Latest / Tiger Territory: A Detroit Tigers Podcast / Riley Greene, Justin Verlander and more thoughts from spring training
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: And welcome into an episode of Tiger Territory, part of
- 0:12Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Network Detroit Tiger's podcast. I'm Kieren Steckley
- 0:15Speaker 1: with me as always a man who spent his Valentine's
- 0:18Speaker 1: Day just talking ball. He is Cody Stavenaggan.
- 0:22Speaker 2: How you doing doing all right? You were not wrong.
- 0:24Speaker 2: We did celibrate in early Valentine's Day back home, but
- 0:28Speaker 2: down here in Lakeland, most of the focus is on ball.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Well, look, I mean, and it's a perfectly timed because
- 0:37Speaker 1: we are just a couple hours remove Cody from the
- 0:40Speaker 1: first full squad workout of the twenty four of the
- 0:44Speaker 1: twenty twenty six Detroit Tigers. I should say, and we got,
- 0:48Speaker 1: you know, a bunch of storylines. We have a little
- 0:49Speaker 1: game we're gonna play later. But this is your first
- 0:52Speaker 1: this is literally your first look at the new squad.
- 0:55Speaker 1: So like, what, how are things down? The second five check?
- 0:58Speaker 1: How are things down? In late when now that everyone
- 1:01Speaker 1: is present and accounted for, you.
- 1:04Speaker 2: Know, things are good. Like I said, it's still early.
- 1:06Speaker 2: It's pretty good at all thirty camps right now, but
- 1:10Speaker 2: Tiger Town's got to be near the top in terms
- 1:12Speaker 2: of vibes. I chatted with Matt Vierling a little bit
- 1:15Speaker 2: today and he said, you got a lot to cover,
- 1:18Speaker 2: and I was like, yeah, I do. It's nice. There
- 1:20Speaker 2: were some years around here there wasn't a ton to cover,
- 1:23Speaker 2: and Veeling himself kind of admitted, like it's different like
- 1:27Speaker 2: walking in the room knowing they signed from Er, knowing
- 1:30Speaker 2: they signed Schoogle, knowing they're coming off the playoff appearances,
- 1:35Speaker 2: knowing you know, winning is a real tangible thing. The
- 1:38Speaker 2: idea of winning the World Series isn't just something you
- 1:41Speaker 2: throw out there is like every team's goal. It's that's
- 1:45Speaker 2: kind of I think where the bar is. That's kind
- 1:47Speaker 2: of what the standard is right now, not just from
- 1:49Speaker 2: the outside but for the players in there themselves. It's
- 1:53Speaker 2: been a series vibe, but it's been a really positive vibe,
- 1:56Speaker 2: more so, I think than any spring training I've been
- 1:59Speaker 2: a part of so so far.
- 2:02Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean, there's there's so much momentum, and
- 2:05Speaker 1: we've obviously talked about it with the schoolbal arbitration, and
- 2:08Speaker 1: then you know Fromberg and I'm obviously going in direct
- 2:10Speaker 1: order h and then Justin Verlander, So Justin Verlander is
- 2:15Speaker 1: you know, the presence was felt immediately from the outside,
- 2:17Speaker 1: and we talked about you know, seeing him there, you know,
- 2:21Speaker 1: up close and personal, you know last week, Cody, but
- 2:24Speaker 1: since we last talked, if you had a chance to,
- 2:27Speaker 1: you know, have his day in the sun, if you
- 2:29Speaker 1: would with with his press conference, with his signing and
- 2:32Speaker 1: and just kind of hear more from Justin about what
- 2:35Speaker 1: went into all of this, and you know, to reference
- 2:39Speaker 1: what you just referenced there with Matt Vierling. Justin came
- 2:44Speaker 1: here with serious intentions. I think that like that that
- 2:47Speaker 1: seemed pretty clear. What were your kind of takes on
- 2:50Speaker 1: on Verlander and and and his and like his process
- 2:53Speaker 1: and reason for being in Detroit.
- 2:56Speaker 2: Yeah, like I'm sure we had mentioned some of this,
- 2:58Speaker 2: but it was it's very interesting to hear Justin Berdlander's
- 3:01Speaker 2: press conference, right, and to hear him say at the
- 3:04Speaker 2: end of last season, he was sitting there and kind
- 3:06Speaker 2: of thinking what's next and realizing I wanted to play
- 3:10Speaker 2: somewhere that would resonate, that would have meaning. So that
- 3:15Speaker 2: narrowed it down pretty quickly to two places, Houston and Detroit.
- 3:19Speaker 2: As I'm sure if you're listening to this, you probably
- 3:21Speaker 2: saw he reached out to the Tigers A J. Hinch,
- 3:23Speaker 2: Scott Harris, Chrisillich pretty early to express his interest, and
- 3:28Speaker 2: it sounds like the initial message was like, hey, thanks,
- 3:32Speaker 2: but it's kind of crowded over here, right obviously that
- 3:35Speaker 2: change has the off season reached its end, particularly once
- 3:38Speaker 2: Reese Olsen had surgery. But in you know, to hear
- 3:42Speaker 2: it from Scott Harris, it's not strictly a nostalgia's ward.
- 3:46Speaker 2: JV can still pitch and JV's here to win. Talking about,
- 3:51Speaker 2: you know, his prior stint with the Tigers, he said
- 3:53Speaker 2: he doesn't really like view it as unfinished business, the
- 3:56Speaker 2: fact that they didn't want to win a World Series
- 3:59Speaker 2: because they had good because they were right there. Verlander
- 4:02Speaker 2: has been through it, he knows, you know. He said,
- 4:04Speaker 2: sometimes it just takes a good a good role, a
- 4:07Speaker 2: good balance, and that can change history. So he'd say
- 4:09Speaker 2: he doesn't view it as unfinished business, but yet that's
- 4:11Speaker 2: obviously still something he would love to accomplish as a Tiger.
- 4:17Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and the comments, uh, you know, the
- 4:21Speaker 1: reaction I should say to to JV saying like, hey,
- 4:25Speaker 1: he expressed interest in coming to Detroit right away. I
- 4:31Speaker 1: think the Tigers were getting like like a little bit
- 4:34Speaker 1: too much fleck for that, like, oh why not just
- 4:36Speaker 1: gotta bring him in like period or whatever. Whereas like
- 4:40Speaker 1: there's a stewardship element when someone like Justin Verlander like
- 4:44Speaker 1: wants to be a part of your organization that you
- 4:46Speaker 1: don't just like you have to give him the right
- 4:49Speaker 1: opportunity because he's Justin Verlander. He's earned that. Specifically with
- 4:53Speaker 1: the Tigers, he certainly earned that. And you know, the
- 4:55Speaker 1: same thing would would be the case in Houston.
