Latest / Foul Territory / Walt Weiss & Mike Yastrzemski @Braves camp + 2026 ATL Season Preview

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Walt Weiss & Mike Yastrzemski @Braves camp + 2026 ATL Season Preview · Foul Territory

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: I'm sitting here with new manager of the Atlanta Braves,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: wolt Weiss. Before we get into the tough questions, is
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: there a manager in baseball that you think can outlift you?
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: I ain't going there, man. Yeah, you see the back
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: of my card. Man looked at the date of birth.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Huh.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: But hey, father times undefeated, but trying to keep him
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: on his heels.
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: Serious serious questions, Whose though, KP Like, who else can
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: can keep up with Walt?
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: You think manager wise?
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I don't. I don't. I don't think there is a
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's a manager in the game that
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: can keep up with the one because he's in there
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: every single day. He cares about it, he cares about
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the way he looks and the way he feels. But
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's a manager in baseball that could
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: out bench press you. But gave he's as a general manager.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Next topic, how how second time around managing? How difficult
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: is it hasn't been for you to have been here
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and be part of a team that's been very successful
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: in organization that's been very successful. But wanting to kind
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: of deliver your own message, what has that message kind
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: of been?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I think there's been benefits to haven't been here for
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: the last eight years. You know, they of course they
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: had never seen me in a leadership role, but the
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: relationships are already established. I know these guys really well,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: you know, get along with them very well. Now once
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: you get in that manager seat, obviously it's a little different,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: but I still do believe that connecting on a personal
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: level is really important. These guys need to trust you,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: they need to believe what you say, and there obviously
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: has to be respect up and down the chaining commands,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: so that stuff I feel like is already intact. So
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of benefits to having been here,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: even though I'm in a different seat now and no
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: relative to the first time I did this, the circumstances
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: are the world's apart. I was coaching high school football
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: for four years when I took that job in Colorado
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: and walked in blind. Really didn't know anything about the team,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: didn't know anything about the league. I had been out
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: of the game, so there was a lot of learning
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: on the fly. And look, this job is never easy,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: but I've set up better this time around, having bench
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: coached for eight years and knowing the club like I
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: do walking in this time?
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, hey, well so this is a talk show. We
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: stayed our opinions. And every team that doesn't make the
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: playoffs will say, oh, injuries all that. For me, usually,
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: I think there's like a few that can actually really
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: say that. And so last year was of course a
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: big part of that where the rote was gutted. So
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: then pushing it forward here you experienced that. Of course
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: last year, what's going on. We got some some fluke injuries,
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: some not the.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: Whole deal popping up again.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: And how do you navigate that and not just with
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: your team, but also with the front office to see
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: if you guys can do anything.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we I mean it's well documented what we
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: dealt with last year, but every team deals with that
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: too to some degree. Last year was tougher for us
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: to overcome it because it was our starting pitching. We
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: lost our entire rotation, so we had a hard time
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: overcoming that, and we got hit with some bad news
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: before camp even started, right at the beginning, you know,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: with Schwellenbach and Waldrip. So it kind of the beat
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: goes on. But I got to tell you, man that
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: the camp has been really focused. I know there's a
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: lot of managers feeling good about their club in March.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: But the vibe has been great. These guys have been pros.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: They've dealt with the things we've had to deal with
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: this spring already. Uh, like Champs, and it's a it's
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: a good group of guys. I think a bunch of
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: guys are prime for for bouncebacks. You know, some guys
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: underperformed last year and maybe the first to tell you,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: but yeah, I feel like we're in a really good place,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: even dealing with the things we've had to deal with
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: and and and look, going through that last year probably
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: make us stronger, you know. But uh, the guys that
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: are healthy on a pitching staff have looked really good
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: this spring, So that makes me sleep a little easier.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: But uh, I feel good about our club.
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: I do.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: And I think I think our offense is going to
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: be good. We underperformed, especially in the first half last year.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I feel good about our offense. I think it's it's
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: going to be a really a really good lineup and
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: a really lengthy lineup. So I think some things are
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: around into shape here. And but but the mentality the
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: club is really good.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of the offensive side, I know for you know,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: as long as you could remember, the Braves have had
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: a certain way of going about things and having guys
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: go out there and play every single day. Throw Olsen
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: out because he's an anomaly, you know, he's got this
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: nice streak going on. But some of these other guys, Ronald, Ozzy,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: you know, Riley, have you had conversations about maybe getting
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: them off their feet, allowing them the DH or maybe
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: even just getting them off their feet for a day
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: to try to allow them to stay healthy throughout the
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: whole year.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, KP. I mean, and that's been the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: that's been the culture here, and that's a good thing.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: And these guys love to play. They want to play.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: You start going around the diamond and there's some injury
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: history that's starting to mount on most of these guys,
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Olsen being the outlier. So I do think, you know,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna pick spots to get these
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: guys off their feet. And they're still gonna play a lot.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: They're still gonna play if they're healthy one fifty plus,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: you know, it's just now I'm not looking for them
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: to play once sixty plus. So I think based on
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: schedule matchups day after night, struggling, you know, use your
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: eyes and you know and the information to make those decisions.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: When to give a guy, you know, give him a
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: day before and off day he gets two. So all
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: those things I'll take into consideration. But I'm going to
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: pick my spots and give these guys a break here
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: and there.
• 6:27
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• 6:51
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• 6:53
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• 6:55
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• 6:57
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• 7:27
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• 7:28
  Speaker 6: Hey, well, you guys had a DH former teammate of mine.
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: I've never been more disappointed in someone. I mean, how
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: do you handle the whole jerks in profar steroid thing
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: and just I mean, I don't even I hate even
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: bringing it up, but it's something we kind of got
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: to talk about, and it sucks for you to have
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: to deal with.
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: And it sucks that somebody would make a decision like that.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: No, I hear you, AJ And look, man, I get it.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: People people got asked those questions and I signed up
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: to sit in the seat and answer them. So look,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: nobody saw that coming. Obviously, he very disappointed and stunned
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: when we got the news. But you know, I had
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: some media members asking me, well, you said this guy
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: was a good guy last year. I said, yeah, I
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: stand by that. I mean he was. He was a
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: great teammate. When he came back, I said, because of
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: the circumstances last year, he was gonna have to win
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: us over and certainly win me over, And he did.
