[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome into another edition of the future socks podcast.

[SPEAKER_01]: My name is Elijah Evans joined by my co-host Jeff Cohen and today we welcome on Canapolis Cannonballers broadcast or Dan Hologi frequent guests on our show.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've had Dan here a number of times.

[SPEAKER_01]: We love having Dan on [SPEAKER_01]: As we look back at the 2025 season, we're counting kind of just everything from each level.

[SPEAKER_01]: We talked through some of our awards earlier this week, just, you know, who the standout players were in the entire organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: Today we will focus on the cannonball or set the single-a-level, the lowest affiliate of the White Sex Organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of cool things to talk about there, so great to have Dan and Dan.

[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome, man.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's good to have you, man.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, how are you?

[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for having me on for what seems like the 14,000 times, but it's always good to be on, always a pleasure, and always a joy to talk baseball.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we love welcoming you on our Jeff, what's up with you?

[SPEAKER_01]: I know it's been a while since we've done a show together, too.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, that's nice too.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's nice to catch up with you again, all I do, I want to just kick things off by thanking Dan because all those energy I do from Canapolis, Dan's a guy who makes it all possible.

[SPEAKER_02]: And let me just say in front of all the many people who are watching this, appreciate all your hard work.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I know it's an extra, you know, extra thing in your day, but appreciate it.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, definitely it's a joy and I get to do it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to do it, it's something that I really appreciate, appreciate the love again.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some I get to do, I don't have to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we appreciate you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think everybody's shut out to all of the White Sox minor league staff, broadcasters, et cetera, because this was a fun season, and what we do at future sox would not be possible without a damn and all these other people that put this effort in.

[SPEAKER_01]: So focusing on just kind of this season, this is your fourth season of my right, with Kenan.

[SPEAKER_01]: I thought I got it right.

[SPEAKER_01]: So fourth season with Kenanpo is for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Before we dive into players, anything like that, like how was the season overall where the vibes are like, I know, obviously not quite as good as the season as last year in terms of on paper, but still a lot of really fun moments throughout the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was hard to match the success of 2024, I mean, coming up one game shy of winning the whole thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: You knew coming in at a 25 that it was gonna be a tall task to replicate it.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the team really showed a lot of poise and a lot of good energy throughout the first half of the season, put themselves in some good winning spots, going into the month of June.

[SPEAKER_00]: Really it was one of those things where the team just kind of needed to tread water and stay steady.

[SPEAKER_00]: and then an 11 game losing streak happens and it just feels like everything kind of falls apart from there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Second half energy comes through and teams do and well do and well, but team down in Merrill Beach, Pelicans, the Cubs affiliate, they went on a historic run in that second half of the season and nobody was catching them.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, really it was one of those things we're after the first half was okay, we're going to worry less about the playoffs and less about that energy and [SPEAKER_00]: focus on the development side of things.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a fine line in mind-release baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: You want to be focused on winning, but you also have that development aspect, so I think that this team really embrace the development side of things and just focused on individuals getting better.

[SPEAKER_00]: last year, the emphasis was, okay, we're a team, we're a collective unit, we're going to work together and create that chemistry and create those wins.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think this year, it was a little more of an individual aspect of, okay, I myself am trying to get better.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think it's a certainly a bad thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that having that outlook in the end will develop you a little better long-term.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: Dan, can I have a second new manager this year?

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm curious to get your take on what you thought about Chad.

[SPEAKER_02]: I will say, I tried to leave him alone.

[SPEAKER_02]: Let him do his job, but when I did talk to him, he was so gracious and so helpful.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I will just point out one quick note about the end of the season.

[SPEAKER_02]: You recall Labor Day weekend, and then went down with him to do Sunday night after the Sunday night ball game.

[SPEAKER_02]: We sat down to do, and we probably talked for about 20 minutes in the break room outside the locker room.

[SPEAKER_02]: with the bus literally warming up outside the ballpark to take the Chad and the team on the road for a road game for Picasso Monday, it was Labor Day and he was really patient and I love working with the on-curious, you're impressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, a fantastic leader.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's the best way you can describe Chad Fender.

[SPEAKER_00]: Coming into this season, something that he had never done before.

[SPEAKER_00]: He'd never managed a ball club before let alone had a coaching position.

[SPEAKER_00]: This was kind of where he got his feet wet in the coaching scheme.

