Welcome one and all to the Hammer Territory Podcast.

My name is Sean Coleman.

Hope for wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you are having a great start to your week.

The Coleman and Coleman Law Firm here with you again to talk about a great victory for the Braves that come from behind.

Eleven to ten victory.

I don't know if this takes away from the eleven to ten loss against Arizona earlier in the year that many considered to be one of the worst losses out there.

Yes, I'm gonna go ahead and get that out of the way.

But the point is we won a baseball game in exciting fashion.

Scott Coleman, good to be with you as always, Scott.

I know the season in terms of expectations is basically over, but when the offense is going, things are more fun and right now without expectations, games like this are fun and it's good to recap the after multiple months of misery.

Yeah, that was a really fun game tonight, Sean, and I mean behind the curtain, you and I were a couple of seconds away from hitting play or I guess hitting record on this podcast episode when they were down ten to four and it was gonna be well.

That was fun while it lasted.

Braves just got blown out back to back nights by the White Sox, who are very bad.

But that was legitimately fun and sure, at the end of the day, the Braves are still well below five hundred.

In a different universe, the Braves would be in the playoff chase and this would be a big, big step forward.

But at the end of the day, watching the Braves come back, score a bunch of runs, which has been a theme lately, and win games no matter what the situation is is always a lot of fun.

Absolutely, we want to give the White Sox a bit of credit.

You know, they have been a tough opponent for the Braves over the past couple of years, and this White Sox team over this stretch in the second half of the season.

We talked about the Braves offense taking off a bit.

This White Sox team has been no slouch.

They've been a very good offensive team in the second half of the season.

But again, yes, these are teams that the Braves should beat.

But let's get to the reason why the Braves were able to get this victory, and it was big contributions from the one and only Drake Baldwin.

Here.

In recent days, Scott, we've seen the Rookie of the Year race, which many of us considered to be the biggest storyline for the Braves remaining this year, we've seen the fact that that has become much tighter.

Isaac Collins of the Milwaukee Brewers having an outstanding season contributing to the great run that they've been on.

Drake Baldwin has not played as much, fell off a little bit production wise, But tonight should remind folks that if you just simply play Drake Baldwin, he likely will let things take care of themselves.

Big moments, multiple big moments.

Tonight delivered in each of them.

That's the thing that stands out about Drake Baldwin.

The bigger the moment, the bigger he comes through when it comes to his production.

Yeah, Baldwin, I mean, he's just such an impressive hitter.

And you know, this has been a rare situation in the last at least couple of games where Baldwin has not been very good, at least by his very lofty standards.

But you would never know, and I think that is a sign of a really special baseball player, especially one as young and early in his career as Baldwin is is.

You would never know.

He could be oh for his last twenty or he could be twenty for his last twenty.

And it feels like Baldwin has the same approach up there, always puts together a good at bat and had the big swing tonight after.

I mean, all right, Sean, we have to talk about the bunt with the bases loaded from Michael Harris.

I I was in disbelief.

The cameras panned to Brian Snicker in the bullpen.

There's no way the dugout called for a bunt there if folks may be missed it, or just to reset the stage.

Braves are down by one run, bases loaded, no one out, the White Sox pitcher cannot throw a strike, and Michael Harris goes up there and lays down a bunt.

I was in shock.

It was probably the most mind numbing thing I have seen since Eli White decided to you turn on the bases a couple of months ago.

Thank goodness that Baldwin came up two hitters later and had to go ahead hit, because I mean, I was in shock, Sean, I didn't know what to say.

It was.

I don't know what Mike was thinking there.

Yeah, I need for it to be understood.

You know one thing that we talk about, Scott, over the past twelve to eighteen months, when it comes to this organization, there have been more times than we're comfortable with I think when it comes to covering the team, where we've been like this is a little bit less than common sense.

Where is the common sense here?

I need for anybody who is a part of the Braves organization to listen to this.

We have had our worst season expectation wides in over three decades.

The subject of bunting has been a bigger, more talked about subject this year than it has in over a decade.

There's a correlation stop bunting in big moments.

Soapbox removed, Scott go ahead.