- 4:57Speaker 2: And.
- 5:00Speaker 1: Timing is undefeated. Things typically time out as as they're
- 5:04Speaker 1: supposed to, and he had his opportunities to go elsewhere,
- 5:08Speaker 1: he didn't. And then the you know, unfortunately came at
- 5:10Speaker 1: the expense of a resoulson, but they opted to you know,
- 5:15Speaker 1: they opted to go in that direction after Reese's injury.
- 5:18Speaker 1: Became a parent and so I just think everybody did
- 5:21Speaker 1: right by each other. I guess would be like my
- 5:23Speaker 1: point there, and again it works out really well. I mean,
- 5:26Speaker 1: what a presence to have him around. And like we
- 5:31Speaker 1: had talked in the off season about if he came in,
- 5:35Speaker 1: like how is he gonna suck the oxygen out of
- 5:38Speaker 1: the room? And I had said, I don't think so
- 5:40Speaker 1: many more school buls at a spot where I don't
- 5:43Speaker 1: think anyone can suck the oxygen out of a room
- 5:45Speaker 1: with Terror Schooble in it. That's just kind of my
- 5:48Speaker 1: personal opinion. And but but there is an element to
- 5:51Speaker 1: guys like Casey Mayes, who coming off his first All
- 5:55Speaker 1: Star appearents going into a contract year, just like Terrek
- 5:58Speaker 1: Schoogle and Jack Clarity, a man who two times has
- 6:02Speaker 1: kind of signed on to be the number two starter,
- 6:06Speaker 1: you know, metaphorically of this of the staff and with
- 6:11Speaker 1: the Frombers signing and then the presence of Verlander, regardless
- 6:14Speaker 1: of order, they're just kind of like slid down the
- 6:18Speaker 1: a couple of spots in terms of like attention and
- 6:21Speaker 1: all that stuff. So I did want to kind of
- 6:22Speaker 1: give give them some attention in the sense of this
- 6:27Speaker 1: is still very keyly a part of what the Tigers
- 6:30Speaker 1: are going to do, figuring out getting the best versions
- 6:33Speaker 1: of Flarity, getting the best versions of Myze. And then
- 6:36Speaker 1: these guys also have to have in addition to that,
- 6:38Speaker 1: you know, to impending free agents, they also have to
- 6:41Speaker 1: have the right attitude about what is happening around them,
- 6:46Speaker 1: as two guys have kind of of bigger statures. You know,
- 6:49Speaker 1: maybe different points of career, but bigger statures have signed
- 6:53Speaker 1: on to this team. So how are they handling it?
- 6:55Speaker 1: And what have you kind of like observed from from
- 6:57Speaker 1: talking with Casey and Jack.
- 7:00Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think they're excited to be part
- 7:03Speaker 2: of this rotation that happens to have some other great pitchers.
- 7:06Speaker 2: I don't send any jealousy or anything like that. I think, Look,
- 7:11Speaker 2: I don't want to act like those sort of human
- 7:13Speaker 2: emotions can't exist. But I think if you're serious about winning,
- 7:18Speaker 2: which of those guys from everything I've ever seen are,
- 7:20Speaker 2: then you're happy to add other great players to your team.
- 7:25Speaker 2: I think the bigger conversation, and I wrote about this
- 7:27Speaker 2: in The Athletic, is we're gonna obsess over Schooble and
- 7:31Speaker 2: Fromber and JV, but Jack Flarerty In Casey Mayes might
- 7:35Speaker 2: be the guy who determines how far this team really goes.
- 7:39Speaker 2: Like School is going to be a beast as long
- 7:41Speaker 2: as he's healthy. Fromber has been nothing but consistent. JV,
- 7:45Speaker 2: for all the attention he's gonna get, is kind of
- 7:48Speaker 2: probably like the fifth starter on this team. Flerty and
- 7:51Speaker 2: Mis are two guys who can and have pitched at
- 7:53Speaker 2: All star levels in their career. There are also two
- 7:56Speaker 2: pitchers who have dealt with varying degrees of inconsistency. Jack
- 8:00Speaker 2: Flaherty was wildly inconsistent last year. We all know it,
- 8:04Speaker 2: we all watched it. But interesting to hear Jack kind
- 8:07Speaker 2: of asked him like, hey, what was the takeaway? And
- 8:11Speaker 2: he said, you know, there was probably a lot more
- 8:12Speaker 2: good than I gave myself credit for. There was a
- 8:15Speaker 2: lot more good than maybe a lot of people gave
- 8:17Speaker 2: me credit for. And he's right. There were some frustrating
- 8:20Speaker 2: nights last season, but Jack Flaherty's FIP after the All
- 8:24Speaker 2: Star break was I think seventh in the league. It
- 8:26Speaker 2: was better than Trek Scooble's. He was snake bit at times,
- 8:31Speaker 2: he got some bad luck. There certainly things he can
- 8:33Speaker 2: do better, but he still misses a lot of bats,
- 8:35Speaker 2: still punches guys out. Jack Flerity can be even a
- 8:39Speaker 2: little bit closer to the twenty twenty four version of
- 8:42Speaker 2: Jack Flerty. What a boon that could be for this
- 8:45Speaker 2: rotation and a similar story for Casey Mayes. Last year
- 8:48Speaker 2: was the best year of his career, but his first
- 8:51Speaker 2: half was a lot better than his second half, Some
- 8:53Speaker 2: of the underlying numbers indicated he was overperforming in that
- 8:57Speaker 2: first half and it really caught up to him there
- 9:00Speaker 2: in the second half. Still having consistency, find in all
- 9:04Speaker 2: his shapes, having the splitter that will be hugely important
- 9:07Speaker 2: for him. But talking to Casey, I think one of
- 9:09Speaker 2: the big takeaways maybe the first time ever he didn't
- 9:12Speaker 2: have some huge overhaul or some dramatic thing to work
- 9:17Speaker 2: through in the offseason. He was healthy and he wasn't
- 9:21Speaker 2: adding a pitch, he wasn't subtracting a pitch. He was
- 9:24Speaker 2: just able to focus on smaller refinements. So we'll see
- 9:28Speaker 2: what that means. We'll see if these two guys can
- 9:30Speaker 2: stay durable and healthy, but if they can be closer
- 9:33Speaker 2: to the all star versions of themselves, that may be
- 9:36Speaker 2: just as important as what you know, some of the
- 9:39Speaker 2: higher quote unquote, higher profile pitchers are doing. And it's
- 9:43Speaker 2: funny call these other guys higher profile because Jack flaherty
- 9:45Speaker 2: has been won a World Series and been a key
- 9:48Speaker 2: trade tard. Again in Casey Meies was a number one
- 9:50Speaker 2: draft pick. But now they do seem kind of like
- 9:53Speaker 2: the overshadowed guys in this rotation.
