Latest / Birdland Territory / Sizing up Gunnar Henderson's struggles

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Sizing up Gunnar Henderson's struggles · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Birdland.
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Speaker 2: Welcome in another edition of Birdland Territory. I believe we're
0:10
Speaker 2: up to show thirty two. It's moving fast and this
0:13
Speaker 2: season's flying along. The Eros are about a week away
0:16
Speaker 2: from the actual midpoint eighty one games, so at the
0:19
Speaker 2: thirty four and thirty nine, getting ready to start this
0:21
Speaker 2: West coast trip as we take this Tuesday morning before
0:25
Speaker 2: they play game one at Seattle, they'll also play the Dodgers,
0:28
Speaker 2: they'll also play the Angels. Challenging trip. So guys, we
0:32
Speaker 2: want to start today with Gunnar Henderson. We've talked about
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Speaker 2: Gunner a lot and a lot of analysis, a lot
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Speaker 2: of words. Here what it comes down to in the
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Speaker 2: numbers right now. At his peak performance, which I think
0:46
Speaker 2: if we look at his track record was obviously twenty
0:48
Speaker 2: twenty four, fourth for the MVP. That year he was
0:51
Speaker 2: among the best players in baseball with an eight ninety
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Speaker 2: three OPS. So now he's seven point fifteen via the
0:58
Speaker 2: stats of twenty twenty six. That's about league average. Actually
1:01
Speaker 2: seven seventeen is MLB average OPS Gunners at seven fifteen,
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Speaker 2: But we all know we expect better than that, and
1:09
Speaker 2: he does too. So for me, it comes down to
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Speaker 2: some basic things, not to oversimplify it. He's chasing too much,
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Speaker 2: leading to too many strikeouts, leading to fewer hard hit balls.
1:23
Speaker 2: That that doesn't explain at all, But that's a lot
1:26
Speaker 2: of what's going on right now. He's not hitting right
1:28
Speaker 2: handers as well. There's just challenges for him. Long winded
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Speaker 2: open to say, is this who he is this year?
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Speaker 2: Or with more than half the season to go, can
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Speaker 2: this get fixed? If that's the proper word.
1:44
Speaker 3: Here, Yeah, I think so.
1:46
Speaker 4: I think we like we watching him on a daily basis,
1:49
Speaker 4: it's everything is there. All the components to him to
1:52
Speaker 4: be the player we expect are there. I just think
1:55
Speaker 4: he's not getting the results right now, and I think
1:56
Speaker 4: a lot of it has to do with not staying
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Speaker 4: up the middle of the field. I think when Gunner's
2:00
Speaker 4: at his best, he's using the left side of the field,
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Speaker 4: going left center field, and we really haven't seen that,
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Speaker 4: I feel like, in over a month now watching him,
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Speaker 4: it's been really poor happy. We saw that earlier in
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Speaker 4: the season too, when he hit a bunch of homers
2:12
Speaker 4: to start the year. He was really poor happy and
2:14
Speaker 4: we were kind of, you know, wary of that because
2:18
Speaker 4: we know he's at bet he's at his best when
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Speaker 4: he's going to center and left center, and I feel
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Speaker 4: like it's just been really poor happy this year. And
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Speaker 4: I feel like he's just too good of a hitter
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Speaker 4: to only use one side of the field, and he's
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Speaker 4: been working a lot. They've shown a lot of clips
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Speaker 4: of him early doing work in the cage with the
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Speaker 4: hitting coaches, and I just feel like it's going to
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Speaker 4: turn around. He's got way too much talent, and I
2:39
Speaker 4: just I would love to see him just start using
2:40
Speaker 4: the middle of the field, go left center again, because
2:43
Speaker 4: I feel like that's really when he gets locked in.
2:46
Speaker 5: It's it's been a really bizarre year for Gunner, right.
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Speaker 5: You see these flashes, You see these glimpses of him, Okay,
2:54
Speaker 5: maybe he's turning it around, and then he's back down
2:56
Speaker 5: again and he just hasn't been able to really sustain it.
3:00
Speaker 5: But Steve, you mentioned it last year, and Granny he
3:03
Speaker 5: was heard, and we know he had the intercostal strain
3:05
Speaker 5: during spring training and then he had the shoulder impingement
3:08
Speaker 5: which rapped him of his power. But he really struggled
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Speaker 5: against left handed pitching last year, where this year he's
3:14
Speaker 5: got a higher ops against left handed pitching. Than right
3:17
Speaker 5: handed pitching. And one of the stats that really jumped
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Speaker 5: out to me and Steve when we were doing the
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Speaker 5: show locally on the fan, when he is a head
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Speaker 5: in the count. When Gunnar Henderson is ahead in the
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Speaker 5: count this year, he's batting one forty six and has
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Speaker 5: an ops of six forty six. And you compare that
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Speaker 5: to his career average when he's ahead in the count,
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Speaker 5: he hits two eighty one with an ops over one thousand.