Yeah, amen, I could not agree more.

And it's funny that, of course Michael Harris almost I mean, he has a real claim at being the best hitter in baseball right now, had another home run to den center field on a ball that was off the plate tonight in the first inning.

He is so locked in why are you trying to bunt there?

But I guess, and also Michael Harris fashion in the top of the ninth as the Braves have just made a big comeback and had the lead, Harris made a nice running catch in the gap to prevent a double and then made like an Andrew Jones type of play on a ball that was in front of him for the third and final out in the ninth inning.

So overall, really good night for Michael Harris.

But yeah, I mean, I don't have the postgame on.

I'm hoping that somebody will ask Brian Snicker or maybe even Michael Harris about the bunt.

I'm guessing he probably just tried to big brain it and thought maybe he could sneak a bunt past the pitcher.

It was a lefty, so maybe that was part of it.

But hey, at the end of the day, the Braves won.

It's not the end of the world that Harris bunted there and then Ozuna popped out and fell territory and it was like, all right, here we go.

They're gonna blow this, even in a season where this game does not mean a whole lot.

But yeah, just no bunting.

Ever, maybe not ever, but I think the four hosts on this podcast would agree.

It has to be very very specific situations where you can bunt, and doing it with the bases loaded nobody out in a one run baseball game is not the situation.

Absolutely, And besides that bunt, listen, we've talked about Michael Harris episode in episode and it's been absolutely deserved with how incredible he has been.

Another home run tonight, And I've mentioned this multiple times before, but I just want to mention it again.

I went back and double checked my work when it came to Michael Harris because I have mentioned we have seen Michael Harris this locked in this time of year before.

I went back and looked his rookie season twenty twenty two.

Between August first and September fifteenth of that year, he had the second highest f war of any outfielder not named Aaron Judge.

Only Aaron Judge over that six week span had a higher f war than Michael Harris.

So we've seen what Michael Harris can do.

Right now, He's not reminding people what he's capable of.

He's showing people that he's capable of doing things not many others are capable of.

That's how locked in he is.

So the big keeper Michael Harris is figuring out how to expand this over a full season.

Scott, It's absolutely incredible.

It is awesome to see him as locked in as he is, and you have to hope with the differences in the plate approach that he has, that is what's going to help him sustain it.

I think you have to just kind of cross your fingers and hope that this is a sign of things to come from Mike.

We have seen him throughout his career that when he is going, he is as good as anybody on the baseball field that night.

But we've also seen really low lows.

With the lowest of low's coming in the first half of this season, just a remarkable turnaround.

We mentioned he had the homer tonight.

He is now currently the third highest WRC plus and OPS of all major leaguers in the second half of the season.

He was dead last in OPS in the first half of the year.

And that's baseball for you, man.

I mean, it's a funny game.

It's a brutally difficult game.

But because Harris has made some changes, he moved his hands in the batter's box, it feels like it might be real.

You just have to hope that he's able to sustain this and then of course go into twenty twenty six and continue to be the player.

He's not going to be Barry Bonds for the rest of his career like he has been for a month and a half, but at least be more of the player that we have come to enjoy so much and just appreciate, really his five tools out in the field.

Absolutely, and let's expand this overall, because Baldwin had a big game, Michael Harris had a big game, Jerkson Profar had a big game, matt Olsen obviously has been matt Olsen streaky at times, but overall won the best first baseman in the game.

Scott, what is the one thing that all of those players have in common.

They mainly hit.

Right.

Either they're all left handed or a switch hitter, but all left handed for the most part.

Absolutely.

So we are in a season that you can consider to be a lost, disappointing failure of a season, what have you.

But I want to go back to twelve months ago when we were Todd well, excuse me, basically ten or nine months ago, when we were talking about the fact that this offense with how they fell off in twenty twenty four.

They needed to get more balanced because you had Ozuna, Riley and Acuna Junior, who you could have made the case with Olsen were our four best hitters.

We were too right handed heavy.

Well, now, coming into the end of this year, just think about it, Olson, Olson, Profar, as well as Baldwin and Harris.

