Opening Day Roster and Braves Season Preview

In Episode 351 of the Hammer Territory Podcast, Shawn Coleman and Stephen Tolbert break down the Atlanta Braves opening day roster. Plus some predictions on the Braves from many different perspectives, including where they ultimately fit in a playoff run. 

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Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the Hammer Territory Podcast. My

Speaker 1: name is Jell and Coleman. Hope, wherever you are and

Speaker 1: wherever you are listening, you are having a great week

Speaker 1: and you should absolutely be having one of the best

Speaker 1: weeks you've had in quite a while. We're at the

Speaker 1: sweet sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. Hey, we've got draft

Speaker 1: season across the board in many other sports, but none

Speaker 1: of that compares to the truth that is finally here,

Speaker 1: whether you consider it a threat or a treat with

Speaker 1: how this spring is gone for the Braves. Baseball is

Speaker 1: not only here, it's not only back, but it now

Speaker 1: counts two nights away from the Braves taking on the

Speaker 1: Royals in the first game of the season. And here

Speaker 1: to break it all down with me, one of the

Speaker 1: best when it comes to breaking down the Braves podcast partner.

Speaker 1: And you know what, my friend maybe not potentially Sunday,

Speaker 1: but my friend Steven told Steven it's good to talk

Speaker 1: with you, sir.

Speaker 2: What's all buddy.

Speaker 3: So this is it, man, this is the This is

Speaker 3: opening week of Major League Baseball. You got you kind

Speaker 3: of have to say opening week now because we do this,

Speaker 3: you know, netflix game tonight and then you know, opening

Speaker 3: day for a bunch of teams is tomorrow, and then

Speaker 3: the Braves don't open till Friday. So it's a it's

Speaker 3: a progressive thing, uh for Braves fans this year.

Speaker 2: But we're here.

Speaker 3: Spring spring training is over. There are no more spring

Speaker 3: training games.

Speaker 2: WBC's behind us.

Speaker 3: It is just regular season baseball and then maybe you know,

Speaker 3: God willing some postseason baseball just for you know, just

Speaker 3: for some fun. So I'm excited. I'm I'm really excited.

Speaker 3: I you know, it hasn't been the spring training that

Speaker 3: everybody wanted. There's been a lot of negative news and

Speaker 3: we've had to cover every bit of it here, of course,

Speaker 3: and the roster is not exactly the roster we thought

Speaker 3: we'd get. We're actually gonna talk about that in our

Speaker 3: opening segment. But you ride with a squad that you

Speaker 3: have right opening day gets here, and you just ride

Speaker 3: with a squad that you have. That's your team, those

Speaker 3: are your boys, And I'm excited that the games now

Speaker 3: really count like this is the most exciting time of year.

Speaker 3: So yeah, it's good to be on with you.

Speaker 1: Man, absolutely, And that's the thing, you know, that's the

Speaker 1: mentality that the players have had. That's what Chrissell talked about.

Speaker 1: You know multiple times during the spring. They're ready to go,

Speaker 1: they are ready to go to war. They're ready to

Speaker 1: mix it up. And when it comes to the opening

Speaker 1: day roster, that's gonna be the start of our show.

Speaker 1: We're gonna mix it up a little bit with the

Speaker 1: opening day roster, some predictions as well as a preview

Speaker 1: of Game one of the season with some take so

Speaker 1: hot when you listen to this podcast, you're gonna have

Speaker 1: to wear an oven, mit. We're about to mix it up.

Speaker 1: Engineered by fasten All. Steven is amazed when it comes

Speaker 1: to me in my segues. Now I'm using props when

Speaker 1: it comes to the Braves, we now know were opening

Speaker 1: day roster. And the truth is it's not the opening

Speaker 1: day roster that even five days ago many of us

Speaker 1: thought would be the case. But it's here. As Steven mentioned,

Speaker 1: it's the roster that the guys and the fan base

Speaker 1: is ready to ride with no real surprises. But the

Speaker 1: thing that does stand out, Stephen is that there are

Speaker 1: some clear strengths of this team as well as some

Speaker 1: parts of this team that certainly are not to the

Speaker 1: level where we had hoped they would be again, even

Speaker 1: a week or five days ago.

Speaker 3: Yeah, so listen, if you if you had given me

Speaker 3: this list of names back on, you know, February twelfth

Speaker 3: or whatever day we opened up camp, I would have

Speaker 3: had a lot of questions about what just happened over

Speaker 3: the last six weeks. There are some names on here

Speaker 3: that I, I mean, I quite frankly never would have

Speaker 3: put in the opening day lineup.

Speaker 2: We're gonna go through it real quick.

Speaker 3: So obviously, you know, on the pitching side, you've got

Speaker 3: Chris Sale, You've got Ronaldo Lopez. So Spencer Strider got

Speaker 3: put on the fifteen day IL today, so and that

Speaker 3: was not news.

Speaker 2: We knew that was coming.

Speaker 3: But then you've got Grant Holmes, You've got Ranger Swarez,

Speaker 3: and you've got Bryce Elder in the rotation. And I'm

Speaker 3: not surprised. No one's surprised. And I've kind of had

Speaker 3: a few days to kind of make my peace with this.

Speaker 2: I'm annoyed.

Speaker 3: I'm very annoyed that we didn't see this coming, that

Speaker 3: we didn't make moves, that they didn't add to the rotation.

Speaker 3: This was the most predictable outcome that the Brave is

Speaker 3: gonna lose multiple starters in spring training. But this is

Speaker 3: who they have right now, and they put Didder Fintes

Speaker 3: in the bullpen.

Speaker 2: I get it.

Speaker 3: I get with the names they have available, I get it.

Speaker 3: It doesn't mean I'm not annoyed. I am annoyed. I'm

Speaker 3: extremely annoyed that they didn't add to the rotation. But

Speaker 3: this is who they have, and based on who didn't

Speaker 3: have options, who did have options, you know, who's ready

Speaker 3: to pitch now versus who's maybe a few more weeks away,

Speaker 3: like Martine Perez or Didier Flintes. I get it, but

Speaker 3: and I'm curious to see which. I want to know

Speaker 3: what you think about this as well. But the rotation

Speaker 3: annoys the hell out of me every time I look

Speaker 3: at it. But I understand based off what we've known

Speaker 3: the last couple of days, at least I do understand it.

Speaker 1: So the thing that stands out to me is this

Speaker 1: is that I am a huge advocate for Alex and Thopolis.

Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of he is. I'm a supporter

Speaker 1: room he is. Think he's among the best in the game.

