't think it's that far out of the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: possibility with the way this offense is playing.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, when I was kind of putting this one together,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: a big thing I was thinking about is, A, is
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: James going to have the same lineup protection for the
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: rest of the year, And B is he going to
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: have the plate appearances to do it right? Because I
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: think we've seen what James can do is sustainable, and
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: even though he didn't do it in the second half
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: last year, we've seen enough to say that's probably going
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: to maintain. My curiosity was whether the t is going to,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of prioritize his health and maybe give
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: him a few more days off in the second half.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I think that'd be a big thing. And beyond that,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: whether the guy's behind him will keep it ultimately, I would,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: but I think interesting composition to have.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Franny, your thoughts on the possibility of him breaking
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: that record, Spencer, I'm bringing up the note specifically, the
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: record is one hundred and fifty two times by Jeff Bagwell.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: James is on pace for one eight But Franny, do
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: you think this is happening?
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: No?
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: I know, and nothing against James on this. I just
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: think that if he gets to one forty it would
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: be a huge win. One thirty would be even I mean,
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: just as good. But I think what Spencer brought up
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: was the health of him making sure this year that
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: he doesn't play through anything like again he tried to
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: last year, didn't work right with his knee, quad just
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: a leg. Strength has got to be there. And I'm
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: not saying there's anything, but if there is anything that
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: pops up, he's gotta be right.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: And that's the biggest thing.
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: Like if he get to you know, he's gonna get
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: close to eight hundred play appearances this year, right, I
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: mean that that's the part that you're looking at, going
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: holy hell, like that guy's two seasons worth right there.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: Look, look everything that he's done, I am. It's not
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: one of those where you're questioning can he do it
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: or not? It's just is his body gonna allow him
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: to do.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: It all the way through?
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: And should they even push the envelope if his body's
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: doing it right? Like, just to make sure that he
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: could always get his breaks now, you know, and and
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: push as far as they can. It's a special season
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: for him. It is a special season for him. I
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: will say that.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: No, it's a great point. And I think maybe twenty
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: twenty six it's not on the table, but we can
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: think about twenty seven, if it's a full season, twenty
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: eight and beyond, I don't I think he may have
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: a couple of chances to sniff at it.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: I agree.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Another prediction you had your second one to lead it off,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: was that someone who made fewer than two appearances with
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the Nats in the first half leads the bullpen in
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: full season. War Spencer, When you wrote that, was there
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: a name that you had in mind that has made
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: one or two appearances this season, or was that we're
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: going to go get a guy and they're going to
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: come in and shut shit down.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the name that popped into my mind
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: that made me say fewer than too was Eddie Yeing,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: just because of the stuff that he has and the
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: fact that again there will be opportunities for guys to
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: pitch up here. But I think even beyond that, right,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: I don't necessarily know that the Nationals are going to
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: go out and get a shutdown reliever at the deadline
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: or someone who can help them specifically in twenty twenty
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: six with that thing. But the future, but I think
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: it's going to be a rotating carousel, right and we
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: saw someone like let's look at last year when they
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: got PJ. Pool and off Waivers he got I think
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: zero point two war down the stretch. But right now,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: that's all it would take to be at the top
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: of the NATS leaderboard. So I think you'll see them
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: go after and continue to churn through the wave wire.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: And I think that they may you know, have enough
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: dart frows for lack of a better phrase, to have
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: that go through. So it might be someone who's not
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: even in the organization right now.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that, I think that's pretty accurate when
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: you look at it. The only thing.
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: It's like a guy like Clayton Peter could get hot
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: for the first time this year. He truly could. And
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: you know, like, what's funny is is the record for
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: blown saves is what thirty seven?
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Is that? Right?