I'm not necessarily saying what they're doing right now they're going to do over a full year, but at the very least, that's a very impressive quartet of left handed hitters.

Next year, you're still going to have a Coony and Riley if we don't sign Ozuna, but all of a sudden, this offense not only gets more balanced now we really do have some depth from the left handed side, and that is a characteristic that you see with some of the best teams in baseball.

That is one positive development that we're really seeing at its peak right now for this team.

And left handed hitters.

Truest Park have such an advantage because of how that ballpark plays, and it's why for years on this podcast we have maybe not begged, but begged the Braves to go out and add some more left handed pop to this lineup because you can see like Jerks and Profar in a short amount of time seemingly sends a baseball to the chop house every couple nights.

And of those four players you mentioned, Profar's development might be the biggest one.

After another big night on Tuesday, he is up to a one hundred and thirty five WRC plus on the season and an eight thirty eight OPS.

You have to take that all day long and twice again on Sundays, because that is really really good production for a player that we had a lot of questions about after the ped suspension.

It's fair to keep things in context.

Obviously.

One of the things is is that you know we're facing a weaker part of the schedule.

I know, again we're not really playing to win right now, but I don't want to take way from how awesome it is to see this.

We had been asking for this offense to be more consistent.

We had been asking for this offense to come together, show power again, show the ability to hit with Progerson, scoring position, show more balance.

We're getting all of that.

That is a great development.

If it continue through the end of the season, that really will be a best case scenario going into the offseason.

But with all the positivity, even with the wins losses, not counting all the positivity on the field, there is still some noteworthy developments that may not necessarily be that positive.

With some noteworthy names.

Scott and I will discuss that in just a moment after a word from our partners FTFAM.

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Of course, Scott as the offense is performing at a level that we have been hoping for that we have not seen for quite a while.

It's the pitching, unfortunately now that kind of has taken a step back, but that was expected with all the injuries that has happened to the starting staff as well as you know, some shuffle in the bullpen what have you.

But one name that you would not expect to be struggling at the level that he is right now is Spencer Streyder like that, that's just a simple straightforward observation.

He's coming off.

I haven't looked at the numbers, but I would be willing to bet it's the worst three start stretch of his career, prone to Homer's the fastballs not performing nearly where it did.

You know in the past.

The slider is struggling as well.

Overall, Spencer Strider right now is far from where he wants to be that.

I don't necessarily want to say is a big development, but it just continues to be a bigger storyline in a concerning fashion than we had hoped it would be at this point of the season.

Yeah, I think it's fair to have some legitimate concerns about Strider at this point.

It is worth reminding people that, honestly, this time a month ago, Strider was coming off a really, really good stretch of pitching, and that gives me some hope.

Now we'll never know exactly what the t total causes here.

Streider talked after the blow up on Monday night with the media and really just kind of made it sound like some of the changes that he needs to make are not necessarily ones that he's going to be able to make in the middle of the season when he's throwing every fifth day.

So it seems like it's something in the off season that Stryder's gonna have to address.

I do feel, and I'm curious to know how you feel, Sean.

I do feel like a normal off season, hopefully a healthy off season, six more months away from the elbow surgery.

He can go through a throwing program, he can lift weights, without any restrictions.

I feel in my heart of hearts that Strider is going to be okay with a normal off season.

But this last handful of starts has been really rough to watch.

The fastball is getting hit hard, and the slider, which is such a devastating weapon, is just not breaking and locating in the way that Strider needs it to be in order to get hitters out with any kind of consistency.

Absolutely, and the the good thing is is that the velocity is starting to sustain.

I believe that he had his highest average fastball velocity from his fast start, so that is a positive if he still can have above average velocity.

And the main thing that he really needs to go into when it comes to the offseason is placement of his pitches.

I trust the mentality and the competitive focus of Strider to figure things out.

That's the big thing that stands out to me.

But of course, as we start to see him struggle more and more, the questions become bigger.

When do you potentially look to shut Spencer Strider down for the season.

I don't think we're to that point yet, but I do think that we're getting close to a threshold that could indicate when that might occur.