[SPEAKER_00]: Of things in the white socks organization, and I think he did a very great job.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's going to look into the record and say, I wasn't as great a year, but consistently, just day in, day out, so invested in this team, asking me for stats, and what does this mean, and what can we do better here long term, just constantly reading into things, and learning how to become a manager.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that was a big thing for Chad all season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you kind of see as the year went on, [SPEAKER_00]: He learned this so much from the time that they stepped in here for opening day to the end of the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was it was almost night and day I would I would say he did it really good job.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you feel like so you mentioned earlier kind of this this development focus in this angle of just everybody getting better on their own craft and becoming a better version of himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: You feel like that's something that Chad you know, I think it's an organizational thing of course, but you think Chad had a little bit of just further emphasis on that with his players.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I would say, so I think that some of that comes from his background of playing in the big leagues and getting drafted and being a top prospect and coming through the Oakland organization to being a seasoned MLB vet, you know, he's there for six, seven years and that's one of the things that he, you know, came up through that org and developed his own story and now he's in a position to help [SPEAKER_00]: Chad is slowly becoming a better leader every day, you saw that throughout the year, but he took a lot of his experience of being in the big leagues into his every day.

[SPEAKER_00]: One of the things that was really cool that we've seen in past years with Guillermo Caros with Pat Leeland, but you really saw a lot more guys sitting with Chad in ages asking questions, picking, brain and just saying, hey, what is life [SPEAKER_00]: obviously in the big leagues for so long with the athletics and really a fixture that lineup that you know you're going to get in the room with people that have been where you want to be and you're going to ask questions.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know this thing or two about this recently, but you know just it's finding that experience and finding that you know mentorship and I think he was a great mentor to a lot of these young guys this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what you want to hear from minor league coaches, especially, I think.

[SPEAKER_01]: In terms of the product on the field, what are the things that just stand out to you when you start to look at, you know, the roster and just look at what happened and can Apple to season you had a lot of change of players as you're used to because that's that single A right you're going to get guys in and out all season, the talent goes.

[SPEAKER_01]: What are some of the things that just initially stand out to you in terms of the product on the field this year?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, product in the field this year was impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that when the team got here from camp in March April, you immediately you were impressed by the firepower or the prospects you had brave Montgomery had Caleb Bonhamery had George Wolko you had all these top prospects [SPEAKER_00]: It was impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: You see the guys coming through Nick McLean who, you know, we forget about because he got hurt a month into the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, obviously wasn't able to come back this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I think that a lot of that firepower early was exciting.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the offense really was able to find their footing early and it stayed steady throughout the whole season.

[SPEAKER_00]: The pitching was always kind of the concern this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that as the year went on adding some guys helped.

[SPEAKER_00]: but the pitching was definitely kind of the rocky point of this team throughout the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whereas in years past, I feel like the pitching was the emphasis, whereas that that's weren't coming around.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's playing that complimentary style of baseball that is going to win you games here at the single-day level.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you can't really have good without the other.

[SPEAKER_00]: This year was the best I kind of stood out more than the arms.

[SPEAKER_00]: But [SPEAKER_00]: That being said, that doesn't discredit anything of some of these top prospects and these young firepower righties that came in and definitely infress late.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: And you talked about the development aspect of the low A, which is, you know, the bread and butter of it all.

[SPEAKER_02]: But, and one guy I'm particularly want to talk about is George, because you had commented to me how much the white socks are working with him.

[SPEAKER_02]: during the day but well before the game that night can you speak a little bit more to that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, spent a lot of time with George this season, just in the plain aspect of, you know, had a lot of people looking to see what he's doing on a daily basis.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was part of a documentary series, which God was SportsNet over the summer, so getting to interact with him with that, and everything, just seeing all the work that he does every day, it's super impressive to see what he's doing on a day and day out basis.

[SPEAKER_00]: Very mature for his age.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he's 19 years old and already is talking like a well-season vet in this in this game at baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that George really showed his ability to compliment his game.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody knows the power and everybody knows the prowess at the plate for George, but this year I think he was an opportunity for him to learn and to find ways to compliment his game.

[SPEAKER_00]: stole more bases than he ever had this season really found his way in the outfield played a little bit of all three outfield positions, which is huge.

[SPEAKER_00]: Having us six foot seven center fielder is definitely not the norm unless you're up in New York, but that was really cool to see seeing George kind of develop a new of more full more complete baseball player was really exciting to see.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know the power is there, but his emphasis is here was the power on top of [SPEAKER_00]: the contact the defense, learning how to become a five-thalware.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, to feel like you saw that kind of just that evolution step where the number is right, like the numbers don't pop off the page for Georgia right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think everybody's aware that you look at it and you say, oh, you know, not it wasn't necessarily a step forward in a metric sense, but do you feel that going into next season?

[SPEAKER_01]: he is a significantly better baseball player than then he was in 2024 because while that power numbers on surface level last season really stood out this year I do feel like going into the year you see a player with a more well-rounded future as he looks towards his next steps.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right I mean you're going to look at the numbers for George and you're going to see a batting average just kind of low strikeouts are kind of high but his K rates down from what it was last season [SPEAKER_00]: You're looking at his walk numbers.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're looking at his soul and base numbers.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can't really measure too many defensive metrics easily.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you can look at putouts and errors, but you can't really see in a statistical sense of what he's doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that, and also just the notion of his youth, I think that I was talking to him about this not long ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: I said, hey, you're 19 years old.

