Latest / District Territory / Nats bats go cold, Littell struggles, James Wood next Juan Soto?

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Nats bats go cold, Littell struggles, James Wood next Juan Soto? · District Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Welcome back to the District Territory Show. I'm
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Eric shell House alongside me, Spencer dosbound, Kevin Francis, Spencer
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: nos Maum at the Athletic and Kevin Franz into the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Washington Nationals.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Franny, how we doing. How's the weather up north?
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: Technically I'm next to you, not Spencer, but that's okay. Technicality, technicality,
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: I don't know. I look at my hotel room and
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: it looks fine for now. I think we're gonna be
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: really good later on today. Rain last night during the game,
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: you would never know from the press box area. Really, yeah,
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: you're so like, you're so far under like that. It's
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: it's wild. I don't even know how to describe it
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: other than if it's a flyball that is medium depth
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: as far as the height, you have no chance to
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: know where it's at.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got to make it up to that press box. Still,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: the Baltimore renovation is looking beautiful. But enough about the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: rest of the league. Let's let's jump it is it's
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: it's it's really sharp. You'll like it. I'll jump it
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: to the rest of the league, more specifically, the National
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: League East. Our viewers online getting a look at those
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: NLS standing the Nationals eight games back at the Atlanta Braves,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: only team in the division with the win streak and
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: entering today everyone else coming off a winner or loss censor.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: I'm curious.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: You know where this team sits in this in the
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: standings right now, in the hot start they've gotten off to.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: You know, you were not there last night, but you know, like, well,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: what's what's the vibe you're kind of getting from from
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Blake and the rest of the squad and in terms
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: of how they feel where they're at here at the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: end of April.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Well, actually, I did get to go to New York.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: I wasn't in the previous road trip, but I am here.
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: The vibes are the vibes are interesting. I think that, again,
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: as we've talked about this season, the team is holding itself.
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: Not that any team doesn't hold itself to a high standard,
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: but this team is holding itself to a higher expectation
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: this season where when they do blow games and lose games,
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: it feels like a big deal. I think that the
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: big thing and the big kind of takeaway from the
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: last let's say five games, is that this is the
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: first time the offense has really struggled for more than
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: a game or two in a row. You saw yesterday
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: they got shut out. There are a couple tougher games
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: before that, and so I think what they're trying to
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: parse out is, Hey, in those games where we don't score,
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: can we keep them close like we did in Chicago
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: as opposed to yesterday when you know it was tight.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: It was even though City Field doesn't pact, it's still
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: New York. You're still playing there. And you saw some
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: moments where it felt like the game got away from
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: the Nats. Whereas if they made a play in the
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: fourth perhaps and I'm sure we'll get into that. Does
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: this stay a one, two, three run game heading into
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: late innings with a Mets bullpen that I think any
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: Mets fan will tell you they don't entirely trust.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Franny, you know you were up there in the
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: booth watching the whole thing develop, And I was there
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: in Camden Yards and I saw the score out of
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: town scoreboard. It was one nothing, and by the time
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: I got out of my car, the wheels had sort
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: of just fallen off very quickly. We were discussing it
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: right before we went on air. You know, if you
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: bring up the pitching box score for those of you
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: watching online, I don't really have an issue with this
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: because what I highlight is four earned runs, not eight.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: And you know, you got to look at the guys
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: that came in after that, and you know, as you
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: just mentioned, Spence keeping us in the game. I think
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the guys that served out of the bullpen after that
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: did their job.
