Latest / District Territory / CJ Abrams looks like a star for the Nationals again

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CJ Abrams looks like a star for the Nationals again · District Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Wherever you're listening from
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Nats fans, Welcome back to the District Territory Show. I'm
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Eric Shellhouse alongside me Spencer Nusbauma, the athletic. That's our
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: officially one in one in the District Territory era. But
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: we're not going to dwell on sours for too long.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Monday Night's final sixteen to five, featuring a ten run
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: sixth inning, We're not gonna chat about it for too long.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: But what went wrong in this game?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Spencer? Yeah, So I was here in Pittsburgh watching these
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: last two games go down. I think the briefest breakdown
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: of Game one is just that the pitching did kind
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: of the worst case scenario for everything that you could
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: have seen cade Cavali. It was a big case of, hey,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: he hasn't really been able to fund his own but
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: he's last start, he wasn't able to work around it.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: The Pirates laid off when he was outside the zone
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: and made him pay big time for it. So if
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: he was out by the second inning and then from
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: that point on, you're trying to manage it with a
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: bullpen that hasn't fully proven itself, yet and what you
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: saw was, you know, one walk after another, one hit
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: after another, a lot of results that the Nationals weren't
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: really looking for, and you just kind of saw one
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: inning after another where the Pirates were able to pile on.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: By the end, Joey Weimer was in the game pitching
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: for the Nats, grinning on the ground, throwing sixty miles
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: per hour towards the plate. So yeah, it really was
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: kind of an issue of, hey, here's this pitching staff
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: that hasn't really figured it out. On the offensive side,
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: you saw, you know, Paul Skeins do what Paul Skins does. CJ.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Abrams was the one guy to get a hit off
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: of him, and you know, we'll talk about him later
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: in the show. But yeah, really, I mean the focus
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: of that game was the pitching, and the pitching was
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: not what the Nats needed it to be.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, seven walks over the course of that game not
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: going to win a lot of ballgames when you give
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: out seven free passes. But that's only one game. There's
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty two of them. And they bounced
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: back last night in a big way. A State went
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: five to four, no runs scored after the first five innings.
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  Speaker 1: Truly a chess match of a ballgame in my opinion,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and we'll break it down inning by inning. Thents really
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  Speaker 1: got the offense rolling early. CJ. Yeah, Spencer, you were
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: there in person. Take us through.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess you do. The CJ aspect of it.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: I really do want to zero win on the on
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: the first inning because it was so fascinating. They sent
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: their first five batters to the plate and didn't record
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: an out. They were up three to nothing, they were
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: drawn walks, they were making solid contact up the middle,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: and then they made three outs on one play. And no,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: it wasn't a triple play. It was a pickoff, a
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: cot stealing, and a strikeout all in the same at bat,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: which was pretty bizarre. Part of the reason I want
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to zero went on that is I talked to Nationals
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: first base coach Corey Ray before the game and he
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: had told me, you know, he mentioned to Alexa dat
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the sideline reporter of the other day, that he lost
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: sleep the other day when the Nasca got picked off
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: four times a one game. I asked him about that
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: and he said, yeah, like that's one hundred percent true,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: and he spends about one hour before every single game
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: going over pitchers tendencies for things like pickoff moves and
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: controlling the runners, and it's something that he takes a
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: lot of pride in when it goes right and really
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: eats them up when when it doesn't go right. So
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I think that's something that the Nats are focusing on
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: a lot this year. And obviously you're you're still kind
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: of seeing them work out the kinks figure, but yeah,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: a lot of early offense and then yeah, from there
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: on it was the CJ Abrams Show.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, CJ continuing to do what he's been doing over
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the last few games. Just pull up this really quickly.