- 9:57Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see how they look
- 9:59Speaker 1: throughout the spread and then how they look in the season.
- 10:01Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about how they might look,
- 10:04Speaker 1: you know, physically, like the you know what peril they
- 10:07Speaker 1: might be wearing, what colors they might be wearing. But
- 10:09Speaker 1: first we gotta pay some bills. A word from our sponsors.
- 10:13Speaker 2: All right, we got the Warby Parkers.
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- 11:16Speaker 1: All right, coming back here, You're probably not going to
- 11:20Speaker 1: need your glasses when the Tigers roll out their new
- 11:22Speaker 1: uniform this year, because you're gonna see them right and
- 11:27Speaker 1: and vibrant. And that is the leaked and somewhat confirmed
- 11:31Speaker 1: now alternate jerseys at the Tigers had. We have them
- 11:35Speaker 1: up here on our screen if you're watching on YouTube.
- 11:39Speaker 1: We got orange and we got black or navy it is.
- 11:45Speaker 2: I cannot confirm. I'd probably get some people in trouble
- 11:48Speaker 2: if I confirm these jerseys. I will also not deny
- 11:52Speaker 2: these jerseys. And what is black will be a very
- 11:57Speaker 2: very dark navy.
- 12:00Speaker 1: All right, So there you go, Tiger Territory Exclusive. My
- 12:05Speaker 1: initial thoughts on this though, it's actually kind of funny,
- 12:07Speaker 1: Like I remember when the MLB the show trailer came
- 12:10Speaker 1: out and Schoogl was in it and he was wearing
- 12:13Speaker 1: like an orange jersey. And then there was kind of
- 12:15Speaker 1: like a negative reaction to the Tigers like wearing an
- 12:17Speaker 1: orange jersey at that time, and then when this leaked,
- 12:20Speaker 1: it was more of a positive one. So I don't
- 12:21Speaker 1: know if it's just video game versus still image impressions
- 12:27Speaker 1: or whatever. But anyway, I'm the wrong audience for this
- 12:31Speaker 1: codey because being an Oklahoma State graduate, I like to
- 12:34Speaker 1: wear orange and I like to get like the Tigers,
- 12:37Speaker 1: like orange spring training hats and like, so I am
- 12:41Speaker 1: excited at the prospect of having like an like more
- 12:43Speaker 1: orange Tigers gear because then I can use it in
- 12:46Speaker 1: you know, different situations. So again, kind of the wrong
- 12:48Speaker 1: audience for this, but I do like him and and
- 12:51Speaker 1: and of course this is right up our friend Roger's alley,
- 12:55Speaker 1: you know, kind of explaining the history of this stuff
- 12:57Speaker 1: and like what they're paying homage to, and you can,
- 12:59Speaker 1: guys can go follow him on social media for a
- 13:01Speaker 1: full explanation. I don't want to plagiarize his work, but
- 13:04Speaker 1: I like the idea behind him. I think I think
- 13:07Speaker 1: they still, you know, on our tradition, a little bit
- 13:10Speaker 1: of different look and I think like a real orange
- 13:14Speaker 1: out at k America Sporting, These think it will look good,
- 13:18Speaker 1: So that's my take.
- 13:19Speaker 2: Finally found a way to sell some more orange gear.
- 13:22Speaker 1: No.
- 13:22Speaker 2: I like the orange jersey, and that is part of
- 13:26Speaker 2: the Tigler's Tiger's color scheme. I'm fine with them having
- 13:29Speaker 2: a jersey. There will be people who never want the
- 13:32Speaker 2: Tigers to wear anything outside of their more traditional uniforms.
- 13:37Speaker 2: I don't know, it's twenty twenty six. This looks nice,
- 13:40Speaker 2: it looks classy. I think it's fine, and it does
- 13:43Speaker 2: honor some of Tiger's history. I'm not sure if they
- 13:46Speaker 2: need the navy one like. It looks nice. The script
- 13:49Speaker 2: Detroit looks nice? Is it? You know? Did you have
- 13:53Speaker 2: to have the two? You know? Is this? I don't know.
- 13:56Speaker 2: I'm on the fence about that one. I don't hate it,
- 13:58Speaker 2: but I'm I'm on the fence.
- 14:01Speaker 1: I would kind of agree with that. I'd like to
- 14:02Speaker 1: see that, like Warren before, I kind of and even
- 14:06Speaker 1: just like as a part of the full uniform what
- 14:08Speaker 1: they ended up doing, uh uh before kind of making
- 14:12Speaker 1: an opinion on that. But look, I there's obviously a
- 14:15Speaker 1: marketing element to this, and that's fine. But I do
- 14:19Speaker 1: like the you know the balance of something new and
- 14:23Speaker 1: then hat pay homage or something that that that that
- 14:25Speaker 1: you do that with anything, you're gonna you're probably gonna
- 14:28Speaker 1: win me over. Like that's just a p s A
- 14:30Speaker 1: to any marketing people out there if you're specifically interested
- 14:33Speaker 1: in what Kieren Steckley like. So, uh, let's let's let's
- 14:36Speaker 1: let's move on to a quick little note Cody. Uh,
- 14:41Speaker 1: It's it's somewhat of a moot point. But like when
- 14:43Speaker 1: Nick Castianos was, you know, former Tiger was was let
- 14:47Speaker 1: go from from Philadelphia. He has since signed with with
- 14:50Speaker 1: the San Diego Padres, but you know, that was kind
- 14:53Speaker 1: of flowing out there is there any element to uh,
- 14:56Speaker 1: you know, any any validity in the idea of bringing
- 15:00Speaker 1: in for you know what would probably be next to nothing,
- 15:03Speaker 1: and you know, is there like a could there even
- 15:05Speaker 1: be a role for him? My impression on that is
- 15:08Speaker 1: it just wouldn't there would be. It would be a
- 15:13Speaker 1: very out of character acquisition for this Tigers regime to
- 15:18Speaker 1: bring in somebody who's a little aging, doesn't bring defensive value,
- 15:23Speaker 1: and has reverse splits as a right handed hitter. So
- 15:27Speaker 1: that I never really thought it was seriously discussed. So
- 15:30Speaker 1: I don't know if you have anything to counter that,
- 15:32Speaker 1: but I just from Afar. I never really thought got
- 15:34Speaker 1: that impression.
- 15:35Speaker 2: H No one's told me this, But I don't think
- 15:38Speaker 2: you have to be a genius to ascertain that the
- 15:40Speaker 2: Tigers probably had little to zero interest in Nick Castianos.