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: But I think the whole thing is going to be
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: about Zach to tell and in the three and two thirds,
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: and you look at it, and you know you're going
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: to see the eight runs, three or four of them
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: earn And I thought he pitched great. It was the
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: first pitch ambush by Boba Schet that hits an obbos
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: field homer ball up and out of the zone. But
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: you know a spot that can go to and demolish,
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: and he did. Twelve homer is now given up in
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: that at that point in time, Now thirteen if you
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: include the Wan Soda one later, but at that point
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: in time is his twelve homer and given up. And
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: he had just he found a way to like navigate
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: through the lineup a few times where his misses were
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: barely they were finally just barely right, like just off
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: the edge, just below the zone, just above the zone,
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: like in great spots. And the two walks that led
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: up to the homer, I didn't think we're bad walks,
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: or I mean, not the homer, but to the air
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: at third base, they weren't bad walks. They were really
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: good pitches, competitive pitchesk not balls out of hand. And
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: that's been a problem too, Like his walks have been
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: fairly easy, right. And so you get to the spot
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: and you're going, okay, so does how do we get
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: out of this? How do we get to a you know,
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: a new spot? He gets that one pitch for that grumball,
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: though played, it still would have been a one nothing game.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: And Jorrey Beebos, I think the read for him early
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: on was he needed to get around it. And it's
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: a ball that like off the bat, up and away.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: It's one that playing third base for a long time,
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: I get it. But I also know, like the guy
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: gets on top, I gotta go, I gotta charge, and
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: you don't. You can't preset where you go as far
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: as do I get around it?
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: Do I go here? Do I do this?
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: It's one that you got to go just go get
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: and I think he was thinking more about touch a third,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: throwing it first, doing all that stuff instead of just
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: getting the ball. And that's the stuff like in those
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: games and for games for Zach right now especially, those
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: players need to be made and if they're made, you
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: move on. Right it's a one nothing game still, And
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: instead it just ignited the you know, the atmosphere, the
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: the chaos is created, and you know they took advantage
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: of it.
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: Yeaeah.
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: And even more than that, we we talked to Lattel
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: after the game and he had said, like I asked
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: him point blank, do you feel like that moment affected you?
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: And I think a lot of pictures would try to
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: talk around it. He said, no, it affected me. He
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: also I asked him at another point like hey, can
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: you look at those first ratings and say that's a
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: picture I can be moving forward And he started to
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: be like yeah, I mean kind of ultimately where he landed,
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: he said, it kind of feels like it was all
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: for nothing, Like he's taking these losses really hard. He's
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: taking the results obviously haven't been great, and it's been
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: a lot of loud contact too, which again I think
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: makes it sink in a little more, and so beyond
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: it just being maybe a physical thing where he's throwing
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: ninety one and the stuff isn't necessarily where it was
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: in the past. I think a lot of this is
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: maybe you don't want to get too far inside a
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: guy's head. But when he's kind of saying it's mental,
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: I think he's really trying to focus in and say
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: in those moments where stuff goes wrong, like I can't
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: be the reason it.
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: Goes sideways, Like it has to be something else.
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: So I think that's kind of a tough line for
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: him to toe right now, which is it's obviously tough
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: for a guy who's trying as hard as he can.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: I was gonna say, it's also appreciative of it. I
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: think there's too many times that we don't hear the
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: realness of the genuine side of a picture because again,
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: they're being good teammates.
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: I get the whole thing.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: He's not a bad teammate if he says like it
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: just like it affects me in that I wish he
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: made that play, but he didn't say it like that.
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: But the way that the genuine yeah.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: It affected me, I appreciate it because now there's no
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: speculation on anything. It's just like, man, yeah, it's real,
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Like that's the athlete side of it that you have
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: to be able to discuss. I mean, he was visibly
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: shaken on the side. He was pissed talking to Simon Matthews,
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: you know, out in the dugout during.
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: Right when he got taken out.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: And it wasn't like you could just tell he was
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: not pissed about like oh they din't make it complain
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: about guys not making plays.
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: It was just like you just tell he was pissed
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: it and he had.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: He was just letting it kind of out, like letting it,
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: letting it rush out, and sometimes that's a good thing
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: and you never know what comes out of that.
• 8:09
  Speaker 5: So I appreciate his openness on that.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And we discussed a little bit on Monday, talking about,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: like you said, not waking a sleeping giant or a
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: sleeping bear.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: And we talked a little bit about you know, you
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: playing there over.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: The years, Like I gotta imagine that's not an easy
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: ballpark to play in, and the momentum can build quickly
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: despite the size of the crowd.