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Speaker 5: So it's a night and day difference there for Gunner. Now,
3:51
Speaker 5: if you are looking at it from a glass half
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Speaker 5: full perspective, this month of June, while he's not exploding,
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Speaker 5: he's not taken off.
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Speaker 6: He does have more walks than strikeouts. He's got nine
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Speaker 6: walks to eight strikeouts. You have seen the on base
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Speaker 6: go up a lot is on basis four oh seven
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Speaker 6: in the month of June.
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Speaker 5: So maybe he's seeing the ball better, but he's just
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Speaker 5: not doing the consistent damage with his back.
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Speaker 2: A lot of things we can look at. I looked
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Speaker 2: at hard hit percentage when Gunner was in the top
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Speaker 2: three percent of baseball in twenty twenty four Elite. Now
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Speaker 2: he's sixty eighth in percentage, So still a little bit
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Speaker 2: above average, but not elite like he once was, and
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Speaker 2: exit velocity is down this year. A lot of things
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Speaker 2: are just different for him. Here's what you have to remember.
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Speaker 2: He was eighth one year for the MVP. He was
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Speaker 2: fourth the next year. He's been the Rookie of the Year.
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Speaker 2: He's been a Silver Slugger, he's been an All Star.
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Speaker 2: He's got a career eight fifteen ops. Even with the
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Speaker 2: slower numbers this year that obviously dragged that down from
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Speaker 2: opening day eight fifteen. He's all star caliber talent. I
5:02
Speaker 2: just gotta believe it's going to find its way there
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Speaker 2: at some point. But when you get seventy games in,
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Speaker 2: I can see where why doubters have the doubts they have.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely not a small sample size to this point.
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Speaker 4: And like Tim said, I think this month his approach
5:18
Speaker 4: has definitely gotten better. I just think when you look
5:20
Speaker 4: at struggles against righties, when you're a lefty hitter, a
5:23
Speaker 4: lot of times they're going to exploit you inside. We
5:25
Speaker 4: had talked about this in the series of Miami. It's
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Speaker 4: probably six weeks ago now. At this point, he was
5:30
Speaker 4: really getting beat inside by fastballs on righties. And to me,
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Speaker 4: when I'm doing a scarting report and I'm going after
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Speaker 4: a hitter and I'm trying to think, how am I
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Speaker 4: going to go after a lefty? I think, to me,
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Speaker 4: it's he's getting beat to the inside part of the
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Speaker 4: plate with fastballs and then they're using the slider to
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Speaker 4: his back foot to really exploit him trying to.
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Speaker 3: Pull the ball.
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Speaker 4: And I think all this stuff is just kind of
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Speaker 4: the perfect storm at this point, and I think it's
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Speaker 4: kind of making that adjustment. I think a lot of
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Speaker 4: times pitchers are really wary to go inside on him,
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Speaker 4: But now right now seeing the show, I think that
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Speaker 4: might be taking away what I was just saying before
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Speaker 4: with the up the middle and the other way is
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Speaker 4: because if you can attack inside, it's really hard to
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Speaker 4: stay inside out of the baseball when you're not able
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Speaker 4: to get to that pitch and really exploit those pitches
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Speaker 4: he used to do a lot of damage on. He
6:15
Speaker 4: would always say balls into the flag court and Oriel Park,
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Speaker 4: campy yards, and it's just just not seeing him get
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Speaker 4: to that pitch as much. And I really think pitchers
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Speaker 4: are just trying to exploit that area of the plate.
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Speaker 5: And I think what really illustrates that point, Brad is
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Speaker 5: he crushed fastballs. Last year, he batted over three over
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Speaker 5: three hundred. He had a batting average of three h
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Speaker 5: five in twenty twenty five against fastballs, where it's plummeted
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Speaker 5: to twenty eight this year. So you're talking about a
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Speaker 5: difference of almost eighty points. And I think it's illustrated
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Speaker 5: with those pitchers pitching him in and that's kind of
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Speaker 5: caused that significant drop off.
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Speaker 2: It's fled in other parts of his game. For instance,
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Speaker 2: you're not on base as much, you can't steal as
7:01
Speaker 2: many bases. He's still thirty bases last year, thirty. He's
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Speaker 2: got six right now. And Dustin Lynde, one of the
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Speaker 2: Oil hitting coaches, gave stats that I would imagine only
7:12
Speaker 2: the team can have, and I'll explain here, he said
7:16
Speaker 2: when talking to media Sunday. When Gunner stays in the zone,
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Speaker 2: his batting average this year is three h five and
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Speaker 2: his OPS is nine hundred. So obviously the team is
7:26
Speaker 2: looking at data. What does he do when he swings
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Speaker 2: at the strikes? So that is an all star player.
7:32
Speaker 2: So every hitter is never gonna not swing at a
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Speaker 2: pitch that's not a strike. That always happens. Pitchers are
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Speaker 2: trained to do that to get you out. But it's
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Speaker 2: saying that Gunner's just expanding a little bit. He's just
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Speaker 2: he's just not quite there, locked in with his own
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Speaker 2: But he did have a three walk game the other night.