- 15:45Speaker 2: Look that there's a guy who's drafted by the Tigers
- 15:47Speaker 2: who did some good things here. But the reality is,
- 15:51Speaker 2: over the past four seasons, Nick Castianos has been worth
- 15:54Speaker 2: a grand total of one point three war within one
- 15:58Speaker 2: base percentage of three zero six. Happens to be one
- 16:01Speaker 2: of the worst defensive outfielders in the sport at this
- 16:05Speaker 2: point in their life cycle, and the team trying to compete.
- 16:08Speaker 2: That doesn't seem to me like a fit at all.
- 16:11Speaker 2: In any world where he would be brought here, he
- 16:13Speaker 2: would be a part time player. Given what we know
- 16:17Speaker 2: about Nick, I'm not sure that that would be the
- 16:18Speaker 2: best situation. Now. In my little time covering Nick Castianos,
- 16:22Speaker 2: which was half a season, I loved the dude and
- 16:25Speaker 2: appreciated his candor, even his crankiness. Like I realized once
- 16:30Speaker 2: you broke through that, like he could be one of
- 16:32Speaker 2: the more thoughtful players I've ever talked to. But you know,
- 16:35Speaker 2: the athletic story that dropped about him and his divorce
- 16:39Speaker 2: with the Phillies. I kind of laughed. I went back
- 16:41Speaker 2: and wrote read what I wrote at the twenty nineteen
- 16:44Speaker 2: trade deadline. It's basically the same story minus the beer.
- 16:47Speaker 2: You know, it wasn't quite as good of a story
- 16:49Speaker 2: as as Matt Gelb's story, but a lot of similar
- 16:53Speaker 2: themes were at play, So there's a pattern. I don't know.
- 16:57Speaker 2: I wish Nick the best in San Diego, and I
- 17:00Speaker 2: hope he remains the candid, thoughtful guy that he is,
- 17:03Speaker 2: but at this point on the field, I just don't
- 17:05Speaker 2: think he makes any sense for the Tigers.
- 17:08Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think that. I think that is the
- 17:12Speaker 1: right way to look at it. All right, let's let's
- 17:16Speaker 1: let's transition here to another another key piece of what's
- 17:21Speaker 1: going to determine this Tigers season. And we're going to
- 17:25Speaker 1: talk about several players now and through the lens of pressure,
- 17:33Speaker 1: and it's like pressure on them, and then also it's
- 17:36Speaker 1: like pressure on what they mean, what they could be,
- 17:41Speaker 1: what they're relied on for the team. So, uh, let's
- 17:44Speaker 1: start with Let's start with Riley Green because it's actually
- 17:49Speaker 1: kind of a hard one. Riley Green is obviously not
- 17:52Speaker 1: a made man in Major League Baseball. He's still a
- 17:55Speaker 1: very young player, but he is also a very good player.
- 17:59Speaker 1: Was some accolades behind his day that are obviously nothing
- 18:03Speaker 1: to sniff at. Two All Stars, including a start. He
- 18:05Speaker 1: has a silver Slugger, like like you know, thirty whatever
- 18:09Speaker 1: home runs last season. But there's the strikeouts, there's the health,
- 18:13Speaker 1: there's some metrics that aren't necessarily trending in the right direction.
- 18:20Speaker 1: This team needs a fully functional, geared up Riley Green
- 18:25Speaker 1: bat and quite frankly his defense and left field in
- 18:28Speaker 1: order to be the best versions of themselves of itself,
- 18:31Speaker 1: I should say. But at the same time, it's like
- 18:33Speaker 1: you can't like say there's a lot of pressure on
- 18:35Speaker 1: Riley Green because like like he's he has earned some
- 18:39Speaker 1: key if that makes sense.
- 18:41Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to be sure I'm clear here, Like
- 18:45Speaker 2: I think Riley Green is a really good player, and
- 18:47Speaker 2: I think I've been one of Riley Green's biggest proponents
- 18:50Speaker 2: from a talent and nobility perspective, from the day he
- 18:54Speaker 2: was drafted. I had teased for a while, like I
- 18:58Speaker 2: thought Riley outside maybe Terrek Skubele and now the new
- 19:01Speaker 2: signings would be the most interesting kind of day one
- 19:05Speaker 2: spring training interview, Like what is he going to say?
- 19:08Speaker 2: What did he learn from last year? How would he
- 19:10Speaker 2: address the very notable declines in his speed and his
- 19:15Speaker 2: defense last season? And so I was a little bit
- 19:22Speaker 2: disappointed and that there wasn't much of a tone shift
- 19:25Speaker 2: from Riley. Maybe that just speaks to the beauty of
- 19:27Speaker 2: Riley Green, because he's pretty much the same man. He
- 19:30Speaker 2: has a pretty upby vibe, and he's pretty you know,
- 19:33Speaker 2: he's he is competitive, like he's his own toughest critic,
- 19:36Speaker 2: and he hates being in a slump. I know that,
- 19:39Speaker 2: But he generally, like is a pretty chill dude, right.
- 19:45Speaker 2: I mean, he can get amped up, he can get competitive,
- 19:47Speaker 2: but like you know, I think he's able to let
- 19:49Speaker 2: things roll off his back for the most part. So
- 19:52Speaker 2: maybe maybe this is the good thing. But in terms
- 19:55Speaker 2: of like his swing, there's gonna be no major mechanical ajustments.
- 20:00Speaker 2: He said a few tweaks, which maybe is fine. I
- 20:04Speaker 2: you know, if they did a dive and determined having
- 20:07Speaker 2: the steepest swing in baseball is the right course for
- 20:10Speaker 2: Riley Green, then it means he's gonna keep hitting thirty
- 20:13Speaker 2: six homers or can hit even more homers. That's good,
- 20:16Speaker 2: But there was no real explanation. He did talk a
- 20:19Speaker 2: lot about his approach, and we can kind of pull
- 20:23Speaker 2: up that quote, you know, he said the big thing
- 20:25Speaker 2: was working on just the mental side of things. If
- 20:27Speaker 2: you have two strikes with the runner on second, maybe
- 20:30Speaker 2: try not to hit a homer five thousand feet, taking
- 20:33Speaker 2: a step back, letting the game slow down, and recognizing
- 20:36Speaker 2: the situations. Obviously there's points where you can take your shot,
- 20:40Speaker 2: and there's points to maybe choke up, do some work
- 20:42Speaker 2: in the box. From a baseball perspective, that's probably what
- 20:46Speaker 2: Riley talked about the most. Maybe playing the game a
- 20:49Speaker 2: little born and that could certainly be a wise strategy.
- 20:55Speaker 2: But I'm interested, like, is that enough to get him
- 20:58Speaker 2: to be this well round did player that he can
- 21:01Speaker 2: be this guy who's an MVP candidate type player. I
- 21:06Speaker 2: don't know. I think it's also easier said than done.
