Latest / Foul Territory / Fair Territory: MLB teams trending up/down, Freddie Freeman's growing dilemma, Hitting is a dying art

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Fair Territory: MLB teams trending up/down, Freddie Freeman's growing dilemma, Hitting is a dying art · Foul Territory

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. Memorial
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Day has come and gone. It is time to take
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: stock of several teams, numerous teams around Major League Baseball.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: It's no longer early. It is time for us to
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: start judging a little bit, knowing that the season still
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: has four months to go, knowing that a lot can
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: happen in those four months. But hey, the Memorial Day
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: marker is traditionally one where you do take stock. And
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: my producer, Jeremy Meyer, the brains of this operation, suggested
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: this segment and it's going to be a good one.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: So let's go, and let's start with teams that have
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: a stock up. Now, here's the disclaimer before we get
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: going at all. Not every team will be included in
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: this list or these two lists or three lists that
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: we're about to do. So if your favorite team is
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: not there for whatever reason, calm down. We'll talk about
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: your favorite team eventually. These are the teams that we
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: think have a stock up or stock down or in between,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: based on where we are right now. Okay, let's start
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: with stock up, and we're gonna start with some surprise teams,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: shocking teams. Frankly, the Nationals for one. The Washington Nationals, rebuilding,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: lead the majors in runs per game. They're the highest
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: scoring team in baseball. They are over five hundred this
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: at this point in the season for the first time
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: since July one, twenty twenty one. Are they the game's
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: biggest surprise? I don't know. Maybe the White Sox are
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the White Sox. Okay. They went two and four on
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: their trip to Seattle and San Francisco, but they're twenty
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: seven and twenty six overall. They meet the Twins on Monday.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Twins right in the middle of the ALE wildcard race
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: with everyone else, and right now the White Sox hold
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the second al wildcard. Okay, are the White Sox the
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: biggest surprise? Bigger than the Nationals, bigger than the Saint
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Louis Cardinals. This is another team with its stock up now.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals were not coming from as bad a place
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: as the White Sox or even the Nationals, but they
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: too are rebuilding. Remember what they did in the offseason.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Traded Contreras, traded Gray, traded Arnado, and here they are.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Never mind yesterday getting beat by the miz that's going
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: to happen. They are along with the Nationals and White
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Sox right in the thick of their races, and they
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: are six games over, two and a half games out
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: of first place in the National League Central and they're
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: holding the second wild card. Another team to discuss. This
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: is a team that has come on of late and
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: come on against weaker opponents. So I'm not sure we
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: can take them all that seriously just yet. But the Diamondbacks.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Of all these teams that were just talking about, Nationals,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: White Sox, Cardinals, this team is arguably the most talented.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: They have three really good offensive players, Marte Carol Perdomo,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: and after a slow start, they're coming on now. They've
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: won nine of eleven. All those games were against the
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Rockies and the Giants. And at the same time, Marte
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: finally is hot. And the Diamondbacks, unlike the teams previously mentioned,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: have the hope that they're going to get some really
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: good players back as the season progresses. Corbyn Burns foremost
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: among them, also aj Puck and Martinez the reliever. These guys,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: justin Martinez, these guys, assuming they come back healthy and effective,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: will really enhance their pitching staff. It's a good team. Now,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: some other teams that their stock is up, but not
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: necessarily falling into the surprise category. The Brewers are a
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: mild surprise because we always we me and others always
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: think they're going to take a step back. I actually
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: thought this was the year again that they're going to
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: take a step back, and it hasn't happened again. Even
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: after trading Freddie Peralta, even after losing Brandon Woodruff and
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: several other at the start of the season, several hitters
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich, Jackson Curio, here they are again.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Now Misrowski, Jacob Misserowski, the Miz legitimate ace. We saw
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: it again yesterday. It's incredible what he's doing. He hit
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: one hundred and three miles per hour eight times in
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: the first inning, triple digits fifty seven times on the day,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: fifty seven times one hundred or more in that one game.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: That's ten more than any pitcher has ever accomplished, at
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: least in the pitch tracking eraror which began in two
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: thousand and eight. The Miz is a phenomenon. He is
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: a sy young contender, and he's not their only ace.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Like picture right now, Kyle Harrison acquired in the trade
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: from the Red Sox one point seven to seven ERA
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: in nine starts. If he goes six and a third
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: tonight in pitch as well, keeps that ERA down around
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: where it is, he'll move into the top five in
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: ERA as well. So the Brewers are doing it again.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: They are top the Al Central lust two of three
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: to the Dodgers. But of course mis comes back yesterday
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: and shuts down the Cardinals and finally in the stock
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: up category, a team that began the season poorly fired
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: its manager and has since found its footing. I'm talking,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: of course, about the Philadelphia Phillies. The Philadelphia Phillies. They
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: had a two and four home stand last week against
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati and Cleveland slowed down a little bit, But after
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: starting nine and nineteen under Rob Thompson, they're eighteen and
