Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Hammer Territory Podcast.

This episode two sixty seven.

I'm your hosts Brad Rowland, coming to you on a Sunday evening.

You're in mid September, and I'm joined as always, as often by my old co host.

He's been gone, He's been in the wilderness, and by the wilderness, I mean overseas.

Scott Coleman is back.

Hello, sir, how are you hello?

Brad?

It is good to be back with you.

It is good to be back stateside.

Maybe the Braves are not exactly playing the kind of baseball that we were hoping for at this point.

I mean, can you believe there's two weeks left in this baseball season?

I mean, I know it's been a bad year obviously, but I feel like yesterday we were really excited and Opening Day was right around the corner, and we were previewing that West Coast road trip, and here we are two weeks to go, and I mean, it's just kind of going through the motions at this point.

It certainly is.

I talked to good friend of the pod, Grant McCauley, on the show a week ago today on Sunday, and I dropped that hey, three weeks left, and it was kind of like, whoa, that's weird to say out loud.

And now it's two weeks left, and I guess I'm kind of ready for it now because I've been prepping the last couple of weeks.

But you've been gone, and it was like, oh, when you left, it was five six weeks left, and now it's two.

So it is what it is.

We're back a lot to get to.

First of all, if you are new to the podcast, we are Hammer Territory.

The four of us, myself, Scott, Sean, and Steven cover the Braves all year round and we appreciate you being here.

Please subscribe to the pod anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, et cetera.

And I just want to give a little everybody kind of a little bit of a tea up.

So Scott was traveling.

He could reveal as much as he wants to about all of his world travel.

But your last show, Scott was with me on August twenty seven.

It's been a little while, right, A lot has happened since then.

We were laughing about this.

I did text you several times while you were gone, but I'm gonna give you a not even a full list of what happened while you were gone, but a list of things that happened since you left.

In the last Drum Show.

It was like legitimately a surprise because, I mean, without you know, the Dred deadline is behind us, and generally it's pretty quiet, especially for teams that are not in a playoff chase.

September is generally a pretty quiet time at the baseball calendar.

It is, And we've been laughing both on and off the show about how the Braves had been at least kind enough to give us some content because were kind of worried about what we're going to talk about September.

But here's an abbreviated list of all the things that have happened since Scott was on the show last first and partmost you just alluded to it.

The Braves added Hassan Kim and a surprise kind of a blockbuster move by waiver standards that happened like almost right after you left.

Sean Murphy went down for four months or more with an injury.

Ron Kakuna Junior hit sixth or seventh in the lineup in four consecutive games while you were gone.

Don't know how that happened, why that happened?

Here we are special.

Strider shave his mustache while you were gone.

That got a lot of reaction.

Yeah, probably probably the most noteworthy thing is that Strider.

I man Strider without a mustache.

I don't know if I'd recognize him if he was walking down the street.

Many people did not recognize him when he did that.

There's more.

Michael Harris, who had been hot after what as you were leaving.

Since you left, Michael Harris has a one thirty one on base percentage not batting average on base percentage.

Bryan Snicker's future was kind of muddy and is still very muddy, if not more muddy since the last time you were here.

And in the not important department, the Braves went five and eleven while you were gone, and they lost all five series that they played in while you were gone.

So there's no There's more that happened.

Drake ball when when I know a slump we'll talk about later on.

Matt Olsen's been hot.

He hit five home runs while you were gone.

Like, there's a whole list of things that happen, Scott.

But while the team's placement in the baseball hierarchy has really not changed.

Man, you kind of missed a lot on accident, I did.

I mean, I was tuning in to basically every show because I felt like I needed to stay up to date with everything going on.

With the Braves.

And you know, maybe do you want to talk about Hasan Kim for just a couple of minutes here.

I mean, that was probably the most noteworthy Spencer Striders mustache aside, and when you know, when I saw that come through and I listened to the show and I agreed with a lot of what you guys said at the time, But I mean, what a fascinating ad for the Braves bringing on Kim.

I think now that we've had a couple of weeks to digest it a little bit more, I understand what the Braves are doing because clearly they have been unsuccessful in adding a shortstop post Dansby Swanson, and not just the Braves.

I mean, really, if you look around all Major League Baseball, there just haven't been a lot of shortstops that have moved around, and not only looking backwards, but also looking forwards, there's not much that's going to be available or presumably be available in the next couple of seasons, whether it be in free agency or on the trade market.

So it was an interesting gamble, and I get what the Braves are doing.

I guess we'll see if Kim ultimately decides to pick up his player option.

I think he's going to.

But yeah, I mean, you know, when I left, I don't necessarily think I had the Braves adding a more probable than not.

They're starting shortstop for twenty twenty six by way of a waiver claim that really, I think, not just locally but nationally drew a lot of attention for kind of the gamble the Braves are taking for.

Sure, And you know, a couple of people were almost trolling us about how we were talking about it, and we did an emergency podcast, and I thought it was a pretty logical decision, Like it was a pretty big deal, like as big as a move non injury division as could have possibly happened.

Basically in September.

Was was this like the potential to add a starting shortstop, a guy that we had talked about for two three months during the winter as a target, and to do it in supp rising like no one saw this coming fashion on September whatever it was, second, first, whatever it was two weeks ago.

Yeah, it was.

It was a shocking thing.

We had talked about it a lot.

He did have three hits in a walk today, so that's kind of a good plank to dig in Melissa a little bit.

But he's been kind of as expected for me on the field.

I mean, I don't know if you heard this.

One of my talking points on the emergency episode even was like, hey, guys, don't overreact to anything Hassan Kim does in the next four weeks, positively or negatively, because the sample just won't be big enough for me to care.

Like, yeah, if he got if he went over the month of September, alarm bells would be understandable.

Or if he had hit fifteen home runs this month, which would have never happened.

But you know what I mean.

But he's basically been exactly what he's supposed to be.

Like he has a three fifty or so on base percentage, not a ton of power, playing good defense, like looks like a starting caliber shortstop, not a superstar, but starting caliber shortstop.

And I'm actually kind of glad about that, if that makes sense, Like, just for the discourse.