[SPEAKER_00]: You, I mean, just to put it, won't me, he left high school year early and had a full ride to South Carolina.

[SPEAKER_00]: I go play in the SEC and the notion of him being 19 years old.

[SPEAKER_00]: would you rather struggle in Abel or would you rather struggle in the SEC?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because if you struggle in the SEC, you might get benched, you might not get the playing time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, you're absent.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whereas in single A, you're going to get those opportunities, they're still still put in the lineup and you're going to get a chance to be better.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that the the story of George Wolko season comes down to [SPEAKER_00]: the growth and the maturity to say, okay, the power numbers are going to be there, but maybe the some of the other numbers aren't as pretty.

[SPEAKER_00]: Still putting in the work, still doing what he can to complete his game, and to be so young while doing that is wildly impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm still very much high on George Wolko's future.

[SPEAKER_02]: The way I described it, Dan, was simply saying it's hard to quantify, but the back looks so much more competitive.

[SPEAKER_02]: And when he had two strikes, you knew he wasn't going to miss a slider by 18 inches like he did last year, that he still had a fighting chance of doing something with two strikes.

[SPEAKER_02]: Whereas a year ago, that wasn't the case.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that's kind of how I quantify his season.

[SPEAKER_02]: Just the only question is, can he keep it going?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I think one of the other things too that you can look at his season with is a lot of those strikeouts, it'd be tough to look into it, and I'd probably should look into it.

[SPEAKER_00]: But how many of those were looking versus swing?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is he making good swing decisions?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is he making those choices at the plate where it's a three-two count?

[SPEAKER_00]: If he lays off a fastball with stairs, [SPEAKER_00]: then, you know, it might be a strike it might not be, but how many of those is he just trying to work on his eye at the plate and that's something that, you know, the white socks are very passionate about a swing decisions and you saw George mature in that this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: So very excited for his future.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a lot of fun to watch what he can do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, talking about some of the other guys that really stood out at the level.

[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously not necessarily guys that spent the whole season there But the two names that immediately jump out to me is just the the biggest rise in stock this season from what they didn't canapolis You had Christian opera at the beginning of the season you only spent about a month there, but we talked I think we talked like the second week of the season of the first because of the season when he threw in that skirmish even the future socks showed down and it was like okay [SPEAKER_01]: and that second you made two or three starts and it was like all right there's something here ends up in Winston by May and then Caleb Bonamer on the flip side is a guy who spent the majority of this season in Canapolis at a couple ups and downs but generally speaking shattered all expectations for his first professional season what can you say about just those two and the makeup they have and and just the growth date they showed at Canapolis.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah I mean Christian Harper [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, just lit up radar guns while he was here and that was super fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: Seeing what he could do with the future sock showdown or in March, up in Winston Salem, throwing 97-98 and then drastic break with that curveball down 7273.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's gross.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's really fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just like Guy that knows what he can do, and I think part of that.

[SPEAKER_00]: translated to his game this year of he knows he's got a fastball he knows he's got a curveball that is is devastating and I think that seeing the progression of what he can do every game was really fun to watch didn't have him for as long in the season but it was well deserved he was ready for was to say a lemon you know obviously he's going to be a [SPEAKER_00]: named to watch for a long time in the organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: Caleb was here for all but two weeks of the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: As you said, highs lows, I would constitute that as a normal baseball season.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you're going to have highs, you're going to have lows, you're going to have periods where you just cannot get the ball out of the infield.

[SPEAKER_00]: You cannot make contact to save your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: sometimes.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I think Caleb stuck through it.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the biggest thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Coming from Michigan, where it's 40 degrees until May, where he didn't get to play a lot of college baseball, went good in play of our high school baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: Excuse me.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was committed to go to Virginia, but drafted at a high school.

[SPEAKER_00]: So get into their play.

[SPEAKER_00]: baseball for as long as he did this summer was very impressive and he was able to, you know, really find his footing even through some struggles.

[SPEAKER_00]: immediately what jumped out to me is he's 19 and another guy that's just so much sure and handles himself real well doesn't get too high or too low on himself and really is not necessarily going to be the clubhouse guy, the clubhouse leader but a guy that everyone embraces as this is our guy.

[SPEAKER_02]: Dan, what do you think about his defensive short?

[SPEAKER_00]: very impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was very content with him at short.

[SPEAKER_00]: They struck him out of third base a couple times too, which was interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's more happy at short, and they're developing him a little more at short.