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Speaker 2: Every time we see this, we all think this is
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Speaker 2: going to be it, and then that doesn't happen for him.
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Speaker 2: And here's the last point I'll make. Guys, I want
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Speaker 2: to hear your take on it. He's twenty four years old.
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Speaker 2: He turns twenty five June twenty ninth. We forget how
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Speaker 2: young he is.
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Speaker 1: There.
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Speaker 2: It must be pressure when you're twenty four with his
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Speaker 2: resume that not many having baseball at twenty four, you're
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Speaker 2: supposed to carry the load. So that's pressure that another
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Speaker 2: player not as decorated I don't think carries.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, And you know it's also too I just kind
8:23
Speaker 4: of look at like, how much baseball has changed even
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Speaker 4: since I've been done playing. In the last four or
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Speaker 4: five years, these guys are getting called up as opposed
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Speaker 4: to twenty three, twenty four to twenty five, it's now
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Speaker 4: nineteen twenty twenty one, and you're still you're learning your body,
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Speaker 4: you're learning what works for you, and it's just twenty
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Speaker 4: four is so young. I mean I was called up
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Speaker 4: at twenty five years old and I had two and
8:43
Speaker 4: a half years in the minor leagues. I just couldn't
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Speaker 4: imagine being his spot, having the top top five MVP finished,
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Speaker 4: having the Rookie of the Year, having the Silver Slugger,
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Speaker 4: all these expectations and you're still just figuring out the
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Speaker 4: kind of player you are. It's baseball has just gotten
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Speaker 4: so young so fast that I feel like there is
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Speaker 4: a lot of this I sure put on these guys,
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Speaker 4: and they're not blind to it.
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Speaker 6: They know it.
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Speaker 4: And he knows the expectations that the fans and the
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Speaker 4: team have for him, and I think a lot of
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Speaker 4: times he's he's such an emotional player that I think
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Speaker 4: he burdens a lot of that on himself, and he's
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Speaker 4: trying to go out there and get it as opposed
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Speaker 4: to letting the game come to him.
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Speaker 3: A lot easier said than done. And you can go
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Speaker 3: through struggles throughout that.
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Speaker 4: Your entire career, even if you are a superstar, there's
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Speaker 4: gonna be times where you try to go out there
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Speaker 4: and take the game as opposed to letting it come
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Speaker 4: to you, and that's I think that's just kind of
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Speaker 4: what it is.
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Speaker 3: And I think that's how he's always been.
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Speaker 4: He's a player that's going to go out and try
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Speaker 4: to do his best and almost force it at times.
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Speaker 4: And I just think it's been a little bit of
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Speaker 4: a prolonged period here where he's really just trying to
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Speaker 4: force the game as opposed to just kind of letting
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Speaker 4: these pitches come to him.
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Speaker 5: Ultimately, Gunner is a victim of his own success. He
9:46
Speaker 5: experienced success pretty much right away. I remember he got
9:50
Speaker 5: called up in that Cleveland series. I think he homered
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Speaker 5: in his first game, and you know, he had the
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Speaker 5: little struggle in the first month of twenty twenty three,
9:59
Speaker 5: remember that murmurs, oh, should they send Gunner down? And
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Speaker 5: then he just took off from there and just has
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Speaker 5: been fantastic, And even last year we've talked a lot
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Speaker 5: about it on the podcast, like that that was Gunner's
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Speaker 5: down year, but there were still so many great aspects
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Speaker 5: of that season, like the thirty stolen bases, Steve like
10:18
Speaker 5: his defensive ability. I think he had one error in
10:21
Speaker 5: his final ninety two games or something crazy like that.
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Speaker 5: So Gunner was still doing things at exceptional levels. It
10:28
Speaker 5: just wasn't the prolific power that we've seen this year.
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Speaker 5: What's made this season more difficult for him. I guess
10:37
Speaker 5: you could say he's hitting the home runs again with
10:39
Speaker 5: fourteen home runs already, But I don't know if Gunner's
10:43
Speaker 5: doing anything at.
10:44
Speaker 6: An exceptional level this year.
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Speaker 5: Maybe base run you could say that, but it just
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Speaker 5: hasn't been the impactful season that we've all expected.
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Speaker 2: Now, furthermore, your point about behind it account. In twenty
11:01
Speaker 2: twenty four, of the great year, his OPS when batting
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Speaker 2: with two strikes was six forty nine. That doesn't sound great,
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Speaker 2: but that's not bad. When it's two strikes, you know,
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Speaker 2: the pitcher's really done most of the heavy lifting, and
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Speaker 2: so he was still reasonably productive six forty nine. This
11:16
Speaker 2: year it's three forty eight, three hundred point different. So
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Speaker 2: when he gets down this year, they get him out.
11:21
Speaker 2: You know, he's just behind the eight ball, and he's
11:23
Speaker 2: got to figure out a way to get better count leverage.
11:26
Speaker 2: Some people have mentioned he may be taking too many
11:29
Speaker 2: first pitches, very hittable. Maybe he's got to attack more,
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Speaker 2: ambush mode more, and so count leverage is big for Gunner.