Right now, Spencer Strider is at eighty nine and two thirds inning Scott when Chris Sel comes back, I think right now we're already in the midst of having a six man rotation.

That may not be correct since we released the Colis Carrasco, but my point is at least when Sel comes back, we'll have a six man rotation.

I think that gives Strider three more starts at least going into September, he'll clear that one hundred innings pitch threshold, and then I think that the question will become legitimate.

Is it time to potentially shut him down and really have him focused.

I don't think we're anywhere close to that yet, Number one, because I don't think Strider wants to do that.

He wants to end the season on a positive note.

But that one hundred any threshold, I think is something to watch.

Plus it gives him a bit of time to end the season on a good note.

Yeah, I think for Strider, labor Day is probably the date that circled on the calendar for let's evaluate and see where we are at.

And that's of course ten days from now, two starts from now, and see, and I do think there is probably something to be said that just from a mental aspect, Strider wants to finish strong and not have his final start of the season be him just getting blown up by the Chicago White Sox or another bad team.

I think that's kind of where we're at with Strider.

I'm if like a ten was I am like my hair's on fire and I'm super pan and a one as I have no cares or panic in the world.

I'm at like a five or six on Strider right now.

He's too valuable to this team to not be good moving forward, and the Braves owe him a lot of money the next couple of seasons.

They frankly need Strata to be better and hopefully be more like the guy he was from maybe the middle of June to the middle of July, and not the guy he's been over the last month from maybe late July to late August.

Absolutely, you want the best out of Spencer Strider.

He wants the best.

And again, if we're on that scale that you're talking about, I'm at about a four because I'm putting a lot of emphasis on Spencer Strider the person, the mentality, the confidence, and the overall just the lack of a better way of putting it.

The intuness.

As shit Stedmans said in Rookie of the Year, the have to Spencer Striders have to is off the charts.

If you don't know the scene I'm talking about, oh you yourself to go watch it.

But my point is is that Spencer Strider, he's got all the intangibles that value the value of the intangibles stands out more moments like this, I think we're going to see Spencer Strider, maybe not me the picture he once was, but be a highly effective pitcher in whatever version of his stuff.

He has six to seven months from now when we're really ramping up for the twenty twenty six seasons.

Speaking of season outlook for the remainder of this year for folks.

Austin Riley over the past couple of days has put in more baseball workouts, he's ran, he's done some baseball activity, and today it was reported that he felt discomfort once again with his abdomen.

Scott.

When it comes to that report, they're now going to have him reevaluated by doctors on Wednesday.

I don't necessarily think a realistic chance of an outcome is for them to come back and see, well, he's out for the season tomorrow.

But I do feel that it's very, very likely that we're going to see his time away from the field extended more than just a couple of days, probably at least a few weeks, to where being out for the rest of the season.

It could be a possibility.

And at this point I'm fine with that, with how last season ended, with how this season is ended Austin Riley.

I'm not saying he's injury prone.

I just feel bad with the fact you can't play baseball, but you want him to be as healthy as possible going into next year.

Yeah, it's getting mildly concerning with Riley because now it's the same injury that has kept popping up.

Yeah, and I know they've said it's a lower abdominant abdominal issue.

I don't know if specifically we know exactly what's wrong in there, but I think we have to kind of hold our breath just a little bit that we don't get really bad news on Riley with like, if a surgery was needed, that would obviously be terrible news, and I don't think we're going to be at that point, he was able to run and do some workouts before, so it's not like there's something horribly wrong in there.

But the fact this is a nagging injury that keeps popping up, presumably soft tissue of some kind, makes me a little nervous and you want to make sure you don't do anything, especially with the situation being what it is for the Braves in twenty five.

Don't be dumb.

Give the guy some rest and if that means he doesn't play again this season, then so be it.

Absolutely Again, when it comes to the most noteworthy names, Strider, Sell, Schwellenbach, Acunya, Riley the big key right now for all those guys, just have them as healthy as possible going into the off season to where health is not a concern, focusing on getting back to their normal level production is the pure focus, and that's going to set us up best for the twenty twenty six and beyond.