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: Maybe ye can't, but you also you also have like
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: won Soto's there.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Right, do you have really good offense like you're saying,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the guys that shit home runs last night are really
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: good baseball players, really good hitters.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: I set this up last night in my my open, uh,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: which was you take away. So Lindor being hurt doesn't
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: mean he's gone, but he's not playing. But Nimo, Alonso
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: McNeil and Lindor last year combined for thirty eight RBI,
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: thirty six runs, score, a three eleven average, a nine
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: to two OPS against the Nats last year. And that
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: is comforting, I think, to an extent. But then you
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: then you also have this guy that is so different
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: than everybody in one and I know Nats fans, you
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: know him, and we could continuously say, oh, he's ours
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: and all that stuff, but the end of the day, you
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: know who wants Soto is and it's like he's always looming.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: It's always it feels like he's always lurking in that
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: in that lineup, in that in that dugout.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and even when you get down to the I
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: mean to be frank, the bottom half of that Mets
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: lineup has not produced at all this year. Right, But again,
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: when you as you said, when you know someone's lurking.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: It's actually funny. I was talking to Foster Griffin a
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: little bit about this the other day. He mentioned in Japan,
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: it's kind of the same deal where the bottom half
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: of those lineups you prepare for them differently because it's
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: a lot of slap hitters, a lot of guys where
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: you know they're gonna try to beat you in a
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: very different ways everyone else, and so you could game
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: plan around that. The Mets, I think are similar in
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: that maybe it's not a lot of slap hitters, but
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: it's a lot of guys who, like you know, you
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: can prepare, but once that flips, like you know, you're
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: in trouble.
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: Because it is up there at the top. Yeah, yeah, I.
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: Mean, I'm not sure if you guys saw the I mean, Frandy,
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: I'm sure you saw it yesterday with him talking to
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: Millis at the at the end of the game and yeah,
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: we're for our listeners. In Soto's final that bet, he
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: asked Drew Millis if he should take a pitch or
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: swing in a pitch. Both times Millis said take, both
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: times Soto took. Now, again, I don't necessarily know one
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: hundred how much he was going to follow that. But
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: when you have someone who just like mentally can better
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: than that, just.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Remind remind me of Poppy up in the box up there,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: you know, the how relaxed he is up there, and
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: like the Mets broadcast said, he's never not had or
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: always say he's never having fun playing baseball. Obviously sarcasm there,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: but you know, he just he's so laid back there
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: in the box, so relaxed, astounding.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: He's he like, there's more and more times I watch
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: him and playing with Bonds, I like he is like
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: on the verge of getting there.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: Like with him and stuff he doesn't.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Swing, the stuff that he doesn't swing at, the confidence
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: that he carries, the the swag that he has. It's like,
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: I am better than you, no matter what you want
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: to pitch to me, it's your fault, like that type stuff,
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: like it's it's real and and I don't I don't
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: say that lightly, Like it's not a name I throw
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: out there, you know, to compare people to. Because he's
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: the greatest, and I've seen it at its at its peak.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: I've seen it, you know, at the end of his career,
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: where it was it was insane and then you're watching
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: one and you're watching this guy morph into something like that,
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: and it's like he was always good, but there's that
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: next level that he's getting into, like in those prime.
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: Years where.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: I'm very, very excited to see from when the Nats
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: are not playing the Mets, what he's going to do.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, did a lot of great things for many years
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: here in DC. Want so, but we got a new
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: big bat, big left handed bat. James would want to
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about him after we get
• 12:26
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• 13:31
  Speaker 1: We are back as we were discussing right before the break,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: James Wood. I don't know what we're gonna call this segment.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Maybe just James Wood lighting the National League on fire
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: for those of you watching online. Got a quick graphic
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: to pull up for those of you listening. Just some
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: stats for James Wood. Ten home runs on the season
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: as of last night around eleven Eastern, first in the
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: National League, four oh four or on base percentage third
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: in the National League, five sixty eight, slugging sixth in
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the National League, twenty seven runs scored, second in the
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: an ALN twenty one RBS eyes good for eighth in
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: the National League. Talking about this guy for a couple
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: of weeks on this show, been talking about him for
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: a few months here in DC, and I think the
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: rest of the league is finally starting to find out
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: about him. He's been locked in all season. But Franny,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: he's the one seems like the one guy at the
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: top of the lineup, just getting it done.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and look, the league knows all about him. The
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: league knows all about him. And he is not sneaking
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: up on anybody, whether it's the six to sixth body
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: of his or the the numbers that he's putting up,
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: the eggs of velos, the at bats are is it.