Scott, I'm like pretty excited that he's not.

He hasn't been incredible, he hasn't been terrible, And I'm glad to avoid both of those polls just to talk about him in irrational way, because you know how this goes.

If either one of those things happen, he'd be like, well, this guy sucks and this guy's awesome, et cetera, et cetera.

He's still just a good player who's had injury issue injury issues, and there is a lot of uncertainty.

Maybe still, I think a lot of people, still, even if we talked about this a lot two weeks ago, have either just like written in pen in their mind that he's gonna definitely be on the team, and there's this chance he's not.

Still Like, there's a chance he opts out.

I think you just I agree with what you just said about him probably being on the team, probably probably opting into that contract.

It is Scott Boris, Like, it's still a non zero that he opts out.

But going back to that moment, and since you have the benefit of two weeks of hindsight on this, like, is this move that you would have made as the Braves that's probably the easies way to get into this, like, would you have done this as Alex without knowing all that Obviously we don't know all the constraints financially, that's a big part of this, but guessing game wise, would you have done this or not?

So, yes, the answer is yes.

I think it's a worthwhile gamble.

And I'm making that answer on one moderate assumption that Alexanthopolis has talked to twenty nine Baseball teams about their shortstop and the availability of their shortstop, and also the fact that Bobashett, who is a pending free agent, is very likely not going to be a shortstop moving forward.

That's not just our opinion Ken Rosenthal was talking about it.

I think Jeff Passon talked about it at the trade deadline.

Moving forward, Bobaschet's likely not a shortstop and there's like nothing else out there, Brad, I mean, unless they want to take a gamble on a prospect who's in the upper level of the minors.

But even those players are hard to trade for.

Like teams don't give away their twenty one twenty two year old shortstop prospects even if they are flawed.

I would sure think that Anthopolis has tried to do that, not only this year, but really the past two c and two off seasons.

Surely he's worked the phones on it.

So is Hasan Kim a superstar?

No?

Is there some risk here?

Yes, sixteen million dollars is not nothing, assuming he picks it up.

But I do think Kim has probably in his best interest to take that sixteen million dollars, put it in the bank, and then try to bounce back and be healthy next year and then hit free agency one more time as a thirty one year old, because if he has a good twenty twenty six, he's gonna get a nice payday the next time he becomes a free agent in about thirteen months.

We agree for sure, and I said to the time, I'll reiterate it now.

He doesn't have to be a star to be worth sixteen million dollars with his skill set, Like if he's just an okay hitter and plays above every defense ave shortstop, that is what that is.

That's what the going rate is.

I mean, that's that's what that is.

I mean there was a year Worland Orcio was worth sixteen million dollars, Like they didn't pay him that but the one year was the twenty twenty three is his best year.

He was basically a league average bat and a pretty good glove, and that player is worth that much money now he was never worth that again, but also on Kim's baseline, is far higher than Orlandoarci has ever was, and I think that we've already seen it.

I'll say this one even a step further.

If he's just the exact same player that he has been for two weeks with the Braves.

Now, obviously it's impossible to extract play two weeks orful season.

If he's just this guy ops in the seven hundreds OBP of three point fifty ish good glove, that's worth it.

Sign me up, Sign me up.

I'm not saying it's like a he's not a quarter to Ben dollars player at that point time, but I am excited positive about what he can be.

If it's just what he's been so far.

Cool.

Scott Morris is an interesting dynamic in this whole thing.

We will talk about that a lot in a few weeks when this decision can happen.

Like post World series, it gets real in a hurry on all this stuff.

But as long as he doesn't go crazy down the end of the season.

I think he'll probably opt in.

And yeah, it was a it was shocking.

If even if Kim declines his player option, which I don't think he's going to do, and he becomes a free agent, well guess what, I think the Braves are probably going to be bidding on him.

And the Braves are going to be then bidding on a shortstop who is not having a great year.

He was injured early in the season, He's had a couple of nagging injuries throughout the year.

And you're not buying high on this player by any means.

And you know you're not going to have to commit five years and one hundred million dollars to get hasted him at this point, I think it makes sense if Kim decides to opt out, that the Braves would very I mean, clearly they liked this guy.

They went out and they claimed him, and you know he talked about people making too much of acting like we made too much of the deal.

Well, sure it was a waiver claim.

But if the Braves traded for Hassan Kim three days into the offseason, is it any different like if.

The Braves or if they traded for him three weeks before that at the deadline, you know, right, which they they tried to do.

It was I don't know who reported it, but somebody said the Braves tried to trade for Kim at the deadline.

Well, and that's one of the things we can move off, is we go to go long on this.

But if he opts out, like you just mentioned this scenario, I think he'd probably signed a similar deal to what he got last winter, which is like a one plus one.

I don't think he's gonna opt out and get like a four year deal from somebody.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think he'd be in the market for what kind of what he got last year, like a two for twenty eight, two for twenty nine with an opt out, And maybe that is a deal that the Braves would still give him.

I don't know if they would or not, but they'd be in I think they would be interested in that kind in that kind of structure.

If you had to do it, it'd be easier and more low risk if the Brad's just got him to opt in.

Sure, or there's a scenari way that we brought then too that maybe Alex goes to Scott Boris and says, all right, how about two for twenty four Instead you decline your option, we give two for twenty four.

I don't know, I mean, or two for twenty four with a player option.

I don't know, one of those things.

They don't get player options.

I know that's like an organiational policy.

But hey, they just they just they just claimed one.

So I guess it's not firmly an ink.

Regardless, it's a move that was interesting.

I did think it was deeply funny that it happened ra after you left, which which I texted you that.

I was like, this is very funny.

It's Scott's thousands of bounts.

Yeah.

I wish I could have seen my face.

I was at dinner, I think when when the move was announced, and my wife was like, what's going on?

Even she picked up on me being like, well, you know, like when you can tell someone's deep in thought, like looking at something.

I was like, whoa hus on Kim, Like that's.

A legitimate, once upon a time, really good shortstop and the Braves claimed him for nothing.