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe we should just transition into that.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: To me, it's to me, it's it's they're thirteen away
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: because they've had twenty four games. They've had three games
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: where they've blown two or more saves, right, So they've
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: blown twenty four four games as far as they're saves,
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: and so I think they're thirteen away. Like if I
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: in my mind the way you're working on it, because
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: those are you think about having twenty four leads late
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: in the game, right that you've blown the safe is
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: just insane to think about who was it? The Astros
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: have five Phillies are at what like ten, you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: like you're looking at you know, some of the bottom
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: third guys that are that are there. Just think about
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: it if if they had converted all but five, where
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: this whole thing would be, you know, And it's it's
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: funny because we've said it all along. People that want
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: like to clamor are like, oh well, jose Frere he's
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: you know, he's gone. I'm like again, we have to
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: say and it's take away some stupidity in this and
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: bring in common sense. Did you think that Cabert Ruiz
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: was going to be anything like this this year? If
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: you did, then hey all, that's hat tip to you.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: If you had an idea that Drew Mollis would be that,
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: you know, change a lot defensively, would we see you know,
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: this whole thing, and and it wouldn't make sense of
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: trading Jose Frere No, but had tip to you again.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: You know, there's a lot of people out there that
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: claim that they're so smart. So uh, let's make sure
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: that that we understand what was. What was there was
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: they needed Harry Ford because they didn't have a catching
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: prospect in their mind high up in the in you know,
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: Triple A, the big leagues, until they saw more and
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: more out of Cabert. Now is that wrong? Is that
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: a wrong by Paul Tavoni and Annie No, It was
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: just the necessity. It was like, right in front of them,
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: this is what we need, right, and so we we
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: saw that. You know, and does Jose for does he
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: lock it up? I don't know, because here's the other deal,
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: like he's a ground ball guy. Are all our ground
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: balls being sucked up and thrown over for for outs
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: all the time? So you know a lot of things
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: have to be cleaned up, obviously, But you know, we
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: look at it. Twenty four games have been blown, not
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: just to save part, just twenty four games, because three
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: of those being multi multi blown save games.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Sure, and even if you think through like again kind
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: of you know, armchair GMing it right, like if you
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: had such certainty that this was going to be who
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: the Nationals were whatever December twelfth or whenever they made
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: the trade, Like A, you didn't have that certainty. And B,
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: even though we know more about who the Nationals are now,
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: we don't know what the final sixty odd games are
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: going to look like right where. We don't. You know,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I age you that it's hard to make the postseason
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: from here and the odds have slimmed, but we don't.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: We just don't know that sort of thing. And so
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: when you talk about thinking long term as an organization,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: part of that is understanding, Hey, I have more room
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: to operate in more opportunities at my disposal if I'm
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: thinking about you know, twenty twenty seven and beyond right.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Right's another one that I love that you put in
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: your story. The Nationals are definitely on pace to break
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: that blown safe record, and you chose September second against
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the Braves just just felt right. It does seem like
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the Braves are the type of franchise to stick us
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: with that title.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: But I don't literally, I try to be pretty concrete
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: in my reporting. That just felt get away game at home,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: you know, feed into what the fans bleak actually is
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: all those things kind of coming together and say, hey,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: it's a possibility then, and hey, it's a possibility they
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: don't break it, right like there, Yeah, runny away, But yeah,
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: a lot is going to have to go right for
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: them not to break that frankly, for them not to break.
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: And you got to assume that the offense is going
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: to continue to do what they're doing. That's the biggest thing, right,
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: because you got to have leads, you know, in order
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: to saves yep.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, the Nationals are kicking off play later on
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: today with the No Name Athletics. They're starting a road trip.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: The probable picture later today will be Kaid Cabali, followed
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: by Zach Lttel and Foster Griffin Spencer reported on x
• 8:51
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• 8:56
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• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Thank you, seat geek. So later on today, Caid Cavali, Franny,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: of course you are out there. I keep on wanting
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: to say, oh, cland I said Oakland twice yesterday you
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: could say you could say Oakland, and it's perfectly fine
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: with me. I'm gonna care.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: It will always be Oakland to me, and it will
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: always stay Oakland to me.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: So I hope you're enjoying Oakland right now. I hope
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: it's not too hot in Oakland because it's gotten a
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: little hotter. But what will be? You know what? What
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: are some things that you're circling on your in your
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: notes as an ad set into the series.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: Well, I think the first and foremost is for k
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: cavali velocity.