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  Speaker 1: CJ's game log over the last five games. You go
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: back to Milwaukee, a couple of two hit games, couple
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: of RBIs. That's all good and great. Last two days
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh two home runs, three RBIs and a double
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: in the mix. Last night as well, he smoked the
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: pall against Skeens on Monday night. He smoked the ball
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: last night, and you wrote a story in The Athletic
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  Speaker 1: about it earlier today. What is CJ doing right at
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  Speaker 1: the play?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, everything is the simplest way to put it. No,
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  Speaker 2: but when I talked to CJ, and when I talked
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: to his off season coach in some of his teammates,
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  Speaker 2: the biggest things I hear about CJ are that he understands, Hey,
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  Speaker 2: I can't have another season like I've had the past
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: two years. He knows that he's gotten off to a
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: hot start in twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: He's doing it again in twenty twenty six. The reason
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: they believe and he believes he can keep it going
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: is because he focused so much on being able to
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: control those slumps. When I talked to his off season
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: hitting coach, he mentioned that, yeah, CJ can fall into
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: a pattern where the barrel gets too flat behind him
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: when he swings, he rotates too early into the ground.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: But more than that, there's just a level of preparation
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: of care that yeah, you could see Abrams have before,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: but it's really more dial in than ever you look at,
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  Speaker 2: like the Paul Skiins homer the other day, for instance,
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  Speaker 2: that was ninety nine point five down the plate, which
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: is you know, even if it's over the middle of
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: the plate is never easy from skins and he pulls
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: that ball in the air, he sends it out and
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  Speaker 2: I asked him about it after the game. I said,
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  Speaker 2: how is preparing for Skins different from preparing for anyone
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  Speaker 2: else in baseball. This is a guy who's as locked
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  Speaker 2: in as anyone in baseball right now. He said, you know,
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  Speaker 2: Skeins is obviously a fantastic pitcher. He's got a lot
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  Speaker 2: of extension. He comes from a really you know, vertical
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: approach angle. But that's the sort of picture that you
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: know he's dealt with before, and so he can group
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: that into a bucket and say, hey, I know the
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: pitcher does this, and so before the game, I know
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  Speaker 2: my pregame work needs to look like this. It's getting
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: you know, pitches off the short machine and making sure
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  Speaker 2: that hey, I'm prepared for the velocity. It's hey, I
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: know he can attack me all these different ways. I'm
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: not going to get a hit every single time. But
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: if I wait for the fastball, I know I can
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: hit the fastball. And he did exactly that on that
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  Speaker 2: pitch and that at bat. So yeah, I could go
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: on and on about the season that CJ is having,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: and I'll maybe dive into it a little bit more.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: I guess I'm curious from Afar and from what you've
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: seen at NAT's Park. What's struck you about CJ the most,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: because that's kind of my perspective.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it seems to me like the pitch
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: selection has been a lot better. There were no walks
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: over the last five games, but he seems to be
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: swinging at the pitches he needs to be swinging at.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Like you mentioned, it's never going to be easy to
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: hit ninety nine, even when it's across the plate, especially
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: with schemes, his movement, something that's sinking like that, and
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: for him to be able to elevate it, like you said,
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  Speaker 1: simply put, I think he's just doing everything right. Another
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: guy that's doing everything right from an offensive perspective right now,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Dale and Lyle making so many hard outs, you know
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: that those are going to find holes eventually, and when
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: he finds gaps, they're going to turn into triples too.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: He's just another guy that is really exciting me from
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  Speaker 1: offensive perspective. But last night the lineup that peterra walked out,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: was there anything that you struck you, because I know
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: we talked about in the last episode. There's kind of
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: something different happening each week with every game with this lineup.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: With so many guys moving up and down. But I mean,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I love what he ran out last night.
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  Speaker 2: But ta yeah again, like it's been a fantastic lineup.