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Speaker 2: Let's see how that goes for him on this road trip.
11:39
Speaker 2: Glad you're with us today. Hope you subscribe to the channel.
11:42
Speaker 2: We're closing in on a thousand. It's been a uphill
11:45
Speaker 2: climb those some days, but we're going to get there,
11:48
Speaker 2: and so Birdland, We're glad you found us.
11:50
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Speaker 1: Seek So for the birds, it's off to the West coast.
13:53
Speaker 2: Seattle up first, and the Oriels have played well against
13:56
Speaker 2: the Maritors since twenty twenty three. We'll get to that
13:58
Speaker 2: in a moment, But Brad, what is the challenge of
14:02
Speaker 2: going across the country for a long West Coast road trip?
14:05
Speaker 2: Something only one of us on this set is experienced.
14:08
Speaker 2: I've been there as a media guy. A little different.
14:10
Speaker 2: You're not playing any West coast trip is tough. I
14:13
Speaker 2: think everybody knows that. How about for a player.
14:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just it's just different.
14:18
Speaker 4: It's you you feel out of you almost feel out
14:21
Speaker 4: of touch. It's your threes time zones difference you're you know,
14:25
Speaker 4: in Seattle is especially different because it's so far north.
14:29
Speaker 3: You it's just.
14:30
Speaker 4: So far away from everywhere else. It's a long flight
14:32
Speaker 4: out there, and it's just it's just a different experience.
14:35
Speaker 4: I don't know, it's you know, I think by the
14:38
Speaker 4: end of the road trip you get used to it
14:40
Speaker 4: and you almost wish that it was longer. But the
14:42
Speaker 4: first couple of games, it's just a different rhythm. It's
14:44
Speaker 4: a different time that you start the game. You're starting
14:47
Speaker 4: a game on a ten o'clock East Coast time when
14:49
Speaker 4: you're used to being done. So it's just it's all
14:52
Speaker 4: these little different things. The sleeping patterns a little bit off.
14:55
Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, I mean when
14:57
Speaker 4: you go when these teams come East, it's just as
14:59
Speaker 4: difficult for them because it's like they're starting at four o'clock.
15:01
Speaker 4: So it's it's a it's just a different it's a
15:04
Speaker 4: different aspect of the of the schedule, and you know it,
15:07
Speaker 4: you always kind of start when you see it. You
15:10
Speaker 4: know you have a long one coming, and you kind
15:12
Speaker 4: of have it in your head to just kind of
15:14
Speaker 4: change things up.
15:14
Speaker 3: A little bit.
15:15
Speaker 4: But it's it's it's still a major league game and
15:18
Speaker 4: it's a pack ballpark against a good team, so it's
15:20
Speaker 4: it's always fun.
15:21
Speaker 2: Also, you know, when I would go out for Masson,
15:27
Speaker 2: you always dread the getting there, but once you're there,
15:31
Speaker 2: it was exciting. I'm telling you. The T Mobile Ballpark
15:34
Speaker 2: in Seattle is an amazing ballpark. I just loved watching
15:38
Speaker 2: games there. Anaheim was one of my favorite places to
15:41
Speaker 2: go because I'd always take a side trip to Laguna
15:44
Speaker 2: Beach and dream if I had, you know, twenty million dollars, Wow,
15:47
Speaker 2: what a home I can fill here? What a what
15:49
Speaker 2: a place to live and I go spend some time there,
15:52
Speaker 2: and Dodger Stadium is Dodger Stadium, right, all the history,
15:56
Speaker 2: a guy got to meet Vin Scully before his career
15:58
Speaker 2: ended there, all the trophies they have underneath the stands
16:02
Speaker 2: are amazing. And it's so loud. Ten, it's so loud
16:07
Speaker 2: at Dodger Stadium is a three hour rock concert and
16:10
Speaker 2: an assault on your ears. I guess in LA that's normal,
16:14
Speaker 2: but for an East Coast oh Cotcher like me, Man,
16:17
Speaker 2: I needed earplugs.
16:18
Speaker 1: We were at Dodger Stadium.
16:20
Speaker 5: It's definitely got to be a bucket list ballpark, right,
16:22
Speaker 5: It's just with all the history and Dodgers Stadium. But
16:26
Speaker 5: I do have to ask you, Brad and Steve. I'm
16:28
Speaker 5: sure you probably covered some games there. I know the
16:31
Speaker 5: A's aren't in Oakland anymore, but what was it like
16:33
Speaker 5: playing at the coliseum?
16:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was it was an interesting road trip when
16:37
Speaker 4: you'd have like you played the Dodgers and you played
16:40
Speaker 4: Oakland in the coliseum, it was you stay in San Francisco,
16:43
Speaker 4: so you have to take that long drive to the
16:45
Speaker 4: ballpark every day, and.
16:46
Speaker 3: Then when you get there, you just know.