• 8:24
  Speaker 7: I mean he was.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: He was a great teammate, He was a leader in
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: our clubhouse. He performed for us. Nobody saw this coming.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: But you know, my message to the group was this
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: doesn't change anything about our team. As far as getting
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: ready for the twenty sixth season, the camp has been
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: a really good camp. The focus has been outstanding, and
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: that's going to continue and something good is going to
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: come out of it.
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: You know.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: I use the example of twenty twenty one when when
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: we were under five hundred the first of August and
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Ronald Lacune goes down for the rest of the season,
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: tears his acl Nobody would have signed up for that
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: and nobody would choose that option, just like we wouldn't
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: choose to pro for our option. But we end up
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: winning the World Series in twenty one. Those terrible circumstances
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: led to us winning a World Series. So you never
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: know what you know good news are bad news? Is
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: what the chain of events are going to be so
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: I'm expecting guys to step up. I'm expecting guys to
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: shine because of this, and uh, I think the rest
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: of our club is feeling the same way.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, well obviously you Oh sorry, go ahead,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: aj oh.
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: No, sorry.
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: I was just gonna ask him since I played for
• 9:38
  Speaker 6: SNIT when SNIT first. I was there when Freddy got
• 9:41
  Speaker 6: fired and they brought SNID in and he was a
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: heavy Bobby Cox, heavy heavy Bobby Cox.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: Are you Bobby Cox the same? Like? No hats backwards?
• 9:49
  Speaker 6: You have to show the A, you have to put
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: your your uh, you have to put your glasses on
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: the back of your hat, you have to wear the
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: VP top. I mean there was no some of these.
• 9:57
  Speaker 6: I mean, listen, however you want to do it. Some
• 9:59
  Speaker 6: teams were cutoffs and the T shirts when they take me,
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: the braves are always full uniform. Are you still the
• 10:05
  Speaker 6: same as the way it was with SNIT?
• 10:08
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: I mean I played here under Bobby and those are
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: some time honor traditions here and I'm gonna I'm gonna
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: honor those and respect them. And that's out of respect
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: for the for the Bobby Coxes and the John Scherholtz
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: and all the people that came before us to make
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: this brand mean something special. So it's all about respecting
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: the brand aj and and and and I'm going to
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: continue that now.
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: You know.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: As far as my leadership style, I'm sure that's going
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: to be different. I mean, if snit was taken over
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: for me, I'm sure he'd say the same thing. It's
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: gonna We're just different people, So the style and the
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: approach to the day is going to be different. But
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: I take I take things away from all the managers
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I played for, whether it's LUSA, Bobby Cox or Rene
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Lash and Don Baylor, all these guys and working for SNID,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: so uh, I take a little bit from all of them.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, it's my voice,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: it's my it's my leadership style, and so it'll it'll
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: be different.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: I know you only had him a little bit of
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: time here in camp before he went off and played
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: the BBC. But what have you seen from Ronald, you know,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: coming off the second knee surgery, any restrictions on him
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: moving forward, and obviously tough news with Hassan Kim getting
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: hurt in the offseason, what have you kind of seen
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: from guys that you have brought in to kind of
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: man that short stop position.
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: First with Ronald, Ronald's in a good place man, He's
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: he's in a really good place. Two repaired knees, we don't.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: We could probably rack our brains, the two of us together,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: but in the game a long time, it's it's it's
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: hard to remember a guy that's got both needs repaired
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: in this sport. But he's one of those guys. He's
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: one of the two or three percent that's just different.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: And he loves to play. It's evident when he when
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: he's on the field, and he's in a really good place.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Ron Ronnie, I'm really excited about what's in store for
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: him this year and the shortstop thing. You know, we
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: have Dubon and and Orge Matteo and camp uh both
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: guys are are good, big big leaguers and and uh
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: so I think you know, Alex made some sneaky signs
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: over the winner that are gonna end up being really
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: important for us. Whether it's Dubon and Mateo or Mike Yastremsky,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: there's some sneaky signs there. And and so I I
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: feel good about where we are and then we get
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: these guys, uh, you know at some point during the season,
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: hopefully not too late in the season. We talked about
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Murphy and Hassan Kim. Uh, it makes us that much stronger.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: How far off is he from coming back?
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's tough putting time timelines on guys,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: but we're getting further along now and it's I would
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: guess it's it's it's sometime in May. I don't know
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: if it's when in May, but I I think you know,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: there's a good chance we get them before June.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: Hey, well, we didn't get to the other side of
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: profile being out for the year, just on the field,
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: So how do you plan to handle the dhrol We're
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: kind of talking about playing time and opportunities here, but
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: just wanted to get any specific thoughts about how you
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: see this and how it could help the team because
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: you might have a little bit more of an open space.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: It's an easier sell.
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: To some of the guys that want to play every day,
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: but you can take them off the field.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah. What I like is we have a really flexible lineup.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of versatility on the roster, and with
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: the open DH spot, it allows me to keep Baldwin's
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: bat in the lineup. It allows me to give Ronnie
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: a day, you know, get off his legs and the
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: DH and you can go around the diamond and use
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: that DH spot from time to time. I really like
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: that flexibility, and I think it's going to in the
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: long run, it's going to pay dividends. But it allows
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: you to to you know, create some some favorable matchups
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: with with your lineup construction and that type of thing.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: There's there's a lot of a lot of ways you
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: can you can move these parts around with with that uh,
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: that DH spot being open. So uh, I really like
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: having that flexibility.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I would agree with that. You know,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: being an extra outfielder, you know, when that same lineup
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: is being put out there every day and you have
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: a stable at DH, it's hard to kind of implement
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: that forth or maybe fit outfielder or utility and fielder.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Is that something just over the last eight years being
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: a bench coach, you've kind of understood, you know, and
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: talk to those guys on the bench how difficult their
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: job is and finding better ways to kind of insert
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: them in the lineup to keep them fresh.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And one of my philosophies is I I don't
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: like to leave my bench guys sitting there for for
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: two weeks without playing, because you know, KP. Whan, we
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: had you toward the end there and and then and
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: you were you were in that role. Some it's it's
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: a lot to ask of a guy that hasn't played
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: in two weeks when all of a sudden he has
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: to play for whatever reason and you and now you
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: expect him to perform. It's not fair. So I like
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: to keep the bench guys involved.