I mean, yeah, it was yeah, hey, yeah, gave us something to talk about, at least in a otherwise very somber month for the Atlanta Braves.

That was number one on the list of things that happened while you were gone.

I was going to ask you about it.

We talked about it.

Now.

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Dig in Okay, Scott, we will go down the entire list of things that happened while you were gone.

I did deliver a you know me, I'm not a a big rant guy.

I did deliver at rollan Cootna Junior battle line up rant that people misinterpreted.

Still, even though I gave like like ten caveats, it was it was amazing.

I could just actually thought of you when I was recording it, and like, Scott's gonna be surprised, I did this, I think, because I don't usually do that.

It's not not my beat, but I did it.

Yeah, sorry, it was spicy.

I'm glad to see Acunya back where he should be.

He should beat no lower than third or fourth whatever, I mean, you know, you.

Know me very well.

We've buck got together for a decade now.

Nothing bothers me more than things that I don't understand.

It's not even a disagree.

I was like, no one can explain how this is happening or why this is happening.

That was my anyway, not to go down that rabbit hole too much.

But other than that, everything else was kind of like on the field.

We'll come back to Brian Sticker in a second.

Let's just knock out the weekend of games and then we'll springboard off of them more than talking about them.

The Braves got absolutely waxed on Friday and Saturday.

Steven and I just very suddenly dropped on the show Wednesday night.

We were both going to the game on Friday, and then I poked fun before first pitch, before ever anything ever happened, and say, hey, Steve and I are both here.

Nothing's going to go well tonight.

We all understand that, right, And then in the blink of an eye it's eleven nothing and it's uh, it was really bad now the result I don't really care.

A couple of things, one that I thought was just funny and noteworthy and like fun facty or not so fun facty.

The Braves were down ten to nothing in the fifth inning of the game on Friday night, and the opponent, the Astros, had one extra mase hit one and only two walk.

It was like they walk like ten guys, which that's the other way I can happen.

One extrarase hit, two walks, ten runs.

So that goes back to Hurston Waldrup, who was the pitcher.

He had been lights out for both before you left, in during and while you were gone, but he had his first real bad adding on Friday, and having been there, he gave up a two one home run to a guy on the making his midjor League debut, which was kind of funny and zol Other than that, he kind of got back up to death.

He loved seven singles, and most of them were not like roped one of the screenshots, and I don't know if I don't think you were traveling Friday still on your long twenty four hour y back.

But one screenshot that I saw making the rounds and I saw the same thing was from stack cast.

The Braves lost the game eleven to three, and the Braves had the higher expected batting average in the game, you're.

Saying, yeah, you're saying, I picked a good time to not watch some baseball probably, so it sounds about right.

And you know what, Like Waldrop was unbelievable for that month, month and a half, but he was gonna run on hard times eventually, and sometimes that's just bad luck.

And it was also the first time Waldrop was pitching without Sean Murphy, which is probably more coincidental than anything.

But Waldrop has talked openly and Murphy has talked openly about how they kind of helped each other out, and Waldrop has credited Murphy for some of the changes that he made throughout the season that it made him successful.

He's probably more coincidence than anything.

But yeah, hopefully you just flush it if you're Waldrop.

We'll see what the week ahead holds.

I assume he's gonna make another start, but he is well beyond his high end professional innings in a season, so maybe they shut him down sooner.

But regardless, sure, if if Waldrop has two or three really bad starts, then in the year, it's.

Not gonna leave a great taste in anybody's mouth.

But I don't think anyone's nervous with him still just a really encouraging sign down the stretch and just one of those games.

Hopefully he can get back on that horse and throw well whenever he does pitch again.

Yeah, he had his worst.

Uh, there's a metric called location plus.

It's actually adjacent to stuff plus, like there's a stuff plus location plus advance metrics.

Basically he says, do you locate the way you want to locate?

It was.

It was his worst of the season, So that was probably part of that too.

You're just missing the spots.

He didn't really just have it in the game.

That's okay, it's gonna happen.

I still fall probably in the middle of there's a contingent I've seen that's like writing him in in pen as the third starter next year based on the last month and a half, and then there's a contendance that's like, don't believe it at all.

I'm kind of in the middle.

I think he should be giving us a chance to start next year.

I also don't think that it's like he's definitely awesome, Like we haven't seen enough for me to do that, but you know, we'll see.

I'm not worried about to start either, just to back you up, I was not alarmed, having been there watching even more intently that I only would because you're just there and I'm sitting actually behind the plate a good view, had a good view of Waldrop, and I was like, you know what, he's not getting massacred, Like there are nights when a guy doesn't have it where there's getting blasted.

And that was not really what happened.

It was a lot of like soft dish liners to center, like lots of you know, he wasn't great, but it wasn't like he got hammered and gave up five home ers or anything.

Yeah.

Well, and I mean I think that just one of the things that have really come in my mind over the last couple of weeks is just the Braves have to add a good starting pitcher of some kind this offseason.

If people are healthy, feel great about Sale Schwallenbach, We'll see about Strider.

We're in a little Lopez who we're gonna talk about a little bit later in the show.

Some encouraging stuff on Lopez, and there's a handful of others and then Waldrop is shown.

But I think it's it's safe to say that this team very much needs stability in the rotation, and it's it's a far cry from that.

At the moment, I'm smiling because I have already seen people making their starting pitcherless and acting as that the praides don't need to add anybody because they are because they because they get married to not it's not only Walter, but they get married to Waldrop and they get married to all the names that Smith Shauber, who could be back next season at some point.

Grant Holmes is not having the surgery.

I get it.

If you want to just list a bunch of names, you can get to seven or eight guys.

But we do this every year, and I was gonna see it recently, Scott.

We've been We've been the ones batting a thousand on this where we keep we going to the season saying, hey, then they have enough pitching, people yell at us, and then by May it's like, oh they don't have enough pitching.

Cool, Yeah, So how many times I'm with you, how many.

Times do we have to do this, Brad where they're they're starting Carlos Carrasco in July and August because they don't have any pitching.

I mean, it's it's silly go out.