Speaker 1: This roster, being where it is right now, is probably

Speaker 1: one of the few times, if maybe the only time

Speaker 1: where I look at it and I'm like, Alex, the

Speaker 1: way that you went about constructing this was wrong in

Speaker 1: my ava's That's what I've come to, and I think

Speaker 1: that many hold bad opinion, and I feel that criticism

Speaker 1: is deserved, but we've expressed that we're passed out. James

Speaker 1: counting is now what matters more than being critical of

Speaker 1: what should have happened or has not happened? What have you?

Speaker 1: A couple of things that stand out to me. Number one,

Speaker 1: the Braves starting rotation should be the five guys that

Speaker 1: they trust the most to get through an opposing lineup

Speaker 1: multiple times, or that can at least throw five competitive innings,

Speaker 1: meaning they can keep the team in the game after

Speaker 1: five innings. To me, right now, that those five guys

Speaker 1: are Chris Hill, God Willing, Ronaldo Lopez, Grant Holmes, Brice

Speaker 1: Elder earned the air for one test. Those are the

Speaker 1: guys that should be starting now. If you want to

Speaker 1: go to a six man rotation, okay, that's fine, that's

Speaker 1: the three. That's the five that I think should be

Speaker 1: the starting rotation. But as critical as I think it's

Speaker 1: fair to be of this roster, there still stands out

Speaker 1: to me plenty of opportunity to get off to a

Speaker 1: good start this season, and part of it has to

Speaker 1: do with our schedule. Because the thing that stands out

Speaker 1: to me about this roster, the offense has the potential

Speaker 1: to be really good, really quick when it comes to

Speaker 1: this season, and you clearly have one of the best

Speaker 1: bullpens in baseball. And that that leads me to a

Speaker 1: point that I think is very important to know about

Speaker 1: the start of the season the Braves. As at the

Speaker 1: start of the season, if you get a fangrass and

Speaker 1: you look at you know, the team death charts, and

Speaker 1: you look at the projected you know, uh WRC plus

Speaker 1: for different position groups, and you look at the projected

Speaker 1: FIP for different pitching groups. If you go by projected numbers,

Speaker 1: the Braves do not face either a offense or a

Speaker 1: bullpen that is projected to be better than their own

Speaker 1: offense or bullpen until May fourth, when they face the Mariners.

Speaker 1: So that means in every game to start the season

Speaker 1: until May fourth, as the game goes along, we have

Speaker 1: the better offense, we had the better bullpen. More often

Speaker 1: than not, that should lead the wins. So if that's

Speaker 1: the truth about this brave squad. They need to be

Speaker 1: able to go with the five arms. Stayfield can get

Speaker 1: them through those five competitive nions. That's what that's my

Speaker 1: perspective when I look at this roster. Now, there's a

Speaker 1: caveat to this. That caveat is that you've got again

Speaker 1: to have your core guys get off to good starts.

Speaker 1: We can't afford for slow starts from Riley and Olsen

Speaker 1: and Michael Harris, but if they can get off to

Speaker 1: good starts, we can get some wins. We can be

Speaker 1: a significant amount of games above five hundred because of

Speaker 1: how our schedule lines up now gets tough in May,

Speaker 1: but we could be into good spot come May fourth

Speaker 1: if our offense and bullpen rise to their potential.

Speaker 3: Yeah, so let's cover the position player group real quick.

Speaker 3: So obviously it's you know, all the normal guys, Austin Riley,

Speaker 3: Matt Olson, Ronald Who Junior and Michael Harris, you know,

Speaker 3: Marisa Dubon, you know Drake Baldwin, all the big guys,

Speaker 3: the notable ones, you know, people that maybe haven't been

Speaker 3: following closely the last few days. Is Dominic Smith is

Speaker 3: almost certainly going to be the DH against right handed pitching,

Speaker 3: I'm guessing Kyle Farmer, I guess would be the DH

Speaker 3: against left handed pitching. I'm not sure. You know, they

Speaker 3: could do Jonah Haeim. They could play both catchers, obviously

Speaker 3: both Tray Bald was not gonna play every day, so

Speaker 3: there's gonna be times or him just has to catch,

Speaker 3: and they could play Bald one on.

Speaker 2: Those days at DH. So we'll see.

Speaker 3: But you know, obviously, with the news of Profar and

Speaker 3: the fact that they didn't really add anybody since the

Speaker 3: Profar news, you know, this is the group we have,

Speaker 3: and obviously they're hoping to get Hassan Kim and Sean

Speaker 3: Murphy back at some point. I am surprised they didn't

Speaker 3: add an outfielder of some sort at the end of camp.

Speaker 3: You know, as I was looking through like the league

Speaker 3: and all the moves, there wasn't a ton of guys.

Speaker 3: I thought Austin Slater, who ended up signing with the Marlins,

Speaker 3: would have been a decent guy to go grab. But

Speaker 3: you know, obviously they feel like what they have is

Speaker 3: is just as good, So you know, we'll see. It's

Speaker 3: it's certainly a group I was not expecting at the

Speaker 3: beginning of camp, and you know, six weeks ago, knowing

Speaker 3: what we know since then, it does make sense where

Speaker 3: they are. I wish they would have added a little

Speaker 3: more since the profile injury, and I wish, of course,

Speaker 3: they added a lot more on the rotation since you know,

Speaker 3: the offseason began, but they didn't. And this is the

Speaker 3: group we have, and this group we're going to start with.

Speaker 3: And like you said, this schedule opens up early and

Speaker 3: you can really get a you know, you can really

Speaker 3: get a strong start to the season, which is the

Speaker 3: exactly opposite of what happened last year. They really need

Speaker 3: to take advantage of being at home, playing some lesser

Speaker 3: teams and get off to a good start this year.

Speaker 1: And that may be the case because again what maybe

Speaker 1: the case is simple is that again when you look

Speaker 1: at the Brave schedule overall, it gets very tough in May.

Speaker 1: So if there was a time for injuries to hit,

Speaker 1: it may actually at the start of the season may

Speaker 1: actually be the most idea. Now there's not any idea time,

Speaker 1: but if the Brads get off to a really good

Speaker 1: start and then as they get into that tough stretch,

Speaker 1: you may they start to get kimmed. They get Strider,

Speaker 1: they get Murphy, maybe Waldrop and Schwellenbacher ready to go

Speaker 1: in June. You start to get healthy. After you get

Speaker 1: to a hot start, a lot of the concerns and

Speaker 1: the criticism starts to silence. There is a world where

Speaker 1: that is a realistic outcome for this team. But again

Speaker 1: it goes back to the offense and the bullpen rising

Speaker 1: to be among the best, because, make no mistake about it,

Speaker 1: for this team to contend this offense in this bullpen,

Speaker 1: they don't have to be among the best in baseball

Speaker 1: right at the start of the season, but they've got

Speaker 1: to be better than their competition to put us in

Speaker 1: a spot to where we can contend as time goes on.

Speaker 2: Yep.