• 15:11
  Speaker 7: Now.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: It helps that we have a good bench well, I
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: think it's probably the best bench that that we've that
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: we've had in my eight years. Here is my ninth year.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Uh So it makes it a little easier to be
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: to be able to play those guys. Uh And and
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: the flexibility I talked about, guys are versatile, they play
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: multiple positions. There's a lot of ways we can move
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: this thing around. But uh, I'm a big believer in
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: keeping your bench involved because you're gonna you're gonna need
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: those guys, and more than likely it's going to be
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: in a big spot or a crunch time or late
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: in the game or what And you can't expect those
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: guys to perform if they haven't been on the field
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: in two weeks.
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: Hey, well, can you just hold up your left arm
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: for me like this, hold on, move it a little
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: bit the other way so we can see it. Did
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: your family yell at you because you have it looks
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: like you have watch on your right hand. So did
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: you go home and your family yell at you that
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: you gotta switch hands because you've got the tan line
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: on the wall?
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: No, you got me a j I mean, my my
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: watch is being charged right now, or else you wouldn't
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: see the tan line. I rarely take it off, but
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: uh good, good pick up there. Okay, I didn't know
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: because I eye a catcher man. That's why you have
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: a great great managers, they see the whole field.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: Is that what you have? What a whoop? On the
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: other hand, is that what it is?
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: I got a whoop?
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah? Yeah, that's that's because that's why you're such a
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: good shape.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Hey my whoop, I tell her when my whoop says,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: I'm ten years younger than I am. So that's what
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: I'm going with. Fifty two, I'm fifty two.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: All right?
• 16:40
  Speaker 6: Last one, last one now, you're Do you know what
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: year you made the All Star Team?
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Ninety eight?
• 16:46
  Speaker 5: Okay, do you know the song about the ninety eight Braves?
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Do not?
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: Oh so Morgan.
• 16:53
  Speaker 6: There's a country singer named Morgan Wallen that yeah, called
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: the ninety eight Braves.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, yes, I have heard that.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: Yes, how come you didn't make the song? If you
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: made the Alcar team?
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: They got Chipper Andrew the Big three pitchers, But there's
• 17:07
  Speaker 6: not one mention of Walt Weiss in the song.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: For good reason. For good reason, man, I snuck into that. Yeah,
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: that was my first All Star game. I made it
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: at like thirty five years old or whatever I was.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: I had a really good first half that year. And yeah,
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: that's uh. But yeah, I get it. I mean I wouldn't.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't. I wouldn't mention my name amongst those guys either.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: If you lead this team to a title, then he's
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: gonna have to make that, right, He's gonna have to put.
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: Wall He's gonna have to put Walt.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I leave that up for you, guys.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: I can't thank you enough for being here. Yeah, you know,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of yours, a big fan of
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: the Atlanta braves and wishing you guys nothing but health
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: first and foremost and a successful season as well.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Appreciate you, KP.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I was good to see you man, aj Ronnie, Appreciate
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: you man.
• 18:05
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• 18:08
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• 18:11
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• 18:14
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• 18:16
  Speaker 6: games in Miami because I want to go to the semifinals.
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: In the finals, they're going to be sold out. Absolutely
• 18:21
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• 18:21
  Speaker 6: Spring training games for the people out there who want
• 18:23
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• 18:25
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• 18:30
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• 18:33
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• 18:36
  Speaker 4: Yes, he's talking about each ticket rated on a scale
• 18:38
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• 18:39
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• 18:42
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• 19:03
  Speaker 3: Thank you to seek Geek.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: Hey, the Foul Territory Spring Training Tour is engineered by
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  Speaker 4: Fast and All where industry meets innovation. We love you
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: Fast and All for hooking us up with help on
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: this spring training tour. Look how much damage we've already done.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: This is week four, the beginning of week four out
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: of the five week tour. After Braves camp Tuesday, Rays Wednesday,
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: Orioles Twins on Thursday, Red Sox Friday, and then four
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: more camps next week.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: A lot of action going on.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: Okay, let's talk more about the Atlanta Braves in this
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: season preview. Okay, KP recently played for this team, AJ
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: did at one point two. Let's get both of your
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: thoughts on if the Braves can bounce back in twenty
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: twenty six. It was a bad year for them and
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: it was full of injuries. We've talked about it with
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: many of their players. Let's look at additions and subtractions
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: for this team and figure out if they did enough.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: Robert Tuarez joining Ryce el Iglesias in the back end
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: of the bullpen, Hassan Kim is going to be out
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: for a while, it sounds like at least maybe a
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: couple months. And then Mike Yastremsky added to this team.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: Jerks and profar is gone for the year with the
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: ped suspension. Charlie Morton's gone now, although that well, he
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: wasn't with them last year, was he, Charlie?
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: He came back. He came back at the end of
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: the year.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: I forgot good call.
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: And then Azuna is gone, who they really liked in
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: the clubhouse. Obviously he's had his off the field stuff,
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: but he's now with the Pirates. So add and subtract,
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: and also KP subtracts some starters already from the beginning
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: of the season here, including Spencer, Schwellenbach and Hirst and Waldrup.
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: Do you think the Braves are going to be able
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: to keep up with teams like the Phillies and Mets
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: and maybe even the Marlins.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: I think. I mean, walking around camp I saw a
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: couple other names too that weren't listed on you know,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: we just showed there guys like Carlos Crasco and Martin Perez.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Those guys might be needed early in the year to
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: kind of fill in for some of the injuries in
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: the starting pitching. But it's never a matter of question
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: of the talent that this team puts together. When you
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: look at this team on paper, they have to be
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: one of the favorites in the division. This team is
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: built to win. They've been built to win over the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: last couple of years. It's just a matter if they
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: could stay healthy. I mean, just out of the shoot,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: You're missing two of your starting pitchers. Murphy's on the shelf,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Hassan Kim gets injured slipping on ice. You know. But
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: what they did do is they brought in some depth.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: They brought in guys like Jorge Matteo and Maricio Debont
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: that are able to kind of fill in that shortstop position.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: I love the addition of mike Yastremsky. I think he's
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: a tremendous player. I think he's gonna add some power
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: from the left side to that lineup. He plays a
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: really good left field. But when you look at that,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: you know, first four names in that lineup with Ronald o'cunya,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Drake Baldwin coming off the Rookie of the Year season,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: he had Matt Olsen, Austin Riley. When these guys are healthy,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: how could you not love this team?