But while not seeing Riley for the rest of the year would be a bit of a disappointment, it also could bring up some opportunity, not only for Nacho Alvarez but others as well.

A bit of talk plus a move by the Braves today a bit of talk on how the depth of the position players is shaping up for twenty twenty six and possibly beyond.

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L So with the sick time, this year.

You know, we talk about Austin Riley potentially being out for an extended period, maybe for the rest of the year.

You have to wonder at some point made the Braves you know, shut down Akoonya.

Maybe as we get into September, what have you.

There's going to be opportunity for depth options on this Braves team.

And for the second time this year, the Braves added to their depth from the Cincinnati Reds by getting left handed hitting outfielder Jake Fraley Scott.

I think that this is a very intriguing move, a bit more of a eyebrow raising move for what he could be beyond this year than previous editions they've done.

I think it was a very astute move by the Braves to bring Frehley into the equation.

Yeah, so, I mean, Jake Frayley is a real major leaguer and he's been around for a while.

He has solid career numbers.

Now, I mean, he was available and he was DFAD for a reason here, so we should at least say that.

But Freiley, you mentioned he's a left handed hitting outfielder.

For his career, Frayley has a one to twelve WRC plus against right handed pitching, which is interesting.

He quite literally cannot hit left handed pitching, so to me, he is very much a fourth or fifth outfielder.

He could be a pinch hitting option off the bench.

And as you said, if the Braves do God forbid, lose one of their outfielders injury in these final six weeks, or if they want to just shut down the jets on Akunya for a little while before the season ends, you're going to need another outfielder.

And Frayley's a real guy.

And not only that, but Frayley is technically under team control for twenty twenty six.

If the Braves so choose, Frayley would be in his final year of arbitration.

He made three point twenty five million dollars this year, so he'll probably make about four million bucks.

If the Braves opt to bring Freiley back, I'm guessing the next six weeks are going to be kind of an open tryout.

I could maybe be talked into it if he performs well and if they feel like they're going to have a real role for him as a lefty specialist in some kind of role.

But for million dollars is also not nothing, So if the guy just doesn't show you a whole lot.

It would not be a big surprise if they decided to non tender him in a couple of months.

But I do want to put the emphasis on Frailey, you know, being in the equation because it makes sense why the Braves put an emphasis.

And let's also not you know, bad deny to the fact that the fact that they've struggled so much this year put them down the bar put them high on the list to be one of the first in line to get Frayley.

The reason why it's intriguing for next year is because the fact that he's done pretty decent against right handed pitching.

And when you look at profar, you look at Michael Harris, who in twenty three and twenty four he averaged one hundred and twenty five games a season.

This year looks like he's going to play the full season, So hats off to him.

And of course, a Kunya, you know, the injury risk with him is a bit higher than you know you may be comfortable with.

The Braves need that depth that they can trust against right handed pitching that also can handle each outfit position pretty well.

He's better in the corners than center but that's the reason why it's intriguing, because if the Braves were to see any of their starting outfielders next year potentially miss time.

You've got someone who's not to the level of these guys, but at least can be passable as a regular for a short period of time.

That is definitely encouraging compared to the options that the Braves have had in recent years from the way of hand in side of the plate.

Yeah, I mean, it's both sad and also just kind of a fact of life that the last few years the Braves have found themselves in real need of outfielders.

And sure, you can't always predict who's going to get hurt and who's going to be healthy, but you need depth and that's probably one of the just recurring themes of these past couple of seasons where the Braves have dealt with injury after injury.

You have to have depth, and ideally you're not calling on a player who just has no business being out there again freely.

He's not a star.

He is very much a certain kind of player at this point in his career, a left handed outfielder who can play a little bit of defense, he can run the bases a little bit, and he can hit right handed pitching pretty well, and that's not a small thing.

And those are skills that are all in demand, especially for a team that could use a little bit more off their bench.

Absolutely, And the one difference between Frayley's upside and others that we've seen.

You know, I know that Mierfield as well as Loriano, they did well last year, but they were from the right handed side of the plate.

It's the potential against right handed pitching if an injury were occurred to one of our regulars for a short period of time.