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: He's been ninety six three's last two outings, and I'm
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: looking at wanting to see the velocity like it was
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: in in Boston where it was ninety eight, what close
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: almost ninety eight seven, I believe uh for the entire game,
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: and we saw his ninety six and his ninety eight
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: plays so different and it's an angry fastball when it's
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: ninety eight. It's a very hitable fastball when it's ninety
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: six and you know he's got more hits in ings
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: pitch this year for a power pitcher.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: That shouldn't be at that. It should not happen.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: And so I'm looking for him to start the second off,
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: second half off like he should, right, Like he should
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: be able to without this, Without Nick Kurtz in the lineup,
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: I think is such a huge benefit to him.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: They got other good players.
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: I get it, but same sided arm, right Like, for
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: the most part that you're looking that, you know.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: He should he should be able to handle it pretty well.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: But velocited for me tonight is one of those things
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: because if he has the vlasy, We've seen two of
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: his best strikeout games this year been against the Mets
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: in the Red Sox and oh, by the way, it's
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: two of his hardest fastballs.
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: And it's it's funny too, right because I'd like to
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: sit here and say, oh, you want X amount of
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: spin or you want xrzoma movement or all these like
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: behind the scenes stuff. But it's not just with kid,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: right Like we saw that with Jake Irvan earlier this year.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: We've seen it with some of our bullpen arms too.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: If you usually sit ninety six and you're at ninety
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: four like that may not sound like a huge our friends, Befrianni,
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: you can speak to it. Those two miles per hour
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: just just makes such a huge difference against some of
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: these really good lineups. And so, yeah, velocity is probably
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: a word we'll say one hundred more times in the
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: podcast for the episodes excuse me before the season's over.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: And I think that's a big reason why.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm excited for I'll be watching vicariously through the television.
• 12:20
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• 12:23
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• 12:27
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• 12:38
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• 12:41
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: I want to get back to this prediction that you
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: had Spencer the Nationals lead MLB in trades at the deadline.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: This would be a real shift up from what we've
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: seen the previous couple of seasons. But you've heard that
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: maybe insiders around the league are saying the nets may
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: not be that act, but you have a different feeling.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's more the insiders around the leaguer
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: are saying this could be a quieter deadline in general,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: again just because of the lack of sellers on the
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: market right and teams maybe being more conservative with their
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: decision making in recent years. I just think that this
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: front office, and this is not me reporting saying they're
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: going to make the most traits in baseball, should be
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: very clear about that. I just think that this front
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: office is going to be opportunistic, and I think that,
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: like we were talking up about before, they have so
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: many different directions that they can go where they don't
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: have to just be a seller. They don't just have
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: to be a buyer. But they have so much talent
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: in the system, and they have inherited most of these
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: players as opposed to acquire them. And when you get
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: kind of that cocktail together in conjunction with a lot
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: of teams around the league maybe being interested in buying,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: that's where you see them maybe being super active on
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: the phones going forward, where we could go up and
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: down a roster, and there are very few guys I
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: can tell you with one certainty, I know exactly what's
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: going to happen, which I think for a lot of
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: teams you would say, hey, I know exactly who's going,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: who's staying. There's a lot of opportunity on the table.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: I saw a trade rumor on Instagram that was definitely
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: fake earlier today about James Wood in the Red Sox,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: and that that upset me quite a bit. But Franny,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: would you like to see this that's not happening? Would
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: you like to see this team be busy at the deadline?