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: Like we're watching.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: We're watching a different version of on Soto when it
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: comes to things because of the like his ability to
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: control is like strike zone is amazing, right, like to
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: control as at bats. I go last night his second
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: AB against Clay Holmes. First of bat, he goes all
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: sinkers and sweepers didn't throw him. Change up in the
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: change ups like his go to two strike pits right,
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: and there's been a little struggle on the sweeper for James,
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: and so he strikes.
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: How first time there. He goes down one two in
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: the bat.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: Second of bat, nasty change up, spits on it, back
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: back to back change ups, spits on both and You're like,
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: what the hell is this? Like he's he's so different
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: the knowing thyself, Like he knows who he is, he
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: knows what he's looking for. And it's going to frustrate
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: Nats fans at times too, because I feel like he
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: took a you know, fastball down the middle later on
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: in the game for a strikeout and everyone's like why.
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: It's like I don't question why. I really don't.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: He has a plan and he's sticking to it and
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I'm in, like I am always in with it. Ah,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: he has these these abilities just to like, you don't
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: see the shortness of a swing with that length that
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: he has, and you don't see the the the bat
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: speed to go along with it, you know, like usually
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: the guys that have this credible batspeeds have this long
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: archy swing.
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: He doesn't. He doesn't.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: It's it's just there's so many things I go on
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: on about him because like I just the person's amazing,
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: the hitters amazing, the outfielder, the right fielder has been
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: really good and the metrics aren't going to say that,
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: and it's it's baffling to me. But again, defensive metrics
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: aren't always like great, they're good. They're always great because
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: it doesn't tell it because they have the walls involved,
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: and I think that's a part of it. But man,
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: what James Wood has turned them outself into has been
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: just he's a special player.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: He's a he's a one of a kind.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: And uh, you know, I think he and one share
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: the same thing that they probably won't be the greatest
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: runners in scoring position the hitters ever, right, because they
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: are so dedicated to their zone. And I feel like
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: the great RBI guys of our time are guys that
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: go a little bit out of zone every once in
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: a while. They hunt the RBI and they're hunting their
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: pitch always and I think that's a huge similarity that
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: they have.
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and that's first of all.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: This is why I let I love talking to Franny
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: because A you've done it before and B you can
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: like rip off those like I do not remember the
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: individual pitches of every at bat, and so.
• 17:17
  Speaker 6: I love that you did that.
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: But even just even beyond, but do that to you,
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: don't they? Yes?
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Yes, even I'm trying to think if there's one recently
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: that stands out. I guess the kind of over arching
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: sentiment I would talk about is so I went on
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: fangrafts like a week or so ago, because it felt
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: like James swung a lot in the second half last year,
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: or swung more than he usually did, and has been
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: a lot more patient this season. He was patient in
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: the first half this year and surprise, he's been patient.
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: He was patient in the first half last year, he's
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: been patient this season as well. The six swing rate
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: something like that, it's something absurd, and even in the
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: heart of the zone where like he is doing, that's
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: still like it's fifty.
• 18:04
  Speaker 6: Six percent or something like that.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: More the tank, Yes, there is more in the tank,
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: but I still think if you're James at a certain point,
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: there's a diminishing returns if you try to say I'm
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: going to swing in the heart of the zone more,
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: because you might end up swinging at other stuff more.
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: Regardless of that. I asked him a little bit about
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: this the other day, and a little bit about his
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: contact point, and he had said, Yeah, the further I
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: let the ball travel, the better I am as a hitter.