Speaker 3: So we'll see what happens. But that's our mix it

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and so when it comes to the Braves, we

Speaker 1: want to talk about innovative solution. I think the Braves

Speaker 1: are going to have to get a bit more innovative

Speaker 1: than they thought that they were when it comes to

Speaker 1: handling the DH position, handling left field, what have you.

Speaker 1: And so, of course we did our bold predictions and

Speaker 1: last week's episode and this one we're just going to

Speaker 1: do our simple, straightforward predictions. We talked about some outlandish

Speaker 1: ones last week that you know, it would be great

Speaker 1: if it happened, It would be best case scenario in

Speaker 1: some cases. In some cases it may actually be indicative

Speaker 1: of worst case scenario. But tonight we're going to actually

Speaker 1: talk about what we think is going to happen, realistic

Speaker 1: outcomes for both the individual Braves and the team as

Speaker 1: a whole. But these outcomes are focused on, Hey, we build.

Speaker 1: These are the most critical things that need to occur

Speaker 1: for this team for them to get to where they want,

Speaker 1: which is a shot at a World Series title. So

Speaker 1: Stephen and I are going to give two players predictions each,

Speaker 1: two team predictions each, and then we'll get into that

Speaker 1: game one preview, which should be a really good showdown

Speaker 1: between the Rows and the Braves. So, Steven, another edition

Speaker 1: of Tobert Takeaways. Steven Tobert take it away with your

Speaker 1: first Braves player season prediction.

Speaker 2: Yeah, so.

Speaker 3: We did our bold predictions and that's where we went

Speaker 3: a little crazy. Of course, I'm gonna go with what

Speaker 3: I think is realistic. I think Matt Olsen is gonna

Speaker 3: hit forty homers. I thought he would do it, like

Speaker 3: you know, he had that fifty home.

Speaker 2: Run season in twenty twenty three.

Speaker 3: And then there's no real world where that's gonna probably

Speaker 3: happen again. But I did think because of the park

Speaker 3: he plays in, I did think, you know, I think

Speaker 3: he had like thirty four last year, thirty five last

Speaker 3: year or something like that. I think Matt's a forty

Speaker 3: homer guy, and I think now that he's got real

Speaker 3: protection in the lineup, especially from the left side, I'm

Speaker 3: very curious to see where Matt's gonna hit. I'm very

Speaker 3: curious about the lineup in general, because they haven't had

Speaker 3: their full compliment of guys with the WBCs for most

Speaker 3: of spring, and so we really haven't been able to

Speaker 3: see exactly what Walt's gonna do. I'm very curious, especially

Speaker 3: since Opening Day is almost certainly gonna be against the lefty.

Speaker 3: I'm very curious how they're gonna run these guys out.

Speaker 3: But I think Matt Olson. You know, we've talked a

Speaker 3: lot about Austin Riley and how his slugging percentage is

Speaker 3: the key to the whole lineup well a lot that

Speaker 3: is somewhat true, but that is assuming that Matt Olson

Speaker 3: does his job, and we always just kind of assume

Speaker 3: Maddilson's gonna do his job. But I think there's another

Speaker 3: level to him that we've even seen the last couple

Speaker 3: of years. Twenty twenty three was crazy, but I think

Speaker 3: there's a level in between twenty twenty three and what

Speaker 3: we've seen in twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3: I think Matt's gonna get to that level in twenty

Speaker 3: twenty six. I think it's gonna be a forty plus

Speaker 3: former year. I think it's gonna be like a one

Speaker 3: forty WRC plus. I think he's gonna get some lower

Speaker 3: down ballot MVP votes because you know, he plays every

Speaker 3: day and he just has the ability to build value

Speaker 3: the way other guys who don't play every day.

Speaker 2: Have the ability to do so.

Speaker 3: This is not a bold prediction, as much as it

Speaker 3: is we don't always appreciate the consistency of Matt. I

Speaker 3: think there's a small bump, a small bump from what

Speaker 3: his consistency normally brings, and I think he reaches that

Speaker 3: small I don't ever expect twenty twenty three again, but

Speaker 3: I think I think it could be like a forty

Speaker 3: homer one forty WRC plus guy, which is kind of

Speaker 3: where Acuna lives when he's healthy. And I think Matt

Speaker 3: gets there in twenty twenty six, and I think they're

Speaker 3: gonna need it because I have a negative prediction on

Speaker 3: the other side. I think they're gonna need that from

Speaker 3: Matt and I think he's gonna be able.

Speaker 2: To provide it.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker 1: So my prediction, you know, we talk about Matt Olson,

Speaker 1: and we're gonna talk about several of these Braves players.

Speaker 1: But my not bold prediction, but my prediction that I

Speaker 1: truly do feel is a reality. I think the Braves

Speaker 1: are going to have two players steal thirty plus bases.

Speaker 1: I think Michael Harris the second as well as Ronald

Speaker 1: Accuna Junior, are both going to steal thirty bases this year.

Speaker 1: And that's one A, one B, one B. This The

Speaker 1: reason why Michael Harris is going to steal thirty bases

Speaker 1: is he's going to set a new career high in

Speaker 1: walk percentage by at least a full percent more than

Speaker 1: his previous career high. So that is what I'm going

Speaker 1: to go with that, would need to put him at

Speaker 1: about six percent walk rate because I think four point

Speaker 1: nine is his career high. But the point that I'm

Speaker 1: getting at is, and this is going to be kind

Speaker 1: of a spoiler alert theme, I think the Braves are

Speaker 1: going to introduce this the stolen base element a bit more.

Speaker 1: I put a lot of faith in end talking at

Speaker 1: first base. I think Walt Weiss is going to that's

Speaker 1: more kind of his style of game, a more modern style,

Speaker 1: you know, with the advantages that are there. And I

Speaker 1: think the Braves have some smart base runners. We've seen

Speaker 1: that when it comes to their ability to be able

Speaker 1: to be on the base pass, make good decisions, and

Speaker 1: if they can find the right group, I think that

Speaker 1: that they can make a lot of damage on the

Speaker 1: base pass. So two players who will steal thirty b

Speaker 1: that's my prediction for the Braves, both Michael Harris the

Speaker 1: second as well as ronald' cooney junior.

Speaker 2: No, I agree with that.

Speaker 3: I think they're definitely gonna steal a lot more. I

Speaker 3: saw Bowman talking about Riley stealing a bunch of bases

Speaker 3: this year. I don't know about that, but I do

Speaker 3: think the Braves have guys who can steal, and I

Speaker 3: do agree with you. They're they're going to run more

Speaker 3: this year. I don't think Akun is ever gonna steal

Speaker 3: seventy bases again, but I think he's gonna steal like

Speaker 3: if he stays healthy. I think he's gonna try to

Speaker 3: steal like fifty.