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Is going to be my question? You want to see
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: them be making these moves or would you rather let
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: the regime work with what they've got.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: I want to let the regime do what they do.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: I want to see what they do.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: I want to see what they how they react to
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: the way the guys play, the way that the uh.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: The season has gone so far, and move from there.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: I trust what they want to do, and I also
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: believe that they're patient enough to do what they want
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: to do.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: So if you know the first two.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: Series, they come out like gangbusters, I don't see them
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: reacting to it. I see them just holding pat and
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: seeing how everything still plays out.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: They're not gonna be reactionary.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: They got plans, they got they got an idea about
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: what they want to do, and.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: If they move, there's reasons. If they don't, there's reasons.
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: This is not me playing, you know, like, oh, well
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: that's employee, you got to do this.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, no, not at all.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: I'm I'm very interested from the national view as they
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: do might show every Saturday morning, you know, throughout the
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: weeks on on serious XMLB network radio, and that's a
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: big part of it is what and how are they
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: going to respond to what they're doing right now?
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Another take you had Spencer that I would love to
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: see happen. I'm just not sure he's going to have
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the star power that some of the other names might have.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: And I know it's not about star power, it's about
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: the writers and their votes. But Foster Griffin winning the year,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: I would love to see it happen. But I'm curious, Franny.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: I know you're you're voting on this right your BBW
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: A me. You're not just Spen, okay, just Spencer.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Label like that?
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: No that, sir, I would love to see it happen.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: But is the sense around the league that that award
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: is sort of reserved for younger players and that oh,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: because he's older, he can't win it, but he would
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: be just the third player think about every Japanese player
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: that comes over. It's true.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I again, I think that for me, the age
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: is like a compelling narrative part of it. I can't
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: say for certain that it's going to change the game
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: on the front. What I will say is the National
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: League is loaded with rookies, like I mentioned JJ Weatherholt,
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: but we could go down a very long list of
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: guys that have contributed. And so really the only question
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: is can Foster maintain an ERA under three. I think
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: the answer if the answer to that is a yes,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: he has a really good shot. I think if it
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: starts with a three in the low threes, we'll see, right,
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: because just because of how stiff the competition is in
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: the National League.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: In particular, I think the question should be is will
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: he win it as a national or somebody else?
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Sure?
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And again that's where I think that I maybe
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: depart from what the average fan things like. I see
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: it as more of a likelihood that another team is
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: more interested in his services than the Nationals would be
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: and trying to see this out for another half again,
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: we'll see. I still need to talk to more people
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: around the league before I make any sort of definitive
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: claim like that. I just think they're going to be
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: so many buyers in the market, and the Nationals will
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: be thinking about their timeline, not just in twenty twenty
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: six with an expiring contract in five. You have to
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: wonder about it.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: So this one, these last two are some fun ones
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: that you had, but I enjoyed this one that the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Nationals had exactly one play or over the age of thirty.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Taking that back and there will be a pitcher. Uh this,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I do see this happening, like because something in my
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: gut just tells me that this is happening with how
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: young this offense has been. And then not seeing Nunyaz
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: with a straight steal of home at some point. A
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: lot of fast guys on this roster, but as you noted,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: he is a very savvy base runner and you think
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: he can take opportunity of that at some point.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mentioned the savviiness. I would also say confidence
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: is a big part of it. Right where you're not
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: doing that if you're not one hundred percent certain in
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: your own abilities. And I would say that of almost
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: anyone on the roster like Nas and rightfully so is
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: very confident and certain in his base running abilities. So yeah,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: just a little one I wanted to put out there
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: that is not.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: Certainty.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: But we're trying to make bold predictions here, and yeah,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I think that'd be really uh, that'd be really fun
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: to see him catch someone sleeping and yeah, see what happens.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: There's nothing nothing bolder in baseball than a steal of
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: home I love it.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: It's perfect for that story.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Take another quick break and we come back a few
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: more fun predictions and then segment that Liam and I
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: did on with bat Boys Baseball and MLB Network earlier today.