16:48
Speaker 4: Unfortunately, the fan just didn't go to the game, so
16:50
Speaker 4: it was it was just you had to lock in
16:54
Speaker 4: because it was just it didn't have the same feel
16:56
Speaker 4: of a major league stadium. One and then the stadium
17:00
Speaker 4: feel with less fans there, and it's just it's a
17:02
Speaker 4: stadium that was built for football, that they played baseball
17:05
Speaker 4: and they transitioned into football. And the security guard would
17:07
Speaker 4: always show this pamphlet of all these pictures he had,
17:10
Speaker 4: and he'd show us where the goalposts were set up,
17:13
Speaker 4: and that was kind of cool to envision the football
17:15
Speaker 4: field being there and everything like that. But I agree
17:17
Speaker 4: with Steve with the Dodger Stadium. The place just rocks.
17:20
Speaker 4: It feels like a rock concert, like it almost feels
17:23
Speaker 4: like a movie preview because they have so many loud
17:25
Speaker 4: promotions in between the innings and the fans are rocking.
17:28
Speaker 4: It's fifty five thousand people there at night. It's just
17:31
Speaker 4: an awesome experience. And I mean the West Coast, if
17:34
Speaker 4: you're an Oels fan, if you get a chance, you
17:36
Speaker 4: got to check out some of the stadiums. Like Steve said,
17:38
Speaker 4: Seattle is one of my favorite places to go. I
17:40
Speaker 4: think it gets a bad rap. That city is absolutely gorgeous,
17:43
Speaker 4: especially at this time of year. The weather's perfect. You
17:45
Speaker 4: go down to the pier, grab a Starbucks at the
17:48
Speaker 4: original location, you walk along the water there, check out
17:52
Speaker 4: the fish market.
17:52
Speaker 3: It's just it's really cool going on West.
17:54
Speaker 4: It's a different feel, but all three of these stadiums
17:57
Speaker 4: are unique, but they're really there.
17:58
Speaker 3: I always enjoyed playing there.
18:00
Speaker 4: Good place is to pitch, I feel like too, so
18:02
Speaker 4: for pictures, it's a little less intimidating than it was
18:05
Speaker 4: pitching a Cammi yard. So it's like I said, it's
18:07
Speaker 4: a different field, but it's each one has its own
18:09
Speaker 4: experience and I always enjoyed going out there.
18:13
Speaker 2: One thing I missed about going to the West Coast
18:15
Speaker 2: and Tim Scott Boris, if he saw me, I don't
18:19
Speaker 2: think he'd know my name, but he'd know my face.
18:21
Speaker 2: And I cover the Orioles and I would see Boris
18:24
Speaker 2: at the Angels and the Dodgers games, and he was
18:28
Speaker 2: in a great mood. You could walk up to him
18:30
Speaker 2: and I could talk to him for fifteen minutes. Him
18:32
Speaker 2: and I. You get fifteen minutes with Scott Boris and
18:35
Speaker 2: I could.
18:35
Speaker 1: Ask him anything and he would answer it.
18:38
Speaker 2: There wasn't an interview, and he knew that, and I
18:40
Speaker 2: wasn't gonna use that. But it was just two guys talking,
18:43
Speaker 2: and I've asked him some very interesting things and he's
18:46
Speaker 2: expressed opinions and I really appreciate it. I learned to
18:50
Speaker 2: like him. I guess as a baseball fan, you always didn't.
18:54
Speaker 2: You know, you're a little anti Boris because he's so
18:56
Speaker 2: passionate for his clients, escalating salaries and all that.
19:00
Speaker 1: But I mean, I could see and.
19:02
Speaker 2: Day Cortman Burns has told me over the years how
19:05
Speaker 2: great a guy he is was for him. And he
19:07
Speaker 2: lets the players call I remember, right, thinks he calls
19:10
Speaker 2: the shots. Players really call all the shot her he's
19:13
Speaker 2: your rep, right, Brad.
19:14
Speaker 1: He doesn't.
19:15
Speaker 2: He's pretty important, significant and he knows his stuff. But
19:18
Speaker 2: you got to do what's right for you.
19:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. I think players know that.
19:22
Speaker 4: They know that if you're going to be a top
19:24
Speaker 4: contract guy, you're looking for your highest value, he's probably
19:27
Speaker 4: got to go with. He's not for everybody, but if
19:28
Speaker 4: you're looking to get your top dollar and he has leverage.
19:32
Speaker 4: I don't know what it is that he has on
19:34
Speaker 4: whether it's the owners, the gms, but he gets his
19:36
Speaker 4: guys the contracts, And it's funny you say that Steve,
19:38
Speaker 4: because at Anaheim he's uh, I guess Los Angeles Angels
19:42
Speaker 4: now or whatever. But he would always sit right behind
19:45
Speaker 4: home plate. There was no mistaking where he was going
19:46
Speaker 4: to be. He has seats that are below the field
19:49
Speaker 4: level and he's standing right there. And so it is
19:52
Speaker 4: funny when you mentioned his name, because I always thought
19:54
Speaker 4: I always think of the Angels whenever you say his
19:56
Speaker 4: name because he's at those games. He probably has a
19:58
Speaker 4: client or two on every single team that comes through there.