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: eight under Don Mattingly, eighteen and eight. And this is
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: a team now that Zach Wheeler is healthy, and that
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: was his pivotal move, if not a more pivotal move
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: than a change of managers. With Zach Wheeler healthy, you've
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: got Wheeler and Sanchez at the top of the rotation. Sanchez,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: with a consecutive scoreless inning streak, is one of the
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: most dominant pitchers in Major League Baseball. Wheeler, of course,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: is one of the great aces in Major League baseball.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: You've got those two guys going really well. You've also
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: got from an offensive standpoint, Kyle Schwarber leading the majors
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: at homer home runs, Bryce Harper doing his thing again,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: looking like, yes, an elite player. So the Phillies, while
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: they have some others in their lineup that they need
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: to get going, trade Turner among them, they are a
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: team that looks like it's going to be quite formidable again.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: So so much for the stock up. And yes, I
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: know I didn't talk about the Braves and the Yankees.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: We've talked a lot about them. The Dodgers, they're good.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: We know that, Todd Bother. I'm a last minute guy.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Sometimes you're a last minutic guy where you all of
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: a sudden see a night open up and you want
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: to go grab some tickets and you hadn't gotten them already,
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: So you're gonna seek geek, and you're gonna go look
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: for a green dot and see where the good seats are.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: And the good value is send have a little night
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: with the fam.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: Right without a doubt, and I'm looking for some of
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: the best seats. I'm looking for that green dot. When
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: I get that. It's a simple plug it in, use
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: your hands, go right on your screen, your phone, whatever
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: platform you can get it on. And it's so simple.
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: They make it so easy for you to do. Even
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: my son can do it if I ask them. Hey, Blakester,
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: let's go, man, get on there for us. Find us
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: a couple of seats so we can watch even that
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: Subway series. That would be fantastic. Seat Geek has it.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: All there for you.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and the code for you. You should know it.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: It's Territory ten. It just gets you ten percent off
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: your next set of tickets. AT's see ten percent off
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: any tickets with promo code Territory one zero. Make sure
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: you click the link in the description, download the app.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Then the code is automatically added to your account so
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: you can use it later.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Okay, now stock down Territory Now the first team I
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: could have put in the stock up and stock down
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: category because they've been both this year at various points,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs, as Michael Bush, the first baseman,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: said yesterday, are going through a season of extremes. The
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Cubs have two ten game winning streaks at some point
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: this season, and they're in the current nine game losing streak.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: They've lost nine in a row after winning ten in
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: a row twice. Call up Jason Stark. He's got to
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: figure out if the team's ever done that. I'm sure
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: it has happened, but Jason will find out at some
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: point whether it's happened of late. So here are the
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Cubs during their nine game losing streak. They've scored only
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: twenty four runs. More alarming because they're going to hit.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: They've got four starting pitchers on the injured list, Matthew Boyd,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Edward Cabrera of course, Justin Steele, and Kate Horton. That's
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: going to hurt any team, and that's part of the
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: reason they're in the position they are now. Okay, so
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: they're a team that at least has done some good things.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: We're gonna talk now about some teams that haven't been
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: as good. The Texas Rangers, in case you missed it,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the Texas Rangers were no hit yesterday by the Houston Astros.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: It was a combined no hitter. It was one of
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: the more improbable no hitters in Major League history. The
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: game was started by Tatsuya Amai, entered with an era
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: over eight. The game was finished two winnings finished in
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: the final two winnings by a guy making his major
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: league debut, Major league debut, alimber Santa Incredible. How did
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: these pitchers who have not been successful, not even been
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: in the major leagues? No hit? The Texas Rangers, Well,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Texas is in the middle of a three year running
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: problem since winning the twenty twenty three World Series. Their
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: problem is that they don't hit, and they were below
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: average in twenty four, they were near the bottom in
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: twenty five, and now they ranked twenty eighth in runs
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: per game. I know they're missing Seger and Langford and
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Josh Smith of course as well, but my goodness, this
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: team is one of the great disappointments of the season
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: so far. Okay, those are two teams we've talked about
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: that are not in a great place. Let's get to
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: some others. The Detroit Tigers. Here are the Tigers. They
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: entered this season having signed Valdez thinking that they were
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: going to be the dominant team in the Ales Central. Well,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: of course it hasn't happened. Right now, eight game losing
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: streak that finally ended on Sunday in the second game
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: of a doubleheader. But they're ten out in the Division,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: five out in the wildcard race, and they're still waiting,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: of course for Trek Scruble. And they've had some injuries
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: beyond Schooble, of course, that have really damaged them. The
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: question now people are asking around the game. It's premature,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: but it's a question that is going to be asked
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: until the Tigers recover. Will they trade Trek Scruble again?