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  Speaker 2: We actually asked Blake before the game yesterday about that
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: lineup construction. I asked him about Jacob Young in particular,
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  Speaker 2: because that's a guy who's hitting the nine hole basically
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  Speaker 2: his whole career. He's been up to five a few
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: days ago, he was at six, you know, yesterday, and
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  Speaker 2: I asked like, hey, do do players like do players
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  Speaker 2: care about lineup construction, Like, do do you feel like
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  Speaker 2: they feel the confidence at all? Do you feel like
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  Speaker 2: they care like it moves them or it sways them
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  Speaker 2: in any sort of way if they're moved up and
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  Speaker 2: down in the lineup. And he said, honestly, he didn't
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  Speaker 2: think so. Like that's something where maybe in the past
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  Speaker 2: you had defined roles where like the one hitter was gonna,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: you know, be fast, the number two hitter was gonna,
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  Speaker 2: you know, move him up, a base three hitter would
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  Speaker 2: drive him in. These days, it really is all about
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: playing matchups. And I think the Nationals communicated very clearly
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: to their their lineup that hey, we're gonna put you
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: guys in a bunch of different spots, and we are
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  Speaker 2: doing so to try to macies this lineup now. Now,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Blake made a joke and he said, you know, when
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: I was back at BC, you know, and I got
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: moved up three spots in the order after a three
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  Speaker 2: hit game, like there was no better feeling. And so
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: I think there's always going to be that reality. No.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: I guess if I were to highlight two players from
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  Speaker 2: the lineup yesterday that maybe haven't gotten their flowers as much.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Ben moved up in the order in part because he
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  Speaker 2: has hit so well. You saw him this offseason. He's
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: spent some time with drive line and he spent some
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: time really working on adding bat speed. He had one
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: of the lowest bat speeds in baseball, or at least
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: on the Nationals the past couple of years, and really
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: knew that hey like, for him to become a complete
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: all around player, he needed to add something to his
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: offensive game. And it was exactly that. So you've seen
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: him launching the ball a lot more often. He's always
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: had a good eye at the plate, and so it's
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: not like that has gone away at all, but the
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: added bat speed and the kind of locked in approach
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: has really allowed him to lift the ball in the air,
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  Speaker 2: which is something that again before I think he was
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: hitting ground balls more than half the time. That's gone away,
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  Speaker 2: and so what he's done is really impressive, and the
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Nationals had definitely taken note. That's why you'll see him
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: in the lineup every single day or just about often,
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: you know, occasionally platooning with with Joey Weimer up there.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: The other, I guess player that stood out to me
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: was Dalen Lyle. I remember I tweeted last year about
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: a week until Lyle's big league career and said, man, like,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: this guy's going to lead the majors in heart outs.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: He ultimately he was able to get his batting average
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: up to two ninety nine. So eventually the results, you know,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: switched around a little bit. But it feels like it's
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: kind of the same thing happening right now, where I
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: think even Dalen would admit, well, he admitted last year
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: at that time that he hadn't at a perfect start.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: I think he would admit right now that this hasn't
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: been the ideal start for him. But the process still
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: feels great. It feels like this is kind of like
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: the low point one and that he's still chasing a
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: little too much. But what you see as a player
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: who I think the process and the results are going
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: to start to meet in the middle somewhere and that's
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: when you see him start to really take off. So
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: the fact that he's been disappointment isn't the right word,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: but his numbers haven't been where he would want them
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: to be, and the fact that the Nationals still have
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: a top five offense in baseball kind of tells you
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: just how well this team is hitting right now. So yeah,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: it's it's been fascinating and impressive to watch from the
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: outside looking in.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Dalan, uh yeah, you're like you said, they're going
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: to find uh, maybe not a disappointing start by any means,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: because I see him still picking guys up all the time.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: And that's really what I think strikes me the most
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: about the offense is no matter where guys are hitting
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: on any given night, I'm not lacking any confidence in
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: the next guy in the lineup. It doesn't really matter
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: one through nine. They seem so cohesive, like one unit,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: every app bat coming up one of the time. But really,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: what stuck out to us last night obviously was the
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: pitching was the bullpen stepped up in a big way
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: and did an incredible job. Look at last night's box score.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: PJ Poohlan coming out from the bullpen is the opener.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: He was great, Well, maybe not great, but you know,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: he attacked as best he could. Miles Michlis after that,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: chewing innings, keeping the ball in the yard. But the