Speaker 1: You're gonna make me make a bold prediction. Austin Riley

Speaker 1: has seven stolen bases in his career. He doubles it.

Speaker 1: He gets fifteen stolen bases this year.

Speaker 3: Wow, Okay, so he did bring back both predictions. Yeah,

Speaker 3: I mean there's people that have said, I mean again,

Speaker 3: you know, the Brave's now have a first base coach

Speaker 3: who views this stuff as a weapon. And I'm very

Speaker 3: curious see how the roster, you know, is going to

Speaker 3: implement the stolen base. So I don't disagree with that.

Speaker 3: So I have another player prediction. You know, I went

Speaker 3: very I went positive with Matt. I'm gonna go on

Speaker 3: the negative side. I do think one of Ozzy Albi's

Speaker 3: or Michael Harris has a repeat performance of twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3: I don't know which one yet. You know, both guys

Speaker 3: have about a six hundred ops and spring training. You know,

Speaker 3: Mike started out like a house of cards, or I

Speaker 3: mean like a house on fire. He was just red

Speaker 3: hot to start spring, and then he cooled off a lot.

Speaker 3: He started chasing a lot more Ozzy's. I've seen a

Speaker 3: lot of pop ups, which we saw a lot of

Speaker 3: in twenty twenty five. I'm probably a little bit more

Speaker 3: worried about Ozzy that I am Mike, because I feel

Speaker 3: like Ozzy's, like overall skills have deteriator. It's not just performance,

Speaker 3: you know, it's like baseline level skills like speed and

Speaker 3: range and power and exit velocity and stuff like. There's

Speaker 3: stuff behind the numbers that kind of says he's aging

Speaker 3: really quickly, kind of randomly quickly. So I do think

Speaker 3: the Braves are gonna either be in a situation next

Speaker 3: year where they're looking for a new second basement, or

Speaker 3: we're gonna have a really tough conversation about the center fielder.

Speaker 3: I'm not gonna say both are gonna have the years

Speaker 3: they had last year, because that's too negative and I

Speaker 3: don't have any interest on being that negative. But I

Speaker 3: do think one of the two is gonna end up

Speaker 3: being clearly the worst hitter in the lineup. I actually

Speaker 3: think Marisa Dubond's gonna have a solid year. I could

Speaker 3: see like one hundred WRC plus coming from Debon, And

Speaker 3: I think we're gonna get to a point pretty quickly

Speaker 3: where whichever one of the two of Mike or Ozzy

Speaker 3: is not having the season they want, they're gonna be, like,

Speaker 3: very easily the ninth best hitter in the lineup, and

Speaker 3: we'll probably end up adding there. I do have a

Speaker 3: feeling it's gonna be Ozzie. I would love to be wrong,

Speaker 3: would God. I would love for Ozzy to go out

Speaker 3: and put up a thirty homer thirty stolen base season

Speaker 3: and be the third guy on your list that's got

Speaker 3: thirty steals. But the skills have just diminished so much.

Speaker 3: And spring training wasn't exactly like a Ringing endorsement. You know,

Speaker 3: it's spring training. It is what it is. But yeah,

Speaker 3: I'm gonna say one of those two guys is going

Speaker 3: to look a lot like they did last year, and

Speaker 3: it's gonna cause the Braves to have to reevaluate.

Speaker 2: One of those positions in twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 1: Yeah, my second prediction is not a bold one. It's

Speaker 1: just a confident one. Chris Sale is going to be

Speaker 1: a cy Young finalist again. Don't forget that they have

Speaker 1: three now that they announced at the end of every year.

Speaker 1: Chris Sale is going to be a sy Young finalist.

Speaker 1: And I'll tell you this, if you look at Chris

Speaker 1: sales first two years with the Braves, if you were

Speaker 1: to ask him, have they worked out the way that

Speaker 1: you had hoped? I think he honestly would say no.

Speaker 1: I know he won the twenty twenty four cy Young,

Speaker 1: but he didn't get to pitch in the playoffs that year.

Speaker 1: He obviously didn't get to pitch as much as he

Speaker 1: wanted to do last year due to injury. He knows

Speaker 1: now more than ever his performance is going to be huge.

Speaker 1: I think Brad put it perfectly. Chris Sales starting on

Speaker 1: Friday nights like a warm blanket. You just do that

Speaker 1: sense of security that you get when he is pitching,

Speaker 1: just as it is head and shoulders above anybody else

Speaker 1: pitching for the Braids right now. But I think that

Speaker 1: Chris Sale is going to be a finalist for the

Speaker 1: cy Young. And I do think that if the Braves

Speaker 1: do make the World Series or not, excuse me, the playoffs.

Speaker 1: I think that Chris Sali also will do very well

Speaker 1: in the play in playoff scenarios to hopefully get us

Speaker 1: in a position to make a World Series run. But

Speaker 1: my second prediction is that Chris Sale will be a

Speaker 1: finalist for the NLSI Young which would be a great

Speaker 1: outcome for the Braves. So, Stephen, we've talked about the

Speaker 1: individuals that potentially could you know, really excel or struggle

Speaker 1: for the Braves. What about this team as a whole.

Speaker 1: What are some predictions that make sense for them? More

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Speaker 1: So, Stephen. We gave our individual predictions when it came

Speaker 1: to the Brave, some positive outlooks from att Olsen, Austin Riley,

Speaker 1: you know, the stars that stand out, some second tier

Speaker 1: guys maybe not so competent. In of course, Chris Sale

Speaker 1: really think that he could again shine. So let's talk

Speaker 1: about some team predictions, aspects of this team that we

Speaker 1: feel are most likely to happen, whether it's positive or

Speaker 1: it's negative. Stephen, when it comes to this team, what

Speaker 1: is an aspect of it that you really think will

Speaker 1: stand out in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2: Yeah, so.

Speaker 3: I think the middle of the order is gonna be

Speaker 3: a monster. I'm not confident in the lineup as a whole.

Speaker 3: But I think Acunya, Olsen, Riley and Baldwin are gonna

Speaker 3: be monsters this year. And that's a bit of a

Speaker 3: bull take with Riley, but not really. I mean, we

Speaker 3: have enough where you know, even if he's the fourth

Speaker 3: best guy in that group. And listen, it's easy to

Speaker 3: say the bullpen, right, the bullpen's probably gonna be the

Speaker 3: best part of the team. But I don't I'm not

Speaker 3: ready to say I don't fully believe that yet. It's

Speaker 3: certainly possible. I think there's a lot of questions after

Speaker 3: you you know, Ronaldo and Suarez, and of course the

Speaker 3: rotation is just full of questions. But the middle of

Speaker 3: the order, like the best four hitters on the team, Acunya, Olson, Riley, Baldwin,

Speaker 3: I feel as good about as anything now that they

Speaker 3: have to stay healthier, and a lot of that starts

Speaker 3: with Ronald and Anne Riley, quite honestly, But if you

Speaker 3: promise me health, I am almost positive those four guys

Speaker 3: are going to produce at a decently high level.