• 19:10
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• 20:09
  Speaker 1: I could talk about all of your predictions from this
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: story all day, but the last one I want to
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: get on that sticks out. Blake Pyterra goes the entire
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: season without getting ejected. Franny, do you agree with this take,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: because from what I've seen in the first half, I'm
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: just not sure there's anything that will get under this
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: guy's skin that causes him to get thrown out of
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: a game.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: I think you will. I think he will.
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: He actually should have been already because he has argued
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: a replay call. So I do think so I think
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: it's important at some point that he does.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: I think it's good for the clubhouse to see, to
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: see that flair, to see that passion.
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: It just depends on what it is. Just depends on
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: what it is too. It can't be just kind of
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: like a made up type thing like something that just
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: it can't be just about a replay challenge.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Mm hmm, Well, Franny, talk to us more about why
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: you think it's important for that to happen.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: Well, I think I think more importantly, you know when
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: a manager as a player, when you feel like especially
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: deeper into the year, like you you know, things aren't
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: exactly how they're supposed to be. But you look at uh,
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: you look at the fight from your manager towards you.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: Doesn't mean that like he's got to go out and
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: be fiery like you know, lou Panella do anything. You
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: just got to know he has your back and there's
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: gonna be something. We haven't had a lot of things
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: that have like hit the fan on the field that
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: have allowed that to happen this year, and so it's
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: not one that you you know, you're putting on him
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: to say like, oh why why has he done it? No,
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: not really a lot has happened where he's needed to.
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: But I do think at some point he needs to
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: show the boys like when it matters, I got you,
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: I got you. And when the players see that, they
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: see the fight like, oh hey, it's not just about
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: him and staying in and being you know, like just
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: having him and his manager, like you know, Buck Showalter
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: was always about that, like why would I get kicked out?
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: I'm like the smartest man alive, you know, to be
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: on the field, so you know, my decisions matter. It
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: can't be about that all the time. It can't. And
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: so I think at some point you fight for the player.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: The player is going to fight no matter what for you.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: But it just another little piece of the growth of
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: the organization and where he goes, where Blake goes.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Right, And I think it's it's what kind of jogged
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: my memory and kind of went through my thoughts as
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: you're talking about this, right is it? It has to
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: come from a genuine place, right where if you are,
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: as you said, just getting thrown out, to get thrown
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: out or that's not who you are as a manager,
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: that shouldn't become who you are, is like, there's no
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: reason we should see Blake getting but if it comes,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: if it happens to happen down the stretch, It's not
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: like this is a guy who can't get pissed off
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: at at umpires, or can't get pissed off or doesn't
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: get fired up. Like I candidly can't remember that many
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: people I've been around in baseball, and I haven't been
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: around the game that long, but who wear losses as
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: much as blazes? Right, But he wants to move on
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: to them. He feels it. I think that it's not
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: like he doesn't have it in him. I'm just kind
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: of playing the odds here and saying, if it hasn't
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: happened already, I don't really see it happening again.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: Well, right, And I worry about like things like you know,
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: James or CJJ being hit and nothing being done about it,
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: you know, kind of one of those things. And he's
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: got to have their back, no matter what it's. You
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: got to have the boys back, you know, defend them,
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: defend them to the nth degree. Uh, And it'll go
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: a long ways now. If he doesn't, it's because there
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: isn't been an egregious moment where he has to I
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: do think that he's smart, but I also think that
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: he knows that at some point he's got to go
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: and at some point it's going to be about the
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: right thing and not just a manufacturer thing.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: He's also big on the rules, right, Like he he
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: knows what's right.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: He reads.