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: bullpen afterwards, Mitchell Parker absolutely fantastic. Two innings, five strikeouts,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: sign Ol Perez from there, Clayton Beater and then Gus
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Varlin maybe the closer of the future if he keeps
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: doing this.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: What do you think, Spencer, Yeah, we can start with Gus,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: I think before I even get into that, it was.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: It was funny last night. I was scrolling through my
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: timeline and saw tweet from Mitch Bannon, who's our Blue
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Jays reporter at the Athletic. It was like Louis Varland
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: closed out a game, which is a you know, a
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: big deal, and I was like, oh, Gus did the
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: same thing. They you know, two brothers did it. You know,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: probably at about an hour apart, which is really cool.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: But no, we talked to Gus after the game and
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: what he said, was like, yeah, like the role isn't
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: familiar per se, but he treats every outing the same.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: And I think what Blake has said over and over
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: is that, you know, obviously the bullpen hasn't been exactly
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: what they want it to be. But because of that,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: if a guy steps up, he's going to get the
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: spots and leverage, he's going to get a chance to
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: prove himself. He felt like they didn't, you know, he said,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: probably four or five days ago, you know, we don't
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: necessarily have the ability to set inning seven, eight nine,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: just yet in a way that we're uper confident about
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: the fact that Varlin has showed up and now has
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: done it in the ninth thing. He's got a really
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: great fastball that rides at the top of the zone.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: The slider has been impressive, So he's someone that's really
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: showed up. And then when you look at the bullpen
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: as the whole I actually wrote this down because I
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: wanted to make sure I got the whole thing in here.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: We had asked Blake like was changed about this bullpen,
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: and he said, couldn't be happier with every guy coming
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: out of the bullpen ready to go when their name
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: is called, whatever inning, whatever situation. They were called upon.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: High leverage, medium leverage. I don't think there was any
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: low leverage. They just came out of the bullpen ready
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: to roll. There's just a different look in these guys
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: eyes tonight. So he talked about really like a that
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: different look in their eyes coming into of the bullpen,
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: knowing that the night before they had really let the
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: team down. The fact they weren't going to do that
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: again was really impressive. I'd asked them specifically because he said, hey,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: he felt like they channeled that that lost from the
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: game before into the right way. I said, how do
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: you do that? He said, it's turning it into focus
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: instead of frustration. He mentioned that a lot of the
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: players themselves got together and said, hey, like we know
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: that we just need to attack. The staff has been
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: nothing but supportive of them, and even before the game
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: you could see them kind of all working on little
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: things here and there. Clayton Beatter and Gus Viarland were
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: sitting next to each other scrolling through the tablet. Kid
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Cavali who in the bullpen, but I saw him on
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: the tablet as well. CNL Perez was stretching out as
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: were a few other guys everyone who's just kind of
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: locked into their own plan before the game, knowing that, Hey,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: if we focus in, like, is anyone expecting unbelievable things
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: out of this bullpen? I don't think so. But I
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: think they think that they can surprise some people and
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: turn these results around pretty quickly, which is really encouraging.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean Mitchell Parker is the other big one.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Before I get into maybe the details there, I'm curious
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: again what your thoughts on him are after coming off
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: a tough season last year, and kind of where your
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: expectations are at specifically.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I'm not sure where my expectations sit
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: right now. I mean, he can start, he can come
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: in relief, he can help out in any way. After
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: his season debut last night, he was simply terrific. But yeah,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I mean I think my outlook now is Michael has
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: turned in his best outing of the season last night,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and I guess I could ring him into that reliever
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: group as well. But I mean Mitchell is a guy
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: that I could see flipping with Michaels, you know, at
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: some point here throughout the season, just to get him
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: more innings to have another lefty in that rotation. You know,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: he was just phenomenal last night, and then everybody after
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: that just straight dogs dogs coming out of the bullpen
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: last night. I mean, like you said, there's a different
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: look in the eyes of the guys coming out, or
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: what Dee Terra said, different look in their eyes. They
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: all were just focused on their game plan before the game,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: like you said, and then attacked it. The one thing
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: I do have to note though, the Nationals MLB war's