• 22:05
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm just surprised when you look at those numbers,
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: the ops plus Alby's and Michael Harrison in the eighties.
• 22:11
  Speaker 6: I mean, I know Michael got off to a bad
• 22:12
  Speaker 6: start last year, but man, I thought he caught up
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: in Aussie Alby's eighty eight or eighty nine.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, a rough year. I know both of them
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: picked it up as the season.
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: But still like that's not for long.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: They went prolonged.
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: Just not something that you would expect if you look
• 22:25
  Speaker 6: at when you think of this Braves team. Right, and
• 22:29
  Speaker 6: Drake Baldwin had an unbelievable year as Rookie of the
• 22:32
  Speaker 6: Year last year. The key for me is the pitching
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: bullpen is fine Iglacis. They brought in Swarez, some of
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: the other guys that are bringing back the starters, Chris
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: Sale and then Strider. What are they getting out of Strider?
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: Ornaldo Lopez? What are they getting out of Hi? Bryce
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: Elder Grant Holmes or are they getting out of there.
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: I know they have Martine Perez, like KP said, and
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: they Carlos Carrasco, but those aren't really guys you're counting
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: on to win you a division, are you, especially in
• 22:57
  Speaker 6: a division with the Phillies and the Mets.
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: And the Marlins, who have the best pitching in the world.
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: I've been told many times my people in the chest,
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: so I don't want to forget about the Marlins, who
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: have forty nine pitchers in their organization.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: Is never going to forget unless they finish number one
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: and starting pitching er.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: But no pitching.
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: They just have to they have to have like the
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: Marlins have to have like never give up a run. Ever,
• 23:17
  Speaker 6: because according to people in the chat KP. When we
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: talked about the Marlins one day, they're like, the Marlins
• 23:22
  Speaker 6: have so much starting depth pitching and they're they're never
• 23:25
  Speaker 6: going to run out.
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: I'm like, Okay, we'll see.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: I'm worried that the Braves are going to run out.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: We haven't started the season yet and there is significant
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: trouble for this rotation.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you're definitely relying on a guy like
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Chris Sale who's obviously not getting any younger, but he's
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: still elite at what he does. But at some point
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: father time is going to catch up. It might not
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: be this year or next year, but at some point
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: it is. And there's still a little bit of, you know,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: concern about Spencer Strider. Is he able to pitch without
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: the velocity? Is the velocity to come back? Rinaldo Lopez
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: pretty much missed the entire year last here. They say
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: he's healthy around here. I was out there talking to
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: some guys and he looks like he's in great shape
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: and he's healthy. But he did miss an entire year.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: So how many innings is he going to be able
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: to give you? I mean, up until recently he was
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: a guy who was pitching out of the bullpen. So
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: the starter workload is still something we still have to
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: figure out if he can handle year in and year out.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: And then you look at the two guys at the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: bottom of that list, and you know, like you said,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: you're trying to win a division here, you know, is
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: it enough starting pitching? At some point they are going
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: to get those other two guys back. You know, do
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the Braves go out and try to acquire another starting pitcher.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: You know, they save some money with Profar, you know,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: missing the entire season to the suspension. Do they go
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: out and try to acquire someone out. Grant Holmes has
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: been great for them too, but he's also coming off
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: an injury at the end of last year. How healthy
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: is he? Is he durable? Is he going to be
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: able to hold up? And Bryce Elder one of my
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: good friends, you know, and teammate from you know, twenty three,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: who was an All Star has you know, he's had
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: his ups and downs. You know, he's he's he's shown
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: signs of being a really good fifth starter in the
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: major leagues and he even pitched to an All star level.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: But you're talking about an NL East that's a juggernaut
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: with a lot of talent and really good arms and
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: really good offenses. Do they have enough? I think offensively
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: they do. I think defensively they do. The question is
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: going to be do they have enough starting pitching? And
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: the beauty the beautiful thing is they have a really
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: good bullpen. They have a lot of depth in that bullpen,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: so maybe it takes the workload off of some of
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: these guys. Can they get him through you know, five six, innings,
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: maybe even four and a third, you know, with some
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: of these guys, because you look at that bullpen and
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: there's some some power arms and even a guy like
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Joey Wentz went down, So they're already going into the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: depth of their organization. At some point it may be
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: too much to overcome. But you know, from everything I
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: heard talking to guys out there, I think you know,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: Joey Wentz avoided serious injury. I don't know what his
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: status is, if he's gonna be ready for opening Day,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: but it's just been kind of a tough couple of
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: years for the Atlanta Braves with the injury bug.
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: I don't use this word very often on our show
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: because I think it gets overplayed and every player and
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: team deals with it, especially early on in the season,
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: and I hate when reporters ask it over and over again.
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: But I do feel like the pressure meter for the
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: Braves is high. They have all of this core locked up,
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: right They should all be in their primes right now.
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: Most fans have experienced a lot of winning over the
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: past decade. There right a lot of success, a lot
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: of playoff appearances, there's a World Series mixed in there.
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: The team profits a lot that's public, that's known. They've
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: got an awesome surrounding with the battery gets talked about
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: all the time. To add all that up, and fans
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: are expecting a winner. Like last year, they were all
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: over the team.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: And I was one.
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: I remember I went on a one of the local
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: radio shows for a spot and I'm like, fans are
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: kind of jaded, like it sucks they've had a bad year,
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: but they've had many other good ones, and I was
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: like feeling it. On socials, people are like, how dare
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: you blah blah. I'm like, relax. There are many other
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: fan bases that would trade places with this fan base
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: in a heartbeat a couple.
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: Years ago too. I forget twenty one.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: In twenty twenty one. It's not like it's been that long.
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: But fans are hungry and they see what they have
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: right now and feel like they're in their winning window.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: And I don't know how they feel about the off season.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Roberts Wire is awesome.
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: I love the move, but most fans felt like they
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: deserved one more starter. The team kind of hinted at that,
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: then they shied away from that, and now I think
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: they probably wish they could go back to the start
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: of the off season and grab another starting pitcher.