They have to add a starting pitcher this offseason.

I agree, and we'll talk about that plenty, I promise you in the coming days.

Elsewhere from Friday, quickly Ronald hit it home run, his first one since August twenty second.

That was good to see.

It was in garbage time, but it was a good swing.

He looked good to me.

Had a single earlier on in the game look good.

Also had honestly one of the best plays I've ever seen live in that game.

It was this play.

He cut off the line drive to write and made a throw that like only Ronnie can not only only any but very few guys can make and hose a runner at second base and in person just it's just a little bit different.

But even on tea, I've saw the replay on TV, it did show it well.

It wasn't quite as good as the throw he made the third base Roger this season, they like made national news that one was different.

But this play was.

I mean, just every once in a whiles like why are you well run on Ronald Kunya, like what's wrong with you?

Why are you running against him?

But that was I see in person.

I would love to know for like that half second when Ronald realizes somebody is running on him, Like what goes through his mind and the excitement that hits him because he's I mean, yeah, it's uh.

It is a treat to watch Ronald throw the baseball and good to see him hit the homer.

I know it was garbage time, but he hit the ball hard and I'm sure just yeah for the vibes.

Let's hope Ronald is one healthy and two has a good final two weeks of the season, goes into the offseason, no restrictions, normal training, off season workout program, and then let's get him back to that MVP level player in twenty twenty six.

One more fast note from Friday.

It didn't matter at all to the game, but Eli White hit a pinch hit home run on Friday, and that was This is remarkable to me.

That was the braves first pinch hit home run since May of twenty twenty three.

Now, granted this is the DH era, I get it.

You just have fewer opportunities to have pinching at home runs.

But still, that's two and a half years without a pinch like that's just very strange to me that would be that long.

But it happened justyan that.

White Hey, Eli white Man.

He is a really nice player to have on the bench.

He does everything you want a bench player to do.

Yeah, he checks a lot of boxes.

There is a contingent that I've seen that people think that he's like I saw someone arguing I think it was after that night that he should be like in the mix to like play like a ben Zobrist, like started every game role next year, and I was like, what's a slow let's all slow down on everybody.

He's a great guy to have on the bench.

He's also a guy to have on the bench.

That's what I would say about the other way.

But he can run, he can hit okay, ish, defendable positions, very useful guy.

Saturday's game is like not even we're talking about really they lost badly.

It was seventeen to five combined Friday and Saturday.

Bryce Older though this is actually funny.

On the Scott was gone meter Bryce in in uh why you were gone?

So funny?

Uh.

He threw twenty to third innings and allowed two earn runs while Scott was abroad.

The day Scott returned, he allowed six runs in three innings.

So maybe it's your fault.

If everybody listening to the show wants to contribute to a GoFundMe, I will happily disappear.

I'll find a nice speach or somewhere nice to just you know, spend my days.

And that means that Bryce Elder will be a successful pitcher.

Then I will take one for the team, Brad, and do what I must do for the betterment of the Braves.

It was just one of those funny things because I have tried to make sure we at least acknowledge when Bryce pitches well, because we have picked on him plenty, and he had been pitching pretty well for about a month and then it was real bad on Saturday.

So that's gonna that's just the Bryce Liver experience.

I think that's just what we what we've learned over low these months.

It's like, when it's good, it's actually good, but when it's bad, it's very bad.

And that's what happens.

That's why you're a seventh starter instead of a third starter.

Took the words out of my mouth.

He is the epitome of a seventh or eighth daughter.

Every team in baseball has one.

Ideally, you're never giving the ball to your seven through eighth starter, Lo and behold always happens like it always does.

And I think I think Elder is going to lead the team in starts and innings pitch this year, which is oh terrible.

It's good, that's not what that's not what you want.

Hey, he's been healthy.

I'll give him that.

He has been durable.

Really his whole tenure, he's been durable, like he's been.

That's one of the strengths of Bryce Old is that he's been out there able to pitch.

And yeah, he is like a very comfortableieve Like I think he's already basically clinched the innings lead on the team he's at like, and no one else who's still pitching is anywhere within any range of him.

Yeah, he's gonna leave the team at innings for sure.

That is confirmed.

Can you imagine me saying that out loud six months ago?

No, he was.

I mean, this is a guy that granted we were probably lower on him than most were, but I thought he may not pitch at all this season in the majors, Like maybe he would come up for spot duty at some point when they inevitably have an issue.

When you got you just need you need a but Bryce Elver making he's gonna make twenty eight starts twenty nine.

That's insane, Like that is where it happened.

This is what we're gonna do, Brad, all off season long.

When somebody on YouTube or someone tweets us about the Braves don't need a starting pitcher, I'm gonna just screenshot Bryce Elder having the most starts in the most innings for the Braves in twenty twenty five.

I'm not gonna respond other than just posting that picture, and I'm gonna post that picture probably fifty times between November and February.

But dear God, they have to find some depth because injuries are gonna happen.

I think the Braves have been hit worse than most teams in baseball in the starting rotation by injuries the last two years.

But man alive.

I mean, you would like to think it can't possibly continue for a third year.

But I also don't want to be scraping the waiver wire DFA folks for starting pitchers next summer.

I mean, you just can't.

You just can't live that way, and you can't live with Bryce Elder making twenty eight eight starts in the season.

Seventeen pitchers have started a game for the Braves this season.

It's probably gonna be eighteen or nineteen by the end of the year, which is nuts.

It could be even larger.

Yes to your point quickly on Sunday that they did win today.

They snapped a losing streak, so that's a small positive a Sunday win.

Matt Olsen homer both day Saturday and Sunday.

He's been good.

We did the spotlight segment on him Wednesday, so just acknowledging Matt's been really good.

He's been the best part of a team this year.

Most valuable player by war all the metrics, he's been good.

This is more of a like a not so fun fact for one side of things.

Craig Kimberrel pitched in Truist Park today.

We all remember how we I think rightly piled on the Braves for the bizarre Kimberl saga this season when they brought him in for no apparent reason and then cut him the next day.

And I don't know what happened there, but he pitched today interest for the first time in two and a half years.