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: thirty fourth home run last night, they do need to
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: find a way to keep the ball in the yard more.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Do you think that is a pitching thing? Is it
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: a teams that they faced. I mean, they've faced some
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: incredible offenses out of the bat here, and they've also
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: been in some hitters ballparks. Arguably the win in Chicago
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: didn't really help them much. But do you think that
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: is a testament to who they've played so far or
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the pitching staff itself.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: I think it's a mix of both. I think though
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: that you will see anytime you are are making history
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: like this. I think when you look at what this
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: staff has when it comes to stuff, and this is
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: something we've talked about, it's not a staff that misses
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: a ton of bats. And so if you aren't getting
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: ground balls, you're getting flyballs, you're getting line drives. You
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: kind of need to pick your spots. And what this
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: staff has had a bit too much of is getting
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: that fastball and maybe you know, I don't want to
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: say the wrong pitch, but maybe not the perfect pitch
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: over the heart of the plate, and teams are crushing it. Again,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: it's not necessarily pitches outside the zone that they're getting
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: crushed and hammered outside of the park. It's those pitches
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: over the heart of the plate. But I think that's
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: also why you see and why I pay so much
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: attention to the pitching development is even in this short span,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: you look at a guy like Mitchell Parker, for instance,
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: who didn't miss a ton of bats last year. They
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: completely overhauled his his pitch mix where last night, I
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: think sixty three percent of the pitch to see through
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: where sliders last year was it was fastball, curveball heavy.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Asionally you'd see him use the slider a lot, even
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: rare you'd see him use the splitter a lot. He's
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: someone who missed a ton of bats with the slider
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: last night. The Pirates didn't know how to handle that.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: He was throwing it early incounts, Laton counts, both handed hitters.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: He was picking his spots inside the zone, outside the zone.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: That's a pitch that the Nationals really believe in. And
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: it's again it's one that he hasn't thrown a ton
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: in years past, or at least not to this sort
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: of degree. Whether that can work as a starting pitcher
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: compared to a relief pitcher, I think that the jury
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: is still out because you don't see starting pitchers throw
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: their you know, main breaking ball sixty percent of the time.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: But hey, if that's the best pitch that Mitch has,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: and I think that right now he would tell you
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: that it is, that's huge for him. And so again,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: if he's someone who can keep the ball in the
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: yard by doing that. We had also talked to Mitchell
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: last night. Confidence is as high as ever. The staff
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: and Triple A really helped him get that back, and
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: getting off to a start like this is is quite
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: a way to get that confidence back. So that's been
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: huge for him and I do expect him to have
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: a rather significant role on the team this year. That
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: isn't to say that he'll spend the entire year in
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: the major leagues. I think that if the team wanted
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: to have him develop more in Rochester, that wouldn't be
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: the biggest surprise in the world. But I do think
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: that for now he's up in the majors. He's shown
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: what he can do, and what matters is really what
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: he does in September as much as what he does
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: right now.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I guess my take on the whole the
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: hr Per nine inning situation, I think comes down just
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: to the, like you said, the pitches that the home
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: runs are being hit off of, which comes down to
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: the counts that guys are getting themselves into. I think
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: guys just are falling behind in those counts. I don't know,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I need to fact check it, but what counts those
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: home runs are being hid in? I can't imagine. There
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: are a lot of one, two, two, two, two, three
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: two home runs that the Nats have allowed this season.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Before we get onto the preview for the next couple
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: of games. We've never done a fan letter or question before,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: but our dms are open. Spencer, You're on Twitter. I'm
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: working on that. But I did receive a text earlier
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: today from a friend saying, I really like the podcast,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: but can you please discuss why the front office is
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: okay with t ball bullpen and how we're a starter
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: in two relievers away from being over five hundred easily.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I can't stand inning six through nine right now. So
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: just a little fan mail from the Nats fan base
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: for you there. But let's look ahead to later tonight.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: We got Jake Irvin going against Bradon Montgomery, Mike Montgomery,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Mike Montgomery, Michael Montgomery, and then Foster Griffin. We'll get
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: the rock tomorrow for the Nationals. What do the Nats
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: need to do right tonight off of Montgomery and what
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: does Jake the Snake need to do to show up?