• 27:38
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think they need their starter shore maybe two
• 27:40
  Speaker 6: starter shot depending on how the health hangs out helds
• 27:44
  Speaker 6: up with the rest of the starter.
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: So I love the lineup if the lineup's right. That's
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: the thing.
• 27:50
  Speaker 6: Their lineups have been so up and down, because remember
• 27:52
  Speaker 6: they signed all these guys. Everyone's like, oh, they have
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: the greatest lineup of all time, and then they've just
• 27:56
  Speaker 6: kind of gone flat a little bit. And it's weird
• 28:00
  Speaker 6: to say that because of all the people they have
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: on this team. So and then you look at Listen,
• 28:05
  Speaker 6: Ratio Dubon is a nice utility kind of player, but
• 28:08
  Speaker 6: is he an everyday shortstop.
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: I mean that's you know why I get.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: Over exposed little too. He hasn't really played every day.
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: Yeah. And then Tom Smith, I mean that one fourteen.
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: But I mean again, that's small sample size, and that's
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: a that's a picking the right matchup for the guy
• 28:23
  Speaker 6: to play. It's not an everyday player. So his lineup
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: is very top heavy. For me, the bullpen is going
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: to be good. I feel like with Suarez, Iglaciers and
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: the rest of the crew down there, I just worry
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: after sale was. I mean, Stryder's still only throwing like
• 28:37
  Speaker 6: ninety three like he was ninety nine to one hundred before.
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: Don't forget so worry about that a little bit. Where's Lopez?
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: I don't know, Listen. I'm a Braves fan. I grew
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: up a Braves fan, so I always want the Braves
• 28:47
  Speaker 6: to do wells my last team I played for, and
• 28:49
  Speaker 6: I still know a lot of people there, so I
• 28:50
  Speaker 6: still like a lot of people there.
• 28:52
  Speaker 5: I want him to do well. I just think that
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: nationally East is.
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: Tough, really tough, and if someone told you, hey, Braves
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: don't make it again, you wouldn't be surprised.
• 29:00
  Speaker 6: I could see this team winning ninety games if every
• 29:03
  Speaker 6: thing goes perfect, and I could see winning seventy five
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: games that it all doesn't go right.
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: See, that would be a tornado in Atlanta. Fans would
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: lose their minds if they put together another season like
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: that this coming season.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, I couldn't agree with you more age. I
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: think this team has the makings of winning the division,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: but I also wouldn't be surprised if they finished third
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: in this division. Two and a lot of it is
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: so predicated on the health of this team. You know,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: I was with them in twenty twenty three, and the
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: entire team stayed healthy and historically it was one of
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the best offenses that you know, up until that time.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: I think we were the first team to hit over
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: three hundred home runs. And it was just like everything
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: they the lineup just worked. You know, everyone had great years.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Everyone fed off each other, you know, everyone knew their role.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Things were rolling. I think we won like one hundred
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: and you know, four or five games that year. Everyone
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: in the starting rotation for the most part, stayed healthy.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: You know, there was a little bit of a you know,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: part of the bullpen that that wasn't as strong, and
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: I think it got exposed a little bit in the postseason.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: But it's such a mystery right now because they've just
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: you know, they're coming off a bad year. They're they're
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: obviously motivated and hungry. But going into going into spring training,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: you know, with the additions of Hassan Kim playing shortstop,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: to you know, some of the young starting pitching that
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: they developed, on paper, it looked like this was the
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: team to beat in the division. And already you're down
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: four or five players. You know, we're only a couple
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: of weeks in the camp, so I think the offense
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: is going to have to carry this team, and hopefully
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: you get guys like we talked about on that bottom
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: half of that order of the Azzi Alb's of the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: world to kind of bounce back and just be the
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: normal Azzi Alb's. I don't think he has to be
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: anything better than you know, what he had been in
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: the past. I just don't think this team could afford
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: him being, you know, a guy you know with in
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: the eighties and his WRC plus. But yeah, I mean
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: it's a tough one to predict, you know. And I
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: think last year, you know, you talk about how you
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: can't win or lose a division in April, and in
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the year, this team had no life
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: after you know, those first seven games of the year.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: It was a hard thing for them to overcome. So
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: hopefully they learned a lot from that. And definitely a
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: tough trip they had last year going to the West Coast,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: playing the Padres, the Dodgers, and I think they even
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: came home and started with the Phillies. So hopefully they
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: have a little bit of an easier schedule to start
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: they get off on the right foot, but a lot's
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: going to be relied on, you know, that left arm
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: of Chris sale To, you know, pick this team up
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: in a big way.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: They do.
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: By the way, we can finish with this. Their first
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: series is at home against the Royals, and I'm there,
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: You're there for.
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: That time for the Saturday game.
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, then they stay home for the A's and then
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: I mean, I'm not going to go through everything, but
• 31:57
  Speaker 4: there's some angels mixed in there early on.
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: It's a little different than a little different than last year.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: Last year, like they Dodgers.
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: Madres on the West coast to start from coming from Florida.
• 32:07
  Speaker 5: Yeah, right.
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: On the road coming from Florida against the Dodgers and
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: Padres now home against the Royals and the A's. Not
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: that they're bad teams, it's just that's a big difference.
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: They're not going to start OZ and six.
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: Are they gonna The biggest question for me is and
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: they are they better than the Mets and the Phillies
• 32:26
  Speaker 6: with the injuries that are constructed Right now, I say no.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: I'm here with one of the newest braves, Mikeystremsky. How's
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: it going? First? This is kind of like your first
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: spring training with the new team. I know, you know
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: early on your career with Baltimore, but this is really
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: your first big league spring training with the new team.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: How's it going.
• 32:48
  Speaker 5: It's good.
• 32:49
  Speaker 7: I think the number one thing is obviously like getting
• 32:52
  Speaker 7: acclimated to new people, new training staff, and it's about
• 32:57
  Speaker 7: diving in headfirst and just being willing to you know,
• 33:00
  Speaker 7: maybe you had routines somewhere else you got to change them.
• 33:02
  Speaker 7: Maybe you had a certain time you showed up, You
• 33:05
  Speaker 7: come in a little earlier, get to know the guys.