- 21:08Speaker 2: You can tell yourself that in the offseason. But when
- 21:11Speaker 2: you get in the box against a fierce pitcher and
- 21:13Speaker 2: there's a runner in scoring position, are you gonna also
- 21:17Speaker 2: is choking up? Like very few hitters actually still choke
- 21:20Speaker 2: up even with two strikes, So I don't know. There
- 21:24Speaker 2: wasn't a lot of explanation there, and then talking to
- 21:28Speaker 2: him about the speed and the defense, I thought was odd.
- 21:31Speaker 2: That's maybe just how I view it through my lens.
- 21:34Speaker 2: But I asked him basically, what you make of the
- 21:38Speaker 2: decline and your speed metrics. He talked a lot about
- 21:40Speaker 2: staying healthy, which he did last year, to his credit,
- 21:42Speaker 2: and I know he's worked really hard on that. But
- 21:45Speaker 2: I asked, like, was that at all related to trying
- 21:48Speaker 2: to be healthy, like maybe were You're just trying to
- 21:50Speaker 2: put less wear on your body, is what I meant
- 21:53Speaker 2: by asking that question. And Riley seemed to think, you know,
- 21:57Speaker 2: I was talking about stolen bases. Leave Jason Beck has
- 22:01Speaker 2: to follow up, and he again kind of thought we
- 22:04Speaker 2: were talking about stolen bases. And someone was like, no, literally,
- 22:09Speaker 2: your speed like you have gotten slower. Your sprint speed
- 22:12Speaker 2: has declined. I think two years ago he was in
- 22:14Speaker 2: like the seventy first percent isle among MLB players. That's
- 22:17Speaker 2: fallen into the thirtieth percent isle and he's only twenty five.
- 22:22Speaker 2: And Riley seemed I viewed it as unaware, you know,
- 22:27Speaker 2: he said he didn't know, he didn't know that maybe
- 22:30Speaker 2: it's just because he was tired. So I find it
- 22:34Speaker 2: hard to believe he didn't know. Maybe he just didn't
- 22:36Speaker 2: want to talk about it in depth, but I thought
- 22:39Speaker 2: that was a little bit strange. And then Defense, you know,
- 22:42Speaker 2: aj Hinch had mentioned some pre pitch things that Tigers
- 22:45Speaker 2: wanted him to work on. I know Riley last year
- 22:48Speaker 2: he used to hop before every pitch, and he kind
- 22:51Speaker 2: of ran in, like, while you're hopping one hundred plus
- 22:54Speaker 2: times a game, maybe part of staying healthy. Like I
- 22:57Speaker 2: talked about, like you're not putting as much wear on
- 22:59Speaker 2: the bar, so maybe don't do the hop. So I
- 23:02Speaker 2: kind of asked, like, are you going to adjust your
- 23:04Speaker 2: pre pitch? Is there a balance there between what you
- 23:07Speaker 2: do and the where you're placing on your body? And
- 23:10Speaker 2: he said, I don't know. I have a month to
- 23:12Speaker 2: figure that out. So I didn't spend a lot of
- 23:15Speaker 2: introspection from Riley Green. I don't know what that means
- 23:18Speaker 2: or what to make of it. I think like myself
- 23:23Speaker 2: and reporters and fans hold Riley Green to a really
- 23:25Speaker 2: high standard, and that's because he is a really good
- 23:28Speaker 2: player who could be even better. So I don't know
- 23:33Speaker 2: if that makes any sense. I just thought it was
- 23:35Speaker 2: a you know, we got our answer to the Riley
- 23:37Speaker 2: interview and there wasn't any tone shift or any introspection.
- 23:42Speaker 2: Surely there was more behind the scenes, and maybe he
- 23:45Speaker 2: just don't want to communicate that. I'll be interested to
- 23:47Speaker 2: see what that brings for Riley in twenty twenty six. Again,
- 23:52Speaker 2: I don't think it means he's going to be worse.
- 23:54Speaker 2: He might just go out and have a great year anyway.
- 23:56Speaker 2: But obviously there are areas he can improve. Well.
- 24:01Speaker 1: The thing is that, like some of that stuff should
- 24:06Speaker 1: happen naturally for Riley, like the the you know, some
- 24:10Speaker 1: of that's like maturing is like not trying to hit
- 24:13Speaker 1: hit the ball five thousand feet. Uh, you know, on
- 24:16Speaker 1: every situation where but like you're right, Like where where
- 24:19Speaker 1: is that once once the once the heat is turned
- 24:22Speaker 1: up in the kitchen? You know, everything's live, Like can
- 24:25Speaker 1: you take that step back? Can you actually do that?
- 24:28Speaker 1: Like that is something that that he is gonna have
- 24:31Speaker 1: to actually work on if he determines that this is
- 24:34Speaker 1: something that he needs of the team, deides that this
- 24:37Speaker 1: is something that they need from him or whatever, or
- 24:40Speaker 1: like look you say, like he's twenty five, Like we've
- 24:43Speaker 1: been twenty five before. I've never been twenty five with
- 24:47Speaker 1: the accolades and everything that's kind of come from his
- 24:50Speaker 1: uh you know, from his life as a ballplayer that
- 24:53Speaker 1: that's probably there are probably something that he's just gonna
- 24:57Speaker 1: have to learn a little bit more naturally about what
- 25:00Speaker 1: this all entails while taking all the necessary steps that
- 25:03Speaker 1: he has. So like, maybe it was gonna be this offseason,
- 25:06Speaker 1: maybe it won't. But at the same time, like I
- 25:10Speaker 1: would feel more comfortable if he expressed that a little
- 25:12Speaker 1: bit better. That makes sense, Uh, you know, just like
- 25:15Speaker 1: like like reading the quotes and it's it and and
- 25:18Speaker 1: maybe we're talking about this however many minutes on it,
- 25:20Speaker 1: and it's gonna be completely irrelevant once once once the
- 25:24Speaker 1: season starts. But like I I do think that I've
- 25:28Speaker 1: said this before, this is a kind of a it's
- 25:31Speaker 1: a season that we're probably gonna get a better idea of,
- 25:33Speaker 1: like what is his makeup as a ballplayer? Yeah, and
- 25:37Speaker 1: it can go in a variety of directions. I think
- 25:40Speaker 1: at his age, with his natural ability, some athleticism should
- 25:45Speaker 1: be a part of his game for the next several years.
- 25:47Speaker 1: I don't think like that should be something that is
- 25:50Speaker 1: either taken away or goes away or whatever. So it'd
- 25:53Speaker 1: be nice if he can regain some of that in
- 25:55Speaker 1: the field and even you know, running the bases or whatever.