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: No well like more like the written rule stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: The last thing. It's not necessarily NATS related anymore. But
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I just want to wish happy trails to Robert Hassel,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: one of the coolest dudes that I've had the opportunity
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: to interview in my time doing this. I'm wishing them
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: the best of luck in Pittsburgh. But Spencer, he wasn't
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: really a fixture in the plants here in the outfield
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: in the future. But does this open up pathways for
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: guys in the minor leagues to some degree?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if it opens up pathways. What
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: I would say is, and this is a really small
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: example of it, but I think the Nationals are interested
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: in trading from positions of strength at the deadline, right
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: where like maybe Hassle isn't the best example of that,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: but they have talked about the lower minor leagues like really,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: really good shortstop depth and the upper upper miners. Maybe
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: not to the degree that every fan things like, I
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: don't think all these guys have a ton of value,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: but they have enough between their big league outfielders in
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: that triple A group where I have to imagine some
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: of those guys are going to be at least asked about,
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: if not floated, over the next couple of weeks. So yeah,
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, Hassle again is a small example of them
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: trying to be probably honestly trying to get him in
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: a spot where he can succeed without really a future
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: path in the organization. But I would just say, if
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: you're a Nationals fan and trying to figure out what
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: they're going to do, I would say, think a lot
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: about the positions and the areas where the Nationals are strong,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: and in terms of who they might acquire, think about
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: where they're week, which is maybe simple to say, but
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: I think is a good way.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: To think about it. I think that's a great point,
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: great point. Easier to look at the common sense then.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Take good take It's Friday, which means normally we would
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: have a giveaway. I'm going to remind everyone to subscribe
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: again on YouTube. You don't want to miss our weekly giveaways,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: but unfortunately I am up in New York City this weekend,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: so I don't have anything to grab right now and
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: do for a giveaway. But stay tuned for next Fridays.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: There's many more to come. Me and Liam, for those
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: of you that know me from back Boys Baseball went
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: on MLB Network earlier today, so we made our MLB
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Network debut. Shout out to our guy Tommy who got
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: some cool beside behind the scenes pictures, and I'll leave
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: you all with that segment. As we end today's episode.
• 26:13
  Speaker 7: We're pleased to be joined by Liam Holland and Eric Shelhouse.
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: Together collectively they are known as the bat Boys and
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: bat Boys Baseball has over a million followers across YouTube, Instagram,
• 26:26
  Speaker 7: and TikTok. They're promoting the culture the personalities of baseball.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: That's Liam, that's Eric. Guys, how you doing doing great?
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Fantastic? This is a dream come true. Grow up watching
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: MLB Network every day.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much.
• 26:38
  Speaker 7: Question for both of you and Liam you start, what
• 26:41
  Speaker 7: is it about your page, your channel that has become
• 26:46
  Speaker 7: so popular. How have you guys been able to catch traction,
• 26:49
  Speaker 7: particularly among baseball fans.
• 26:51
  Speaker 5: I think we just find creative ways to promote the personalities.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: And culture within baseball.
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: Like there's so many unique stories among the players within
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: the game, and we try to highlight as much as
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: we can.
• 27:02
  Speaker 8: Who was your first guy?
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Lane Thomas, Lane Tom Thomas, the Washington Nationals now the
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Kansas City Royals.
• 27:09
  Speaker 8: All right, so walk me through. We were talking before
• 27:12
  Speaker 8: we came on the air. You went to William and Mary.
• 27:15
  Speaker 8: I almost went to William and Mary. It's pretty crazy.
• 27:17
  Speaker 8: I know exactly, I could picture it in my brain.
• 27:21
  Speaker 8: But you started this content trying to walk on their
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: baseball team.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was part of it.
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: So we were both twenty twenty seniors, so we lost
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: our senior season of highchool baseball, which was brutal. In
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: our first couple videos were us playing pick up with
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: our friends. During COVID, I started sharing my walk on journey.
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: I was originally trying to play D three, but then
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: chose to just take the in state tuition at William
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: and Mary and that didn't work out. But we still
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: stayed consistent with baseball content.
• 27:52
  Speaker 8: And then you put something out and you wake up
• 27:54
  Speaker 8: one day, We're good.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: I'm good.
• 27:56
  Speaker 8: Buddies with the nicky ks guy. He said, I went
• 27:58
  Speaker 8: to bed one night, I woke up with a million views.