Brice Fends loved Craig.

They should.

I hope he got a warm ovation.

I wasn't there, that didn't hear it.

But he did allow a home run to Sandy Leone, who is the Braves backup catcher right now in place of Sean Murphy.

It was Leon's first major league home run since twenty twenty one.

Can't get Scrig camerel So that was the highlight of today.

I don't know.

They won.

Cool, awesome?

They won.

Yeah, they won.

I did and said to do this light, I'll do it now.

There's been speculation already.

I don't know if you saw this because you were gone this weekend.

The Braves play the Pirates in the final series of a season, and my projected rotation for that game for the Braves was Dal bru Han.

I think, I said, Sandey Leon and then Rick Kranitz pitching the final game of the season.

Yeah baby, because right, Yeah, let's get snit a couple of innings too, so he can go out something that's a good tease for it.

We'll talk about in a second, but just so everybody knows why I said, the Braves and Pirates are locked into part of the race for the bottom if you were a takeathon observer.

The Pirates are a team you've been observing closely, and they want the Braves once.

Today the Pirates loss and actually hurt the Braves in the lottery standings.

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Okay, Scott, let us get into some other non game news topics, et cetera.

You just alluded to one of them.

But I wanted to ask you about We spent a lot of time on this Wednesday, but you were not here, and I want to get your fresh take on this the Brian Snicker managerial saga.

So for everybody that missed this listening to the show, basically we have been cautioning everyone the whole time.

Like, no one said anything about Snitt retiring.

There's been speculation from the media.

Everybody's been assuming, including us, that it was likely to happen, but no one told Snip.

Because Snick got asked about it three or four days ago.

He gave an answer that was not definitely not I'm retiring now.

He still could retire.

He didn't say he wasn't going to, but that of course prompted a whole response in a news cycle.

And Steve and I reminded every one that currently Brian Snicker is not under contract for next season, which is another interesting wrinkle in this thing.

But and he thought of a farewell tour.

Scott, It's September fourteenth.

If they want to do a farewell tour for Snith.

Time's running out, thoughts.

I still think there's a real chance we do get the farewell tour.

I think it's obviously going to be very abbreviated.

I just can't see the Braves bringing Brian Snicker back.

And I know Alexanthopoulos has been very buttoned up with how he was talking and that in his mind he hasn't even thought about replacements for Brian Snicker.

That's I mean, come on, that's not true, Steve.

I think Stephen actually swore and I might have tried to bleep it out on the show on Wednesday about this topic.

I won't say what he said, but I think the sentiment was that it's not true, Alex.

There's no way.

There's no way, Scott.

You're a comfortball guy like I am.

The whole thing always is that every ad in the country has a list somewhere in their top drawer, on their phone and the notes app wherever it may be.

Everyone everyone has a list.

Yes, I'm sure Alex.

I'm sure Alex does too, Yes.

But I get it like this.

Alexon Thoppless is a very seasoned, buttoned up veteran correct and Brian Snicker's been around this team for fifty years, and he has a World Series, and he has a World Series four years ago, and other than this year, and other than the first year and a half when he took over for Freddy Gonzalez with a just pitiful roster Braves, the Braves have been very, very good.

So nobody wants to be the person who basically kicks Brian Snitker out.

But the fact that he does not have a contract, He's managed the entire year without a contract, everyone around the team thinks that snid is going to retire.

He's getting up there in age.

He always talks, and he lights up when he talks about his kids and being with his family because frankly, he hasn't had a ton of family time over the last fifty years because he's been managing and been so married to the game all this time.

So whenever I saw those comments from snit and from Alex about the future, I raise my eyebrows, just like I think everybody listening and watching the show did.

But it felt like to me it was just kind of nobody wants to say out loud that yes, this is the end for Brian Sticker, but I would be stunned.

I mean, I'm at like ninety ninety five percent that he's done at the end of the season.

Give him a big old handshake, give him an honorary front office position for the rest of time.

Pay him salary if you want to.

Yeah, But I think it's fair to say with the in game management and that is part, a big part, but not the whole part of a manager's job, like, for example, Gabe Capler.

Like the players hated Gabe Kpler, that dude could not command a clubhouse.

That is something that Brian Sticker does phenomenal.

You will never see a player disrespect Brian snicker.

You will never see a player bad mouth Brian Sticker to the media.

I'm sure he does things that real player's wrong every now and then, but by and large, very very positive clubhouse fives throughout his entire tenure with the Braves, very little drama, et cetera, et cetera.

But I do think the in game tactician part of the job has probably gotten away from him.

And I'm saying probably to be nice.

We know how the playoffs have gone.

I don't want to put it all on him because he's only sitting in the dugout.

He's not making the pitches, he's not swinging the bat.

But I think it's time for a fresh voice.

It makes sense coming off of a bad year.

And sure, I'm sure that Snit would have loved to have gone out on top win a World Series, or even win the division and fight and make a push in the postseason.

But yeah, I mean, that's my very long, long winded way of saying.

It was interesting what was said, but I have to think that Snit is done in two weeks.

I don't think managers are worth fifteen wins or something like.

Every once in a while, I see something crazy like if the Braves had Ron Washington, they would they'd be they would be first in the vision, Like, no, you're out of your mind.

The players have to play, like I get it, vibes can, but this stuff matters.

I'm not We are not on this podcast generally.

You can correct me if if you want to, Scott, we are not zealous on the like nothing matters.

Like there are people that think the clubhouse stuff doesn't matter at all.

I'm actually not that.

I don't think that I am an analytical person.

I think the players playing matters more than all that other stuff.

The vibes do matter.

I do think that on some like.

These guys are around each other every single day for eight months out of the year.

The vibes in the clubhouse and the way that everything is handled absolutely matters.

Yeah, I'm saying that because I'm sure people some people think probact because we like numbers and we go into numbers that like that.

That stuff matters too.

I just don't want to ignore the off field stuff.

And you did a great job with that s It's good at that stuff.

He's renowned.

Everybody likes the guy.

I think it's time to go to We'll see.