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Jake is a pitcher again who kind of like Mitchell.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: I'm watching really closely this year in terms of how
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: his usage changed and how his stuff changes. And so
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Ja is someone who's had I mean, his first start,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: the you know, bottom line was okay, but the metrics
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: are really good and the you know, the contact wasn't hard.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: The next couple starts haven't been ideal, and he's kind
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: of met somewhere in the middle. I think for Jake
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: to be the pitcher that he wants to be, and
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: the Nationals have talked about this quite a bit. He's
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: someone who kind of does not needs a toy around
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: the strike zone, but he's someone who needs to be
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: okay occasionally getting behind in counts or occasionally trying something
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: different up there, to the extent that last year he
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: knew that he was kind of regarded as an innings
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: eater and just occasionally would just throw the ball down
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: the plate, knowing that he needed to give the team
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: as much landspot. I think this version of Jake knows
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: and has expressed to us that, Hey, like it needs
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: to be okay for me to nibble, then it needs
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: to be okay for me to switch things up. Again.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: He's someone who I regard as one of the most
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: intelligent and athletic players that I covered, And so that's
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: why he's someone where I would struggle to ever say
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: he's not going to figure it out, even though last
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: season again did go so poorly for him. But again,
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: he is someone where I think, when I'm looking at
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: tonight specifically, it's, hey, like, can he get those lefties
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: out and can he try some different things the first, second,
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: third time through the order? Against those guys and maybe
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: be willing to walk three or four guys if it
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: means you know, getting getting deep into a start and
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: really showing the Nationals what he's got. So that's the
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: biggest thing I think Foster Griffin the next night. I mean,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: there's no way he could ever, you know, no hit,
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: and through five innings in terms of soft contact, in
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: terms of fixing with his his speeds and his pitch
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: shapes and everything of that nature has been really impressive.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I think that he's been the most encouraging
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: picture so far in the nap and I'm excited to
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: see how he also handles a you know, a pretty
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: good Pirates lineup, which is not something we expected to
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: say before the season. So those two in the bullpen,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: that's really who I've got my eyes on over the
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: next few days. But yeah, we will we will see
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: how it plays out. This is a seventeen game in
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: a row stretch, and yeah, it shouldn't be easy, but
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: the Nationals have handled it quite well so far, with
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: the sweep in Milwaukee and the split so far.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just at the dog park the other
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: day actually here in DC area, and ran into a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Pirates fan of all people, and she asked, how do
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: you think they're going to be this season? She was
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: tuned into the series and whatnot. And I said, no,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: I don't think I expected them to hit this well,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: but I knew they'd hit better. But they are certainly
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: popping the ball circle all those left handed hitters tonight
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: for Irvin Circle, all those right handed hitters tomorrow night
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: for Foster. But let's try and get too more before
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: they are back in DC next week. We'll be bringing
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: you live maybe some live covers from down the field there.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: The next episode from us will be here on Friday.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: And just want to extend a ton of gratitude and
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: thanks to everyone that reached out to both me and
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Spencer over the last couple of days. We've gotten so
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: much support and this doesn't help, but it doesn't happen
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: without you, the listener, the viewers. So thank you guys
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: so much for tuning in, and we'll see you again
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: on Friday,