20:00
Speaker 4: So he's there every single game. And it's beautiful weather
20:03
Speaker 4: and it's a great place to watch a game. So
20:05
Speaker 4: I don't blame him for being there.
20:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a nice guy to talk to you, but
20:08
Speaker 2: I wouldn't want to be sitting acrossroom in with millions.
20:10
Speaker 1: Of dollars at stake now.
20:12
Speaker 2: It would be a little maybe intimidating for some of
20:15
Speaker 2: these guys. Definitely, he's great at what he does. Speaking
20:19
Speaker 2: of being great, the Oriol's got a guy who's a
20:21
Speaker 2: little unheralded, but since May one, his batting average is
20:26
Speaker 2: three eighty nine.
20:29
Speaker 1: I kid you not.
20:30
Speaker 2: We want to touch on him in a moment here
20:32
Speaker 2: on Birdland Territory.
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21:34
Speaker 2: The Oil certainly have some unheralded players who are performing
21:38
Speaker 2: better than we thought. Brandon Young will start tonight. He
21:41
Speaker 2: might be at the top of that list three oh four ERA,
21:44
Speaker 2: which would be seventh in the American League. We had
21:46
Speaker 2: enough things to qualify. Team is nine to one and
21:48
Speaker 2: his starts unbelievable. Blaize Alexander now batting three oh three,
21:53
Speaker 2: seven to seventy six. Ops. Remember you had a very
21:55
Speaker 2: bad start. He wasn't hitting at all in April, and
21:58
Speaker 2: now since May one, he's hitting three eighty nine nine
22:01
Speaker 2: ninety five.
22:02
Speaker 1: Ops.
22:03
Speaker 2: Those are ridiculous stats that this kid is putting up.
22:06
Speaker 2: And he still has a young Major leaguer and he's
22:08
Speaker 2: a breath of fresh air. If you spend thirty seconds
22:11
Speaker 2: interviewing Blaize Alexander, the energy and the passion will come
22:14
Speaker 2: through so great addition.
22:16
Speaker 1: To the Orioles. Guys, why is he hitting three eighty
22:19
Speaker 1: nine since May one? What is this kid doing? Yeah?
22:23
Speaker 3: I tell you what.
22:24
Speaker 4: I obviously haven't had a chance to talk to him
22:26
Speaker 4: or see him in person, but just watch him on TV.
22:29
Speaker 4: I can tell he brings a different energy and he's
22:31
Speaker 4: a guy you want to be around.
22:32
Speaker 3: And play with.
22:33
Speaker 4: He's the guy that the other teams probably don't want
22:35
Speaker 4: to see on the other side of the field, but
22:36
Speaker 4: you love having him on your team. He's just he
22:38
Speaker 4: brings a lot to the field, and I think I
22:41
Speaker 4: think when they first got him, it was more of
22:42
Speaker 4: he was a utility guy, you could kind of use
22:44
Speaker 4: him wherever. But his bat since May first has been
22:47
Speaker 4: one of, if not the best on this team. He's
22:49
Speaker 4: using all parts of the field. He's showing power to
22:52
Speaker 4: right center field. He's had a homer out that way,
22:54
Speaker 4: he's had a couple of doubles out that way. So
22:56
Speaker 4: he's just done a really good job of filling in
22:58
Speaker 4: wherever they need him, whatever position.
23:00
Speaker 3: They put him at.
23:00
Speaker 4: I mean, I think he's played some shorts off too.
23:02
Speaker 4: He's played outfield, He's moved around literally everywhere all over
23:06
Speaker 4: the field except for catching first base, I think, and
23:08
Speaker 4: it's it's been really cool to watch. I think a
23:10
Speaker 4: guy that was maybe seen as maybe a fringe player,
23:13
Speaker 4: a guy you have to have on your roster to
23:15
Speaker 4: have some roster flexibility, but he's put himself on a
23:17
Speaker 4: spot where you have to have him.
23:18
Speaker 3: In the lineup every nine, no matter where it is.
23:22
Speaker 5: Guys, he's not just been the Oriole's best bat in
23:25
Speaker 5: this stretch, he's the highest batting average in baseball since
23:29
Speaker 5: May first for qualified battery, the highest batting and the
23:33
Speaker 5: step further that really blows my mind.
23:36
Speaker 6: He's seventh in OPS per perspective.
23:40
Speaker 5: Jordan Alvarez has a nine to ninety six OPS blaze.
23:44
Speaker 5: Alexander is nine to ninety five, so point one difference
23:49
Speaker 5: compared to Jordan Alvarez. And you know, you look at
23:52
Speaker 5: his Baseball Savant page and you're like, all right, there's
23:55
Speaker 5: gotta be a weakness somewhere, but really he's hitting every
23:59
Speaker 5: type of pitch similarly to ninety seven against fastballs, three
24:04
Speaker 5: to eighteen against breaking balls, two ninety four against off speed.