It's a tough spot for Alex because you don't want to be seen as the guy firing Sicker.

That's bad.

I mean, people, there are lot of people, There are a lot of people that we might follow and that run in our circles that might actually be celebrating when Sticker is gone.

But there are a lot of Brace fans who do not want Sticker to leave, who like Brian Sticker a lot, probably too much, like you might have given him a lot of credit when we didn't always like, there's a split there, and it's a bad, bad bad pr for Alex to be seen as you know, shiving Brian Sticker on the way out the door, like that's not good.

Yeah, for all the things you said fifty years all those things.

So it's delicate, but the fact that he isn't a contract doesn't make it easier.

You could just it's the longest Sticker decides to play ball.

In whatever instance, there is a way for Alex to be like, you know what, we're not going to give you a deal for next year, Like, let's just make this announcement now.

We'll let you do it if you want to.

If you want to say I'm retiring, cool, that makes it easy on everybody.

We don't know how that's going to happen.

But if they do want a moment for everyone to be like hey, snit, good on you.

They got to do it like soon, like we're almost there, like yeah, and look you have you don't have to do that.

I don't want to overstate that either, because look, if if they don't say anything at all and he retires or isn't retained opening day next year, you can be like bridsicker day, like there's a way to do it.

That's not a farewell tour, but it would be easier if it was the farewell tour, I think for vibes, doesn't it kind.

Of feel like snit in his like media availability before a game on a Wednesday, would just kind of come out and say, Hey, guys, I'm retiring, Like.

I mean maybe yeah, he might be in the dugout one day, just might be like, yeah, I don't think I'm out.

Yeah, and I'm sure I don't knows.

I'm sure I think Alex might silently be like, thank god, he did that to save everybody in trouble, not because he wants to Nick Gone that badly, but because just you don't want the circus.

You don't want the drama of it all.

You want it to be easy one way or the other.

Have you seen the Office, Brad, Not like you have, but I have seen great episode.

Early on Michael has to fire someone, and he's just hoping that somebody will voluntarily quit so he doesn't have to fire somebody.

That is exactly what's going through Alex's head, like, please, Lord, please retire.

Please let me make you super special assistant to the general manager.

We'll name the clubhouse after you, We'll name a suite after you whatever the braves have to do.

Yeah, and the grass is not always greener.

Let's say that you do not know how things are going to go.

But I think it's time.

I think this has run its course.

Incredible man, incredible career, but I think it's time.

And Alex has done all the right things so far to say it'll be a brave for life, all those comments, but he also hasn't said snit's the manager next year.

He's kind of given him the out to say all this anyway, So we'll stop.

But it's a topic to follow over the next two weeks because it could go any of different directions.

Look, I think the chances of him back are probably higher than you do.

I think they're pretty low.

But I would not fall on the floor if we get the blue square Brian sticker has been extended for twenty twenty six tweet.

I would not.

I wouldn't like that particularly, but I would not be as surprised as some would be if that were to happen.

That'd be a very bravezy thing to do.

I still think it won't happen, but I would not literally be like driving in traffic and we off the road.

If that were to happen, I'd be kind of prepared for it.

The timing would just be so weird.

It's all it's all weird, like the fact that we talked about with Stevens would have to do the whole thing again.

But the fact that he entered this season at all on an expiring contract is already weird.

It was already weird then, and now they've had this terrible season and it's like the pr Boy.

It's gonna be an interesting couple weeks on that front.

And also they might just let it go for a couple weeks after that.

They don't have to do anything right away, they probably should because if you want to hire a manager from outside, you need to go ahead and start doing that, Like you don't want to have even if Alex has the list, and he probably does, unless you're promoting from within, which I presume would be Walt Weiss.

If you if you're going to do that, Unless you're doing that, you're going somewhere else, and that means you gotta call that guy and get it.

I mean, even even if it's somebody that people flow all the time, like David Ross doesn't work for the Braves, so like you gotta you gotta call and hire David Ross if you want to hire, if you want to hire David Ross.

So interesting times ahead on that front.

All right, Scott elsewhere quickly before we get out of here.

We're on a Lopez uteazed it earlier.

He threw on Friday people, I guess talk to the media as well.

He's going to Northport to get ready for some more ramp up.

He's not gonna pitch this year.

We know that already.

But he did got a two pillars here.

I'm gonna throw the other one to you.

The first one.

He did kind of soften up his stance of like I am a starter, and he said, I kind of prefer to be a starter, but I'll do whatever they asked me to do, which is not a huge difference, but it does a meaningful one because we're not used to be a reliever.

He was good at it.

Starters have more value than relievers.

Every once in a while we'll get a question like why don't they make so and so a reliever, And it's because the answer is always because starters are more valuable than relievers.

That's why they let him start in the first place.

Grant Holmes same thing.

That's why they don't every time we get a comment, it's a strategy to be the closer.

I'm like, no, stop, don't do that Smashov because he throws hard.

Whichever player, the answer is always, until you prove you can't be a starter, they're going to want you to start if you're good enough.

And Ronaldo has been good enough.

But that's that was an interesting, little tiny nugget.

I thought.

The other one I want I want you to talk about because it was reported by dB, but it has to do with Renald's health.

It was really I think encouraging to hear where Rinaldo was after being away.

But you know, according to the report from David O'Brien, Ronaldo said that he feels pain free in his shoulder now for the first time in multiple seasons.

When she caught my.

Eye, it was like, oh, well, I mean he he was fantastic last year throwing.

I mean he was legit.

I think he led the.

National League in e RA or was awfully close to it.

I mean he made he made also he made also team had a one point nine on the ERA last year.

Yeah, I mean he was a legitimate star.

Maybe like the best pound for pound off season addition that any team made last winter.

And yeah, I was encouraging to hear that he's been throwing.

And hopefully we'll have a normal off season of ramp up and strength building and workouts.

And in terms of the starter verse reliever thing, I think we just I think the Braves are in a fascinating spot because if healthy, I think you feel really good about Spencer Strider.

I'm sorry Spencer Schwellenbach and Chris Sale and that's kind of it.