[SPEAKER_00]: That being said, I don't think he's lost at third base.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, it's just to see what's to come over, you know, next season and beyond.

[SPEAKER_00]: of how they continue to develop him, whether as a short stop as a third basement, but he fits the short stop profile very well.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I can see that I think it's interesting to look at with him because it's a guy who was kind of like penciled as like, oh, he's going to be a third baseman by a lot of people coming into the draft and also a guy that, you know, I talked about this in the show earlier this week like he, he was looked at as a power first probably third baseman and it's so interesting now that we're a year out and he's got an incredibly good approach for a 19 year old prospect looked very comfortable a short stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: And also, still has that power that you're seeing him get into more and more.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it's, it went from like this like really stand out two to three tool prospects to a guy that like looks like he could be average or better at every pretty much all five tools at this point.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and the emphasis to with a lot of these guys, you talk about George Wolko earlier, talk about Caleb Bonnerman currently.

[SPEAKER_00]: Bonner was never over the course of the season from what I noticed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Never was too worried about putting them all over the fence.

[SPEAKER_00]: the emphasis with the white socks and with their hitting coordinators and all the moderately grovers and everything that you know everything that we hear when they come at town is exit velocity which getting good contact exit velocity is going to measure your contact and your ability to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But then also the launch angle of not necessarily getting too under the ball because yeah, that's going to help you launch and get home runs, but also it's just making sharp contact.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you hit a ball at 95 miles an hour at, say, I don't know what, 12 degree launch angle.

[SPEAKER_00]: So line drive right back at somebody and it's going to be tough to defend that.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the emphasis is hitting the ball hard, putting the ball in play and making the defense [SPEAKER_00]: is going to win you baseball games and you saw that a lot from Caleb Bonamer.

[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't then fairly worried about driving the ball over the fence every single time to power showed up this year, but the emphasis is putting the ball in gaps and letting the defense go to work.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it's interesting, Dan.

[SPEAKER_02]: I found it fascinating that in the last few weeks, you can speak more exactly about when this showed up.

[SPEAKER_02]: But the last few weeks, [SPEAKER_02]: Exit VLO, the hitting VLO's, exit VLO's, and the launch angle.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you could see it for every swing during batting practice.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, yeah, clearly that's the emphasis.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, that's been there all season.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was really an emphasis when I think that it was like, oh, yeah, we can do that by the way, let's go ahead and put that all over the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that's always something they're keeping an eye on during batting practice.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's one of those, it's like, oh, yeah, we have the technological capabilities to do this year in Canapul as we can throw it on the board using the track meant as well, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, what would it do?

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if it helps our guys and helps our guys, that's what we're here to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: One of my favorite shouts from you when we talked to you preseason was a guy who is, you know, I don't think he's super talked about on the pitching side of things, but Luis Reyes is three years younger, four years younger than pretty much every other pitcher that you had during significant innings this season in Canapolis.

[SPEAKER_01]: So with him, like the numbers weren't great, but when you pointed him our way kind of in the spring, I'd heard of them I knew he had a decent season in the complex, but like, [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't super aware of him and you were like, you know, the stuff is loud, you can tell pretty quickly.

[SPEAKER_01]: Once we got to watch if you start to have his, like, the stuff was loud, and there's still a lot of room and refining to do there.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what did you just make of his first, you know, full professional season for being so young and still having pretty solid results for guy who is very much still working progress, I think.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think that he was tested and that's going to help a lot being so young and able being tested and facing adversity and opportunity throughout the season early on.

[SPEAKER_00]: He had a couple of really rough outings in the month of May that you had to go through and say, listen, like something's got to give.

[SPEAKER_00]: He really worked this season on Fastball Slider and that one-two punch.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Fastball's got some life.

[SPEAKER_00]: The slider is definitely his devastating pitch.

[SPEAKER_00]: But what I saw from Ray as the season as a pitcher that was able to get through it no matter what and that's very valuable.

[SPEAKER_00]: You talk about a very capable pitcher.

[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, it reminds me a little bit of Aldrin Batista coming through here in Canapolis.

[SPEAKER_00]: That kind of same mindset of just [SPEAKER_00]: No, it's not going to be 100 mile in our fast balls.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, it's not going to be 18 inch breaks on riders, but very capable alarm and tested in many different ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: You saw him move to the bullpen and pitch no more than three innings for the later portion of the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that having that.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, okay, these are your three innings.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't worry about anything else.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're not even gonna let you go out for a fourth one ask.

[SPEAKER_00]: Having that mentality and just keeping with it, at his age, again, is super impressive for a single life.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm with you there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I thought the same thing of them in this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Any other pictures in that staff that were there throughout the season?

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to ask about one guy later who got there later in the year.