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: And that's why you see the walks and the homers
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: so often go together, is because he's making that decision
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: a split second later, and sometimes that means, hey, a
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: fastball is going to beat him right down the middle.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: Sometimes that means hey, I'm gonna get beat in this
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: part of the zone or that part of the zone
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: or not, you know, any of those things. But overall,
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: like if he is taking that extra split second decision,
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: you're going to see that opposite field power and you're
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: going to see the walks and you're always going to
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: see them at the same time, which is why in
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: the second half last year you saw him getting more
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: out front, you saw I'm whipping more, and you saw
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: him pulling the ball more. And that's not to say
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: that James pulling the ball is a bad thing or
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: that if you see a pull side homer like, oh no,
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: like there's not a reason to worry there per se.
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: But if it ever becomes a trend, I think it's
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: something to be cognizant of. And that's also why and
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: I guess I'm curious to get your guys thoughts on
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: this as well, in terms of what could maybe make
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: this sustainable for James this year. Because he does command
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: so much attention, because his levers are so long, because
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: the strikeouts are in there, there's a potential for his
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: career to be a streaky hitter. Now again, I don't
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: think that's gonna be the case, or I don't think
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: it's gonna be a big issue. And everything I've talked
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: to him about this year, it seems like he has
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: it figured out and it won't be a repeat of
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: the second half. But I'm curious what you guys would
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: need to see for that to maybe not repeat itself.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: What's been most intriguing.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: To me about the whole process really is doing it
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: from the leadoff spot. Correct me if I'm wrong, guys,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: but I don't think he's bat outside of the leadoff spot.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: He's leaving the league in played appearances, and you call
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: those chet stats.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Cherry picks and that, and that's you know, that's why.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: That's by design, Like you said, they're putting the players
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: in positions to be successful. Do you do you think
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: that the reduction and then the Chase Ray and the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: and the discipline that we're seeing in this season Franny
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: is a result of him being in that spot in
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the lineup, and you know, he's serving as a lead
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: off heir and saying, hey, you got to see a
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: few pitches.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: Now, No, I think he is exactly who he is
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: and he's not changing his And I think that's the
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: part that why you're confident you put him anywhere you want,
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: and you're confident with him being leadoff because he's not
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: going to deviate from who he is. He's not like
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: predetermining before the game, like I'm going first pitch today,
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: Like he's just going to let it happen. That's the
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: part that like me about him is that, like, you
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: can't be this, you can't be this young and be
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: this so decisive in things. But he is right, I mean,
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: he is. He's so special when it comes to that. Now,
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: do I see it being sustainable? Absolutely?
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: I do.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, lower half last year, not being
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: healthy in the second half didn't help, and I think
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: he tried to make up for it.
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: It got out of his you know.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: I also think that experience last year was BEAUTI I know,
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: I said it for a fact many times on air.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: What he's going through now at twenty two to twenty
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: three years old is perfect. It sucks to watch at
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: times because you're like, man, he's really struggling, But it's
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: now that experience that you have that he can go
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: back to and go back on and understand that it's
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: not about digging that hole and going back in there
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: and being like, ah, man, I got to all on
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: this because let's say the first what not even weak,
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: but the first five games of the year or six
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: games of the year looks similar to it, right.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: But what happened.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: It came out and I feel like he was never
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: he was never able to really gain gain any traction
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: on that in the second half, and you saw, like
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: what could happen? He still got on base on like
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: what he was like a three hundred point difference between
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: his on base and his his average at that.
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: Time, and it was like, wow, that's that's actually impressive.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: So you know, the thing I always say with what
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: James is it's always on you know, whether or not
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: he's going to have any protection behind him. I think
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: it'll go hand in hand too with you know, one
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: or two guys behind him hitting if they're not.
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: I just I hope he gets enough enough.
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: To hit totally.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: At one final point here when you say he it
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: is the perfect thing to happen to him, for him
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: to have gone through those struggles, I would just clarify
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: he is the perfect person for that. To happen too,
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: because some guys will let that swallow them.