Speaker 2: Now.

Speaker 3: Individually, they could have ups and downs, but I think

Speaker 3: as a collective it's probably the part of the outside

Speaker 3: of Chris Sale. I guess as an individual who I'm

Speaker 3: positive is going to be good as long as he's healthy.

Speaker 3: As a group, the middle of the order, the best

Speaker 3: four bats in the lineup I am I feel most

Speaker 3: confident about, and we'll do you know, at the end

Speaker 3: of this segment, we're going to do a prediction. Are

Speaker 3: both of our predictions on what the final record.

Speaker 2: Is going to be.

Speaker 3: But yeah, just as a group, I think I feel

Speaker 3: best about the middle of the order, top top end,

Speaker 3: middle of the order.

Speaker 1: So my prediction for the team is that they're going

Speaker 1: to do something from two perspectives that they've only done

Speaker 1: three times this center, and that is number one, they're

Speaker 1: going to have at least four guys with double digit

Speaker 1: steals and secondly, they're going to have one hundred plus

Speaker 1: steals as a team. Again going back to the faith

Speaker 1: that I have that they're going to put a lot

Speaker 1: more emphasis on moving on the base pass. Not necessarily

Speaker 1: because they're one of the speediest teams out there, but

Speaker 1: I do feel that they could certainly be one of

Speaker 1: the smartest base running teams. And don't forget you've got

Speaker 1: Eli White, You've got Jorge Matteo. Eventually you're going to

Speaker 1: have Mauricio Dubon who will be on the bench as well.

Speaker 1: You've got some good base runners who can make a

Speaker 1: difference on the base pass late in games as well.

Speaker 1: So I think this team is going to I don't

Speaker 1: necessarily know if they'll be near the top of the league,

Speaker 1: but I think in terms of past Braves, they're going to.

Speaker 1: One thing that's going to stand out about the twenty

Speaker 1: six team is attacking the base pass. So I think

Speaker 1: for only the fourth time this century, you're going to

Speaker 1: see this Braves team still more than one hundred bases

Speaker 1: plus also have at least four guys with double digit steals,

Speaker 1: and if they have that type of success in the

Speaker 1: regular season, and it helps translate to them winning quite frequently.

Speaker 1: Being aggressive and smart on the base pass is a

Speaker 1: huge advantage in the postseason, especially when runs come at

Speaker 1: a premium.

Speaker 3: All Right, So I'm gonna rapid fire these I want

Speaker 3: I want your answer. I'll give an answer as well,

Speaker 3: but I want your answer. Who's gonna be the Who's

Speaker 3: gonna be the player on the team that has the

Speaker 3: most surprisingly positive year that you're not maybe expecting to

Speaker 3: have a great year, that you think is gonna have

Speaker 3: a great year the second Michael Harris the second. Okay,

Speaker 3: I'm gonna say Mariso de bond is going to be

Speaker 3: a better hitter. Then probably a lot of people think,

Speaker 3: all right, who's the guy you think is going to

Speaker 3: have a disappointing.

Speaker 1: Year, Dylan Lee.

Speaker 3: Oh, interesting, that's a good one. Not a good one, like,

Speaker 3: we don't want Delie to have a bad year, but

Speaker 3: he did struggle last year in the second half. Specifically,

Speaker 3: I could see, and you've talked about before, how you

Speaker 3: think they're going.

Speaker 2: To go get a lefty reliever. Yeah, that's a good one.

Speaker 3: So I already said Ozzie, it was part of my

Speaker 3: original predition. But I think Ozzie's gonna have I think

Speaker 3: I think we're gonna have to have a tough conversation

Speaker 3: about Ozzy as we get to the end of the year.

Speaker 3: All right, so let's go team wide. Let's just start

Speaker 3: the easy one record. What do you think the record's gonna.

Speaker 1: Be eighty six? And what would it be?

Speaker 3: Eighty six and eighty eight?

Speaker 4: No?

Speaker 1: Eight? Third wildcard team.

Speaker 3: Okay, so that is exactly what FanDuel if you If

Speaker 3: people look at Vegas odds or anything over Unders. That's

Speaker 3: pretty much exactly where FanDuel put the Braves is eighty

Speaker 3: six wins. I think a couple of the other books

Speaker 3: put them at like eighty six eighty seven. That's probably

Speaker 3: lower than some people think. It's actually dropped a lot

Speaker 3: since Spring opened. At one point they were in like

Speaker 3: the low nineties and all the injuries. So yeah, that's

Speaker 3: about where they have. I'm gonna go, man, I'm gonna

Speaker 3: go eighty five wins. I'm debating between like eighty between

Speaker 3: eighty five and eighty eight somewhere in there. I'm gonna

Speaker 3: go eighty five. I don't trust this rotation to stay healthy,

Speaker 3: but I do think there's still good enough to be

Speaker 3: a third wild card. So if you look at the

Speaker 3: projections in the standings, you know, Dodgers are obviously one,

Speaker 3: and then it's most places have the Mets in the

Speaker 3: Phillies kind of next Mets, Phillies Cubs is kind of

Speaker 3: the next tier, and the Braves are in that tier

Speaker 3: for a lot of people, and then the next is

Speaker 3: like Braves, Brewers, Padres, right, So that's like the seven

Speaker 3: and they're six teams, so you know, that kind of

Speaker 3: gives you an idea of probably who the Braids are

Speaker 3: gonna be competing with, there's always surprise teams. The Reds

Speaker 3: could come out of nowhere, the Diamondbacks comingt of nowhere,

Speaker 3: the Giants could come out of nowhere, not out of nowhere.

Speaker 3: Those are decent teams, but that's kind of the level.

Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm I'm gonna say eighty five. That would

Speaker 3: be like eighty five and what seventy seven something like that,

Speaker 3: So not.

Speaker 2: A great year, but I do think they'll make I

Speaker 2: do that.

Speaker 3: I do think they'll be in the playoffs, and that's

Speaker 3: probably what matters more than anything. Just give it, get

Speaker 3: a shot, a chance to do something in the postseason.

Speaker 3: But if I don't trust this rotation to stay healthy,

Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say eighty five

Speaker 3: wins for the Braves this year.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'll even go this far by May fourth.

Speaker 1: By May fourth, I think that the Braves will played

Speaker 1: thirty two, thirty three, thirty four games, hoping it's thirty

Speaker 1: four or so games. If the Braves have twenty plus

Speaker 1: wins by May fourth, they're making the playoffs.

Speaker 2: Yeah, sait, wait, wait say that again.