- 26:01Speaker 1: But to bring it back to the original point, I
- 26:05Speaker 1: guess I would almost say, like pressure on Riley Green,
- 26:08Speaker 1: it's kind of like a four for all those things
- 26:10Speaker 1: that we discussed, whereas like he is so important four
- 26:12Speaker 1: out of five, we're doing this on a five point scale,
- 26:15Speaker 1: like he is so important to what this team does
- 26:18Speaker 1: and how far they will go. And also there's a
- 26:21Speaker 1: decent amount of pressure to kind of figure out what
- 26:23Speaker 1: kind of ballplayer he is. So even though he is
- 26:26Speaker 1: so successful that there's still so much left there that
- 26:30Speaker 1: I don't think anything less than a four, like what
- 26:35Speaker 1: works for me?
- 26:35Speaker 2: If that makes sense, Yeah, I agree, And I think
- 26:39Speaker 2: that's why we're spending a lot of time on this.
- 26:40Speaker 2: I mean, I guess, how do you define pressure. I mean,
- 26:43Speaker 2: he's not at risk of losing his job or anything
- 26:46Speaker 2: like that, but he's under pressure because he's under the microscope.
- 26:50Speaker 2: Maybe we're the one that's putting him under the microscope,
- 26:52Speaker 2: But Tigers are trying to win a World Series and
- 26:55Speaker 2: Riley Green, he's only twenty five, but he's no longer
- 26:58Speaker 2: young in his career about like what type of player
- 27:01Speaker 2: are you going to be going forward? What Riley Green
- 27:04Speaker 2: does this year, Like are you the two point nine
- 27:07Speaker 2: more player or are you a four or five win player?
- 27:09Speaker 2: Like that can be the difference between tens of millions
- 27:13Speaker 2: of dollars that Riley will make in his career. Whether
- 27:16Speaker 2: his athleticism rebounds could be the difference of one hundred
- 27:20Speaker 2: plus million dollars that he might make in his career.
- 27:23Speaker 2: So yeah, I think that's fair to say there's some
- 27:25Speaker 2: pressure on Riley Green, both in teams of both in
- 27:29Speaker 2: terms of what he means to the twenty twenty six
- 27:31Speaker 2: Tigers and the trajectory of where his career is headed.
- 27:36Speaker 2: Last year raised some questions, and he could get this
- 27:39Speaker 2: thing right back on track to being among the very
- 27:42Speaker 2: best young players in the league. But obviously he can't
- 27:45Speaker 2: do exactly what he did last season, whether it's in
- 27:48Speaker 2: the field where he declined to negative seven defensive run
- 27:52Speaker 2: saved or in the plate, where look, no one's here
- 27:55Speaker 2: to argue. With thirty six homers and one hundred and
- 27:57Speaker 2: eleven runs batted in two hundred one strike was a
- 28:00Speaker 2: franchise record. No, maybe it's as simple. If you cut
- 28:04Speaker 2: that to one hundred and seventy five strikeouts, that's still
- 28:07Speaker 2: a lot of strikeouts. But if you walk twenty or
- 28:10Speaker 2: thirty more times, and maybe you're not swinging at as
- 28:14Speaker 2: many bad pitches and grounding out or popping up, like,
- 28:18Speaker 2: there's a way which you still strike out a ton,
- 28:20Speaker 2: but your average is better and your on base percentage
- 28:23Speaker 2: is better. And that's where we talk about like you
- 28:25Speaker 2: can live with the strikeouts.
- 28:29Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, And you would have to assume that a
- 28:32Speaker 1: lot of this has been communicated to him and is
- 28:35Speaker 1: part of the plan this spring. And to tie a
- 28:39Speaker 1: bow on Riley, he will not be playing for Team
- 28:42Speaker 1: USA in the World Baseball Classic. Roman Anthony got that nod,
- 28:47Speaker 1: But I think that's also okay. Now you can just
- 28:50Speaker 1: kind of focus on his normal ramp up process whatever
- 28:54Speaker 1: and you know, get ready for.
- 28:56Speaker 2: Riley said, there wasn't even any real contact there and
- 28:58Speaker 2: he went about to offseason training for kind of the
- 29:02Speaker 2: long haul and not necessarily to ramp up to be
- 29:05Speaker 2: one hundred percent for the WBC. So that shows you, like,
- 29:09Speaker 2: you know, how he kind of trained, and that doesn't
- 29:12Speaker 2: seem like Team USA. It was ever at the forefront
- 29:15Speaker 2: of his mind.
- 29:17Speaker 1: Let's stick with the outfield, you know, pressure, and we'll
- 29:20Speaker 1: we'll just cover outfielders and we'll do infielders in another episode.
- 29:24Speaker 1: But pressure. There's gotta be five out of five on
- 29:26Speaker 1: Parker Meadows because there's an expiration date on the you know,
- 29:31Speaker 1: he was really good for you know, two months in
- 29:35Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. By the way, like Parker came on
- 29:38Speaker 1: the podcast. Cool guy, But like there's even if your
- 29:44Speaker 1: glove is great and your feet are great, you still
- 29:46Speaker 1: got to offer something in the box like that comes
- 29:48Speaker 1: for everybody, and he this is I don't know if
- 29:52Speaker 1: now or never is too strong, but a lot riding
- 29:54Speaker 1: on Parker Meadows for personally and with the team in
- 29:58Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. I kind of give that a five
- 30:00Speaker 1: out of five. I don't know, you're around.
- 30:04Speaker 2: Four and a half maybe, I mean, I think it's
- 30:06Speaker 2: up there because unlike Riley Green, Parker is in a
- 30:09Speaker 2: way probably playing for his job this season, even the
- 30:13Speaker 2: first part of this season. If he's not hitting well,
- 30:17Speaker 2: you know, how long is that leash? I'm not sure.
- 30:20Speaker 2: I don't know if I want to go five, because
- 30:22Speaker 2: I do think his speed, his defense buys him some time,
- 30:26Speaker 2: is gonna buy him some innings because he can do that.
- 30:30Speaker 2: But more like Riley Green, like we know there's a
- 30:32Speaker 2: very good version of Parker Meadows in there. It is
- 30:35Speaker 2: unlocking that is bringing out to its fullest potential, like
- 30:39Speaker 2: and unlike Riley Green, like, the floor for Parker Meadows,
- 30:43Speaker 2: I think is a lot lower because we've also seen
- 30:45Speaker 2: what it looks like when he struggles. There was a
- 30:47Speaker 2: time Parker Meadows was on the verge or being passed over,
- 30:52Speaker 2: and there kind of was passed over. He had to
- 30:54Speaker 2: repeat levels. You know, in this system there's a guy
- 30:57Speaker 2: with a track record of just inconsistency the plate. So
- 31:00Speaker 2: there's a lot on the line. And we also know
- 31:02Speaker 2: how good the Tigers can be if they're getting real
- 31:04Speaker 2: production out of Parker Meadows. He's definitely changed up his swing.