24:08
Speaker 5: So being an opposing pitcher, Brad like trying to find
24:12
Speaker 5: a guy's weakness, all right, maybe I'll go to this
24:15
Speaker 5: pitch that there really hasn't been one.
24:18
Speaker 3: Yeah.
24:18
Speaker 4: Now, I think his ability to take the single is
24:21
Speaker 4: what is separating him during this period. He's really done
24:24
Speaker 4: a good job of if you're going to flip a
24:25
Speaker 4: breaking ball over there, he's not going to try to
24:27
Speaker 4: hit it out the left center field, He's going to
24:28
Speaker 4: hit it to right field and just kind of move
24:31
Speaker 4: the lineup along and I think he's found a great
24:34
Speaker 4: spot towards the bottom half of the lineup to really
24:36
Speaker 4: kind of jump start those guys and have guys on
24:39
Speaker 4: base for the top of the order. And it's just
24:42
Speaker 4: a really difficult that bat with a guy that's willing
24:44
Speaker 4: to hit the ball where it's thrown. And I think
24:46
Speaker 4: that's kind of a lost art in today's game. And
24:48
Speaker 4: I think that's why he's put himself in a different
24:51
Speaker 4: category than you can talk about him than just being
24:53
Speaker 4: the utility guy that is going to play over the field.
24:56
Speaker 4: He's a guy that poses a threat to opposing pitchers,
24:59
Speaker 4: and I think that's really what is separated him during
25:01
Speaker 4: the six week stretch.
25:04
Speaker 2: He doesn't take a ton of pitches. He's not done
25:06
Speaker 2: score high pitches per plate appearance. But he told me
25:08
Speaker 2: he loves to get in those long sequences where you
25:12
Speaker 2: win that eight pitch at bat as a test of wills.
25:15
Speaker 2: You've fouled off four pitches, you've silling everything he's got,
25:18
Speaker 2: then on the eighth pitch of the bat, you line
25:20
Speaker 2: one in the gap for a double.
25:21
Speaker 1: He loves that.
25:22
Speaker 2: He really lit up when he was talking about those situations.
25:25
Speaker 2: So Blaize Alexander Coen signing Kine with Jackson. Holiday's bat
25:29
Speaker 2: falling off a little bit, so we'll see how the
25:31
Speaker 2: lineup is going to go. Here really got three guys, Mayo,
25:34
Speaker 2: Jackson Blaze for two spots as they get ready for
25:38
Speaker 2: the game tonight.
25:39
Speaker 1: O's in Seattle tonight. We'll talk more about that in
25:41
Speaker 1: a moment.
25:44
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26:01
Speaker 2: All Right, here's an unusual stat The Mariners have been
26:04
Speaker 2: one of the best teams in American League since twenty
26:06
Speaker 2: twenty three, and yet they've struggled badly against the Orioles
26:10
Speaker 2: since twenty twenty three. Twenty twenty three they won eighty eight.
26:14
Speaker 2: Next year they won eighty five. Last year they won
26:16
Speaker 2: the division. They won ninety. This year they're in first
26:18
Speaker 2: place thirty seven thirty six. They were in the ALCS
26:22
Speaker 2: last year, lost in Game seven by the way to Toronto,
26:26
Speaker 2: But the Oriols just went two and two against them.
26:28
Speaker 2: The Ools outscored them and Since twenty twenty three, the
26:31
Speaker 2: Ools have not lost a series to the Mariners, six
26:34
Speaker 2: to zho to one, fifteen and seven in twenty two
26:38
Speaker 2: games three and Ozher last year in June at the
26:43
Speaker 2: T Mobile almost called it safego there. So the Orioles
26:47
Speaker 2: have had success against this team. Obviously, they hope back continues.
26:51
Speaker 2: And I'm not sure how it's happened to this point.
26:53
Speaker 2: The Mariners pitched so well, challenging for Birdland here with
26:58
Speaker 2: this pitching stat.
27:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think what kind of poses a threat.
27:01
Speaker 4: I guess the ball has been flying a little bit
27:03
Speaker 4: better this year at T Mobile Park, but it's it's
27:06
Speaker 4: not necessarily a home run hitting ballpark, and that's kind
27:09
Speaker 4: of what the Orioles. I feel like one of their
27:10
Speaker 4: strengths of their offense is guys being able to hit
27:13
Speaker 4: home runs up and down the lineup. So it's definitely
27:16
Speaker 4: going to be an interesting matchup.
27:17
Speaker 3: I think they just.
27:18
Speaker 4: Got to do a good job of kind of using
27:21
Speaker 4: the whole field and kind of hitting those gaps because
27:23
Speaker 4: doubles can turn into triples there because the gaps are
27:25
Speaker 4: really big. So I think it's definitely going to be
27:27
Speaker 4: a challenge, but it's a critical point. It's a critical
27:31
Speaker 4: you know, road trip right now, and they just got
27:33
Speaker 4: to get off to a good start, kind of continue
27:35
Speaker 4: what they did last last week against Seattle. They had
27:37
Speaker 4: a good series against them, they split it, they won
27:40
Speaker 4: the last two. So just kind of kind of continue
27:42
Speaker 4: that momentum against Seattle and then you move on to
27:45
Speaker 4: Dodger Stadium after that.