[SPEAKER_01]: But in terms of the guys that were there for the majority of the season, any other pictures that you feel like, kind of took a step forward and just who they are as a player this season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, we would be remiss without mentioning Grant Umber, absolutely unbelievable season for Grant, really somebody that wasn't on many radars at all, an entering the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: He joined us about a week in.

[SPEAKER_00]: up in Lynchburg and just kind of went to work was a bullpen arm to start came in for a couple linings just almost as a ramp up and I feel like once everything clicked and may and you know the pitching staff looked at it and they said okay well we can we could throw you out for a starter so then he really found his footing as a starter you could see a switch flip when he became a starter [SPEAKER_00]: because it is a different mentality, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Going in and saying, okay, I got, I got to try to get through as much as I can and this many pitches or this many endings.

[SPEAKER_00]: Having that switch flip really helped him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think you saw a very, very capable lefty with a lot of life on the fastball and it changed up that was catching everybody off guard just because he didn't change his delivery.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a very repeatable motion [SPEAKER_02]: What about in the bullpen, you know, it's a long season and those relievers, you know, they have good stretches and bad stretches, but we had a couple of guys I thought who really stood out over the course of the year, who July can particular.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think you saw a lot of guys meet a lot of adversity from the bullpen.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was kind of the Achilles heel of the baller's this season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Was the bullpen?

[SPEAKER_00]: It just it seems like every time, you know, it started to go five and six and things and then the bullpen and go, okay, can we just get the bullpen a hold on?

[SPEAKER_00]: And it was really one of those seasons where the bullpen dictated a lot of these games.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's doing a lot of growth, not necessarily in two running six strikeout outings, but you saw guys get out of tough spots.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hail Sims was super impressive this year with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think Hail went on a stretch through July and August where he didn't allow a run.

[SPEAKER_00]: Over, you know, there was seven or eight outings in two months of time for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was very impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hail Sims.

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously not going to be, you know, your top prospectoring like that, but just a really efficient arm that impressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think a guy like Pierce George really showed up.

[SPEAKER_00]: This year with the velocity on the fastball and you saw life from him.

[SPEAKER_00]: You saw flat.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what he could do as a guy that didn't pitch a lot in college.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was super impressed with Blake Shepherds and I think it would take so a lot of fortitude and a lot of mental strength to do what he did coming in and having three of probably the roughest outings I've ever seen in the month of April going on the development works for a month and then coming back and not allowing a run until August.

[SPEAKER_00]: was super impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: Blake really was a guy that I was impressed with, again, another arm that life on the fastball, repeatable motion, kind of a sneaky motion where he just kind of swings through it and allows the ball to go towards the play.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just a guy that you could tell was very mucher and was able to get guys out of the play a lot of fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, definitely.

[SPEAKER_01]: The last [SPEAKER_01]: But that is the comb, and you can correct me on the spelling or pronunciation, because I still don't know if I have it down, I've tried like four times and I'm still not sure if I got it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But this guy, we were getting pretty rave reviews about from the complex league.

[SPEAKER_01]: I had seen some numbers, we had seen a couple clips here and there, like what he was doing in Arizona, you know French born international player drafted it in 2023 after going to community college right super interesting to story here, regardless of the player.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll hear all these rave reviews about Arizona.

[SPEAKER_01]: gets to canapolis, yeah, there was some ups and downs.

[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't perfect, but the stuff jumps off the page a little bit with him and someone who, you know, is a little bit older for the level of course has had a unique development track because of his circumstances, but there's a lot of reason to believe there's something here with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: What did you make of Matthias?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I was super impressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Matthias really shows what he can do every time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Really fun guy to talk to and just bounce questions off real quick.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would Jeff talked to him a couple of weeks ago when the season was wrapping up here and it was hilarious because there was an appearance that he had just an as an example where [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, he had an appearance where he was struggling.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was trying to get out of a rough first inning.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was walking guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: He a lot of couple runs and he came out in the second inning and from then on, just looked on hitable, unreal stuff and Jeff asked him and he was like, well, what'd you do?

[SPEAKER_00]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_00]: What changed?

[SPEAKER_00]: And Mattias goes, I was aiming at the strike zone in the first inning.

[SPEAKER_00]: I adjusted and started aiming at the batter because he was pulling everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it just goes little.

[SPEAKER_00]: funky things that these guys do, where it's like, okay, making those little adjustments is super huge.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, Matias might be old for the level, but you see the maturity, you see the life on the fastball, the breaking ball is there as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Matias is just a really standout dude.

[SPEAKER_00]: another great memory I'll have of him from the season was we have our annual star in our ear in Canapolis or we raise tens of thousands of dollars for a pediatric brain tumor foundation.

[SPEAKER_00]: I remember it was the first week he was home.