- 31:08Speaker 2: He shortened it up, the hands are a little closer
- 31:10Speaker 2: to his body. Has looked really good in BP sessions.
- 31:13Speaker 2: Now watch him face live pitching a little bit, and
- 31:16Speaker 2: that swing right away started to look a little bigger.
- 31:18Speaker 2: Just to me, that's what can happen. Like how well
- 31:22Speaker 2: can you translate off season changes cage stuff to facing
- 31:26Speaker 2: the best pitching in the world. That's the trick for
- 31:29Speaker 2: kind of everybody at this level. But I haven't got
- 31:32Speaker 2: to dive in with him on his swing adjustments yet,
- 31:34Speaker 2: but you can tell he's shortened up a little bit,
- 31:36Speaker 2: and the hope is that that allowed him to cover
- 31:38Speaker 2: more pitches and make a little more contact. And I'll
- 31:41Speaker 2: be interested to learn a little bit more about what
- 31:44Speaker 2: might be going on there with Parker Meadows.
- 31:47Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny. I you know, the next guy, I, yeah,
- 31:52Speaker 1: I don't want to do this exercises like everybody has
- 31:54Speaker 1: like these high amounts of pressure or whatever. But so leagues,
- 32:00Speaker 1: come on, Yeah, the next guy, I feel like things
- 32:04Speaker 1: are pretty steady, and you, I think you like have
- 32:07Speaker 1: like a steady like body of work here and know
- 32:10Speaker 1: what to expect and and probably know not to ask
- 32:12Speaker 1: him to do more than what you know he brings
- 32:15Speaker 1: to the table. And that's carry Carpenter. Like, I feel
- 32:18Speaker 1: like I'll give it like a like a two out
- 32:20Speaker 1: of five where it's like, all right, dude, like you
- 32:23Speaker 1: gotta be suitable in the field, suitable and hit your
- 32:27Speaker 1: you know, approach thirty bombs, Like you're certainly good enough
- 32:31Speaker 1: that people adjust to you in their game plans and
- 32:35Speaker 1: their pitching plans. Uh, obviously you want to try to improve,
- 32:40Speaker 1: But in terms of status quo and what you got
- 32:43Speaker 1: out of Carry Carpenter, I feel like that's pretty steady.
- 32:46Speaker 1: So I would say, like he's important, so he can't
- 32:48Speaker 1: just be like no pressure but like a two, like
- 32:50Speaker 1: everything's kind of right there. I think we have a
- 32:52Speaker 1: good understanding.
- 32:53Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think there's a ton of pressure on
- 32:55Speaker 2: Carry Carpenter. I mean it's easier said than done to
- 32:58Speaker 2: repeat home and finished with last season. Did he hit
- 33:02Speaker 2: thirty six? So easier said than done. Hey, just go
- 33:06Speaker 2: hit twenty six bombs again. But he's in a pretty
- 33:10Speaker 2: stable place. I think the real question is can he
- 33:12Speaker 2: give you a full season healthy? So he's yet to
- 33:15Speaker 2: do that. He had the back issue, he's had hims
- 33:18Speaker 2: during problems Like the Tigers need excuse me, Kerry Carpenter
- 33:22Speaker 2: to be healthy. And I think it'll be interesting to
- 33:26Speaker 2: see how that ties in with Riley Green given the
- 33:28Speaker 2: speed the defense. Is there a world where the Tigers
- 33:32Speaker 2: would like Riley Green to DH more? I think there is.
- 33:36Speaker 2: If Riley Green is DH more, that likely means Kerry
- 33:38Speaker 2: Carpenter is playing in the field more, and how does
- 33:41Speaker 2: his body handle that given his injury history, certainly a question.
- 33:47Speaker 2: So you got to keep performing at a high level.
- 33:50Speaker 2: Your performance is naturally, like the counting numbers are naturally
- 33:53Speaker 2: going to go up though, if you can just be
- 33:55Speaker 2: on the field and be in the box for more
- 33:57Speaker 2: at bats. That that's really the big thing.
- 33:59Speaker 1: With speaking of speed and defense about Matt Viling, like
- 34:07Speaker 1: that's that's somebody that feels like, well, like we know
- 34:11Speaker 1: they like what he meant in twenty twenty four, and
- 34:14Speaker 1: we know what they missed from him in twenty twenty
- 34:17Speaker 1: five and how his lack of presence really complicated the
- 34:23Speaker 1: makeup of this roster and what the Tigers were able
- 34:26Speaker 1: to do on a daily basis. And if you can
- 34:29Speaker 1: get like, if you can get a healthy Matt Vieling,
- 34:34Speaker 1: it does open up, Like I just have to imagine,
- 34:37Speaker 1: it makes aj hinch like like like the sleep cycle
- 34:41Speaker 1: or whatever, like they measure how your quality is sleep
- 34:44Speaker 1: healthy Matty v has got to go give him at
- 34:47Speaker 1: least another seven to like twelve percent better sleep every night,
- 34:51Speaker 1: because he does offer a lot he is you know,
- 34:53Speaker 1: he's a right handed piece on a very left handed team.
- 34:56Speaker 2: And.
- 34:58Speaker 1: I hope that he is. You know, he learned from
- 35:01Speaker 1: whatever happened last year, whether it was a freak incident
- 35:03Speaker 1: or not, that he can be healthy because he is
- 35:05Speaker 1: getting up there in age and like the team was
- 35:10Speaker 1: successful without him even though all those things I said,
- 35:13Speaker 1: it feels like this is like a like a four
- 35:16Speaker 1: point two four point three pressure on Magro.
- 35:19Speaker 2: I would love to see aj Hinch's sleep scores from
- 35:22Speaker 2: his time as Tigers manager. Virling's a tough one, all right.
- 35:28Speaker 2: Why is Ridley Green under a lot of pressure? Because
- 35:30Speaker 2: he's really good and that means, you know, everything is
- 35:32Speaker 2: a little bit magnified, and we know how important he
- 35:34Speaker 2: is to the team. For Matt Vierling, he missed the
- 35:37Speaker 2: vast majority of last season. Therefore, the expectations aren't really
- 35:42Speaker 2: that high. In a way, maybe that can take pressure off.