And they have all these other guys who were weird in different ways.

Like with a normal offseason, it's Spencer Strider gonna be awesome again.

Is he just gonna be pretty good?

Is he?

I think he will be good.

I think he will be good.

But I understand your point for sure.

Yeah, Like a legitimate question, what kind of workload can wh Aal the Lopez do, What can Grant Holmes do?

What if anything do they get from a J.

Smith Shauver or what do they add this Offstein, Like, there's a lot of intrigue here.

We talked about Hirston Waldrip earlier in the show.

There's a lot of intrigued with this rotation.

I think if things break right, it could legitimately be of maybe the best rotation in baseball, top three, top five.

We saw that last year.

But that's also like a massive if, because Lord knows, this team is not stayed healthy in the pitching department for multiple years.

It is a reminder when you bring that up that the Braves last season led all of baseball and starting pitcher strikeouts, and they were third in all baseball and starty pitcher ERA number one in the National League.

Yeah, they had a top three or four rotation in baseball literally one year ago, and this year it's not been that because of all kinds of things, but it is.

It is why I remember that.

And Rella is good encapsulation to that.

Like, I don't think any of us ever thought Ronaldo was a true talent one point nine to nine ERA guy, Like he had kind of a good fortune season last year, but he has been good.

He was still good last season.

He just happened to get hurt.

But the fact that he's been I mean multiple seasons could be a long time, but that just that does mean he probably pitched with a shoulder issue of some kind literally last year when he was awesome.

So whether that's good or not, we'll see.

I think I would give Ronaldo the chance to start unless the unless the medical staff, which obviously knows more than we do, thinks that he shouldn't.

Like there's gotta be a medical reason for him to not start for me.

And if you get to the point next year where he just does he's not good enough to start, there is the fallbacks should putting him bullpen.

But if I'm going to spring training and once there's a medical concern he's starting for me, like that would be what I would want to do.

It's so much easier to ramp up to be a starter and then go to the bullpen than the other.

Other around route.

Yeah exactly, Yeah, for sure.

Speaking speaking of being pain free, you missed the Sean Durfy the Sean Murphy discourse while you were gone.

We don't have to do it all now, But the part that I wanted to get your take on was the Sean didn't tell anybody of it all that that's what became a national story.

So I listened to effectively Wild, a great national podcast Ben Loberg mcrowy.

They did a whole segment about this.

I know others did too.

The part that made the national round was not that Murphy got hurt.

It was that Murphy had been hurt for a long time and didn't tell anybody, which, even as a we are known probably too much as being approch approach on market podcast, we all we all ripped him to some buried degree.

We were all negative about that too.

You got tell someonere that's my opinion.

What do you What was your reaction across the pond when that came across.

Yeah, I am alive.

If you are hurt, say something like, I know, I get it.

Man, Like, nobody wants to be the one who's making injury excuses.

Hell, we heard like a month and a half ago Akunya came out and said, you know, he felt like he missed too much time and he wanted to play through it, and then he got hurt again and he missed time and he wasn't very good after he returned.

So for Murphy, the fact he's been did I see four years that Sean Murphy's been dealing with this problem?

Now?

I think it was at least three.

Yeah, it's been a while.

Yeah, maybe it explains some of the extremely Jeckyll and hyde nature that Sean Murphy has been with the Braves.

Seemingly he's either like in the running for National League Player of the Month or he's in an zero for thirty skid.

And that's very much been the Sean Murphy experience.

And hopefully, with a off season to recover, he'll be mostly normal by spring training.

And you know, this is all assuming that Murphy's on the team next year, but I think the surgery makes it even more likely that he's going to be back.

I think we're.

Also seeing over the last two weeks Drake Baldwin has hit something of a wall.

Now, maybe that's the rookie wall, maybe it's the catcher in Atlanta wall.

Maybe he's just running in to two bad weeks of luck, right, But whatever it is, I think it's pretty clear the Braves want to run a tandem of catchers.

So I think it makes it even more likely that Murphy is back next year.

In some kind of situation, I could probably talk for an hour about the catchers and the dh and the outfield.

I thought you and Steven had a really good conversation on the most recent episode of the show.

But yeah, I mean for Murph, I hope he's one hundred percent now.

I hope the surgery is successful.

I'm glad he finally said something because play man like, just say it, and if it's a four or five month recovery time, say it, and then get the surgery in the offseason.

And if you have to miss the first couple of weeks, then miss the first couple of weeks.

It was just another thing, like I know, a couple of people have joked every time the Braves do a roster move, it's like the Braves added this player to the roster.

Additionally, somebody's arm has fallen off, or additionally somebody grew four new toes overnight.

It's like trail, Yeah, the old organ trail.

It's like you got dysentery.

Yeah, it's it's been it's been tough, and there is a I know everybody's been having the organizational thing, like is this a culture problem?

Like we don't know is the answer to that really, But the Braves have had a culture thing of guys playing through stuff that they shouldn't been playing.

I mean, you don't have to go remember when Freddy was playing the wet newspaper, Like that was maybe the epitome of this was the was the team leader, visibly not being able to swing and still playing and not refusing to sit.

This has been happening for a while.

It's not necessarily everybody, but yeah, just tell them if you're hurt, man, just say you're hurt.

It's bad.

Like anyway, done and done on Baldwin.

He has been bad lately, hopefully.

The only real storyline, honestly, like on field the last two weeks of this season, is like, please get hot for two weeks Drake, because right now he's the underdog, albeit kind of slightly.

He's plus one thirty five according to our friends at DraftKings toin Rookie of the Year, but Kate Horton is the favorite now because Drake's been cold at a bad time.

It would be good for the Braves and for Drake and everybody if he had a hot finish.

But right now, if you did the voting today, he probably wouldn't win.

So maybe not for sure he stok a win.

I'm just saying it wouldn't be like a slid knock.

The odds always seemingly changed, like by the day, it feels like Baldwin was the favorite and then he was like tied, and then he wasn't the favorite, and then he was the favorite for like forty eight hours.

I mean he's three of his last thirty six.

That will hurt you.