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Two months until the deadline? So much can change. The
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: American League Central not good. American League in general not good.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: I don't know that the Tigers, one Schooble returns, once
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: they find their footing again, can consider themselves out of contention. Now,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: that doesn't mean they will keep Schooble. They may view
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: their chances as not good enough even with Schooble, but
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: it's a little early to count them out yet, all right.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Also in the Als Central, another team like the Rangers
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: not getting enough attention for how bad they've been, Kansas
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: City Royals. They're only one game ahead of the Tigers.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: The last place Tigers in the Central, losers of eleven
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: of their last fourteen. Needed to fix their offense in
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: the offseason and did not. Continuing on the Boston Red Sox.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: The Boston Red Sox, well, we know that they've been
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: a major disappointment. They fired their manager. Not much changed.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: They were ten and seventeen d Korra, They're twelve and
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: fourteen under Chad Tracy, and they're eight and seventeen. Eight
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and seventeen at Fenway Park. That's the worst home record
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: in baseball and last, but not least two other teams,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: the Angels. Not much to say about them. They're bad again.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: I don't even know that they're worth our time. Then
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: there are the Mets, second highest payroll in the major leagues,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: of course, swept by the Marlins over the weekend, last
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: in the Analyst fourteen games out, seven and a half
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: games out in the Wildcard, still with a number of
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: injured players not close to returning. And as if all
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: that is not bad enough, their great young ace Nolan
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: McClain has struggled in his last two starts. Not a
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: lot has gone right for the Mets. This is a team,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: shockingly that, for the second time in three years, could
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: be a seller at the deadline. So that's it, stock up,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: stock down. One other thing I want to mention, there
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: are a bunch of teams in between. The reason that
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: they're in between is because they play in the American League.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about teams that haven't necessarily impressed, but at
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: the same time are still in the race. Baltimore Orioles
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: best win of the season yesterday. Minnesota Twins been surprising
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: so far. They're actually a team that, while below five hundred,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: are currently hold the third al wildcard. And you can
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: look at the Blue Jays in this regard as well.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: They've been disappointing. They've had a lot of injuries. Don't
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: cease the latest. But in the American League, you can
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: see it right there, you're never really out of it.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: So that is it for our stock segment, stock up,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: stock down, stock in Between. We'll be back right after
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: this with the Inside Dish, all right, as you can
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: see right there at his time. For the Inside Dish,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: the part of the show where I talk about a
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: story i've written, something going on in the game, something
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: else entirely. But today I'm going to talk about the
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: column that I published this morning in the Athletic and
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: It's a column about Freddie Freeman, and you can see
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: it right there. Wife, Freddie Freeman's baby daughter is making
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: him reevaluate his baseball longevity. That's the main theme of
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: the column. Freddie Freeman and his wife Chelsea. They have
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: four children, and their most recent, born a little over
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: a month ago, was their first girl. And Freddie talks
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: in the column about how, for whatever reason, it's more
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: difficult he feels to be away from his daughter, London
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Rosemary Joy Freeman than it was with his three sons. Basically,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: what he said is, my three sons love baseball, they
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: love seeing me play. My daughter, I'm thirty six now
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: she's maybe not ever going to see me play or
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: remember me as a baseball player. And he just feels,
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: like all parents do who are away from work or
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: who are missing time with their children. He feels torn
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: pangs of regret that he's not with his child. That
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: is the gist of the column. I thought it was
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: really interesting to hear Freddy expound upon this. All players
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: go through this. A lot of people in the real world,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: as Freddie acknowledges, go through this. It is not an
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: uncommon thing, but it is something that makes it difficult
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: for him to keep going even though he loves the game,
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: and he is approaching three milestones that he considers pretty important.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Three thousand hits, a thousand extra base hits, and five
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: thousand total bases. So that is what the column is
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: mainly about. But it's also about an element that I
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: will want to get into a little bit deeper here.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: It's about Freddie Freeman as a hitter, and it's about
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: the state of hitting in today's game. And I remember
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: back in the late nineteen eighties and early nineteen nineties
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: that was basically the start of my career. Back then,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: analytics were just starting to come into the game. There
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: were a few analysts with different teams, and basically back
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: then they had to shout to be heard because they
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: were derided, they were dismissed. They were guys that people
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: thought were adding maybe something, but they didn't want to
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: hear it. The old school people in baseball did not