- 35:46Speaker 2: But in a way like I could he be playing
- 35:48Speaker 2: for his job like a little bit like he's going
- 35:50Speaker 2: to be on this team, I think, but he's gonna
- 35:53Speaker 2: have to perform, especially with the Max Clarks of the
- 35:56Speaker 2: world coming fast, Like you have to justify your bats,
- 36:01Speaker 2: you have to justify playing time. The best version of
- 36:04Speaker 2: the Tigers, the Tigers who win the Ale Central and
- 36:06Speaker 2: emerges real World Series contenders. They might have a twenty
- 36:09Speaker 2: twenty four level Matt Vierling, a guy who's playing at
- 36:12Speaker 2: a three plus war clip. Also, just where does he
- 36:17Speaker 2: fit in the aj Hinch puzzle? Like some of that
- 36:19Speaker 2: will determine will be determined by how well he is performing,
- 36:24Speaker 2: but it will also be fascinating. The Tigers are going
- 36:26Speaker 2: to have him working pretty exclusively in outfield for most
- 36:30Speaker 2: of camp, which is a change from last year. It
- 36:32Speaker 2: sounds like toward the end of camp he could get
- 36:34Speaker 2: a few reps at third, even first, just to keep
- 36:37Speaker 2: that tool sharp. But sounds like they see him as
- 36:41Speaker 2: a big part of this outfield and maybe that's tied
- 36:44Speaker 2: closely to Parker Metto's. If Parker Meadows isn't hitting first
- 36:48Speaker 2: man up to get more reps in center field, might
- 36:50Speaker 2: just be Matt Ververling.
- 36:54Speaker 1: How about the guy who's just like getting talked about
- 36:57Speaker 1: it at allel paris like like what's so Peaz? Like,
- 37:02Speaker 1: you know, everybody likes him, Everybody likes his attitude. All
- 37:05Speaker 1: he's done Cody and back to back years has put
- 37:07Speaker 1: a point seven war season and a point eight war
- 37:09Speaker 1: season as a guy that no one seems to, like
- 37:13Speaker 1: I want to say, like they don't really get a
- 37:15Speaker 1: lot of credit. It's like, oh, there's win so like
- 37:17Speaker 1: you know, it's cool or whatever. But no one's like,
- 37:20Speaker 1: oh cool, like you know, good thing, we have him
- 37:23Speaker 1: on the forty man or whatever, you know. Like, but
- 37:25Speaker 1: he's obviously been valuable the past couple of years. I
- 37:28Speaker 1: don't think there's a lot of pressure on him, quote unquote,
- 37:31Speaker 1: But at the same time, I think he's kind of
- 37:34Speaker 1: low key, like relied on more than then like the talking.
- 37:39Speaker 1: Then the talking get you know, talking heads like us
- 37:42Speaker 1: give him credit for.
- 37:43Speaker 2: Yeah, if there's any stat that would make me or
- 37:45Speaker 2: any argument that would get me to like not believe
- 37:48Speaker 2: in war as much as I generally do, it's probably
- 37:50Speaker 2: whens Pearaz being worth zero point eight because he felt
- 37:53Speaker 2: so much more important to last year's team, came up
- 37:56Speaker 2: in some big moments. He played really well at times.
- 37:59Speaker 2: His right handed swing was really good. I don't know
- 38:02Speaker 2: that he's under a ton of pressure, maybe because again
- 38:06Speaker 2: expectations aren't sky high. You probably have a job, and
- 38:11Speaker 2: that is not one hundred percent guarantee. It just you know,
- 38:16Speaker 2: he's one of those guys could he level up or
- 38:18Speaker 2: is the right handed swing was that a fluke last year? Like,
- 38:22Speaker 2: there are certainly some questions surrounding Winstle and also how
- 38:25Speaker 2: does he fit in this puzzle? Where is he gonna
- 38:27Speaker 2: play by the way A J. Hinchmintion and Kerry Carpenter
- 38:31Speaker 2: is gonna work a little more and left where he
- 38:33Speaker 2: was almost exclusively right last season, So that like is
- 38:36Speaker 2: that tight end. I think what we're learning in the outfield,
- 38:40Speaker 2: they're all kind of connected to each other in different ways,
- 38:44Speaker 2: So Winsle Pearaz is certainly part of that. Where's the
- 38:47Speaker 2: playing time and what situations is he playing? I would
- 38:50Speaker 2: certainly keep a close eye on that right handed swing
- 38:53Speaker 2: because if it's good again, he's gonna play a lot.
- 38:55Speaker 2: And if it if the production isn't there, that's that's
- 38:58Speaker 2: certainly gonna have some trickle down effects for everybody else.
- 39:02Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, the right the right handed swing was like,
- 39:06Speaker 1: you know, kind of found money last year and and
- 39:11Speaker 1: became like a vital thing. And if that is a
- 39:14Speaker 1: real element to his game, then he's somebody that you
- 39:17Speaker 1: could probably pencil in to be a part of this
- 39:19Speaker 1: team for like the next you know, two three years,
- 39:22Speaker 1: which you don't get you, Like, I don't know if
- 39:24Speaker 1: we never would have thought that just like three years ago.
- 39:28Speaker 1: Like yah, yeah, so that that that about covers it, Cody.
- 39:32Speaker 1: We we you know, we could go on for a
- 39:34Speaker 1: long time about these guys. We'll do the infield and
- 39:37Speaker 1: pitchers separately. Obviously, I know some of these guys you know,
- 39:40Speaker 1: play both. But but like, just like this was a
- 39:44Speaker 1: really fun exercise because again, like you said, it just
- 39:47Speaker 1: kind of shows just like how connected everything is. And
- 39:51Speaker 1: it's like, well, if you know it's it's like different
- 39:54Speaker 1: different levels and levers, Like well, if this one goes here,
- 39:57Speaker 1: then you're gonna have to pull this lever here, and
- 39:59Speaker 1: that's gonna affect that. Like it's fascinating what is all
- 40:02Speaker 1: ahead of us, and probably making the sleep score for Ajhnschill.
- 40:06Speaker 2: A little bit down.
- 40:10Speaker 1: So, uh, anything else, Cody before we jet out of here.
- 40:14Speaker 2: Uh No, plenty more to talk about. We'll be back
- 40:16Speaker 2: with you guys in a couple of days. We'll go
- 40:19Speaker 2: over the nfield. We'll talk about Jasey Young playing first base,
- 40:22Speaker 2: plenty of other tidbits coming out of camp. Every day.
- 40:24Speaker 2: It's a fun time of year.
- 40:26Speaker 1: Absolutely, Like Matt said, you all got a lot to
- 40:29Speaker 1: talk about, and we certainly enjoy talking about it with
- 40:32Speaker 1: you guys. You can follow us on x onoman, on
- 40:34Speaker 1: Twitter at Cody steven Haagen, I am at Kieran Underscores,
- 40:36Speaker 1: dectly pot page at Tiger Territory Underscore Tiger Territory shop
- 40:40Speaker 1: dot com for your merch and of course subscribe Apple,
- 40:43Speaker 1: Spotify and YouTube wherever you listen to your podcast. So
- 40:46Speaker 1: for Cody staven Hagen, I'm Kiris Deckley or we have
- 40:49Speaker 1: a great day.