Frayley's upside in that situation is what makes him so intriguing.

But Frailey to the side, you know, he may get an extended look at some point over the rest of the season.

A couple of other names, Nacho Alvarez, Scott.

He's starting to show a bit of life.

Now.

I've not had the highest opinion of Nacho Alvarez when it comes to being, you know, his major league potential.

I just don't see a lot of offensive potential enough for him to be a reliable regular, especially for a team that's trying to win.

But he's starting to show some life he's starting to put together more active at bats, more productive at bats, And I will give him credit, he is a reliable fielder when he's in front of the ball.

Now, I think that's much easier at third or second than it is short.

But my point is him convincing me he could be a notable bench piece for a team that's trying to win.

My opinion of him being that has certainly gone up over the past couple of weeks to his credit, and we're going to get an extended look at that if Austin Riley is out for an extended period of time to end this season.

Yeah, this is very much an open tryout, open audition for Nacho.

And you know, unfortunately for him the past really two seasons, injuries have hadn't kind of kept him off the field more than I think Nacho would like, but he is.

He is showing some signs of improvement, putting together better at bats, driving the ball a little bit.

And you know, if you asked me what is Nacho Alvarez going to be in three years, I think he's good enough to be a utility player.

I don't think he's ever going to be good enough to get regular at bats.

He's still young enough, so he could improve, But I think there's just some limitations that Nacho has.

Unless he suddenly just develops a little more bat speed or adjusts his approach at the plate where he drives the baseball better.

I just don't ever think he's gonna hit enough to be a full on regular.

But there is value in a cheap, versatile player who can cover the infield.

Maybe they start having Nacho play a little left field or right field in the spring, get him out there in an emergency situation.

There's value in players with that kind of a skill set.

Absolutely.

Speaking of those expanded skill sets, Eli White is another very intriguing name.

I think he's someone that overall has done more than you may have predicted he you would expect from him.

This year, I think his number has been called on a bit more than many had hoped it would be.

But he's held his own.

He's had his offensive struggles, but you see what he could do with the base pass, you see what he could do in the field.

We did get to see a little bit of versatility in spring training.

I think he's someone that clearly has carved a path for himself to be a part of the twenty sixteen as a bench piece, and if you could tap into that versatility with him playing some multiple positions for the rest of this year, that can only add to his value.

I've been overall pleased with Eli White.

Again, just making sure you don't get too extended when it comes to his playing time.

I think Eli White very much has a set role and he can fly on the basis you need a speedsterir like that, especially when you have a couple of really slow runners as the Braves have with Ozuna and Olsen and Profar and the catchers.

This is not a super fast lineup.

So Eli White has some real assets with his speed, and he's shown a good amount this year that he can run into a ball and hit it over the fence, or put a ball in play and use his speed to steal a single out of it.

So yeah, I like Eli White.

He's better than I thought he was going to be.

I think you're absolutely right.

You don't want to really be in a situation where you are relying on Eli White on a daily basis or even a semi daily basis, But he has real value on this team, and teams can use in Eli White.

They can use a Nacho Alvarez, they can use it Jake Freeley.

We'll of course have to see if they have roster spots in twenty twenty six, but for now, I think all three of those guys are probably going to see a decent amount of playing time down the stretch.

So then the most intriguing question when it comes to these depth options, as you're potentially filling out a bench for a winner or what you hope is a winner in twenty twenty six is Nick Allen?

Now?

I want to make it clear Nick Allen, in terms of when he was acquired and the expectations for him when he was acquired, he has been a clear win this year.

He's one of the top two shortstops right now with Mason Win of the Saint Louis Cardinals in consideration for a Gold Glove honor.

I hope he wins it.

He deserves it, that's how good of a defensive player he is.

I also think that he has value to a winner as a late eating substitute at a very important position when it comes to his defensive value.

But he absolutely cannot be your starting shortstop going into twenty twenty six.

He just can't.

That's nothing against Nick Allen.

It's just a simple fact.

This team needs a six fifty to seven hundred producing ops wise shortstop to be able to get leads earlier in games, and then Allen can come in later.