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: And that's not yes, not exactly, that's definitely not James. Yeah,
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: I mean he gets guys. He gets mad like he
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: gets mad, he wants like he wants it.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: That's my favorite part. It's like he is so good
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: at hiding it. But when you talk to him, Yeah,
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: he gets pissed on certain things like that.
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: And that's like.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: You want to make sure that people know that because
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: it's like everyone gets so like, oh, he's demeanor.
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: It's like, shut up, screw the demeanor part. Love the
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: love the person in the player that we get to
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: see all the time, the human we get to see. Yeah.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Well, I talked him down on the field earlier this
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: season in DC, he wan of his ten home runs
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: went into the red porch. I said, man, I want
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: to know how far that ball might go, and like
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Junior July, because I'm like that ball the way you
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: hit it now in April, like when the hair starts
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: to warm.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Up, that thing's gonna fly.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: I was like, and you just missed the one day
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: before and he was fine, go, yeah, I know, I
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: know I just missed. You know, I hit it to
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: the warr shot like he got pissed and I felt
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: bad that I reminded him about the flyout.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: I was like, you know, not a not a failure.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: There's a deep flyout. I don't think I could hit
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: it that.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Far man, And those are those are the ones that
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: he's like because you could just see it calculating in
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: his head too, like where that pitch was.
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: Like he just like they're gonna say he's like a robot,
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: but like he just knows where that ball was every
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: single time.
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, right, just right off the barrel.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: He could point to the barrel part where the great
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: ones can right. Like the only reason why some of
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: us were able to is because like I used the
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: back black bat and I could see the mark. I'm like, yeah,
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: I hit it right there, perfect. But he knows exactly
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: where it was from just like contact. When you see
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: his eyes like right there, like they're on the barrel.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Well, he'll know if he goes out to the away bullpen,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: he'll just look at the back wall.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: There'll be plenty of marks up against the wall. There
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: might paint job soon. Guys, I missed the ballpark.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: And if you're missing the ballpark, you're looking for a
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: good deal to get inside, seat geek is going to
• 25:04
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• 25:37
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• 25:42
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• 25:54
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• 25:59
  Speaker 1: concerts and talking about Springsteen a few weeks ago. You know,
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  Speaker 1: percent off tickets on seat geek. All right, we are back, Spencer.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: You were in Fredericksburg a week ago, maybe a week
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: and a half ago. I feel like we never really
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: dove into that and gave it the respect that it deserves.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: So that's the wrong article.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: But you wrote about it in the Athletic and I
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: got to read it.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: I was, you know, fascinated. I great story, great story.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to toot your horn all day here,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: but I'm just curious you know what you saw.
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: I'm just excited Eric that you read.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's good to talking about colors.
• 26:56
  Speaker 6: I wasn't start share.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: It's good for the brain to read stories every now
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: and then. But yeah, Spencer, what did you see down
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: there in Fredericksburg, Because like everyone of the organization is
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: hearing about this and seeing the transactions, and I'm just
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: excited because that's a lower level of the player's development
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: and we may not be seeing those guys necessarily this year.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: But you know who caught your eye down there?
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the unfair answer is a ton of people. And that's, frankly,
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: what the answer is. I think in the past when
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: I would go down on these affiliate trips, and this
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: is no slight to any of the players that were there,
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: but oftentimes it was a trip to see one or
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: two players, or it was a trip to maybe dive
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: into one of those features, just from a reporting standpoint.
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: When I went down there this time, it was a
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: group project, and frankly, I didn't even get to talk
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: to everyone who I needed to because there were just
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: too many players who are crushing down there. Rony Cruz
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: is the big standout from the system this year. He's
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: someone who's already actually been moved up to Wilmington. He
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: has at least when I checked it yesterday, he was
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: the only player in minor league baseball who had five
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: homers in fifteen steals and he had done it in
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: like sixteen games or something ridiculous.
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: He's one where the.
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: ORG talked him up all spring. They talked him up
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: a little bit last year when they acquired him at
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: the deadline. But he's someone where there's so much juice
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: in that bat you could see a pretty quick trajectory.