[SPEAKER_00]: He hadn't pitched yet here at home and he was starting the next day.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, okay, he's going to want to get out of here quick type thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nope, he's sitting out in the outfield with nobody else out there just fit in there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he can always walk him back in and ask, go, hey, I'm the tires.

[SPEAKER_00]: You good?

[SPEAKER_00]: He goes, yeah, I'm so good at all it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like you can really feel the appreciation that he has for being here.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a great story.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, being a French national righty here in the socks work.

[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously the stuff jumps off the table and it's fastball and it's breaking baller impressive and you see the pitch ability So really fun stuff and I should be excited to watch him for years to come.

[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, Dave, and that fundraiser This is what I purchased.

[SPEAKER_02]: There you go A base signed by all the ballers.

[SPEAKER_00]: There you go.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was for good calls fun to have a [SPEAKER_02]: actual baseball base in my man cave.

[SPEAKER_01]: There you go.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's pretty awesome.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't even see that.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's cool.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, every August, we start to see some of the drafty show up and this year was no different.

[SPEAKER_02]: We had about a, I don't know, four or five guys.

[SPEAKER_02]: A couple of them had a little time to adjust, but a couple of them were really impressive right out of the game.

[SPEAKER_02]: Can you speak to a couple of those guys?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah for sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: The guys that were got here in August were a lot of fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think the immediate guy that jumps off the numbers to here is Eli Brown.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just the aptitude he has for getting on base, stolen bases, kind of that one-two punch that blatantly year, this team found its identity and you knew what they were doing and nobody could stop them for anything.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a lot of fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jordan's prank only off spot gets on base.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to steal [SPEAKER_00]: Eli Brown your next guy up contact that are going to put the ball in play.

[SPEAKER_00]: and then your power bats your will go and your Anthony Dapino who we'll talk about in a second.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Eli Brown was really impressive, really mature, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anthony Dapino, power bat, you saw a lot of athletic ability from him coming from Rhode Island, seventh rounder, you know, played first base for us, a lot in the later portions of the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Really fun guy to watch and just a good dude for sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: Numbers didn't jump off the table for anybody.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Caleb Freeman is so much fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, like, he's such a baseball player.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when I say that, like, he just wants the game.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you see those, those intangibles on a daily basis of the extra work he's putting in, and the effort he has really was this fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's a very high energy player.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's gets in the batter's box and he is locked in and it's rare to see it But he's firing up like he is in the box.

[SPEAKER_00]: He gets a fastball upstairs.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's too high He's gonna sit on it and he's gonna stare you down if you're on the mound and and not given it Actually, it's it's really fun to watch really excited to see what he does over these over these next couple of years Should probably see him back and come out, but what I would imagine just because of the numbers, but [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the other guys, you see Colby Shelton come through, obviously didn't have the best of time here in Canapolis in the later March of the season of the bat, but you saw the skills there there, and I think that the White Sox did a fine job in finding him out of the University of Florida, Galvan Taussig, some of these other guys showed up and just made the presence still, and it should be a lot of fun to welcome these guys back next season.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just going to agree with you about your observation about Freeman.

[SPEAKER_02]: I got a Jacob Bert vibe from him, play with your hair all fire.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and then we've got all these other guys that are going to come from that class where you've got a little taste of the 2025 class, but hypothetically next season you could be getting, you know, the top two picks in the draft being two high schoolers in Billy Carlson and Jayden Vowsky.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's that's a whole other layer to that is that you get, you know, you've experienced this many times, but it's a really cool thing about the single I level is you get the the draft class guys you get a handful at the end of the year when they're drafted.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then usually the following year you get a whole other batch from that draft class and particularly a lot of high schoolers at that point.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then you get to see some of the younger guys, some of the higher end picks that might take a little longer, but you know you're getting a ton of those 20, 25 guys come 26.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, especially in Abel, the emphasis whenever it's draft day is whenever you see the picks coming through, less the first round and less it's a college guy, but more middle rounds start studying up the next day because you're going to get them eventually.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's something I did this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was very helpful to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, no, really want to see.

[SPEAKER_00]: And these guys are, obviously, you can see what the white socks did.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was very impressive with a [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of college guys and, you know, a lot of high school talent at the top, but it's going to be a lot of fun to see them when they get here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and you know, start studying up the sauces, man, because you just, if you liked Caleb Bonner, you're definitely going to be like Billy Carlson and Jane and Vowsky, so you got some fun guys on the way, that's for sure.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've talked about the money on our show, so it's going to be really cool.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who are some of the guys you're looking at when you look at this team?

[SPEAKER_01]: You saw obviously, you know, Caleb go to hi-a, Brandon makes it all the way to double-a.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who are some of the guys from your roster that haven't necessarily gotten that bump yet that you were really excited to?