Speaker 1: If the Braves have twenty plus wins. Okay, by May fourth,

Speaker 1: they're making the playoffs. If they don't, they're not.

Speaker 2: All right, you're basing that off the softness of the schedule.

Speaker 1: I'm guessing correct. They are going to have to buy

Speaker 1: They're I'm going to have to build themselves a buffer

Speaker 1: before that May schedule gets going. Hope I'm wrong, but

Speaker 1: they're going to have to build themselves a buffer by

Speaker 1: probably being sixty eight. It's six to eight games above

Speaker 1: five hundred before that May fourth time comes around, in

Speaker 1: which a three week stretch. I believe they play. They

Speaker 1: played the Mariners and the Dodgers back to back. They

Speaker 1: play the Tigers, they play the Phillies again, they play

Speaker 1: the Mets somewhere in there as well.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: It goes from very manageable to very very dangerous quickly.

Speaker 1: So if the Braids are going to make the playoffs,

Speaker 1: they need twenty plus wins by May fourth.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 3: And look, I mean these other teams are dealing with

Speaker 3: stuff too. Like I follow the Mets, guys, I follow

Speaker 3: the Phillies, guys. The Phillies are still have no clue

Speaker 3: what they're gonna get out of Zach Wheeler coming back

Speaker 3: from the thoracic injury. The Mets rotation is, you know,

Speaker 3: obviously they traded for Peralta, but after Peralta, it's not

Speaker 3: like it's a bunch of young kids, and you know,

Speaker 3: Manaia's still there, but it's not like a certainty. And

Speaker 3: even the lineup, you know, after Soto and lin or

Speaker 3: you know, I'm not a huge like Louise Robert Guy.

Speaker 3: I don't know, I could see the Mets still having

Speaker 3: some problems. So it's not just the Braves. I mean,

Speaker 3: a lot of teams have uncertainty right now, but the

Speaker 3: Braves had the worst spring of anybody in terms of

Speaker 3: their health and who they lost. Nobody lost the talent

Speaker 3: that the Braves lost in the last six weeks, so

Speaker 3: that's why their numbers have dropped so much. But they

Speaker 3: still got a lot of talent, and they still got

Speaker 3: a lot of stars, and you can you know, I

Speaker 3: remember the Washington Nationals a couple of years ago. They

Speaker 3: didn't have a ton of depth, but what they had

Speaker 3: was stars, and they had Juan Soto and Rendon and

Speaker 3: Trade Turner and Strasbourg and Scherzier and they basically they

Speaker 3: had like five superstars and they use that to Wonner

Speaker 3: World Series, and like, that's a model that has worked

Speaker 3: in the past where you don't necessarily have a ton

Speaker 3: of depth. You just have stars who play like stars

Speaker 3: and that's enough. And like, if Sale can get a

Speaker 3: little bit of help in the rotation and of course

Speaker 3: stay healthy, and then Ronald, Austin, Matt and Baldwin all

Speaker 3: hit the way they're supposed to hit, that alone can

Speaker 3: take you a long way.

Speaker 2: It really can't.

Speaker 3: So you know, it's not hopeless, Bunny Chin, and this

Speaker 3: is still enough talent that could win ninety five games,

Speaker 3: but there's also a floor where they could lose seventy

Speaker 3: five games if everything falls apart like it did last year.

Speaker 3: So that's why eighty five feels responsible to me. But

Speaker 3: I'm fine if you're higher than that. I'm fine if

Speaker 3: you're lower than that. There's a big range. That's one

Speaker 3: thing I'll say about this team is there is as

Speaker 3: wider range of outcomes for this team as there's been

Speaker 3: on a Braves team in a long time. They've usually

Speaker 3: been a pretty high floor team, and I feel like

Speaker 3: this year it could go. With the injury stuff that's

Speaker 3: always kind of lingering out there with a rotation. It

Speaker 3: could go a lot of different ways this year. There's

Speaker 3: a wide variety of outcomes for this team.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and again, you know I was looking. So they

Speaker 1: do play thirty five games before May fourth, But I'll

Speaker 1: put it into another perspective here. Let's look at the

Speaker 1: first six weeks of the season through May seventeenth. Before

Speaker 1: April twenty fourth, the Braves play you know, they're gonna

Speaker 1: play several series, and they play the Guardians and the Phillies.

Speaker 1: So I think they play the Diamondbacks as well, but

Speaker 1: I think, you know, only the Phillies and the Guardians

Speaker 1: are the only playoff teams from the guard Yeah, the

Speaker 1: Guardians made it. They're the only playoff teams from last

Speaker 1: year that the Braves will be playing. But when we

Speaker 1: get to April twenty fourth, here's the next seven series.

Speaker 1: Between April twenty fourth and May seventeenth, the Braves play

Speaker 1: the Phillies, the Tigers, the Rockies. The Tigers and Phillies

Speaker 1: will be at home, Rockies, Mariners, Dodgers will be on

Speaker 1: the road. And then they come right back and they

Speaker 1: play the Cubs and the Red Sox. So again, that

Speaker 1: three week stretch from May seventeenth or from April twenty

Speaker 1: fourth through May seventeenth, that may be the defining stretch

Speaker 1: of the season and we're not even a third of

Speaker 1: the way through it. You hope to maybe get some

Speaker 1: of your offensive guys back by the end there. But

Speaker 1: that's why it's so important to get off to a

Speaker 1: hot start, because it gets real choppy, real quick in

Speaker 1: in that week four to six of the season. So

Speaker 1: just something to look out for when it comes to

Speaker 1: how the Brave schedule kind of lines up. So we

Speaker 1: talked about individual predictions, We've talked about team predictions, but

Speaker 1: the only way that you can make the most of

Speaker 1: those predictions is to take a successful first step and

Speaker 1: that starts Friday night with the Braves Chris Sale on

Speaker 1: the mound and the facing the Royals, a team that

Speaker 1: could surprise in the American League. They'll take Game one

Speaker 1: in Atlanta. More on that a little bit of a

Speaker 1: Game one preview in just a moment after a word

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Speaker 1: So Stephen again. Game one, of course, you know baseball

Speaker 1: started tonight. It's Wednesday night. A lot of teams will

Speaker 1: be playing tomorrow, and then more teams will be playing

Speaker 1: on Friday. Kind of weird how the schedule does, but

Speaker 1: that's that's how it is. But I feel like one

Speaker 1: of the better opening game matchups is actually going to

Speaker 1: take place in Atlanta on Friday night. Chris Sale on

Speaker 1: the mound for the Braves versus Cold Rage of the

Speaker 1: Kansas City Royals. And if you want to talk about

Speaker 1: two pitchers who may not have been in the conversation

Speaker 1: for Cy Young last year that could be there this year.