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: want to hear it. And this went on for quite
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: some time, and the analysts felt like they were being overlooked,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: and rightly so it was wrong that they were not
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: taken more seriously at the start. So now analytics are
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: a huge part of the game. Of course, they provide
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: measurements that help players get better. They give us more
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: detailed portraits of who players are and what they can do,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: and they inform us in ways that we've never been
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: informed before. And every year it seems that cast provides
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: more information and it's been a really cool development in
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: the game and something that has enhanced the game. At
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: the same time, sometimes I feel that we're at the
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: other extreme from where we were in the late eighties
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: and early nineteen nineties. Pitching isn't just about velocity and
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: spin rate. Hitting isn't just about exit velocity and pulling
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: the ball in the air. I always think in baseball
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: when you talk about absolutes, when you put things in
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: absolutes and say this has to be the way, then
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: you're getting into dangerous territory. And as I wrote such
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: as the focus on metrics today, that people often lose
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: sight or occasionally lose sight of the results. And in
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: talking with Dave Roberts over the weekend in Milwaukee, this
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: subject came up, and the subject of luck constantly about
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: luck with hitters even pitchers too, and how sometimes well
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: they're getting unlucky. It's okay it's going to change, and yes,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: more often than not that is the case. But Roberts
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: gave two examples that I thought were interesting. The first
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: was a situation in which a left handed hitter hits
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: a back door slider on the outside part of the
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: plate over the shortstop's head. Dave Roberts said, that's not luck,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: that's intent. That is a hitter who is not simply conceding.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: He's going to chase that pitch and try to do
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: what he can with it. He is letting that ball
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: travel deep, he is getting his bat to the ball,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and he is skillfully, skillfully putting that ball over the
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: shortstop's head, even though it might not be at a
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: very high exit velocity. The other example Roberts gave was
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: any situation two on two outs first and second, second,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: or third. He said, in that situation, it's not just
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: about exit velocity. You're putting the ball in the air.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: In that situation, you need to get a hit. As
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: he put it, you've got to hit the outfield grass. Now,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: that's a skill, and the way Dave Roberts described it,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: that's a skill that has to be practiced. And one
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: of the reasons Freddie Freeman is so great is that,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: according to Roberts, it is a skill that he does practice,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: practicing the art of getting base hits. Now, it's really
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: important to know that. Yes, the numbers point to one thing,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: or a point to at least exit velocity being good,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: pulling the ball in the air being good. We know that,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: But there are certain situations and certain players in the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: game that aren't necessarily going to perform in that manner.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Luis Rise, of course, might be the best example from
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: a hitting standpoint. Freddie is something of an example too,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: even though his metrics other than batspeed, which since they
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: started measuring it has always been well below average. It's
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: other metrics underlying stuff quite good. But at the same time,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: when you're talking about hitting, and when you're talking about
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: a hitter and the skill of a hitter, there's more
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: to it in certain situations than simply hitting the ball hard. Now,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: I don't want anyone to take this wrong. I don't
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: want anyone to get me wrong. I'm not saying the
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: numbers are wrong, that we should go back to the
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: old days, and nuh, it's old school. We need to
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: go back to old school, and this game has just
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: gotten away from itself. No, But there is a phrase
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: baseball people use called playing the game. And when they
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: say playing the game, what they're talking about is not
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: just seeking the best metrics, but also trying to do
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: things in a nuanced way that will help you win.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: There are all kinds of examples you can use, base running, offense, defense,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: pitching that are examples of playing the game. Pitching in
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: a certain way where you are reading hitters swings, there's
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: one example. So all of these things they come into
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: it too. And there is hope among some baseball people
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: that this kind of thing, sort of a thinking man's game,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: is coming back into it. We'll see. And certainly the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: analytics kind of hold sway over many organizations right now
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: and are the dominant thing in the game. But there
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: is room for everything. There is room for a hitter
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: like Luisa Rise. There is a hit room for a
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: pitcher who doesn't throw one hundred miles an hour, even
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: though it's fun to watch those guys. There is room
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: for it all. And again, I'm going to say it
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: one more time, it is dangerous to ever think baseball
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: about this being the absolute way or that being the
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: absolute way. There is not one way to succeed. All right,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: we'll be back with Grill and Ken. Your questions after.