• 33:07
  Speaker 7: You breakfast with three or four different groups, you know,
• 33:10
  Speaker 7: as you know, I love to hang out in the kitchen.
• 33:12
  Speaker 7: So it's just about it's about being around the guys
• 33:13
  Speaker 7: and making that adjustment. And it's been great so far.
• 33:17
  Speaker 5: Hey.
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, when you signed with the team, how much of
• 33:21
  Speaker 4: the conversation was about, you know, the fit with playing
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: time and how things would go versus the organization itself.
• 33:29
  Speaker 7: Uh, it was for me, it was more about being
• 33:32
  Speaker 7: part of a good organization about winning. At this point
• 33:35
  Speaker 7: in my career, I wanted that second year with the
• 33:39
  Speaker 7: third option just for for comfort, right, so I could
• 33:42
  Speaker 7: buy into being a part of the organization so that
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: I could not have to worry about playing time. I
• 33:46
  Speaker 7: wanted to worry about winning. I wanted to focus on
• 33:49
  Speaker 7: you know, how do I come into an organization with
• 33:52
  Speaker 7: a great group that's already established and hopefully be a
• 33:56
  Speaker 7: part of something a little bit more than what happened
• 33:58
  Speaker 7: last year?
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: Hey, how long did it take you to know everyone's name?
• 34:02
  Speaker 5: Do you do?
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: You ask them to where a name like trainers, assistant,
• 34:05
  Speaker 6: clubhouse guys.
• 34:07
  Speaker 7: You know, I actually had I had one of our
• 34:11
  Speaker 7: guys send me a directory. So, so, like the main
• 34:14
  Speaker 7: thing is, like, you know all the players, right, You've
• 34:15
  Speaker 7: been playing against them for you know, however long you've
• 34:18
  Speaker 7: been around, maybe you've crossed paths with some of them
• 34:21
  Speaker 7: playing together. But it's like the training staff, the hitting coaches.
• 34:26
  Speaker 7: You know, obviously it's a little easier to know Walt's name, right,
• 34:30
  Speaker 7: Like if you don't know the manager's name coming in,
• 34:32
  Speaker 7: that's a little tough, but it's it's just one of
• 34:35
  Speaker 7: those things where you got to work a little harder.
• 34:38
  Speaker 7: And those are the types of things that matter, you know,
• 34:40
  Speaker 7: just knowing people's names and learning you know about their families,
• 34:44
  Speaker 7: where they're from. All these sorts of things. So it's
• 34:46
  Speaker 7: been fun.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good for you for doing that. I mean I
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: had a hard time kind of towards the later part
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: of my career. I played on ten teams, so I
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: would be in the training room and I, yeah, I
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: wanted to get to know everyone, but I you know,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: I had so many different trainers and take me like
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks into the season and I would
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: like go to the same trainer and I'd listen in
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: the training room. They'd be like, look, Alex, and I
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: would like leave. It be like tlex OUs. I'd remember.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: But in terms of kind of fitting in here, you know,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: I was here a couple of years ago, didn't know
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: any of the guys, really never played with them, and
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: it was honestly one of the best times I had
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: in baseball. There's so many great people here, fun people
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: to be around. And I reached out to you and
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: I said, you know, Riley and Olsen, they're gonna take
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: care of you. There's some of the best people I've
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: been around.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 35:29
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that's that's exactly how it is. And you know,
• 35:34
  Speaker 7: when you when you start those relationships, right, it's always
• 35:37
  Speaker 7: kind of like the same monotonous, like you know, you know,
• 35:41
  Speaker 7: tell me where you're from, your whole path, your story,
• 35:43
  Speaker 7: blah blah blah. But it's about getting out on the
• 35:45
  Speaker 7: golf course, right, like getting out with the boys, you know,
• 35:48
  Speaker 7: have a couple of beers, you know, let normal conversations
• 35:51
  Speaker 7: start happening. So that way, when you show up the
• 35:53
  Speaker 7: next week, it's not like, hey, what's your routine going
• 35:57
  Speaker 7: to be today? You know, do you do you have
• 35:59
  Speaker 7: to take round balls for the four hundredth time? Oh
• 36:00
  Speaker 7: you do? Okay, great, It's like, hey, remember when you
• 36:04
  Speaker 7: almost blew your wrist out trying to head out of
• 36:06
  Speaker 7: a bush because you were playing for twenty bucks? You know,
• 36:08
  Speaker 7: like Megan, just like just being normal people. And that's
• 36:12
  Speaker 7: that's the fun stuff where it's like you have something
• 36:14
  Speaker 7: else to laugh about. You have you don't feel like
• 36:17
  Speaker 7: you show up and it's like, you know, Groundhog Day
• 36:20
  Speaker 7: over and over again. So just like diving into those
• 36:22
  Speaker 7: things and you know, not being afraid to be like, hey,
• 36:25
  Speaker 7: like let's take all the kids at the park, you know,
• 36:27
  Speaker 7: let's take the kids to dinner. Let's let's just kind
• 36:29
  Speaker 7: of dive into this. So that way, it's not evolving
• 36:33
  Speaker 7: in June or July and be like, oh, man, I
• 36:35
  Speaker 7: wish we had been, you know, doing this stuff a
• 36:38
  Speaker 7: little earlier. It's like, let's just start right away.
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: Hey, we've had you on, so we've talked about your
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: story of course, you know, being a late bloomer and
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: then just being a really consistent great player in this league.
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: For a minute, I want to take a different turn,
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: because now you're signed up. You feel like it's kind
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: of unfair that you finally hit free agency in your
• 36:56
  Speaker 4: mid thirties, turning thirty six this year. You've had a
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: great ride so far and more to go. But I'm like, damn,
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: you can't hit free agency until your mid thirties. And
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: you look at some of the other leagues and how
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: guys can get there so much quicker. I don't think
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: that the general public understands that sometimes that the clock
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: still runs even if you're approaching thirty and you can't
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: get to free agency for sodamn long.