Speaker 1: That would be both Ragions as well as Sell. I

Speaker 1: hope I'm saying his last name right now. Reagan's Reagan.

Speaker 2: We need another of milk situation. Huh said, we.

Speaker 3: Don't need another of milk situation.

Speaker 1: We faced that gallon and a point anyway, We're could

Speaker 1: AnyWho cole Reagan's versus Chris Sale. The big thing is

Speaker 1: what stands out to me is you've got the battle

Speaker 1: of left handers on the mound. So what line is

Speaker 1: going to stand out as being the better line up

Speaker 1: against left handers? And we're real quickly going to see

Speaker 1: how the Braves are going to adapt to left handers.

Speaker 1: It could be Kyle Farmer as well. You could see

Speaker 1: a bottom of the order of the last four in

Speaker 1: the lineup being some sort of combination of Kyle Farmer,

Speaker 1: Eli White, Michael Harris the second and Ozzie Alby's God

Speaker 1: could get scary quickly. But the point that I'm getting

Speaker 1: at is is that it's going to be a battle

Speaker 1: of two very good left handers. The Braves are going

Speaker 1: to have to find success from the top of their rower.

Speaker 3: Yeah, right out of the gate, lefty lefty on lefty

Speaker 3: matchup opening Day, You're right, Sale vers Reagans is a

Speaker 3: is an elite matchup. I haven't looked around the league.

Speaker 3: There's all obviously it's opening day. Everybody's still in their ace,

Speaker 3: so there's usually some fantastic games like tonight. I think

Speaker 3: it was was it Web versus Max Free?

Speaker 2: Tonight? Was that the match up?

Speaker 3: Yeah, and Web did not have a good night, So

Speaker 3: it happens. But yeah, that's gonna be an interesting one,

Speaker 3: and most importantly for the Braise because we don't again

Speaker 3: because what Wise did not have his entire team for

Speaker 3: most of spring training because of the WBC and injuries.

Speaker 3: I don't have any idea how he's gonna run out

Speaker 3: his lineup against a lefty. I think Kyle Farmer is

Speaker 3: gonna be the d I think Eli White's gonna be

Speaker 3: the left fielder, but I don't know that. I mean,

Speaker 3: that's just how if I'm guessing based off what the

Speaker 3: roster looks like, how he's gonna make the lineup.

Speaker 2: I have no idea.

Speaker 3: Is he gonna You know, early in camp when everybody

Speaker 3: was there, he was batting Baldwin's second a lot.

Speaker 2: But is he gonna do that against a lefty? I

Speaker 2: have no idea.

Speaker 3: There was a couple of games I think he put

Speaker 3: Ozzy second, which is my least favorite setup.

Speaker 2: But he did it. And I wouldn't be stunned if.

Speaker 3: They did that, because traditional at least Ozzi does hit

Speaker 3: lefties well, Marie too, Dubon does hit lefties pretty well.

Speaker 3: I actually I wonder if they're gonna use him closer

Speaker 3: to the top of the lineup early in the season

Speaker 3: until Kim and Murphy get back.

Speaker 2: I don't know.

Speaker 3: I don't know what they're gonna do, but that is

Speaker 3: gonna be fat. That is just gonna be the thing

Speaker 3: I'm most interested in, quite honestly, when we get to Friday,

Speaker 3: is what does the lineup look like? Who's out there?

Speaker 3: Where are they hitting against righty's. It's easier because you

Speaker 3: got Yastrimsky, you can add to all your main guys,

Speaker 3: and everybody kind of bumps down a spot and it's

Speaker 3: but Lefty's is going to be interesting, and yeah, that's

Speaker 3: a fantastic matchup. And then obviously we get later into

Speaker 3: the series and we know we know a lot less

Speaker 3: about what those are gonna look like. But Silvers Reagan's

Speaker 3: opening night for the Braves Friday Night, that's gonna be fantastic.

Speaker 1: Well, And and to your point, I know that Batty

Speaker 1: Nausey's second may not necessarily seem like the best idea,

Speaker 1: but that you mentioned Mauricio Debon, some combination of after Akuna, Baldwin,

Speaker 1: Olsen and Riley. You then going to five straight appearances

Speaker 1: by some combination of Mauricio Debond, Eli White, Kyle Farmer,

Speaker 1: Michael Harrison the second and Ozzie Albi's that on paper

Speaker 1: does not look intimidating at all. So I think that

Speaker 1: it probably actually from that perspective, does make a bit

Speaker 1: of sense to that Ozzie second. You hope that he

Speaker 1: catches lightning in the bottle for that one game, and

Speaker 1: then you could bat Baldwin obviously fifth. And the thing

Speaker 1: about it is this is that it's going to be

Speaker 1: a tough game to win, because you know, the Braves

Speaker 1: a couple of things that stand out to me. Number one,

Speaker 1: they've got to be able to win these games that

Speaker 1: Chris Sell pitches. One of the things that also work

Speaker 1: out last year was as we were struggling now the gate,

Speaker 1: Chris Sel was struggling now the gate as well, so

Speaker 1: that those didn't line up either. We've got to win

Speaker 1: these games that Chris Sell pitches. Once again, the Braves

Speaker 1: have to hit left handed pitching. Last year they were

Speaker 1: fifteenth in WRC plus against left handed pitching. The three

Speaker 1: years before, from twenty two through twenty four, they were

Speaker 1: top five in the majors against left handed pitching in

Speaker 1: each season. So that's got to become once again a

Speaker 1: staple of this lineup, and they're going to have to

Speaker 1: do it early. The Braves need to get offense going early.

Speaker 1: Acuna taken Reagan's deep to start the game would be

Speaker 1: absolutely outstanding, but getting going early will really help this

Speaker 1: team because again, if they can get going early, that

Speaker 1: puts their pitchers in a bit more comfortable situation to

Speaker 1: get through the first five innings and then you have

Speaker 1: one of the stronger bullpens in the game, holding leads

Speaker 1: turning to success against left into pitching and getting the

Speaker 1: job done early. That's what's going to have to be

Speaker 1: the key to success for this praise lineup.

Speaker 3: Yeah, and just so people know, you know, I think

Speaker 3: most people know the royals best position player is Bobby

Speaker 3: Witt Junior. I mean he's a he's a perennial MVP

Speaker 3: level player, but just kind of running through kind of

Speaker 3: their other you know, mikel Garcia is a really good player.