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: And that's why I think it's fun for Nats fans
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: to say, hey, maybe he's not here in twenty twenty six.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: He's nineteen years old, let's pump the brakes a little bit.
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: But he could be a really fast riser in the
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: system if the swing decisions hold up.
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: So he's one that.
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: I think if you're a Nats fan and you're saying, hey,
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: who's like a prospect that I can talk about to
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: make me seem smart, like I would say zero, non
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: Ronny Cruz.
• 28:50
  Speaker 6: He's been a big one.
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: But even beyond that, I mean Eli Willits Gavin Feen
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: who was injured, but a big acquisition. Jameson Jones is
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: a catcher down there who's raking lynd and Harmon Miguel
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: Sime pitchers who are doing well.
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: Really, the entire infield group has been phenomenal.
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: There's just so much talent down there, and even beyond that,
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: so they've kind of nailed at least I think so
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: far the acquisition side of it. The player development side
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: might be even more impressive in terms of how they're
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: embracing competition down there in a way that again I
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: don't I think it's unfair to the past group to
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: say they weren't doing that before, But it feels more
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: detailed or intentional or at least in your face now,
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: which I think is an important step forward. Where they
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: have these home run derby's, they have these competitions, they
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: have these tournaments, they have all their data up everywhere.
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: It's stuff where I say, hey, what are the great
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: orgs doing? What is what was maybe Boston doing the
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: past couple of years that allowed them to have all
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: this success and bring up all these young guys.
• 29:51
  Speaker 6: It was exactly that.
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: So yeah, I won't talk to your guys ears off
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: about prospects all day, because the definitely could, but it's fun.
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: I could say.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: The one thing that you know for a fact too,
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: is they're teaching them what all this stuff is. It's
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: not just throwing out all this tournament stuff and competition
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: stuff and about the data. It's about teaching them about
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: what what they're seeing, what they're doing, how they're going
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: about the processes of it.
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: Not overthink at all.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: It's not an overthink like you know, process, it's this is.
• 30:21
  Speaker 5: Is it data driven? Sure?
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: You could say that. It's also competition driven. And I
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: think that's the part where it excites. It should excite
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: old school people, it should excite people that are in
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: a new age part of it. There it's I like
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: it like Pete Carroll, like what what he did at
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: USC when he got over there, and it was, I
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: want to get as many great players. Our toughest practices
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: are going to be or our toughest games are gonna be.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: Our our practice is going one on one, like are
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: ones versus ones? And you're seeing that with the the
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: amount of prospects, the amount of infield depth that they're having,
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: that that's competition.
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: Like it's about earn and stuffs percent. It's starting to
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: do that.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: I forget.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and like even their but but someone in your
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: story was quoted saying, hey, a little competition never hurt anybody. Yeah,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: And it's just like they are. They're they're practicing, not
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: just a practice, but practicing to compete.
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: Yes, and practicing to compete, and those competitions are specifically
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: geared towards their developmental goals. So like the organization has
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: not had good swing decisions in the past, guess what
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: they're competing on. They haven't lifted the ball enough in
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: the past. Guess what they're competing on. It's all these
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: developmental goals where areas where they've struggled in the past.
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: You know, when guys know, hey, I'm going to be
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: valued by my teammates and by the organization because I'm
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: doing these things or even if that's not happening consciously, subconsciously,
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: it all helps.
• 31:44
  Speaker 6: And I think it's all going to work.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's fans.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: If you're looking for entertainment while the Nats are out
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: of town, I ninety five, head down to Fredericksburg, make
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the make the road trip up to Harris burd that's
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: a really cool ballpark, you know, field on an island.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, if I wanted to sound smart,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: it's a NAT's fan landon Harmon, big fan, big believer too.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's all the film I see of him
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: really exciting. I want to watch him pitch in person too,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: and excited to see how his development progresses, because he's
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: a really exciting player for me.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: Looking ahead.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: You know, we got the Mets for a couple more
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: here than the guys come back to town series against the
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Burrs and then the Twins after that, I believe to
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: close out the homestand I got Cavali on the bump tonight.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: You know, Franny, what's he got to do to get
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: through that Mets lineup?