[SPEAKER_01]: Not necessarily watch every day because they won't be on with you anymore, but to see kind of rise up the ranks.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's going to be really fun to see some of these guys move up and continue to develop.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's one of the best parts of my job is seeing guys move up and continue to progress in their career.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just fun.

[SPEAKER_00]: These guys are chasing their dreams and it's super fun.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think two guys that, we didn't talk about quite yet, but are either going to be back or who will have moved on.

[SPEAKER_00]: The one of the guys that I'd say is, how the year, Morgo-Yone.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, a guy that battled some adversity, battled some injury this year, but, you know, he saw the talent, you saw the ability this season when he was in the lineup.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, showed a little bit of power for his stature and for his size was impressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: You saw him play the second-based position.

[SPEAKER_00]: You saw him play a little bit of short.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he did make it a game or two at third as well, which was impressive to see.

[SPEAKER_00]: Morgo-Yone was a very capable ball player [SPEAKER_00]: Roney Hernandez is a guy that I just I am enamored by.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just for the peer factor.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think his bat is very, very underrated in the system.

[SPEAKER_00]: Pretty good catcher, but his bat and his patience at the plate.

[SPEAKER_00]: a guy that as a teenager was one of only three players in 2024 to finish with more walks than strikeouts and you look at who the other two guys were.

[SPEAKER_00]: In 2024 it was Jackson Chorio who's now in the Guardians of Oregon is pretty solid.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then it's Kevin Magonico who's a top consensus top three prospect and baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you see the patience there you see the ability to get on days.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for a guy like that to get on base, it's super valuable and to be a capable bat like that as a catcher is so huge.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I like that shot there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm excited to see what Ronnie move up.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think I think he also came a long way as a catcher this season when he did catch.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think I think you could see him kind of growing into that role a little bit more.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'd love to see him catch more at the Winston to high level just because I think he can.

[SPEAKER_01]: handle that at this point.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think last year, you're still seeing the catching really take its time just developing as a young guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I do think you saw that defense get to a point where now you feel really comfortable with him catching at the high level next season potentially.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: One other guy, I'm sorry, Dean.

[SPEAKER_02]: Go ahead.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, go for it, go for it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I was just going to talk about a guy who is one of my favorites.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I think he was one of your favorites when he was in Annapolis, which is Ryan Burroughs.

[SPEAKER_02]: And we saw him struggle for us.

[SPEAKER_02]: I thought, well, maybe this just isn't going to happen, but man, so middle of the year, he talked about the switch for being flipped.

[SPEAKER_02]: He really kind of figured it out and it's done pretty well and continued to do well.

[SPEAKER_02]: I thought that hi, yeah, I know you're a fan of his as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that [SPEAKER_00]: You know, Ryan's a very, another one of those guys at the White Sox just found a whole bunch of them, but another guy that's just mature and just has that ability to impact the game, I think that, you know, taking the job that he did of, hey, sure, I'll play a little bit less field and see where I can help the team out.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that speaks volumes to who Ryan Burroughs is as a human being, as a ball player, his ability is there.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a big game player that shows up in big games and when the opportunity presents itself, he's going to make an impact.

[SPEAKER_00]: You saw a little bit of the power.

[SPEAKER_00]: hit the ball hard until his call-up, well, even leading up to his call-up, I should say he hit the ball hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: And defensively, and took a big step forward this year, I think that was something that he wanted to work on.

[SPEAKER_00]: This season was taking that defensive step forward and even acquiring the new position of playing outfield was big.

[SPEAKER_00]: having that ability.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lyle Miller greens another guy that we would be remiss to talk about, another guy that had his struggles in Winston when he got called up.

[SPEAKER_00]: But man when he was here, he was in a cover off the ball.

[SPEAKER_00]: They hit two homers that were over four, 40.

[SPEAKER_00]: And his first month of the season, just a guy that has ridiculous power.

[SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, who was a very steady person at first base throughout the season.

[SPEAKER_01]: They do, yeah, he can hold down.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, as we kind of wrap here and just just look towards the future, obviously you, you know, or focus on Canapolis, but you, I'm sure you keep up with the lightsox, of course.

[SPEAKER_01]: You made a trippish kago, uh, first of all, how was the trippish kago?

[SPEAKER_01]: And then second of all, what do you just see from the lightsoxist season?

[SPEAKER_01]: I know, uh, it was a, you know, a building season, and I'm where we feel really, really solid about the progress made this year.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I mean, I mean, for people who are following along.

[SPEAKER_02]: That was not just a trip to Chicago.

[SPEAKER_02]: That was a chance to sit in the booth and Chicago with the white socks announced.

[SPEAKER_02]: So my hats off to you, that must have been a phenomenal experience.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was on real.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was in Chicago for all of you.