But as we start naming off these other depth options, Scott, is there going to be room for Nick Allen?

I think there potentially can be.

But my point is is that I feel that there's value in Nick Allen, but that value starts to go down a bit as we name these other names with a bit more upside.

And also when you mentioned the fact you just can't go into twenty twenty six with him as your starting shortstop.

I could not agree more.

I mean this, I tweeted it actually on Tuesday night.

Love Nick Allen for the glove, but you can't run it back with it.

He has a five forty nine ops this season.

That's unpre eeuably bad.

He should win a gold Glove.

We'll see gold gloves are often popularity contests.

We will see how that goes.

But he is a fantastic defender.

But you have to have more than just a glove at shortstop, especially for the Braves.

With the other concerns this lineup has right now.

I absolutely think that Nick Allen will be on this team in twenty six as the defensive whiz on the infield.

He can also run, so that's not a small thing.

He could be a speedster as well.

Maybe someone like Eli White gets squeezed off because you feel like, while Nick Allen is not as fast as Eli White, he can at least be a much better base running option late and then you can sub him in at shortstop or second base or wherever you want to put him.

But yeah, I mean, I think one of my bold predictions this year was that Orlando Arcia was going to lose his job to Nick Allen.

I didn't necessarily think it was gonna happen two weeks into the year, which is when that transition basically happened.

But I just I don't see a world where you can go into twenty twenty six without some kind of improvement at shortstop.

And many may think, Okay, why are we talking about what the bench may look like in twenty twenty six.

Well, it's important because that puts more emphasis on the guys that are going to get the majority of the playing time for the rest of twenty twenty five, and especially when you go into twenty twenty six coming off two straight years with so many potential injuries this year included, and you're probably going to have a roster to open up if, for instance, Ozuona is not back trades were to happen, what have you.

So it's making value out of the guys who are going to get the bulk of playing time for the reigning of this year, for the remainder of this year, not only Michael Harris, Profar and others improving their stock when they're going to be required pieces for US winning in twenty twenty six, but that depth, adding more depth to that if we do occur, if injuries do occur, that's going to be a really big part to watch as well for the rest of this year.

Hopefully all the guys we name can have successful ends to the season.

Scott, anything else from you as we wrap up this edition of the ham Our Territory Podcast.

Not much for me, Sean.

I mean, a fun game tonight.

It looked like the Braves were gonna get blown out for the second night in a row to the White Sox, and it was like, dear Lord, of course they're getting blown out again by the White Sox after a really good week last year in New York and then the sweep in Cleveland.

So nice to win one.

It was a fun game tonight, we'll see It is Hurston Waldrop Day on Wednesday, which is exciting, probably the best day of the week right now in terms of Braves pitching.

So I think a lot of folks are tuning in to see what Waldrop can do, and I think I can tease that I believe we're going to have another show breaking down that start from Waldrop on Wednesday night.

So as always, thank you to everybody for tuning in, and if you are a new listener, please hit that subscribe button.

We'll have shows throughout the rest of the regular season, and then we do not take a break.

We keep rolling all off season long.

YEP.

Steven Tolbert and Scott Covid will be with you tomorrow night, and then me and Stephen will be back on Thursday night breaking down all the action for the Braves.

And of course you can find all the great content from Scott Scott fifty five on Twitter slash x.

My name is Sean Comnette stats SAC on Twitter slash X.

You can find Hammer Territory across all forms of social media, part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts.

Whoop, look at that?

Look at that?

Just perfect setting right there.

Of course, cannot thank you enough.

Make sure you listen to it wherever you find your podcast.

That's where we'll be for free nearly every day on YouTube as well, again under the Foul Territory family of podcasts.

Listen these wins.

I know that many feel that they don't mean much, and that is accurate.

But again, at least for this year, when you're seeing the contributions we're getting from players who are going to matter plenty when we want to win to get in twenty twenty six, you want them to be rewarded with wins.

It's good to see it.

Plus Baldwin making some more headway on that Reokie of the Year March.

Until next time, go bravez.

We'll talk to you again soon.

Here of a Hammer Territory podcast.

Let them let the gas, to let them let

The copy