27:47
Speaker 5: You were this close to potentially taking three of four.
27:51
Speaker 5: That game that the Orioles lost in extra innings, that
27:54
Speaker 5: Beckon game in the four game series. They had every
27:57
Speaker 5: opportunity to win that game, probably multiple times late in
28:01
Speaker 5: that one. But he got Brandon Young on the bump
28:04
Speaker 5: to start the series and start off this road trip,
28:06
Speaker 5: which is great because Brandon Young has been their most
28:10
Speaker 5: consistent pitcher this season. Last time out against Seattle, he
28:14
Speaker 5: was really really strong there.
28:16
Speaker 6: But yeah, this is a critical stretch here.
28:19
Speaker 5: Every West Coast road trip is always difficult just with
28:22
Speaker 5: all of the travel. And we know that this Orioles
28:24
Speaker 5: team is a much better home team compared to road
28:27
Speaker 5: but it's the level of competition. You're playing the Mariners
28:31
Speaker 5: who are leading that division, You're playing the Dodgers. Yeah,
28:34
Speaker 5: I know the Angels have been scuffling, but they've been
28:36
Speaker 5: a little bit better of late, won some series of late.
28:39
Speaker 6: This is a big nine game West Coast swing.
28:43
Speaker 2: Sometimes you get out there and it's just like us
28:45
Speaker 2: against the world. Man, You're like, we got this for
28:48
Speaker 2: a week and a half, we've better make the best
28:49
Speaker 2: of it, and you just kind of gel I mean
28:52
Speaker 2: that the Oros have had some good West Coast trips
28:54
Speaker 2: over the years, but you look back to the homestand
28:57
Speaker 2: they had where they went seven and three. We thought
28:59
Speaker 2: that was a turn point. Then they went three and
29:01
Speaker 2: three on the next road trip and three and four
29:04
Speaker 2: on this home stand that ended Sunday, so kind of
29:06
Speaker 2: a missed chance. So you're almost thinking five and four
29:09
Speaker 2: at a minimum you want you'd like better. I mean,
29:12
Speaker 2: you're playing the Dodgers. How many games you're gonna run
29:15
Speaker 2: off here? But let's see how it goes nine games
29:17
Speaker 2: on the West Coast. It'll be interesting.
29:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely, I agree with what you said, Steve. I
29:22
Speaker 4: think sometimes, like I said, it is a little odd
29:24
Speaker 4: out there because you feel disconnected. But at the same time,
29:27
Speaker 4: it's a lot of times it's just the roster that's
29:31
Speaker 4: out there. A lot of people don't make the trip
29:32
Speaker 4: out West, especially when you're going Seattle to LA it's
29:35
Speaker 4: a lot of travel for family members and stuff like that.
29:37
Speaker 3: So it is a great time for them to kind
29:39
Speaker 3: of just.
29:39
Speaker 4: Gel and them against the world, and who knows, maybe
29:42
Speaker 4: they could go seven to two in this road trip
29:44
Speaker 4: and really kind of flip the script on what's been
29:46
Speaker 4: happening so far the season. July's coming in fast, and
29:48
Speaker 4: it just it's I know we've talked about it being
29:50
Speaker 4: a critical stretch here and there, but with the calendar
29:53
Speaker 4: really closing in on July first, it's getting down to
29:56
Speaker 4: crunch time. It's trying to figure out what's this team
29:58
Speaker 4: going to be, who are they going to be come
30:00
Speaker 4: the trade deadline, what are they going to do in
30:02
Speaker 4: the Wildcard. They're now two and a half games out
30:04
Speaker 4: of the Wildcard, which is slowly kind of separating them
30:08
Speaker 4: between the teams that are there at the top for that.
30:10
Speaker 3: So it's it really is a critical stretch.
30:12
Speaker 4: And I think sometimes when you go out West, you
30:14
Speaker 4: are able to just spend more time with just teammates
30:16
Speaker 4: and you're able to get a little bit time after games,
30:19
Speaker 4: time before games to go grab lunch or grab you drinks.
30:23
Speaker 4: After the game or just whatever they might do, and
30:25
Speaker 4: it kind of has an opportunity here just kind of
30:28
Speaker 4: just gelling, like Steve said, just them against the world
30:30
Speaker 4: at this point and really just going a nice stretch.
30:35
Speaker 2: They are going to face some good teams on the
30:38
Speaker 2: West coast. The Oriel's got to be up to the challenge,
30:41
Speaker 2: and we'll see how it goes here as they go
30:43
Speaker 2: play the Mariners, the Dodgers, and the Angels. Should be
30:47
Speaker 2: an interesting road trip out west, and we'll be back
30:50
Speaker 2: with you here in a day or two, as always,
30:52
Speaker 2: to talk about it. Thanks for watching today this latest
30:55
Speaker 2: edition of Birdland territory S