• 20:59
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• 22:08
  Speaker 1: All right, Tifer, Grill and Ken, We'll get to your
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: questions in this segment. Let's get right to him. First
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: question comes from Foul Territory show. Has the Mis taking
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: control of the NLCI Young Race, the NLCY Young Race,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: and Jason Stark has written about this and others have
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: mentioned it too. Could be could be one of the
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: best in history. Right now, we have five starters, five
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: major league starters with eras under two. Is one of them,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Christopher Sanchez, another, Chris Sale, Bryce Elder and who am
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I missing here? I'm missing somebody. Otani's in there, but
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: he doesn't have enough innings to qualify for the league leaders. Anyway,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: we have a number of great pictures going right now,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: and Paul Stein's doesn't have an ERA under two, but
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: he's certainly going to be in the conversation. So the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: first test of who the best pitcher in the National
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: League is will be who starts the All Star Game.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: And if I had to guess right now, nothing changes,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: nobody gets hurt. I would say the Mis would be
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: the choice to start the All Star Game, just to
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: see if he hits one oh five whatever he might do.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: And he is, as you saw yesterday with the twelve
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: strikeouts at the Cardinals, just the dominant force in the
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: game right now. So it's going to be really interesting
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: to see how this develops. And again, we need everyone
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: to stay healthy to make this the race that we
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: all want it to be. But right now I would
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: say yes, mis is the leading contender for the National
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: League side. All right, next question this comes from just
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Flu who says, with their recent success, do you expect
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the White Sox to actually be buyers at the deadline? Okay,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: I can answer this, not just for the White Sox,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: but for the Cardinals and the Nationals. What I would
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: expect from those three teams, if in two months they
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: are still kind of in contention, would be for them
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: to buy, but not aggressively. Maybe try to enhance their
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: team in different ways. Maybe add a bullpen piece here
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: or there, or if there's an offensive position where they
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: might need help, maybe do that. But they're not going
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to deviate, none of them will from their overall rebuilding plan.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: They are where they are and they are not going
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: to jump ahead simply because they've had a good start,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: and that is the right way to go. They should
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: not ignore what they've accomplished, and they should not send
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: them poor message to the clubhouse by doing nothing. But
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: at the same time, you don't go for broke and
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: try to win a World Series in a rebuilding year.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: It just doesn't work like that. It's not a very
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: smart strategic way to go. So I would expect, yes,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: the White Sox to add, the Nets to add, and
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals to add if they are still in contention,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: but I don't expect those additions to be really anything
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: of a meaningful way. In a meaningful way, they're not
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: getting Trek Schoolble, for example, if he becomes available. So okay,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: that's it for the show. I want to thank everyone
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: for watching and for listening. Foul Territory coming up at
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: one pm Eastern. AJ Prazinski, Eric Kratz, and Scott Broun.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Host Colton Kowser, the hero of the weekend for the
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Baltimore Orioles, joins them. We're back Thursday at twelve thirty Eastern.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Be with this then and we will talk to you
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: then and have a great week.
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