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: Well, I just think he's got to continue to attack.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: He can't, you know, if pitch efficiency getting some early
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: swings that sinker was really.
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: Good the other day.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: I think he's got to be able to find ways,
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: find lanes to use that. You know, obviously getting swing
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: and miss is gonna be great, but it's a very
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: The top half of that lineup is very similar to
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: a Braves lineup, right like you, and he can navigate that.
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: He's got to be able to understand that he can
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: do it and just you know, go from there, build
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: off you guys.
• 33:10
  Speaker 5: Stack these great days.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: Stack these you know, great outings together, and I think
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: that that's a huge factor for you know, Kay going forward.
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: The other part too, is can't fall behind if he
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: if he nibbles, you know, it's one thing. If he's
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: you know, ball out of hand, that's another thing. And
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: I think that one pitch is going to set up
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: the next more than ever tonight for him, based on
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: what happened last time. Last time against the Braves, he
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: was just filthy. He was just filthy, and one pitch
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: literally set up the next pitch, and or it literally
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: set up two pitches from down, you know, from where
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: it was, and he has got to be dialed in
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: like that against these guys.
• 33:52
  Speaker 6: Percent.
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna even I'm going to massively oversimplify here and say,
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: if he leaves that game, leaves this upcoming game against
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: the five through nine hitters without walking any of them,
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: I'm going to consider that a success without like looking
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: at anything else. And again that's oversimplifying, but I think
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: that's not so Caid. Yeah, it's going to show Kaid
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: having trust in his stuff, having commanded his stuff and
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: frankly his stuff against great hitters, but especially against guys
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: who aren't at the top of a lineup like he
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: can just throw it in there and he's smart enough
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: to know the way to navigate it and it should work.
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: So if he's able to stay in zone against the
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: bottom of that lineup, that should be a successful adding.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to think of how I want to
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: phrase it, but I guess for me, what would quantify
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: or qualify are good outing for him? Let's get five
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: innings tonight, you know, like we need some innings. I know,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: the bullpen's pretty well rested, you know, trying to think
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: of the nickname here for Brad Master of the bullpen
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: and rotation Lord, like however we use him. Yeah, he's
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: there at eeth inning, So the bullpen is pretty well
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: rested tonight. But if we could get at least five
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: out of CAD that would be awesome And let you know,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: we'll go from there. We'll figure it out, hopefully the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: bats weak back up. Guys, you got anything else you
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: want to add?
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: No, Clay Holmes was nasty last night. The way he pitched.
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: Who was you know through what six starts this year?
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: He has a one seven for a reason.
• 35:15
  Speaker 5: He was that ball.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: I do think they need to use blitz ball before
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: they face him next time, because that ball, it's a
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: whiffle ball.
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: Man, it is moving everywhere.
• 35:27
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I actually I asked.
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: I asked Blake a little bit about about that after
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: the game, and he said, it really would have helped.
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: I mean, it would have been hard to hit no
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: matter what, but it really would have helped to have
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: traject because when you're facing a guy with the sinker,
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: that's that nasty. You try as hard as you can
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: to swing under the ball and keep swinging under the
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: ball until you get it on the plane you needed to.
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: And he said, we tried to do that, but on
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: a traject you could actually take some of those swings
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: and like, actually see it work. And when you can't
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: do that, I mean, it's just so hard to face.
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: But the guys that the guys that were able to
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: get under stuff last night. His ability to change in
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: the moment the next day about fastballs or cutters above it,
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: You're like, oh, you have something to now.
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: He was really really good last night.
• 36:15
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Yeah, that was Yeah, that was crazy, man.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: Until he get back to the technology or invest in
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: a sinker only batting practice throwing coach only two ways
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: they could go about it. But Yeah, we'll be back
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: on Friday. Thank you so much if you're still listening,
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: you know we can only do this without you support
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: from the listener or the viewer if you're watching online.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: But we'll be back Friday recapping the rest of this
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: Mets series and preview on the weekend ahead against the Brewers.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: And we'll see you in the next one. Sign it off.