Speaker 3: He's their third baseman. They actually stop signed Starling Marte

Speaker 3: for the outfield, which I actually forgot about, but he's

Speaker 3: in there. H Pasquentino, who had a really good WBC

Speaker 3: obviously as their first baseman. Salvador Perez, you know, obviously

Speaker 3: he's been their catcher forever. He's older, not as good

Speaker 3: as he used to be. An old friend Drew Waters,

Speaker 3: I actually forgot that Drew Waters was on the Uh

Speaker 3: was on the Royals. I think he made their opening

Speaker 3: day rosh. I didn't double check, but he was on

Speaker 3: their team last year and I think he's on the

Speaker 3: team again this year. So you know, the Royals are

Speaker 3: not certainly known for their offense. UH, They're gonna win

Speaker 3: through pitching and defense and Bobby Witt being monster. That's

Speaker 3: kind of their formula. They don't spend a lot of money,

Speaker 3: so they need their their homegrown.

Speaker 2: Guys to be good.

Speaker 3: But it's certainly a series at home that you should

Speaker 3: probably win two out of three, right, Like two out

Speaker 3: of three, you feel okay, you feel good, you sweep,

Speaker 3: you feel great. If you lose the series, or obviously

Speaker 3: you get swept, that's the disaster. Then it's you know,

Speaker 3: it's a season off on the wrong foot, So take

Speaker 3: two out of three. Like you said, whin the sales start,

Speaker 3: even though it's Reagan's you gotta win the sales start

Speaker 3: because you know Ronaldo's gonna pitch Saturday, and we have

Speaker 3: no idea what we're gonna get from Ronaldo. His last

Speaker 3: start in spring training was not good. He was throwing

Speaker 3: eighty seven miles an hour, and they say it's a

Speaker 3: mechanical issue. I don't know what to make of all that.

Speaker 3: We'll find out on Saturday when he starts pitching again,

Speaker 3: because if he's throwing eighty seven again on Saturday, there's

Speaker 3: gonna be a lot of red flags and a lot

Speaker 3: of questions. And then, honestly, we don't know who's gonna

Speaker 3: pitch on Sunday because they have it as a TBD,

Speaker 3: which means the opening series of the year.

Speaker 2: The Braves have a TBD.

Speaker 3: For their third starter, which tells you everything you need

Speaker 3: to know about how spring training went on that side

Speaker 3: of the ball. So when the Chris Sales started, like

Speaker 3: Sean just said, is maybe the most important part. And

Speaker 3: start one to oh, which is seven games faster than

Speaker 3: it took you to win a game last year. Eight

Speaker 3: games faster it took you to win a game last year.

Speaker 2: Start one to oh.

Speaker 3: Then you only have to take one of those two

Speaker 3: games with starters you don't really know much about or

Speaker 3: what they're gonna give you, and at least you're off

Speaker 3: on the right foot.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and if the Braves power doesn't show up in

Speaker 1: this game. One other thing to watch out for on

Speaker 1: the negative side of things is rule. The Royals run

Speaker 1: like Bobby Witt Junior can run. I don't think they

Speaker 1: have fun speed in their lineup, but we do know.

Speaker 1: You go back to Game one of last year. Five

Speaker 1: stolen bases in that game between the Padres and the

Speaker 1: Braves was a big It was a big reason why

Speaker 1: the Padres were able to win. The Braves hopefully won't

Speaker 1: be susceptible, but Chris Sale can be susceptible to the

Speaker 1: stolen base. That is one weakness in Drake Baldwin's game.

Speaker 1: So hopefully the Royals won't you know, realize that. Of

Speaker 1: course you know they will. But if the Braves ain't

Speaker 1: any type of motivation to get this series win, we

Speaker 1: don't know who's pitching on Sunday, but what we do

Speaker 1: know is that two of Bryce Elder, Martin Priz As,

Speaker 1: Valdo Bido Diddy or for Wintes Jose Sworez. I know

Speaker 1: that not all those guys are on the opening day roster,

Speaker 1: but you never know what's gonna happen between now and

Speaker 1: five days from now. My point is two of those

Speaker 1: guys are more than likely going to face the Athletics

Speaker 1: lineup when they come to town right after the Royals. So

Speaker 1: you need to get those wins in this game. But hey,

Speaker 1: just have your offense play to their potential and more

Speaker 1: often than not they should be able to hand the

Speaker 1: lead to the bullpen, and more often than not that

Speaker 1: should get the job done. But it's great to talk

Speaker 1: a preview, and we're going to be back with you

Speaker 1: on Friday, night talking about the game. I know that

Speaker 1: there's gonna be some other things going on Friday night

Speaker 1: as well, so enjoy the heck out of it. Not

Speaker 1: a lot of nights where you get to watch some

Speaker 1: playoff basketball plus opening day of Brave Seasons. Steven, anything

Speaker 1: else from you as we wrap up this edition The

Speaker 1: Hammer Territory Podcast.

Speaker 3: Nope, just thank god Spring training is over. For for

Speaker 3: one of how long it was and and two for

Speaker 3: how painful it was for Braise fans. Just happy to

Speaker 3: get that crap behind us. The game's count. Next time

Speaker 3: you see or hear one of us, we'll be recapping

Speaker 3: a regular season game. I think I think some combination

Speaker 3: of us is gonna jump on Friday night. I think

Speaker 3: Brad Scott are actually gonna do it. Jump on Friday

Speaker 3: night after the game and talk about the game. So

Speaker 3: we'll be here after opening day. But yeah, just I

Speaker 3: cannot wait. I cannot wait for baseball to count again.

Speaker 3: I cannot wait for Friday night first game. Chris Sale,

Speaker 3: you know, Ronald Junior back fully and healthy.

Speaker 2: It's gonna be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1: Yeah, you're either gonna get glad, Brad, or you're gonna

Speaker 1: get Sad Brad on Friday Night, and you're either going

Speaker 1: to have a very happy Stephen Tolbert or a very

Speaker 1: sad Steven Toolber somewhere else on Friday night. As well,

Speaker 1: you're also gonna get a very worried Sean Coleman right

Speaker 1: after the Braves game on Friday night, in case you

Speaker 1: are not wondering, In case you're wondering what I'm referencing,

Speaker 1: all four hosts his favorite college basketball teams are still

Speaker 1: alive in the Sweet sixteen. Hope your brackets in the

Speaker 1: Hammer Territory bracket Challenge, where the goal is is to

Speaker 1: beat Brad that your brackets are doing well, but all

Speaker 1: joking aside. Braves baseball is officially back. Hopefully we'll get

Speaker 1: a w in plenty of them in the March and

Speaker 1: April calendar before it starts to get really challenging come May.

Speaker 1: Until next time, you can find Stephen tore at b

Speaker 1: Undersquare Outliers on Twitter, slash x myself, Sean Coleman at

Speaker 1: statsac on Twitter slash x. Hammer Territory across all forms

Speaker 1: of social media, part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts.

Speaker 1: Check out Foul Territories coverage. Of opening day as well.

Speaker 1: Until next time go break. We'll talk to you again

Speaker 1: soon here on The Hammer Territory podcast