• 37:20
  Speaker 7: I mean, yeah, for a little bit, I looked at
• 37:23
  Speaker 7: it like that, but I also looked at it as
• 37:25
  Speaker 7: kind of like a pride thing, right, Like I made
• 37:28
  Speaker 7: it to free agency. You know, at one point it
• 37:30
  Speaker 7: was looking at it like Hey, you know, maybe you
• 37:33
  Speaker 7: don't even make it through our maybe you don't make
• 37:34
  Speaker 7: it through your first year, and so I'm just taking
• 37:37
  Speaker 7: it one day at a time. Every day past that
• 37:39
  Speaker 7: first day that I got called up is bonus to me.
• 37:42
  Speaker 7: So I feel like I'm playing with house money still,
• 37:44
  Speaker 7: and I think that's what keeps my spirits up free easy.
• 37:48
  Speaker 7: You know, there's guys who get to free agency and
• 37:51
  Speaker 7: make four hundred million. There's guys that don't get the
• 37:53
  Speaker 7: free agency. So I'm just really excited to be in
• 37:57
  Speaker 7: the position at I'm in and thankful every day that
• 37:59
  Speaker 7: it's worked out the way it has, because you know,
• 38:01
  Speaker 7: there was some rocky roads. But I think that shapes
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: who you are. And I think that's part of why
• 38:07
  Speaker 7: I play hard and play the way I do is
• 38:09
  Speaker 7: because of the path that I've been down.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of that journey, I had a front row
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: seat to that journey. In twenty nineteen, this young twenty
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: eight year old walks into the clubhouse in San Francisco to,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: you know, make his major league debut. It's it's crazy
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: for me to sit here and think about, you know,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: where you started, where you've gone. But you mentioned being
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: a free agent at you know, thirty five, thirty six
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: years old. I was leaving the game at that age, like,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: how what have you done in order to allow teams
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: to view you younger than you actually are? Because when
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: I got thirty five thirty six, I was kind of
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: viewed as old. You know, my speed wasn't quite the same.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: I wasn't moving as well. You obviously have kind of
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: figured something out in order to you know, allow these gms,
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: you know, confidence to sign you for two years at
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: your current age.
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 38:55
  Speaker 7: I mean when you when you have the same body
• 38:57
  Speaker 7: structure as the bat boy, sometimes it helps, you know.
• 38:59
  Speaker 7: It's like they're like, oh, the bat Boys got a
• 39:02
  Speaker 7: little pop in there, you know, so maybe we'll let
• 39:04
  Speaker 7: them stick around a little bit longer. But no, seriously,
• 39:07
  Speaker 7: it's been it's been about health, right, So the best
• 39:10
  Speaker 7: ability is availability, and you know you did that throughout
• 39:12
  Speaker 7: your whole career. And I think that as I've gone
• 39:16
  Speaker 7: through injuries and I've gone through playing through injuries, I've
• 39:20
  Speaker 7: learned when to step back when to not. I think
• 39:22
  Speaker 7: you were the first person to even mention it to me.
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: I was.
• 39:26
  Speaker 7: I think it was like mid August and Boach gave
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: me an off day after he'd played me probably forty
• 39:31
  Speaker 7: two games in a row, and I'm hitting and he goes,
• 39:35
  Speaker 7: didn't I give you an off day. I'm like yeah,
• 39:38
  Speaker 7: He's like get off the field. I'm like okay, And
• 39:39
  Speaker 7: we had a conversation in there, and I'll never forget
• 39:43
  Speaker 7: this where you go, hey, do you think you can
• 39:44
  Speaker 7: go out there and hit a homer to left today?
• 39:46
  Speaker 7: It's like, yeah, could you hit one to center? Yeah?
• 39:50
  Speaker 7: Could you hit one to right? Yeah? And you're like, so,
• 39:52
  Speaker 7: what are you proving yourself? And I was like, oh, man,
• 39:56
  Speaker 7: you know that makes a lot of sense. Like I'd
• 39:58
  Speaker 7: go out there and I'd waste energy for something that
• 40:01
  Speaker 7: I didn't need. And so it's just about adapting and
• 40:04
  Speaker 7: you know, putting your best foot forward into your body
• 40:09
  Speaker 7: and your health, and you know, whether it be changing
• 40:11
  Speaker 7: a diet, whether it be changing the way you lift
• 40:13
  Speaker 7: in the offseason. That's been one of the big things
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: for me. I changed my lifting two years ago and
• 40:18
  Speaker 7: stayed off the aisle last year for the first time
• 40:21
  Speaker 7: in a while knock on woods. So it's adaptation.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: I know you're a Northeast guy, you were born in
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: the Northeast, but you're a Tennessee guy now Vandy guy
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: live in Tennessee. How cool is it to kind of
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: play for, you know, the hometown team. I know, brave country.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Tennessee is brave country. And obviously, you know, having a
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: wife and a young family, how nice is it for
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: them to be a lot closer to home?
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: Man?
• 40:45
  Speaker 7: That is I think my wife was more excited than
• 40:47
  Speaker 7: I was when I signed. That was like one of
• 40:49
  Speaker 7: the crazy things was it goes from a five hour
• 40:52
  Speaker 7: flight for a home game to a four hour drive.
• 40:55
  Speaker 7: And that's huge because you know, now on off days,
• 40:59
  Speaker 7: I could sneak home if I wanted to see the kids,
• 41:01
  Speaker 7: if I hadn't seen him in a couple of days.
• 41:04
  Speaker 7: It's just about quality of life, you know. And that's
• 41:07
  Speaker 7: it's a little bit easier to get down to Florida
• 41:08
  Speaker 7: for spring training. All these things kind of add up
• 41:12
  Speaker 7: to the stresses of a season. And when you can
• 41:14
  Speaker 7: minimize stress and you can minimize anxiety, then you're gonna
• 41:18
  Speaker 7: be able to stay in the moment more, you're gonna
• 41:19
  Speaker 7: enjoy it more.
• 41:21
  Speaker 5: So.
• 41:21
  Speaker 7: I think that was also a big part of you know,
• 41:24
  Speaker 7: coming here.
• 41:28
  Speaker 4: Question for you so last year, or maybe it was
• 41:31
  Speaker 4: the year before, you worked with Burrow?
• 41:33
  Speaker 7: Right?
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: Did you work with him a lot?
• 41:35
  Speaker 5: I did?
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: Was that last year?
• 41:38
  Speaker 7: Yeah? Last year and even into the year before he
• 41:41
  Speaker 7: was he was still with us then.
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: Okay, So talking about Paparoll by the way, for the fans, yeah,
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: two parter here one.