• 28:00
  Speaker 8: All right, let me pump something else out there, but
• 28:03
  Speaker 8: here we go. Is that kind of how it goes down?
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: It was truly just like an evolution. I think when
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: one thing caught traction, we picked up on it and
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: we said, hey, let's try this a couple more times,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: and it does pretty well, we ask ourselves, hey, maybe
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: we can tweak this facet of it, and just constantly
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: trying to evolve with our content is really where I
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: think we've gotten to where we are today.
• 28:21
  Speaker 7: Eric, you mentioned Lane Thomas was your first interview. Since then,
• 28:24
  Speaker 7: you guys have had some big guests, big time guests.
• 28:27
  Speaker 7: How do you How is the reception among other big
• 28:31
  Speaker 7: leaguers or do they recognize your content and things like that?
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot a lot of them do. And it's
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: still surreal to this day. When we walk up and
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: we're meeting a player for the first time, they say,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: oh my gosh, i've seen your stuff before.
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: We love it.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: It's it's incredible, and that's what we're all about. We're
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: trying to humanize the guys and show the fans that
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: they're people too.
• 28:48
  Speaker 8: Are you going to get dialed in on some activation
• 28:51
  Speaker 8: You're going to try and swing the bat?
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: You're going to try and.
• 28:54
  Speaker 8: We kicked a football. Get in the UFC ring. You
• 28:57
  Speaker 8: can get sweaty today.
• 28:58
  Speaker 5: So we're actually not today but yesterday and then the
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: next two days we're catching the celebrity pitch competition.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: You got to show the swing.
• 29:06
  Speaker 7: Now, this is a couple of sitters Ago, Liam, we
• 29:08
  Speaker 7: want to at the draft combine and you go down.
• 29:11
  Speaker 8: If you would have swung like that at William Mary workout,
• 29:14
  Speaker 8: I gotta think the coach keepshit from I Were you
• 29:17
  Speaker 8: trying to push.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: The ball the other way? And he was a push
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: hitter in high school. You can admit it.
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: Honestly, I've learned so much about my swing ever in baseball,
• 29:27
  Speaker 5: it's insane. I've always had an appreciation for mobility and
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: how guys move, and being at batting practice every day
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: from Major League Baseball, I swear it's made me better
• 29:36
  Speaker 5: at baseball.
• 29:37
  Speaker 7: Eric influencers, content creators, there's a lot of people in
• 29:43
  Speaker 7: the industry. How do you find your niche, how do
• 29:48
  Speaker 7: you gain traction?
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: It's so tricky, you know, we really just try to
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: stay true to ourselves and ask questions that I think
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: we would wanted to have asked as little kids, as
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: fans growing up. I mean, that's really how the page started.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: We saw or felt like questions were not being asked
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: to players that we had, and we tried to look
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: them up online and we're like, there's nothing about this.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: There's all these crazy stories that we're learning from players
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: that previously were not out there, and I'm just trying
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: to ask the fans questions.
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: What do you think of your Nats? Real quick?
• 30:14
  Speaker 8: We're just going this six direction. We trade and see
• 30:17
  Speaker 8: Jay Abrams, so we hold.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: It on to him.
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, they got to hold on.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: To him or extend him, extend that man.
• 30:24
  Speaker 7: And James would right, yes, yes, got to extend James
• 30:27
  Speaker 7: Woode Mile, all of them, Liaam holland Eric Shellhouse. They
• 30:32
  Speaker 7: are the bat Boys. You can find them on Instagram,
• 30:34
  Speaker 7: on YouTube, on TikTok. Guys, congratulations on all your success.
• 30:38
  Speaker 7: That's tremendous. Enjoy Fanatics fashion. We helped you catch up
• 30:41
  Speaker 7: with you down the.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: Road real soon. Thanks how much.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Thanks for having us us.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: You got it great stuff.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you all so much for listening and watching today's episode.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: We will see you back next week, and don't forget
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: to subscribe to District Territory. You don't want to miss
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: another episode this season. See you later, Baptin