And if the race is close, you are going to fall if you have a stretch with that.

So yeah, big big end.

Let's hope had Sunday off Baldwin did, and let's hope it kind of gets him some his legs back underneath him.

I'm sure he's wearing down a little bit.

Of course, he's been out there pretty much.

I mean maybe what two out of three days for the better part of six months now, of course his first time going through a full major league season, but overall a fantastic rookie season for Baldwin.

Let's hope that he can kind of help the team out get Rookie of the Year, which is not only a great honor, but would also get the extra draft pick.

For sure, we're gonna get out of here a couple of roster things quickly, not even really much to add.

Jake fre to hit the iel, another guy in the il, Luke Williams, came back.

I bet you luc Wayias will pitch at some point in the next two weeks.

My guess on that Day's Bell is on the il with shoulder inflammation.

The quiet part about Dayzebell is that he's been a bad major league pitcher.

I know people love him, but he's been bad.

I have learned, I was gonna say, I have learned whenever I talk about days Bell, I think the fan base as a whole, like has favorites or players they like or don't like more than they should.

I've learned that a lot of people love DayZ Beell Hernandez.

Oh yeah, I've.

Never seen it, man, Like I know, like two months ago, I made a comment about days Bell.

I think it was talking about the closure next season, and everyone not everyone, but people were like, well what about Day's Bell?

And I thought it was being pranked, Like what.

The guy's twenty nine years I have one stat for you that tells you all you need to know.

Yeah, he's a twenty nine year old reliever with like a one to one strikeout the walk ratio.

Like what else do you want he has?

Granted it's seven innings, but he has thirty pre strikeouts and thirty walks this season.

Yeah, Like, I'm sorry, Guys like that's not gonna work.

So I'm not saying he can't be part of the bullpen next year.

He can be, for sure, there's still some talent there.

But uh, today, I mean, the reputation is far out pacing what he's actually been.

Yeah, I don't see it, but maybe I hope I'm wrong.

I mean, I hope he's great, but I.

Well, you know why his era is three point four, and that's if there are people that can only if it's that one column that matters and nothing else matters.

But his FIP is over five.

So I can promise you this, if you go into next season, if he maintains this struck out the walk ratio, he will be bad.

Like I'm very very confident about that.

Yeah, anyway, he's hurt, hopefully's not hurt bad.

Obviously, shorter information could be a bigger shoulders are tough.

If it's really bad, that's really bad.

If it's not, it's not.

Hopefully it's not for his sake as another option in the bullpen.

And the last road trip of the season begins on Monday.

The Braves play four Washington and then three in Detroit.

By the way, the four game series in Washington is over three days.

They play Monday, a double header on Tuesday, and then Wednesday, before travel day.

They did just announce as we were talking the probables at least some of the probables for the week.

Strider is pitching Monday.

It's been up and down for him, but you will get to see him for the first time, Scott with no mustache on the mount on Monday.

Then Tuesday they had not said half of the rotation, but the other half will be for sale.

And then Wednesday, Hirston Waldrup has been announced in the finale against Washington.

So obviously there is more intrigue anytime one of Strider's Sale or Waldroup pitches, at least for me.

But uh, that's what I would say about that.

We'll see the And I am always a fan of having baseball on at one o'clock on a Tuesday, so that will be there on Tuesday ten o'clock today.

I am for you.

I was going to say how many live human beings who paid American dollars for a ticket will be at that day game on Tuesday between the Braves and the Nationals.

I don't know how Washington draws.

I mean, it's a tough ask on a Tuesday afternoon when both teams are out of the running.

I would the only people there, I would imagine are the total sickos or Braves fans who live up there and just want to see the Bravees because they're in toen Yeah.

Yeah, uh.

DC is a interesting town, like you get the whole locale.

But it's I it's it's Tuesday at one I tough, tough yeah.

Uh anyway, so that nope, nope, no, not on this podcast.

Uh anyway, that's the lay of the land when they come home at the end of the season.

But two weeks left, thirteen games left in this quite frankly season from hell, and uh, here we are, Scott.

I'm glad you're back.

Thank you for being here.

Good to be bit Brad.

As always with you, Atlanta Braves fever catch it now.

This is one of those times when Scott is a delirious one.

Even though we recorded.

This is like eight pm Eastern time.

Scott hasn't slept and is on coffee and the Falcons are about to play, So my mental state's about to go downhill in a hurry.

It's an interesting Sunday night.

But I'm glad you're here.

That gives me cover from when I go out of the country a couple of weeks.

I could say, well, Scott did it, so there we go.

Yes, the show goes on.

You me, Stephen, Sean will keep going, and even when the regular season end, if you're new, we will keep going throughout October.

Kind of previewing the off season, probably a little bit of playoff baseball talk, and then once the off season starts, it kind of gets rolling.

I mean, we have plenty to talk about.

There's certainly no shortage of things on the immediate horizon for the Braves, both roster moves, coaching, who's going to manage I mean, there's a lot of things in the next maybe six weeks that are going to be really interesting for this team.

Oh yeah, absolutely, So please keep it locked here.

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Follow Scott at Scott Coleman fifty five for all of your Indianapolis Colts Arizona football.

I was gonna say, I'm going to change my handle to like Daniel Jones fan or something like that.

Because yeah, you're two and oh Indianapolis Colts.

Yeah, and this was the other half of this podcast.

I'm sure Steven would have brought up a certain Colla football result on Saturday, but Sean's not here and I don't want to pile on so and also, I like, I like everybody.

I'm I'm, I'm I'm pro.

I have no I have no sec rooting a line, no sec rooting allegiances whatsoever.

People assume I'm a Georgia fan.

I'm not almost not an anti Georgia Burt.

It is what it is.

So Scott, thank you again.

I appreciate it.

Man, my pleasure.

Brad, good to be back.

I'm gonna go slip take a nap.

Yeah, the jet lag and time difference is kind of killing me right now.

But hey, we got like an hour long show.

On a Sunday night for a baseball team that is dead in the water.

That's what we do here and again, as always, a big thank you to everybody for checking.

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