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: What did he work with you on? That was super helpful?
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: And too did you try and get any stories out
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: of him? Because he was the old guard of baseball player?
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: As I justcribe, I was at a conference this weekend
• 42:01
  Speaker 4: and people were asking about baseball players these days, and
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: I was like, twenty years ago they were shutting down
• 42:07
  Speaker 4: the bars and clubs. Nowadays they're playing video games. Pat
• 42:10
  Speaker 4: Burrow was one of the front runners there.
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 42:13
  Speaker 7: So one of his mentality on hitting was really helpful,
• 42:18
  Speaker 7: you know, because he was he's one one, He had
• 42:20
  Speaker 7: all this weight on his shoulders. He felt like he
• 42:23
  Speaker 7: had so much to live up to, and he knew
• 42:25
  Speaker 7: how to deal with the emotional side of baseball, where
• 42:29
  Speaker 7: that's really tough to do. There are some guys that
• 42:31
  Speaker 7: try to avoid it and not even approach talking about,
• 42:34
  Speaker 7: you know, the emotions that go along with the game.
• 42:36
  Speaker 7: You you know, you're trying so hard, you care so much.
• 42:40
  Speaker 7: The game is so much failure, and he'd been through
• 42:43
  Speaker 7: a lot, and so to hear his perspective was always
• 42:46
  Speaker 7: really really helpful, especially in terms of keeping everything like
• 42:51
  Speaker 7: realistic and understanding that we're not as human being supposed
• 42:55
  Speaker 7: to be perfect. We're not supposed to be perfect in
• 42:57
  Speaker 7: the box. So it's okay when you don't get the
• 43:00
  Speaker 7: big hit. It's okay when you don't get you know,
• 43:02
  Speaker 7: you don't make the big play, and your things are
• 43:05
  Speaker 7: going to be okay and you're gonna be able to
• 43:07
  Speaker 7: move forward. So we kept it simple in that sense.
• 43:09
  Speaker 7: And I've got a lot of stories. I think most
• 43:12
  Speaker 7: of them kind of fall under the category of, you know,
• 43:16
  Speaker 7: not suitable for a work environment. But he's uh, he
• 43:21
  Speaker 7: is a absolute character, Always kept things loose, always kept
• 43:24
  Speaker 7: things fun, and that was that was a fun time
• 43:28
  Speaker 7: in my career to have a guy like that around.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: I know it's only been a couple of weeks here
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: in camp, but is there someone that you've met here
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: in camp that kind of reminds you of yourself and
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: have you been able to kind of take him under
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: your wing. Maybe it's a Eli White who kind of
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: has figured it out a little bit later, maybe you
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: know Luke Williams, or maybe it's someone else in camp
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: that you know you share your story with, Like, hey,
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: I didn't really get my first taste of twenty eight
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: look at me, you know, six seven years later.
• 43:56
  Speaker 7: Yeah, as you know, I'm a huge look at me guy,
• 43:58
  Speaker 7: you know. So that's why, you know, I love telling
• 44:01
  Speaker 7: the story and making people understand what I'm about. But no,
• 44:05
  Speaker 7: it's actually I've been talking a lot with Drake. You know,
• 44:08
  Speaker 7: our lockers are right next to each other. I'm right
• 44:11
  Speaker 7: between him and Eli, so talking to both of those
• 44:14
  Speaker 7: guys a lot. But Drake's really curious, and so it's
• 44:18
  Speaker 7: really cool to see a guy who had so much
• 44:20
  Speaker 7: success in his first year. Obviously, winning Rookie of the
• 44:23
  Speaker 7: Year is incredible, but he's constantly wanting to get better,
• 44:28
  Speaker 7: and he's trying to learn how, you know, how to
• 44:32
  Speaker 7: add adjustments, how to start thinking a little bit more
• 44:36
  Speaker 7: intelligently in terms of you know, learning himself, which is,
• 44:41
  Speaker 7: you know, hard to do. It's probably the hardest thing
• 44:42
  Speaker 7: to do in the game is to learn who you
• 44:43
  Speaker 7: are as a player. And so just asking me questions about,
• 44:47
  Speaker 7: you know, stories from twenty fourteen to a surgery I
• 44:52
  Speaker 7: had in sixteen to you know, getting called up and
• 44:57
  Speaker 7: then getting kind of potentially sent down and go and
• 45:00
  Speaker 7: go for five that day and how to handle that
• 45:02
  Speaker 7: and all these different things. So it's been it's been
• 45:05
  Speaker 7: really cool to talk to those guys.
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: Hey, last one for me, did Lee call you Jungjo
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: Lee to give you any tips? For you to give
• 45:16
  Speaker 4: him any tips He had mentioned you in one of
• 45:18
  Speaker 4: the interviews, like I'm gonna have to call Yas and
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: get some help here.
• 45:20
  Speaker 3: I'm moving from senator a corner.
• 45:23
  Speaker 7: Yeah. We actually we talk a lot. Junkie is one
• 45:26
  Speaker 7: of my favorite teammates of all time. Talk about a
• 45:29
  Speaker 7: guy who was willing to just like dive in in
• 45:33
  Speaker 7: a new country, a new environment. Our lockers were next
• 45:37
  Speaker 7: to each other, so we had a blast and he
• 45:40
  Speaker 7: we've talked a couple of times. We haven't dove into
• 45:43
  Speaker 7: it too much, but I told him I'd give him
• 45:45
  Speaker 7: a little bit of a breather while he was playing
• 45:47
  Speaker 7: for Korea, and once he comes back, I'm sure we'll
• 45:50
  Speaker 7: have an hour long FaceTime and you know, I'll give
• 45:53
  Speaker 7: him the whole rundown, because you know, it's what you
• 45:55
  Speaker 7: gotta do. You gotta spread the love. You got to
• 45:57
  Speaker 7: spread the knowledge, and when you find good people in
• 45:59
  Speaker 7: the you try and keep him around as long as possible.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So for Braves fans, this guy's been high on
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: the West Coast in San Francisco most of his career.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: You guys are gonna love him. I'm excited for you
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: to be in Atlanta, Brave. Yes, can't thank you enough
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: to stay healthy and go put on a show.
• 46:15
  Speaker 3: We'll do