[SPEAKER_00]: 48 hours, but it was such a such an energetic 48 hour, such a great experience, you know, take the, take the aspects of, yeah, finally got a Chicago dog, finally got the Italian beef.

[SPEAKER_00]: But then you get to the ballpark and it's business from there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And just, you know, I think that I did, [SPEAKER_00]: The smart thing, I was able to just go to a game as a fan, just sit in the stands and take it all in, and then I got in the booth on Saturday and got to sit with Len Casper in there and Jackson for the whole game.

[SPEAKER_00]: And just soak everything up.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's something that I've learned throughout my career is just, you know, get in the room and just soak everything up and ask questions and be obnoxious.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's okay to ask questions and be obnoxious.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's what gets you places.

[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, [SPEAKER_00]: I think that one of the big takeaways that I got from my time in Chicago is this white socks team has so much energy about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's just an energy in that ballpark.

[SPEAKER_00]: during games that is, it's tough to, it's tough to even describe seeing guys that we're here not long ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can apple this and we're, you know, starting shortstop, Colson Montgomery everyone, everyone is enamored with Colson as they should be.

[SPEAKER_00]: The guy is one of the best hitters in the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not even Colson, my mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: Chicago loves them some chase mind Roth.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's for sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: I gathered that too and it's hard not to like the guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Definitely a live wire [SPEAKER_00]: Another guy that comes to mind of just an impact that in a lineup.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's so much youth and there's so much talent on the south side.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so fun to watch.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it really, you know, seeing that in action, live in Chicago, really puts it in the perspective of like, okay, we're kind of starting everything out here in capitalists.

[SPEAKER_00]: So when they get to Chicago, we're creating that energy.

[SPEAKER_00]: So really fun time to be a white socks fan.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll say that.

[SPEAKER_00]: you know, being in the organization and being around.

[SPEAKER_00]: you know, the rover, the managers and even the top prospects and these guys that are just scrapping for an opportunity to continue in the white socks or it's super fun.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a great organization that I'm really proud to be a part of in a small capacity.

[SPEAKER_00]: I really don't do anything other than just sit there and talk to myself for three hours at a time.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you know, it's really fun and there's a great energy on the south side.

[SPEAKER_01]: We know you do a lot more than that by the way.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't, you're not fooling anybody, Dan, but yeah, we love to hear that.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's exciting.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's an exciting time.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's been a rough few years.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I still think that the ability, we try to emphasize this on our show all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: The ability to look at the positives, to be excited, to enjoy the fact that like, this is a game we all love.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a game these guys love playing.

[SPEAKER_01]: The organization is determined to get better.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it is getting better.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we feel very excited about the future as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's good to hear that you got that fun, too.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's infectious energy on Chicago.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's for sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did you think of the Chicago dog?

[SPEAKER_00]: One out of 10.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, 100% that was fantastic.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was so good.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm finished Chicago at all, got for a long time, but I never never been to Chicago and had a Chicago dog at all.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I was really good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Had a good Italian beef sandwich.

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you get pizza?

[SPEAKER_00]: I did get pizza.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_00]: It was pretty good.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was pretty good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a good box as damn.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, that's one thing that I do when I travel, and I don't hit any Joe, I don't hit chain rush trance.

[SPEAKER_00]: I only hit local spots when I travel, and it's just that's done.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the way I roll.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was sure to leave some time to just walk around Chicago and just again soak it all in, take it in, take the energy, and just learn something.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that, you know, even it's crazy to, you know, talk, I'm talking, you know, in circles on a tangent, [SPEAKER_00]: one thing that I took away that I'm even just in shock with is just the major league mindset.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that that is something that I immediately took back.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I said, okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a completely different world.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so different.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was laughing with one of the execs from the white socks who was showing me around.

[SPEAKER_00]: I said, yeah, a cannapula is about 50,000 people.

[SPEAKER_00]: And here you went, 50,000 people, that's it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, yeah, you probably have about 50,000 people when these three or four blocks around the ballpark.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so different.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a different world, but man alive.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can't wait to be a part of it one day.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome, Dan.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we appreciate you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for taking so much.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm talking to us as always.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you ever get sick of us, you're welcome to tell us, but we always love having you on.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we appreciate it, man.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we're looking for the 2026 season.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, likewise, you ever get sick of me just let me know if you and your bride have a great off season.

[SPEAKER_02]: It'll be March before you know it and I'll be knocking at your door again and look forward to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully not in my door, hopefully in the audience.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get that straight.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, we're going to enjoy some dolphins football.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then it'll be baseball season again before we go.

[SPEAKER_01]: There we go, man.

[SPEAKER_01]: Appreciate you, Dan, as always.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Have a good day.